He was so persuasive that he actually practiced extraordinary

Zhang Beixing calmly explained, “It’s too risky for ordinary terrorists to infiltrate in disguise; they’re too easily exposed. I suggest that I lead two people into the town ahead of time, while the rest of us provide support from the outside. If all goes well, I can bring Deng Mei out safely without firing a single shot.”

What? The hostages can be rescued without a firefight?
Yang Rui's brows furrowed immediately. How could this be? Those terrorists were not only ruthless killers, but they weren't blind either. How could they just stand by and watch the hostages be taken away? The four-person team was an obvious target; they would probably be attacked by gunfire as soon as they stepped outside.

Yang Rui's brows were etched with worry and doubt as he cautiously asked, "Captain Zhang, are you serious?"

Zhang Beixing nodded calmly: "Of course."

Yang Rui clicked his tongue and asked a series of questions: "The enemy's defense system is airtight. Let's not even talk about how you'll infiltrate. Even if you find Deng Mei, how do you plan to leave? Deng Mei is Zaka's key asset. The moment you step out the door, you could be riddled with bullets! This is too risky!"

He did not pay particular attention to the term "ordinary terrorist" used in Zhangbei's dialect.

Rescuing hostages safely without firing a shot is an extremely dangerous, even fantastical, operational method for most. But who is Zhang Beixing? He's a master of disguise!

Zhang Beixing smiled mysteriously and made a strange request to Yang Rui, who was frowning: "Captain Yang, do you have a photo of Chief Zaka?"

A photo of Zaka? Yang Rui was taken aback: "Yes, I do, but what do you want his photo for? Do you want to impersonate Zaka?" Yang Rui said helplessly, "This is reality, not a movie. Those terrorists aren't stupid; they'll see through it at a glance."

“You’re half right, but…” Zhang Beixing shook his head, his tone firm, “Of course I know they’re not stupid, but my disguise is absolutely convincing! Don’t waste any more time, send me the photos now.”

Seeing Zhang Beixing's persistent expression, Yang Rui felt helpless but had no choice but to compromise. He took out his tactical tablet, pulled up a picture of Zaka, and handed it to Zhang Beixing.

The leader of Zaka in the photo is an elderly man with white hair and beard, dressed in black religious robes and wearing glasses. He has the refined air of a rural pastor, and it is hard to imagine that such an old man is the leader of a ruthless terrorist organization.

Zhang Beixing took the tablet, transferred the photos to his phone, and returned it to Yang Rui. He then turned around and began preparing his disguise plan. He walked behind a boulder and, during his break, took out various bottles and jars he had prepared from his dimensional space—these were all exclusive cosmetics necessary for his disguise technique, which he had prepared in advance.

Watching Zhang Beixing's busy figure beside the boulder, Yang Rui couldn't help but shake his head, not holding much hope for Zhang Beixing's disguise skills. After all, the disguises on TV are all fake; even special effects makeup takes several hours, and they simply didn't have that much time to wait.

Just then, his tactical tablet received a video message. The sender was identified as Zarqa's organization, and the recipient was clearly marked as the Chinese Navy—this was obviously a provocative declaration of war to put pressure on China!
A sense of foreboding washed over Yang Rui. After a moment's hesitation, he opened the video, and immediately a woman's piercing scream rang out. Yang Rui's gaze sharpened instantly, and the surrounding team members, hearing the scream, quickly gathered around.

Looking at the video, Zhang Nengliang's eyes widened, and he gasped for breath: "This...this is?"

"Damn it, they're inhuman! These terrorists aren't even human!" Zhang Nengliang clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white, his eyes fixed on the tablet in Yang Rui's hand, his teeth grinding together.

The tablet screen had barely lit up when a chilling video began playing. The joint operations team was currently in a makeshift, concealed position, surrounded by withered weeds and low rocks. Only Gu Shun and Li Dong, on guard duty, were positioned on high points on either side of the position, their sniper rifles steadily raised, their eyes scanning the distant dunes and forests like hawks, not missing a single unusual movement.

Apart from the two guards, the rest of the team huddled together in a tight circle. Everyone's expression was remarkably similar—frowning, eyes grave, all fixed on the tablet in Yang Rui's hand that was playing a video, their breathing unconsciously subdued, as if afraid of missing a single detail on the screen.

The video was filmed in a dimly lit room. The air inside seemed particularly stagnant, with only a few rays of the setting sun struggling to penetrate the dilapidated windowpanes, casting a sluggish, gel-like mist of dust into the air. This faint light illuminated the faces of everyone in the room, clearly displaying their expressions on the screen.

In the center of the image, two old hardwood chairs are placed side by side, with two hostages tied to each chair. Their eyes are tightly blindfolded with black cloth strips, and their bodies are wrapped in rough hemp rope around the back of the chairs, with their wrists and ankles firmly fixed, clearly rendering them incapable of any resistance.

The hostage in front had curly blond hair and was clearly a foreigner based on his silhouette. Although he was blindfolded and his eyes were not visible, a close look at his tense facial features and slightly trembling shoulders made it easy to recognize that he resembled the assistant that reporter Xia Nan had mentioned earlier.

The other hostage sitting in the back was clearly Asian, and judging from her build and clothing, she was a woman. Combined with the intelligence they had gathered, everyone had one thought—she was very likely Deng Mei, the Chinese citizen kidnapped by the Zaka organization!

Surrounding the hostages stood four menacing-looking terrorists. They were all dressed in dark combat uniforms, their faces contorted in a grimace, their AK-47 assault rifles pointed downwards, but their fingers constantly on the triggers, clearly on high alert. The entire video was filled with a suffocating atmosphere of panic and tension; even the special forces soldiers watching off-screen could clearly feel the oppressive sense of despair.

"Just as Zhang Beixing predicted, these guys are trying to use Chinese citizens to pressure the navy!" Yang Rui said in a low voice, a hint of suppressed anger in his voice. He had previously held onto a sliver of hope that the terrorists wouldn't actually target civilians, but the video before him shattered his illusions. In the video, a tall, muscular terrorist took a step forward, holding a manuscript filled with text, and pointed it at the camera lens, declaring in broken Ivia with conviction, every word brimming with threat.

"Chinese Navy! You actually shield Mohadi, that enemy whose hands are stained with the blood of the Ivia people! You are betraying the friendship that the Zaka organization once had with China!" His voice was hoarse and rough, coming through the tablet's speaker, which made the special forces members present furious.

"Now, I'll show you the consequences of opposing Zaka! Your citizens will pay a heavy price for your wrong choice!" The terrorist's gaze swept across the camera, as if staring directly at the Chinese naval vessels far out at sea, his tone filled with arrogance and conceit.

"This woman is Chinese, but I won't kill her today." He pointed at Deng Mei, who was tied up behind her back, a cruel smile playing on his lips. "I want her to see a person killed right before her eyes! This is just the beginning. If you don't cooperate, she'll be next!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the terrorist abruptly waved his hand and barked a command at his accomplice beside him: "Take off her blindfold! Let her see clearly!"

Upon hearing this, Deng Mei struggled violently, emitting muffled protests. But her resistance was quickly suppressed—the terrorist beside her stepped forward and slapped her face several times. The crisp sound of the slaps came through the screen, making the special forces soldiers' hearts tighten. One side of Deng Mei's face quickly swelled, and blood even seeped from the corner of her mouth; she was clearly too weak to resist.

Then, the violent terrorist ripped off the blindfold from Deng Mei's face. Deng Mei's eyes, terrified from the prolonged darkness, blinked wildly upon sudden exposure to light. But the terrorist gave her no time to react, pressing her head down firmly with both hands, forcing her gaze towards the foreign assistant in front of her, ensuring she could clearly see the execution scene that was about to unfold.

Although the foreign assistant, bound in front, couldn't see, he vaguely sensed something was wrong from the terrorists' conversation and the surrounding noise. He instantly understood—the terrorists were making an example of him, and he was the "chicken" about to be killed!
A wave of overwhelming fear washed over him. He began to struggle frantically, twisting his body desperately in an attempt to break free of the ropes binding him. But his mouth was already gagged with cloth, and he could only let out helpless moans of pain, which sounded particularly pitiful. The ropes binding him were extremely tight, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't budge them an inch.

"Behave yourself! You filthy bug!" Upon seeing this, a burly terrorist immediately stepped forward, pressing one hand firmly against the assistant's shoulder while the other gripped his neck, pinning him to the chair and rendering him completely immobile. The assistant's body was still trembling slightly, and although his eyes were blindfolded, it wasn't hard to imagine that his eyes were filled with despair.

Immediately afterwards, the terrorist holding the manuscript slowly drew a gleaming dagger from his waist. The blade reflected a cold, chilling light in the dim light, sending shivers down one's spine. With a sinister grin, he walked step by step to his assistant, then slowly raised the dagger, pointing the blade at the assistant's neck.

"Ahhh! Gurgle..." As the dagger fell, a muffled, painful sound came from the assistant's mouth. Although the video did not directly capture the bloody scene, the deep-seated despair was clearly transmitted through the screen to the hearts of every special forces member.

Watching this scene in the video, the special forces soldiers clenched their fists involuntarily, their arm muscles tensed, veins on their foreheads bulged, and their eyes were filled with anger and resentment.

"Damn it! These sons of bitches! They have absolutely no humanity!" Zhang Nengliang couldn't hold back any longer and was the first to swear, his voice hoarse with anger.

"They're a bunch of demons in human skin! They dare to call others enemies of the people. I think this country has been ruined by these bastards!" Xu Tianlong said through gritted teeth, his fingers gripping the handguard of his rifle so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

“They are utterly inhuman beasts! They can even lay hands on unarmed civilians, what else are they incapable of doing!” Li Erniu said in a muffled voice, his face flushed red, clearly enraged by the scene before him.

Yang Rui frowned, sighed heavily, and said in a low voice, "They are deliberately putting pressure on China, trying to force us to compromise by using the lives of civilians." He knew that the terrorists were well aware of how much China values ​​the lives of its citizens, which was why they used such despicable means to threaten the navy in an attempt to achieve their goals.

In the video, the foreign assistant quickly fell silent in pain and despair, his body slumped against the back of the chair, clearly lifeless. Deng Mei, forced into the chair, witnessed a living person being killed before her eyes, and her mental state instantly teetered on the brink of collapse. She was stunned for a few seconds, then could no longer hold back, bursting into tears, her sobs filled with fear, helplessness, and despair, a sound that tugged at the heartstrings.

Upon seeing this, the terrorist holding the script burst into unrestrained laughter, a piercing and cruel sound. He turned to the camera again and continued his threat: "Hahaha! Chinese soldiers, you've all seen this, haven't you? This is what happens when you oppose Zaka! If you don't hand over Mohadi's family, your citizens will end up like this pathetic wretch! I'm giving you twenty-four hours to consider. If you exceed that time, we'll kill another person!"

After saying this, the video suddenly went black and ended playing.

The tablet screen went black again, but the atmosphere around the position grew even more tense. The special forces soldiers' eyes were bloodshot, blazing with rage; they wanted nothing more than to storm into the terrorist stronghold and tear those bastards who slaughtered indiscriminately and treated human life so lightly to pieces!

"What's most hateful is that they actually used the lives of innocent compatriots to threaten China into backing down? This is utterly ridiculous! Do they really think we Chinese are easy to bully?" Stone clenched his fist and slammed it hard against the rock beside him, his tone filled with anger and resentment. "Captain, let's move out now! I'm going to personally kill these sons of bitches, avenge my dead assistant, and rescue Deng Mei!"

Standing beside Shi Tou, Zhang Yingying, seeing his agitation, immediately chimed in, "Let me and Shi Tou work together, using the machine gun to clear the way! As long as you give the order, Captain, we'll charge in now and wipe out these bastards!" Her light machine gun was already loaded, her finger on the trigger, ready to engage in battle at any moment. (End of Chapter)