Chapter 29: A Knife in the Back
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Time ticked away, second by second. Li Changjiang was acutely aware of his current predicament. His entire left arm had begun to grow numb; if not for the steely resolve in his heart, he might have already relaxed his guard.
Not far away.
The scene before him remained unchanged. The same buildings stood there, like broken walls and shattered ruins, shrouding all the past splendor and pretense, leaving only tranquility—and the deadly threat lurking beneath its surface.
Night was slowly descending.
As dusk settled over Benghazi, the temperature dropped sharply. Li Changjiang felt a slight chill creeping over his body. He stared coldly, breath held, at the sole entrance to the building, not daring to show a shred of carelessness.
He was certain no one had left the building, so the gunman was still inside, his position unchanged.
And now, he was the hunter.
“Han, that Chinese must be nearby.”
“I know.”
“Our intel was wrong. That Chinese is a skilled operator.”
Though he spoke with utter disdain for Li Changjiang, Han wasn’t foolish enough to believe his opponent was just a greenhorn on the battlefield. Without years of honed instincts, Li Changjiang could never have dodged that shot.
But due to faulty intelligence, Han had now missed the best shooting opportunity.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Williams and his team dared not make a move.
“Boss!”
“Boss.”
Bob called twice, but received no response from Williams. He grew suspicious.
“Tim!”
“?”
“Where’s the boss?”
Bob turned around, only to find Williams had vanished, and he was instantly alarmed.
“Shh!”
Kim suddenly hissed.
He crouched and pointed toward the right, where the drainage ditch ran.
Following his gaze, the others saw Williams, barely visible in the twilight, crawling slowly along the ditch toward the building opposite.
“What’s the boss up to?”
Kim made a throat-slitting gesture.
As Williams drew closer to the building’s entrance, their hearts leapt into their throats. The tension in the air was palpable.
Williams was taking a risk. No one knew whether the gunman inside was still waiting for his moment to shoot. The drainage ditch offered only partial cover, and the danger was immense. Williams had waited until nightfall for precisely this reason.
He was gambling.
Gambling that the enemy didn’t have night vision.
But was that possible?
Upstairs.
As the darkness deepened, Han and his companion quickly took infrared goggles from their combat packs. The world turned a murky green as they peered through the lenses, and soon, they spotted Tim and his group hiding by the drainage ditch below.
“Hmm?”
Han, the white man, let out an astonished cry.
“Han, what did you see?”
“Look down there—why are there only three people?”
His companion looked as well.
One, two, three.
Three?
“That’s bad!”
His heart skipped a beat; he suddenly realized something was wrong.
But it was already too late to search for the missing member.
Taking advantage of the gathering darkness, Williams had successfully slipped into the building on the right and was now lying in ambush, ready to open fire.
Bang!
Ratatatat!
Bang bang!
Suddenly, gunfire erupted.
Li Changjiang’s heart immediately skipped a beat.
Inside the building, as shots rang out, Han and his companion instantly sensed the danger.
“!”
“Get down!”
Bang bang!
Two shots.
Bullets tore through the curtains with a smack, striking the sniper tripod beside them. The barrel shifted, and in the chaos, Han squeezed the trigger.
Whoosh!
The cold metal firing pin moved at a speed almost invisible to the naked eye, striking the bullet, igniting the gunpowder, and unleashing a powerful force that propelled the round from the chamber.
A flash of light.
Li Changjiang’s eyes flew open.
This is what I’ve been waiting for.
He pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Whoosh!
He worked the bolt.
Pulled the trigger again.
Whoosh!
The bullet, carrying a surge of fury, covered the fifty meters almost instantly. By the time Han realized his mistake and tried to correct it, it was too late.
He suddenly felt a cold sensation in his chest, and his consciousness began to fade.
“Han!”
“Han!”
“Damn that Chinese!”
The remaining white man watched as Han collapsed, understanding immediately what had happened. He no longer cared about exposing his position.
In a panic, he gathered his gear from the floor and, gripping his assault rifle, started retreating downstairs.
He knew perfectly well.
Han was dead; if he stayed, death was the only outcome.
In the darkness.
Through the scope, Li Changjiang saw the burst of blood mist. His shot had struck true. Without pausing, he sprang up and sprinted toward the building.
On the other side.
Bob, Tim, and Kim saw what happened and wasted no time. They leapt from the drainage ditch and charged forward.
But before they could reach Li Changjiang to regroup—
A beam of light suddenly swept across from the street on the left, followed by a torrent of machine gun fire erupting like dragon’s breath.
Ratatatatatat!
Take cover!
“Bob, get over here!”
Seeing the sudden blaze of gunfire sweep clean the spot where Li Changjiang had been hiding, Williams felt his heart pound wildly.
Terrifying!
Those damned Libyans opened fire from behind. They were never reliable.
From the attackers’ uniforms, Williams recognized them as Libyan rebels, but among the sudden rush, he also spotted Caesar Mercenary Company’s captain, Barty.
A thought flickered through his mind.
“So it’s him!”
“Boss, what do we do now?”
“Li is still inside.”
Faced with the unfolding scene, even a fool could see what had happened—Caesar’s bastards had turned on them.
“Don’t make any sudden moves. Wait. Li is still inside.”
Ahead.
The two heavy machine guns mounted on pickups kept up their barrage for several minutes before finally falling silent. With a deafening crash, the building where Han had hidden erupted in a cloud of dust.
“Boss, Li—”
Tim and Bob’s faces changed dramatically.
At this moment, Li Changjiang’s situation was dire. The hail of bullets left him barely able to move; he pressed himself tightly to the base of the wall.
Inside, dust swirled.
The gunfire ceased.
On the street, Barty watched the devastated building in the distance, a smirk on his lips. Standing beside him was the Libyan officer who had earlier spoken with Williams.
“Colonel, if we can wipe out the Eagle Lion Mercenary Corps, your name will resound through the mercenary world.”
Barty’s smile was thoroughly ingratiating.
“Excellent.”
The Colonel seemed highly satisfied with Barty’s words.