Outside of the Yangjiapin Textile Plant…
A car was parked two hundred meters away from the gate on a small road.
The car was not his Maybach S600, but it was, instead, a secondhand Sonata that he spent one hundred thousand acquiring. He didn’t want his ride to be ruined during the fire fight.
Jiang Chen got out of the car and scanned the surroundings before walking to the long-deserted textile plant.
That was the destination they agreed on, 12 kilometers from Hucheng.
Other than the weeds growing around the plant, it was barren farmland in the area with no one in sight.
But just outside of the desolated plant, Jiang Chen saw four out-of-placed vans.
There were two men with baseball caps standing by the door. Their jackets were stuffed with something hidden underneath, and their hands were in their pockets, as if they were holding onto something.
The corners of Jiang Chen’s lip raised with interested as he walked up without fear.
Seeing Jiang Chen walking over, the two exchanged eye contact before one of them walked up.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Jiang. Did you follow the agreement?” The man raised his right hand and smiled.
He was referring to the agreement of coming alone.
“Can’t you see with your own eyes?”
Jiang Chen ignored his extended hand and walked into the plant.
An awkward expression surfaced on the person’s face while his hand remained extended. He glanced at his comrade on duty who was trying not to laugh as he shrugged and stuffed his hand back into his pocket.
Ayesha didn’t follow along, Jiang Chen gave her another mission.
Just like Zhang Youjie demanded, he came alone.
Inside the plant, there were a few lights in the middle, with few figures visible from the window.
He pushed opened the door to the plant and scanned around the numerous people inside before a smile surfaced.
The camouflaged bulletproof vests, the metallic black assault rifles… to be able to transport these inside the country, they must have spent quite a lot of effort.
The fifteen CIB agents were stationed around the corners of the warehouse, and five people were waiting for Jiang Chen at the door.
The person in the front was giving off a dangerous vibe. Although Jiang Chen was unable to confirm his ability, just from instincts alone, this person was stronger than Robert’s bodyguard, Nick.
He must be Griss—who Natasha referred to—also known as Wolf.
Perfect, they are all here.
“You’re Jiang Chen?” Seeing Jiang Chen walk in, a man in the middle stepped on a cigarette and took out a photo from his pocket with a grin.
The wrinkles on his face twisted together, the green eyes were filled with a deadly eerie light as he examined Jiang Chen.
“That’s right,” Jiang Chen said distantly.
“Since you’re here, you must have already made your decision,” said Griss with a shrug.
“Of course,” Jiang Chen said calmly as he stared into Griss’s eyes, “But before that, I need to call Xia Shiyu.”
“Don’t worry, you Asian monkey, the hostage is safe. We’re the CIB after all, not IS,” the man scoffed.
“Oh? I never really distinguished the two organizations.”
“You—”
Upon hearing the mocking words from Jiang Chen, the man was immediately provoked and he stepped up.
Griss glanced at his teammate and said indifferently, “Grim, shut up.”
“Yes…” The giant man immediately lowered his head and obediently backed down.
In the face of this oppressive captain, he had no courage to rebuke.
It was already against protocol to reveal the name of their organization, but seeing that the mission was about to be completed, Griss didn’t say anything.
He tilted his head and spoke to the person beside him.
“Give him the radio.”
“Okay, Captain.” A soldier with a baseball hat took out a radio from his tactical vest, walked to Jiang Chen, and handed it to him.
With an unidentifiable smile on his lip, Jiang Chen took the radio. The other hand in his pocket opened the wireless tracking device.
He would have to leave that task to Ayesha.
“Hello? Xia Shiyu?!”
“Jiang Chen… Where are you?”
With how feeble her voice sounded, Jiang Chen suppressed the anger in his mind. Taking a deep breath, he used the calmest voice he could muster:
“How are you? Did they do anything to you?”
“… Not yet. Who… who are they?” Her voice was filled with despair and helplessness, but it didn’t sound stiff, so she didn’t receive any cruel treatment.
After confirming Xia Shiyu’s safety, Jiang Chen felt a little calmer.
Just as he wanted to gain more time for Ayesha, the communication was cut off from the other side.
“You had ten seconds to confirm the safety of the hostage,” Griss grinned, taking out a lighter and lighting another cigarette for himself. “Now, your choice will determine the life or death of you and your girlfriend. You don’t have a lot of choices.”
Jiang Chen slowly dropped down the radio and looked at Griss in the eyes.
“Oh?”
[ I don’t think so .]
He added a sentence in his mind. The hand in Jiang Chen’s pocket threw the wireless tracking device into the storage dimension, then he took out a paper-thin remote and pressed the switch.
The broad-range signal jammer in the trunk of the Sonata parked outside of the warehouse instantly opened and blocked any signal within five kilometers radius.
“Grim, check his equipment.” Without concern for Jiang Chen, Griss turned his head and spoke to the comrade on the side.
“Okay, Boss.”
Twisting his neck while making a loud crackling sound, Grim walked to Jiang Chen with a wicked smile. He already made up his mind to teach the arrogant guy a lesson.
For example, accidentally breaking one of his nuts during the search…
“Before we leave here, we need to check your equipment to prevent you from wearing any tracking device. Of course, if you resist, there might be some unfortunate things that may happen.”
Looking at Grim walking towards him, Jiang Chen suddenly started laughing.
“Leave here? Who said I will go with you?”
When they heard this, all five people surrounding Jiang Chen were shocked.
Without giving them the opportunity to react, Jiang Chen immediately detonated the smoke grenade and EMP grenade in his pocket.
Buzz—!
The static buzzing noise echoed in the plant as the light bulb instantly blew out, leaving the entire plant into darkness. At the same time, smoke began to spread out from where Jiang Chen stood and hid his figure.
“Kill him!”
Griss roared out and instantly ordered the command to kill. At the same time, he raised his rifle and began to fire.
Tatatata-!
Fires splattered as the weaving bullets ripped through the smoke that hid Jiang Chen’s figure. The empty plant was filled with the sound of bullet explosion and the crispness of bullet shells hitting the ground.
Because of the eye’s inability to adjust to the sudden change in light, everyone’s vision was shrouded in darkness. However, the people here were all seasoned soldiers and, even with their eyes closed, they could work together to prevent the target from escaping with the web of bullets they wove.
“Stop!”
The shooting stopped, and the smoke began to fade.
The plant returned to silence.
The thick smoke dispersed at a steady pace and gradually began to meld with the smoke risen from the rifles.
The five CIB agents in the middle of the plant still maintained their shooting position and locked on to the smoke.
Although the smoke had yet to disperse completely, no one questioned the ill fate of the Oriental man who didn’t recognize the situation.
It would be absurd to have escaped from the rapid shooting.
It was only protocol to maintain firing position.
“Boss, he must have died,” Grim said as he moved his joints.
Griss stared into the middle of the smoke.
The target must have died, but an unsettling feeling was growing in his mind.
The smoke was like the egg of the devil, something was about to walk out from it.
Was it an illusion?
But then, his eerie green pupils suddenly contracted, the calmness that belonged to an elite soldier instantly faded!
“God…” With hopelessness in his voice, Grim, who previously wanted to break Jiang Chen’s nuts, moved back shaking violently.
The surface of the steel armor reflected five frightened faces.
With the T3 power armor covering him, the revolving machine guns rotated rapidly as Jiang Chen unlocked the safety to the weapon module.
“Let’s play a game.”