Fifteen kilometers isn't very long, but it's not short for someone on foot. After cautiously advancing for more than two hours, Jack finally approached the designated target.
Behind a dirt slope about ten meters high, a black civilian helicopter was quietly parked. The condition of the aircraft wasn't great, with paint peeling off in many places, but it was now covered by many branches, and there was no one around. In the pitch-black night, it looked like a monster lying in wait on the slope, patiently waiting for its prey to fall into its trap.
At this moment, Jack and Michael were hiding behind a large rock about three hundred meters away from the helicopter. The helicopter was positioned upwind, and Michael was lying on the ground, sniffing hard. While sniffing, he said, "There are a total of seven people, four hiding in the trees not far from the helicopter, and three each dug a hole to hide underground, one of whom is a woman!"
"A woman? Are you sure?" Jack asked in surprise, turning back to him.
Michael seemed quite certain and nodded seriously, saying, "Definitely, because she's on her period; I can smell the scent of menstruation on her!"
Jack rolled his eyes, wondering how this dog could even distinguish the smell of his aunt, damn it, but still said, "The number is wrong; it should be six people, and how could there be a woman? Forget it, let's go ahead and signal them!"
Jack leaned against a large rock, finding a position that was not easily targeted, and shouted, "Have you all eaten?"
After a moment, a man's voice came from the opposite side: "Not yet, we're waiting for you to treat us!"
"Damn it, who set this code?" Jack muttered quietly before continuing to shout, "What do you all want to eat? U.S. dollars?"
"No, we only eat rubles!" The other party replied and then jumped down from the tree, about two hundred meters away from Jack. It was a burly man with a face full of paint, holding a sniper rifle that had been camouflaged to the point of being unrecognizable.
Seeing the other party come down, Jack revealed himself as well, but for safety's sake, he signaled Michael not to come out and slowly walked forward.
"Hey? Jack, why are you alone? Where are the others?" The other party asked with a look of surprise, stopping in his tracks.
As Jack got closer, he realized it was an acquaintance, and his guard relaxed. He weakly waved his hand at the other party and said, "Something happened!"
"Oh my God, how could this happen? Was the mission completed?" The burly man looked at Jack in shock, then waved his hand to let the hidden subordinates around them come out.
"The mission is complete!" Jack said while counting the number of people coming out, his years of struggling on the brutal line of death made him cautious.
"Huh? Why are there only six people in total? And there's a woman too?" Jack noticed that only six people had come out, and the woman that Michael mentioned, damn it, hadn't shown up.
"Did you get that thing too?" the strong man asked again.
"Yes, I got it!" Jack nodded and added, "How many of you came?"
"Including me, there are six! What's wrong?" The strong man looked around in confusion.
"It's nothing, let's hurry up and leave; it's not safe to stay here!" Jack clearly didn't want to say much and pointed to the plane.
"Can you show me that thing? I'm really curious!" The strong man extended his hand and said.
Jack hesitated slightly but still took out the small silver metal box from his pocket and handed it over. However, just as the item was about to reach the strong man's hand, he didn't grab the box but instead seized Jack's wrist.
"What are you doing, ah…"
Seeing the wicked smile at the corner of the other's mouth, Jack instinctively felt something was wrong. Just as he wanted to break free, he felt a powerful current surge through his wrist, causing all his muscles to instantly freeze, unable to move. Being already weak, he felt darkness envelop him and lost consciousness…
When Jack woke up again, he found his head still felt fuzzy, but it was slightly better than last time, as this time he only felt like an airplane was swirling in his head. As he slowly regained consciousness, he lifted his head and realized he was indeed in a helicopter.
The cabin was empty except for a pilot, and beside him, Michael was tightly bound to a Thomas chair, with a large wad of cloth stuffed in his mouth. It seemed someone found Michael too talkative and had gagged him. However, his two sneaky eyes were darting around, and when he saw Jack wake up, his eyes were filled with excitement.
"Are you awake?"
Jack made a noise as he woke up, and at that moment, the helicopter pilot turned around to look at him and asked. The pilot was a stout man with a bushy beard, but strangely, despite his rugged appearance, he spoke in a pleasant woman's voice.
"Who are you?" Jack realized he wasn't tied up, and it was clear that the other party was either overconfident or had no malicious intent.
"What? Are you so dazed that you can't even recognize my voice?" The pilot smiled playfully, then gently rubbed his face. After a moment of blurriness, he transformed into a striking Asian beauty. She then removed her flight helmet, revealing a head of neat black short hair. At that moment, a stunningly sexy black-haired beauty appeared, with crescent-shaped eyebrows, slightly upturned lips, and a pair of black eyes that, though not large, were very expressive. However, she still retained the rugged physique of the pilot, which made her look somewhat out of place.
"Su... Su Yue, how could it be you? How did you end up here?" Jack Thomas's mouth fell open in disbelief, as if he were facing a beautiful female ghost.
"Why can't I be here?" Su Yue casually pressed a few buttons to let the plane fly automatically, then stood up and walked towards Jack while taking off her green flight suit.
"Uh... Su Su, I mean... did you save me?" Jack saw that beneath Su Yue's flight suit, she was wrapped in a thick layer of sponge. It seemed that with her slender figure, this was the only way she could impersonate the pilot.
"Who else could it be?" Su Yue had already removed the sponge wrapping, revealing a black form-fitting combat suit underneath. This combat suit seemed tailor-made for Su Yue, fitting her perfectly and accentuating her curvy figure. Since it was shorts, her long, beautiful legs were fully displayed. A very ordinary women's combat suit on her looked less stiff and more graceful.
"Su Su, how did you end up here? And you just happened to save me?" Jack forced himself to look into Su Yue's eyes instead of at her alluring bronze legs as he asked.
"There's a reason for my presence there, and saving you was just a matter of convenience!" Su Yue picked up a parachute from the plane and strapped it to her back. When she turned around, Jack noticed a clear blood mark on her neck, which hadn't been treated. It looked like it had been grazed by a bullet, with a bright red mark standing out prominently on her smooth neck.
"What happened to your neck... uh? What are you doing with a parachute?" Jack was clearly taken aback by Su Yue's actions, and a sudden ominous premonition filled his entire body.
Su Yue did not answer Jack's question; she simply leaned out to look outside the cabin. After that, she turned back to Jack with a sweet smile and said, "First, I need to apologize to you because the team you have been working with is not just any ordinary mercenaries. They are all peripheral members of the Holy Light Church. I only found out about this recently, so you shouldn't be surprised that they betrayed you, right?"
"I guessed that the moment I was knocked out by them!" Jack replied with a cold smile, but he suddenly saw Su Yue give a strange smile, pointing at the plane below and saying, "Also, the fuel tank of this plane has started leaking, and the last parachute pack is with me. I think you understand what that means... seeyoulaterhoney!"
Su Yue playfully made a face at Jack and waved the small metal box in her hand. Suddenly, she leaned back and jumped out of the plane with a whoosh, disappearing into the vast night sky in the blink of an eye.
Jack realized that the metal box Su Yue was holding was indeed his, the main target of this mission. Now he finally understood why Su Yue was here; she was after this box all along.
He let out a helpless wry smile, but remembering Su Yue's warning before she left, he quickly jumped up to check the plane's fuel gauge, only to find that there was enough fuel for at most five minutes of flight. It seemed that Su Yue didn't want him to die just yet, leaving him with a "generous" five minutes. After untying the bound Michael, he could only brace himself and start looking for a place to make an emergency landing.
"Master, master, that woman is so beautiful! How come I've never seen her before?" Michael started rambling as soon as his mouth was freed.
"You couldn't even talk when I met her, so of course you wouldn't remember!" Jack replied while manipulating the plane's control stick, his brows deeply furrowed.
"Oh, no wonder! But she was so fierce to me. I just asked if your aunt came, and she immediately tied me up. I really don't understand what her temper is like!" Michael shook his head and said, "But she is really good to you. Did you see that scar on her neck? She got that injury while protecting you!"
"For me?" Jack was taken aback and turned to look at Michael, clearly not expecting that.
"Uh-huh, that's right! This story is quite exciting..." Just as Michael was about to clear his throat and elaborate, Jack gave him a hard slap on the head, "No time for your nonsense, get to the point!"
Michael scratched his head with a distressed expression and said honestly, "It was her who took out those treacherous mercenaries, but when she was carrying you onto the plane, there was a guy who wasn't completely dead and was about to shoot you. Who would have thought her first reaction was to push you behind her and take the hit herself? Tsk tsk tsk... What a touching love story! I'm so honored to have a master like you..."
"Stop the nonsense and get to the point!" Jack said with a serious expression, giving Michael another slap on the head.
"Wuwu... Luckily, that fucker missed his shot, and the bullet almost grazed her neck, but coincidentally, that bullet hit the plane's fuel tank!"
Jack shuddered at this, feeling a mix of emotions—worry, relief, and perhaps most of all, joy.
"Master, what exactly is your relationship with her? How could she risk her life to save you?" Michael blinked his eyes curiously and asked.
"She is the woman I would protect with my life... Alright, hold on tight, we're going to make an emergency landing!" The plane's instruments emitted a piercing alarm, and the low fuel warning light was flashing wildly.
The plane had been flying over a vast forest, and not far away was a large plain, but the plane was out of fuel, and it was uncertain whether they could make it there.
"Puff puff puff..."
After the plane's engine made a weak sound, it immediately stopped running. Unlike a winged plane that can glide when it runs out of fuel, a helicopter drops straight down like a broken kite tied to a stone.
"Ah! My God! Help me..." Michael screamed in terror, covering his eyes with his front paws, looking just like a frightened girl. But Jack's face turned red, his hands gripping the control stick tightly, his eyes flashing with the madness that comes only in desperate times.
Finally, with a loud "bang," the helicopter did not reach the expected plain but instead crashed into the forest. After breaking several large trees, the severely damaged helicopter was finally caught in mid-air by a tree that five people could barely wrap their arms around, a narrow escape!
"Ha ha... What incredible luck!" Jack gasped like a bull, laughing out loud as he looked at a sharp branch in front of him. The branch had broken off and passed through the airplane's glass window, missing his eyes by less than ten centimeters. One more step forward, and it would have sent him straight to the afterlife. Given how dangerous the situation was, it was surprising that Jack could still laugh.
Michael stood up, shaking his body to shake off a few green leaves from his head, and imitated Jack's heavy breathing as he said, "Phew... Finally, we're safe. But when will these nerve-wracking days come to an end?"
"Not long now, Michael. Your wish has come true; we'll never have to go back to that fucking place in Texas again!" Jack twisted the airplane's cabin door, only to find it deformed and stuck. He had no choice but to kick the door open with some force.
Michael immediately perked up and ran to Jack's feet, excitedly asking, "Really, Master? That's amazing! You're the greatest and most lovable master in the world... So where are we going instead of Texas? Paris? But the bitches there wear designer clothes, and I can't afford that. How about Australia? I like the dogs there that wear bikinis, and... ah..."
Jack grabbed Michael, who was still daydreaming, and threw him down from the tree. Amid Michael's screams, Jack shouted, "To my homeland—America!"