161: Chapter 161 Underground Carnival

The silence on the other end of the line lasted for less than three seconds before it was broken by a deafening roar.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu! Are you fucking crazy?! Are you accusing me?!"

President Tanglangpu's voice was so sharp it felt like it would pierce the receiver, exploding directly in the meeting room of Israel's supreme military command center. That mixture of offended rage and unreasonable dominance was her unique trademark.

"Don't forget who's helping you! Who gave you the guts to start this war and helped you suppress those damn sex scandals back home! My aircraft carrier strike group is still in the Persian Gulf backing you up! And now you're turning around and biting me?!"

"You better get it straight who your enemy really is! Don't go biting everyone like a fucking mad dog!"

Prime Minister Netanyahu's face was ashen as he listened without a word. The generals beside him all looked solemn, not even daring to breathe loudly. They could clearly hear President Tanglangpu's heavy breathing on the other end, ragged with fury.

"We..." Prime Minister Netanyahu just wanted to explain that those weren't ordinary weapons.

"Beep... beep... beep..."

The phone had been rudely hung up by the other party.

Silence filled the meeting room.

Prime Minister Netanyahu slowly set down the red phone receiver with a soft 'click' that sounded exceptionally harsh in the silence. He closed his eyes, taking a few seconds to suppress the anger and humiliation in his heart.

President Tanglangpu's reaction was both outside his expectations and somehow within reason.

The anger of being backstabbed by an ally felt real, but the confusion regarding the specific incident and the irritability of being wrongly accused also didn't seem faked.

Could it be... that the U Federation really didn't do it?

As soon as this thought surfaced, Prime Minister Netanyahu and all the generals present felt a chill. If even the most powerful military force in the world didn't know what happened, then what exactly was it... that had wiped one of their brigade commands off the map?

"Mr... Mr. Prime Minister," Chief of General Staff Moshe Dayan's voice was dry, "what do we do now?"

Prime Minister Netanyahu opened his eyes, the coldness in his gaze even more intense than before.

"She won't admit it, but her words reminded me." He turned to the map, his finger stabbing heavily at a certain point in the Gaza region. "Our enemy has always been here!"

"No matter what demonic methods they used, they are still flesh and blood! Pass my orders: blockade all intelligence! Publicly announce that the 7th Armored Brigade headquarters was hit by a saturated long-range heavy fire strike from Da Shi State, suffering heavy casualties!"

"At the same time, mobilize the Air Force. I want twenty-four-hour continuous bombing of Gaza! Turn that place upside down! Even if it's a mouse, I want it burned to ash by bombs!"

The Prime Minister's voice echoed in the meeting room, carrying a madness that would stop at nothing.

Fear of the unknown had ultimately transformed into a primal desire to destroy everything.

...

Meanwhile, in the Gaza region, within the tunnel network of the Hamas resistance organization, the atmosphere was the polar opposite of the oppression and madness in Tel Aviv.

Inside the tunnels, people were lost in celebration.

Ethan and his subordinates were excited to the point of madness. They threw themselves onto the mountain-like piles of weapon crates, kissing and stroking them like crazy.

A burly man with a stubbled face held a brand-new RPG launcher, crying like a child.

"Allahu... I see it... I really see it! Brand new! Not even unpacked!"

Another veteran carefully opened a box of rifle ammunition, grabbed a handful of golden bullets, took a deep sniff under his nose, and showed an expression of utter intoxication.

"It's the scent of gunpowder... not those damp second-hand goods! It's the scent of fresh gunpowder from the factory!"

They stroked the cold, hard gun bodies as if they were stroking a lover's skin; they opened cans of military rations, greedily sniffing the meat aroma that wasn't exactly delicious but represented 'survival'.

They had been in despair for too long.

Out of ammunition and food, besieged underground, listening to the explosions overhead every day, watching their comrades fall one by one due to hunger, injury, and despair. They had even prepared to launch one final suicide charge and die gloriously in battle.

But at this moment, a miracle had descended.

Ethan stood on an ammunition box, raising his hands high, his voice trembling slightly with extreme excitement.

"Brothers!"

Everyone's eyes converged on him—eyes that had been reignited with fire.

"Allah has answered us! Allah has not abandoned us!"

Ethan picked up a brand-new rifle and slammed the magazine in with force, producing a crisp sound.

"These are the weapons Allah has bestowed upon us! This is the army Allah has sent to save us!"

"Allahu Akbar!" he shouted with all his might.

"Allahu Akbar!!!"

The deafening shouts crashed back and forth in the tunnels, nearly lifting the soil overhead. The fanatical emotion quickly infected everyone.

Ferris and the dozen or so other captives who had been rescued together were enveloped by this fanatical atmosphere, but they only felt a chill throughout their bodies.

He looked at the expression on Ethan's face—a mixture of ecstasy, worship, and sanctity—but another image uncontrollably surfaced in his mind—

Those silent "soldiers" who moved like machines, throwing the corpses of SDF soldiers into fires and craters like trash.

When the man called "Reaper" snapped an enemy's neck, the gaze behind his goggles remained completely unfazed.

Ferris parted his dry, cracked lips, the sound from his throat as raspy as sandpaper rubbing together.

He walked to Ethan's side and whispered, "Ethan... maybe they... aren't messengers..."

Ethan was immersed in great joy and grand plans for the future; he froze for a moment before realizing what Ferris was saying. Seeing Ferris's pale face and hollow eyes, he understood immediately.

Poor Ferris must have been terrified by the enemy's cruel torture, and his mind had broken.

Ethan patted Ferris's shoulder firmly, saying in a tone full of pity and concern, "Brother, you've suffered too much. Get some rest, everything will be fine. Allah's army will avenge us!"

After speaking, he ignored Ferris and turned to face the excited faces behind him, raising his arms and shouting:

"Brothers, take up the weapons Allah has bestowed upon us!"

"The moment for the counterattack... has arrived!"