Chapter 148 Crossing the Border

Soon, amidst the thunderous roar, Chu Feng drifted off to sleep. In his slumber, he seemed to enter a rather wondrous realm where he saw Ma Han, as well as Wang Chen, Xiao Hei, and two other team members who were carrying him back.

Ma Han had suffered an abdominal wound, with a bullet piercing straight through his stomach. Because they were being hunted by a massive force of enemies, there had simply been no time to stop and extract the bullet.

This time, Ma Han had led the Special Operations Unit far beyond the national borders into the Golden Triangle following direct orders from the high command. A drug cartel in the Golden Triangle was attempting to smuggle a large batch of narcotics into the country, and Ma Han's mission was to lead his team to annihilate these drug lords and incinerate the drugs.

Never had they expected that before even reaching their destination, they would cross paths with operatives from the Scorching Sun organization. Since Scorching Sun was deeply entrenched in the Golden Triangle, they had joined forces with the drug cartel to hunt down Ma Han and his men.

During the chaotic melee, a stray bullet struck Ma Han in the abdomen. Severely wounded, Ma Han lost his combat capability, and the Special Operations Unit was left without a commander.

Under Xiao Hei's command, they fought their way back while retreating step by step, making their way toward the border after receiving orders from Long Feihu.

Suddenly, the tranquility of Chu Feng's dream was shattered by a violent jolt. Snapping his eyes open, he realized the fighter jet was landing; the turbulence he had just felt was undoubtedly from the aircraft touching down.

As soon as the two fighter jets landed, personnel from the Nanyun Border Defense Military District immediately rushed forward to welcome them. A full regiment was stationed here for the sole purpose of preventing large-scale armed drug trafficking syndicates from crossing into the territory.

"Chu Feng, this is a map. The line marked on it is the withdrawal route of the Special Operations Unit. You just need to follow this line to rendezvous with them."

The commander of the 822nd Regiment handed Chu Feng an electronic map. The route displayed on it had been meticulously planned through consultations, marked with a red traversing line representing the squad's infiltration path.

"Commander, could you please get me some more ammunition? What I have on my person is far from enough. I'll leave my backpack right here; the items inside won't be of much use to me."

Chu Feng had brought two firearms from the Capital Military Command—a sniper rifle and an assault rifle. He had only taken one hundred rounds for the sniper rifle and two hundred rounds for the assault rifle, which was clearly insufficient for his needs.

"I'll have someone get them for you right away. But carrying too much spare ammunition will bog down your speed—you need to think this through carefully."

Regiment Commander Guo Haifeng had already received instructions from the Capital Military Command ordering him to fully cooperate with Chu Feng's operation, providing whatever weapons or ammunition he requested.

"It's fine. I will reach them within three hours. If I can't make it in three hours, the captain will be in grave danger."

With his extraordinary physical endurance, carrying a bit more ammunition would make no difference to Chu Feng. His primary concern right now was Ma Han's injury.

According to the intelligence he had received earlier, Ma Han had been wounded for six hours already. If he failed to receive proper medical treatment within ten hours, his life would be in imminent danger.

Shortly after, a soldier brought over the ammunition Chu Feng had requested, along with some compressed food rations and water.

"Send me across the border right now. I'll contact you when I get close to the frontier." Chu Feng declined the water, stuffing only a few blocks of compressed rations into his pocket.

Carrying water would make his silhouette too conspicuous; in broad daylight, sunlight reflecting off a water container could easily give away his position.

Immediately, the regiment commander assigned a squad of soldiers to escort Chu Feng to the borderline. The moment he stepped through that threshold, Chu Feng would be outside the country. Once across, he would no longer be a member of the Dragon Scale unit, but merely an ordinary Chinese citizen.

Chu Feng inspected his ammunition and weapons before plunging straight into the dense jungle, having already memorized the route thoroughly in his mind.

"Captain, we just received instructions from the Chief. Chu Feng has rushed over to rescue us, but he's coming alone this time. The rest of our operation team didn't come."

A team member with the code name Cheetah came over to update Ma Han on the situation and share the news of Chu Feng's arrival, hoping to use this piece of news as a morale boost to prevent Ma Han from losing consciousness.

"You guys are absolute fools! I told you all along to just leave me behind so you could make your escape. Now look at us, hunted down like rabbits. What difference can Chu Feng possibly make coming here alone? Try to see if you can get in touch with him and tell him to turn back immediately instead of coming here to throw his life away."

Ma Han's voice was extremely weak. Ever since he was wounded, the operatives of Scorching Sun and the drug-trafficking militias had been like sharks smelling blood in the water, relentlessly tracking them down.

"Captain, stop talking. You need to conserve your strength. Chu Feng is a doctor; as long as he arrives, your life will be saved."

Wang Chen's eyes burned with a fierce, terrifying red glow. This was his first time participating in a mission with the team, yet he never expected to almost lose his life here. When Ma Han was wounded, he had shifted from being an observer to acting as an assault gunman. Had it not been for his desperate efforts to suppress the enemy's advance, they would have been surrounded long ago.

"You brat, when did you ever dare to use that kind of tone with me? If I weren't injured, I'd get up and teach you a good lesson."

Ma Han knew these team members only had his best interests at heart and were telling him not to speak just so he could hold on until Chu Feng arrived.

"Move out quickly! The hunters have appeared and taken positions 800 meters away!" Wang Chen wanted to say more, but the voice of Xiao Hei, the sniper, rang through his earpiece.

Because Ma Han was wounded and unable to walk, Wang Chen, Cheetah, and another team member had been taking turns carrying him on a makeshift stretcher, while Xiao Hei, the sniper, had switched to acting as an observer.

"Brothers, I'm begging you, leave me behind and give me two grenades! If we keep running like this, none of us are going to make it out. Don't forget, our mission isn't even completed yet—how are you going to report to the superiors when you get back?"

Ma Han knew that if they continued fleeing like this, they would sooner or later be completely surrounded by Scorching Sun and the drug-trafficking forces. That was why he insisted on staying behind, intending to use his own life to buy time and block the pursuers.

"On the very first day I joined, what was the first thing you told me? Repeat it to me right now. Right now, you're a wounded patient, not the captain, and you have no authority to order me around."

With that, Wang Chen and Cheetah hoisted the makeshift stretcher and surged forward at top speed, following the return route charted out for them by Long Feihu to head back toward Chinese territory.

Bang!

Deep within the jungle, Chu Feng suddenly heard the sharp crack of a gunshot. With a swift, agile roll, he slid directly behind the cover of a thick tree trunk. The gunfire had originated from directly ahead of him.

Drawing a compact tactical monocular, Chu Feng swept the surrounding area with his gaze, yet detected no immediate abnormalities.