Long-term salvation

Just as Rhode was ready to rush into the room, he suddenly heard the unfamiliar voice say:

"When the United States harms its opponents, it will never be stingy with its money and power. So, let me wish you a pleasant cooperation with them... Oh, by the way, Zakhaev, do you know that you are walking on the brink of death right now?"

"...?"

"!!!"

Rhodes' heart sank, and he jumped back without hesitation. The next second, the wall he had just climbed on was smashed to pieces by a punch!

Dust and mist flew up and merged with the fine snow.

The tall man in the tunic pulled away the bricks on the wall, raised a PKM and pulled the trigger at Rhodes in mid-air. The bullet then formed a bright golden arc in the cold wind and fell towards the blurry figure.

"You really came, Elsa."

Chaos, wearing a silver mask, spoke calmly. Blood oozed from beneath his mask, shocking Imran Zakhaev and his bodyguards nearby. Of all the people present, only these "dying men" saw it:

Saw the scorching sun.

"It's dazzling, but you should go down."

Chapter 311: Fighting on a Snowy Night (10/20)

Snowflakes swirled and fell in the diffuse light coming from the room, like torn cotton wool.

Rhodes' body spun in the cotton wool, weaving through the silk threads woven by bullets like a gymnast. At the moment when the angle was right, he pulled out the revolver at his waist and fired several shots in the direction of the room!

The bullet sank into the falling snow and dust without a sound.

Rhode groaned in pain as he fell to the ground. He ignored the dull pain and rolled to the side, hiding in the shadow cast by the nearby building. A string of golden fire streaked across his previous position, scattering dirt and snow everywhere.

"D, come over and provide fire coverage," Rhodes exhaled slowly and ordered on the communication channel, "Eliminate all enemies you see."

A regular electric current sound came from the communication channel.

"Due to the weather...will it take ten minutes to arrive?" Rhode stood up and activated the camouflage system of his stealth suit, blending in with the heavy snow. "It seems there's no way to stop the enemy's rapid retreat. I'll have to try first."

The snow made a sound like crushing glass under the military boots. The soldiers in the printing house had been alarmed. They rushed out of the building quickly and began to search the surrounding area under the light of searchlights.

Most of the factories here were locked up, with only scattered piles of metal materials and construction waste filling the empty spaces between them. This caused the short, thin shadows to connect one after another, transforming them into waves of shadows, which were then dispersed by the light of searchlights and flashlights.

At this moment, an iron curtain-like snow wall is pressing in from all directions, blurring the vision of every human who breaks into this place.

They will regret it.

In just two minutes, Ukrainian soldier Antonov felt the ice on his eyelashes sticking his eyelids together, and he had to move his index finger from time to time to maintain blood circulation. Fortunately, although his AK-74 rifle was covered with frost, it was more reliable than many NATO weapons in severe cold conditions... This was a legacy of that authoritarian empire.

Breathe… breathe… breathe… breathe…

Feeling the cold air whipping his lungs, Antonov tried to slow his breathing. He held an AKS74U rifle in his right hand and a flashlight in his left, his eyes carefully scanning the piles of construction debris. His teammates were two meters away, one to his left and one behind him.

"I didn't find anything, did you?"

Antonov turned his head and wanted to speak to his teammate on the right, but saw in the heavy snow that the latter's throat had been cut, and the warm blood spilled on the cold snow, turning into beautiful bright red ice crystals - as the dead man fell down with his hands covering his throat, a scream came from the soldier's left!

The soldier immediately turned around and looked. The flashlight only revealed a blurry shadow, which left a series of clear footprints in the snow.

The footprints extended from another teammate who died with his eyes open and disappeared into the depths of the snow.

Shouting the names of others loudly, soldier Antonov quickly followed the footprints, but he only saw the body of his last teammate where the footprints ended. He was also killed by a precise and ruthless blow.

An inexplicable fear suddenly enveloped the soldier's heart. He dared not look back or move forward. He could only be nailed to the spot, standing like a statue in the snow.

It was not until the sounds of explosions and gunfire were heard in the distance that he collapsed to the ground and burst into tears.

"What are you doing?! There's only one person on the other side! A damn bug!"

Listening to the roar on the radio, Rhodes pulled out the dagger from the jaw of the Ukrainian soldier in front of him and retreated into the shadows. Before that, he used his revolver to shoot out the searchlight, letting darkness fall completely here. Half-kneeling in the shadows, Rhodes took out the VSS, waited quietly, aimed, and pulled the trigger!

The bullet spun, tearing through the snow. The high-molecular polymer lining inside the silencer broke the muzzle flash into dozens of microscopic expansion chambers, dismantling the thunderous explosion into the hum of an old air conditioner.

The bullet entered from one end of the temple and rolled out from the other end, covered with brain matter and blood, deeply embedded in the opposite wall, and frozen by the cold into an ugly and dirty stain.

"Collect your formation, how many enemies are there?!"

"Only one!"

"Sokabile, there's probably only one person, we—"

The sergeant who was shouting loudly suddenly stopped talking, and some warm blood-red steam came out from the center of his forehead. Just now, a bullet penetrated through the tiny hole left after the red star was removed from the cotton hat, taking the man's life.

Like the Grim Reaper wantonly reaping the lives of ordinary soldiers, Rhodes felt no sense of relief. He always felt a sense of discomfort in his soul. Following his intuition, he suddenly lunged forward. A golden line of fire passed over his head, splashing pieces of flying dust on the wall.

Ignoring the crackling sound of falling construction debris, Rhodes quickly reloaded his VSS, then straightened up and fired at the hooded figure that emerged from the snow!

The SP-6 bullet, powerful enough to penetrate 8mm steel at a distance of 100 meters, created blood flowers on the body, emitting the faint stench of frozen corpse that Rhodes was familiar with, but it was quickly carried away by the wind and snow.

After failing to hit the target, Rhodes quickly hid in the bunker. The next second, the sound of general-purpose machine gun fire rang out slowly, constantly suppressing the latter's attempt to move - for the sake of the most adorable Weihua, Rhodes did not want to withstand the machine gun fire without a bunker!

What's more, other Ukrainian soldiers have already reacted and are quickly joining the suppressive shooting.

Pulling the ring of the grenade, Rhodes threw the small object out of the bunker. Amid the screams of the Ukrainian soldiers and the sound of explosions, he looked down at the communicator and smiled.

"Quite on time."

The AH-6F's rotors tore through the dense snow curtain. On the forward-looking infrared screen, dozens of heat sources were slowly moving toward the center of the circle from all directions. The heat from human breathing flashed by in the thermal image.

Open fire!

The roar of the M134 Gatling machine gun exploded at this moment, and the fire whip composed of 7.62mm armor-piercing incendiary bullets lashed the long-abandoned factory building. The splashing sparks reflected an eerie blue light on the snow, and when this light swept across the human body, it would be obscured by the exploding blood mist!

But this is still not the end. The small figure of the AH-6F helicopter twisted in the heavy snow, resisting the crosswind while launching all the mounted rockets - the Hydra 70mm rockets let out a shrill grin, unleashing their power unscrupulously in the snowy night, turning the entire area into a sea of ​​fire!

As for Rhodes... he had already disappeared from behind the bunker when the Gatling gun began to roar, and slowly moved forward along the shadows of the building's edge. His eyes looked straight at the hooded man, the undead, through the gaps among the chaotic debris.

Just as Rhodes took out his revolver and slowly moved forward in the shadows, the roar of the engine caught his attention:

A BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle smashed through the factory gate and rushed into the cold, snowy night. Its 2A42-30mm cannon immediately blazed at the AH-6F attack helicopter. Nikki's reaction was quick, but she could only barely avoid it, not to mention having to fight the strong wind in this harsh environment. As D tried to fly the helicopter around the other side of the factory, she heard Rhode's voice on the communication channel:

"Drop that thing and jump down!"

Without any hesitation, D pushed the joystick forward and down, causing the helicopter to fall rapidly towards the figures who were still running, and she jumped out of the cabin at this moment and leaped into the vast snow.

The next second, flames from the helicopter's crash and explosion rose up, and black smoke merged with the flying snow, turning into dirty dust and falling down.

When Nikki stood up from the falling snow like ash, she heard the sound of the gas turbine slowly coming from beside her. The creaking sound of the T-80BV tank tracks rolling over the ground was much louder than the sound of combat boots, and it brought a thrilling joy.

Rhodes opened the hatch, poked his head out of the tank, and shouted to Nikki with a smile:

"Hey girl, do you need a ride?"

A faint smile appeared on the beautiful Nikki's face.

As the Ukrainian soldiers and some Ibris guards recovered from the chaos, they saw a T-80BV tank smash through the low masonry wall and appear before the fragile flesh and blood like an unstoppable fortress torrent:

The tank turret twisted forward in the desperate silence, and the moment it swung a heavy punch, the BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle disintegrated in the flames of the explosion. The already black and twisted machine gun turret rushed into the night sky, spinning in the heavy snow like swan dancers leaping on the stage.

The parallel machine guns fired across, knocking down those who were fleeing backwards, and the main guns fired again, turning the Ibris organization members who wanted to launch a sneak attack with RPGs into scattered minced meat!

While driving the tank recklessly, Rhodes suddenly noticed the hooded man. He looked unusually calm, and was constantly trying to attack the T-80BV tank with various weapons, from general-purpose machine guns to assault rifles, from grenades to RPGs.

"Oh no, that won't do," Rod sneered and called Nikki, "D, did you see that guy?"

"Yes, Commander."

Nikki understood, and she maneuvered the turret to fire a single shot, blasting the hooded figure who had just begun to raise his RPG. His body tumbled like a rag doll, tumbling into the thick snow. His limbs, twisted and folded, were clearly beyond the physical limits of a normal human, yet the undead still managed to struggle to his feet... or perhaps it would have been better if he hadn't.

The hooded man raised his head with great effort and saw the tracks of the T-80BV tank slowly enlarging in front of him.

The tank rolled over the body, imbued with supernatural strength, like crushing a piece of brittle shale.

"commander?"

"No, it's nothing," Rhodes sighed from the driver's seat. "We still have a lot of things to do next. What's worse is that we can't get quick reinforcements from the Army Without Borders and Marianne and the others here... Hmm?"

[Side Quest: Triangulation: Call of Pripyat]

[Mission Description: Go to Pripyat, Ukraine, and recover the remaining pages of the Necronomicon]

[Side Quest: Extinguish the Smokeless Fire]

[Mission Description: Completely kill the Ibris organization leader "Chaos". You will receive a reward for killing him once.]

Kill completely...what the hell?

Rhode frowned slightly, and he understood a little more, but more of it was a sigh:

He had clearly been eavesdropped on the transaction location, but he still chose to go there... This is another trap that he had to fall into.

Nothing can happen at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Chapter 312 Towards Pripyat (11/20)

It is only a little over a hundred kilometers from Kiev to Pripyat, and it only takes two to three hours to drive along the way on weekdays, but on a winter night with heavy snow, this simple journey can become long and dangerous.

What's more, the Ukrainian army has begun setting up checkpoints at key road intersections, apparently under orders, which has resulted in some vehicles and freight trucks being detained and the drivers having to spend a few days in jail.

However, in this free country that claims to have broken away from dictatorship and authoritarianism, some people are freer than others.

A military convoy consisting of large trucks and various armored vehicles ignored the checkpoints and headed north in the wind and snow.

"You attracted the enemy and caused heavy losses to my people," Imran Zakhaev said in the truck bed, facing Chaos, the leader of the Ibris organization. "You must give me more compensation."

"..."

Weapon and ammunition boxes were neatly stacked in the middle of the carriage. These tools, created by humans only to kill their own kind, were sleeping quietly, waiting for the moment to bare their fangs. With these weapons as the boundary, members of the two extremist organizations sat opposite each other, heading towards their destined place on a cold snowy night.

"Listen, Middle Easterners, I don't care where you drop the nuclear bomb, Paris? Washington? Berlin? As long as it's not on this land, it's up to you. And I don't care what you will gain from this destruction. I only care whether my interests can be guaranteed in this transaction."

Zakhaev said this, reaching out to pick up an apple from the fruit bowl beside him and biting into it fiercely. The sweet and sour juice exploded in his mouth, but his mood only worsened.

"I know that many of your entourage are capable of some magical 'little magic', but they were just blasted to pieces by that T80 tank that appeared out of nowhere!"

Yes, this is the capital that allows Zakhaev to feel more confident in front of the Ibris organization. What's a bit ridiculous is that this is what the unknown force that attacked the printing factory tonight gave Zakhaev. Normally, he would not provoke this group of weird lunatics casually.

"Really? That's normal," Chaos replied softly.

Even high-ranking members of the Ibris organization would still be killed by steel and gunpowder, but they did not care about it. They would even carefully study the operation and principles of those weapons in order to more smoothly achieve their ultimate goal:

What era is it now? Are you still chanting scriptures? Can chanting scriptures kill the enemy?

"If you want to fight the Ibris Organization here, I don't mind," Chaos said calmly. "We will let you know the power of 'little magic'. Perhaps this is better? We don't have to pay the price in gold."

These words made the carriage instantly quiet, and a faint murderous intent filled the air.

The soldiers sitting at the end quietly placed their hands on the rifles in front of them, while in contrast, the guards of the Ibris organization remained motionless, as if they did not notice the other party's slight movements.

"Ah."

Zakhaev broke the silence with a sneer. He leaned back against the slightly cold truck wall while eating an apple, raised his chin slightly, and looked at his "partner" in front of him again... In fact, he had always been very wary of the Ibris organization. The latter had been elusive during the Afghan war, and had become extremely active in the Middle East before and after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was even able to take out gold as a bargaining chip that most countries could not afford.

They had a gold mine? They couldn't have used some "alchemy" or found "Aladdin's magic lamp," right? That's ridiculous.

"You're as arrogant as your organization's name (Ibris)—if it weren't for the good cooperation we've had with you before, and the unpaid balance, you and your guards would have been stripped naked and thrown into the snow."

After chewing and swallowing the apple, Zakhaev spat to the side:

"Besides, you're already dead. You won't live for many days. There's no need for me to get angry with a dead person."

"Anyone who's 'human' will die. There's nothing to emphasize about this." Chaos nodded slightly, his tone remaining calm. This was due to his background as a scholar of the occult before joining the organization. Anyone impatient or undisciplined would have perished reading those dangerous tomes long ago... but the same couldn't be said for the next generation. "You can prepare now. We'll be making a slight modification to the terms of the deal."

“…I need a sufficient price.”

"Of course, we Arabs are good businessmen, better than those Jews, and we have more integrity."

Chaos' fingers touched each other and the skin on his fingertips bit each other. The face of the person sitting opposite him was reflected on the silver mask, making the latter feel a little uncomfortable.

After a few seconds of silence, Zakhaev put the half-eaten apple back and spoke amid the strange sound of wheels rolling over the snow:

"Tell me your conditions first."

"It's still the same as before, three nuclear warheads, but they'll be traded separately—two in Pripyat, one elsewhere—and the last one is the most important. You'll need to find the person you trust most to trade with 'me.' I know this increases the risk and hassle, but it's worth it for us."

Hearing Chaos' words, Zakhaev narrowed his eyes. After carefully considering it in his heart, he nodded in agreement:

“Yes, but the overall transaction price will have to increase by 15%.”

“…Yeah, that’s acceptable.”

Chaos chuckled softly, calming down all his emotions. He then reached out his hand and shook Zakhaev's, saying calmly:

"I hope we can have a pleasant cooperation." / "I hope we can have a pleasant cooperation."

Rod said with a smile. He was reaching out to shake hands with Lieutenant Colonel Yaroslav Sichev of the 24th Independent Mechanized Infantry Regiment of the Internal Guard. The weathered soldier's face was full of seriousness.