Lord of Cinder in American Comics

Sure enough, just as the convoy managed to react, two of its escorting armed helicopters were destroyed by a stealthy, fully-equipped aircraft.

Among the people Hawke sent, a red-haired woman, seeing the situation, said anxiously, "Aren't we going down to help?"

Heavy Artillery was a little displeased. As a professional soldier, the thing he hated most was making unnecessary explanations during missions. If there were any questions, they should be raised in the briefing before the mission began. During the mission, he only needed to obey orders.

Before Heavy Artillery could speak, Blonsky interrupted, saying, "These are the elite troops of Europe? Disobeying orders during a mission?"

The red-haired woman quickly explained, "I just wanted to go down and help!"

"Help? Help with what? Someone in the joint forces has definitely leaked information. If anyone survives down there, it means they might be a traitor. If no one survives, it's just killing them to cover it up. Going down now will only give any potential traitors cover..."

The red-haired woman's rationality prevailed over her emotions, and she kept silent. Everyone in the cabin was waiting for the predator to pounce, hoping to become the hunters themselves.

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Chapter 357: The Terrible Special Forces

Without the escorting armed helicopters, the ground forces' defenses were a complete mess.

Of course, we must also commend the enemy aircraft in the air; when the ground troops' .50 caliber machine guns hit them, they only ejected clusters of friction sparks.

With the ground forces mostly wiped out, the aircraft landed, and a group of heavily armored soldiers disembarked one after another to clean up the battlefield.

After waiting until now, the heavy artilleryman looked at the people in the cockpit and ordered, "Take them out and retrieve the weapons!"

On the ground, among the team escorting the weapons, the only survivors, the Duke and Parachute Rope, were running at full speed with the weapon box, weaving through bullets that seemed to come from nowhere.

Suddenly, the Duke was stopped by an enemy wearing a mask. The Duke fired his weapon wildly, but it only caused ricochets and sparks to fly, as if mocking his overestimation of his abilities.

Caught off guard, the parachute suddenly slammed into the enemy, knocking him down. The Duke followed closely, pulling out a dagger and plunging it into the gap in the helmet.

He released the enemy with the parachute rope, sat down on the ground and let out a long sigh of relief, saying, "I've never seen an enemy that can't be killed..."

As he spoke, the enemy, who had a dagger stuck in his neck, twitched and tried to stand up, his hand already gripping the hilt of the dagger, attempting to pull it out.

With a scream, Kaisan aimed his pistol at the enemy's helmet eye socket and fired wildly, emptying an entire magazine.

Upon seeing the enemy fall, the Duke grabbed the parachute cord and ran into the woods.

The Duke, fully aware of the situation, said to the parachute operator, "Find a place to hide first. Reconnaissance troops will definitely come for this kind of mission. Hold out for a while, and reinforcements will arrive..."

On the other side, the special forces support officially engaged the enemy in firefight, but the enemy's formidable protective gear made it difficult to achieve an effective kill.

Heavily armed with a miniature M134, he single-handedly suppressed the enemy's firepower. However, due to the use of reduced-load ammunition to decrease recoil, he was unable to effectively eliminate the enemy with his weapon and could only create opportunities for his teammates.

The red-haired woman was holding a modified single-shot crossbow, which was actually a small automatic rocket launcher.

The crossbow can accurately capture the enemy and determine the target's location using its onboard camera; the rest is up to the crossbow bolts that can find the target.

Using the explosives on her crossbow bolts, the red-haired woman killed several enemies and then charged uncontrollably into the enemy ranks.

But those enemies weren't going to just stand there and wait for her to kill them. They were clearly enhanced; they pushed aside the vehicles with a single reach.

The violent movement of the vehicle sent the red-haired woman, who was hiding behind it, flying into the air, and she dropped her crossbow.

The red-haired woman quickly crawled towards the weapon; once she got it, she could take down the enemy.

However, the other woman was one step ahead, stomping on and crushing her weapon. The red-haired woman looked up and saw the dark muzzle of the gun.

Without a word, the enemy's finger was already on the trigger. With just about three pounds of force, the red-haired woman would say goodbye to this world.

However, the enemy vanished from his spot in an instant, and a tall, dark green figure turned him into a projectile with a wave of his hand.

The enemy was transformed into a folded object with a wave of the abomination's hand and flew into the depths of the forest.

Abomination glanced at the red-haired woman lying on the ground, let out a disdainful snort from its nostrils, and then jumped to another position to support the battlefield.

On the other side, the Duke, armed with weapons and a parachute rope, was found by the enemy.

Surrounded by a group of people, the Duke confronted them with his gun. However, being slightly smarter, he knew that these enemies did not have regular weapons, so he aimed his gun at the weapon box in his hand.

The enemy's target is these escorted weapons; as long as they have the weapons, there is still room for maneuver.

Among the enemies, a graceful woman stepped out and pressed a button on her glasses, turning them from sunglasses into transparent glasses.

Upon seeing the beauty before them, both the Duke and the Parasol were speechless with astonishment.

“Anna…”

The duke murmured the other man's name, but the other man pointed a gun at him.

The woman called Anna said without hesitation, "Bring me your weapons, and I might spare your lives..."

Anna was originally the Duke's fiancée, but during one of the Duke's missions, Anna's younger brother, the technical officer in the mission team, was killed in an explosion.

The Duke and Anna severed all ties after that, but he never expected to see his former lover today.

Seeing Anna here, the Duke knew there was no turning back.

Anna's standoff with the Duke lasted for several dozen seconds before being interrupted by the flying folding figure.

The powerful shield, carrying immense kinetic energy, flew directly past the two of them, crashing into a large tree before changing direction and landing on the ground.

Hearing the roar and the approaching crashing sounds, Anna gave the Duke a deep look before leading her men away.

Before the Duke could finish his thought, the enormous figure of loathing landed in front of him.

In a panic, the Duke pointed his gun at Abomination, who flicked the weapon away with a finger and looked down at the Duke, asking, "Where is the enemy?"

"They...they went that way..."

Before the Duke could react, he pointed in the direction Anna had left, and Abomination immediately leaped up and chased after her.

The duke, who was about to say something, noticed the sound behind him and immediately drew his pistol and pointed it in that direction.

Seeing the approaching redhead and heavy artillery, the Duke raised his gun and shouted, "Back off! Back off!"

Heavy Cannon lowered the muzzle of his mini-Gatling gun to the ground to indicate he posed no threat, saying, "We're not enemies, hand over the crate..."

"I don't know who you are, nor do I know who they are. Don't even think about it until I find out the truth!"

Heavy Artillery glanced sideways at the battlefield behind him, still shimmering with fire, and said, "If it weren't for us, you would have ended up like those people..."

"I told you! Don't even think about it!"

At that moment, Kai Shuai poked half his head out from behind a tree not far away, raising his gun and aiming it at them. However, as soon as he showed his head, a sharp dagger was placed against his neck.

A person dressed in a matte black protective suit, with two samurai swords on his back, approached the Duke with a parachute rope.

Upon seeing his friend captured, the Duke pointed his gun at the weapons case, preparing to repeat his previous tactic.

"Let him go! Otherwise we'll all die here!"

Heavy Artillery glanced at the situation, pulled out a transmission device, threw it in front of the Duke, and said, "Someone wants to talk to you..."

General Hawke's figure appeared in the projection, and the Duke was immediately relieved upon seeing it.

“Child, put down your weapon and state your position and identity.”

The Duke retorted, "Why don't you tell me yours first?"

"My men saved you, you should say thank you..."

"I had no idea there was backup for this mission. Why didn't you order your men to retreat?"

The Duke's persistent attitude prompted Hawke to take the documents handed to him by his secretary. After glancing at them, Hawke said, "The Duke and the parachute rope? You have extensive mission experience. I am General Clayton Abernathy. Your Excellency should know my identity..."

At this moment, the Duke could no longer remain defiant and seized the opportunity to say, "General Hawke, the NATO frontline commander in the AfH War..."

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Chapter 358: Hawke's Problem

The process of mutual recognition made Ash, who was sitting to the side, laugh out loud. However, looking at the others in the situation room, Ash lowered her voice.

Looking at General Hawke, who was setting down the projector and arranging the return journey, Ash asked, "You want to recruit them?"

"Elite soldiers can take on multiple roles. They've experienced cruelty and understand the true nature of the world. Why not recruit these kinds of soldiers?"

Ash looked at Hawke without saying a word. His fingers circled the rim of the cup, making it spin repeatedly on the table.

Suddenly, Ash loosened her grip, causing the cup to slide off the table. The crisp sound of the cup shattering made everyone in the war room abruptly stop what they were doing.

Hawke looked at the somewhat trembling crowd and said, "Get out..."

The atmosphere in the command room instantly relaxed, and everyone else practically ran out.

After the door closed, Hawke asked, "What did you want to say?"

Ash maneuvered the shards of glass toward the trash can and said, "Do you know how you fall short of Sheffield and Ross?"

"I'm no worse than them!"

"The difference is huge! On the battlefield, your command ability is inferior to Sheffield's. As a frontline commander, O'Meng's army is even willing to listen to Sheffield's orders..."

You can't learn Ross's decisiveness and ruthlessness; even in research and equipment development, you're just following in his footsteps...

You've been following behind those two, chasing after their silhouettes, and now you've ended up looking like this... a mess..."

Ash's blunt words shattered Hawke's psychological defenses. Didn't he understand that he was just deceiving himself in a fantasy, and no one dared to wake him up?

Ash continued, "Given the current situation, you've recruited wave after wave of 'elite' soldiers? But you've forgotten that this is an army, and obedience is the primary task."

Look at your elite troops, questioning their mission before the battle. On the battlefield, they acted independently without any coordination or ability to grasp the overall situation.

"And the person you're trying to recruit now, after being alone with the enemy for several minutes, not only did he not die, but he was even able to carry a weapons case..."

Ash's words made Hawke sit silently in his chair, head down, seemingly lost in thought.

Ash patted Hawke on the shoulder, comforting him.

After thinking for a moment, Ash said, "Do you know why I, with my strength, still had to stay in the army for so long? Ten years. I spent ten years in the army. Do you know how I spent those ten years?"

Hawke nodded and said, "Imperial Graveyard, I've been reading your report..."

Ash shook his head and said, "It seems you don't know. Do you think I could fake it for ten years? Those two old guys have always known my strength."

However, those two old guys were always very 'rule-bound'. In the army, I was just a soldier, and I should do what a soldier should do. As commanders, they only needed to put me in the right place; they didn't need to give me any special treatment, and they could even put me in the most brutal battlefields within the rules…

During my ten years in the military, I learned the greatest rule in this world.

And now, you've ignored that rule. You've broken the established norms of the military, arbitrarily recruiting whoever you want. And within this base, you're the one who makes all the decisions…”

After saying that, Ash poured Hawke another glass of wine and left. Hawke needed to think things over carefully, otherwise, after the destruction of the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower would also collapse.