Rebirth of a Mercenary: The Ace Mercenary Forced to Be the Beloved of the Group

The sound of metal clashing echoed in the darkness for less than a second.

Shen Zhuo has already made a move.

He climbed over the railing, grabbed the edge of the steel frame with both hands, and fell silently. His combat boots made only a muffled thud when they hit the workshop floor, softer than a cat's footsteps.

The weapons technician on night shift had his back to him and was bending down to pick up a newly assembled automatic rifle from the workbench.

Shen Zhuo reached up from behind him. His left hand covered his mouth from behind, while his right hand simultaneously slashed horizontally into the left carotid artery with a dagger, the blade cutting through the skin, muscle, and blood vessels in one fluid motion.

The technician's body convulsed for less than three seconds before going limp. Shen Zhuo supported the body, gently placed it under the worktable, and turned off the radio.

"The workshop is cleaned up." His voice came through the communication channel.

"Okay." Xie Huai'an replied calmly, "Captain, I've located the factory's server room. Go east from the workshop, through a corridor, and there's a separate cubicle. The server is still running, and the data should be on the hard drive, but it's most likely encrypted."

"Lu Xiao," Li Mo called out briefly.

"Received." Lu Xiao had already jumped down from the steel walkway, sheathed his machete back on his back, and drew a silenced pistol from his waist.

"Split up. Lu Xiao, go to the server room. Wen Yan and Xie Ran, plant the explosives. Shen Zhuo, keep watch. Complete in five minutes, evacuate within ten minutes. The countdown begins with my command—now."

The five figures were fast-forwarded and silently dispersed in the workshop.

Lu Xiao walked through the corridor and found the server room.

He walked up to the main server, unplugged the data cable and connected it to his portable terminal. A red encrypted interface immediately popped up on the screen—a key was required.

"Xie Huai'an, it's physically encrypted. How long would it take to force a crack?"

"At least fifteen minutes. And a system alert will be triggered as soon as it's hacked." Xie Huai'an paused for a moment. "Physical bypass. Disassemble the server casing and read the hard drive directly."

"Just what I wanted." Lu Xiao drew a dagger from his waist, used the tip of the blade to remove the screws from the server casing, and lifted the metal panel.

He located the hard drive array and used two data cables to bypass the encryption chip and connect directly to his terminal. A progress bar indicating that the hard drive had begun reading appeared on the screen, and data was being drawn into the terminal like flowing water.

"Your downloading method will crash their server," Xie Huai'an commented in the communication channel.

"It's going to blow up anyway, so what difference does it make if it's destroyed or not?" Lu Xiao watched the progress bar fill up, unplugged the data cable, and stuffed the terminal back into his tactical vest. "Data in hand. I'm done here."

Meanwhile, Wen Yan and Xie Ran placed C4 at various points along the production line.

Xie Ran carried a backpack full of C4 explosives, installing explosive blocks on the support pillars of each conveyor belt. Wen Yan followed behind him, checking the installation position and detonator connection of each explosive block one by one, occasionally reaching out to adjust the angle.

Lu Xiao's voice came through the communication channel: "Data obtained, C4 planted. Captain, prepare for evacuation."

Li Mo hadn't had a chance to answer yet.

A roar came from the other end of the workshop, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps and the clanging of metal as a gun bolt was pulled.

The patrol team discovered the technician's body under the worktable during their shift change. The next second, a piercing alarm blared throughout the underground space, the cold white lights turned into flashing red warning lights, and the entire factory roared awake from its slumber like a startled wild beast.

"Enemy attack—underground workshop! Seal all exits!" The French command from the loudspeaker echoed through the underground space, and footsteps surged from all directions. The dense sound of combat boots pounding on the steel-framed walkways made it impossible to tell how many people were there.

Shen Zhuo was the first to engage in combat on the flank.

He peeked out from behind the cover and took down a mercenary who was rushing down the stairs with three bursts of fire. He was then immediately pushed back into cover by automatic fire sweeping in from another direction. Bullets struck steel pillars, sparks flew, and spent cartridges clattered to the ground.

"Their numbers are at least twice as many as the intelligence suggests!" Shen Zhuo changed a magazine, leaning against a steel pillar, his voice laced with a mocking laugh. "And their equipment is top-notch—body armor, night vision goggles, and a PKM! We've stirred up a hornet's nest!"

"You stirred up a hornet's nest yourself," Xie Huai'an's voice calmly replied over the communication channel. "Before you slit his throat, you should have checked if he had a work badge that showed he clocks in regularly."

"Brother Huai'an, you're telling me this now?!"

Xie Ran's machine gun fired.

Instead of hiding behind cover, he jumped down from the platform behind the production line and set up a machine gun in the aisle in the center of the workshop.

The ammunition belt rattled on the gun, unleashing a hail of bullets at a rate of six hundred rounds per minute towards the oncoming enemy. Scrap cartridges sprayed a dense cloud of white mist onto the puddle-covered ground, and the muzzle flash shone blindingly under the red warning lights.

"Come on! All of you, come on!" Xie Ran's roar drowned out the machine gun's howl. "The front is mine, the flanks are Shen Zhuo's, and anyone who slips through is the captain's—nobody's getting around!"

-

On the high ground, Xuanxiao suddenly took half a step back from behind the observation scope, the color draining from his face in an instant.

He heard all the sounds coming from the communication channel—gunshots, shouts, the sound of flesh being torn apart, and Shen Zhuo's unnaturally relaxed tone.

He had witnessed Group A's performance on the training field and thought they were very strong. But he never knew they would be like this in actual combat.

Bai Ye sat in front of the observation mirror, his expression remaining calm.

In his past life, he had worked for mercenaries for over a decade, witnessing far more gruesome scenes and working with far more insane individuals. In his eyes, the people in Group A weren't lunatics—they were professionals to the extreme, so professional that they were immune to gore.

-

"Everyone," Li Mo's voice crackled through the comms, drowning out the gunfire and sirens. "C4 countdown started, ten minutes. Evacuate along the original route: ventilation shaft, drainage ditch, riverbank. Lu Xiao, bring up the rear; Xie Ran, provide cover; Shen Zhuo, follow me forward; Wen Yan, in the middle. Move out!"

The five people started simultaneously from their respective positions under the flashing red warning lights.

Xie Ran, holding the machine gun, retreated while firing, leaving a trail of brass-colored bullet casings on the road.

Lu Xiao placed two grenades at the entrance of the server room as a time-delay trap, then turned around and followed the team.

Shen Zhuo rushed to the front of the group, replacing his dagger with a submachine gun he had picked up from the corpse.

As Wen Yan covered the rear, she didn't forget to look back at the C4 she had placed—the indicator light on the explosive was flashing rhythmically, and the countdown was ticking silently.

As they rushed into the ventilation shaft, behind them were explosives with a ten-minute countdown and dozens of people relentlessly pursuing them. The cold white lights overhead were still flashing, and the entire underground workshop, bathed in red warning lights, resembled a war machine with its self-destruct countdown activated.