Chapter 43: Ambush and Massacre
Page 1 of 3
Chapter 43: Ambush and Massacre
“This is Observation Post. The target will arrive at the designated location in three minutes. Acknowledge!”
“Received!”
Between two rugged mountain peaks ran a straight highway.
On the tree trunks a short distance from either side of the road, several federal soldiers in camouflage uniforms held rocket launchers trained on the highway below.
In a place so rarely visited, the mosquitoes in the forest swarmed around them as though they had discovered a treasure, biting at every patch of skin exposed beyond their clothing.
Many of the men were already covered in welts, and more continued to appear.
Yet even so, they remained utterly motionless. Apart from the occasional blink, not a single unnecessary expression crossed their faces.
“This is Observation Post. The target is about to arrive at the designated location. Countdown: ten, nine, eight…”
Without exception, the soldiers concealed in the trees on either side of the road heard the voice through their earpieces. With steady movements, they placed their index fingers on the triggers.
The instant the countdown reached one, they would fire.
“Seven, six, four…”
From far away came the roar of an automobile engine.
A rugged off-road vehicle sped along the highway and shot into the passage between the two peaks.
“Three, two…”
The engine drew closer, growing louder and louder.
But none of the soldiers looked toward the approaching sound. Their eyes remained fixed on the spots they had sighted in advance.
“One!”
At that word, several rockets flew from the woods on both sides, landing precisely on the off-road vehicle as it reached the designated point.
Amid a thunderous explosion and fierce flames, the vehicle flipped several times before crashing down more than a dozen meters away.
Parts of its body blew apart into scattered wreckage, while the main frame burned like a roaring bonfire, engulfed in flames and thick gray smoke.
“No sign of the target leaving the vehicle. Proceed according to plan!”
The cold voice came through their earpieces.
At the command, the soldiers skillfully took rockets from the packs beside them, loaded them, and fired again at the blazing vehicle.
One after another.
They did not stop until every rocket in their packs had been used up.
Under the continuous bombardment, the off-road vehicle was reduced to a heap of black wreckage in various shapes and sizes, impossible to identify.
“Mission complete!”
In the woods to the left, a broad-shouldered, crew-cut officer pressed a hand to his earpiece.
The voice came again:
“Go up and inspect the site immediately. You must make certain the target is dead!”
“Received!”
Page 1 of 3
Page 2 of 3
The crew-cut officer answered without expression.
Judging from the wreckage on the highway below, there was no possibility that the target had survived. Even so, he faithfully carried out the order.
He raised his hand and was just about to issue instructions when a sound suddenly came from behind him.
“Are you looking for me?”
The calm voice carried a hint of mockery.
The soldiers in the trees widened their eyes and quickly turned around. Less than five meters behind and below them stood the target they had already pronounced dead in their minds, smiling as he looked up at them.
“Open fire!”
The crew-cut officer shouted as he drew the pistol from his waist.
Hearing him, the soldiers nearby were less than half a second slower and likewise pulled their weapons.
“Why bother?”
Seeing this, Jiang Ren knew there would be no pleasant conversation.
Bang!
The instant the gunshot rang out, Jiang Ren turned into a blur and reached the tree. His two hands lashed out like steel whips, striking the soldiers across the head.
The next moment, they tumbled from the branches in unison.
The devastating blows to their heads left them struggling for only a few seconds before their lives ebbed away. None of them had the chance to fire a second shot.
Jiang Ren blurred again and appeared in the woods across the road.
Ten seconds later, every person lying in ambush on both sides of the highway was dead.
“Too weak. So weak that I had plenty of time to turn your brains into pulp without even breaking your skulls.”
Jiang Ren shook his head. With his strength now, he did not need to use his left arm at all to crush a person’s flesh and bones into powder.
If he had not wanted to avoid getting splattered with blood, he could have killed them at least twice as quickly.
“Received… respond…”
A faint voice came from an earpiece that had fallen to the ground at some point.
Jiang Ren looked down, walked over, and picked it up. Pressing the talk button, he said, “Unfortunately, they failed.”
The voice on the other end fell silent.
Jiang Ren smiled, casually crushed the earpiece in his hand, and made his way briskly to the highway.
“What a warm welcome. I’ve only just set out, and they’ve already prepared such a grand gift for me.”
Jiang Ren glanced at the sky, then picked up a fist-sized fragment from among the blackened debris scattered across the ground.
Yoda Province, where the Empire State Building stood, lay deep within the interior.
To get there, he would have to cross more than half the Federation. Even if he traveled by car and encountered no obstacles along the way, it would still take more than twenty hours to arrive.
Yet only five hours had passed.
Page 2 of 3
Page 3 of 3
The men lying in ambush carried a strong military presence about them. They were most likely active federal soldiers, and elites among them at that.
The organization most likely capable of mobilizing them so easily was the Society of the Gods.
From this, it was clear that the ambush was far from the end. It could not even be considered an appetizer.
The next twenty hours or so on the road would probably be difficult.
“Difficult or not, I still have to go.”
Jiang Ren shook his head, tossed the fragment in his hand into the sky, and walked toward a narrow trail through the woods.
That way lay the vehicle belonging to the soldiers he had eliminated.
Boom!
A few breaths later, a cloud of smoke blossomed in the blue-white sky. The helicopter monitoring the area from above and everyone aboard it were killed.
…
Nedaco was a prosperous and flourishing city.
Among the Federation’s more than fifty cities, it had ranked among the top ten for the lowest crime rate, the top seven for employment, and the top eight for citizen happiness for ten consecutive years.
But now, it was no longer peaceful and tranquil.
Gunfire rang out without end, while deafening explosions continued without pause.
Countless federal soldiers poured into the prosperous city, advancing behind infantry fighting vehicles. Dozens of attack helicopters filled the sky, relentlessly strafing and bombing the streets below.
Inside a nearby shopping mall, more than a hundred civilians trembled in fear.
Several of the bolder ones went to the second floor and cautiously observed the chaotic scene outside through binoculars. They could not help muttering curses under their breath.
“Damn it. Fully armed soldiers, multipurpose infantry fighting vehicles, and dozens of attack helicopters. What is our president trying to do? Why doesn’t he bring in tanks as well?”
“I’m sorry to inform you, but the tanks actually came too. They’re just stuck in other districts.”
“I have a question. Did our president fall into a toilet or something?”
“Believe me, he must have drunk ten bottles of disinfectant this morning. Otherwise, he couldn’t possibly have done all this.”
“You’re all too naive. Our president might trip after taking only a few steps, and get lost after walking a few dozen. How could someone like that drink disinfectant? He must have swallowed toilet cleaner!”
As several of them vented their heartfelt opinions, the man in a shirt who had been watching the outside through his binoculars suddenly spoke.
“Gentlemen, I think… I may know the reason.”
The others turned toward him, puzzled.
“The reason? What reason?”
“The reason our president has gone mad. Just look for yourselves.”
The man in the shirt said no more. He merely gestured for them to aim their binoculars in the direction he indicated.
They raised their binoculars and looked.
Their expressions immediately froze.
Between the towering buildings, a humanoid monster drenched entirely in blood-red was carrying out a one-sided massacre amid a storm of gunfire.
End of Chapter 43