Mercenary I am the king

Chapter 823 The More Soiled, the More Effective

Jiang Feng acted quickly.

In less than fifteen minutes, he was back in the dining room carrying a large fiber bag, sweating profusely.

"Twenty kilograms of screws, all six-centimeter-long steel self-tapping screws."

As he spoke, he threw a heavy sack on the ground, the metallic clanging sound crisp and jarring.

"The hardware store owner looked at me like I was crazy."

Song Heping squatted down, opened the bag, and took out a handful of screws, weighing them in his hand.

These silvery metal objects gleamed coldly under the dim lights of the safe house, their sharp, threaded edges capable of tearing flesh apart.

"Perfect."

He looked up at the polar bear assembling explosives.

"Is TNT ready?"

The polar bear patted the metal box next to it.

"6 kilograms of military-grade TNT, plus 10 hand grenades. The detonation device is triggered by a mobile phone signal, with double safety measures."

He picked up an old Nokia phone that had been modified.

"Even with electronic interference, it can be detonated using a backup circuit."

Song Heping quickly calculated the yield in his mind. Six kilograms of TNT plus ten hand grenades, along with twenty kilograms of metal fragmentation, would be enough to turn any unarmored vehicle into a sieve in a confined space.

He spread out a map of the hotel parking lot on the floor, pointing to a turn at the exit of the underground parking lot.

"Here. The convoy must slow down when leaving, and there are usually no unauthorized personnel here. We'll install the IED in that abandoned Toyota Corolla."

He circled the location on the map with a red pen.

"White Bear, layer the screws and explosives, placing the screws on top to ensure a fan-shaped explosion."

The polar bear had already begun, its thick fingers deftly shaping the TNT into blocks.

"Boss, do you need more steel balls? We still have some in stock."

"No need, screws and grenade fragments are enough."

Song Heping turned to Jiang Feng: "You're in charge of monitoring the hotel's front entrance. Notify us immediately once Pence starts moving."

"Have you contacted Weber yet?" Jiang Feng asked.

“We’ve already made contact,” Song Heping said. “Weber will pass the message out before we depart. MI6 will use two channels to inform the CIA that we’ve intercepted and killed ‘The Shepherd,’ and it’s expected to reach Pence within two hours.”

Song Heping glanced at his watch—5:30 p.m.

The sunlight outside the window was already turning red; dusk was approaching in N'Djamena.

He picked up the satellite phone and dialed a number.

"Weber, we're ready to go. The message can be sent now."

He got straight to the point after the call was connected.

Weber's voice carried a hint of reluctance: "Are you sure you want to do this? This approach increases our risks."

"Enough with the nonsense. Stop talking about risks all the time. Haven't I taken more risks than you?" Song Heping said coldly. "Proceed according to plan. Remember, emphasize that I've arrived in Chad and entered N'Djamena."

After saying that, he hung up the phone without giving a chance to explain, completely ignoring whether Weber agreed or not.

"What if he doesn't cooperate with our plan?"

Jiang Feng was somewhat worried.

Song Heping pointed to his temple and said, "Think it over carefully. He's not stupid; he'll do it. Otherwise, it won't do them any good. Grab your things, do a final check, and leave in five minutes."

After giving the instructions, Song Heping began to inspect his M24 sniper rifle.

This is an old gun, but it is maintained like a brand new weapon, with the rifling inside the barrel gleaming with a cold blue light under the lamp.

He carefully pushed five .308 Winchester rounds into the magazine. Last night, he meticulously inspected each bullet to ensure that there wasn't a single scratch on the bullet head. After all, today he was going to snipe a humanoid target at a distance of 1000 meters, which was also beyond the 800-meter effective range of the M24.

"Boss, the IED is ready."

The polar bear's voice came from behind. Song Heping turned around and saw a seemingly ordinary cardboard box, inside which TNT blocks were neatly stacked, covered with twenty kilograms of screws.

Two modified mobile phones were hidden on both sides of the box, with the antennas cleverly disguised as the box handles.

"What about the disguise?"

The polar bear grinned and pulled out a plastic bag from a local supermarket and several French newspapers.

“After I put it in the car, I cover it with these. It looks like someone left behind a shopping bag.”

Song Heping nodded in satisfaction.

He'd seen these homemade IEDs far too many times in Iligo—simple, brutal, and effective. Now it was their turn to use them against the Americans.

Polar Bear may seem carefree, but he is actually quite meticulous in his work and never falters or backs down when it matters.

That's what I admire most about him.

“Let’s go.” He slung his sniper rifle over his shoulder. “You guys go to the parking lot and install the IED. I’ll set up a sniping position on the roof of the commercial building. Remember, make sure Pence is in the convoy before detonating, and make sure it’s a one-shot kill.”

The three of them left the safe house separately.

Song Heping donned a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses, a local specialty, and carried a guitar case containing a sniper rifle, blending into the evening crowds on the street.

Twenty minutes later, he arrived at the building he had visited that afternoon and, as before, used Doctors Without Borders identification to fool the security guard.

The security guard was the same one from the afternoon. He recognized Song Heping and glanced at the large guitar case behind him.

"You like playing the guitar?"

"That's right, it's one of my little hobbies."

Song Heping smiled and explained to him.

"Men, you know, should all have a little hobby."

"Yeah yeah……"

After passing through security smoothly, Song Heping smiled and said goodbye to the security guard before taking the elevator to the top floor.

The rooftop was deserted. It was already dinnertime. Song Heping took out his observation scope and surveyed the area. He found that the personnel controlling the sniper positions that Peng Si had set up were still there.

Looking towards the hotel, the light in Pence's room was on, clearly indicating that he didn't leave his room even for meals.

But it is not important.

Not important at all.

Song Heping found the best shooting position, set up his M24, and observed the hotel rooftop through the scope.

The two guards remained by the helicopter landing pad, pacing back and forth listlessly, occasionally communicating via radio.

Jiang Feng's breathing came through the earpiece: "I'm in position. There are very few security cameras in the parking lot; we're looking for a spot to park."

Song Heping adjusted the scope's focus, the crosshairs firmly pressed against a guard's chest. 1000 meters away, wind speed of 3 meters per second, humidity of 40%—this distance is the limit of the M24's firing range, but it's not a problem for him.

The satellite phone suddenly started vibrating.

Song Heping took it out and opened the message.

After reading it, he notified Jiang Feng and White Bear in the channel: "Weber has sent a message. The CIA has received the intelligence and is probably already contacting Pence!"

Song Heping's index finger rested lightly on the trigger.

The game begins.

Through the scope, he saw a sudden commotion on the hotel rooftop. A man in a suit rushed to the guards and said something. The two guards immediately became alert, drawing their pistols from their waistbands and quickly going on alert.

"They know, and the hotel's bodyguards have started moving," Song Heping whispered. "Get ready to greet our guests."

The next twenty minutes were like a slow-motion video.

Six fully armed bodyguards suddenly rushed out of the service entrance at the hotel's back door and quickly checked the surrounding environment.

Then a black Range Rover and two Toyota Land Cruisers pulled up at the door, engines still running.

"The car is in position," Jiang Feng's voice came through. "The IED has been installed, disguised as a garbage bag and placed in the back seat of that Corolla."

"They started preparations for both plans simultaneously, and the convoy was ready..."

Song Heping's scope turned towards the top floor of the hotel.

The helicopter hasn't arrived yet, but judging from the current situation, it should arrive soon.

Pence is, after all, an old fox.

They probably had more than one escape plan prepared.

Actually, I could also snipe him from the rooftop.

However, the success rate of that approach is not high.

It's not a question of whether they can hit the target; it's that Pence's bodyguards are very professional. They won't leave even the slightest opening so that their aim can catch Pence.

Even if you have excellent marksmanship, it's useless.

If he missed his first shot, the other three snipers Pence had positioned near the hotel would immediately find him and attack him, preventing him from having a second chance to fire.

Therefore, rooftop sniping is not a wise choice.

This was just a tactic to scare Pence.

Suddenly, a group of bodyguards appeared in view behind the glass on the top floor—Pence, wearing a bulletproof vest, was surrounded by six bodyguards and was moving quickly toward the elevator. Soon they disappeared behind the curtains.

"Target spotted, moving towards the elevator entrance." Song Heping reported in a low voice, "White Bear, Jiang Feng, I'll drive him underground. You guys prepare."

Jiang Feng said, "That old fox really did have a backup plan. I just don't know if he'll leave through the underground parking lot..."

"Yes... he's most afraid of me..."

Just then, a helicopter appeared in the distance, flying towards the hotel.

Song Heping could no longer see the bodyguards or Pence through the glass of the building.

But he guessed that Pence and his bodyguards were probably waiting for the helicopter to arrive in the stairwell leading to the rooftop.

He had to estimate the time carefully; too early or too late wouldn't work.

Just right...

He calmed his breathing and steadily locked his gaze on one of the guards on the rooftop helipad.

"Distance 980 meters, wind speed stable."

Song Heping murmured to himself, slowly increasing the pressure with his index finger. He had adjusted the trigger travel of the M24 to be extremely sensitive, requiring only 1.5 pounds of pressure to fire.

The helicopter is getting closer.

Finally, it flew to the top floor of the hotel and began to hover and descend.

Two guards raised their hands to block the blast wave from the propeller, and one of them pressed the call button to inform the other bodyguards hiding in the stairwell.

"The helicopter has arrived. VIPs may come out."

The helicopter continued its slow descent.

8 meters above the ground...

5 meters...

3 meters...

In the stairwell, the head of Pence's bodyguard team was already standing by the door leading to the rooftop, watching the helicopter about to land.

"GO! GO! GO!"

He turned and waved to Pence's colleagues who were standing around the corner of the stairwell.

"Take the VIPs with you when boarding the plane!"

After saying that, he grabbed an MP5 submachine gun and rushed off the rooftop first...

Just then, Song Heping, who was some distance away, pulled the trigger.

bah—

The M24 spat out a tongue of fire.

The moment the gun went off, the head of the guard standing next to the tarmac exploded like a watermelon.

The bullet entered through the eye socket, and the blood mist that spurted from the back of the head appeared eerily orange-red in the setting sun.

"Sniper! There's a sniper!"

The leader of the bodyguard team was so shocked that he immediately lay down on the ground and started shouting frantically into the channel.

Song Heping quickly pulled the pin and loaded a second bullet, which pierced the neck of the second guard and tore open his carotid artery.

Blood sprayed in a fan shape onto the white markings on the helicopter landing pad.

Even a single-shot bolt-action rifle can achieve a rate of fire close to that of a semi-automatic sniper rifle in Song Heping's hands.

The third bullet was quickly chambered.

Aim and fire.

bah—

The third bullet struck the side window of the helicopter cockpit directly.

Snapped--

Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the glass.

"OH! SHIT!"

The helicopter pilot screamed, jerked the control stick, and stepped on the left and right balance pedals. The helicopter immediately pulled sharply to the left, making a large maneuver, rising from a position of three meters to a height of more than ten meters above the rooftop.

Inside the stairwell, the bodyguard team leader, who had climbed back up, stood up and yelled at everyone, "The helicopter is unsafe! Repeat, the helicopter is unsafe!"

He immediately issued a new order: "Activate the backup plan and switch to a ground evacuation! Ground team, prepare to disembark. VIP, now!"

The sniper teams deployed by the three security groups also began a frantic search for Song Heping.

After three shots, they finally figured out the direction of the fire and turned their guns to aim at the rooftop of the commercial building where Song Heping was.

But they saw nothing.

Song Heping was already in the elevator at this moment.

As we were going downstairs, the elevator stopped briefly, and a few white people and locals got in.

Song Heping politely stepped aside and hid in a corner.

The corners of his mouth raised slightly.

The plan is progressing as expected—Pence will assume that the sniper has secured the helicopter escape route and that the only option left is to leave by car.

Alright, now it's time to see Jiang Feng and Bai Xiong's performance.

(End of this chapter)