Ahmed held a tablet, issuing commands to the drones.
"Buzz...!"
Upon receiving the command, a drone swiftly flew out from the helicopter's cabin door. Like a small bird, it skillfully circled above the group, then hovered silently overhead. Its agile and nimble movements left everyone dumbfounded.
What was truly astonishing, unseen by outsiders, were the image data transmitted by the Hunter Drones and Peregrine Drones. Within the display of the Ranger Neuro-Mechanical Helmets, a small, square window appeared,
showing real-time surveillance footage from the drones. Through the neuro-mechanical helmets on their heads, they could share visual data with the six drones, giving them a clear and comprehensive view of their surroundings during combat, with no blind spots.
Thinking of this, Ahmed's finger tapped the tablet again.
"Whoosh!"
A blur flashed out of the helicopter's cabin door, followed by three more blurs shooting out above their heads. When they regained their senses, four Peregrine Drones had already soared a hundred meters high, overlooking the entire forest. After confirming that the surroundings were clear, Ahmed recalled the drones.
"Move out."
"Yes, sir." Ahmed commanded, and the soldiers stepped into the pre-prepared multi-functional black SUVs. To the roar of car engines, they gradually drove away. The helicopter also quickly ascended, leaving the forest.
An hour later, Ahmed's special unit arrived at the location they had pinpointed: a mountain on the outskirts of Kakin Empire's capital. The mountain was covered with large villas and luxury homes, along with various living facilities, truly a mountainside mansion area.
According to the information Ilumi had investigated, Trent was kidnapped by a local Kakin Empire gang called the House of Xiu Wu. Although labeled as a gang, the Kakin Empire's gangs differed from others in that their leaders were all illegitimate sons of the country's king.
Therefore, no matter what these gangs did, most of it was related to political struggles. Each illegitimate son controlled a gang, and each gang would belong to a certain prince, accumulating strength for the future succession war.
Within such gang forces, there were usually some Nen users who, though not top masters, could hold their own.
"They're a gang, yet they brazenly occupy a mountain as their base?" As night deepened, Ahmed and his team had secretly arrived at the foot of the mountain. Nathan grinned, looking at the drone's real-time images displayed in his helmet.
"The security is tight, but it's all under control." Rory said. Through the drones' observation, they could clearly see all of the enemy's arrangements and surveillance ahead.
"Action." After observing for a moment, Ahmed gave the order.
"Buzz~"
The Hunter Drone quickly took off, flying high into the sky from a kilometer away. The palm-sized drone was extremely difficult to spot under the cover of night. Through infrared and low-light night vision scans, it quickly transmitted images to the Ranger Neuro-Mechanical Helmets, marking several red dots on their advancing map.
This gang was different from ordinary gangs; they were like an army, even setting up checkpoints on the way up the mountain, manned by armed personnel. They felt less like a gang and more like a military force.
Nathan and Rory exchanged glances, gesturing to Ahmed, indicating they would go ahead and deal with it. Ahmed nodded, gesturing back in agreement.
"Let's go." Nathan tilted his head, motioning Rory to follow him. Rory nodded and followed. The two temporarily left the squad and slowly approached their target under the cover of the trees and night.
In their eyes, the night was as clear as day, but for the House of Xiu Wu, it was clear they couldn't afford the luxury of equipping even their sentries with night vision. After all, no matter how much they resembled an army, they were still a gang.
Ahmed led the remaining seven to a spot about three hundred meters from the outpost and stopped. He wanted to observe Nathan and Rory's performance. The drone high in the sky left one Peregrine Drone to constantly monitor the outpost's movements, while two Hunter Drones flew further to scout the camp and terrain.
The palm-sized Peregrine Drone agilely zipped through the trees. Using its low-light sensors combined with ultrasonic detection, it immediately circled and scanned the entire outpost area, transmitting a 3D model of the outpost to their neuro-mechanical helmets.
Ahmed and the others received it simultaneously. They could even control the viewing angle with their minds to observe the people and arrangements at the outpost.
"Six people, two on top, one each for simultaneous takedown. As for the four below, let's see who's faster." Nathan said jokingly, while he and Rory simultaneously aimed at the armed gang members on the wooden outpost about ten meters away.
"Ah~ so sleepy." On the outpost, an armed member lazily yawned, then tightened his clothes, feeling that the temperature tonight was unusually low. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his bag, lit one for himself, then offered one to his companion.
Two red dots immediately lit up on the outpost as they chatted and stood guard. The four below them had set up a wooden table and were playing poker cards, laughing and completely unaware of the approaching danger.
Nathan and Rory held their breaths, focusing their attention on the outpost. In the upper right corner of their vision, data such as wind speed, wind direction, distance, and angle changed with their posture, constantly providing the optimal shooting angle to the wearers. They concentrated on the outpost; the gang members smoking on the outpost were rapidly magnified.
Nathan and Rory's fingers pressed on the triggers, gently pulling them.
"Pfft!" x2
On the outpost, the two armed personnel stiffened, a bullet hole appearing between their brows, and their eyes wide, they collapsed.
"What's going on?" Among the four playing poker below, one was more perceptive and seemed to notice some movement. He looked up at the outpost, only to find the two figures on top had vanished without a trace.
"Are they asleep?" He frowned, not overly suspicious. Such things happened occasionally, but as their leader, he decided to go up and check.
"Pfft!"
Just as he stood up, his body collapsed to the ground.
"Boss!" The other three immediately stood up, checking on the fallen man. They instantly saw the bullet hole in his brow.
"There's a gun..."
"Pfft, pfft... Pfft!"
Nathan gestured to Rory, indicating he had killed one more person. Rory was speechless; Nathan had fired first when he said "go," causing him to lose the initiative.
They acted very discreetly, steadily, and quickly. If it weren't for the concern of exposure, every single person in this group could have individually dealt with these six gang members. Ten seconds! From start to finish, the battle lasted a mere ten seconds.
"Good." Ahmed stepped forward and nodded. The others inspected the bodies, confirming all six were dead, then continued their advance towards the mountaintop under the drone's detection.
The group arrived at the foot of a cliff on the mountain. There was an outpost above, but this was also the best infiltration point.
"Bang!"
Ahmed controlled a drone to fire a grappling hook at the cliff face. The grappling hook arced through the air and landed on the cliff. The moment it touched the rock, four prongs shot out, and a drill emerged from its core, boring ten centimeters deep into the rock, securely fastening itself.
"Nathan." Ahmed pulled the rope hard, motioning Nathan to lead the way. Nathan, always aggressive, naturally didn't refuse. He put the rope into the winch on his arm. His arm went up, and the rope immediately carried his entire body upwards.
The entire process took about a minute. After Nathan ascended, he first threw the rope back down, then secretly dealt with the people at the cliff outpost.
"The entrance has been cleared." When Ahmed ascended, Nathan had already dealt with all ten guards at the entrance and disabled the surveillance cameras. Ahmed nodded; he had seen it all from the shared perspective.
Ten back and forth trips, one minute per person. The entire team spent ten minutes total, successfully infiltrating the gang's core camp from the outside. Such speed, without relying on other means, only using grappling hooks, they scaled a hundred-meter-high cliff without over-expending physical strength or alarming anyone in the camp.
Ahmed looked up at the camp before him. It was less a camp and more of a castle. According to the Hunter Drone's reconnaissance and scan, the castle housed over two hundred personnel and had outposts everywhere. It seemed to be the gang's main lair.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."
Four Peregrine Drones suddenly took off, turning into blurs. They flew over the castle's ramparts and entered its interior, scanning the armed personnel within, then splitting up and flying in different directions within the castle.
This castle seemed to have been recently built by modern people, with no ancient medieval traces. Its area was also much larger than ancient castles. Moreover, if this castle was truly a gang's lair, its interior decoration was far too luxurious.
The floor tiles were made of the world's most expensive materials, and with the walls, chandeliers, and other interior decorations, the entire castle was resplendent, like a royal palace.
"What's the background of this gang?" Nathan and Rory stared in shock at the castle's interior decorations, seen through the drone's shared visual data. From the outside, the castle looked very ordinary, like any other ancient castle built with common stones. They never expected the interior to be so luxurious.
"And, these people's equipment is all standardized military-grade." Rory glanced at Ahmed. He had wanted to say it for a long time: what kind of gang could be fully equipped with military-grade gear? That was treatment only afforded to an army.
Could they have stumbled into some country's secret military base? Also, he noticed the quality of these people. Although they died quickly at their hands, compared to ordinary gang members, their quality was much higher.
Ahmed ignored them. He continued to operate the Peregrine Drones to scout the castle. His objective was to locate Trent and simultaneously transmit back the specific situation inside the castle. Soon, he found the target's location. Trent was held in a solitary cell.
Three armed personnel guarded the door, and compared to the personnel they encountered at the foot of the mountain, these individuals were of much higher quality. They stood expressionlessly, their bodies ramrod straight, guarding the "prisoner" within.
The palm-sized Peregrine Drone was hidden behind a corner surveillance camera. Its size was extremely small, and its sound was incredibly faint, so much so that the two guards only glanced up before paying it no further mind.
The Peregrine Drone behind the surveillance camera quietly sat there, scanning Trent's situation in the cell. The cell was about ten square meters, very small, containing a bed, a toilet, and a sink.
Trent was lying on the bed, feigning sleep, his hands cuffed. From his appearance, there were no signs of abuse or beatings.
"Sigh~" Inside the cell, Trent, pretending to be asleep, opened his eyes and gazed at the iron bars, letting out a deep sigh. He was the general manager of Umbrella Corporation's branch, currently at the height of its popularity, and also a well-known figure, yet now he was captured and held in a cell. The shift in his identity and predicament made him sigh with lament.
"Now, I just hope the company can reach an agreement with them so I can stay alive." Through his observations during this time, Trent also understood that these people were no ordinary gang.
What gang would build a prison? What gang would have such elite guards, rotating shifts every two hours, with twelve guards monitoring him twenty-four hours a day? Furthermore, he didn't even know where he was.
Fortunately, these people didn't seem to intend to do anything to him, seemingly just wanting to meet with Chairman Bradley through him.
"Leave two men here for support and prepare the grappling hooks. The rest of you, follow me in." Ahmed commanded, then led the other seven silently into the castle's interior.
They assassinated patrolling guards and sentries along the way, avoiding surveillance cameras. They steadily approached the area where Trent was being held.
Outside the cell, in the corridor, four armed personnel stood. There were two surveillance cameras on each side of the corridor above their heads, constantly monitoring both ends.
Suddenly, Ahmed saw one of the guards raise his hand and press his ear, indicating someone was talking to him via wireless earpiece. A moment later, the call seemed to end. The four guards conversed, gesturing with their hands.
Ahmed focused, getting closer to observe the guard's lip movements. Don't misunderstand, Ahmed couldn't read lips, but his Ranger Neuro-Mechanical Helmet had this function, translating the opponent's lip movements into speech that played in the wearer's ear.
"Twenty-seven guards have already been assassinated by the intruders."
"The intruders are very familiar with the castle's internal structure and avoided all surveillance cameras on their way."
"We can't sit back and do nothing. Bas and I will stake out the ends of the corridor, and you two hide by the cell door."
"If there's any situation outside, provide immediate support." The other two guards nodded. The speaking guard and another guard named Bas walked to opposite ends of the corridor.
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