Soon, thick clouds drifted out from the bomb's impact point, spreading with the wind. Strangely, the entire jungle was almost completely silent; there was no reaction to the tremor, not even the usual chirping of insects.
This green forest was deathly still… Perhaps the fallen insects, snakes, ants, beasts, and withered leaves everywhere were silently protesting something.
In a military camp.
A strong Black man, with one arm still in a sling, slammed his arm into a steel table with a loud thud, as if it had been pierced by a shell, yet the man himself was completely unharmed.
He stared excitedly at the increasingly smaller map before him, muttering, "War Queen...you have no chance!"
Zhao Hao also wore a hint of excitement, but stood a little further away from the black James, saying to the commanders of North Burma and Annam, "This tactic should be very effective; her attacks have clearly decreased."
The two dark-skinned, thin commanders exchanged glances. The scale of this operation was truly enormous; it was practically a war.
Both countries had mobilized almost all of their elite forces, and after several days of searching and fierce fighting, they still couldn't capture the woman named Tang Lanyan.
On the contrary, several battalions of military forces were completely wiped out, suffering heavy casualties.
Both commanders were colonels, unaware of much of the inside story. Having fought to this point, they instinctively felt fear and dared not stop the woman any longer.
They dared not; they were ultimately just executors on the front lines. The higher-ups at home had ordered them to continue cooperating, even if it meant more deaths… and then they mobilized even more troops, using drones for thermal imaging searches from the Golden Triangle all the way to the border between northern Myanmar and China.
Seeing that they could no longer stop Tang Lanyan from breaking through the blockade, to the two commanders' surprise, the northern Myanmar government ordered military aircraft to spray a gas similar to "Agent Defoliant" used by the US military during the Annam War into the vast jungle.
This substance pollutes water sources, kills everything in the jungle, and its destructive effects are difficult to eradicate for decades.
Using such methods within one's own country is utterly heinous. The Northern Burma commander was helpless; all of this was just to capture a woman…
This country has become far too corrupt.
However, even with such thoughts lingering, for his own benefit, the Northern Burma commander showed no sign of agitation as he spoke to his soldiers: "Has this area been cleared?"
The soldiers, though reluctant, could only obey orders: "Yes…"
The commander, however, remained indifferent. After all, his current interests included tens of millions of dollars in foreign banks and several beachfront properties in the Hawaiian Islands…
"I'm going to capture her myself!"
Meanwhile, James, the black man, could no longer contain himself. After being defeated by the War Queen, he constantly plotted revenge. Tang Lanyan had broken almost all the bones in his body, severely injuring his heart and lungs. Fortunately, the medical equipment sent from China had been remarkably effective, and he had now recovered to about 80-90%.
Facing a fully-fledged Tang Lanyan would be impossible, but... with her stamina constantly being depleted, and due to the leaf-dissolving agent, she couldn't find even water, let alone food. Could the War Queen maintain her normal condition?
Facing a War Queen like that, the black man felt no shame. His race and nation lacked that kind of culture; on the contrary, the ability to bully the weak excited him immensely, making him eager to try.
Although a Level 4 superhuman, James was essentially no different from those black men participating in the zero-dollar purchase.
"Send men into the jungle immediately and drive her out!"
James said viciously to the two commanders. Faced with the black man's ferocious face, the commanders from Northern Myanmar and Annam dared not say anything. They weren't patriotic zealots, and they certainly wouldn't choose to collude under the temptation of profit.
Soon, armored vehicles sped out of the camp, guided by drones, weaving through the withered trees, and advancing into the jungle.
Shortly after, a deafening explosion rang out. The armored vehicle, like a champagne bottle being popped, saw its gun barrel caps fly skyward, bursting into fiery red flames in the jungle.
More than half an hour into the battle, the Annamite and North Burmese soldiers, terrified by the bloodshed, disregarded orders and retreated in disarray, abandoning their armor and weapons…
The jungle seemed to fall silent again for a moment.
However, beside a still-burning armored vehicle, a North Burmese soldier, his body blackened by burns, groaned, uttering in his native language, "Water, water…"
Without a miracle, this North Burmese soldier's life would end in minutes.
Just then, he heard the faint sound of leopard footsteps beside him. The soldier barely opened his eyes to look.
Before him, a tall woman with a powerful, muscular figure like a female leopard slowly emerged from the jungle—a beautiful woman exuding strength.
The most striking impression upon seeing this woman wasn't her full, pert breasts and shapely buttocks, or the firm, smooth, dangerously beautiful lines of her skin.
It was her fiery, unyielding, and icy aura, unmoved by anything.
Even without actually seeing her, the soldier immediately guessed that this was the woman they had been driven into the dangerous jungle to capture under some inexplicable order.
"Help..."
He still reached out his hand; even with the slightest chance of rescue, a drowning person would desperately grasp.
However, before his hand could rise, it slumped to the ground, a trickle of blood seeping from his mouth; the soldier was speechless.
Seeing this, Tang Lanyan, whose face had been filled with coldness and anger, sighed softly, walked to the man's dark body, and reached out to close his wide-open eyes.
Then, Tang Lanyan turned and searched the armored vehicle, but there were barely any shells left, and no water or emergency rations whatsoever.
Tang Lanyan frowned slightly, a rare hint of disappointment showing on her face.
This was the third armored vehicle she had searched, and the result was always the same: not a drop of water to drink, not a bite to eat.
And this vast jungle, under the influence of highly toxic defoliant, had completely withered away; even a palm-sized creature could not survive, unable to obtain any food or water…
Even with a body of steel and a will as firm as iron, after a week's recent meal, several days of arduous trekking through the jungle, and the relentless wear and tear of battle, she was now nearly at her limit.
When she destroyed the armored vehicle, she felt an unprecedented strain; every movement left her inexplicably weak and exhausted. Now, the possibility of obtaining supplies from the armored vehicle was gone…
The buzzing of the drone came from afar again. Tang Lanyan closed her eyes; she should have about a minute to rest.
During this time, her rest was measured in minutes. Even though her head was slightly dizzy and sleepiness overwhelmed her the moment she closed her eyes, she had precisely managed to seize every fragment of rest, giving no one a chance to recover, thanks to her iron will.
Now, she was probably in the same boat…
Time flowed slowly in tension and silence. Tang Lanyan, unusually, drifted into a semi-dreamy state for a moment, watching Xiao Dong's figure slip by.
"Hmm?"
Tang Lanyan suddenly opened her beautiful, dark eyes. A hint of disappointment flickered across her snow-white face, which was stained with a speck of mud. She quickly frowned, for it seemed that well past a minute had passed.
In this race against time, this was a huge mistake.
However, the surroundings remained silent…
But just as Tang Lanyan's delicate body relaxed almost imperceptibly, she suddenly heard a sinister laugh tinged with excitement, and the deep, husky voice characteristic of Black people:
"Found you…!"