The Grand Performance Begins

The speed at which I type is still abysmal, but at least I've managed to get something out. Here’s a chapter for the early hours—once you’ve finished reading, go to sleep. If you can’t, feel free to join the group and chat with Rice! And don’t forget about the recommendation votes! The Hunting Group number is 121162553.

“Damn it!”

“These bastards!”

Suppressing the wave of nausea in his stomach, Li Changjiang gripped Elissa’s arm tightly, and together they withdrew swiftly from the outskirts of Rabbraka.

The blazing fires and sporadic gunshots behind them left him numb. Perhaps after more than a month of witnessing so much warfare, Li Changjiang truly had become numb. Yet just moments ago, his understanding of the cruelty of war—and of humanity—had been shattered anew.

It was inhuman.

The scene from earlier flashed before his eyes, and his expression twisted with rage. Had he not seen it himself, Li Changjiang would never have imagined that Libyans could slaughter their own people.

Men!

Women!

Even children!

Worse than beasts!

“Elissa! Hey, Elissa!”

“Don’t touch me!”

“Hey!”

Smack!

The sharp sound echoed, and a clear handprint appeared instantly on Li Changjiang’s face, the stinging pain bringing him a sudden clarity.

Silence fell between them.

With a choked sob, Elissa’s shoulders trembled incessantly. Li Changjiang made no further attempt to comfort her. As a Libyan, witnessing her compatriots butcher their own, he could not fathom what she was feeling.

Yet in Li Changjiang’s heart, a seed began to sprout for the first time.

He wanted to become stronger! Faster, more precise, more alert!

He understood now: on the battlefield, only those who are quicker and more accurate than their enemies survive.

All of this required learning.

And more importantly, he realized that no matter how strong he became, he alone could not change the outcome of a war. It would take thousands, millions, all yearning for strength, to ensure the strength of a nation.

Never before had Li Changjiang so clearly grasped the meaning of “Only when a country is strong can its people live in peace and prosperity.”

Only when your homeland stands unyielding behind you can you have the courage and hope to survive.

As the vision before his eyes grew ever clearer, the seed in Li Changjiang’s heart quietly broke through the soil, and though he himself was unaware, with time, it would grow into a towering tree.

Silence lingered for a long time.

Only when the gunfire faded completely did Li Changjiang stand, walk up the sand dune, and glance toward Rabbraka.

The fires still burned fiercely, columns of smoke rising high into the night, visible even in darkness.

He could imagine the scene in Rabbraka. He was no saint, neither filled with universal love nor inclined to offer mercy without reason.

War is war; there is little room for sentiment.

“Elissa, we must leave!”

“Elissa!”

There was no response behind him.

Li Changjiang spun around, stunned.

“Damn it! Bastard!”

“Elissa! Elissa!”

Elissa was gone. Li Changjiang glanced at the spot where they had just sat—damn, the gun was missing too!

No doubt, that crazy woman had headed for Rabbraka.

Without hesitation, Li Changjiang grabbed his sniper rifle and rushed toward Rabbraka. Though he would not squander his compassion, Elissa had shared life and death with him several times. Without her help, he would hardly have found his way forward in this place.

Bang!

Rat-tat-tat! Rat-tat-tat!

Boom!

The dense gunfire quickly reached his ears, leaving him bewildered.

He hadn’t stopped to think. If Li Changjiang had kept a cool head, he might have realized that Elissa could not possibly have moved so fast.

They had just run for their lives for over ten minutes to escape, and Elissa had vanished in the blink of an eye.

Bang bang!

The gunshots, like frantic drumbeats, sent his blood boiling and his nerves taut.

On the other side.

Hearing the gunfire, Elissa did not foolishly charge headlong into Rabbraka. She advanced cautiously from the perimeter, and the sights along the way filled her with waves of nausea.

A woman with her abdomen slashed open!

Bodies with limbs blown apart!

Entrails strewn across the ground!

It was unbearable.

Those damned bastards! She could hardly believe that this was the work of the government troops she had fought for.

“Tiger Squad, what now? Their firepower is too intense!”

Thud thud!

Two muffled sounds, and the two Libyan soldiers rushing forward fell immediately.

Over twenty figures cross-fired, leaving no blind spots. The Libyans, with their wild-dog tactics, couldn’t even breach the outermost defenses, let alone cause casualties.

But the Libyans were not fools. After several failed charges, they ceased their assault and switched to a stubborn defense of Rabbraka’s entrance and exit to Misurata.

This put Guan Hu and his team in a bind.

“We withdraw. They aren’t our target; there’s no need to waste ourselves here!”

“Captain, this is a rare chance for a real fight—shouldn’t we just go for it?”

“Tiger Squad, why not let the machine gun roar, just once?”

“Yeah, let’s give them hell!”

“You think this is a game? Nonsense! That’s an order—retreat immediately!”

They may have been eager to fight, but at the word “order,” no one argued further. Instead, they withdrew quickly, covering one another as they retreated from the attack point.

In moments, not a shadow remained.

With the gunfire silenced, the Libyans across the way probed forward several times. Finding no one, they darted from cover, sprinting toward Misurata.

When Li Changjiang arrived, he found nothing but a few corpses.

Hmm?

“What’s this?”

A sudden metallic clang caught his ear. Li Changjiang bent down and picked up a silver badge from the ground.

“A Silver Eagle badge? Could it really be Hamis’s men? Impossible!”

Li Changjiang quickly dismissed his suspicion.

He realized: Hamis’s troops would not attack Misurata now—not until the government forces attacking Benghazi had withdrawn.

Eliminating that possibility, only one remained.

The rebels were trying to smear the government troops!

With that thought, Li Changjiang’s expression grew strange.

He suddenly recalled that the American bodies and prisoners had also vanished, likely taken by these same people. If they really meant to frame the government troops and provoke the Americans and Western coalition into deploying ground forces, then—

Then the Americans were in for quite a show!