Chapter 37: You Vile Scumbags!

Anyone who has worked in the operations department of an American intelligence agency knows one fundamental rule of assassination: when you decide to take out a target, the confidence level of the target's identification must exceed 90% before action.

No matter the means.

Most of the time, in addition to technical verification, manual confirmation is required. 65% is not a good number; it is far too low to authorize an operation. Colonel Brown was not about to issue an assassination order only to find out he had missed the target, leaving him to take the fall in the final operational report.

"Have Team A verify it, now!" Colonel Brown ordered.

"Yes, sir!"

Following the command, behind a shrub roughly 800 meters from the dam, a hand covered in camouflage paint adjusted the parameters on a reconnaissance device. The magnification gradually increased, focusing the crosshairs on the head of Mr. J atop the dam. Once locked, the operative quickly pressed the shutter.

Photos with higher resolution than those captured by the drone were transmitted back to the computers at the Joint Special Operations Command. The system ran the comparison again. The result was slightly higher.

73%.

Still not enough to meet the assassination standard.

Seeing Angel and Mr. J closing the distance between them, the sniper nearby whispered, "Sniper requesting instructions: should I fire?"

His index finger was already resting on the trigger. This M24A1 sniper rifle, equipped with a match-grade barrel and loaded with .300 Winchester Magnum ammunition, would surely kill with a single shot from 800 meters away.

"Wait." Colonel Brown hesitated.

"I think it’s him."

Just as Brown was seeking further confirmation, Thomas, who was sitting to the side, spoke up. "According to intelligence from the bug I installed in their vehicle, we can confirm the target is indeed Mr. J. Before Angel got out of the car, he called her to confirm he was about to arrive."

"You are not the one in charge here," Brown warned Thomas sharply. "You should know your place."

Thomas’s expression darkened, but he said nothing, stood up, and left.

"Continue adjusting the drone's reconnaissance angle, or lower its altitude further to see if we can get more images." Brown returned to the screen, brow furrowed as he stared at the close-up of Mr. J’s face, while issuing orders for further verification to his subordinates.

"Sir, they are about to meet. If they leave after the meeting, what do we do?" an ISA operative asked Brown.

Brown replied, "Keep watching, and then—"

Before he could finish, someone on the drone’s feed suddenly collapsed...

...

Thousands of miles away at the dam, Song Heping and Angel were getting closer to Mr. J. As the distance narrowed, Angel grew increasingly excited. Success was within reach! This was an explosive scoop! She could almost see the newspaper with her article on the front page, smelling of that intoxicating, fresh ink...

*Puff—*

Just as the two parties were less than twenty meters apart, a spray of blood erupted from the chest of Mr. J, who was leading the opposing group. He collapsed to the side like a kite with a broken string.

The sudden turn of events left Angel petrified. The bodyguards opposite were clearly stunned, failing to react immediately.

*Bang—*

The sound arrived only then.

The bodyguards finally reacted, raising their guns and screaming, "It's a setup!"

"It's a trap!"

"Take them down!"

At that same moment, Song Heping raised his AKM.

*Da-da-da-da-da—*

There was no time to aim. Suppression fire! Song Heping swept the area, knocking down all the bodyguards opposite. The action was so fast that Angel didn't even know what had happened; she had forgotten to even cover her ears.

"Run!"

Song Heping grabbed Angel, hauling the stunned woman toward the dam railing like a dog while keeping his profile low. Angel was slammed hard against the concrete barrier, which finally elicited her first scream.

"Ah—!"

She began to clutch her head. That was the right move, because bullets soon peppered the railing, sending stone chips flying everywhere.

Song Heping’s nerves were stretched to the limit. He shouted into the channel, "Damn it, who opened fire?!"

"Not us! There's a ghost in the machine!" Even the Cook’s voice betrayed a hint of panic.

They had thought they were ambushing an ambush, but they hadn't expected the mantis to stalk the cicada while the oriole lurked behind! The "Musician" mercenary group members realized the gunfire wasn't coming from the positions of the ambushers Mr. J had set up nearby. Either there were more ambushers they hadn't discovered, or another team was in the vicinity!

Who?!

Right now, there was no time to investigate who had fired. The situation had completely spiraled out of control. Angel was now the target of Mr. J’s subordinates. Regardless of who had fired the first shot, Mr. J’s men—those former elite Iraqi troops—would definitely hunt Angel down to the death. They would never stop until she was killed.

On the dam, Song Heping threw a smoke grenade. Smoke quickly enveloped the scene. Queen Yulia’s SVD began to fire. Mr. J’s men surged toward the dam, attempting to storm it and take out Angel.

Song Heping took off his tactical pack, pulled out a pre-prepared climbing rope, and quickly threaded it through the figure-eight descender on his and Angel’s belts. Angel was still screaming. Song Heping slapped her hard across the face to snap her out of it with the pain, then roared, "If you don't want to die, listen to me!"

He quickly looped the rope around an iron pipe on the concrete railing, tied it off, and threw it over the edge. The rope was only 18 meters long. This meant they could rappel for 18 meters, but the remaining 12 meters would be a free fall. But 12 meters was better than 30. As long as they didn't die from the fall, it was fine. Staying on the bridge meant certain death!

The rope hissed as it dropped through the air. Song Heping glanced at the entrance on the other side of the dam. He saw no sign of Mr. J’s men approaching. Good, it seemed Yulia’s marksmanship was holding them back.

Time! This was the time to escape!

In less than twenty seconds, Song Heping had expertly set everything up and grabbed Angel.

"Do you trust me?!"

"I... I do..." Angel's voice was trembling. In the moonlight, her face had lost all color and turned deathly pale.

"If you trust me, don't scream! Hold your breath!" Song Heping slapped her face again to focus her.

With that, he hauled Angel up, hugged her tight, climbed onto the railing, and leaped toward the water.

The entire scene was displayed clearly in the Joint Special Operations Command in the Green Zone. Brown exploded.

"Fuck! Who gave the order to fire? Who?!" He was furious. Clearly, someone had opened fire without his authorization. This was mutiny! This was absolute insubordination!

"Who?!" After shouting, he remembered something and asked into the communication channel, "Team A! Who fired?"

"Sir, it wasn't us!" Team A, lurking near the dam, was clearly just as confused.

Suddenly, someone in Team A said, "It seems to be Team B."

Team B?!

Brown suddenly understood. He spun around. Thomas was standing at the doorway, leaning against the frame and watching him with a smug smile on his lips.

"Fuck! Thomas!" Brown couldn't believe the Langley guy had dared to issue orders behind his back! In an instant, he felt overwhelming regret. He shouldn't have agreed to a joint operation. If Thomas hadn't tampered with that car and gained more intelligence, and if he hadn't been so greedy for that intel...

Thousands of thoughts raced through Brown's mind, driving him to the brink of madness. Rage caused him to lose his senses; he drew his pistol and leveled it directly at Thomas's forehead. Everyone in the command center was startled and stood up.

Thomas remained remarkably calm, his tone dripping with mockery. "Colonel, I was just making a decision for you. I'll take the blame if it goes wrong, and you'll take the credit as the commander. Aren't you happy about that?"

Countless thoughts flashed through Brown's mind; he nearly pulled the trigger. But reason ultimately overcame his rage. He lowered his pistol.

Thomas laughed. "Now you can go clean up the scene. Get that footage, and you'll be the hero."

"Thomas, I despise you Langley scum! You people should all rot in hell," Colonel Brown hissed through his teeth.