Second Boss

Weak. Incredibly weak. His legs felt like limp noodles, trembling violently like a sieve the moment he tried to move. The shuddering in his upper body came from a surge of adrenaline, but the trembling in his legs was pure, unadulterated terror. "Drone—!" Samir didn't actually need to shout. The buzzing of the drone was loud enough for everyone to hear. All along the way, the droning hum had never truly ceased. By rights, Samir should have grown used to it by now. Yet he couldn't. No matter how hard he tried to convince himself there was no reason to fear—that the inhuman monster behind them could shoot down every single drone—that was merely a wish, not a guaranteed certainty. And so, Samir remained terrified. Even though they had weathered several drone attacks, and even though every incoming drone had been shot down, the shaking in his legs only grew worse. *Stop shaking, damn legs.* Samir tilted his head toward the sky. People said you only ever heard a drone's death buzz once, because after hearing it, you were dead. Yet Samir had already heard it four times today alone. This time was different. The drone buzzed in with a roar, swooped past with a shriek, banked around, and shot past again. It was terrorizing them. Unlike the previous four that had dove straight in on attack runs, this one kept circling above their heads. That was why his legs, which had been holding up fine moments before, suddenly began quaking so violently. The operator was tormenting them, and it was working. It was terrifying. Even under the umbrella of a walking human air-defense system, Samir couldn't force his legs to stiffen up. It was like wearing body armor while someone took potshots at you. Even if you knew the vest could stop a round, who knew whether the enemy's next shot was armor-piercing or ball ammo? Who knew whether the next bullet would strike your chest or punch straight through your skull? Being pinned down and shot at bullet after bullet would terrify the Almighty Himself. "Get down!" Rex shouted again. Samir felt as if he had received a royal pardon and dropped decisively into a crouch. Rex needed to stop and plant his feet to steady his aim, so he wouldn't hit the dirt completely, but crouching was just fine for Samir—he was physically incapable of advancing another step anyway. Bravery and weak knees were not mutually exclusive. After crouching down, Samir looked up, scouring the sky for the drone, and soon spotted it. The drone was moving fast, right beside them. It looked poised to plunge down and detonate, but suddenly banked, pulled up, and sped away. From the way the drone maneuvered, one could tell its operator was furious. Once more, the drone tore in at high speed. It wasn't diving straight at them, but sweeping past their flank, intent on continuing the psychological torture. Yet the miraculous Rex raised his weapon, drew a bead on the darting black speck, and pulled the trigger. A thunderous boom cracked across the sky. Rex had triumphed once again. *Was that the fifth one?* Watching the drone detonate in midair, Samir suddenly lost himself in the count. The fifth drone had forced Rex to halt his stride to ensure his accuracy, yet even at full flight, Rex had still knocked it out of the sky with a single shot. What kind of monster was this man? Samir felt on the verge of losing control of his bladder, but watching that fifth drone burst into pieces in the open air, though his legs still trembled, strength suddenly rushed back into them. A tremble fueled by adrenaline was entirely different from a tremble born of exhaustion. "Keep moving!" Rex barked, and Samir reflexively pushed himself upright. His shoulder still throbbed with pain, but he felt energy returning to his limbs. As for his thoughts? He had none left. Not a single coherent thought, save for one desperate urge: end this damned trek as fast as possible. Either kill him or let them reach their destination, but stop this agonizing torment. Few people had the fortune to survive five consecutive drone strikes, but Samir had no desire to set any records. They had known the enemy would likely use drones to cut off transit between the forward positions and the rear, but they had never imagined the enemy had so many, nor that the drones would keep coming wave after wave. Pushing forward, they had to be getting close. The enemy had to be running out of drones by now, right? Samir's mindset was simple. His brain could no longer process other questions; he didn't have the bandwidth to worry about anything else. Keep moving, as fast as possible. Twisting and turning through the trenches, they had covered nearly two kilometers, yet the company command post lay somewhere ahead, and there was no telling how much farther they had to go. "Five. That's five drones. I wonder if anyone will believe us if we talk about this, or if anyone saw it." Andrey couldn't help babbling again, keeping tally. Damn it, why was he counting at a time like this? Samir hissed under his breath, "Shut up! You're distracting me." "Distracting you from what?" Andrey was a moron with no brains. Samir desperately wanted to smack some sense into him. "Listen for the drones!" Samir was on the verge of shouting at Andrey, but strangely enough, the moment his rage flared at Andrey's brainless antics, his legs stopped shaking. Perhaps the fear had transformed into fury, shifting his focus. Andrey snapped back sullenly, "How am I distracting you? Who asked you to—" Rex snapped from behind them, "Shut up! Let Samir listen!" Andrey instantly clamped his mouth shut, not daring to utter another word. Rex was a true brother indeed. A warm rush surged through Samir's chest. Truly, the best decision he had ever made in his life had been approaching Rex at the recruitment office to strike up an acquaintance. What had his reasoning been back then? Right—he had seen Rex eating alone, clearly without any companions. He carried himself like a combat veteran, and he seemed to speak English. That was why Samir had sought him out. On top of that, Rex hadn't looked like a clueless rookie. Samir had figured it was worth a shot, since surviving on a battlefield without a buddy was nearly impossible. Samir congratulated himself on his keen eye; Rex had certainly proven his mettle. Yet Samir also felt his judgment had fallen short, because he had never dreamed Rex would be *this* formidable. Samir was profoundly grateful that he hadn't just found a friend—he had hitched his wagon to a golden giant. Holding tight to this golden thigh wasn't just a matter of survival; it was the key to throwing his weight around anywhere in the army from now on. Samir was a man of the world. He understood the unwritten rules of the mercenary life. After today, no one would ever be able to overshadow Rex's brilliance. No one. Not even God Himself. From now on, wherever Rex went, he would be the big boss. And if Rex was the big boss, then surely there was room for Samir as the second boss, wasn't there? As those thoughts drifted through his mind, the trembling in Samir's legs subsided even further. Before they had walked much farther, however, he suddenly heard someone shouting in Russian. "Halt! Stand where you are!" Andrey slowed his pace, glancing back. "Barrier troops." It was spoken in Russian, but Samir understood, and Rex certainly understood as well. The Ukrainians had barrier troops, and naturally, the Russians did too. Equally detestable, equally cold-blooded, equally despised. Barrier troops would genuinely open fire on wounded soldiers. If they belonged to Wagner, things might be slightly better, but if they were regular army barrier detachments, they showed zero mercy. Rex spoke from behind, "Talk to them." What to say had already been agreed upon before setting out. To ensure they wouldn't run into a language barrier if the troops didn't speak English, Andrey had to do the talking. "We're from E Company, Assault Platoon! Our squad leader is heavily wounded! We're returning to the front line as soon as we drop him off at the command post!" Andrey rattled off the rehearsed explanation. "Leave the wounded man and turn back! Turn back right now, or we fire!" Furious, Andrey could only look back at Gao Fei. "They're telling us to turn back." "Tell them we have orders." Andrey shouted again, "We have orders! We drop off the wounded at company command and leave immediately! Radio the command post and verify!" These couldn't be company men acting as barrier troops; they had to be from the regiment. The worst-case scenario was that regular army reinforcements had arrived, but instead of pushing to the front, they had detached precious manpower to serve as barrier guards. That was what made it so infuriating. Samir gritted his teeth in sheer hatred. "Negative! Turn back!" At a loss, Andrey looked at Rex. "They won't let us pass." The barrier troops remained out of sight. If Samir could see them, he would have loved nothing more than to put a bullet through them. Samir was seething, but then an ominous buzzing hum sounded above them once more. "Drone!" Samir shouted at the top of his lungs. This time, no warning was needed—everyone heard it. Looking up at the sky, they spotted several drones. The enemy had switched tactics; these were no longer agile FPV drones, but larger, louder craft. "Run! Bombs incoming!" Someone shouted—it sounded like one of the barrier troops. Well, at least the barrier troops weren't complete bastards. Seeing the drones, they still showed a shred of humanity by yelling for everyone to take cover. You couldn't outrun suicide drones, but you could dodge bomber drones. They needed to run. Samir was just about to sprint when Rex's voice came from behind. "Don't move!" It went against every survival instinct, yet Samir stopped in his tracks instantly, dropping once more into a crouch. Samir looked toward Rex, his mind empty of thought or expectation, simply watching him out of habit. Rex looked up at the sky, then suddenly cast aside the shotgun in his hands. *Why did he drop the shotgun?* Baffled, Samir glanced up and realized the drones were flying far too high. They were out of shotgun range. But wait—was he switching to his rifle? Rex had already snatched up his rifle. He raised it and, with barely any aiming, pulled the trigger decisively. The AK-74 barked in crisp, three-round bursts. Watching Rex shoot was something that defied comprehension. The same weapon, the same firing method—how could he be so impossibly accurate? Two short bursts, and two drones began spiraling toward the earth. *He actually hit them!* Awe seized Samir's chest, followed immediately by someone nearby screaming in disbelief, "He hit them!" Two drones down—no, three. "Three of them!" "Bombs away!" "*Suka blyat—!*" The barrier troops weren't blind. The spectacle shocked them to their core. Another drone managed to release its munitions, but the drop posed no threat. A fierce surge of pride welled up inside Samir. Scream, fear, envy—go right ahead! Using drones for target practice, Rex was simply that... invincible. Right then, a voice called out from the side: "Let them through." Andrey beamed with relief, and then heard the man continue, "What happened with those drones earlier?" Many people had heard the series of explosions, but few had seen them with their own eyes. This time, however, everyone had witnessed it. Rex could no longer hide his light, and the barrier troops certainly understood the weight he carried now. From this moment on, Rex was the big boss. He had to be. And these bastards had no choice but to clear the way—they had to!