He was so persuasive that he actually practiced extraordinary

There was only a buzzing sound from the communicator, like countless tiny insects crawling in his ear, with no response whatsoever. Zhuang Yu switched to three more backup channels and called out repeatedly, but still received no reply whatsoever.

Yang Rui's face darkened. He grabbed the communicator and shouted into the microphone, "0101, this is Yang Rui! Jiaolong Team One has encountered a situation on the Ivia No. 3 mountain road and requests communication support! Do you receive this? Please respond!"

He shouted for a full minute, but there was still no response from the communicator. The signal on the mountain road was already weak, and now it had suddenly stopped. It was either due to strong electromagnetic interference or the communication base ahead had been destroyed by the rebels—either way, it meant that danger was approaching.

The convoy came to a temporary halt. Zhang Beixing stepped out of the car, a biting mountain wind whipping at his face, carrying with it a cloud of yellow dust that made his tactical uniform flutter wildly. He looked around; before him stretched a desolate expanse of yellow earth, not a single blade of grass on the slopes, only scattered gray-brown rocks resembling menacing faces. In the distance, the mountains rose and fell in a continuous, steep, and crisscrossing manner—terrain practically tailor-made for an ambush. The enemy could hide behind the rocks on the mountaintops, using mortars to cover the road and snipers to block key positions; once the convoy entered firing range, there would be nowhere to escape.

"Something's not right." Zhang Beixing's unease grew stronger, and his fingers subconsciously reached for the pistol at his waist.

Just then, a very faint metallic clanging sound came from the mountaintop in the northwest. The sound was so soft that it was almost imperceptible in the wind, but Zhang Beixing's ears perked up instantly—it was the sound of metal parts rubbing together as the mortar carriage was deployed!
His expression suddenly changed, and he abruptly turned around, roaring at the team members in the carriage: "Everyone get off the vehicle immediately! Get into the ditch by the roadside! Quickly!"

Although the team members didn't know what was happening, their instincts, honed through years of training, prevented them from hesitating. He Chenguang and Xu Tianlong from the Red Cell team were the first to jump out of the vehicle, nimbly sliding down the roadside slope into the ditch; the Jiaolong team members also helped the overseas Chinese out of the vehicle, guiding the elderly and children behind rocks. Although the overseas Chinese were initially panicked, they quickly calmed down under the reassurance of the special forces soldiers, clinging tightly to the slope, afraid to show their faces.

In the blink of an eye, a sharp whistling sound came from the sky, like a red-hot iron slicing through the air, accompanied by a chilling sound that made one's scalp crawl!

Yang Rui looked up, his pupils suddenly contracted, and he shouted at the few overseas Chinese who were still hesitating by the car: "It's a mortar! Take cover!"

Before the words were even finished, a black shell was launched from a distant mountaintop, whistling sharply, and slammed heavily onto the underside of an armored vehicle with a deafening boom. The violent explosion instantly tore through the air, flames and black smoke shooting into the sky like a mushroom cloud. The armored vehicle was ripped apart, tumbling like a broken metal box before crashing into a rock with a loud clang, completely deformed. The Ivia soldiers inside didn't even have time to scream before being engulfed in flames, and the vehicle quickly fell silent.

Immediately afterward, a second and a third mortar shell rained down, the dense explosions echoing along the mountain road, shaking the ground slightly. Armored vehicles were torn to pieces by the shelling, metal fragments and rocks flying like a torrential downpour, their bodies engulfed in flames, thick smoke billowing and obscuring half the sky.

The bus carrying the expatriates was not spared either. A shell struck the middle of the bus with a deafening roar, splitting it in two. Glass shards flew like sharp knives, and wrecked seats and suitcases tumbled from the broken section. Screams erupted from inside the bus—the cries of children and the wails of adults—but were quickly drowned out by the denser barrage of artillery fire, leaving only the crackling sound of the burning vehicle.

Fortunately, Zhang Beixing's early warning saved most of the team members and overseas Chinese from disaster. The members of Red Cell and Jiaolong took cover in the ravines, watching the sea of ​​fire outside, their faces grim. Flying shrapnel cut the arms of several team members, blood seeping from the wounds and staining their tactical uniforms, but they simply bandaged them up and immediately picked up their rifles, vigilantly watching the distant mountaintop.

Zhang Nengliang, hiding behind a large rock, was about to peek out to check the situation when a blood-soaked severed hand suddenly flew through the air and landed on the ground in front of him with a "thud," the fingers even twitching slightly. His pupils contracted sharply, his whole body froze, his face turned as pale as paper, and his stomach churned—this was the first time he had seen such a bloody scene on a real battlefield, a hundred times more terrifying than the simulated combat on the training ground. He clenched his teeth, fighting off the urge to vomit, his hands gripping his rifle tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.

"Vroom vroom vroom—!" The roar of truck engines echoed from the distant dirt road as more than a dozen camouflaged military trucks sped toward the convoy, their wheels kicking up clouds of dust. The truck beds were filled with terrorists armed with AK-47 rifles. They wore haphazard clothing, some with headscarves, others with face paint, and shouted incomprehensible slogans. As soon as they approached, they opened fire on the convoy.

"Rat-a-tat-tat—!" Bullets from the anti-aircraft machine gun poured out like a torrential rain, splashing up clouds of dust as they hit the ground. An armored vehicle, still burning, was riddled with bullet holes. The bodies of Ivia government soldiers inside were pierced by bullets, their blood flowing from the bullet holes and dripping into the soil, forming dark red streams that emitted a pungent, bloody stench.

Urgent shouts filled the team members' tactical headsets: "Gu Shun, Li Dong! Locate the mortar position immediately and destroy it!" "Jiaolong Second Team, suppress the enemy in the direction of the trucks! Don't let them get close to the civilians!"

Upon hearing the call, Zhang Beixing didn't hesitate for a moment and immediately ordered into his headset: "Gu Shun, no need to search anymore! 45 degrees northwest, 7 degrees horizontal, the mortar is hidden behind that protruding rock!" Relying on his "sound-based positioning" skills honed through years of combat experience, combined with the trajectory of the shells, he precisely located the mortar's position—a skill he had honed through countless life-or-death trials, more accurate than any instrument.

After saying that, he immediately added, "Falcon, Buffalo, there must be snipers on the mountain! You two are responsible for covering Gu Shun, finding their sniping position, and taking him out!"

"Yes!" He Chenguang and Xu Tianlong responded in unison, immediately raising their sniper rifles, adjusting their scopes, and scanning the distant mountaintop with wary eyes.

Hearing Zhang Beixing's order, Gu Shun was surprised but didn't hesitate. He and Li Dong quickly climbed a nearby embankment, lay prone, set up their sniper rifles, and aimed in the direction Zhang Beixing had indicated. Through the scope, they saw seven terrorists bustling around a mortar, the barrel still emitting smoke, with several spent shell casings piled nearby. "Wind speed 37 m/s, stable air pressure! Seven targets, no cover!" Li Dong quickly reported the parameters, his voice as calm as ice.

Gu Shun took a deep breath and gently pulled the trigger. "Bang!" A bullet accurately struck a terrorist who was loading ammunition in the head, and the man fell to the ground, his blood splattering onto the nearby mortar shell. Immediately afterward, he quickly adjusted the muzzle, "Bang!" A second shot killed another terrorist operating the mortar. Seeing this, the remaining terrorists panicked and scrambled behind rocks, no longer daring to show their faces, and the mortar firing stopped instantly.

Just as Gu Shun was preparing to continue firing and expand his gains, "whoosh!" a bullet suddenly flew from the other side of the mountain, shattering the communicator hanging on his ear with a "click". Gu Shun was shocked and rolled over to the ground. The bullet grazed his scalp, leaving a small crater in the ground, and splattered dirt all over his face.

"Holy crap! There really is a sniper on the other side!" Gu Shun shouted with lingering fear, his back already soaked with cold sweat. He turned to look in Zhang Beixing's direction, his heart filled with shock—Zhang Beixing had not only accurately locked onto the mortar position, but had also anticipated the presence of a sniper on the mountain; his insight was simply terrifying.

"Smoke grenade cover!" Upon seeing this, Yang Rui immediately took out a smoke grenade from his tactical backpack, loaded it into the grenade launcher under his rifle, aimed at the mountaintop, and pulled the trigger. "Bang!" A smoke grenade exploded in the air, and thick white fog quickly spread out, like a barrier blocking the sniper's vision, instantly reducing the surrounding visibility to less than five meters.

Zhang Beixing shouted into his headset, "Falcon! Have you located the enemy sniper yet?"

"Report to Captain Zhang! Not yet! The enemy is hiding too well. We can only pinpoint their location after the smoke clears!" He Chenguang's voice came through the earpiece, tinged with anxiety.

Just then, Xu Hong's voice suddenly rang out: "Team Leader Zhang! There are still people alive in the bus! I just saw a hand sticking out of the window! And there's an unexploded shell stuck in the broken part of the bus, which could detonate at any moment! I'm going to defuse the bomb, you cover me!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Beixing's heart tightened—more than a dozen overseas Chinese were still trapped on the bus and hadn't managed to escape. If the shell exploded, they would certainly not survive. But bomb disposal required specialized skills, and most of the team members were combat experts; none of them knew the bomb disposal procedures. He suddenly remembered the book "Dismantling and Disassembly of Standard Artillery Ammunition Systems" in his backpack. He had read part of it while the convoy was traveling, and it explained in detail the structure and dismantling methods of mortar shells.

"Xu Tianlong, Zhang Nengliang! You two come with me! You're responsible for covering Xu Hong and suppressing enemy fire!" Zhang Beixing ordered as he quickly pulled the book from his backpack, squatted down in the ditch, and eagerly began to read. The pages were slightly wrinkled from the previous jostling, which he gently smoothed with his fingers, his eyes rapidly scanning the words.

Zhang Nengliang, still reeling from the shock, immediately raised his rifle and opened fire on the distant terrorists upon hearing the order. "Rat-a-tat-tat!" Bullets whistled through the air; though not perfectly accurate, they provided some suppression. His eyes were bloodshot, and his face was covered in dirt and dust, but he dared not slacken his efforts—he knew this was not the time to be afraid. Only by suppressing the enemy could Xu Hong safely defuse the bomb, and only then would the overseas Chinese in the bus have any hope of survival.

Yang Rui, who was directing the battle on the other side, caught a glimpse of Zhang Beixing squatting on the ground reading a book out of the corner of his eye, and was immediately stunned. Outside, artillery fire raged, bullets flew overhead, everyone was fighting desperately, and the possibility of losing their lives at any moment was looming. How could Zhang Beixing still have the mind to read a book?
"Captain Zhang! What time is it? You're still reading?!" Yang Rui shouted at Zhang Beixing at the top of his lungs, his tone full of confusion, anxiety, and even a bit of anger.

Hearing Yang Rui's shout, Xu Tianlong quickly waved his hand and lowered his voice, saying, "Captain Yang, don't disturb Captain Zhang! He must have a reason for doing this, and we at Red Cell all trust him!"

"Huh?" Yang Rui was completely dumbfounded—even at this point, the Red Cell team members still trusted Zhang Beixing so much? This was simply absurd! He wanted to argue further, but he saw that Zhang Beixing was extremely focused on the book, his fingers rapidly sliding across the pages, as if the surrounding artillery fire and gunfire were irrelevant to him. Helpless, Yang Rui could only grit his teeth, turn around, and continue directing the Jiaolong team members in battle, his mind filled with doubt: What exactly was Zhang Beixing up to?
As Zhang Beixing flipped through the book, he anxiously asked the system in his mind, "System, reading normally is too slow! Is there a way for me to master the bomb disposal techniques in this book in the shortest amount of time?"

The system's sweet voice sounded on time, its tone still calm and emotionless: "The host can use the 'Super Accelerated Immersion' function, which consumes 100 merit points at once, and can completely master all the knowledge in the book within ten seconds, forming muscle memory and practical experience."

Zhang Beixing didn't hesitate for a moment—more than a dozen lives were waiting for him on the bus, and every second he delayed increased the danger. 100 merit points were a lot, but in the face of human lives, they were insignificant. He firmly believed that as a Chinese soldier, protecting life was a responsibility etched into his very bones; those who disregard the lives of others were never worthy of wearing this uniform, at best merely emotionless war machines.

"Use the super-accelerated immersion immediately!" Zhang Beixing silently chanted in his mind.

The next second, he felt everything around him slow down—the trajectories of bullets flying through the air became clearly visible, the terrorists' shooting movements seemed to be slowed down tenfold, and even the breathing and heartbeats of his teammates around him became exceptionally slow. This was a state of "nothingness" at the level of consciousness; the flow of time in the outside world seemed compressed, only his thinking and reading speed remained normal. The words on the pages flooded into his mind like a tide; knowledge about the structure of mortar shells, types of fuses, disarming procedures, and safety precautions was instantly integrated into his brain, forming a complete bomb disposal procedure, even the possible emergencies and corresponding countermeasures were clear. (End of Chapter)