042 God of Slaughter

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Blood quickly seeped into the sand from the wound, and Li Changjiang felt helpless. Though the bullet hadn’t pierced any major arteries, the wound was so deep that the bleeding wouldn’t stop. If this dragged on too long, even someone as robust as Hamis would bleed out and die.

According to old remedies, ash and soil could indeed help stop bleeding. But those are just folk tricks. Hamis was shot in the left side of his abdomen. The bullet had only gone through the skin and flesh, not touching any vital organs, but the impact had severed enough small vessels to cause copious bleeding.

“Come here!” he shouted hoarsely, his patience wearing thin with the worsening situation. The enemy was clearly prepared—otherwise, they wouldn’t have brought so many heavy weapons. He even spotted two heavy machine guns.

“You too, come here!” he barked at another Libyan government soldier.

“Whatever it takes, stop his bleeding. Understand?”

Seeing both men staring at him blankly, Li Changjiang’s anger flared.

Damn, they really are a bunch of pigs.

Even dumber than pigs, he thought, not realizing his own broken English had rendered his orders incomprehensible.

“Stop bleeding?”

“You want us to stop his bleeding?”

Finally! Someone understood.

Thank heavens!

“Yes! Stop his bleeding, any way you can!” Li Changjiang replied hastily, not noticing the strange accent in the response. He grabbed his rifle and crept toward another position.

The situation was perilous. In the first volley, Hamis’s men had already been cut by half, with fewer than ten left. Meanwhile, at least fifty attackers were closing in. Just the three off-road vehicles held a dozen men; with two troop carriers on top of that, fifty was no exaggeration—and they were wielding heavy weapons.

“Groups of three, split up at once. Don’t bunch together!” he roared.

But before he could lift his head, a burst of bullets swept over him.

He had fought in Libya many times but never felt so stifled. His sniper rifle, lost back in Benghazi, left him with a weapon barely fit for accurate shooting. The enemy’s firepower was overwhelming.

“Careful!” someone shouted.

Too late.

A rocket struck one of their positions dead-on. Li Changjiang watched as two government soldiers were blown apart, one reduced to a pile of mangled flesh.

His stomach churned—damn, it was disgusting.

“Down! Stay down, all of you!” he cursed.

This was a mess.

Acting on instinct, Li Changjiang didn’t have time to think. He scrambled up and rolled toward another cover.

Tat-tat-tat-tat!

The machine gun’s power was immense, but its reaction was just a bit too slow. Li Changjiang leaped into a shell crater right as the bullets peppered the ground, and fired two quick shots.

Thud, thud!

Both hits were fatal. Those two enemies likely never knew what hit them.

Gasping for breath, Li Changjiang struggled to steady himself. His blood raced, a natural response to the crisis. His mind sharpened, nerves taut as the battle turned against them.

Elisa, with the last two survivors, crawled up from the bottom of the sand dune to Li Changjiang’s side, her eyes studying the man from China.

“Where’s Hamis?”

Bang!

He squeezed the trigger again.

The spinning bullet found its mark in another enemy’s chest. Out of the corner of his eye, Li Changjiang glanced at the three government soldiers, not even bothering to address these useless fools, but still asked, “Is Hamis’s bleeding stopped? What now?”

“What now? Who knows!”

Damn it, if I knew what to do, would I be asking you?

Li Changjiang wanted to curse, but his English was too poor for it.

“God teaches us to be civilized,” someone said.

What? You want me to be civilized? Civilized, my ass.

Li Changjiang was at a loss. He hadn’t even caught the word “God.”

“Shut up!” he barked, cursing anyway.

Tat-tat-tat-tat!

Bang! Bang!

Gunfire erupted nearby, signaling another wave of attack. Fewer than five government soldiers remained on the other side now.

Their training far surpassed the previous Libyans, but the enemy’s firepower was simply too much. Still, they’d managed to inflict nearly twenty casualties. The next stage would be brutal.

Bang, bang!

An enemy spotted Li Changjiang’s hiding place. As bullets rained down, several enemy gunners shifted their aim his way.

He quickly took evasive action.

Splat!

Blood spattered his face—Li Changjiang swore under his breath.

Damn bastards.

Bang bang bang!

He emptied his magazine in a fit of rage before regaining a measure of calm. He wasn’t a soldier, let alone a cold-blooded killer. Watching government soldiers, who had just been at his side, die before his eyes, shook him to his core.

He took aim.

Pulled the trigger.

Fired.

Li Changjiang seemed to slip once more into a mad, almost demonic state.

Lips pressed into a thin line, Elisa stared silently at the man from China. She understood every word he spoke. Chinese wasn’t that hard, and as a Cambridge graduate fluent in five languages, she certainly didn’t find it the most difficult.

But right now, Elisa was stunned.

This man was terrifying.

Every shot was fatal. His eyes, which had been dull and lifeless, suddenly blazed with light.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out. An enemy who had just poked out his head was killed instantly. Over ten shots rang out in rapid succession, and a strange scene unfolded on the battlefield: except for those hiding behind vehicles, none of the enemy dared show themselves. It was uncanny.

If they hadn’t been caught off guard at the start, with his marksmanship and auto-aim system, Li Changjiang wouldn’t have been in such dire straits. The enemy’s firepower, especially the machine guns, made ordinary cover useless. Were it not for this shell crater, he would have had no chance to fight back.

“Give me bullets!”

“Quick, give me bullets!”

“Give him bullets,” someone repeated.

“I’m out!” came the reply.

Li Changjiang groped at his belt—nothing. He dug into his pockets—still nothing.

Damn it, when it rains it pours. Even his ammunition was gone.

Click.

He removed the magazine and counted. Five rounds left, while the enemy numbered at least twenty. Five bullets were barely a drop in the ocean.

He glanced at the two surviving soldiers beside him, and his heart sank. These idiots had dropped all their magazines in their panic. His gaze locked on the sand less than twenty paces away, where two dead government soldiers still had their ammo.

But the ground between here and there—looked like a death trap.

“I’ll go!” Elisa seemed to realize what he was thinking. Gritting her teeth, she dashed to the side.

Damn it! Where’s your brain?

Li Changjiang couldn’t stop her. Without thinking, he raised his rifle and began firing.

Bang bang!

Bang bang bang!

All five bullets were gone in an instant.