The Middle East: From War Correspondent to Middle Eastern Influencer

Wu Hen held his breath, pressed his back against the wall next to the door hinge, and gripped the seam of his pants tightly with both hands, forcing himself not to make any sound.

The changes brought about by the [physical foundation enhancement] were fully manifested at this moment. If it were ten minutes ago, he would definitely have lost control and his legs would have gone weak in this situation. But now, although his heart was beating faster, his lower body was very stable and his breathing was relatively calm.

"Damn it, it's locked!" came a furious Arabic curse from outside the door.

Immediately afterwards, there was a crisp metallic clang.

Wu Hen's pupils contracted instantly! It was the sound of an AK-47 being released from its safety. Although he was an intern reporter, he had spent so much time in the Middle East that he was quite familiar with the sound of this most ubiquitous firearm in the world.

"Get out of the way, I'll blast this lousy lock open!" the irritable voice rang out again.

"Are you crazy?!" another voice immediately interrupted him. "We don't have that many bullets to waste on a junk door that might be full of who-knows-what! The boss said, only take what's light and valuable! This office belongs to the media. Go and pack up all the cameras, lenses, and laptops that weren't taken outside! Hurry up!"

"What if someone is hiding inside?" The hot-tempered man was clearly unwilling to give up.

"Let them hide and rot! Smash all the equipment they can't take with them, don't leave these bastards even a single wire! Hurry up, after this we need to move on to the next block to secure a spot!"

Wu Hen secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that these thugs were a bunch of hyenas with no bottom line. Once they broke down the door and found him, what awaited him was definitely not some humanitarian prisoner treatment, but a 7.62mm caliber bullet that would blow his head off, not several.

Time stretched out infinitely in the extreme tension, and every second seemed exceptionally long.

After about five minutes, the noise outside finally began to subside.

"Let's go! Let's check out other places!"

Amidst a flurry of footsteps, the group of thugs left the office, cursing and swearing.

Wu Hen did not act immediately.

The first rule of battlefield survival: never trust what your ears hear. He stood in the storage room for a full ten minutes until he was sure there was no sound in the corridor before he slowly let out a long breath.

He gently grasped the handle inside the iron gate, pressing it down little by little, trying to control the metallic sound it made, and then pushed the iron gate open a tiny crack.

Wu Hen saw the terrible scene outside.

The once tidy branch office is now a ruin. All the desks have been overturned, the expensive Apple computers have been smashed to pieces, and there are scattered documents, broken glass, and several pools of blackened blood that have splattered in from who knows where.

Wu Hen quickly dodged out, lowered his body, and deftly avoided the broken glass and plastic shells on the ground that were likely to make noise.

He walked quickly to the corner where he usually stored odds and ends, and pulled out a dark gray tactical backpack from under the rubble. It was a large-capacity, waterproof backpack that the company had given him when he first started his internship.

Then he jogged to the tea room, where there was a small first-aid kit.

He pried open the first-aid kit, grabbed the bandages, hemostatic powder, two vials of morphine, medical tape, and scissors, and stuffed them all into the outer pocket of his backpack. Then, he found three unopened bottles of mineral water and a few high-calorie chocolate bars to eat, and quickly stuffed them into his backpack as well.

After doing all this, Wu Hen found a metal crowbar in the corner. The crowbar weighed about five or six pounds and could be considered a close-combat weapon for self-defense. Although it was not as good as a firearm, in close combat, if this thing hit someone on the head, they would definitely not survive.

Wu Hen held the crowbar firmly in his hand, which gave him a sense of security. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and fastened his chest strap and waist belt.

Just as he was about to think about how to leave the building, the system notification sounded again.

[Check-in location: Rooftop of the branch office building.]

This location offers a wide field of view and possesses tactical high ground value; therefore, the sign-in rewards will be significantly increased!

Rooftop?

The building has five floors, and the branch office is on the third floor. Going to the rooftop at this time would be tantamount to exposing oneself to public view, which is extremely risky.

But the system's promise of a significantly increased reward still tempted him.

In this hellish place where you could die at any moment, without strength you're just a lamb to the slaughter.

The previous physical enhancements had already given him a taste of the benefits, and if he could be rewarded with a weapon or something this time, his chances of survival would greatly increase.

"Damn it! Let's do it! Let's give it our all!"

Without hesitation, he made his move up the fire escape stairs to the fourth floor. He dared not take the main staircase, as it was too wide and offered no cover.

Just as I reached the corner of the stairs on the fourth and a half floor, a piercing screech of brakes suddenly came from downstairs!

It wasn't just one vehicle; judging from the sound, it was at least three pickup trucks!

"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Surround this building! Take the high ground and set up the heavy machine guns on the roof!"

This isn't the same rabble who only knew how to rob! These are genuinely trained armed men, possibly a regular army unit or mercenaries!

Their goal was very clear: to occupy the rooftop!

The footsteps downstairs are rapidly ascending, first floor, second floor!

Wu Hen had only seconds left. If he retreated to the third floor now, he would definitely be caught by the group of regular armed personnel searching upwards, and he would be doomed.

The only way out is to get ahead of them and rush to the rooftop!

Wu Hen took a deep breath and ran up to the fifth floor in a blur, heading straight for the iron gate leading to the rooftop.

"arrive!"

Wu Hen pushed hard with both hands toward the iron gate leading to the rooftop.

"Bang!"

The door wasn't open!

The outside of the iron gate was locked with a thick iron chain!

Damn property management!

"MDF!"

The footsteps below were approaching the fourth floor: "Fourth floor is safe, continue advancing!"

Desperate situation!

With no way forward and pursuers behind, if he used a fire pry bar to break the lock, the loud noise would instantly reveal his location, and the militants could simply fire upwards from below the stairs and riddle him with bullets.

At this critical moment.

[Host detected has arrived at the check-in area: Check-in conditions met.]

[Sign in now?]

Sign it! Right now! Sign it for me!

[Check-in successful!]

[Rewards are being distributed]

[Item obtained: M9 Multi-functional Military Bayonet.]

[Skill Acquired: Proficiency in Basic Military Combat.]

In an instant, as if by muscle memory, Wu Hen learned how to grip the dagger in reverse for maximum lethality, how to find the most vulnerable carotid artery and intercostal spaces, and how to dislocate an enemy's joints in a confined space. These cold-blooded and efficient killing techniques were as if he had practiced them thousands of times, instantly imprinted into his bones.

At the same time, his right hand sank, and a matte black M9 military bayonet appeared out of thin air in his palm.

The anti-slip texture of the handle fits perfectly in his palm, creating a strange sensation.

The footsteps had reached the fifth-floor staircase, and in no more than twenty seconds, the leading soldier would appear in Wu Hen's field of vision.