Global Mercenaries: Starting from the Russia-Ukraine War

Chapter 105 Closing In (Please Subscribe!)

Eugene then pointed towards box B: 600 meters.

The group avoided open areas and began to approach slowly.

There are old signs on the edge of the minefield, some of which are lying on the ground, and a few broken wooden stakes.

Eugene stopped and gestured: the signal is ahead.

Roman crouched down and took out a small probe and a marker strip.

Yuri whispered, "Don't go into the minefield."

Eugene looked at the terminal: "The box is on the outer edge, it might be stuck in the drain."

Five minutes later, Roman found box B.

The box was half-hanging on the edge of the ditch, with one side of the buffer frame deformed but not broken.

Roman first checked the surroundings, then gestured: safe.

Artyom went over to help, and the two of them dragged the box out of the minefield.

Eugene opened the box and inspected the inside.

"The backup battery is intact, and the anti-interference module is intact."

Yuri looked at the terminal: "Box C?"

Eugene shook his head: "No signal."

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Roman whispered, "Activate backup coordinate search."

Eugene made a few adjustments: "The final trajectory shows a deviation towards the southeast, around 800 meters."

Ruslan asked, "Where might it land?"

Eugene handed the terminal to Yuri: "Near the old irrigation canal, or even further away at the abandoned farm shed."

After thinking for two seconds, Yuri decided: "Initiate a short-term IR search. We have twenty minutes left."

"If it takes more than twenty minutes, abandon box C."

Roman frowned, but did not refute. The medical kit and C4 were important, but people were more important.

Eugene activated the backup search mode.

There was still no feedback from the terminal, and the six continued to move southeast.

Lu Ye walked on the flank and, with the enhancement of his Level 1 perception, heard the faint sound of an engine in the distance before the others.

He immediately raised his fist, and everyone stopped.

A moment later, a car slowly drove by on the village road in the distance.

Eugene gestured: Local patrol?

Yuri replied: Give way.

The group lay down in the shallow ditch, covered themselves with camouflage gear, and remained motionless.

Two minutes later, the engine noise faded into the distance.

Yuri then gestured: Continue.

When they reached the vicinity of an abandoned irrigation canal, Eugene suddenly stopped, and a faint echo appeared on the terminal.

"C-box beacon, intermittent."

Roman whispered, "Direction?"

Eugene pointed to the right front: "Four hundred meters."

Yuri nodded: "Lu, go forward to observe, Artyom, provide cover."

Lu Ye didn't say anything, but immediately lowered his body and moved to the right front.

Artyom followed behind him, the two of them one in front and one behind, feeling their way forward along the edge of the irrigation canal.

Yuri raised his hand and gestured to the others: take cover where you are.

Ruslan lay prone behind a embankment, his PKP-SP not fully deployed, only pointing the muzzle towards the farm.

Roman lay prone on the other side, staring at the road behind him.

Eugene knelt at the bottom of the ditch, placing his backpack in front of him.

He took out a miniature quadcopter drone from his bag, and then took out a folding antenna.

Yuri crouched down beside him and whispered, "Can it fly?"

Eugene nodded: "Short distance, low altitude, low speed."

He quickly checked the battery, motor, and propellers, then placed the drone on the ground and tapped a few times on the terminal.

"Anti-interference module access, low power in image transmission link."

"Turn off thermal imaging and use low-light mode first. This saves power and reduces the signature. Turn on thermal imaging last for confirmation."

The four motors turned gently, making a very low noise. The drone rose close to the edge of the ditch, circled back a short distance, and then cut along the direction of the forest belt.

Yuri looked at the screen; the image was shaking slightly.

As night fell, the outline of the farm slowly came into view.

An old barn, two rows of broken fences, and a low house.

There is a black box on the open ground; that is Box C.

Two people stood beside the box, and soon a third person emerged from the shadows of the barn.

Eugene whispered, "Something's up."

Ruslan immediately adjusted the muzzle of his gun, and Roman turned to look in the direction of the farm.

Yuri raised his hand and pressed down, signaling not to move.

On the screen, three people are surrounding a box.

One of them squatted down, seemingly touching the outer shell of the box.

Another person held a flashlight, but instead of turning on the white light, they used only a very weak red light.

A third person stood to the side, glancing back at the farmhouse every now and then.

Yuri asked, "Can you confirm their identities?"

Eugene shook his head: "Judging from their attire, they look like civilians. Thick coats, caps, no obvious military uniform."

Roman stared at the screen: "Commoners shouldn't be here at this hour."

Ruslan whispered, "It could also be the farm owners. They were awakened by the noise."

Eugene said, "The chances of finding civilians here are very small."

Ruslan retorted, "Anything can happen in a war zone. Some people don't leave, some guard their homes, and some steal things."

Roman said, "If they were civilians, their first reaction upon seeing the box would be to move away or call for help, not for three people to gather around and examine it."

Ruslan: "It's also possible that they don't even know what it is."

Eugene: "There are no civilian markings on the box. The parachute, the shock absorbers, the straps—any normal person would recognize them."

Yuri didn't speak; he continued looking at the screen.

The drone did not hover directly above the farm, but circled slowly to the side and rear, trying to avoid the house windows and open spaces in the yard.

Eugene switched to thermal imaging, but it only lasted a few seconds.

"There is also a heat source inside the house."

Yuri: "How many?"

"Hard to say. At least two."

Roman's face darkened: "Then it's not an ordinary farm."

Yuri raised his hand, signaling Eugene to move away from the farm before lowering the drone's altitude. Lu Ye stopped behind a sloping hill.

He lay down on the ground, took out a thermal imaging scope, and lowered the lens so that only a small part of it was visible.

Artyom was to his right rear, his gun pointed at the side of the farm, and neither of them spoke.

Lu Ye stared at it for a good ten seconds.

The farm was quiet, too quiet. There were no barking dogs, no animal noises, and no signs of activity typical of a farm.

A dim light shone from a window of a house in the distance, but the curtains were drawn tightly shut.

Behind the barn, there is a long, thin antenna.

Lu Ye looked at the ground again. The fence was broken, the water trough was dry, and there were no fresh crops piled up on the open ground.

Artyom whispered, "What did you figure out?"

Lu Ye: "Call Yuri over."

Artyom glanced at him, asked no further questions, and quietly retreated.

A few minutes later, Yuri followed Artyom to Lu Ye's side.

He lay down and asked, "What's going on?"

Lu Ye handed him the observation scope: "I suspect this is an enemy camouflage point."

Yuri took the observation scope and looked at it for a moment.

"It really does look like it. There's a window that's always blocking the light, making it very dim, like an interior guard light."

"A shortwave antenna appears behind the barn. A directional antenna appears to be located on the edge of the roof."

"A small amount of smoke is continuously emanating from behind the house, which is most likely from a generator."

Yuri lowered his observation goggles: "Enemy observation point?"

Lu Ye: "It's probably a long-term, ordinary observation point. It's disguised as a civilian farm to monitor the surrounding area."

Yuri: "The drone saw at least two heat sources inside the house. Adding the three outside, there were at least five people."

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"It is indeed a decoy location, what do you think?"

Lu Ye looked towards the farm: "Kill."

Yuri did not answer immediately: "Reason?"

Lu Ye said, "First, C box has been exposed. The presence of parachute equipment is enough to prove that an enemy squad has infiltrated."

"Once they report it, the surrounding area will be sealed off, drones will be deployed, and patrols will be encrypted. And we haven't even reached the first hiding spot yet, so things will get very complicated later."

Yuri nodded, signaling Lu Ye to continue.

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