86: Chapter 86 Rainforest Minefield

The weather in Yanjing was exceptionally clear today, and the temperature was gradually rising. Occasionally, a few swallows could be seen lining up to rest on the wires outside, chirping away.

A ray of sunlight shone through the window onto Chu Ge's face. As the angle shifted bit by bit, the temperature became increasingly scorching.

Yet, Chu Ge could feel nothing at all right now. Lying perfectly straight, even his breathing was faint.

There was no change in Chu Ge's outward appearance, except for his already soaked clothes. At this moment, it was as if he were in the middle of midsummer.

Sweat continued to accumulate on Chu Ge's body, especially on his head, where faint white steam rose alongside the sweat. It was unclear if this was due to the scorching midday sun or the steaming from within Chu Ge's body.

...

The group led by "Fox Shadow," walking through the tropical rainforest, did not have such luck. The rainforest climate was unpredictable; one moment the sun was shining brightly, and the next, it could pour down with a torrential rain.

They had been soaked through last night, and the urgency of their mission left them no time to dry their clothes.

Now, after being baked by the sun, the sweat and rainwater mixed together, causing their inner and outer clothes to cling tightly to their bodies. It was sticky, and the feeling was truly uncomfortable.

To make matters worse, the environment required them to keep their sleeves tightly fastened, because if even a tiny gap was exposed, those blood-sucking creatures would desperately try to burrow into their bodies.

A thin, small leech, if successful, would quickly swell up into a fat one as if by magic.

Fortunately, this rainforest path seemed to have been traversed many times before, so it wasn't difficult to walk, and one could even vaguely distinguish a trail underfoot.

If this were a remote, untrodden rainforest, "Fox Shadow" estimated that they would have needed at least three times as long to cover this same distance.

"Boss, the map indicates we are about to enter a minefield again."

"Monkey" looked at the map and quickly called out to "Fox Shadow" in front.

"Understood. Everyone, watch your step. Although we have a map of the minefield, it's inevitable that some mines have been washed away by rain and shifted from their original positions. I don't want to step on one in this godforsaken place."

"Fox Shadow" and his team had seen minefields in several places—Africa, Eastern Europe, South America—but many of those were remnants from World War II.

While their numbers were high, they weren't very complex.

The minefield in this tropical rainforest truly opened their eyes; describing it as one layer pressed upon another was no exaggeration.

Anti-tank mines and anti-personnel mines were the basics. What was dazzling were the special-purpose mines: butterfly mines, directional mines, booby traps, tripwire mines, and so on.

Not only were there many types, but the quantity was astonishing. "Fox Shadow" felt that a large portion of them hadn't been laid by hand.

Instead, they had been scattered directly from aircraft in the sky, as they hadn't been buried at all and were just lying exposed on the surface.

Along the way, they discovered that many mines around the perimeter of the minefield had already been detonated, and skeletons of either humans or animals were scattered around the blast zones.

This was what you'd call real mine-clearing.

"Black Bear, same old rules. You take the lead. Keep your wits about you. Damn it, our lives are all tied to your feet."

As they were about to enter the minefield, "Fox Shadow" waved for "Black Bear" to come forward. Despite his rugged appearance, "Black Bear" was likely the most meticulous person in the squad when it came to this kind of work.

"Black Bear" moved forward, sometimes fast and sometimes slow. The others followed his footsteps, treading carefully, but their speed was not slow at all.

Over 30 minutes passed this way, and it was now two or three in the afternoon. At this time, the tropical rainforest reached the most sweltering moment of the day.

The members of the mercenary squad needed to stop from time to time to replenish their salt water.

A forced march in this kind of environment was a test of human endurance. Gradually, the distance between the members of the marching column grew larger.

"Black Bear," walking at the very front, suddenly stopped and raised his right hand. The others behind him stopped one after another, looking around vigilantly, their fingers slowly curling toward their triggers.

"Black Bear, is there a situation?"

"Fox Shadow," not far behind Black Bear, scanned the area and asked in a low voice.

"Captain, I'm afraid what you said earlier is about to come true."

"What?"

"Fox Shadow" said as he moved closer.

"Yesterday's heavy rain washed away a section of the road, and with it, changed the distribution of the mines in this area. Look!"

"Black Bear" pointed ahead. Several pressure-activated anti-personnel mines were exposed, suspended above a few rocks. The traces beneath the rocks clearly showed they had been washed over by floodwaters.

"What do we do? Is there enough time to clear the mines?"

"Fox Shadow" leaned over to look and asked.

"Relying on just myself, with such high density, I won't be able to clear them in a short while."

"However, we are still some distance from the border, so we can try controlled demolition."

"Black Bear" said as he took out the map, carefully identified the location, and then nodded affirmatively at "Fox Shadow."

"I think that works. Get to work quickly and clear a path. I'll go to the back and tell the others."

After saying this, "Fox Shadow" turned and walked toward the back. "Black Bear" took off his backpack, pulled out a bundle of fuses, carefully assessed the situation ahead once more, walked a few steps to the exposed mines, and crouched down to begin setting them up carefully.

Ten minutes later, "Black Bear" slowly retreated to a safe distance along a fuse, turned to look at "Fox Shadow," and made a gesture.

Seeing his boss's signal, he gave a sharp pull. The fuse hissed as it ignited and burned rapidly forward. "Black Bear" instinctively covered his ears and lay flat on the ground.

In an instant, a series of explosions boomed one after another. After more than a dozen blasts, the group finally lifted their heads to see white smoke swirling ahead, the smell of gunpowder permeating the air.

The anti-personnel mines must have triggered a small belt of mines nearby, which explained the continuous explosions. The stones blasted into the air by those mines took a long time to rain down around "Black Bear" and the others.

After the rain of stones ceased, "Fox Shadow" and his men carefully made their way to the blast zone. A deep crater had been blown into the ground. The power of a single anti-personnel mine was actually limited—after all, it wasn't a big guy like an anti-tank mine—but if a dozen or so were detonated at once, that was a different story.

"Black Bear" looked carefully, and after confirming there were no issues, he nodded at his boss.

"Alright, let's move on. After we cross this minefield, we'll take a break. Everyone, hang in there."

The others nodded in agreement, and the group continued to move forward.

They carefully crossed the area that had just been detonated, where some unexploded mines were still lying scattered about, likely because they had been there for too long.