The surviving villagers and Afghan women returned to the small village, gazing at Fiona Tang with eyes full of worship. Since this was a secret operation, all the Chinese Special Forces personnel were dressed in traditional Afghan robes, but the villagers could still recognize their Eastern faces as Chinese. Afghans, like Pakistanis, regard the Chinese as true friends—and now, once again, it was the Chinese who saved them. So the villagers and women felt deep gratitude towards Fiona Tang and her team.
It was already dusk, night was beginning to fall, and the battle outside the village was still raging. The Delta Force members formed defensive positions, fiercely exchanging fire with the tribal militants who had surrounded them from all sides. The bursts of shrapnel and the thunderous gunfire filled the sky. In some corners of the village, familiar tribal militants had started to break in. Black Eye saw the situation and realized that even with the Delta Force’s firepower, they wouldn’t last long against such overwhelming numbers!
Seeing things were going south, Black Eye crouched down, quietly grabbed the only base communications system, and slipped next to a dry well in the village. Ignoring the Delta Force soldiers fighting for their lives, he sent a signal to Bagram Air Base, requesting the command center to immediately dispatch a drone to bomb the village flat! Just as he finished sending the coordinates, a stray RPG rocket came crashing down.
Black Eye quickly rolled to the ground—BOOM! The rocket exploded, instantly destroying his communications system. Two militants rushed over; he grabbed the nearby P5 and fired a burst, dropping both intruders with headshots. Taking advantage of the chaos, Black Eye dragged one of the bodies into a corner, swiftly stripped off its clothes and headscarf, and disguised himself as a militant. Then, using the confusion, he darted toward the village entrance and soon vanished into the surrounding mountains.
By now, the Dragonforce Battalion members had started attacking from the rear of the village toward the entrance, joining forces with the militants outside to form a pincer attack on the Delta Force soldiers. This made things even worse for Delta Force—they were at risk of total annihilation at any moment. The Delta Force communications officer wanted to contact the Air Force command for reinforcements, but the base communications system was missing. After searching carefully, they realized their protected target—Black Eye—had disappeared. It dawned on them: that bastard Black Eye had taken the communications system and abandoned them!
"Oh God! That damned bastard ran off on his own—we’ve got no reinforcements!" The communications officer stood up in despair and shouted. A stray bullet whistled by and struck him in the head; the unlucky guy collapsed to the ground, struggled for a moment, and died on the spot!
Soon after, another group rushed in from the rear of the village. Fiona Tang, who was leaning against a mud wall trying to rest, saw Shawn Young, Colonel Hank Han, and the battered Russian arms dealer Dudarev, along with a crowd of Dudarev’s mercenaries. Shawn spotted Fiona immediately and noticed something was seriously wrong with her. He hurried over and asked, "Fiona, what happened to you? How did you end up like this?"
Fiona shook her head and replied in a weak voice, "Quick, the target and the Delta Force team are already surrounded at the village entrance. You have to hurry—I think the US reinforcements are almost here. We need to finish this fast. I... I’m fine, I—" Before she could finish, Fiona couldn’t hold on any longer. Her vision went black, her legs gave out, and she collapsed into Shawn’s arms, fainting.
Shawn quickly caught her, held her hands, and channeled his true energy to check her condition. He found that she had fainted from extreme exhaustion and depletion of her power. Without hesitation, he circulated his Heavenly Gang Pure Energy and guided it into Fiona’s palms, temporarily protecting her fragile heart meridian.
When Dudarev learned that the Delta Force soldiers at the village entrance had been surrounded, a fierce gleam flashed in his eyes. He immediately waved his metal prosthetic arm and shouted to his mercenaries, "Beat the hell out of those Delta Force bastards! Kill one and I’ll give you ten thousand dollars, capture one alive and I’ll pay twenty thousand!"
With such a hefty reward, the mercenaries—already fighting for money—let out wild cries and charged toward the village entrance, throwing themselves into battle with fierce enthusiasm.
Colonel Hank Han, puzzled, asked Dudarev, "You seem to really hate Delta Force! Why do you want to capture them alive?"
Dudarev raised his metal right hand menacingly and said, "See this? I lost my gun hand to Delta Force when I was a mercenary! That’s why I hate them the most. Besides, if we catch any alive, the Americans will pay a fortune to ransom them! Twenty grand is just the starting price—I’ll make a killing, no matter how you slice it. Heh heh—"
"Oh! Oh! You really never miss a business opportunity, do you!" Colonel Hank Han remarked.
"Hahaha—you Chinese have a saying: 'Seek fortune in danger,' right? That’s exactly how it is in Afghanistan! I risk my life for money, and after all these years, I’ve got everything I want!" Dudarev said, grinning proudly.
"Cough—cough—well, that’s true!" Colonel Hank Han replied, a bit enviously.
"I’m off to join the fun—and toss a few grenades to spice things up!" Dudarev grabbed several powerful high-explosive grenades and strode toward the village entrance with a wicked grin.
With Dudarev and his wolf-like reinforcements joining the fight, the poor Delta Force soldiers at the village entrance had almost no chance of escape. Tragedy was all that awaited them!