Mercenary’s War
Chapter 1288: One Thousand Two Hundred Seventy-One Nice Touch

Chapter 1288: Chapter One Thousand Two Hundred Seventy-One Nice Touch

Seeing that they were about to be caught, Eileen didn’t dare to swerve into the alleys. Unfamiliar terrain was one reason, but if she accidentally ended up in a dead end, they’d be done for. Even if it wasn’t a dead end, if the alley wasn’t wide enough and only allowed them to move forward, the cars behind could just stop and take perfect aim.

The gunner on the car behind them wasn’t just some amateur. Shooting while moving was a matter of luck, but shooting while stationary? There was no way they’d miss.

The machine gun couldn’t hit its target anymore. Aside from the lucky initial burst, Andy He hadn’t managed to hit the pursuers with any of his shots. And even if he did hit them, it wouldn’t matter much.

Firing the rocket launcher inside the car was a death wish—doing so would kill everyone inside even faster and save them the hassle of running.

Gao Yang shouted desperately, “Head for the rough roads! Take the rough roads!”

“You think I don’t know that?”

Eileen yelled back angrily. She was already steering towards a bumpy-looking road as fast as she could.

The car behind them was now less than 100 meters away. If the distance shortened any more, the enemy gunner wouldn’t need luck to hit them.

Gao Yang’s mind raced frantically. The pursuers were closing in. Although Eileen had managed to temporarily evade them with a sharp turn, they’d catch up again in a matter of seconds.

Fortunately, after one turn came another. Eileen made another sudden sharp turn, causing two wheels on one side of the car to lift off the ground, nearly flipping the vehicle. But in the end, the wheels landed back down, and they kept going.

Gao Yang screamed, “Grenades! Grenades! As soon as we see them again, throw them back!”

“I’ve got them! I’ve got them!”

Frey yelled as he grabbed a couple of grenades. When the pursuing car reappeared, Frey pulled the pins and threw two grenades out.

The grenades, equipped with impact fuses, detonated as soon as they hit the ground. A flash of white light burst forth, and the lead pursuer’s car suddenly swerved violently, crashing into an advertisement board at a bus stop along the roadside.

Frey had thrown a fragmentation grenade and a shock grenade. The bright flash of the shock grenade was the hero of the moment.

“YES! Frey, I freaking love you!”

Gao Yang and Rafael shouted in unison, while Frey bellowed, “That was my last shock grenade! Who’s got more?”

Gao Yang didn’t have any. He wasn’t on the assault team this time and wasn’t carrying those kinds of supplies. Andy He, who was assigned to the assault team, wasn’t in the first echelon either and had only been planning to provide suppressive fire before retreating, so he hadn’t packed any shock grenades either.

Eileen shouted, “I’ve got one! It’s hanging on my chest!”

Gao Yang reached out, yanked the shock grenade from where it hung on Eileen’s chest, and—in the midst of the chaotic, life-threatening moment—his first reaction was that it felt quite nice in his hand. As for what exactly felt nice… well, let’s just say it wasn’t the grenade.

Now only one more car remained in pursuit. The roof-mounted gun fired a few more rounds, while Andy He shot back. But the bumpy road was proving to be a game-changer. The uneven terrain made both cars so shaky that the bullets went flying in utterly random directions despite the short distance of only a few dozen meters.

Gao Yang handed the shock grenade to Frey. Frey pulled the pin and, just as he raised his hand to throw it, Eileen drove over a speed bump.

The entire car lurched into the air, causing Frey to fumble and drop the shock grenade right into the SUV’s trunk.

The SUV’s trunk was connected to its cabin—it was a single unit. And that meant only one thing: Gao Yang and his team were about to endure the lovely effects of their own shock grenade in the confined space of the car.

“Shit!”

“F**k!”

“Curtis!”

Gao Yang, with an earpiece in his right ear, instinctively covered it with his hand. Then he leaned over and used his left hand to cover Eileen’s right ear.

Frey and Andy He followed suit. Frey ducked behind the car seat, covering his ears and closing his eyes tightly, while Andy He tossed aside his machine gun, covered his ears, and buried himself behind the seat as well.

A deafening explosion rocked the vehicle. The shock grenade’s job was to blind with blinding flashes and deafen with ear-splitting noise. And noise that could stun a person unconscious was bound to be insanely loud.

Luckily, the shock grenade had both impact and time-delay fuses. Frey had intended for it to explode mid-air, so he held it for two seconds before it accidentally dropped. Fortunately, a pile of random junk in the trunk cushioning the drop saved them from triggering the impact fuse.

Gao Yang and his team narrowly escaped disaster for several reasons. First, the car’s windows were all open, and the glass in the rear doors had been shattered, preventing sound waves from concentrating in the small cabin. Second, their quick reflexes allowed them to cover their ears within a second, protecting their eardrums.

They managed not to be stunned by their own grenade, but Eileen, unaware of what was happening, didn’t close her eyes. Although the shock grenade’s flash was mostly obstructed by the car seat in front of her, the reflective windshield still relayed some of the light. Eileen, who was intensely focused on the road ahead, was momentarily blinded.

When hit with a blinding flash, people lose all sense of direction. Eileen’s hands faltered on the wheel, causing the SUV to veer. Luckily, Gao Yang reached over and grabbed the wheel. After a slight swerve, the SUV was stabilized again.

“What the hell just happened?!”

Eileen screamed, immediately closing her eyes. Gao Yang, steering the car for her, yelled, “Don’t slow down!”

Four or five seconds later, Eileen opened her eyes and, after a brief pause, called out urgently, “I’m fine now.”

Gao Yang’s right ear was mostly unscathed, but his left ear was ringing loudly despite the earpiece. However, it didn’t matter. Surviving without getting completely disoriented by their own grenade was a blessing in itself.

Frey shouted, “Sorry! My bad! Any more grenades left?”

“Why the hell would I carry so many?!”

Frey casually tossed out two fragmentation grenades. By this time, the car behind them was only ten meters away.

“Oh crap, brake! Brake hard!”

Bullets from the pursuer’s car riddled their vehicle’s roof. Though none hit anyone this time, the closeness of the pursuit rendered Eileen’s evasive maneuvers mostly ineffective.

However, just as their machine gun was about to finish the job, it stopped firing.

Eileen slammed the brakes. The car behind crashed directly into their rear bumper. But since the gap between them was too small and her car hadn’t fully stopped yet, the impact wasn’t too severe.

Eileen lurched forward but stayed secure thanks to her seatbelt, whereas Gao Yang, not wearing his, slammed headfirst into the windshield. Frey and Andy He likewise smacked into the seats in front of them.

The windshield in front of Gao Yang splintered, forming a spiderweb pattern, but his head was saved from injury thanks to his helmet. Without it, he would’ve been bleeding all over the place.

The crash wasn’t too severe, but the car behind them ended up stuck beneath theirs, practically lifting it off the ground.

This time, Frey didn’t drop the grenades. He pulled the pins on two grenades and roared, “Keep driving!”

Eileen floored the gas pedal. The 4WD roared as its front wheels screeched, sending up smoke and launching the car forward. Despite its rear sitting atop the other vehicle, the SUV surged ahead.

As soon as their tires hit the ground, Frey leaned out and threw the grenades, one of which soared over the car roof, while the other fell through the opening for the mounted machine gun on their assailant’s vehicle.

Gao Yang’s SUV drove no more than five meters away before the car pursuing them exploded in a flash of light. It didn’t come after them again.

Watching the flash behind them, Andy He and Frey slumped in relief. Gao Yang crawled back up and smacked Frey hard on the thigh, yelling, “You saved us again!”

“Weren’t there three cars?”

Andy He murmured weakly, “The other was a passenger car. It couldn’t even keep up with us and probably got left in the dust. F**k, I bet we’re the closest mercenaries to Victor now. I’d bet anything on it. And damn, guys, this has to be the craziest, most dangerous crap I’ve ever lived through.”

Frey sneered, “You call this crazy? Back when we were trapped in the Aziziya Barracks, now *that* was danger. But yeah, this one’s definitely the craziest.”

“Huh?”

Gao Yang and Andy He simultaneously grunted in acknowledgment of how ridiculous the situation was. This whole chaotic mess had been such a waste—they just wanted to make some noise but somehow ended up provoking Victor’s guards.

Still shaken, Gao Yang urged, “Let’s take a few more turns and head back. If the Iron Madonna doesn’t show up, we’re out of here. This place is completely messed up.”

Eileen exhaled deeply, casting Gao Yang a helpless glance. “Who knows how many mercenary groups are hunting Victor, yet we’re the ones who stumbled onto him. Is this luck, or are we cursed?”

Frey chuckled, “Honestly, I think we’d have done the Signal Flag Mercenaries or even the Iron Madonna a bigger favor if we hadn’t stirred up this hornet’s nest. Let them take each other out head-on instead.”

Gao Yang shrugged. “It might not even be Signal Flag’s people. Could’ve been Alpha too—their vehicles look just the same. But yeah, it’s definitely Russian forces—no doubt about that. Ha, Russia’s in the game now. No wonder Victor’s so confident. But after this mess, who knows if he’s planning to leave Ukraine or stay.”

Just then, Andy He shouted, “There’s a car behind us!”

The headlights from behind sent a jolt through the already jittery group. All four of them whipped their heads around. Eileen took a quick glance before focusing back on the road, while the other three stared for a moment before collectively breathing sighs of relief.

After letting out his breath, Andy He suddenly cursed, “What the hell is a trash truck doing out this early?! Damn it, trying to scare us to death!” (To be continued. If you enjoyed this story, please visit Qidian.com to vote for recommendations or monthly favorites. Your support is the greatest motivation for the author. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com for the mobile version.)