Spellcasting Gods

Although most of the wanted persons have been caught so far, "democracy" and "freedom" have not arrived. Instead, arms dealers and intelligence brokers are thriving, and gunshots can be heard in the distance almost every now and then. The killing has never stopped, and the air is filled with the smell of death and gunpowder.

Of course, for Yelena, who has received professional training, this is the ideal workplace for intelligence agents.

Because of the extreme instability of society, people's ambitions, desires and subconscious anxieties have expanded rapidly. For power, money and beauty, they are capable of doing anything terrible and can offer anything as a commodity for exchange.

Human nature, in such harsh environments, often reveals either its most brilliant side or its most despicable side.

Unfortunately, brilliance is always in the minority, while baseness is the choice of the majority.

After quickly traversing the low-lying civilian area, the team finally arrived at their destination.

The combat personnel at the front crouched down, carefully checked the door lock, and made sure there were no grenades or other explosives hanging behind it before giving a safety signal and banging on the door.

In less than two or three seconds, a local woman dressed entirely in black opened the door from the inside and asked in a somewhat uncertain tone, "Which of you is Red Falcon?"

"Me!" Yelena stepped forward without hesitation. "Where are the people I asked for? Are they all here?"

"Yes, everyone's here, they're inside." The woman was clearly surprised by the contact's youth, a hint of tension and panic barely perceptible in her eyes.

“Very good! Take me to see them right away! You know time is of the essence. After this is settled, I still need to go to Fallujah.” With that, Yelena threw six bundles of cash, totaling $60,000, to the other party.

As a defeated nation, Iraq's central bank-issued currency is now practically worthless, so the relatively more stable US dollar has taken its place and become the only accepted means of payment in the market.

"understand!"

Without saying a word, the woman quickly counted the banknotes, confirmed they weren't counterfeit, and immediately went into the room, pushing aside the bed to reveal a staircase leading to the basement.

After signaling her three men to stay outside and keep watch, Yelena immediately led the rest of her men inside without saying a word, arriving at a very dark cellar.

Five elderly men, ranging in age from fifty to seventy, with thick beards, were sitting on the ground leaning against the wall, lost in thought.

They had clearly been imprisoned here for some time, and their bodies reeked of a pungent, sour stench. As soon as they noticed someone entering, they immediately got up from the ground in alarm.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I'm sorry to have invited you here in this way. But please don't worry, as long as you help me solve a small mystery, I will not only let you leave immediately, but also provide each of you with a reward of at least $100,000." Yelena stated her intentions in fluent Arabic.

"A mystery?" A look of doubt appeared on the face of one of the oldest men.

“That’s right! I need you to decipher an ancient map and confirm its location on a modern map.” Yelena nodded slightly and took out a few sheets of printed paper from her briefcase and handed them over.

With the help of the dim light, the kidnapped experts and scholars quickly reacted in different ways. Some were very interested, some looked worried, and others had a confused look in their eyes.

For a full ten minutes, no one spoke; the atmosphere in the cellar was both strange and oppressive.

Ten minutes later, the first elderly man to speak asked, "Where did this map come from? If possible, may I see the original?"

"The original? Isn't there already a clear copy? What do we need the original for?" Yelena asked, puzzled.

“No! You don’t understand! I must first confirm the date the map was made, and then analyze it in conjunction with the corresponding historical period before I can figure out the area depicted on the map. Ancient maps are different from modern ones. There were no scales back then, so the terrain depicted is very different from modern ones, and can even be described as abstract,” the old man explained calmly.

“That’s right! And you can’t keep us locked up like this forever! We need clean food and water, and we also need to take a bath and change our clothes.” Another slightly younger elderly man angrily proposed a deal.

"Damn it! Wait a minute, I need to ask for instructions."

Yelena muttered a complaint under her breath, then quickly walked out of the cellar, took out her high-tech mobile phone—which was more than twenty years ahead of the rest of the world—and contacted headquarters directly.

Upon learning this news, Leonid had no choice but to send the message verbatim to his boss.

When Zhang Cheng saw the message on his phone, he sighed helplessly and shouted to Elizabeth, who was customizing her brand-new Harley motorcycle, "Honey, I'm sorry, I have something important to do and I have to leave for a while."

"Where are you going?" The girl quickly shut off the spray nozzle in her hand, which was spraying wine-red paint, her eyes revealing a hint of curiosity.

"Go to Baghdad."

As Zhang Cheng answered, he raised his supreme authority and opened a portal, then passed through it without hesitation and disappeared without a trace.

“Oh—shit! He can reach the other side of the earth just by waving his hand?” Elsa asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

“That’s right! Long-distance teleportation magic, isn’t it amazing? It’s said that only the most top wizards and people with special abilities can master it. No need for long journeys, no need to go through customs, and no need for visas. You can go wherever you want.” Elizabeth shrugged, a look of envy on her face.

"Well, it seems that for a mortal like me, it's more practical to just ride a motorcycle around America..."

Chapter 0836 Sniping

An hour and a half later, Yelena had moved the five experts and professors to a safe house in the Rusafa area east of the river.

Although the security here isn't much better than the civilian area we just left, at least there's water and electricity, and we don't have to worry about any possible firefights or even suicide bombings.

As she watched the experts and professors, who had just finished showering and changed into new clothes, wolfing down bread, roast lamb, cheese, and fresh fruits and vegetables, she suddenly noticed a familiar figure appear in the room at some point.

No one, including the team members on the outside keeping watch, noticed anything unusual; it was as if they had all chosen to be selectively blind.

"Shh! Don't make a sound, they can't see me right now," Zhang Cheng explained with a smile, putting a finger to his lips.

"Is this... magic?" Yelena's tone was full of uncertainty.

Although she is now considered to possess supernatural powers, she has little practical experience in applying them, let alone the extremely complex theoretical knowledge.

Zhang Cheng nodded slightly: "That's right! It's an interesting magic that makes all ordinary people ignore you. If you cast it around a building, it can prevent any intruders without magical powers from getting close. I only recently learned it, and the effect is excellent, isn't it?"

“It’s truly unbelievable.” Yelena glanced subconsciously at the experts and professors who were still eating, as well as the combat teams guarding inside and outside the house.

The former were just a group of old men, so their lack of vigilance was understandable. But the latter were highly trained elites, and even the slightest anomaly would attract their attention. So it wasn't that the combat team was incompetent, but rather that the magic was too amazing.

"Tell me, while I was away, did Leonid do anything underhanded?" Zhang Cheng plopped down on the sofa opposite him, staring into the pseudo-loli's eyes.

Yelena hesitated for a moment, then immediately shook her head: "No! He just secretly transferred $200,000 to his daughter's account in thirty installments through an old friend. There was nothing else he did behind the scenes."

"Two hundred thousand US dollars? In thirty installments? He's really cautious enough." Zhang Cheng looked surprised.

It's important to understand that Leonid's current cash flow isn't just the initial investment; it also includes businesses involved in global arms smuggling, trafficking contraband, and operating entertainment venues such as hotels and nightclubs.

Normally, with just a slight alteration to the accounts, not to mention 200,000, even 2 million or 20 million can be quietly fabricated.

“No, it’s not caution, but rather a way of protecting himself from his family knowing he’s still alive. Besides, you probably don’t know how dire the internal economic conditions were for those former Soviet republics after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Two hundred thousand dollars is already a huge sum; any more would cause unnecessary trouble.” Yelena clearly knew what her boss was thinking and offered her explanation.

For those who want to live a peaceful and stable life, more wealth is not necessarily better.

On the contrary, without sufficient capital, too much money will not only fail to bring a better life, but will also become easy prey for hungry wolves.

“Restraint is a virtue! I like people who know how to restrain themselves! Alright, let’s leave this topic here for now. Here, this is the original map. Quickly get those experts and scholars to start working.” With that, Zhang Cheng carefully took out the yellowed parchment map from his magic pouch.

"understand!"

Without a word, Yelena took the map, went straight to the dining table, pushed all the food onto the floor, and said to the somewhat bewildered old men in a cold voice, "Gentlemen! Dinner time is over! Now get to work. Here is the original map you requested. Let me state beforehand that it is extremely fragile. If anyone causes even the slightest damage, I guarantee the punishment will be far more severe than just yourselves."

“Relax! We are all professionals! We will not damage this ancient map in the slightest.” The elderly man at the head of the group put on gloves, slowly unfolded the entire parchment, and examined the patterns drawn on it with an unknown ink.

Two other people were using magnifying glasses to try and find where invisible ink had been used, or where there were interlayers or other similar areas.

Undoubtedly, this kind of work cannot be completed in a short time, so after watching for a while, Yelena returned to the sofa, drinking refreshing iced juice and chatting with her boss.

About two hours later, the special forces team members guarding the door suddenly and without warning were lifted into the air, crashed through the glass with a bang, and fell heavily to the ground, gushing out a large amount of blood from their abdomens.

At that moment, the sound of gunfire rang out in the distance.

"Damn it! Get cover! We're being targeted by a sniper!"

Another member of the special operations team at the door reacted immediately, leaping into the room and dragging his wounded comrade inside.

Anyone with a little military knowledge knows that if a bullet arrives before the sound, it means that the sniper is lying in ambush at a distance of about 600 to 1,000 meters. At this distance, even a real sniper would rarely miss. Therefore, completely hiding oneself behind a solid cover is the only way to survive.

Before anyone else could react, another bullet pierced through the window and flew straight toward Yelena's forehead.

At that critical moment, an invisible force field suddenly erupted from her body, forcefully stopping the bullet less than a millimeter away from her head.

"Ah! Well done! It seems you've practiced a lot while I was away, haven't you?" Zhang Cheng clearly didn't take the attack seriously, his face still showing a relaxed and cheerful expression, and he even picked up his cup and took a sip of hot tea.

"Excuse me, Boss, I need to take a moment to deal with this problem."

The words had barely left his mouth!

Yelena was enveloped in a layer of silvery, semi-transparent soul matter. She jumped directly off the second-floor balcony and quickly disappeared into the intricate alleyways.

With two consecutive shots, she had locked onto the sniper's soul; no matter where the opponent hid, he would eventually be found.

……

Meanwhile, on the rooftop of a five-story residential building more than 750 meters away, a white man dressed in U.S. military camouflage lowered his weapon and cursed through gritted teeth: "Fuck! Explain! I need an explanation! What happened to that girl? A white light suddenly appeared on her body! And then she blocked the bullet I fired! That was a 12.7mm armor-piercing round! It can penetrate steel plates and concrete walls!"

"Calm down!"

The middle-aged man standing next to him snapped at him, then immediately picked up his walkie-talkie and called out, "This is sniper position number two! Our operation has run into some unexpected trouble! We urgently need backup! Repeat! Our operation has run into some unexpected trouble, we urgently need backup..."

Chapter 0837 A Sudden Inspiration

"Blood, slaughter, and death, what a wonderful day. Baghdad is indeed a good place. What do you think?" Zhang Cheng said with a playful smile, turning his gaze to the experts and scholars who were already stunned.

In fact, he prefers to be in places filled with intrigue, betrayal, violence, and chaos rather than in a safe and peaceful environment.

the reason is simple!

A safe and peaceful environment usually means a strong force of order, and the force of order makes people subconsciously hide their bad side and desperately suppress all kinds of desires and negative emotions in their hearts in order to ensure that they are not regarded as an outsider by the whole society and thus be rejected and suppressed.

But in chaotic places, order is often weak and unable to restrain everyone's behavior. So whether it's for survival or to release stress, people will show their truest selves, whether they are kind or evil.

Unfortunately, this kind of crazy way of thinking is not suitable for most people.

At least these experts and professors from the Iraqi National Museum and universities felt that the young man in front of them was simply not mentally sound, and immediately lay down on the ground to avoid potentially fatal bullets or RPG rockets that might come in from outside the window.

Despite the large number of US troops patrolling and stationed throughout Baghdad, the city is far from safe, and armed conflicts and firefights are commonplace.

"Oh no! Scalpel! Come quick! Old Gun's passed out!" The combatant, who was dragging his teammate behind a concrete wall, shouted the code name of another comrade.

Although he kept his hand on the injured person's abdomen, trying to stop the bleeding, it was unclear whether it was luck or bad luck, but the bullet clearly damaged too many blood vessels when it passed through, including a relatively important artery.

Of course, this "luck" refers to not being shot in the head or through the chest; otherwise, he would already be a lifeless corpse.

The guy known as the scalpel was clearly in charge of battlefield medical care and first aid. Without saying a word, he immediately ran over, opened his backpack, and quickly checked the wound to make sure the bullet had passed through but wasn't lodged in his body. Then he took out some medicine to disinfect the wound and quickly stitched it up with great skill.

Because the conditions and tools were very rudimentary, he couldn't afford to check the extent of damage to each internal organ; he could only focus on stopping the bleeding and providing first aid. Whether he could survive depended on luck.

Seeing the tense reactions of these people, Zhang Cheng suddenly stood up, walked closer, pointed to the cross hanging on "Scalpel's" chest, and asked, "Are you religious?"

“Of course! Veterans like us who have participated in real wars all believe in something to some extent, whether it works or not, it at least relieves some mental stress.” The man, who looked somewhat Latino, nodded with a wry smile.

"That sounds interesting. If I could save this seriously injured person right now, would you be willing to give me your faith?" Zhang Cheng stroked his chin and continued to ask with great interest.

It's obvious that he's had some new inspiration and wants to put it into practice.

"Save him?" The scalpel frowned instinctively, clearly not understanding the specific meaning of the word.

“That’s right! I can use a method to restore him to health immediately, so he can be fully recovered and ready to fight. But the price is that you must believe in me like you would a god,” Zhang Cheng explained calmly.

“Oh—damn! You’re not mentally unstable, or maybe you’ve joined some cult?” another guy couldn’t help but chime in.