Extreme germ phobia

Chapter 365 Comprehensive Advantage
Ouyang didn't understand Spanish, and Curly didn't understand Chinese either, so neither of them knew what the other was saying.

Only when he saw Curly's family wading through the water to get out did Ouyang grab Curly's arm: "What did you say to them?"

Curly's eyes were blank, but his expression and movements were exaggerated: "It's safe up there, of course we should come out! We can't just stay down there forever, can we?"

Now it was Ouyang's turn to be bewildered: "Which eye of yours saw that it was safe up there?"

Curly gestured to the corpses of the thugs on the ground: "Isn't this it?"

"Of course not!" Ou Yang picked up the gun left behind by the thugs and threw it into the cellar. "Lu Qiang!"

A slightly older, overweight, and balding Asian man deftly caught the rifle, his eyes still wary: "You are..."

“I’m from the emergency response team,” Ou Yang briefly introduced himself. “The situation is very complicated right now. For your safety, you’ll have to stay hidden for a while longer.”

Lu Qiang is the only one of the four with military experience, specifically in the army.

“I understand, I’m fine,” Lu Qiang said. “But what about Xiao Wang? His injury can’t be left untreated for long.”

Ou Yang had a headache, but there was no room for hesitation at this point: "I'll contact Xincheng right away and see what they say, but you can't come up until Xincheng has a message!"

"Don't worry," Lu Qiang said solemnly.

The entire exchange was conducted in Chinese. Curly and his family didn't understand a single word, but anyone with a sound mind could roughly deduce what was being said from their gestures and the act of handing over the gun.

"And you!" Ouyang switched languages, grabbing Curly's collar. "You get off here too!"

Curly was extremely unwilling: "Hey, what are you doing? Didn't you come to rescue them? Why don't you just rescue us while you're at it?"

His thinking was simple: when the kidnappers arrived, he and his family rescued four Asian men. Now that people from the new city were looking for the Asians, wasn't it logical and a simple matter for them to rescue his family as well?

Ouyang was completely baffled by the other person's thought process: "It's not safe yet!"

Without giving him a chance, he threw the waving-around-the-edges curly-haired boy into the cellar and solemnly instructed, "Wait for me to come back!"

Lu Qiang gripped the gun tightly: "Don't worry!"

Ignoring Curly's shouts, Ouyang immediately pushed the cabinet back into place.

The fly in the corridor had just discovered that the enemy had entered again, and didn't have time to waste on unnecessary chatter with Curly.

He left the storeroom and returned to the kitchen, his brow furrowed deeply.

The kitchen is located on the first floor, with a window on each side. Once the enemy knows his location, they can break the windows at any time and attack from both sides.

This place is simply impossible to defend!

The storeroom and the kitchen are connected by only one passage. At first glance, it seems like a perfect place to hold off a thousand men. The problem is that the kitchen is high and the storeroom is low, and the area is not very large. If the enemy throws a few grenades, they can blow him to pieces. It is a dead end that cannot be defended at all!

Although there is an old saying that "you can only survive if you put yourself in a desperate situation," hiding in this place probably means certain death, with no chance of survival.

Without time to hesitate, Ouyang immediately made the right decision: they absolutely could not stay here and wait to die!

Based on the information we have, it's a coincidence that the kidnappers hid the hostages in both the storage room and the cellar. This means that while the thugs outside were after the hostages, they didn't know where the real hostages were...

No, if the rioters knew the hostages were fake, why would they launch such a relentless attack?

There must be some details he doesn't know!

Ouyang originally planned to fight and retreat, drawing the enemy's attention away from the kitchen. As long as the people in the cellar did not come out on their own, their safety would be highly guaranteed.

But let's suppose that the kidnappers never actually captured the person in the first place, but for various reasons deliberately threw out a smokescreen, spreading the news that they had already captured the person, thus gaining the trust of the underground forces. The underground forces that cooperated with the kidnappers also believed that they had successfully captured the prisoner.

So, when the rioters entered the storage room and found only six bodies of locals, but no trace of any Asians, what would they think?
The hostages have escaped?

That's a possibility, but then again, what if someone suspects the hostage is hiding in some unknown corner and conducts a thorough search of the storage room?

A cupboard is not a good hiding place; the chances of being discovered are quite high.

Ou Yang couldn't help but grit his teeth, suddenly feeling an urge to call everyone out: "Lone Star calling ship command, please respond!"

"Command received, Lone Star, what's the situation on your end?"

"Commander, I've located the missing person..." Ou Yang briefly explained the situation, "The others are fine, but Wang Jiaqi's condition looks serious and she needs treatment as soon as possible!"

Do you know first aid?

"I understand a little, but Wang Jiaqi's injury is in his chest and abdomen, which is beyond my capabilities."

"Understood, we'll do our best to arrange it!"

"Also, the situation here is not suitable for defense. I need weapon support, the sooner the better!"

"Understood, it's already on its way, be ready to receive!"

As they were talking, the drone delivered the equipment that Ouyang hadn't had time to bring. Before the enemy attacked, he immediately took off his cumbersome suit and leather shoes, put on comfortable combat uniform and combat boots, and then carried all his weapons and ammunition with him.

Patting the magazine pouch on his chest, Ouyang finally felt a little relieved, but with only a few hundred bullets, it was really not enough.

"Lone Star!" came the ship's command over the radio. "The rescue team is advancing at full speed towards your position. You must hold out until reinforcements arrive!"

Ouyang grinned: "I never thought I'd receive such an order one day!"

The ship's commander was silent for a moment: "Right now, you're the only one here. I know it's not appropriate to give you this order, but there's really no other way."

“No need to explain, I understand.” Ou Yang took a deep breath. “If you’re in a position, you have to do your job. Don’t worry, no one can enter the storage room unless they step over my dead body!”

The atmosphere had reached this point, and countless images of martyrs flashed through Ouyang's mind, along with a once-popular internet saying: Do you want to be a coward for life, or a hero, even if only for a few minutes!

Ouyang, gun in hand, hid at the kitchen entrance. The corridor was right outside the door, and he could spot the enemy with just a slight shift in position.

Hold on until reinforcements arrive! Hold on until reinforcements arrive!
He kept repeating the sentence in his mind, and suddenly a thought popped into his head: "Commander, if I die here today, would that count as sacrificing myself for my country?"

"Yes, of course it counts, it absolutely has to count!"

Ouyang smiled with relief: "Okay, I understand."

After saying that, he suddenly turned around, knelt on one knee, aimed at the enemy in the corridor, and opened fire fiercely. There's a saying online that every boy has fantasized about all his comrades sacrificing themselves, leaving him alone on the battlefield, with the enemy swarming up like ants.

Ouyang didn't know anyone else, but he had indeed thought about it, and today he actually encountered it.

The moment he pulled the trigger, he cast aside all hesitation and concerns, his eyes fixed only on the enemy, the target, and the determination to persevere to the end!

Flames spit out, bullets fly, and the wounded enemies fall to the ground one after another.

Ouyang emptied the magazine in a very short time, retreated behind the wall, crouched down, and quickly replaced it with a new magazine.

He had recently killed three kidnappers by using a wall-penetrating technique, so he was on guard!
The fly reported that the enemy had withdrawn.

Ouyang was a little annoyed. One burst of fire and they repelled the enemy? That was way too easy!
However, he knew very well that the next wave of attacks would not be so simple, so he immediately took out two flying grenades and released them, striking first to gain the upper hand.

The flying lightning didn't enter the corridor; instead, it flew directly out the window and exploded above the heads of the enemies preparing to attack, instantly disrupting their rhythm.

"Commander, I need more flying mines, and preferably another sniper grenade launcher!"

Given enough ammunition, he can hold out forever!
The ship's command immediately responded: "Received, delivered as quickly as possible!"

We were hesitant to use drones before for fear of alerting the enemy, but now that we've found the missing personnel, we should use them all.

Not only weapons, but also some first-aid medicines were delivered. Even without on-site medical assistance, this could prevent the injuries from worsening and buy some time.

Outside the town, two drones took off, flying at low altitude and high speed towards Ouyang's location.

However, just as it flew near the target, several racing drones took off simultaneously from below, surrounding and intercepting its drone.

The cargo plane was heavy and cumbersome, while the enemy plane was small, agile, and swift. In no time, the cargo plane was crashed into the ground by the flying plane.

Lu Wei, who witnessed this scene firsthand, gritted his teeth and shouted: "Command, our drone has been shot down by an unidentified drone. Repeat, our drone has crashed!"

Inside the command center, Xu Yi frowned, but his tone was extremely calm: "Order the electronic warfare team to participate in the battle."

Warships certainly can't sail directly to Dongzhen, but electromagnetic waves are unrestricted. Even if we investigate later, well, don't ask, it'll just be equipment malfunction.

Don't believe me? Then that's your problem. The burden of proof lies with the person making the claim. You say I did it on purpose, so show me the evidence!
What? You say it's too much of a coincidence? There are plenty of coincidences in the world.

With a simple command, invisible electromagnetic waves immediately filled the battlefield. All enemy drones that took off lost control at the same time. Those with good flight control could hover and land on their own; those with poor flight control simply fell from the sky and smashed to pieces on the spot.

Over the entire East Town… no, over the entire Saint Varian Island, only the drones belonging to the new city were still flying in the air.

To confuse the enemy, our drones did not fly around swaggeringly, but instead sent out a portion of them to perform aerial combat maneuvers.

Hidden in the shadows, the enemy pilots looked at the remote control in their hands, then at the drone in the air, each with a blank expression.

In the end what happened?
Our side has gained an overwhelming advantage in the invisible digital battlefield, and the previously constrained drone swarm has immediately gained decisive air superiority.

However, the fighting did not stop there.

On the outer perimeter, at Lu Wei's request, the drones launched an airstrike on the targets ahead, destroying two buildings and five firing positions, clearing some obstacles for the rescue team.

But only a part of it.

As long as the rescue forces continue to advance, new firing positions will soon emerge. Every house, every window, and every ditch along the roadside may conceal an enemy poised to attack, and behind every inconspicuous cover, a mobster could jump out at any moment and start firing indiscriminately.

If it weren't for unmanned equipment clearing the way, the rescue team would have perished several times over, and it would have been impossible for them to have persisted until now.

Urban warfare is the most brutal and destructive form of combat. Even large-scale operations cannot be guaranteed to be foolproof, let alone the infiltration of small units.

Every step forward for the rescue team led by Lu Wei was extremely difficult.

Ouyang's situation was also not optimistic. The enemy had pinpointed his location and was no longer blindly rushing into the building. Instead, they launched a frontal attack while simultaneously attacking the two windows on the left and right, forcing Ouyang to continuously release flying grenades in order to temporarily halt the enemy's advance.

The flying mines in their hands were quickly depleted, and the drones transporting the flying mines were destroyed by enemy aircraft.

Ouyang repeatedly called for backup, but only a drone delivered a machine gun.

But what he needs are area-effect weapons.

Using machine guns is not impossible, but we need to retreat to the storage room. However, the storage room is low and the kitchen is high. Although this is advantageous for defense, it has a natural advantage to attack from above.

At this moment, Ouyang felt unprecedented pressure.

Just as he made up his mind to retreat into the storage room, the gunfire outside the window suddenly became extremely intense, and it sounded like it was coming from more than one direction!
More importantly, the enemy did not launch any further attacks, but suddenly went silent and stopped making any moves.

By checking the enemy's situation through the data link, it was discovered that the battlefield was no longer limited to the direction of the rescue team, but was spread everywhere, with people fighting in all directions.

Upon closer inspection, it was still a fierce battle between underground organizations.

Ouyang couldn't help but feel endless doubts: What exactly happened?
Not long ago, in the direction of the new city.

As the situation at the front was relayed to the command center, the frown lines between Xu Yi's brows never disappeared.

Just then, the intelligence officer delivered a document to Xu Yi.

Experts believe that the issues behind the kidnapping are not simple, but not all underground organizations are involved.

Seeing this, Xu Yi's eyes flickered. This seemed like an opportunity he could take advantage of!

The situation was urgent, so he immediately made a decision: "Send a notice to all underground organizations in Dongzhen. No matter which organization, if they have any information that is definite about our enemy individuals or organizations, they will be rewarded with one ton of food for each enemy they eliminate; if they completely eliminate an enemy organization, capture the culprit, or rescue our personnel, they will be rewarded with one hundred tons of food. The two rewards can be combined, with no upper limit!"

The staff officer in charge of recording immediately released the announcement, and the underground organization that received the news instantly went into a frenzy.

One enemy for one ton of food? What kind of exchange ratio is that? That's an insane profit!
As for whether Xincheng will back out... Haha, what a joke. For locals, one ton is indeed a lot, but for Dongda, let alone one ton, what does one hundred tons or one thousand tons matter?
Did you see the Dongda transport ship? Those things have a displacement of tens of thousands of tons. Even if it's just a hundred tons for one person, a ship can still be worth ten thousand.

How many people are there in the entire East Town? If they all died, how many ships could be built?

There is constant friction between the various underground organizations. They usually have to hide their conflicts due to various factors. Now they can both gain benefits and take revenge. What more can be said?

It's done!

(End of this chapter)