Chapter 85: A Fiery Beginning and an Unyielding Confrontation

“Black Fox, are we heading straight to Dadaab?”

The armored personnel carrier sped along the highway, and Xing Xiaolong’s heart raced just as fast. Nervousness, excitement, and uncertainty mingled together, sending blood rushing to his face, making him look like a red-faced warrior.

“You seem pretty tense. Are you scared?”

Black Fox’s lips, full and slightly thick, curled up in a playful smirk.

“Scared? Impossible—not a chance.” Xing Xiaolong shook his head vigorously, making a firm declaration, “I was just curious, that’s all.”

A man must never lose face. No matter how frightened I am, I have to hold my ground.

There were five Kenyan SWAT officers in the vehicle with them. They only knew that Black Fox was a special advisor, and that Xing Xiaolong was accompanying him. They had no idea of his specific identity.

Given Black Fox’s status as a special advisor from the Eagle Nation, these SWAT officers had no authority to question him. Such was the weight of hierarchy.

Yet, Xing Xiaolong always spoke through his phone’s translation app, making the SWAT officers even more puzzled. If Black Fox was so important, why bring someone who didn’t even speak the international language? It was a mystery to them!

Black Fox maintained his high-profile demeanor and paid no attention to the thoughts of these ordinary officers. Xing Xiaolong was entirely focused on the mission, with no mind to care about what others thought.

“Not being afraid is best. Fear and anxiety dull your reactions—that can be deadly. Staying calm is the only way to survive,” Black Fox advised, both comforting and instructing Xing Xiaolong in the rules of the battlefield.

“Dadaab is the devil’s camp. Do you think we few could enter and come out alive? I’d rather not end up minced into meat paste.” Black Fox joked darkly, opening his military tablet and enlarging a map.

He pointed out, “Liboi, a small border town. There’s a drug den here. One of our informants was captured by them—he holds vital intelligence. We need to rescue him.”

“OK! Understood!” Hearing that they were only heading to a small drug den, Xing Xiaolong, outwardly calm, secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed unlikely that anything would go wrong.

“Oh, by the way, have you ever trained in CQB?” Black Fox suddenly asked as he closed his tablet.

“Uh... well... cough... NO!” Xing Xiaolong scratched his head, a little embarrassed.

Everyone knows CQB is close-quarters battle tactics, but Xing Xiaolong had only served as a guard in a regular border unit. He’d never had the chance to learn such close-quarters combat.

Border operations involved tanks, artillery, aircraft, and heavy firepower, in wide-open plains or forests—never any need for close combat, so such skills were never taught.

“Worse than I expected.” Seeing that Xing Xiaolong didn’t even know the basics of CQB, Black Fox pursed his lips. “I’ll teach you when there’s a chance. For this mission, stay at the back of the team. Keep yourself safe and observe how the others operate, understood?”

CQB requires intense teamwork; every movement in close quarters must be tightly coordinated with another. If someone untrained joins in, it disrupts the whole tactic—potentially jeopardizing the mission.

Black Fox trusted Xing Xiaolong’s marksmanship and courage, but lacking the ability to coordinate with others was an irremediable flaw.

“No problem, you can count on me to hold the rear,” Xing Xiaolong replied. Knowing he was a liability, he still refused to lose face—declaring his role at the back as honorably as if he were leading the charge.

“I’ve discovered your new virtue—shamelessness. I just wonder if it’s thick enough to stop a bullet,” Black Fox retorted, rolling his eyes, then leaned back and closed his eyes. “It’ll take several hours to get there. Rest your eyes. I’ll wake you when we arrive.”

“Thanks!” Unfazed by Black Fox’s jab, Xing Xiaolong welcomed the opportunity to rest. He’d slept poorly the night before, too excited, and now he cradled his rifle, ready to nap and restore his energy.

Unfortunately, Xing Xiaolong was mistaken.

Sleeping well in this vehicle was impossible—would be for a lifetime.

Though the armored car’s heavy body provided stability, and the gentle rocking might lull someone to sleep, Africa’s environment changed everything.

Two hours later.

By eight or nine in the morning, the gentle orange sunlight of dawn turned into a blazing golden fireball, and the concrete highway shimmered with waves of heat.

Inside the racing armored vehicle, there was no air conditioning, and it quickly became a stifling, superheated tin can.

Xing Xiaolong, who managed less than an hour of sleep, was forced awake by the heat. Even after removing his ballistic helmet and loosening his collar for ventilation, he was drenched in sweat and dizzy from the heat.

Black Fox and the other SWAT officers fared no better. Sweat gathered visibly on their faces before rolling down their jaws in thick droplets.

Hot.

Very hot!

Stifling and scorching, it felt like sitting in a pressure cooker—only missing the spices.

Fortunately, though there was no air conditioning, the vehicle had plenty of vents and gun ports. The experienced SWAT officers opened them all, letting in a bit of breeze, enough to prevent the team from fainting from heatstroke before the mission even began.

Under this sweltering torment, the convoy drove from morning until nearly four in the afternoon, without stopping once. Lunch was just military rations.

At last, the ordeal was nearly over!

“Sir, we’ve entered Liboi. Two minutes to the target,” the lead vehicle’s navigator reported to Black Fox via radio.

“Got it!” Black Fox pressed his earpiece, then issued orders to everyone: “Attention, all units. This is a forced assault mission—everything proceeds as planned.

Lead vehicle moves to the rear; armored vehicle two becomes the vanguard. Switch communications to open mic. Once we breach the building, priority is to locate our target. If you encounter resistance, shoot to kill. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!”

All SWAT officers switched their radios to open mic. Overcome by the heat, they donned their helmets and noise-canceling headsets, chambered their weapons, and braced themselves.

“Stay close behind the assault team, OK?” Black Fox reminded Xing Xiaolong.

Black Fox had looked after him all the way.

“OK!” Xing Xiaolong gave Black Fox an OK gesture, buttoned up his sweat-soaked uniform, strapped on his heavy helmet and headset.

Click!

He chambered his Remington 870P shotgun, holding it tightly across his chest.

“Damn it, let’s hope I don’t get hit,” Xing Xiaolong prayed silently.

The last battle in Kasuo Village had been all ambush and stealth. This time, they were charging straight in—driving right through the front.

From the start, it would be a fierce close-quarters firefight. How could Xing Xiaolong not be nervous?