97: Chapter 97 Tighten the Pocket

Xu Hu and his teammates were in hot pursuit, quickly arriving at the spot where Black Bear had fallen. Xu Hu raised his right hand, and the team members immediately stopped, scanning the surroundings alertly with their weapons raised.

Xu Hu slowly approached and checked Black Bear's body. He reached out to check the neck for a pulse, and after confirming the man was dead, he crouched in place, observing the area. Meanwhile, the other team members gradually gathered around.

"Wait! Get back, everyone get back!"

Xu Hu turned to glance at his teammates. Just as he was about to stand up, he whipped his head back and shouted loudly. The team members froze instantly, looking toward their squad leader.

Xu Hu slowly inched forward, inspecting carefully, and then cautiously touched a thin wire.

"There's a booby trap. Hua Zi, report the enemy's approximate retreat direction to the Great Captain and assist them in tightening the noose. Tell him we've encountered a booby trap and might be delayed for a few minutes."

As Xu Hu carefully disarmed the booby trap left by Black Bear, he arranged for his team members to report the battle situation to their Great Captain.

"Yes, Squad Leader!"

The soldier called Hua Zi wiped the sweat from his forehead and immediately stepped aside to contact their Great Captain. While waiting, he didn't forget to look back at his squad leader; if Xu Hu hadn't shouted a sharp warning just now, he would probably be dead by now.

...

Captain Huang Jisen put down his headset and thought for a moment.

"Contact Captain Li immediately. I want to confirm his current position."

"Yes!"

The guard nearby dialed the number and handed the phone to Huang Jisen after a moment.

"Li Feng, where is your current position?"

Captain Huang asked while picking up a pen to mark the map.

"Mhm, mhm. You need to be fast. They only have two legs as well. Xu Hu's side has been in a constant firefight, and the enemy is retreating very quickly. At this rate, they might tear a hole through your position and slip away!"

"Good, I understand. I'll prepare a backup plan."

Huang Jisen hung up the phone. According to his deployment, if the enemy was spotted at any node, the troops at that node were responsible for pinning them down while other companies would immediately form an encirclement to 'close the door and beat the dog'.

However, Fox Shadow and his group were too cunning. As soon as they entered the ambush zone, they retreated rapidly, leaving the other companies very little time to react.

"We can't lose the target. This place isn't far from the border. If we lose them, they'll likely exit the borders of Huaxia, and then we'll have a problem."

Captain Huang muttered to himself.

"Have the base deploy armed helicopters. If the ground troops leave a gap, then there's no need to give them a dignified death. Just blast them to pieces. In short, since they came in, they can forget about leaving."

Huang Jisen gritted his teeth. Especially after hearing Xu Hu's report that two team members were wounded, he felt a bit of regret for this 'competition-style' approach to the fight.

"Yes!"

The guard replied excitedly and immediately relayed Captain Huang's orders. Just as he put the phone down, he noticed an incoming call. He answered quickly and then handed the phone to Captain Huang.

"Report, Battalion Commander Wang of the Reconnaissance Battalion requests to speak with you."

"Old Wang, yes... what? You're there? Excellent! You old fox. I just ordered the armed helicopters to deploy. If no one was blocking that gap, I was prepared to let them taste some missiles."

"Good, good. They are highly likely to encounter you. Li Feng's company will still take a while to get there, so I'm leaving that spot to you. Be careful with everything. They have two snipers in their team that we didn't spot earlier—we've already suffered for it. Right, right. When this is over, I'll treat you to a drink. Haha!"

Huang Jisen hung up the phone, and his furrowed brows instantly relaxed. The noose was finally tightened. All that remained was the performance.

...

Fox Shadow was in a bit of a pathetic state. For this job, he was being hunted like a dog before he'd even done anything, and he had even lost a top subordinate. This left him feeling incredibly suppressed and angry.

"Monkey, where is that Viper?"

He pulled his thoughts back. It wasn't safe yet. Nothing else mattered; they had to get back alive first.

"Boss, he's... he's just up ahead. He hasn't noticed anything unusual on his end yet. I've already told him to come and meet us."

Monkey could be said to have the worst physical stamina in the squad. After this frantic sprint, he was already out of breath. Fortunately, he hadn't been left behind; it could be said that his will to survive had triggered his physical potential.

Black Bear's death had served as a stimulus. Fear began to take root in his heart—a fear of death. It was exactly this fear that dominated his spirit, allowing him to hold onto that last breath of energy to keep going until now.

Now that he had suddenly relaxed, that breath of energy dissipated. Monkey could no longer run; his speed dropped instantly, and his footsteps became clumsy.

Fox Shadow ran another 100 meters before seeing Viper creeping over with a pistol in hand.

"Boss, did you guys run into a ghost? Was that gunfire from you? Man, I thought you were in there gunning down wolves."

Viper looked at the breathless Fox Shadow, a bit confused by the situation.

"Lone Wolf, tell him to go pick up Monkey. He's been left behind. Be quick. As for anything else, don't tell him yet."

Fox Shadow ignored Viper's words, but he couldn't tell him the truth either. After all, Viper wasn't a mercenary like them. If he heard a squad of special forces was chasing them with guns, there was no guarantee he wouldn't just drive off and leave them.

Lone Wolf nodded and repeated Fox Shadow's words to Viper.

"Okay, okay! You guys have some water first, there's some in the car. Also, didn't you need to change clothes? I'll head over first and make sure to bring him out."

Viper finished speaking and hurried toward the back.

"Big Guy, take Xiao Ge Zi and scout the situation ahead. You're more alert. See if the Huaxia soldiers have blocked the road."

"Okay, Boss."

Big Guy and the other man ran forward with their sniper rifles. After running a long distance, they followed a trail into the woods. Fox Shadow relaxed slightly as he watched them disappear.

"Lone Wolf, it seems we still have a glimmer of hope."

"Boss, drink some water. Monkey's coming, I'll go help out."

"Mhm."

Fox Shadow took a sip of water and turned to look at Monkey and the others. Monkey was running to the point of collapse and was now being supported by Viper and the others. It took several of them a great deal of effort to stuff Monkey into the car.

Everyone caught their breath and then piled into the vehicle. Viper started the car, floored the gas, and the vehicle lunged forward.

"Lone Wolf, go pick up Big Guy and the other up ahead. Also, ask Viper if there are any other small paths around here. The original route definitely can't be used. We need to pick an unfamiliar path that is closest to the border. Once we reach the border, they won't be able to do anything to us."

Lone Wolf nodded and turned to ask Viper.

"There is. There's a fork in the road ahead; we can turn in another direction then."

The car drove forward for a while before Big Guy and his companion leaped out from the woods. Viper slammed on the brakes, and the two of them hopped onto the commercial van.

Before the car had even come to a full stop, it accelerated violently again. The rear wheels spun in place for a moment, instantly kicking up a cloud of yellow dust.