Bang, bang, bang! Three rounds sent Leo on his way. Big Bear caught up to Chen Ge and asked in a low voice, "Hammer Brother, what you said earlier about helping Ukraine fight against our Russia if Ukraine paid to hire you... was that true?"
Chen Ge stopped and turned his head to look at Big Bear, his eyes filled with affectionate indulgence. Yes, indulgence—he was just too fond of this simple, honest brother.
"If it were true, and I wanted to bring you along, what would you choose?"
Without a second thought or a shred of hesitation, Big Bear declared, "Wherever you go, Hammer Brother, that's where I go! Whatever you tell me to do, I'll do!"
"Good brother." Chen Ge chuckled, patted Big Bear on the shoulder, and turned toward the back door.
He had every intention of keeping Big Bear by his side. The guy was pure-hearted and utterly single-minded—the kind of naive, honest soul who would gladly count the money for the person selling him out.
The kid was lucky, too. Joining the Falcon Hunting Team, he had found a good captain in Trench, and an even better big brother in Chen Ge. Otherwise, the grass on his grave would already be three meters high.
Trailing behind Chen Ge, Big Bear had no lofty thoughts of duty or motherland. In his mind, aside from his mother and grandmother, the only people in the world who genuinely cared for him were Hammer Brother, Lightbulb, Manhole Cover, Night Cat, Trench, and Hailstone. No one else could be trusted completely.
Regardless of anything else, listening to Hammer Brother was always right. Hammer Brother would never lead him astray!
Reaching the doorway, Chen Ge leaned out slightly to survey the area, then keyed his push-to-talk button to contact Hacksaw.
"Hacksaw, is the second floor cleared?"
Hacksaw's trembling voice came back over the line. "Hiss... Dammit, hurts like hell. Second floor is cleared. We're getting ready to head up to the third. How's the ground floor? Need backup?"
"You hit?"
"Left forearm's fractured. Wild Boar took over command to breach the third floor. We've only got eleven guys left. That bastard Rock still hasn't blown the tunnel—what the hell is taking him so damn long? Motherfucker!"
Hacksaw was in agonizing pain and frantic with worry, cussing Rock out through gritted teeth.
Chen Ge reassured him, "Don't rush. Hold off on clearing the third floor. Just lock down the stairwell and keep the Ukrainian troops from pushing down. I'm going to support Rock!"
"All right, watch your backs."
"You too."
Chen Ge tried hailing Rock several more times, but received no reply. His expression darkened. Trading a glance with Big Bear, he stepped out first and sprinted toward the annex housing the tunnel entrance.
He had barely made it ten meters when his spider sense screamed a sudden warning. Every hair on his body stood on end.
Danger! Critical danger!
"Holy shit, Big Bear, run!"
Chen Ge's body locked up for a fraction of a second as an expletive ripped from his throat. Channeling every ounce of strength in his frame, he wheeled around and dashed back toward the rear door of the Laboratory Building.
The instant he turned, a muffled thunderclap erupted from within the annex. The earth three hundred meters directly ahead of the back door heaved upward and violently burst apart, sending chunks of concrete, gravel, and dirt rocketing a hundred meters into the sky.
Boom!
A deafening explosion tore through the heavens. The resulting shockwave slammed into Chen Ge and Big Bear just as they scrambled through the doorway, hurtling them several meters across the room to crash against the far wall before bouncing off and thudding onto the floor. The entire Laboratory Building shuddered violently, palm-wide fractures spidering across its solid masonry—a testament to the horrific power of the detonation.
"Cough, cough... Fuck me!"
Chen Ge clutched his chest and coughed, pain radiating through every bone as though he had been shattered into pieces. His internal organs ached with a vicious, tearing agony that made drawing breath an ordeal.
Big Bear had been knocked unconscious by the blast, lying motionless at the base of the wall.
"Rock, fuck your ancestors! Couldn't you give a fucking heads-up before detonating?!"
Chen Ge cursed under his breath. As he moved to roll over and get up, he noticed with astonishment that his body temperature had surged by roughly three degrees. Heat flushed through his limbs, turning his skin slightly red, and for a fleeting instant, he seemed to catch a faint azure glow pulsing through the veins of his wrists.
Then the pain receded, and his body returned to normal.
Blue light?
Chen Ge brought his hands close to his face, blinking hard as he inspected them. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he wondered if his eyes were just playing tricks on him.
Dismissing it from his mind, he rubbed his chest and gave himself a silent thumbs-up.
This constitution, this physical resilience... was truly terrifying!
Wiping the dust off his goggles, he focused his core and kipped straight up to his feet. Striding over to Big Bear, he bent down and pinched hard on the philtrum above the man's upper lip.
"Ow—!"
Jolted awake by the pain, Big Bear swung his left fist at Chen Ge on pure soldier's instinct while his right hand reached for the quick-draw holster at his waist.
"Get the hell up! Sleeping's not allowed here!"
Recognizing Chen Ge's voice, Big Bear slumped back onto the floor with a dull thud. His bloodshot eyes went wide, and cold sweat beaded across his forehead from sheer agony.
"Ribs... my ribs are... broken... Hurts... so bad..."
"You really are a piece of bad luck!"
Chen Ge crouched down, unzipped the first-aid kit mounted to the exterior of Big Bear's tactical vest plate carrier, fished out a ketorolac tablet, peeled back Big Bear's balaclava, and popped it into his mouth. Then, grabbing Big Bear by the belt with one hand and bunching his collar with the other, he hoisted him into an adjacent room and tucked him behind a metal locker.
"Drink some water. Once we clear the building, I'll come get you."
With that, Chen Ge checked his tactical radio and machine gun to make sure the blast hadn't damaged them.
Fortunately, both were intact!
Just as he prepared to hail Rock, a feeble voice came through his earpiece, sounding critically injured.
"Sledgehammer... annex entrance... need backup..."
Chen Ge's expression hardened. He bolted from the room and sprinted for the rear door.
Intense gunfire rattled from inside the five-meter-tall annex. The moment Chen Ge burst through the back door, Ukrainian soldiers at the third-floor windows spotted him. As one, they poked their rifle barrels out to spray fire and lobbed grenades down at him.
Yet Chen Ge was moving too fast. To make matters worse, he broke into his self-invented "Sledgehammer Footwork," inspired by the boost-glide Qian Xuesen trajectory—an erratic, chaotic weave without rhyme or reason, purely running on whim.
S-curves, lateral leaps, sharp right-angle cuts... The Ukrainian troops upstairs watched in utter disbelief, growing frantic as they gritted their teeth and opened up with everything they had.
Leading their targets, saturation fire—without exception, every single round hit empty air.
Chen Ge reached the annex entrance unhindered and threw himself inside with a diving leap.
The annex had once served as a cafeteria, and on the right side was the sloping entrance to the tunnel.
The Ukrainians had modified the ramp so pickup trucks could drive down, making it easier to transport ammunition and supplies.
At the bottom of the ramp, Piano was hauling a barely breathing Rock up the incline on his back. Circlip, Battery, Mason, Windmill, and Night Hawk were falling back behind them, firing as they retreated, every one of them wounded.
Night Hawk's right arm dangled limply, dripping with blood, while his left hand clamped onto the AK-74 slung across his chest, hip-firing as he moved.
Only seven of them left?
Chen Ge let out a breath, charged down the slope, and shoved four smoke grenades into the hands of Circlip and Battery. He radioed Hacksaw to attack the third floor immediately to draw the Ukrainian troops' attention; otherwise, the seven of them would be sitting ducks the moment they stepped outside.
"Move, now! I've got you covered!"
Seeing Chen Ge with an HK417 slung across his back and an Mk 48 machine gun gripped in his hands, Circlip and the others felt a surge of overwhelming relief and safety.
Panting heavily, Piano began, "Hammer Brother, the Ukrainians—"
Knowing what he was about to say, Chen Ge cut him off with a sharp wave of his hand.
"Shut up! Get the hell out of here, don't stay and drag me down!"
Piano didn't dare waste another breath. Hauling Rock, he scrambled for the top of the ramp. Circlip and the others looked at Chen Ge, their eyes welling with redness. After a brief, agonizing pause, they choked out, "Be careful," and turned to hurry after Piano.
Chen Ge stood at the corner of the entrance. Bullets crackled and snapped as they ricocheted off the concrete walls, sprayed from the eastern passage.
Holding his breath, he listened intently. Once more assuming the mantle of the Jade-Faced Grenade King, he flipped open his pouch and hurled four M67 grenades in rapid succession.
Chapter 51