Chapter 237 Dragon Fang Descends, the Nightmare of Nine Dragons Stronghold
Gao Xiaofeng's throat was parched and cracked, unable to utter a single sound of pleading. She could only shield the child with her body and stare desperately at the tightly closed iron gate.
Unbeknownst to her, several ghosts dressed in black combat uniforms and wearing night vision goggles were already in position on the concrete roof directly above the air-raid shelter.
Zhou Weiguo supported himself with one hand on the ground, while the other hand rested on the receiver of the tactical headset.
"A squad reports that thermal imaging shows the target is inside a cage, surrounded by three armed men, and a gasoline can is located two meters from the assault path."
"Disconnect the power and begin cutting."
A very faint metallic scraping sound came from the ventilation vent at the top of the air-raid shelter.
That's a military-grade high-frequency hot melt gun in operation, where special alloy steel softens rapidly at high temperatures.
Inside the cave, the gangster suddenly felt a few wisps of dust fall on his head. He looked up in confusion, about to call his companion over to take a look.
The next moment, all the lights in the air-raid shelter went out without warning.
Darkness, like ink, instantly swallowed everything.
"Fuck your mother! Power outage?"
The gangster cursed angrily and reached for the powerful flashlight at his waist.
Before his fingertips could even touch the flashlight switch, the concrete slab above his head emitted a dull tremor.
A circular opening, one meter in diameter, was precisely pushed open, and three dark figures descended along the ropes like falcons, plunging into the arena with a sharp whistling sound.
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"
The tranquilizer gun with a silencer continuously sprayed out tongues of fire.
Those were specially modified, highly effective tranquilizer darts, enough to take down an adult grizzly bear in two seconds.
The gangster who was fiddling with the matches felt a sharp pain in his neck and dropped the matchbox.
He tried to shout for help, but his brain instantly lost control of his muscles, and he collapsed like a lump of mud.
The other two scavengers reacted quickly, reaching for their Glock pistols at their waists.
Zhou Weiguo landed on both feet and rolled over using the momentum, his body like a cheetah released from its cage.
He grabbed a scavenger's wrist with his right hand and twisted it upwards; the sound of bones cracking was clearly audible in the darkness.
Immediately afterwards, he used his left hand, fingers together like a knife, to slash heavily into the other person's carotid artery.
The other special forces soldier, upon landing, used his riot shield to slam the last enemy against the wall.
The entire raid took less than thirty seconds, and the three guards didn't even have time to release the safety pins.
The powerful beam of the tactical flashlight pierced the darkness, precisely avoiding Gao Xiaofeng's eyes, and shone on the rusty iron lock.
"Snap!"
The hydraulic shears easily snapped the chain.
Zhou Weiguo sheathed his short knife, walked to the iron cage, and spoke in a low and steady tone.
"Ms. Gao, we are the Longya Special Forces of the Handong Provincial Military Region. We are here to rescue you on the orders of Political Commissar Shen."
"Please come with us."
Gao Xiaofeng stood there stunned until she saw the familiar pine-green camouflage uniform, then she breathed a sigh of relief and tears welled up in her eyes.
Just as the team members were preparing to escort the mother and child to safety, the second team member on guard suddenly whispered in his earpiece.
"Reporting to the deputy commander, there is an abnormal heat source in the side compartment, and there is a locking device inside."
Zhou Weiguo frowned and gave a tactical hand signal.
Two team members quickly surrounded the hidden iron gate and kicked it open.
The moment the flashlight beam shone in, everyone stopped what they were doing.
It was a cramped space of less than five square meters, with a woman tied to the corner of the wall.
Her business suit was tattered and torn, her hair was disheveled and covered most of her face, and her exposed skin was covered with bruises.
Zhou Weiguo strode forward and ripped off the black hood from the other person's head.
"Ouyang Jing?"
That face, which once held sway in both the political and business circles of Jingzhou, was now filled with haggardness and pain.
She struggled to open her eyes, her lips trembling as she looked at the fully armed soldiers in front of her.
"Help...help me..."
Zhou Weiguo's heart sank, and he immediately reported to Shen Zhong via a satellite encrypted channel.
"Sir, we have made a major discovery."
"At the scene of the rescue of Gao Xiaofeng and her child, Ouyang Jing, who had been missing for many days, was unexpectedly intercepted."
"There were obvious signs of torture on her body, it looks like it was done by the Chung family cleaners."
The Operations Command Center of the Handong Provincial Military Region.
Shen Zhong stood in front of the huge electronic sand table, the light and shadow on the screen flowing across his cold, hard facial features.
Upon hearing the report, his fingers, which were tapping the table, paused slightly.
"Ouyang Jing?"
"This is quite an unexpected gift from Sha Ruijin."
Shen Zhong picked up the walkie-talkie and gave the final instructions.
"Ouyang Jing was immediately sent to the military general hospital. All news of her was blocked. No one was allowed to see her except Li Dakang."
"Gao Xiaofeng and her son were sent to a military sanatorium and are under the 24-hour protection of the special police detachment."
"As for those flies on the periphery, clean them up completely, leave no one behind."
Hong Kong Island, outside an air-raid shelter.
Liu Sheng's dozen or so gangsters noticed the power outage and rushed over, cursing and brandishing machetes and homemade guns.
Before the burly man leading the way even got close to the cave entrance, a high-frequency buzzing sound suddenly filled the surrounding air.
That was a directional electromagnetic pulse device deployed by the Dragon Fang Special Forces.
The walkie-talkies in the gangsters' hands instantly emitted blue smoke, rendering all electronic communication equipment useless.
"What the heck? Why is my phone screen black?"
Before they could react, two camouflaged heavy off-road trucks roared out of the dense forest in the distance.
The all-steel front bumper beam of the vehicle, like a bulldozer, crushed the roadblocks set up by the gang into scrap metal.
Several gang members attempted to return fire, but found that the enemy's tactical positioning was extremely professional, and the dense suppressive fire prevented them from even raising their heads.
Zhou Weiguo withdrew from the cave entrance, dragging a man whose hands were tied behind his back.
That was the Chung family's core cleaner on Hong Kong Island, and also the person in charge of this kidnapping operation.
"take away!"
The SUV roared away and disappeared into the morning mist of Hong Kong Island.
Six o'clock in the morning, at the provincial party committee compound in Handong.
Gao Yuliang didn't sleep all night. He sat on the mahogany chair in his study, and the pre-Qingming Longjing tea in front of him had been fully steeped.
He kept waiting, waiting for the news that would determine the fate of the rest of his life.
The encrypted phone on the table suddenly vibrated.
The screen lit up, displaying only four simple words.
"Rescue successful."
Gao Yuliang stared at those four words for a good half minute, and his previously slumped back slowly straightened.
He took off his glasses, took out a chamois cloth from the drawer, and carefully wiped it.
Those eyes, which usually held a refined smile, now surged with a ferocity like that of a wolf.
Sha Ruijin, you treat me like a dog, and you use my son's life as a bargaining chip.
Today at this Standing Committee meeting, I'll show you what a counterattack by the "King of Law and Politics" really looks like.
He stood up, walked to the mirror to straighten his suit collar, and then pushed open the door and walked out of the villa.
Meanwhile, Shen Zhong was sitting in his office, looking through the preliminary interrogation records sent back by Zhou Weiguo.
Under Longya's methods, the Zhong family cleaner vomited up a considerable amount of dried goods in less than two hours.
The secret accounts of the Zhong family in Handong, the transfer of benefits between Sha Ruijin and Wangbeilou in Hong Kong Island through Zhong Xiaoai, and even several smear materials targeting local cadres in Handong.
Shen Zhong closed the file and looked out the window at the rising sun.
"Wei Guo, throw that cleaner into the deepest part of the interrogation room."
"I'll expose all of the Chung family's tricks, and once I'm free, I'll uproot them completely."