Ch 750 - Battle Ready

It was particularly dark right before dawn, and a deep rumbling sound echoed through a dilapidated residential area on the outskirts of Baltimore.

In the daytime, it was just a dirt road, but now it looked as if it was splitting open. A light came from the crack, lighting up the buildings on either side of the road.

Then the crack continued to expand. When it reached the end of the block, a smoothly inclined upward passage appeared. It seemed so unlikely that anyone who saw it would marvel at it.

From the sky, the whole area could be seen, and two gates lying horizontally on the ground slowly opened.

Below this residential area, there was a huge underground space, which could now be reached via this diagonal passage. It was more than half a mile long, and at the end of it, there were various facilities visible.

With the roar of an engine, a military transport aircraft appeared at the end of the passage and began to ascend rapidly along it.

When the transport plane dashed out of the runway and disappeared into the night sky, the residential buildings moved slowly in the opposite direction again. Finally, they combined, leaving no trace of anything unusual.

In the plane, Alex and Louis sat side by side. They had changed into camouflage clothes and helmets, and they held automatic rifles. The only difference between them and the others was that they had a dark yellow strip on their right arms. It was a special kind of tape that was detectable by infrared rays.

A total of thirty soldiers had been dispatched, including Alex and Louis. The other twenty-eight were all elite soldiers who had experienced many battles.

Listening to the soldiers talking, Alex laughed. "Just listening to the description makes it hard to imagine what these super soldiers are like," he said. "All their bones are made of metal? Who thought of such a thing?"

Louis nodded and said, "I have to admire the bastards who made those metal guys. They can turn a living person into a super soldier and seriously enhance their combat effectiveness."

"And you must admit that their grasp of technology is amazing," Alex agreed. "They can replace a person's bones with metal, and they can still move freely. That's huge technological progress."

"If it's progress to turn people into monsters, then it's a pretty sad kind of progress," Louis said.

"Maybe," Alex replied with a smile.

"I have seen a super soldier," Louis admitted. "It was the first time that I'd ever seen such a thing. We caught him, but the strength of the man was unimaginable. He could easily throw a person more than thirty feet with one hand. It was as easy as throwing bricks."

When they arrived at the Valley of the Buried Heart, some distance away from the military base, the transport plane landed. Under the leadership of Louis, Alex and the other soldiers disappeared into the vast desert.

At the same time, it was publicly announced that a practical combat exercise would take place in a certain area of the Great Basin Desert, aiming to strengthen the cooperation between different units and also accumulate experience in desert conditions.

For a time, the outside world speculated whether the combat exercises were preparations for an offensive against a particular country. Few people knew that the military exercise was actually designed to cover the operation of a small force, divert the attention of the outside world, and confuse the public.

Alex and the others had gone to the Great Basin Desert to avoid being exposed. Once they had arrived, they separated from the special forces and carried out independent operations, relying on satellite positioning systems and electronic maps.

According to the plan that Alex and Louis had made, in this battle, Louis' special forces team would lead the main attack, while Alex and the others would assist by offering them cover. Alex had no objections because he knew that the members of the special forces had more experience in dealing with the super soldiers, while Alex's battalion had no experience of that at all.

Alex looked up at the sky. Under the scorching sun, even lizards and other desert creatures that had evolved to live in that environment dared not come out and wander around. In that kind of heat, it was possible that the enemy wouldn't be too vigilant, so Alex believed this was the best time to attack.

Moreover, there were a lot of weathered boulders in the Great Basin Desert, and the terrain was uneven, which was perfect for hiding. Louis' route and attack time were extremely accurate, so it seemed that he had made great efforts to get it right.

At noon, the weather was getting even hotter. Looking around, the soldiers could clearly see the heat rising from the ground on the horizon, as if a furnace was burning below it. Even Alex, who had the extraordinary ability to regulate his body temperature, could vaguely feel a wave of heat on his face.

Alex's watch suddenly buzzed, and he raised his hand to look at it. He murmured, "Get ready, everyone. Special forces are waiting for our help."

They opened the bags they were carrying and took out their weapons.

There was a flurry of sound as automatic rifles and other weapons were assembled and checked. Every soldier had their head down, focusing on their weapons.

Alex's watch buzzed again, signaling that Louis and his team had started to move.

The watch buzzed more quickly, which meant that Louis and his team were closing on the target. A moment later, there was a faint sound of gunfire, and then nothing.

"Here we go," Alex said quietly. "Everyone, spread out. Keep in touch and be safe."

He adjusted his helmet and rushed out with an automatic rifle in his arms, heading toward the target position shown on his watch.

Everyone who was taking part in the operation had a multipurpose military watch. On it, satellite positioning, signal tracking, short-range communication, and other military functions were available. In addition, it could link to an electronic map and be used to set targets. Satellite navigation would be automatically activated to guide the owner all the way there.