The Middle East: From War Correspondent to Middle Eastern Influencer

Human scent is a joke in front of dogs, let alone a professionally trained military dog.

At that distance, the German Shepherd could definitely smell him.

"Assad, what's wrong?" the militant walking the dog muttered in a low voice.

He was clearly unaware of what was happening; he simply felt that his dog was behaving strangely, and he casually tugged at the leash in his hand.

In a confrontation at this distance, a single second can determine the life or death of two people and a dog, and this guy clearly hadn't yet woken up from his 4 a.m. slumber.

But the dog woke up.

"Woof! Woof woof!"

The barking instantly shattered the factory's silence, echoing under the empty dome.

Can't wait.

The moment the dog barked, Wu Hen did not choose to retreat or dodge. In the logic of close combat, retreating is tantamount to handing over the initiative to the opponent.

He pushed off with his feet and shot forward.

The German Shepherd was indeed fast; it hurtled straight for Wu Hen's throat like a cannonball.

Wu Hen's left arm is held horizontally across his chest, and his forearm is fitted with a ceramic guard, which can at least withstand one bite from a German Shepherd.

"puff!"

The heavy German Shepherd slammed into Wu Hen's left arm and bit down hard.

The immense impact caused Wu Hen to sway slightly, but before he could charge out, his right hand had already grabbed the M9 bayonet, which was now thrust straight into the German Shepherd's throat.

This is pure killing technique.

Without any fancy moves, the knife tip precisely pierced the German Shepherd's lower jawbone diagonally upwards.

The bayonet pierced flesh smoothly. The once ferocious beast let out a final whimper, its body stiffening in mid-air before crashing heavily to the ground.

Almost at the same second, Wu Hen slid his left hand across his thigh and pulled out a pistol.

Three shots fired in quick succession!

The armed man walking the dog had just drawn his pistol from his waist, and before he could even release the safety, three bullets struck him—two to the heart and lungs, and one to the forehead—and he died instantly.

The man fell backward, not even having had time to loosen the dog leash.

"call!"

Wu Hen quickly holstered his bayonet, knelt on one knee, raised his pistol, and scanned his surroundings in a wary posture.

Quiet.

But Wu Hen knew that he had been exposed.

The dog's cries of hunger drew the attention of others.

Damn it.

Wu Hen cursed under his breath. He quickly searched the corpse and found a pistol and a crumpled piece of paper. Without having time to examine them closely, he started running deeper into the factory.

"Abdul! What is Assad shouting? What's happening?"

A jumble of shouts came from afar, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps, accompanied by the blinding beams of tactical flashlights sweeping wildly across every corner of the factory.

"Here they are! Assad is dead! Abdul is dead too!"

A scream echoed throughout the factory.

The entire chemical plant immediately sprang into action.

Wu Hen could tell from the sounds that at least two squads were flanking from the side.

Wu Hen quickly sketched out the enemy's movement trajectory.

He sped along, hugging a row of rusty steel.

He must find the underground stronghold mentioned by the white wolf, or a way to escape, before the enemy can completely encircle him.

"Bang! Bang bang!"

The enemy began to fire in a barrage to suppress them.

Several bullets struck the steel casing, sparking a series of sparks.

"Over here! I see that shadow!"

"Grab him! Boss Hassan said he wants him alive!"

The shouts grew closer.

Wu Hen dodged a toppled iron platform and could already see the heavy explosion-proof iron door at the end of the factory.

That was his original target, but now it has become a dead end. Two PKM general-purpose machine guns have been set up on the second-floor platform behind the door, their dark muzzles pointing directly at the hall.

"Damn it, he's blinded by greed."

Wu Hen chuckled to himself, saying that if it weren't for the $80,000 and the system's sign-in bonus, he would never have put himself in such a deadly situation.

Before another wave of bullets swept over his head, he noticed a huge cylindrical object at his feet.

It was an abandoned chemical storage tank, lying in the shadows in the corner of the factory.

The tank's surface was rusted, and the cover of the inspection port on one side had fallen off. The dark entrance looked like the mouth of a giant beast waiting to devour everything.

There's no time to hesitate.

Wu Hen crouched down and slid straight in.

The inside of the canister was cold and damp, with a smell of paint. Wu Hen leaned against the curved inner wall, placed the M4A1 across his knees, and casually pulled an M67 grenade from his vest, pressing it into his palm.

If they are discovered, killing one is not a loss, but killing two is a huge gain.

The footsteps outside stopped near the storage tank.

"Search! He can't escape! There's no exit around here; he must be hiding somewhere!"

A beam of strong light from a tactical flashlight slanted through the access hole and shone onto the inner wall opposite the storage tank.

Wu Hen could even see the dust particles dancing within the beam of light.

He held his breath, his eyes fixed on the round hole, which was less than half a meter wide.

The beam of light moved slowly inside the can.

Nearly.

closer.

The beam of white light followed the rusty inner wall and finally stopped less than ten centimeters from Wu Hen's nose.

Wu Hen's fingers were already on the safety pin of the grenade.

"Abdullah, there's a jar over here, should we throw a grenade in it?"

A sound came from outside.

Wu Hen's pupils suddenly contracted.

"Forget it, it's full of years of grease in there. If it explodes, the whole factory will catch fire. Boss Hassan is waiting for his heavy weapons to be unloaded."

The leader's voice sounded somewhat impatient, "Search the warehouse in the back. There are a few hidden doors there. That guy ran so fast, he probably slipped into a corner."

The flashlight beam flickered for a moment, then finally moved away.

The footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

Wu Hen did not move. These armed men had a habit of returning after leaving, or leaving one of them, Lao Liu, to lie in wait nearby.

He waited in the dark for a full three minutes.

Only after confirming that there were only sporadic gunshots and shouts coming from afar did he slightly relax his muscles and nerves.

Just as he was about to adjust his posture slightly.

"Hiss! Hiss!"

A walkie-talkie buzzed.

This old man has been squatting for so long!

"Attention! Attention!"

"Immediately seal off all exits of the factory!"

"Shut down the generator, switch to night alert mode. In three minutes, I don't want to see a single artificial light source in the chemical plant. We need to find that person!"

"Hiss! Hiss!"

Channel closed.

The already dim lights went out completely.

Darkness, like a tidal wave, instantly engulfed the entire space.

Inside the storage tank, Wu Hen listened to the loud slamming of the iron gate closing outside and couldn't help but sigh.

"Damn it!"