Mission Accomplished

The sudden, frantic gunfire left Vulture and Jackal terrified to their very cores.

They had assumed Li He would panic or attempt to negotiate, never expecting him to be so decisive and ruthless as to open fire directly!

Once these shots rang out, the Special Task Force would inevitably be alerted.

A lose-lose situation!

"Damn it, he's a lunatic!" Vulture roared in a mix of shock and fury, rolling backward in a disheveled scramble to take cover.

Jackal was equally shocked and enraged, pinned down by the hail of bullets and frantically searching for a hiding spot.

Neither of them had any mind left to retrieve the canvas bag that had been sent flying.

They were too busy trying to save their own lives!

Just as the two were suppressed by the firepower, Li He had already emptied half a magazine; seeing that he hadn't hit them, he cursed under his breath.

He immediately ceased fire, unleashed the full power of his Wild Goose Eight Steps, and dashed toward the general direction where Chen Qiang was located.

"Stop right there!" Vulture poked half his head out from behind cover, watching Li He's rapidly disappearing back, so angry he nearly coughed up blood.

"Move, there's no time!" Vulture made a split-second decision, shouting at Jackal, who was still looking for cover.

The two ignored the valuable backpack and fled in the opposite direction of Li He and the Special Task Force, vanishing in an instant.

A few seconds later, rapid footsteps approached.

"The gunfire came from here, hurry!"

"Watch out, stay alert!"

Chen Qiang led several members of the Special Task Force as they rushed to the scene.

"Report, no combatants found, only this backpack and a pile of shell casings," one member reported after a quick inspection.

Chen Qiang crouched down and pried open the mouth of the backpack on the ground.

The quantity and variety of wealth inside made his eyelids twitch; this was definitely not something an ordinary gang member would carry, but rather looked like temporary savings or contraband from a gang stronghold.

At least two parties had clashed here just moments ago, then fled, leaving this bag behind.

Was it infighting among the enemies, or internal friction on their own side?

Chen Qiang remembered clearly that when the grenade exploded and the smoke filled the air, several martial artists had taken advantage of the chaos to escape! Those damn martial artists—he would have to punish them properly once they returned!

"Captain Chen..."

Just then, a dazed voice rang out from the smoke not far behind them.

Chen Qiang spun around sharply.

It was Li He!

He crawled out from behind a collapsed cargo container.

He was covered in dust and grease, his face smeared with black soot, his breathing ragged, one hand pressed against his forehead with blood seeping through his fingers.

"Captain... Captain Chen?" Li He seemed to have just regained his senses. "What was that sound? A loud boom... I was blown away by the shockwave and hit my head... what happened?"

Chen Qiang stared fixedly at Li He's face, trying to find any trace of a disguise.

"You were hit by a grenade? And you've been sleeping here the whole time? There was a fierce firefight here just now, and you didn't feel a thing? Why did you only wake up after we arrived!"

"Reporting to the captain, after the explosion... it was too chaotic. I was thrown quite a distance by the blast... I did hear the gunfire, but I couldn't catch my breath. As soon as I finally cleared my head and climbed up, I saw you all."

Chen Qiang stared at Li He, filled with suspicion, but he had no evidence.

In the distance, the gunfire from the front of the warehouse grew louder, and Zhao Gang reported over the comms: "The enemy has retreated to Warehouse No. 3, Group Two, provide support immediately!"

"Copy that! Group Two is returning to support now!"

"All units, move out, follow me to support the front, hurry!"

With that, Chen Qiang led his team of Special Task Force members and sprinted toward the main battlefield.

Li He was forced to follow the team, choosing to hang at the very back, pretending to be someone just recovering from an explosion.

Lucky, he thought to himself.

The turn of events at the main battlefield had come at the perfect time, completely diverting Chen Qiang's attention.

Although the backpack had been confiscated by the authorities, he hadn't come away empty-handed.

Tucked away in a hidden pocket he had prepared beforehand, several energy crystals and vials of strange liquid were currently radiating a gentle warmth; these were the most valuable spoils.

When he arrived at the main battlefield of Warehouse No. 3, the scene before him was even more tragic than the flank; the iron door of the warehouse had been blown open, and thick black smoke billowed out.

Faintly, one could see figures moving deep within the warehouse, their resistance extremely stubborn, accompanied by the bombardment of heavy weapons that kept the Special Task Force from charging in.

"Black Mamba! That bastard set up suicide squads in the core area!" Chen Qiang crouched behind a destroyed off-road vehicle and roared into his comms. "Captain Zhao, we've arrived, what's the situation inside?"

"...They've blocked the passageway with obstacles and set up interlocking fields of fire. Several brothers are wounded; we have to take out those firing points!" Zhao Gang's voice was somewhat muffled by the explosions.

"Group Two, follow me to flank them from the side!"

Zhao Gang provided covering fire from the flank while ordering several martial artists to infiltrate, successfully completing the assassinations and eliminating the firing points under the cover of darkness.

The front line continued to advance.

Li He crouched behind a piece of cover not far from Chen Qiang.

Boom!

A much more violent explosion erupted from deep within the warehouse, shaking the ground beneath them.

An incredibly swift figure lunged out from a breach in the warehouse wall, moving with blinding speed, using the debris and smoke as cover to dash toward the nearby sea!

The figure moved with agility and radiated a ferocious aura; despite being covered in blood, he was clearly no ordinary gang member.

"Black Mamba?" someone exclaimed.

"That's him! He's trying to jump into the sea, stop him!" Chen Qiang roared, raising his gun to aim.

But the figure moved erratically, darting left and right at high speed, dodging many of the bullets. However, the Special Task Force had the numbers, and the barrage of gunfire was dense enough that eventually, a bullet found its mark.

"Argh!" Following a pained cry, the figure shuddered in mid-air and plummeted powerlessly into the pitch-black sea, kicking up a massive splash.

"Hit him!"

"He fell into the water!" several members of the Special Task Force shouted in excitement.

The battle ended quickly.

The remaining resistance was swiftly cleared out, and the Special Task Force took control of the entire warehouse area, beginning to sweep the battlefield and treat the wounded.

Out in the sea, a corpse wearing a black vest with a build similar to the intelligence report floated to the surface, and the team members quickly hauled it ashore.

"Report, the body has been recovered. Preliminary confirmation identifies the target as Black Mamba!" a team member reported to Zhao Gang.

Zhao Gang looked at the corpse, whose face had been destroyed, his tightly furrowed brows showing no signs of relaxing.

"Something isn't right," Zhao Gang whispered, his brow still knit in thought.

A moment later, he stood up and announced into his communicator: "Target Black Mamba has been neutralized, mission accomplished! All teams, clear the battlefield, treat the wounded, and collect all evidence."

"All guild martial artists, the mission is complete. Come to me for one final electronic sign-out. Once signed out, your compensation will be settled into your personal accounts tomorrow!"

The martial artists lined up, stepping forward one by one to scan their ID cards.

Soon, it was Li He's turn.

Beep!

Scan successful.

[Affiliation: Yellow Mountain Martial Arts Hall]

[Mission Status: Completed (Pending Settlement)]

Zhao Gang's sharp gaze swept over Li He's face, then flicked toward the dried blood on his forehead.

Li He met Zhao Gang's gaze calmly, nodded in acknowledgment, and prepared to turn and leave the sign-out station.

Just then, a slight commotion arose from the back of the crowd.

Li He instinctively turned his head to look.

He saw two familiar figures walking through the lingering smoke toward the sign-out station!

It was Vulture and Jackal.