Mercenary I am the king

Chapter 1049 Come on! Play with your life!

Just as undercurrents were swirling within the Revolutionary Guard as they relentlessly pursued the mole network, the life-or-death race on the Persian Plateau had entered its most brutal phase.

Song Heping moved with difficulty toward the border.

With each step, the pain from the wound on his calf made him grimace, and cold sweat soaked through his inner clothes. The cool wind on the plateau made him even colder, causing his teeth to chatter.

The "Reaper" drone clung to him like a leech, refusing to let go.

Although Song Heping used the complex terrain and the shadows of rocks to constantly evade the enemy, preventing them from obtaining a stable missile launch lock, the continuous tracking by the high-precision photoelectric probe meant that he could never shake off the killer in the sky.

The Reaper drone kept its eyes fixed on Song Heping, as patiently as a cat that had spotted a mouse.

Now we can spend more time together.

After all, the flight time of drones is also limited.

However, crossing the border into Persia is now much more difficult.

too difficult……

In just ten kilometers, I don't know how many kilometers I've run now.

Every hundred meters forward carries the risk of being blown to pieces.

However, after failing to kill Song Heping with three consecutive missiles, the MQ-9 in the air clearly changed its strategy.

After all, it only carried four Hellfires and one SDB mini-bomb for this mission.

The SDB bombs were used during the first bombing.

Now, it only has one last Hellfire air-to-ground missile under its fuselage.

The flight controllers in Nevada no longer readily launched the limited number of Hellfire missiles. Instead, they used low-altitude circling to constantly compress Song Heping's operational space, keeping a close eye on the target and exhausting his stamina, waiting for the ground troops to finally reap the rewards.

Song Heping hid in a crevice between two huge rocks, panting heavily, his lungs burning with pain.

He quickly checked the wound on his leg; the makeshift bandage was soaked with blood and had become filthy from the dust and strenuous activity.

Blood loss and the cold were draining his strength rapidly, and his vision began to blur intermittently. He licked his dry, bleeding lips, trying to stay conscious.

The extreme training he received in Unit 203 enabled him to maintain unwavering confidence in any harsh environment. This is why he repeatedly turned the tide, like an unkillable cockroach, and why many renowned intelligence agencies dreaded even the sight of his name.

However, he could roughly guess what the drone operator was thinking.

The enemy is now determined to keep a close watch on him, trapping him within Iligor territory with their last Hellfire and waiting for their ground troops to arrive.

The most worrying thing is the ground troops.

If I'm alone, but the other side sends a special forces team, this situation will be difficult to handle...

But our ancestors were right.

What are you afraid of?

Just then, a deep, rhythmic roar, unlike the buzzing of drones, came from the southeast sky, growing louder as it approached!

Song Heping's heart sank!
He struggled to peek out from the crevice and peer through his binoculars.

On the horizon, two fast-moving black dots are rapidly growing larger!
The outlines became clearer and clearer—they were two MH-60M "Black Hawk" special operations helicopters painted in desert camouflage and with a robust build!

The protruding sensor turret under the nose, the rocket pods and machine gun pods mounted under the short wings on both sides of the fuselage, and the fully armed and ready soldiers faintly visible at the cabin door all clearly indicate their identity and purpose!

It's the U.S. Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR)!
Having spent several years in Iligo, Song Heping knew very well where these guys came from.

The U.S. military has maintained a special forces presence in Iligo for many years.

Now they're here!

And they were heading straight for him!

Just as I guessed.

In the air, the icy gaze of the "Reaper" drones looms; on the ground, the deadly iron fists of the "Delta Force" or "Ranger" fighter jets are at play!

This is a fucking dead end!

Song Heping's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints.

A chilling coldness instantly overwhelmed the physical pain.

He leaned against the cold rock, his brain racing at an unprecedented speed.

despair?

Do not!
In his dictionary, a desperate situation is never the end, but the beginning of bringing out the ultimate potential!
run?
Dragging an injured leg in the open high-altitude area, facing the speed and firepower of helicopters, would be suicidal!
A direct confrontation?

I'm afraid there's no chance of winning!
hide?
This area has been thoroughly monitored by drones. Once the helicopter arrives, it will have nowhere to hide under the thermal imaging!

The only chance of survival lies in chaos!

The key is to first muddy the water!
Let the hunters collide with each other!
His gaze swept rapidly across the surrounding terrain like a radar.

The dried-up riverbed made a sharp bend of nearly ninety degrees not far ahead, with a steep, heavily weathered, yellowish-brown rock wall on one side of the bend.

On the other side is a relatively flat pebble beach covered with huge pebbles. Beyond the pebble beach is the Gobi Desert with sparse drought-resistant shrubs, extending all the way to the direction of the barbed wire and boundary markers that are faintly visible.

An extremely bold, almost insane plan instantly took shape in his mind!

He burst out from the crevice in the rocks, no longer trying to hide, but instead running wildly towards the big bend in the riverbed in the most exposed way possible!

The goal is clear—a pebble beach!

The "Reaper" drone overhead immediately captured this "self-destructive" sprint.

At the Nevada Air Force base, the drone operator's eyes widened instantly.

"FUCK! Look what he's doing?!"

The drone operator was caught off guard and couldn't help but curse and exclaim in surprise.

"You're asking for it!" The weapons control officer grinned maliciously. "We've driven this guy crazy."

The drone operator quickly pushed down the control stick.

The MQ-9's engine noise suddenly increased, and it quickly decreased altitude to track the approach.

The two Black Hawk helicopters also accelerated noticeably, like two birds of prey that had spotted their prey, swooping straight in, the gusts of wind stirred up by their rotors already faintly audible.

Song Heping unleashed his last bit of potential and rushed to the edge of the gravel beach.

He spotted a relatively stable boulder about half a person's height and suddenly lunged down behind it.

He quickly took off his backpack and searched frantically.

He pulled out the last two grenades, and...

A flat, metal can—

This is a "little gift" from Nurasai to him: a specially made, high-flammability thermite combustion canister!

It was originally intended for use in situations where equipment needed to be destroyed or barbed wire fences needed to be damaged during border crossings.

Time is running out!

The roar of the helicopter was deafening, and the wind pressure from its hovering position stirred up a cloud of dust that made it impossible for people to open their eyes!
He could even hear the metallic clanging of the machine gun being cocked on the helicopter door!
They are very close to us!

Very close!

These guys probably saw that I was injured, so they flew so close just to let me feel the oppressive atmosphere of death and break my will to fight.

Most people, surrounded by two Black Hawk helicopters, an MQ-9 drone, and two elite U.S. special forces teams, would definitely give up resistance, and the more heroic ones would probably shoot themselves.

But Song Heping is no ordinary person.

He would rather die under the enemy's gun than choose to commit suicide when there is still a sliver of hope. If he were to commit suicide, he would hold a grenade in his hand and wait for the enemy to come so that they could die together!
This was the mark etched into his bones by the training he had received and the military he had served in. As the helicopter drew closer, Song Heping took a deep breath, his eyes suddenly flashing with a desperate madness.

He abruptly pulled the safety pins off two grenades, loosened his grip, but didn't throw them immediately!

Instead, he silently counted his heartbeats and calculated the burning time of the fuse!
One second…

Two seconds…

Three seconds...

Two Black Hawk helicopters flew to within 30 meters of Song Heping's hiding place, one on the left and one on the right, and hovered over the gravel beach with their doors wide open.

U.S. special forces soldiers, dressed in desert camouflage and smeared with camouflage paint, threw ropes from the aircraft cabin.

Inside the cabin, the captain in charge of the special forces unit had already spotted Song Heping's slightly unsteady gait through the night vision goggles. According to the intelligence sent back by the drone earlier, the target had a thigh injury!
A wounded target, all alone!
The higher-ups actually mobilized two small teams.

For a moment, the captain felt as if he were looking at a rat locked in a cage.

"Go! Go! Go! He's all alone! Go down and kill him!"

Just then, Song Heping suddenly moved!

With his left hand, he slammed the thermite incendiary canister with all his might toward the tail rotor of the Black Hawk helicopter on his left!
In the army, he could easily throw 80 meters for a grenade, and even for a thermite canister, he could throw it 50 or 60 meters without any problem!
We're not aiming for accuracy now, but rather for disruption and creating panic!
At the same time, quickly grab two grenades, release the safety spring, and delay for three seconds...

Throw them one after another!

Like a deadly stone thrown from a sling, it traced two precise arcs—one flying towards the ground below the Black Hawk helicopter on the right.

The other one was higher, and it was thrown directly towards the open cabin door of the Black Hawk helicopter on the right!

“Fire in the hole!!!”

The horrified screams of American soldiers echoed from the Black Hawk's cockpit on the right. A crew member operating the machine gun immediately pulled the firing button on the Gatling gun.

sizzle--

The dense hail of bullets instantly shattered the stones where Song Heping was hiding, sending them flying in fragments.

Song Heping looked as disheveled as a sand lizard, burrowing into the bottom of a large rock, curling up with his hands on his head, and trying to shrink his body into the cracks in the rocks.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye!
"boom!!!"

The thermite incendiary canister that crashed into the left side of the "Black Hawk" exploded violently in mid-air.

In an instant, a blinding white fireball and billowing smoke rose up.

The intense heat, reaching thousands of degrees, was like erupting volcanic lava, fiercely licking at the helicopter's tail boom and tail rotor.

The explosion was actually at least seven or eight meters away from the helicopter, but the terrifying heat and intense light were enough to blind the pilot instantly and cause fatal panic!
"Oh shit! Incendiary bomb! Take cover! Take cover!"

The pilot of the Black Hawk on the left screamed in terror amidst the blinding white light and alarms, instinctively pulling hard on the control stick. The helicopter tilted and climbed violently like a startled giant bird, trying to avoid the explosion.

The U.S. special forces soldiers clinging to the ropes were instantly thrown off by the sudden centrifugal force. Two of them lost their grip and screamed as they fell to the ground from a height of five or six meters.

Almost at the same millisecond!

"boom!!!"

The grenade thrown below the "Black Hawk" on the right side exploded violently!

The scorching shockwave and countless fragments of rock swept across the special forces soldiers who had just slid out of the hatch and were rappelling through the air like the Grim Reaper's scythe.

"Pfft!"

"Ugh!"

Screams and muffled groans rang out instantly!
At least two soldiers were hit by shrapnel and fell to the ground like sparrows hit by an air gun.

The rappelling operation was instantly interrupted, plunging into chaos!
Even more deadly was the grenade that flew towards the cabin door!

"Grenade! INCOMING!!!"

A sharp-eyed soldier at the hatchway issued a heart-wrenching warning!

Chaos erupted instantly inside the cabin.

The soldiers inside either frantically shrank back or instinctively fell to the ground.

The grenade struck the cabin door frame with a dull thud, and then...

No explosion?!
The lucky grenade bounced and actually fell into the floor inside the cabin!
“FUUUUUCK——!!!”

Desperate screams filled the entire cabin!

"Boom——!!!"

A deafening explosion resounded in the cramped cabin.

An orange-red fireball, mixed with thick smoke and deadly shrapnel, instantly engulfed the rear of the cabin!

The screams stopped abruptly!

Fragments of human tissue and metal shards gushed out from the hatch!

The entire helicopter shook violently and tilted, and a blinding red warning light instantly illuminated on the instrument panel!

"Mayday! Mayday! Black Hawk Two taking heavy damage! Crew casualties! Losing control!"

The pilot's terrified cries for help rang out on the radio!

Meanwhile, the Black Hawk on the left, startled by the thermite and desperately trying to evade, tilted sharply due to the pilot's panicked maneuvering. In the chaos, the tip of its rapidly spinning main rotor blade unfortunately struck the tail rotor of its out-of-control, falling right wingman, the Black Hawk II!

"Click——!!!"

"Dangdangdang——"

The sickening sound of metal snapping pierced the sky!

The tail rotor of the Black Hawk II was instantly shredded!
The helicopter, having lost the tail rotor's balancing torque, resembled a giant beast whose spine had been removed. Its nose suddenly tilted upwards, and then it began to spin uncontrollably and plummet, like a huge, burning top, crashing heavily onto the rocky beach below!

"Nooooo——!!!"

The pilot of the Black Hawk on the left let out a desperate cry.

boom! ! ! ! ! !

The earth-shattering explosion shook the entire plateau.

A massive fireball, a mixture of flames and thick smoke, rose into the air and engulfed the wreckage of Black Hawk Down! Burning debris scattered like brilliant yet deadly fireworks!
The aerial pursuer "Reaper" drone was clearly stunned by this sudden and unimaginable upheaval.

Its flight path exhibited a distinct, chaotic oscillation!

The flight officers and weapons officers at the Nevada Air Force base were bewildered by the repeated shouts of "FUCK".

confusion!

Deadly chaos!
This was the only chance of survival that Song Heping had gambled his life for!

In those precious few seconds when one Black Hawk helicopter was destroyed and the other damaged, and the aerial drones experienced a brief delay—

Like a cheetah that had been lying in wait, Song Heping suddenly pounced out from behind the boulder where he was hiding.

He didn't even bother to look at the hellish scene behind him, and sprinted towards the border across the gravel beach at a speed beyond his limits!
Not far away, the barbed wire fence marking the border of Persia was faintly visible!

The border is right in front of us!

At the same time, a flash of fire appeared under the belly of the MQ-9 Reaper drone in the sky.

The last Hellfire missile under the fuselage hurtled toward Song Heping.

　Asking for a monthly ticket! Asking for a monthly ticket! Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)