The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

Half an hour later, they found the first spot in the corridor outside the King's study.

The buzzer emitted a rapid sound.

Yuan Pan used a special screwdriver to remove the decorative panel of the wall lamp, then reached in with his finger, gently hooked it, and pulled out an extremely thin wire.

The wires extend along the gaps in the wall and eventually merge into the lighting circuitry on the ceiling.

“This is…” Xin Lebang’s face darkened.

“A bugging device.” Yuan Pan cut a section of the wire and put it in the bag. “It uses a power line carrier wave to transmit signals, making it highly concealed. Judging from the craftsmanship, it’s John’s method.”

They love this kind of tactic, disguising it as normal electrical wiring; it was probably installed during the palace renovations.

Over the next two hours, they discovered a total of three listening devices.

In the reception room, using the same power line carrier wave method, John's second point.

One of them was in a restaurant, with a separate wiring system, buried deeper, and the microphone used was in the style of a Russian bear – big, clunky, and gritty.

Finally, there's one more... in the small living room outside the king's bedroom, crudely made, seemingly a local product of unknown origin.

Yuan Pan and Xin Lebang did not alert the enemy. They simply removed the last bugging device and recorded the location and approximate data of the others before having the engineers restore them.

However, Xin Lebang noticed that Yuan Pan would occasionally press lightly on a certain spot with his finger.

He later realized that those new button-shaped listening devices were attached at that time.

The cleanup operation ended at 4 p.m.

The palace affairs officer looked at the crude listening device that had been cleared out, his face turning ashen. He shook Yuan Pan's hand repeatedly, thanking him profusely, and said he would conduct a thorough investigation.

On the way back, as Xin Lebang looked out the window at the receding Tehran street scene, he suddenly asked, "Advisor Yuan, were you really just a technical major in the Communications Bureau before?"

Yuan Pan was organizing the instrument case when he heard this and paused for half a second.

“Advisor Xin,” he said without looking up, “there are some things you can only sleep soundly about, the less you know.”

Xin Lebang smiled, a somewhat complicated smile: "Alright, I won't ask. But for this escort mission, you have to ensure that the intelligence doesn't leak."

“I will do my best.” Yuan Pan closed the box and looked at Xin Lebang. “But Consultant Xin, you should also understand that the real danger often comes from places you think are safe.”

-----

A few days later, the convoy was ready to set off.

Princess Ashraf did not wear a traditional ornate robe, but rather a custom-made dark green hunting outfit, with her long hair tied back and a narrow-brimmed hat.

She stood on the steps, watching Xin Lebang perform a final check on the vehicle.

"Advisor Xin," the princess said in fluent Mandarin as she descended the steps, "thank you for your help this time."

“It is my duty, Your Highness,” Xin Lebang replied, standing at attention.

The princess's gaze swept over the wheeled armored vehicles brought from Southeast Asia, as well as the unfamiliar equipment worn by the Dragon Soar team members.

A chest sling filled with large magazines, a short submachine gun with a folding stock, and a combat rifle with a scope.

These are all standard equipment developed or improved by Nanyang itself.

“Your country has already surpassed us in many ways,” the princess said softly, as if talking to herself. “But I also know that external forces are ultimately just external forces. If Persia wants to truly stand up, it cannot rely on others for support forever.”

Xin Lebang was somewhat surprised and looked at the princess.

This royal woman did not have the air of someone pampered and spoiled; instead, she possessed a clear-headedness.

“Your Highness,” he carefully chose his words, “Nanyang is willing to help its friends, but ultimately, they must walk their own path. What we provide is merely tools and time.”

“Time…” the princess repeated the word, then smiled. “Yes, time. Hopefully, we still have time.”

She turned and walked toward the latest bulletproof car made in Southeast Asia in the middle.

Before getting into the car, she turned back to Sin Lebang and said, "Please protect me and my people. They are the future of Persia."

The motorcade departed the palace at 7:00 a.m.

Two bulletproof cars were in the middle, with six armored vehicles providing escort from the front and rear.

The 20 members of the Dragon Team were fully armed, while the Royal Guard selected 100 elite soldiers to travel together in trucks.

Yuan sat cross-legged in the communications seat of the third armored vehicle, with a radio and the modified radio he never parted with in front of him.

His fingers made slight adjustments among several knobs, and different frequencies of background noise came through the headphones.

"The communication environment is clean," he reported through the car intercom. "No abnormal signals detected."

Xin Lebang sat in the passenger seat of the lead car, holding a detailed route map.

The first day's journey was relatively smooth, heading north along the main road, and we arrived in Gazvin, the provincial capital, that evening without incident.

The next day, the convoy entered the mountains.

The winding mountain road resembles a gray-white ribbon, wrapped around the brown mountainside.

One side is a cliff, and the other side is a deep valley.

Visibility began to deteriorate, and the number of curves increased.

Xin Lebang reminded the vehicles over the radio: "Maintain a safe distance and be wary of the high ground on both sides. Snipers, take your positions."

The two sniper teams of Longteng were positioned on armored vehicles in the middle and rear of the convoy, respectively. They were using the heavy-barreled version of the NTB44 combat rifle, equipped with a replica 4x Zeiss scope.

10:17 AM.

The lead car had just passed a sharp bend.

"boom--!"

The road surface suddenly exploded ten meters ahead.

Dust and debris flew everywhere, but the explosion was not very powerful; it was more like a warning.

"Enemy attack! All on alert!" Xin Lebang's shouts echoed throughout the convoy via radio.

Almost simultaneously, gunshots rang out from both sides of the hillside.

"Da da da da—!"

The sound of machine gun fire tore through the silence of the valley.

The clanging sound of bullets hitting the armored vehicle's steel plates was as dense as rain.

The royal guard's trucks were clearly in a panic and nearly crashed into the mountainside.

"Hold on, proceed with Plan A, form a ring defense, quick!" Xin Lebang roared in the channel. "Cars one and two, advance twenty meters to form the front corner. Cars three and four, protect the sides of the princess's carriage. Cars five and six, bring up the rear and block the retreat."

Years of battlefield instincts had taken over his body.

The well-trained Longteng team members reacted extremely quickly.

The lead vehicle and the second vehicle charged forward twenty meters, occupying the small mound in front, with their front ends pointing diagonally in the direction of the incoming fire, forming a forward fulcrum.

Armored vehicles number three and four roared as they shifted to the side, sandwiching the bulletproof car carrying the princess tightly between them, using their heavy bodies to form a mobile cover.

Vehicles number five and six quickly reversed to block the corner of the road, thus blocking the rear.

Seeing this, the royal guards also reluctantly followed.

The princess's armored car was placed in the center.

The princess's carriage became the primary target.

At least one machine gun was continuously firing at the side of her vehicle.

"Clang! Clang! Clang! Snap..."

The bulletproof glass emitted a teeth-grinding groan, revealing spiderweb-like white cracks, as if it would shatter at any moment.

Inside the carriage, the guards held the princess tightly, pressing her down under the seat.

"Your Highness, do not look up."

On the hillside, there were about thirty ambushers, scattered behind rocks and bushes.

The weapons were mainly Mosin-Nagant rifles, with at least two DP light machine guns firing continuously, and some people were trying to aim with mortars.

But they clearly underestimated the speed of the guards' counterattack.

"Sniper!" Xin Lebang shouted as he returned fire, "Shoot their machine guns!"