Starting from South America, speeding through the world

Chapter 147 Bombarding the "Headquarters"
A night breeze swept by.

Aiden McLean stood guard at the south gate.

The strap holding the rifle across his chest was a bit tight. He tugged at it a couple of times but still felt uncomfortable, so he quietly leaned against the railing.

The watch backlight turned on automatically.

The digital display stopped at 2:35 AM.

Aiden yawned and rubbed his face vigorously.

But drowsiness still crept in.

Suddenly, a soft rustling came from the bushes on the left.

He didn't care.

The wind was strong, and the bushes around the base were restless, making noises from time to time.

Aiden glanced outside.

In areas where the light doesn't reach, the darkness is so clean it's as if there were no textures at all.

Seeing that nothing had happened, he lowered his head, untied the wireless coil around his waist, and planned to tighten it at a different angle.

The headset was accidentally pulled, and just as I raised my hand to straighten it—

My shoulder suddenly felt like it had been hit by a blunt object.

The skin around my throat suddenly felt cold.

It's not pain.

But numbness.

Warm liquid flowed down the collarbone.

He tried to speak, but his mouth wouldn't close, and air rushed out of his throat.

Aiden tried to turn his head, but his neck seemed to be nailed shut and wouldn't obey his commands.

The lights in the sky receded into the distance, and my head began to tilt to one side.

Zhou Yi did not let go. He half-squatted down and dragged the body under the concrete patch behind the sentry post.

The land had collapsed over time, leaving a gap about half a meter deep.

He moved quickly but remained silent throughout, only taking the other person's ID card when he left.

The wind is still blowing.

The flashing lights on the roof of Building C in the distance started to rotate slowly, changing angles every thirty seconds.

Zhou Yi counted silently in his mind.

Finally, when they reached "24", they dashed across the drainage ditch between the sentry post and the road.

He landed with his knees on the edge of the rubble, used the momentum to spin around, and turned back into the camp.

Just as Natalie had said, there was no one there.

Zhou Yi entered from the east side of the dormitory building and used the sentry's ID card to open the access control.

There were old water stains on the floor tiles, and the cleaning wheel tracks were still there.

The laundry room is located at the corner.

The enclosed space contained several old-fashioned dryers.

Zhou Yi squatted down, pulled out flattened synthetic fiber rolls from his backpack, sprayed them with oil-based rust remover, and stuffed them into the roller.

Then, an aluminum rod with a heating wire is inserted in the middle, and a cable is threaded through the gap and connected to the regulated battery pack.

He switched the switch to "delay timer," closed the metal cover, and quickly left.

In less than two minutes, Zhou Yi was already lying prone on the roof.

The insulation layer was not properly installed, exposing the concrete floor.

His gaze passed through the ventilation grilles, overlooking the entire square.

The flagpole, parking lane, and temporary assembly point are all directly below.

At this moment, the building was still deathly silent.

The motion-sensor lights in the corridor only flash twice every few seconds.

Someone inside was coughing, as if they hadn't slept well.

At that moment, a sudden change occurred.

At first, there was only a slight hissing sound, like someone pulling a curtain.

But then, waves of heat swept over us.

Thick, acrid smoke rose up and shot straight at the camera at the top of the corridor.

The red light flashed repeatedly.

The next second—

"Drip! Drop! Drop—"

A piercing alarm suddenly went off.

"Drip! Drop! Drop—"

Without stopping for a moment.

At the same time, the broadcast system abruptly cut in, with a cold, mechanical female voice:

"Attention. The fire alarm has been triggered in the dormitory building on the east side. All personnel are requested to evacuate immediately."

The corridor was dimly lit.

The dormitory finally started to get chaotic.

"Holy crap, really?"

"Fire alarm? Good heavens—who did it?"

"Evacuate everyone! Assemble in the square! Hurry!"

A series of crashing sounds came from the stairs.

Someone was carrying something and bumped into the railing. They were running so fast that the butt of their rifle hit the iron pipe with a crisp sound.

The air was filled with the smell of burning plastic, a sour and pungent odor.

Zhou Yi watched the figures lining up below, his hands never stopping.

It was a heavy, hand-rubbed EFP[1].

Thanks to his experience in Iraq, he was quite familiar with the manufacture of these gadgets.

The outer shell is a thick-walled aluminum tube made from discarded machinery, with a diameter of nearly 20 centimeters. The front end is made of cold-bent copper plate pressed into a shallow dish, and the edge is sealed with a high-pressure nut.

The explosive charge layer is divided into two sections.

The inner core is made of aluminum powder and RDX mixed and pressed together, and the outer layer is padded with cushioning rubber and quartz powder to prevent fragments from escaping.

Zhou Yi carefully inserted the can into the gap between the roof bricks and the iron railing, then activated the embedded limit switch to raise the angle and lock onto the target.

The figures below gradually increased in number, bustling about.

Some people were shouting, while others were lining up.

Unfortunately, no one looked up.

Zhou Yi calmly pressed the code-switching button on the detonator and switched to the backup frequency band.

Mike stood in the last row.

The light shone directly down, casting long shadows.

The two people in front were still complaining in hushed tones, betting with each other whether this fire alarm was yet another "tricky" drill.

He didn't reply.

The company commander stood by the flagpole, holding a radio in his hand.

"Charlie's group moves to the right first, Alpha moves back. Don't get too close, maintain column spacing."

"Flag light on, who put that—"

Before he could finish speaking, the sky fell.

This is not an exaggerated metaphor.

But the real one——

Something came crashing down from directly in front of us, so fast that we couldn't keep up.

The sound was delayed by half a second.

Then--

boom!
The company commander was thrown into the air.

Everything above the shoulders was gone, with bits of flesh splattered with red and black blood mist.

Do not!
Not just the company commander!
It was a whole circle of people!

It was full of people, and all of them were familiar faces.

Some of them weren't quite dead yet; they were still desperately crawling backward, their spines exposed, and bubbles coming out of their mouths.

Mike froze instantly, standing there dumbfounded.

My tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth, and my throat felt like it was stuffed with a piece of cloth.

Seeing his teammates around him in a panic, he turned and lunged to the side.

But as soon as he took half a step, his back suddenly exploded.

Blood splattered all over his face.

It was warm, salty, and had a nauseating metallic smell.

Attack!

A premeditated armed attack!

Mike finally opened his mouth, his voice shrill:

"Attack! Attack—"

There seemed to be a flash of light on the rooftop.

The next second, everything went dark.

Zhou Yi inserted the new magazine, locked it, raised his hand to chamber the round, and completed the action in one smooth motion.

Below, bloodstains and corpses were mixed together, resembling a scene of carnage.

In the square, or rather, in the entire camp, only one person remained alive.

The man clutched his stomach with his left hand, groaning in pain, and trembling as he tried to push his protruding intestines back in.

Zhou Yi sighed and raised his gun to aim again.

Lightly squeeze the trigger.

One shot.

The bullet entered directly through the back of the neck.

The world returned to silence.

Zhou Yi holstered his gun, stood up, and glanced at his watch.

2:42 AM.

Only thirty-nine seconds had passed since the EFP detonated.

No one can make a valid call.

The radio system was silent, with no scrambling or contact response.

This means the camp is completely cut off from communication.

According to the duty process, the status report of being out of contact will only be marked as "abnormal" on the hour. The nearest external unit is at least a forty-minute drive away.

In other words, he still has a lot of time.

That's enough to clean up your tracks and load everything you need into the car and leave.

well.

The technical room is at the far end of the first floor.

Two rows of servers line the wall, with cooling fans vibrating at a low frequency.

Zhou Yi did not rush to operate the host, but first checked the rack configuration and power connection method.

Local recording.

Non-cloud backup.

The main power supply is connected to the bottom of the motherboard in column A, and two sets of numbers are written on the panel.

The left side shows the synchronization record.

The right side represents redundant cache.

After figuring out the structure, Zhou Yi took out a yellowish power adapter from his backpack.

It has a "12V/2A" label on it.

It was modified into a unidirectional pressure contact point.

The interior contains a copper sheet shaped dish and a mixture of explosives.

The control core is hidden in the bottom capacitor slot. It automatically counts down after activation, with the resistor on/off delay set to 180 seconds.

Zhou Yi bent down and inserted the item into the slot at the bottom of column A.

Then, gently rotate it until you hear a click.

The red light flashed and then went out.

Zhou Yi didn't touch it again and turned to leave.

Because in three minutes, the entire monitoring system will turn into a pile of worthless carbonized waste.

Zhou Yi walked along the corridor to the other side.

That was the armory that Natalie had marked.

That was also the real goal of his operation.

The access control panel was flashing a yellow light, indicating that the system was still running.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, the rifle appeared. Zhou Yi raised his hand to cock it, adjusted the angle, and aimed at the lower left corner of the recognition module.

Then, pull the trigger—

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

The plastic casing shattered, and the yellow light turned red.

It flashed twice more before going out completely.

Zhou Yi took half a step back and kicked hard.

The door lock was broken, and the inner hinges were vibrating violently.

Finally, after three attempts, the entire door sprang open inwards.

The lights inside the warehouse did not turn on.

Zhou Yi took a flashlight out of his pocket.

The beam of light swept across, moving between the shelves.

Seals, wooden crates, nylon webbing, and yellow numbered labels.

They were arranged even more neatly than he had imagined.

The first row on the left is the special rack for heavy firepower.

Several heavy boxes of ammunition, labeled in white:

"7.62MM LINKED, M13– FOR M240B / DISMOUNTED USE".

Next to it was an M240B general-purpose machine gun without any accessories attached.

Further up, two .50 caliber ammunition belts lay horizontally on the shelf.

The corresponding M2A1 heavy machine gun was placed against the wall, with the barrel covered by a dustproof canvas cover.

The right column shows the Mk19 Mod 3 covered with coarse cloth.

Fully automatic 40mm grenade launcher.

An AT4 man-portable anti-tank weapon stands in the corner.

Four in total.

Wrapped in black foam padding, with the white sealing film still intact, the serial number and inventory barcode are attached to the side of the launch tube.

They're all heavy things.

But it's worth it.

Finally, there is the light firepower zone.

The optical sights are already mounted on the M4's rails.

The lower level contains two spare M249 SAWs.

The stock has a serial number sticker, and the lanyard is wrapped around the trigger guard and remains unopened.

Next to it is a row of standard magazine boxes.

All items are sealed in vacuum-sealed plastic bags and labeled "LOT 128-LC-23".

In addition, there are many more miscellaneous items.

Night vision goggles, a PRC-152A radio terminal, and several M67 fragmentation grenades.

Zhou Yi stared at everything in front of him and finally revealed a long-lost smile.

Ok.

Great.

That's fucking awesome.

It was 6:09 a.m., and the sky was still not fully light.

Morgan stood in the camp, wearing a gray softshell jacket with an FBI badge.

The air was filled with a damp, acrid smell, mixed with diesel fuel, burnt circuit boards, and the raw, protein-like odor of a corpse before it decomposed.

He didn't like the taste, but he never said it aloud.

"Confirmed annihilation?" Morgan asked in a low voice.

The Asian technical officer next to him, wearing a dark blue DHS jacket, nodded.

"All bodies have been verified in the National Guard database."

He paused for a moment, swallowed hard, and then said with difficulty, "...not a single one survived."

Morgan didn't speak, but took two steps forward, staring blankly at the still-wet pool of blood at the assembly point in the distance.

It took them almost an hour to be allowed in.

The military first sealed off the scene, and the governor and TAG[1] argued for a long time about who should authorize first.

JTTF[2] was not allowed to take over until the Federal Emergency Armed Attack determination was established.

massacre.

This was a brutal massacre.

没有抵抗.

There were no signs of a firefight.

Even more terrifying is that not a single shell casing was left in the entire area.

Morgan personally examined thirteen bodies.

No metal fragments were found.

If it weren't for the remaining traces of gunpowder, he would have almost thought that some kind of magical power had killed these people.

“The attackers did not use standard-issue weapons,” he said softly.

"But such destructive power?" The technician looked at the scattered concrete clumps and couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement. "Is it really feasible with just one pipe?"

Morgan didn't respond and walked towards the center of the explosion.

With an extremely narrow angle and a clear trajectory, the cone-shaped tangent swept across the densest area of ​​the crowd.

"If the filling volume is sufficient and the technology is sophisticated enough," he said.

The technician paused for a moment, then pointed to the wreckage that had been removed, saying, "The explosive casing was made from a civilian electrical conduit, and the ignition module was a modified microwave oven fuse."

"Industrial alcohol, heating wire, trigger spring, timer switch. All are low-end materials."

"They even made their own ignition bridge."

“It’s all junk that you can buy on Craigslist,” Morgan muttered.

“But it’s done with extreme precision,” the technician said. “The inner walls have been polished and fitted with copper sheets of varying curvatures. And—”

"The entire device is free of fingerprints, DNA residue, and infrared residual heat."

"Even the sealing tape was chosen to be the type that doesn't leave grease marks."

Morgan stared at the image survey report in his hand, his Adam's apple bobbing, a chill running down his spine.

After a long pause, he finally said, "No cultural symbols, political motives, or ideological slogans were left at the scene."

The technologist remained silent for a few seconds.

"Then what do you think it's for?" he asked.

Morgan licked his dry lips: "They stole a military truck and practically emptied the entire armory."

"Its firepower is equivalent to that of a reinforced platoon."

"Them?" The tech officer keenly caught Morgan's choice of words.

Morgan did not answer immediately.

He took two deep breaths and said in a low voice:
"With this kind of efficiency, thoroughness, clear objectives, and leaving no trace, our enemy must be at least a standard tactical team."

The technician shook his head incredulously: "So that means... what we're looking for now is an 'unknown unit' with heavy firepower."

"We had no idea where they were going or what they were going to do."

He rubbed his face, trying to calm himself down: "This isn't a federal case, this is... this is wartime."

Morgan gazed at the rising sun on the horizon.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he spoke up: "And this might not be the first time."

Upon hearing this, the technical officer turned his head sharply, his expression one of horror.

“A week ago, the entire police station at the Wake County Detention Center was cut off from communication.”

"Thirty people died, including twenty-three inmates and seven police officers."

"The muzzle wounds were concentrated, with no shell casings, no bullets, no video recordings, and no records whatsoever."

"The news was barely suppressed by the higher-ups to avoid declaring a state of emergency."

“But this time,” he said, pointing to the mess in front of him, “this time it won’t end well.”

　Disclaimer: Do not believe.
　　[1] Commander of the State National Guard
　　[2] Joint Counterterrorism Task Force
　　
　
(End of this chapter)