Starting from South America, speeding through the world

Chapter 227 fi5
Northern Kivu Province, 6:52 a.m.

Zhou Yi squatted in the mud, an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth, a fire control module in his hand.

The edge of the plastic casing was cracked, and the power cord was exposed, as if it had been pried open with a knife.

"Who did this?" he asked.

No one answered.

Five meters away, stood dozens of young men dressed in loose camouflage, their hands tightly gripping the weapons they had just been issued.

Colin stood in front of them, hands on his hips, his face ashen.

“Very good, you spent a full twenty minutes and successfully destroyed equipment worth twenty thousand dollars.”

"I fucking want to send this video back to the Pentagon."

The translator beside him relayed the words aloud, albeit haltingly, with several obvious errors that caused the others to lower their heads and stifle their laughter.

Further away, a soldier stared intently in this direction. Just as he couldn't help but grin, he was kicked to the ground by the Ukrainian.

"What are you laughing at?" the man asked coldly. "Do you know how many meters this sight distance scale corresponds to?"

He held up the RPG-29 in his hand, with a thermal imaging device attached to its end.

"Do you want to shoot down that pickup truck, or your brother next to you?"

Before the translator could finish speaking, someone had already placed their weapon on the ground and raised their hands high.

"That's fucking merciful," Colin muttered.

Zhou Yi stood up, stuffed the module into his backpack, and glanced at the temporary firing range in the distance.

Behind the mound of earth stood several cement slabs, with stickers depicting the people they were carrying pinned to them.

Further to the left are two wrecked Toyota cars; the windows are broken, but the chassis are still intact.

That's for beginners to practice shooting.

When it was first towed back the day before yesterday, several young soldiers thought it was captured war trophy and even took pictures of it.

It wasn't until Colin personally went up and attached the target that they realized this thing wasn't for them to operate, but for them to shoot at.

Zhou Yi sighed, turned his head and said, "Let's do it again."

The Rwandan translator relayed Zhou Yi's instructions, and the group began to line up again, in groups of three.

Colin stood to the right, his eyes filled with unbearable frustration.

"They don't understand the basic concept of a parabola, and they can't even remember where to stand when the target is moving."

He muttered a curse under his breath: "I didn't come here to teach high school physics."

“You used to be a good teacher,” Zhou Yi said casually.

“At least you’re with the Rangers,” Colin corrected. “The mission briefing will be explained three times. If you still don’t understand, don’t come back alive.”

"But you just said it six times."

“That’s why I’m going crazy.” Colin said, taking a few steps forward and pointing to the guide lines on the ground. “Come on, look closely—can anyone tell me what this is for?”

No one said a word.

A tall, thin young man raised his hand, but then slowly lowered it.

Colin stared at him for a few seconds, then finally turned away helplessly: "John, I pray that the plan doesn't involve them fighting head-on."

“These are just some country bumpkins we just caught,” Zhou Yi said. “The real main force is in the east, with their good neighbors.”

No sooner had the words been spoken than the Ukrainians' training began to show results, a muffled thud came from the direction of the firing range, followed by a burst of fire.

During the explosion, some people couldn't help but cheer twice.

“It’s really Eastern European witchcraft,” Colin said, making the sign of the cross on his chest. “May God have mercy on a bunch of believers like me who can’t even aim their piss properly.”

Just as he withdrew his hand, a young man shamelessly approached, pointed to his chest, and mumbled something indistinctly.

Then, mimicking Colin's actions, he also made the sign of the cross on his own chest with a reverent expression.

Colin was stunned for a moment. "Damn it," he said, "this is irony, not a blessing."

The translator said something that seemed to understand but not quite, and the young man nodded even more devoutly.

"My God!" Colin gasped. "I'm going to be expelled from the church."

“Please forgive me for misleading the brothers with a joke.”

“I was just scolding them for being stupid, not for wanting to preach, and certainly not for establishing a heretical sect.”

"If you absolutely must impose punishment today, please at least wait until I get off work."

Looking at the farce unfolding before him, Zhou Yi suddenly felt a headache coming on and even began to regret investing 1.5 million yuan in this godforsaken place.

He reached into his pocket for his lighter, only to find that it had been stolen sometime earlier.

Just as I was about to look in Colin's bag, my old-fashioned satellite phone suddenly vibrated twice.

Zhou Yi glanced down and saw that there was only one signal bar.

He thought for a moment, gestured to Colin, and then quickly walked out of the training area.

After passing through several collapsed concrete walls and climbing the small hill north of the camp, Zhou Yi finally turned on the microphone and answered the call.

“To be honest, you should thank me,” Lucas began bluntly.

"Come on," Zhou Yi rolled her eyes. "What have you done now?"

“You creatively killed a president, John,” Lucas said, “along with twenty-seven CIA agents and several local military personnel.”

"I have to admit, your commotion is much bigger than I expected."

"so what?"

"So the director in the suit went crazy and decided not to give you a single penny, saying it was an 'unauthorized act,' a 'serious overstepping of boundaries,' and a 'malign risk.'"

Zhou Yi unwrapped the cigarette, bit off a small piece of tobacco, and remained silent.

Meanwhile, Lucas continued.

"Those few RPGs you used? They found it incredible—not because of you, of course, but because M23 dared to have someone transport your stuff into the city."

He paused here, as if considering his words.

"In short, Africa Command has begun to reassess the relationship between these so-called 'local armed groups' and the Congolese government, especially the lingering influence of those former officers."

"But no matter what, in their eyes, you completely messed things up."

“It was me—it was me who saved that money for you.” Lucas’s voice carried a hint of pride. “One and a half million, it will be in your account tomorrow morning.”

Zhou Yi burst out laughing. "Are you sure you didn't take a kickback?"

“Fuck you, you ungrateful bastard,” Lucas retorted immediately, his emotions interrupted. “Take their money and shut up and get lost.”

Zhou Yi chewed on bitter tobacco shreds, preparing to end the call.

Just then, a voice suddenly came from the other side:
"correct."

".?"

"Well done."

After that, the signal was cut off.

Zhou Yi took the microphone off his shoulder, casually stuffed it back into the side pocket of his vest, stood in the wind, and looked down at the chaotic camp below.

The hill is not high, but it is high enough to see the entire training ground to the east of the camp.

Colin was yelling something at the translator.

Roy leaned against a wooden stake smoking, while the Ukrainian sat on a discarded tire, peeling an apple with a knife.

Zhou Yi stood there, spat the last crumbs at his feet, wiped his mouth, and turned to go down the slope.

(End of this chapter)