Chapter 532: I Had to Do This
“Xiao Luo, d-did you kill all of them?”
Tang Wantian looked like she was in great pain as she faced Xiao Luo. She could still accept him ma.s.sacring the Libyan rebel troops as they were trying to kill him, but what she saw now was beyond what she could morally accept. There were hundreds, and perhaps even thousands of corpses before her, and she could not fathom how cold-blooded and cruel a person must have been to be able to kill so many people at once. She was in awe of Xiao Luo’s strength that he could take out so many opponents all by himself.
“This is war. If these rebels were not killed by me, they would be killed by their other enemies. There’s no difference.” Xiao Luo said coldly.
“No difference? You have killed them! Don’t you have any remorse in your heart?” Tang Wantian shrieked. She stared at this man with fear, and in her eyes, he was no different from a demon.
Xiao Luo glanced at her coldly, and then in a mocking tone, he replied, “Tang Wantian, you should be glad that you are still alive, instead of taking the moral high ground after seeing all these corpses. Had they survived and killed me off, can you imagine where would you be right now?”
“I…”
Tang Wantian stared at him with her eyes wide open, and she was trembling. He was right, for had the Libyan rebels won the fight, torture and death would have been her end.
“Do not try to criticize anyone from a moral high ground. This is war, and survival is the number one priority, am I wrong?” Xiao Luo said with a wry smile. Although he could see where Tang Wantian was coming from, he rejected such a naive thought.
Tang Wantian remained silent and closed her eyes in an attempt to calm herself down.
RAT TAT RAT TATAT!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Suddenly, there was gunfire, and explosions were heard from afar. A cloud of dust and smoke stirred up again, forming a thick haze, and the whole of Stantine City seemed to be shaking.
Tang Wantian looked at Xiao Luo in fear. “What happened? Are Captain Jiang and his Special Operations team being attacked by the enemies?” she asked.
Xiao Luo looked into the distance and shook his head. “I don’t think so. It seems like they are two contingents from opposing armies exchanging fire. If I am correct, the Libyan government troops have launched an offensive,” he said.
“You mean that another war is about to start here?”
Tang Wantian looked as white as a sheet, for she had already had a taste of war and knew how cruel it could get. She did not even dare to imagine how to survive the hail of bullets and artillery bombings in Stantine City, let alone leaving the place.
“This is an opportunity for us. Let’s go!”
Xiao Luo grabbed her arm and hurried toward the church, the rendezvous point he had agreed to meet with Jiang Zhiming and his Special Operations team earlier.
Ten minutes later, they arrived at the church–it was almost in ruins with its rooftop destroyed and only had a few walls left standing.
Jiang Zhiming and his team had arrived earlier as most of the rebels were rea.s.signed by Hamis to deal with Xiao Luo, so they hardly encountered any enemy troops on their way here. There met little resistance, coming into contact with only a small group of Libyan rebels. Nevertheless, there had been some casualties, and those who survived, including Xiao Luo and Tang Wantian, now totaled only nineteen.
“Mr. Mie!”
After seeing Xiao Luo, Jiang Zhiming and the Special Operations team were elated.
Xiao Luo nodded in acknowledgment, then he gazed toward the sound of battle some distance away.
“Mr. Mie, it seems like the Libyan rebel troops and the government troops are fighting. What should we do next?” Jiang Zhiming said, seeking Xiao Luo’s advice on the matter.
Everyone else unconsciously glanced at Xiao Luo, for he had command of their respect. They looked up to him as their de facto leader.
“Wait,” Xiao Luo answered.
Wait?
Everyone was surprised when Xiao Luo said this. They stared at each other, speechless.
“I was planning to break out from the west, but the situation has changed, and they have started fighting, so we shall let them fight. If the government troops win this, we can walk out of this building openly. But, if the rebel troops win, they’d not be in any condition to fight us, so it is still promising to leave this place alive. So, regardless of how the fight turns out, it would be favorable to us one way or the other,” Xiao Luo explained.
Everyone seemed to be very relieved after hearing that.
******
******
The Special Operations troops remained behind the safety of the church walls. As time pa.s.sed, they spotted fleeing rebels driving jeeps through the streets–they were being pursued by victorious government troops.
As the entire street was devastated by the relentless small arms and automatic gunfire and ma.s.sive bombings. There were corpses strewn everywhere, and the reek of charred human flesh filled the air.
Tang Wantian finally understood Xiao Luo’s previous words as she stared at the thousands of corpses from both the rebel and government forces. It was indeed no difference, and they all looked the same–a heap of dead bodies. If Xiao Luo was a cruel cold-blooded killer, wouldn’t these soldiers be considered cruel too?
******
******
In the end, Stantine City was back in the control of the government forces. When they saw the Special Operations team from Hua nation, the government troops were very friendly. Not only did they provide medical a.s.sistance for the Hua nation soldiers, but they also replenished ammunition and provided vehicles. On top of that, every vehicle was equipped with a Gatling gun, far superior to their own equipment.
The high command of the government forces was a man who was in his fifties. He had a head of silver hair, and his age showed. However, he looked rather hale and hearty in his military uniform.
“My friends from Hua nation, did you wipe out about eight hundred rebel troops at the central square?” their commander asked. He looked at Jiang Zhiming, the senior officer present, being of the rank of captain of the Special Operations team.
“Eight hundred rebel troops? Are you referring to the Libyan rebels?” Jiang Zhiming asked, looking a little confused.
The commander nodded and said, “That is correct.”
Wiped out eight hundred Libyan rebel troops?
Jiang Zhiming looked at Xiao Luo in disbelief. Kong Hongyun and other team members also turned and stared, suddenly understanding why they did not encounter many rebel troops on their way here. The commanding officer of the government forces could not be joking with them on such a matter. The only explanation that they could think of was that Xiao Luo had singlehandedly eliminated those rebel troops.
One versus eight hundred?
Oh, my G.o.d!
It must have been a joke as n.o.body could believe that this was possible. How could one man wipe out some eight hundred well-armed and trained rebel soldiers? Not forgetting that the Libyan rebels were experienced and had been fighting a war.
The government forces commander was a brilliant person, so he immediately read the situation when everyone stared at Xiao Luo in shock. He smiled and asked, “Great warrior from Hua nation, may I know your name?
“Don’t you already know it?” Xiao Luo replied.
“I do?” the commander replied. He frowned and was somewhat confused.
Xiao Luo smiled and explained, “Warrior from Hua nation–that is my name, also all our names.”
The commander was caught off guard, but he soon laughed and said, “Well said, well said, indeed!”
Xiao Luo did not continue the chat with the commander but turned to Tang Wantian and said, “Leave with Captain Jiang. The Libyan government forces commander has marked out a safe route on the map that will bring you to the coastline. This route is guarded by their troops, so you guys will be safe.”
“What about you?”
Tang Wantian asked, “Are you still looking for Sarah Mich.e.l.le?’
“This is my mission, so we should bid farewell here. We can catch up some other time back in our country.”
Xiao Luo smiled and put his hand out. “Give it to me,” he said.
“What?” Tang Wantian replied. She blinked and pretended to be confused.
“You recorded many things with a GoPro along this trip, right? Most of the footage has me in it. It is not that I don’t trust you, but I don’t trust your occupation as a reporter. So, I am asking you to hand it over,” Xiao Luo said.
Tang Wantian was speechless, and after a brief hesitation, she handed over the GoPro in her pocket to Xiao Luo. “Xiao Luo, I swear that I would never publicize your photo and speak about you if I can bring this back,” she said.
“I believe you would do so, but I have to do this too.”
Xiao Luo nodded, and he squeezed his hand, squas.h.i.+ng the camera forcefully and turning it into a mess of broken parts.