May 3, 139 New Era

The fears finally came true. As soon as I came out of the dormitory in the morning, I saw those familiar military vehicles kill in front of the sentry post, verify their identities, break into the base, and go straight to the command post. Adru is here, and most likely, as Jade says, for Tokar. I hurried to the command post.

In the courtyard, empty military vehicles were quietly parked aside. I still used the old way, descending from the roof to eavesdropping next to the window of the colonel's office. There was no sound of speech in the room, only the sound of people pacing. When the pacing stopped, Adru's voice followed.

"Colonel, what do you think?"

There was a "pop", a wad of paper was thrown on the table, and then the colonel's answer.

"I don't agree with those conclusions."

Adru actually laughed out loud, like a victor laughing at the defeated general who was at the end of his rope.

"Colonel Karp, you question the conclusions and techniques of the headquarters, I don't care. The only thing I know of is that at around 6:30 p.m. on May 1, a shootout took place in the town of Zayesibi for more than two minutes, in which the local arms dealer Erekri and his gang of men were killed. Based on the sightings of the residents, it can be assumed that it was your 'followers' who started it. We also collected blood stains left at the scene and conducted DNA comparisons. Don't forget, in Operation Medusa Hunt, you operate under the command system of the Ministry of Intelligence, and we have every right to call on any information from your soldiers. ”

"It's so thorough, it sounds like you knew something was going to happen there."

The Colonel's rebuttal was also a question for me, and Jade couldn't figure it out yesterday, but Adrew didn't bother it.

"Our eyeliner is all over the Alpha region, you can't understand it, and you don't need to understand it. You just have to do one thing. ”

Seeing that the colonel did not answer, Adru directly made his request.

"Hand over Private Tokar Yaron."

It was a natural consequence, but I was still uneasy from the bottom of my heart. The Ministry of Intelligence approached Tokar to investigate his identity, and Tokar would not have said anything. So what will they do? Torture? Definitely, these people don't go to the front to kill people themselves, but they are more ruthless than any soldier, especially when they really want to know something.

"Your intelligence department is only leading us in the 'Medusa Hunt' operation, but now you are doing an identity investigation outside of the mission, even if there is an order to expand the supervision power, I, as the commander, have the right to refuse!"

"I repeat, Colonel, I have come to convey orders, not to ask for your opinion. If you have any objections to my approach, please go to the headquarters to reflect it. Now, hand it over! ”

Adru's tone completely changed to a reprimand, and judging by the way he looked, he had to take Tokar away. The colonel was still making excuses, and the more the two spoke, the more nervous they became, and they almost put aside their identities and cursed.

I reckon in a little while, Adru will find it himself. Even though Jade told me not to interfere, and I knew I couldn't help, I knew I couldn't stay there and I had to do something. Maybe I can go to the scene and make a difference, at least for a while.

Having made up my mind, I immediately descended down the outer wall, jumped down when I reached the second floor, and went straight to the office, but I didn't see the soldiers brought by Adru at the top of the stairs. Again, the soldiers were standing at the door of the office, noisy. There was still one man standing among them, and it turned out to be Tokar!

Is he going to deliver it himself?

He wore his military uniform over his body and a bandage on his left arm. I tried to call him, but with Jed's orders, I had to walk over silently. As I slowed down in front of the office door, Tokar walked into the room with a dignified face, despite the soldiers' resistance, like a warrior who had died generously, walking towards Adru.

"I'm Tokar."

The pronunciation of each word is a bullet that strikes the eardrum of the person in front of him. Adru's eyes narrowed, surprised at Tokar's self-defeating approach. Of course, the colonel behind him had an even more surprised expression.

"Tokar Yaron, it's good," Adru hugged his arm and nodded frequently, "I'm Major Adru of the Intelligence Department, and I'm looking for you for something, and I want you to come with us." However, if you can answer me one question, then I might consider letting you stay. ”

Looking at Adru's smug and arrogant expression, I was furious for a moment. This meant that as long as Tokar admitted his "nameless" identity and was related to the Colonel, he could let Tokar stay - and then find an opportunity to take him with the Colonel. In the face of this frivolous provocation, Tokar gave the answer that best suited his character.

"Take me away, but don't expect me to tell you anything!"

Adru's face showed a hint of displeasure, and the smug expression disappeared without a trace. He rubbed his hands back and forth, and his eyes widened.

"Very well, I'm going to give it a try. Take! ”

Two soldiers came over to hold Tokar, who waved his arm and pushed the men away, and his uniforms fell to the ground.

"I can walk on my own."

He said coldly, turning and walking out of the room. Adru and his soldiers followed. As Tokar walked past me, I stood against the wall, and I had to pretend I didn't know anything, my brother who had lived and died together for more than ten years.

Tokar saw me and smiled lightly at me, completely unconcerned about what was going to happen next. I could only avoid his gaze and try to act as if nothing had happened.

Adru noticed my expression as well, and he looked at me, perhaps not seeing anything, and turned his head away. They just took Tokar away.

I didn't say a word until the men drove away. I don't know if I've stiffened, stiffened in the process of executing orders again and again. But the feeling of confusion in my heart made me realize that I shouldn't have carried out Jed's orders so happily, because those people didn't even talk to me, and they didn't even intend to investigate me. I can defend Tokar, even as an outsider. But in fact I didn't do anything, watching Tokar disappear from front of me.

Picking up my uniform on the floor, I walked into the office. The colonel slumped in his chair and hung his head silently.

"Colonel, Tokar ......"

"You go down first, Akeya, let me be quiet."

*****

When I returned to the dormitory, I was not in the mood to work, so I found a step to sit in, in a daze, and tidy up my mood. I sat in a daze for an unknown amount of time, and when I looked up, I found Lily standing in front of me.

"If you don't work hard, why are you in a daze?" Lily asked, staring at me.

"Uh, nothing. Maybe I didn't sleep too well, so I went to work. ”

I stood up to leave. Lily didn't know what was going on yet, and it was better not to know.

"Wait, Akya, where's Tokar? Did you see him? I couldn't find him anywhere and my phone was turned off. ”

"I don't know."

Of course, I couldn't tell the truth, but I couldn't think of anything else for a moment, so I just walked forward without looking back. Lily shouted at me several times from behind, but I just pretended not to hear and almost ran away.

Finally, it was noon, and I was going to find some work as soon as I finished eating, but I happened to run into Lily again at the door of the cafeteria. I secretly complained, Lily usually eats in the hospital, why did she run to the cafeteria on this side of the base today? I tried to escape, but it was too late, and Lily grabbed me by the arm.

"Akeya, what's wrong with you? What are you hiding from me? Does it have anything to do with Tokar? Where did he go? ”

I bowed my head and remained silent, avoiding Lily's gaze.

"His phone was turned off, and I asked the major, who didn't elaborate. What's wrong with all of you? What's wrong? ”

"He received instructions from the colonel this morning and went on a mission."

I tried to make up a lie, and Lily nodded incredulously.

"Aren't you going, then?"

"This time it's just one person, Tokar snatched it himself."

"The Colonel agreed?"

"Of course."

"You're lying!"

Lily's eyes suddenly widened and she stared at me angrily.

"Tokar's injuries are not healed, how could the Colonel send him out? It's just sent, only one wounded soldier is sent, will he rest assured? ”

I can't stop complaining. If you think about it, I don't believe this lie myself, so why did I just say it.

"Akeya, we're friends, right? Tell you the truth, what the hell happened to Tokar? ”

Lily stamped her feet in such a hurry that she grabbed my arm and shook it. I couldn't resist it at all, so I had to break free, smear the soles of my feet with oil again, and disappear at a speed through a hail of bullets.

In the afternoon, I took a leave of absence from the cleaning team to hide in the base, but I was afraid to see Lily, so I had to go outside to avoid the limelight. I was just about to leave the house when I received a call from the colonel asking me to go to the office, and I left immediately. Along the way, I picked the path behind the building, and climbed over the wall into the command post compound, for fear of being discovered by Lily.

In the office, the colonel's sitting posture did not change much from the morning. On the table were several sheets of paper and photographs with printed letters. I went into the house to say hello and stood in front of the colonel. The colonel leaned in his chair and sat up a little.

"Akeya, I'll only ask you once, is there anything you'd like to ask about Tokar? Or is there anything you'd like to say? ”

Tokar was taken away and may not return. The colonel was missing a good soldier, I was missing a best friend, and I still "watched" him go. Now my thoughts are more appropriate to describe as self-blame. But I still can't say it. There was silence in the room for a while.

"Since there's nothing to say, let's talk about the next mission."

I suddenly felt the need to warn the person in front of me.

"Colonel, my subordinates know that Tokar won't expose us, but you should also be worried about ......"

"I'm sorry."

A sudden sentence interrupted all my words, and I looked at the colonel in a daze.

"Anyway, as a commander, I have a duty to protect my soldiers, but I am derelict in my duty. I didn't expect the intelligence department's nose to be so sharp, and it was my fault that things turned out like this. If you're going to hate me, I don't have an opinion. If not, I hope we get back to work as soon as possible. ”

I understood that the Colonel wanted to eliminate the effects of Tokar's departure in the most direct way possible. I believe in his attitude, but why does this way of dealing with it make me feel uncomfortable? Can the choice of a question only be left or right, right or wrong? I don't want to keep myself depressed, but ......

In the end, I got back to normal.

"Please instruct, Colonel."

*****

In 1550, Jade and I walked into a hill in Area B. It is located to the west of Area C, and the so-called mountain is actually only about 700 meters above sea level, but it is called a "no-go zone" by the locals, and almost no one comes. The whole mountain is tightly wrapped in all kinds of unnamed shrubs and weeds, yellow and green.

As we went deeper into the mountains, I noticed that there were more and more weeds with red, yellow and green colors, and they were all over the place. These things that are more than a meter high, just looking at them make my eyes glaze up.

"Don't stare at the grass, you'll hallucinate."

Jade said, handing me a pair of sunglasses, and I saw that he had already put them on at some point.

"It's mirage, it emits light that stimulates the optic nerve and causes hallucinations," Jade said as he opened the way, "and they're not meant to be here." ”

"Are they used to hide munitions?"

Jade nodded slightly, and continued to walk forward. These grasses are very tenacious, and it takes a lot of effort to get rid of them. We can't cut the grass, and we have to put a lot of effort into every step. It seems that Erecri has gone to great lengths to hide the arms, so I can't afford to waste this opportunity.

During the battle in Zayesibi town, one of Erekri's men fled, but was captured four hours later by the intelligence department, which arrived later. In the face of the tactics of the Ministry of Intelligence, this guy quickly made all the moves.

Joining the battle that day were 17 mercenaries that Erecri had brought in improvise, as well as his only four men. The munitions brought to the town were the best goods in Erekri's hands, in order to prop up the façade in front of Mirmili. According to Erecri's idea, he is going to sell all of his inventory to Viper, which is said to be enough to sustain Viper's operations for the next few months. So, Vipers may try to continue looking for these weapons.

On top of that, when Mirmiri was talking to Erecri about business, he kicked out all the people Erecri had brought with him, and he didn't know which four of those people were Erecri's subordinates, at least they hadn't officially met. And the "Viper" understands that only those four people know where the arms are hidden. But what they don't know is that only one of the four is now left, still in a cell in the Ministry of Intelligence.

It's a great opportunity to dive in.

*****

"We're here."

We didn't know how far we went, but we cleared the last bushes of grass and finally came to a cave. It's quite spacious, and trucks can drive in. We turned on the searchlight and looked inside. The light reached into the dark hole, illuminating only a limited extent, and nothing came out, and it seemed that the cave was much deeper than we thought.

According to the captive, the rest of Erekri's arms were stored there. Usually four of his subordinates come to check on it regularly. After Adru left in the morning, the Intelligence Department gave the Colonel, along with the information they had told the Colonel to threaten Erecri's men to connect with the Viper, and told him to draw up a plan for infiltration as soon as possible, and to implement it tomorrow. Because the "Viper" could not have wasted too much time on a pile of munitions whose location was not even clear. It is estimated that it will not take more than two days, and if Erecri's men do not meet with them, they will give up.

So, the Ministry of Intelligence came up with this solution. First, let the captives contact the "Viper" to determine the time and place of the meeting, and then send someone to pretend to be him and offer the arms in both hands, so as to take this opportunity to enter the "Viper". Somehow, the Ministry of Intelligence didn't take Zayesibi Town to talk about it, nor did it appoint people, so the colonel appointed me, or rather, I volunteered to ask for help.

If the Ministry of Intelligence does not come today, this mission is 100 percent Tokar's. He will snatch it up, then ignore all orders and find an opportunity to cut off the "snake's head". In his absence, I should have done it.

However, I am afraid that this time it will not be so easy to infiltrate. From what I know about the "Viper", even with arms, they will not easily let an unfamiliar person join. I could be driven away, and the odds are very high, so I have to use arms as a bargaining chip, not a greeting gift. But in this way, when they find the munitions, they will unload the mill and kill the donkey. Even if I had a chance to escape, the infiltration mission would have been lost.

Therefore, my only choice is to threaten the "poisonous snake" with arms and act again.

On the way here, I memorized three sheets of A4 paper. Including the captive's natural information, Erecri's knowledge of the "Viper", the preparation before the transaction, and Erecri's personal habits, etc. Next, I'm going to get a good grasp of the state of the arms storage here, so that the Viper can be convinced.

After fumbling with the light of the searchlight for a long time, we finally found it. In the deepest part of the cave, rows of wooden boxes are stacked. Inside are all kinds of small arms, bullets, shells, but the quality is average, and there are ADK45 automatic rifles, RPGs are folk antiques, which are not much better than the low-level goods in the hands of ordinary terrorists.

Behind two wooden crates, Jade finds a small generator and uses it to turn on several electric lights hanging from the roof of the cave. With the help of the dim light, I noticed that there were still some simple household items in the cave.

"Let's get to work, Akya. The type and number of weapons, as well as ammunition, and the location cannot be mistaken. ”

I immediately started looking at the boxes. If nothing else, the Viper will send Mirmili to the appointment, and I will inevitably have him interrogated when the time comes. When we first came, we didn't cut down the mirage grass, and we didn't want him to see any clues. The relevant materials have been memorized, and then confirm the goods, it should be foolproof.

After about an hour, everything that needed to be done was done, and Jade and I started going down the mountain, which took another almost half an hour. By the time I got back to base, it was already 2150. Ignoring the exhaustion, I walked into the colonel's office and reported on the current process.

"Everything is ready." I concluded.

The Colonel and I went back and forth over every detail, asking me questions from time to time. The content of the material, the situation related to the arms, and some possible emergencies, etc. I answered them one by one, and the colonel nodded in satisfaction.

"That's it, Akeya. Tomorrow before dawn, you'll have to set off alone, and Jade will tell you how to contact you before you go. If the infiltration is successful, remember to send him a 'live signal' as soon as possible. You will be in contact with each other through a single line, and we will not contact you unless there are very special circumstances. Do you understand? ”

"Understood. Just ......"

"Just what?"

"I don't know if the Ministry of Intelligence will come to stir up the situation."

"They want us to report regularly," the Colonel's tone was clearly dissatisfied, "so you try to send something every six months, of course, safety first, don't force it." I'll take care of it from the Ministry of Intelligence, just let it go. ”

So that there would be no worries, and I saluted and prepared to step back. As I was leaving, the Colonel stopped me.

"Akeya, what is the goal of your mission?"

I immediately stood up: "Grasp the purpose of the 'poisonous snakes' activities in this place, investigate whether there are other organizations behind them, and assist our army in eradicating them and capturing the leader of the 'snake head' alive." ”

The colonel reassuringly "um": "Go and rest." ”

*****

On the way back to the dormitory, I imagined what I might encounter, and before I knew it, I had arrived in front of the dormitory. Tokar and I had a separate cabin for the two of us, but the lights were on in the dorm room at this point.

Confused, I opened the door and saw Lily, making Tokar's bed. As a soldier, Tokar never had the habit of folding the quilt into tofu and always scattered it on the bed. Lily put it away, rolled up her sleeves again, and leaned over to get the groceries in the life-tall closet next to the bed, until she saw me in the mirror on the door.

"Ah, you're back."

She turned around and smiled, and even I could see how forced her smile was. I felt like I didn't have the courage to face her at all, so I could only bow my head.

"Well, just finished. Then I'll go out for a walk for a while......"

"Wait a minute!"

Hearing that pleasant voice, I subconsciously stopped taking steps.

"Akeya, I've heard some things from the colonel during the day, and I understand the ins and outs, so I have to make it clear to you."

As I hadn't turned around, Lily walked around to me, looked into my eyes with concern, and grabbed my hand with both hands.

"You are very responsible, and you also have the fault of taking all the responsibility on yourself. But you have to understand that Tokar's business is not your fault, don't carry everything alone, okay? ”

Maybe that's what Tokar used to call "a woman's intuition"? She's right, but how can I answer that? Tokar would never come back if he didn't confess the "nameless" thing. With the approach of the Ministry of Intelligence, it will even make him disappear completely. If that were the case, I would never be able to forgive myself for the rest of my life.

Lily didn't blame me, I thought it was a loss for my friend's face. If she had accused me, I would have felt better. But she continued.

"I know Tokar is upsetting you, because Akya is not a good person to express her feelings, and she keeps everything in her heart. But I don't want you to be depressed like this. I'll be transferred to the Red Pine Forest the day after tomorrow, and I won't be back until your mission is complete. So let's all cheer up and work together. ”

She tried to smile again, and I forced a smile too.

"I know."

"That's good. You can rest early, I'll go back first. ”

Looking at the back that faded into the night, I couldn't imagine how much pain she had endured when she said those words. For me, only the successful completion of this mission can be regarded as the best explanation for her, for Tokar.

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