Running, hiding, running, hiding... Xiao Luo pushed his abilities to the limit and rushed forward, all the while carrying Sarah Michelle with him. He constantly shifted to his left and right, running starts and stops to deceive the shooters. In this way, he was able to dodge the incoming shot from the small arms and the L115A3 sniper rifle that used thermal imaging to detect targets behind cover. Even RPG rounds were fired to flush Xiao Luo out in the open.
"Sh*t, is that guy a martial arts expert from the Hua Nation? He's carrying a woman with him and is still moving around with the agility of an ape in the jungle," Evil Dragon growled. He gritted his teeth and slammed his hands on the vehicle after the thermal sensor lost sight of Xiao Luo once again.
In the other vehicle, Khun Sa lit up another cigar. He had a pair of cold, heartless eyes that looked aged due to the dark eye-bags, visible even behind his glasses. "Wouldn't it be very boring if we could kill him that easily?" he said.
They didn't use the thermal sensor when dealing with Sarah Michelle because they clearly didn't need to at all. One wouldn't use a sledgehammer on a nut. Besides, he was waiting for Xiao Luo to appear and was not as anxious as to know whether they could find Sarah Michelle.
"Boss, the SEAL team must be on their way here. I reckon we'll be a bit of a pickle if they were to join the fight. We might have a hard time dealing with them," Skeleton said.
Khun Sa smiled coldly. "You're talking about babies who are still drinking milk. No matter how many of them there are, they're nothing but a bunch of trash. There's no need to be afraid of them," he said, "But this 'Mie,' he's a thorn in our side, and we can't let him leave Libya alive no matter what it takes."
His eyes were filled with murderous intent as he said this.
"Understood."
Evil Dragon and Skeleton acknowledged their master. They then passed down the order to everyone else to conduct a thorough search. They secretly had people guarding every single exit, and unless they jumped into a river, there was no way they could escape from Brewer City. But Sarah Michelle was a landlubber based on the information that they had gathered. She couldn't swim, so it was almost impossible for her to swim across a river.
...
Xiao Luo, carrying Sarah, stopped at an abandoned factory somewhere Southeast of where they started. The advanced weapons that Khun Sa and his men had employed so far exceeded what he had expected. But, the most important thing here was that he still had to bear with him a woman who barely had the strength to truss up a chicken.
It would be unprofessional to sacrifice this woman who had no relationship with him whatsoever just so he could kill Khun Sa. But, Xiao Luo had other ideas, and he would do that if he was out of all other options. But, as long as there was an inkling of hope, he would still do all he could to protect and ensure the safety of this woman. As an NSA agent, he still had to do his best to fulfill the mission assigned to him from above.
"Here, this is something for you to eat!"
Xiao Luo handed some hardtack that he brought along with him to Sarah.
Sarah sat on a beam on the floor and, with her eyes wide open, looked at the man of many surprises. When she was on this man's back earlier on, bumping and bouncing along with him, it felt like she was in a dream. Besides, he was still in complete control even after jumping off the second floor with her on his back, and she found it incredible.
She took the hardtack from Xiao Luo. "Mr. Mie, are the techniques you used earlier on the legendary qinggong from Hua Nation?" she asked.
"Mm-hmm."
Xiao Luo replied without much thought. He focused on eating the biscuits to slowly recover the physical energy that he had expended.
"Wow, does that mean such magical martial arts techniques actually do exist in Hua Nation?"
Sarah's eyes glinted with excitement as she recalled his feats, and it wouldn't just be her, but everyone from around the world who would be interested in the rich history of their martial arts. Many people yearned to have the ability to leap onto roofs and vault over walls.
"Ms. Sarah, can you please be a little bit quiet?" Xiao Luo said, not too kindly.
Sarah wasn't sure why Xiao Luo was so gruff, but she ignored it. "I'm so sorry to bother you," she said.
Xiao Luo couldn't be bothered with her anymore. He was keeping vigil on his surroundings. He didn't intend to leave Brewer, at least not until he killed Khun Sa before he left. But the thermal sensor was a considerable threat. With that thing around, it was as if the enemy had x-ray vision, and as long as he was within a one-kilometer radius, there was nothing he could do. This meant that he first had to find a way to get rid of that thermal sensor.
"Mr. Mie!"
Just as he was thinking about that, Sarah shouted at him.
Xiao Luo said, "What now?"
"Can I go over there and wash up a little?" Sarah pointed at the faucet in the distance.
Xiao Luo was unnecessarily curt in his response. "It's not like I've tied your legs together. You don't have to ask for my permission," he said.
"Hmm, alright."
Sarah was relieved that she could finally clean herself up. She stood up and walked towards the faucet and carefully washed off the dirt and grime from her hands, face, and body.
She still had some injuries on her body, and if she was not careful, the pain could be quite unbearable. It was so painful that she gasped a little, but her body reeked from not being washed, and she could no longer stand it. She eventually took all her clothes off except her bra and underpants, wetting pretty much her entire body. She was not concerned about catching a cold since it was still summer, and Libya was naturally a hot and humid region.
"The Americans sure are open-minded!"
Xiao Luo silently muttered to himself. To take off everything and casually taking a shower with only her underclothes in front of a man–this level of openness was something that women from Hua Nation could never match up to, no matter what.
Sarah even brought soap along with her and treated this wide, open area like a bathroom. She washed her hair as well and carefully scrubbed off all the dirt on her body, making sure that her nose could no longer smell anything bad odors anymore.
After she finished her shower, she wore her clothes and returned. Xiao Luo was slightly stunned when he saw her.
She was wearing the same dirty clothes from before, but her feminine side had undergone a drastic change. If the woman he saw before was deemed as an ugly duckling, then the woman right now would be rightly called a white swan.
Her blonde hair was still dripping wet, and her face was pale but reddish, like cherries. Her eyebrows were long, her blue eyes were shimmering, her nose was sharp, her lips were red, and her teeth were white. Her entire body had a pleasant soapy smell.
It was hard to deny that she was indeed a really sexy woman!
She had a slender and well-limbed figure as well. She wasn't as built as most western women and looked more like a good-natured daughter from a humble family.
Sarah noticed Xiao Luo eyeing her and knew that it was because of her appearance. She giggled a little and said, "Mr. Mie, do all guys from Hua Nation enjoy staring at a woman who has just finished bathing?"
Xiao Luo smiled back and replied, "We do take a second look at beautiful things. This is the nature of all human beings."
He explained everything in just one simple sentence.
"Thank you for your compliments!"
Sarah chuckled, displaying a row of neat teeth. "If I can go back to America alive this time around, I'll make sure to find time to go to Hua Nation just to interview you," she said.
Xiao Luo kept his opinion to himself and thought to himself that once I finish this mission, I will forget all about this, Sarah Michelle. What does she mean to interview me? She thinks too much!
"Mr. Mie, is the injury on your chest serious?"
Sarah noticed a burn mark on his chest, and it looked as if he was burned red by a hot iron. It was slightly charred, and blood was slowly oozing out from that injury.
"It's nothing serious, don't worry about it!"
Xiao Luo gave a brief reply and then sat down with his legs crossed. According to the meridian path of the Yi Jijing, this was just a minor injury. It was like a scratch on the skin, and there was no need to spend points to have the system perform any form of healing for him. He just needed to practice the Yi Jijing, and it would recover really quickly.
*****
Sarah was amazed as she looked at what seemed like wisps of steam released from Xiao Luo's body. It was a pity that she dropped the only camera that she had with her because she wanted to record this scene. To think that such skillful martial arts experts actually existed in a country rich in history like Hua Nation! This was simply too unbelievable.
The burn injury on his chest was a lot less painful after meditating for a while. Soon, Xiao Luo opened his eyes, walked toward the faucet, and carefully washed. At that moment, he could hear very faint footsteps coming from a hundred meters away, and he could determine that there were two intruders.
Why was it that they just never learned?
Xiao Luo glanced toward where the footsteps were coming from. These were clearly from Khun Sa's mercenary group that had split up to search for him and Sarah, the American reporter. Splitting up their soldiers was actually a good thing for him, as now, he could take them down separately.
"Wait here and don't go anywhere. I'll go take a look and be back soon," he said to Sarah before bounding out of the abandoned factory like a cheetah.
"Take care of yourself, Mr. Mie!" Sarah shouted with concern as she looked at the back view of Xiao Luo as he left their hideout. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she was certain that it wasn't anything good.
Xiao Luo returned a little later, carrying two muscular men on his shoulders. There were coils of hemp ropes lying in the abandoned factory, and he used them to bind their hands and legs together. He then poured some cold water on their faces, and they woke up immediately.
"Mie?!"
Both of them started to look a little bit worried after realizing that it was Xiao Luo. They had been tasked with carrying out reconnaissance in the area, and before they knew it, they lost control of their bodies and collapsed on the ground. All they could remember was seeing sand-colored military boots next to their faces just before losing consciousness.
"Tell me. What are your code names?" Xiao Luo said, staring down at them with cold, unblinking eyes.
The men looked at each other and didn't say anything. Both of them had their hands tied behind their backs, and they were desperately trying to untie the hemp rope.
Xiao Luo squinted his eyes a little and took an ominous step forward before he stomped on the instep of one of the muscular men.
CRUNCH!
Under Xiao Luo's foot, the man's boots were literally flattened, crushing all his toes and breaking every bone in them, as fresh blood slowly seeped out from the seams of the boot. The man screamed in excruciating pain and was close to passing out.
Xiao Luo glared at the man, and his face was cold as ice. "Do you want me to ask you one more time?" he said.
Sarah gasped. She never imagined that such a polite, amiable, and good-natured man from Hua Nation could be this cruel and ruthless when he interrogated his captives. And how powerful he was, for the boots the man wore had a steel plating to protect their toes from falling heavy objects. When Xiao Luo stepped on those boots, the steel plate was crushed along with the toes they were meant to protect. This man was as powerful as a hydraulic press machine. How terrifying he was!
"My code name is Hyena!"
Seeing what had happened to his companion, who was still screaming in pain, the man beside quickly revealed his code name.
"What is yours?" Xiao Luo asked the muscular man in front of him as he took his foot off.
The front half of his foot was crushed, and the pain was unbearable. The facial muscles on this muscular man's face kept twitching. His entire body was drenched in a cold sweat, and he was trying his best to speak. "Ly... Lynx..." he mumbled.
"What about the code names of your leaders?"
"Evil Dragon and Skeleton!"
"How do you guys address Khun Sa?"
"We call him Boss."
Both of them told him everything they knew after witnessing his cruelty. They initially thought that Xiao Luo would spare their lives, but after answering all his questions, Xiao Luo sent them to hell with just two strikes. He stomped on their temples with shattering force, pulverizing their heads into a paste-like substance and killing them on the spot.
It was way too cruel!
Sarah was utterly horrified.
She opened her mouth, and it took a while before she could form the words. "Mr. Mie, people of your nation, have always treated others with courtesy and respect, and virtue has always been the cornerstone of your culture. But you don't seem like that kind of person," she said.
"If your opponent is armed with a lethal weapon, even a saint would wield a butcher's knife!"
Xiao Luo smiled wryly and said, "America claims that they are guardians and emissaries for maintaining world peace, yet they are always starting wars. Can you kindly explain the rationale behind that to me?"
"Are you referring to the Iraq war? That's only because they owned many weapons of mass destruction and were also secretly supporting the terrorists. America had to do this to maintain peace and stability in the world," Sarah replied.
"It seems like your country has done a really successful job at brainwashing you." Xiao Luo sneered. "Forget it. Let's not talk about these international affairs. Check and see which of their fatigues fit you better. Then take them off and change into that outfit."
"Mr. Mie, they're already dead. We should respect the dead. Isn't taking their outfits off a little bit too much?" Sarah argued.
"Too much?"
Xiao Luo couldn't help but find it amusing. "What does that even mean?" he said.
"Humanitarianism," Sarah replied, somewhat righteously.
"Then, to hell with your humanitarianism!"
Xiao Luo was not in the mood and responded with a vicious remark, and he then walked over to the corpses and removed their uniforms. He tossed one set at Sarah and kept the other for himself. He then spent eight hundred points and purchased the ability to impersonate someone else's voice from the system.
Right at that moment, a voice could be heard coming from the walkie-talkie.
"Evil Dragon for Lynx. Evil Dragon for Lynx. If you can hear this, please respond. If you can hear this, please respond..."
It was a person with a really hoarse voice, and Sarah was so shocked that she held her breath. Xiao Luo calmly grabbed the walkie-talkie and replied, "Lynx here. What are our leader's instructions for me?"
Hmm?
Sarah's eyes were wide open, and the color on her face changed. If it wasn't for the fact that she was witnessing the voice coming out of Xiao Luo's mouth, she would have thought that the mercenary with the code name "Lynx" had been resurrected.
Oh my god... Mie could actually impersonate someone else's voice?!
She found it really hard to believe. It was as if Xiao Luo was performing some kind of magic for her right now.
"Lynx, did you guys manage to find anything over at your side?" the hoarse voice came across the walkie-talkie once again.
"No, nothing out of the ordinary here!" Xiao Luo answered.
"Then continue searching. As soon as you find something, report immediately."
"Understood."
Xiao Luo quietly hung up the walkie-talkie.
He turned his head around and looked at Sarah. "Are you not going to put on that outfit?" he asked.
There was probably a miniature tracking device on these outfits and equipment used to identify their own people. Xiao Luo couldn't be bothered to look for the tiny tracking device and put on the fatigues and gear as though they belonged to him. To be blunt and honest, as long as they didn't get too close, there was no way they could tell that they were impersonators.
Sarah came to her senses, quickly took off the dirty camouflage coat she was wearing, and changed into the mercenary's outfit. It didn't really fit her well as it was a man's outfit, but it still looked fine as long as she pulled the trousers and sleeves up a little.
"I hate the sweaty smell on this outfit!" Sarah complained.
Xiao Luo glanced at her with a laugh. "You can enter a garbage dump, but you can't stand the sweaty smell of a man?" he said.
"Mr. Mie, that's not the same. I was trying to protect my own life back there."
"You're doing this to protect your own life now as well."
"Are we preparing to leave Brewer City by impersonating as their members?"
"No, I want to get rid of Khun Sa first before we leave."
"What?"
The look on Sarah's face changed. "Mr. Mie, are you crazy?" she cried.