The Middle East: From War Correspondent to Middle Eastern Influencer

The nights and days in the Libyan Gobi Desert are completely opposite, with a frighteningly large temperature difference between day and night.

In the camp of the Beni tribe, a few campfires flickered weakly, reflecting the sunken eye sockets of the warriors around them.

Wu Hen sat on a rock, holding a twig in his hand, and gently drew on the sand in front of him.

Suleiman and Amir were squatting opposite him.

Amir's expression was somewhat complicated. His previous arrogance had subsided considerably, probably because those three shots fired during the day had truly subdued him.

In places like this, if you're a good shot and can fix guns, you're the boss.

"Amir, say it again, the location of the chemical plant's entrances."

Amir drew three circles on the ground with a twig: "The main gate is on the north side, which is the passage where crows usually transport supplies. There are two pickup trucks with machine guns parked there. There is a small side gate on the west side, which used to be used for the chemical plant's sewage disposal. Now they have blocked half of it with rubble, but people can still squeeze through. Finally, there is the southeast corner, which used to be the back door of a warehouse that had collapsed halfway. It is the most remote location."

"Is this place guarded?" Wu Hen pointed to the circle in the southeast corner.

"Yeah, they planted sentries in the rubble there," Amir said with a hint of hatred in his eyes. "One of my brothers wanted to scout there, but he was spotted by the snipers hiding there before he even got close. Those guys were hiding in the shadows and didn't move at all. And I found out that they take turns every four hours, at 2 a.m., 6 a.m., 10 a.m., and so on."

Wu Hen silently did the math in his mind. It was 11 p.m., and there were still three hours until the next shift.

How many hidden sentries are there in the southeast corner?

"There are only two visible on the surface, but I bet there are more than that," Amir said with certainty. "Although the Ravens are a bunch of bandits, Hassan, that madman, used to be in the government army. He knows how to set up crossfire."

Suleiman sighed beside him: "Mr. Wu, are you really going alone? Amir can bring a few of his best men with you. Although my equipment is a bit lacking, I can help you draw fire in critical moments."

Wu Hen shook his head: "Too many people will only make things worse. If I bring your men, Hassan's gun will have gone off before I even get close to the chemical plant."

After saying that, he stood up and patted the sand off his buttocks.

Amir stood up as well. He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Commander Wu, I admit that you are indeed better than us, both in terms of gun repair and marksmanship. I'm very sorry about what happened during the day."

Wu Hen was stunned for a moment, then laughed.

"Alright, Amir, wait for me to come back and I'll teach you some real recoil control techniques. Your posture is too hard on your back."

When he returned to the pickup truck, Muhammad was wrapped in a blanket in the passenger seat. When he saw Wu Hen return, he hurriedly pushed open the car door and jumped out.

"Wu, are you really going? That chemical plant is a hornet's nest!" Muhammad's voice was anxious. "I just heard from Ali that the Ravens have recently arrested a lot of people, saying they want them to move chemicals inside. Is it worth it?"

"Muhammad, the Grey Wolf paid me $80,000 and gave me an advance on a set of equipment and three sets of night vision goggles. You know, that's enough to buy a small apartment in Dubai, or for you to have a comfortable vacation in Cairo," Wu Hen said casually while checking the buckles on his tactical vest.

He couldn't very well tell Muhammad that he went there for the special level of sign-in reward from the system.

"But...but what's the use of money if we lose our lives?" Muhammad still refused to give up. He grabbed Wu Hen's arm. "Let's go back to Benghazi city, find a place to hide, and wait until things calm down. Then you can find a way back to China, or go to Qatar!"

Wu Hen stopped what he was doing and turned to stare into Muhammad's eyes.

"Muhammad, haven't you seen reality yet?" Wu Hen's voice turned serious. "On this Gobi Desert, only two kinds of people can survive: those who possess absolute power, like White Wolf; and those who depend on power. Do you think it would take the Ravens to twist our heads off if we ran away now, without the protection of Gray Wolf or the support of the Beni tribe?"

Mohammed opened his mouth, but finally let go of his hand in despair. He knew Wu Hen was right. In Libya, weakness was a more deadly contagious disease than the virus.

"Go get some sleep. We're leaving at three in the morning." Wu Hen patted his shoulder, his tone softening slightly. "If all goes well, I should be able to bring back the intelligence before dawn."

At one o'clock in the morning, the camp was completely quiet.

Wu Hen made his way to a high platform at the back of the camp, where a tiny, black drone, no bigger than the palm of his hand, appeared in his palm.

This is the [Tactical Environment Detection Micro Drone] obtained by signing in.

Wu Hen turned on the watch-style display that came with it. The screen lit up, and a simple operating interface appeared.

He gently flicked the virtual joystick, and the drone's four miniature propellers began to spin at high speed, emitting a very faint buzzing sound that went unnoticed even in the quiet night.

"Wow, it's thermal imaging." Wu Hen looked at the image on the screen and couldn't help but exclaim.

As the drone ascends, the surrounding environment becomes fully visible on the screen.

The once pitch-black wasteland turned into a deep blue background in thermal imaging mode, while the campfire in the camp was a dazzling bright orange, and the sentries who were dozing behind the sand dunes turned into several red and yellow humanoid silhouettes.

Wu Hen piloted the drone towards the chemical plant, covering a straight-line distance of two kilometers in less than five minutes.

A vast complex of buildings appeared on the screen.

Those were the ruins of a chemical plant. Wu Hen saw the two pickup trucks at the north gate, with the heavy machine gunners in the cargo compartments leaning against the supports and smoking.

He controlled the drone to circle around to the southeast corner.

Sure enough, behind the ruined warehouse that Amir mentioned, three red human heat sources were clearly visible.

Two were behind the crumbling wall at the entrance, and another was hidden inside a collapsed ventilation duct, creating a dead end.

"That's fucking sneaky," Wu Hen muttered to himself.

Without this drone, even with night vision goggles, it would be difficult for him to spot the guy hiding in the pipe immediately. From that spot, if he found the intruder, he could easily shoot him through the side of his abdomen.

The drone hovered in the air for ten minutes, and Wu Hen roughly figured out the enemy's sentry rotation route.

A patrol team of four people circled the wall, their movements perfunctory, but enough to cover most of the field of vision.

When Wu Hen retrieved the drone, he felt his palms were sweaty.

The enemy has an overwhelming advantage in numbers and firepower; once he is entangled, he has no chance of survival.

At three in the morning, the wind on the Gobi Desert subsided slightly, but the temperature dropped even further.

Wu Hen was already dressed.

Mohammed stood beside the pickup truck. "Wu, are you really not going to reconsider?"

"Muhammad, if something really happens, don't think about it anymore. Just drive this car and run as far as you can." Wu Hen smiled, reached into his vest pocket, pulled out an M67 grenade, and handed it to Muhammad.

Without saying another word, he turned and stepped into the darkness.

After walking about a kilometer, he stopped, squatted behind a rock, and slowly lowered the night vision goggles from his helmet.

Wu Hen glanced at his watch.

3:50.

There are ten minutes left until the next shift change.