In the small town of Carl, several miles east of the Libyan province capital of Zawiya, highways and buildings were horrendously damaged with smoke billowing everywhere. The stench of sulfur and burnt corpses permeated the air.
In front of a battered church, over a hundred anti-government militants assembled. They had arranged themselves in a semicircular formation around the church, which did not have a back entrance, and they sporadically fired into the structure.
Clad in shabby military uniform, a leading captain ceaselessly taunted inside the church using the Arabic language, seemingly hoping for a surrender. However, the only response was the intermittent shot of a HuaXia 77 pistol.
Confined within the church was an international rescue team China had sent to Libya. Comprising medical, logistics, and security groups, there were about thirty members.
As the leader of the rescue team, Su Qing was under great pressure. They had been surrounded for three days now. The Libyans, the government had sent to protect them, were either dead or severely wounded. The rescue team was also critically low on supplies and ammunition, probably unable to hold out until nightfall.
The government troops were too corrupt and had been completely infiltrated by the rebels. From the day the rescue team arrived, they had fallen into the enemy's scheming and found themselves besieged in the small town three days prior.
Looking back at her teammates, whose fatigue was intermixed with dread, Su Qing commanded, "If we fall into the hands of the rebels, they'll blackmail our homeland into recognizing their regime. We, the rescue team, operate on the principle of non-interference in international disputes, and we can't add political burdens to our country. Save the last bullet for yourself."
"Qingqing, what if we surrender? After all, they just want to take us hostage, not kill us. Our country will forgive us," the handsome young man named Zhang Yang, asked Su Qing intuitively, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
Su Qing, her apricot eyes wide open, swung the black pistol in her hand towards the man and yelled, "Zhang Yang, you coward, are you even a man? Remember the oath we took before we left the country? Loyal to our homeland, loyal to the people!"
This phrase was the slogan of HuaXia's military and police, and it was also the motto of the international rescue team. Hearing this, everyone clenched their guns even harder. Only Zhang Yang was sweating profusely, panting heavily.
Boom Boom Boom...
Intense explosions sounded from outside the windows, followed by a rapid sequence of assault rifle shots and a succession of horrific cries. The noises came so abruptly as if they were happening everywhere at once.
Quickly, Su Qing turned her head to look outside and saw the church precinct was in utter devastation.
Heavy firepower was directed at the rebels' camp. Grenades and shells accurately hit the rebels' high points. Blinking an eye, this sudden surge of firepower left the rebels unable to counterattack.
Just minutes later, the remaining rebels managed to react. They began a desperate charge towards the church. The sudden wave of firepower had completely destroyed the area around the church but had not done any damage to the church itself.
"Stop them quickly!" Su Qing yelled and fired a few rounds, knocking down the rebel soldiers at the front.
However, these rebellious soldiers were frantic and rushed towards the church, practically unstoppable. By the time others reacted, countless dissenters had already stormed the first floor.
At this point, the rebels no longer cared about capturing the rescue team alive. They blazed a trail with erratic gunfire, attempting to grab hostages in order to save their lives.
Although there were a few soldiers in the rescue team, their equipment was inadequate. The Type 77 pistol was fine for shooting birds, but it was woefully insufficient against these fully armed, frenzied rebels.
Within the blink of an eye, dozens of rebels reached the stairs. The security personnel at the front were instantly turned into blood-soaked sieves.
Seeing her teammates fall, Su Qing's eyes reddened. She was just about to stand up when she heard laughter emanating from outside the window. She felt a chill go through her and her scalp prickle. Her intuition urged her to immediately hit the deck.
At the window, an Apache helicopter slowly appeared. Its doors opened, and a Gatling gun was aimed at the stairwell. Behind the gun stood a man dressed in Libyan military uniform and wearing sunglasses.
He had a cigar clamped between his teeth and emitted waves of strange laughter. His hands were busy, though - manipulating the machine gun and punching holes into all the rebels who had reached the staircase.
The power of the Gatling gun was so intense that the bullets barely ricocheted, providing relative safety for the rescue team taking cover on both sides.
Empty shell casings splattered everywhere, several piled on top of Su Qing, practically burying her. The Gatling gun, capable of firing over five thousand rounds per minute, fired non-stop for five or six minutes until the stairwell was completely decimated.
With a hearty laugh, the man controlling the Gatling gun jumped from the helicopter, landing right next to Su Qing.
She looked up at him. He emanated an aura of formidable strength, cloaked in an aura of mystery and terror. His sunglasses obscured his face, but he was unquestionably commanding.
The man didn't linger around Su Qing. Instead, he drew twin golden M500 revolvers, killing all the injured rebels hiding in the blind spots.
The M500, touted as the most powerful handgun in the world, left fist-sized bloody holes with every shot, a true hand cannon.
"It's you, the immortal Xiao Yan. Stay away!" Suddenly, a tremulous line of Arabic emerged from behind the man.
Everyone looked up, only to see the captain leading the rebel army, who was currently clutching the back of Su Qing's collar, poking a gun at Su Qing's forehead.
However, the captain himself was hiding behind Su Qing. Su Qing was about 175 tall, and the captain was at most 170, completely blocked.
"No, don't shoot, someone will die." Zhang Yang, nervous about his goddess, finally dared to raise his head, waving his hands in an attempt to stop the man named Xiao Yan.
Unfortunately, Xiao Yan ignored him. Without raising his head, he fired a shot behind him. The bullet grazed Su Qing's left cheek, causing a searing pain.
The shot didn't hit the captain, but it scared him into ducking his head, and that duck cost the captain his life.
Another gunshot echoed, Su Qing felt a sharp pain in her right cheek, then a warm liquid splashed across her face.
The captain had ducked a bit too much, revealing his upper skull from the right, which Xiao Yan shot and burst open with a bullet.
On Xiao Yan's devil-may-care face, a wicked grin appeared, seemingly satisfied with his performance just now.
However, this scared Su Qing. She had also experienced life and death, but after all, she was still a woman. As she looked at the brain matter smeared on her hand, she couldn't help but scream.
"Why are you like this? That was way too dangerous just now. If you'd been slightly off, Qingqing would have been dead…" Zhang Yang, wanting to show off in front of his goddess, scolded Xiao Yan out of habit.
Without hesitation, Xiao Yan pointed his gun at Zhang Yang's forehead, scaring him into swallowing his words.
Just as Xiao Yan was about to unlock the safety of his revolver, a team of government troops rushed in, saving Zhang Yang's life. Leading them was a striking female major, surprisingly with an Asian beauty's face.
She walked up to Xiao Yan, saluted him respectfully, and reported loudly, "Report to General, all enemy forces have been eliminated, and we have full control of Karl."
Only then did Su Qing and others notice that on Xiao Yan's shoulder, surprisingly, was a general star. And he himself didn't seem too old, just about his early twenties, except for a hint of wisdom and determination.
"Major Lan, lead a team to escort them back to the embassy. After I take down Zavia, we will meet at the base, I'll invite you to dinner." The words spoken by the "undying bird" for the first time left everyone dumbfounded. Both Major Lan and the "undying bird" Xiao Yan were speaking Chinese, sounds originating from the Beijing area.
What shocked them even more was the content of Xiao Yan's speech. His goal was surprisingly to attack Xavier, which had been completely occupied by the rebel army.
Before this, the government forces had fought for quite a while, with heavy casualties and no progress. However, in his hands, the battle seemed so easy.
"Mission guaranteed!" The radiant Blue Lieutenant received the order, and shot a round towards the sky. This action woke up the dumbfounded rescue team just in time to hear her coldly order: "Whether you are injured or not, whether you are willing or not, follow me. Whoever moves slowly will have to bear the consequences themselves."
This wasn't any soldier, she was practically a bandit. Su Qing was very confused. These people, were they here to rescue her or to take her out of the pan and into the fire?
Smack...
While Su Qing was in a daze, she suddenly felt a strong slap on her buttocks. She instinctively jumped away and turned to find that Xiao Yan was laughing wildly.
"What a nice ass. Definitely enjoyable in bed. Beauty, be my wife?"
Su Qing was so angry that she almost fainted. Who in the world dared to flirt with her so frivolously? There was one before, a little rogue, who teased her once and got his balls kicked by her.
Su Qing was about to attack Xiao Yan but was held back by the team. They knew that angering Xiao Yan meant a dead end.
After calming down, she remembered that he saved her life. Biting her lip, she pointed at Xiao Yan and said in a choked voice, "You shameless rogue, I'll remember you."
"Being remembered by a beauty, I am truly blessed." The mischievous man who was joking around just now suddenly bowed to Su Qing in a gentlemanly manner. Before she could recover from her emotional upheaval, he started to laugh like a fool.
Su Qing stomped her foot, gave Xiao Yan a hard look, and left in a huff.
When the rescue team was ready to depart, they spotted Libyan government soldiers everywhere. They found their number was that of the 32nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade of the Libyan Army. This was a very strong brigade, under the control of Gaddafi's son, Hamis. It looked like they were seriously going to fight for Xavier.
As she got into the vehicle, Su Qing couldn't help but look back at the church where she had been trapped for three days, only to see the detestable Major-General standing at the window, whistling and dumping water from it. Disgusted, she turned her back, and the military truck drove away.
Xiao Yan, with the codename Phoenix, was the Brigadier General of Phoenix Corps, under the jurisdiction of Wuzhou International Security Company. Simply put, he was the head of a mercenary group. Nevertheless, Wuzhou International Security Company also undertook a lot of security work in many European countries, and among them, Phoenix Corps was the main foreign legion in many Mediterranean countries.
Xiao Yan left his hometown of Hedong when he was eight and has been living in Europe ever since - brought up by five teachers. From the time he was able to understand, he has been undertaking missions - assassinations and protection all the same, curious and bizarre, all sorts of things, seemingly taking on any high-paid job.
His mission this time is to act as the safety consultant for Libya, taking the temporary role as the deputy brigade commander for the Hamsis Brigade, leading troops to attack Zawiya. As for the rescue operation, that was an impromptu instruction from the Fifth Master – a slight diversion from the route.
While he was pondering, the radio operator brought the military radio – the news from the Fifth Master was always timely; he knew that his rescue mission was completed.
“After you capture Zawiya, you are not allowed to stay in Libya, you don’t need to return to base either, go directly to Huaxia; there is a new assignment,” the voice of the Fifth Master was heavy, without the usual light-hearted feeling.
A puzzled Xiao Yan asked, “Isn't it said that we are not allowed to set foot in Huaxia? What is the mission? I have arranged a candlelight dinner with Blue Shadow.”
“It’s not your troop going, just you alone. As for Blue Shadow, I will honor your appointment, that’s it. I have to hang up now,” Fifth Master hastily ended the call.
Xiao Yan was stupefied for a moment, after realizing he cursed, “Grandpa, is this really the Master? Doesn't he know about the Mediterranean climate, can't he say a greeting?”
…
A few days later, the government army captured Zawiya. Xiao Yan received the highest medal. Yet, in the same day, he resigned. Although Hamsis tried to retain him, Xiao Yan embarked on the journey home.
