Chapter 118

Before nightfall, they arrived at their destination for this mission – the island of Madagascar.

The client, claiming to be a secret agency of the Kenyan government, explained that a group of specialized pirates had emerged near their territorial waters. These pirates specifically targeted offshore oil drilling sites, robbing them of their crude oil. In a previous incident, they caused a drilling leak that would have resulted in significant losses if it hadn’t been remedied in time. The client had gathered information that indicated the pirates had taken refuge in the tropical rainforests of Madagascar after docking, making their whereabouts uncertain and challenging to eliminate.

Due to Kenya’s weak maritime defense capabilities and the complications involved in international relations, they lacked sufficient evidence to bring a lawsuit before an international court. Therefore, as a last resort, they hired professional mercenaries with the hope of eliminating the pirate group and deterring other criminals from eyeing their crude oil.

The fact that the Kenyan government, being not financially well-off, could offer such a high price to hire the Peregrine Falcon came as a surprise to them. However, it also demonstrated the magnitude of trouble caused by the pirate group for the government.

Before entering the tropical rainforest, they spent a day preparing their equipment. Jungle warfare was incredibly challenging, especially in Madagascar where the average temperature had reached 38 degrees Celsius. During midday when the sun was directly overhead, the temperature could easily exceed 40 degrees Celsius. Despite such conditions, they had to cover their entire bodies to prevent any repulsive insects from crawling into their clothes.

Pelle carried a heavy box filled with medications specifically for the diseases that could occur in the tropical rainforest. Even Lily, who took pride in her figure, wrapped herself up tightly. Nobody wanted to be drained of blood by insects or have unseen creatures lay eggs on their wounds and spread unknown bacteria.

If he were to rank the severity of combat environments, Shan Ming would place snow-capped mountains at the top, followed by deserts or rainforests, which he couldn’t pick between. However, he firmly believed that this mission would make him harbor more resentment toward the rainforest.

The rainforest was teeming with countless mysterious creatures that couldn’t be fully identified. There were colorful yet deadly plants, and a complex geographical environment that facilitated their opponents in setting various traps. Their bodies would remain in a state of high heat and humidity for prolonged periods, causing their clothes to cling tightly to their skin. The discomfort would be so unbearable that they would wish they could strip off all their clothes, but no one would dare to do so.

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Just as Shan Ming closed his eyes, Jobb whispered, “Shan, don’t move. Slowly open your eyes.”

Shan Ming slowly opened his eyes and lowered his gaze, only to see a large spider crawling on the second button of his chest. The spider had a body the size of a palm, with a bright red back and eight hairy legs. It looked terrifying and disgusting.

Shan Ming cursed in a low voice, “You just watched it crawl onto me?”

“You’re wrongly accusing me! It suddenly dropped down from the tree.”

Shan Ming, wearing two layers of clothing, hadn’t felt a thing. Opening his eyes, he realized that the creature was dangerously close. Judging by its appearance, it was undoubtedly venomous. Getting bitten by it would make this entire journey futile.

Everyone held their breath and stared at the unwelcome guest on Shan Ming’s body.

Jobb crawled over slowly and whispered, “You mustn’t move.” He picked up a tree branch and carefully moved it towards Shan Ming, gently touching the life-threatening spider. The spider paused for a moment, then climbed onto the branch and swiftly made its way forward along the branch. It moved very fast, in the blink of an eye, it reached Jobb’s glove.

“Fuck,” Jobb cursed softly.

The silenced pistol let out a muffled sound as the bullet grazed Jobb’s hand, bursting the body of the large, red spider. Jobb threw the branch to the ground and quickly took off his glove, blowing on his reddened and broken skin. “Damn it, Ayer! Couldn’t you have aimed the barrel a bit higher? You nearly crippled my right hand!”

Ayer blew on the barrel and chuckled, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have been so rough with your girlfriend there.”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Jobb retorted, not willing to back down, “I wonder if you were gentle with your boyfriend that night?”

After Jobb sparked the conversation, everyone became interested and started pressing Ayer for details about his “date” with Tang Tingzhi, even Shan Ming joined in the teasing.

Everyone was incredibly curious about the sparks that flew between Tang Tingzhi, who was as rigid as a robot, and Ayer, the renowned charmer. They couldn’t help but wonder what kind of chemistry had ignited between the two.

Ayer smiled mysteriously and replied, “It was just an ordinary date.”

“How ordinary? What did you two do?”

“We went to the museum, science center, had a delicious Chinese meal, and then attended a music concert.”

Everyone widened their eyes and exclaimed, “That’s it?”

Ayer innocently nodded, “That’s it.”

“Bullshit! You call that a date?”

“Can I not have a date like that?”

“You bastard, you must be lying! Why did you only come back the next day? What happened that night?”

“It was late that night, and we didn’t want to sleep in the car on the way back to the base, so we stayed at a hotel. Just to sleep,” Ayer emphasized.

Koski gave Ayer a disdainful look and said, “Ayer, you truly disappoint me.”

“Yeah, he may be a man, but he’s incredibly attractive, yet you didn’t make a move? That’s not like you, Ayer. You’ve truly let the team down.”

Overwhelmed by the barrage of criticism, Ayer couldn’t take it anymore. He angrily retorted, “You animals! He even measured my heart rate with every kiss, I really didn’t want to do anything more!”

“Hahaha!” Jobb burst into laughter, losing his composure. However, Tiger Shark swiftly slapped him on the back of his head, reminding him that they were on a mission. Jobb immediately covered his mouth, his face turning red from holding back.

Everyone’s faces contorted with laughter, even the muscles on Tiger Shark’s face trembled. Shan Ming was so amused that he almost spat out the water he was drinking. He thought to himself that the first thing he would do when they returned was to tell Shen Changze this.

“Get up, get up! It’s time.”

“Oh, oh! Let’s fuck these pirates up and go home to hug our wives and children!”

“Well said! Long live Christmas!”

“Everyone, shut the hell up and keep your voices down. Keep your eyes on the road.”

They continued their journey toward the destination, and after half an hour, they came across a muddy bog. The distance between the two banks wasn’t long, but it seemed to stretch endlessly on both sides. Considering that taking a detour would waste too much time, Ayer double-checked the coordinates. “This bog is marked on the map. It’s not a swamp, and the deepest part is about 1.72 meters. We can definitely cross it. If we go through here, we’ll be closer to our destination. The remaining path may have ambushes, so everyone, be careful.”

Everyone started whispering complaints. No one wanted to jump into the muddy bog at this moment. The lake’s surface was covered with decaying plants and the unfortunate remains of animals that had accidentally drowned in it. Due to the hot weather, a foul smell emanated from the lake water. As some of their heavier equipment had to be carried across, this less-than-a-hundred-meter distance was going to be extremely challenging.

Tiger Shark hoisted his ammunition box onto his head and said, “Stop complaining and watch out for your own weapons. Let’s go.”

Fortunately, they had considered the marching distance this time and didn’t bring too many heavy weapons. They lifted their gear above the surface of the water and jumped into the lake one by one.

The group struggled to move forward in the muddy bog. They could tolerate the shallower areas at first, but as they reached the center, the mud became deeper and the disgusting stench of decay on the surface invaded their nostrils. Everyone endured nausea with horrible expressions on their faces.

Lily, the smallest in stature, couldn’t bear it any longer. Her mouth was already sinking into the mud. Big Rock quickly grabbed the strap of her backpack and lifted her out. She took the opportunity to jump onto Big Rock’s back and took deep breaths to catch her breath. Koski took some of Big Rock’s equipment so he can carry Lily on his back.

As they continued, several individuals who were under 180cm in height were on the verge of suffocating, they could only rely on the support of their companions to move forward.

At the deepest point, even Shan Ming, who was 184cm tall, had to tiptoe to breathe. Once the group climbed out of the muddy pit, they were overwhelmed by nausea and exhaustion. Some vomited while others collapsed, every one of them was completely disgusted.

Hawk clenched his teeth and said, “We ate that ‘dog food’ for nothing. We smell worse than a ton of shit right now.”

Everyone took a sniff and was disgusted by the smell coming from their own bodies, causing them to vomit again.

Fortunately, there was no shortage of water in the forest. They quickly found a pond and jumped in to clean themselves up. However, this whole ordeal had cost them an additional half an hour before they were fully prepared, setting off towards the enemy’s rear once again.