"Hurry and get ready for battle. Ukrainian reinforcements should be here soon. I'm going to check the other rooms."
Chen Ge gave a quick word of caution to Lightbulb and the others, stood up, crawled through the hole in the wall, and stepped into the adjoining laboratory.
Octopus and three mercenaries were restacking the collapsed sandbags near the window, reinforcing the position by hauling over several ADV mechanical analytical balances, industrial platform scales, and test-mold cooling tables to pile behind them.
The laboratory building was filled with machinery and equipment—heavy, solid lumps of iron that were perfect for reinforcing window openings, impervious even to 12.7mm heavy machine gun fire.
Seeing Chen Ge, Octopus smiled and pulled a pack of Marlboros from his pocket, sliding a cigarette free and offering it over.
"Sledgehammer, I've set up two PKMs at this window. I guarantee we can lock down the annex's tunnel exit completely. Every Ukrainian bastard that pokes his head out gets dropped."
Chen Ge took the cigarette, lit it, stepped to the window, and leaned slightly to glance outside. "I set up a DShKM heavy machine gun in the adjacent room. You guys just need to provide fire support."
Hearing about the heavy machine gun, Octopus's eyes lit up. That was an absolute powerhouse for holding a building!
He quickly asked, "There was good stuff like that upstairs? Can you give me one?"
"Only one. Reinforcements have arrived; they should be bringing heavy machine guns."
After chatting with Octopus for a few minutes, Manhole Cover reported from the room in the northwest corner on the north side of the corridor: "Hammer Brother, reinforcements have arrived."
Chen Ge replied with an acknowledgment and gave Octopus a light tap on the chest with his fist.
"Come on, let's see what kind of shape these K-soldiers are in."
The two stepped out of the lab one after another and made their way down the corridor to the doorway of the northwest room.
Looking inside, a ragged bunch of sorry excuses... no, a squad of trench-filler grunts were climbing through the window in single file.
These expendable cannon fodder wore dated Russian EMR digital camouflage and battered old 6B7 or 6B26 steel helmets. Some didn't even have helmets, wearing only fleece beanies, ushankas, or balaclavas. Canvas duty belts around their waists held AK magazines, and AKMs and AK-74s hung slung over their shoulders. Most lacked body armor or protective gear; a few had backpacks, but the majority carried only small canvas bags containing rations and canteens.
After marching a long distance through the mud season, the K-soldiers' lower bodies were caked in mud, and their mental state was as cold and bleak as the eastern Ukrainian weather.
Compared to the fourteen barrier detachment members led by Archer, the contrast was pitiful—positively wretched.
Every member of the barrier detachment wore Multicam uniforms, FAST helmets with night vision goggles, and heavy tactical plate carriers with hard plates. Their primary weapons were AK-74Ms fitted with optics, supplemented by standard-issue disciplinary sledgehammers, load-bearing pouches packed with grenades, and handheld digital radios for each man.
Chen Ge carefully sized up these desperate men whose eyes were numb and detached, radiating a savage, menacing aura. Well... they truly were desperados!
Before entering prison, they had been the underclass or marginal dregs of society. Inside, prison was a meat grinder that stripped humanity away until only primal instincts remained.
Behind bars, helping someone was a fool's errand, trusting someone was suicidal, and exposing a weakness meant being seized by the throat immediately.
After spending years inside, their response to the outside world was reduced to two things: vigilance and callous indifference.
Stepping onto the battlefield in that state was merely changing the scenery; the core remained unchanged.
Moreover, they weren't soldiers—they were expendables. They had no regular military roster or logistical backing, underwent minimal training, and knew full well they were on the battlefield simply to serve as cannon fodder.
Once a person realizes they are merely a number tallied up in an attrition ledger, knowing death is inevitable, numbness sets in.
Archer looked at Chen Ge standing in the doorway, and the detachment members and K-soldiers turned their gazes toward him as well.
Chen Ge had already taken off his balaclava and hung his helmet from his belt. With his black hair, dark eyes, and wheat-toned skin, it was impossible not to stand out.
The atmosphere grew tense. Accustomed to looks of astonishment, surprise, and doubt, Chen Ge smiled and asked, "I'm Sledgehammer. Which one of you is Archer?"
Hearing Chen Ge speak, Archer was momentarily stunned.
The order he had received from Crimea, commander of the Second Assault Group, was to lead his men to the asphalt plant to reinforce the Peregrine Special Assault Battalion, obey the acting commander code-named Sledgehammer, and supervise the 7th Assault Company in holding the laboratory building.
He had never anticipated that Sledgehammer would be Chinese, which left a bitter taste in his mouth.
"I am Archer. Are you a Russian citizen of Chinese descent, or a Chinese national? If you're a Chinese national, I won't take orders from you!"
Chen Ge's smile faded. "What's wrong with being Chinese?" he said flatly. "You look down on Chinese people? I'll give you one chance to rephrase that, or don't blame me for getting rough."
At those words, the tension spiked, and Archer's eyes turned frosty.
Behind him, a hulking, bald K-soldier—standing one hundred ninety-five centimeters tall, built like a brick wall and looking like Dwayne Johnson, with a snarling bear's head tattooed across the left side of his neck and half his face—rolled his eyes, stepped forward, and hurled abuse at Chen Ge with an outstretched finger.
"Fuck your mother, you yellow-skinned monkey, you—urgh—"
Before the brute could finish his sentence, Chen Ge's hand clamped around his throat.
Archer, the K-soldiers, and the barrier detachment were shocked. Chen Ge had been standing in the doorway roughly four meters away, but in a blur, as if teleporting, he appeared right in front of the brute, grabbed his throat with his left hand, and hoisted him clean into the air.
An instant later came an even more terrifying sight: Chen Ge swept a frigid glare across the crowd, swung the hulking man—who weighed at least 120 kilograms—and slammed him straight into the partition wall five meters to the left.
"Ugh... aagh!"
The brute let out a terrified screech as he flew horizontally through the air and crashed into the wall. The entire partition shook, sending plaster fragments and dust raining down.
The violent impact instantly knocked the brute cold; he rebounded off the wall, crashed onto the floor, twitched a few times, and fell unconscious.
The air froze instantly. Terrified by the brutal, shocking display, everyone staggered back a few paces, their eyes glued to the wall. No one dared blink or make a sound, goosebumps breaking out over their skin.
They had seen people blown away by explosions or tossed by vehicles, but never had they seen someone, without weapons or tools, casually hurl a man weighing over two hundred jin with one hand and smash him into a wall.
Was that kind of strength even humanly possible?
Chen Ge turned to glare at Archer, his aura turning wild, violent, and suffocatingly oppressive. In a cold voice, he asked, "You look down on Chinese people?"
Archer's heart hammered against his ribs. A jolt of icy dread surged up from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his skull.
He shuddered, hurriedly unbuckled his helmet chinstrap, took off his helmet, and yanked off his balaclava. Across his square jaw and rugged features, he forced a friendly, placating smile.
"No, no, absolutely not. I was ordered to assist you in combat. I... I..."
"Apologize to me! Apologize to the Chinese people! I won't repeat myself!"
Archer's smile froze. A flicker of rage flashed in his eyes, but he dared not unleash it.
He wasn't an idiot. This Chinese man was monstrously strong. If a conflict broke out, high command certainly wouldn't take his side—his worth was nothing compared to this damned Chinese man.
After wrestling with himself for two seconds, Archer lowered his hands and leaned slightly forward in a submissive posture.
"I'm sorry. That was my own arrogance, ignorance, and insolence. I spoke without thinking. I never meant any disrespect toward Chinese people. Please forgive me!"
Chen Ge gave a disdainful snort, then turned his gaze toward the thoroughly silenced K-soldiers. In an unquestionable tone, he declared, "From this moment on, I, Sledgehammer, am commander over all of you. I have only one requirement: absolute obedience to my orders!"
"Anyone who dares disobey will have their head ripped off and thrown at the enemy. Understood?"
His voice remained completely calm during those last words, yet it struck a chilling terror deep into the bones of the K-soldiers and the barrier detachment. Straightening up immediately to attention with heads high and chests out, they roared:
"Yes, Sir!"
Chapter 57