Stunned and speechless

Surt is a small town situated to the east of Misurata and Tripoli, bordering the Mediterranean’s Surt Bay. If not for Qadhafi, hardly anyone would remember this town with only a few tens of thousands of inhabitants.

Yet now, this small town had become a heavy burden in Li Changjiang’s heart.

Khamis had given him a simple task: escort someone to the city of Surt.

But as long as Li Changjiang’s nerves remained taut, he knew this was anything but a simple mission. Otherwise, Khamis would never have offered him a staggering fee of one million dollars.

That was an astronomical price!

Looking at the thick stack of money neatly piled on the table, Li Changjiang felt, for the first time, that the life of a mercenary was suddenly very real to him.

Knock, knock, knock!

The sound of knocking came. Through the crack in the door, Li Changjiang saw Eliza standing outside, hesitating for a moment before opening the door.

“Eliza!”

Shh!

Unexpectedly, Eliza made a shushing gesture, glanced around outside, and slipped cautiously inside, leaving Li Changjiang somewhat baffled.

If Khamis intended to harm him, he would have no way to resist in this military camp, so Li Changjiang didn’t believe there was anything to hide.

But what he hadn’t anticipated was that Eliza didn’t seem to be creeping in at midnight out of fear of Khamis.

“Eliza—”

“Mmm!”

He hadn’t even finished his sentence when he suddenly felt a warm, moist sensation on his lips. A hint of seductive fragrance drifted into his nose, making his breathing suddenly tense.

Before Eliza’s fiery passion, Li Changjiang’s movements were awkward. He didn’t dare wrap his arms around this Libyan beauty pressing against him, instead placing his hands on her shoulders, trying to push her away.

Yet the lingering yearning in his mind made his actions slow and clumsy as he tried to respond to her.

The moment felt as if it lasted an eternity.

When he finally opened his eyes and pushed Eliza away, the Libyan girl’s face was crimson, no longer displaying her previous allure, but instead showing a bashful shyness.

There was no doubt:

Eliza had fallen in love.

But the inexperienced Li Changjiang couldn’t distinguish such a change.

“Hey, Eliza, I’m sorry!”

“No, no, no!”

“Thank you!”

Eliza suddenly said, leaving Li Changjiang confused, but he soon realized she was referring to his request to Khamis that Eliza join the mission.

“Li, when the mission is over, you should leave here immediately. Don’t return to Tripoli.”

Eliza’s words left Li Changjiang puzzled. If he didn’t return to Tripoli, without Khamis’s permission, he would have difficulty crossing the Libyan border, let alone getting past the heavily guarded checkpoints. It was nearly impossible.

“Why?”

“General Khamis has changed. He’s hired a large number of free mercenaries like you. Once the rebels begin their assault on Tripoli, he’ll send these men to fight. By then, you’ll have no chance to leave Libya.”

Eliza’s tone was urgent.

“What about Surt? Do you know whom Khamis wants me to escort to Surt?”

Eliza shook her head.

Such crucial information was never something Khamis would share with her, especially now that he sensed Eliza might have developed personal feelings for this man from China.

Khamis had no ill will toward the Chinese, especially since Li Changjiang had saved his life more than once. Compared to others in the Libyan government forces, Khamis was undoubtedly a soldier of considerable integrity.

But Li Changjiang couldn’t be sure that, when the nation’s fate hung in the balance, personal virtues would survive to the war’s end.

At least,

Compared to national survival, sacrificing personal character hardly mattered.

“The enemy has already taken Misurata. I know Khamis has received orders from the president, hoping he can retake Misurata. But the Western powers won’t allow him to do so.”

“Misurata?”

Li Changjiang was taken aback.

“You mean Khamis’s target is Misurata?”

He immediately pulled from beneath his bunk a somewhat blurred map, and at a glance, spotted the small black dot between Tripoli and Surt—Misurata, as Eliza had mentioned.

“That’s right. General Khamis’s goal is Misurata.”

The room instantly fell silent.

Li Changjiang’s gaze settled on the map, his mind racing.

The rebels had already seized Misurata, which surprised him. He couldn’t understand how the Libyan government forces fought this war—how could the enemy occupy a city within their own territory? Wasn’t this allowing the opponent to establish a base deep behind their lines?

It was utterly absurd!

To reach this point in the war, even if the rebels were pigs, they could wear down the government troops.

“Eliza, can you tell when Khamis plans to move into Misurata?”

Suddenly realizing something, Li Changjiang looked at Eliza.

Eliza hesitated.

“There’s no exact date, but it should be soon. Western countries have intensified their bombing and air strikes on Tripoli, and the government forces’ offensive on Benghazi’s eastern front has stalled. If they don’t take Misurata quickly, the government troops on the eastern front may be completely annihilated.”

Hearing this, he checked Misurata’s position, then looked toward Benghazi, and suddenly understood.

In other words, the government-held Tripoli and Surt were interlaced with the rebel-controlled Misurata and Benghazi. Whoever seized one of the cities in the encirclement first would gain the advantage.

And the government’s situation was even more dire, because the allied coalition—including the US, Britain, and France—had been loudly declaring their intention to deploy ground troops in Libya to strike the government forces, not merely enforce air blockades and bombings.

This was naked military intimidation and threat.

Though he despised the methods of the US, Britain, and France, Li Changjiang had to admit that when these Western powers abandoned all shame, they were unstoppable.

Especially when facing opponents like the Libyan government forces.

Their shamelessness was thicker than the Great Wall.

“When do we depart?”

Eliza glanced at her wristwatch.

“Soon. Less than two hours.”

“So soon?”

Li Changjiang was surprised.

It was the middle of the night. Khamis intended for them to depart before dawn.

The journey from Tripoli to Surt was only a few hundred kilometers—a drive of several hours—yet Khamis was so hurried.

“Then we’d better get ready.”

Li Changjiang said as he turned around.

But the scene before him left him utterly stunned.