Chapter 1968: Chapter 826: Africa Is Suitable for Startups~_2

He felt like he was sitting on a ship that was speeding towards unknown seas, and the helm wasn’t quite in his hands.

At the same time, Eastern Mine Area of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Night, no moon.

Captain Gals and his eight-man squad moved like phantoms through the dense tropical rainforest. They wore adapted ghillie suits, their faces painted, equipped with silenced assault rifles, thermal imagers, and mini drones.

No markings, weapons were a mix of Eastern Europe and North America make, untraceable.

For the past 48 hours, they had been tracking the movements of "Skull and Snake" in the area like patient hunters.

Informants provided several possible locations. They ruled out two, but the third, hidden beside a dried-up riverbed in a rock cave, felt wrong.

The squad settled in on the high ground about three hundred meters from the cave. The drone silently ascended, flying beneath the canopy and transmitting thermal images back to Gals’ tactical tablet.

The cave entrance had concealed sentries, two heat sources. Deep inside, there were at least seven or eight more, along with... some irregularly stacked heat sources, possibly supplies or equipment.

"Not a temporary camp, it’s a stronghold," Gals whispered into the headset, "Prepare Plan B. Group A, eliminate the sentries, silently. Group B, follow me from the flank. Remember, keep someone alive, at least who can speak. Action."

No unnecessary words. Two shadows from Group A moved like arrows, silently advancing toward the cave sentries using vegetation and terrain for cover. A slight "puff puff" sound, like night birds fluttering, and the sentries’ heat sources wavered and disappeared.

Gals motioned and led Group B swiftly towards the cave entrance. As they closed to about fifty meters, a sudden change occurred.

"Boom!"

Not from inside the cave, but from the jungle behind them! A pre-set direction mine exploded, sending fragments and steel balls sweeping across! A Mexican team member grunted and fell. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Ambush!" Gals immediately rolled behind a large tree as bullets showered in from multiple directions, hitting the trunk and ground with a puff-puff sound. The opponent was prepared!

In the thermal imager, at least a dozen heat sources emerged from the surrounding jungle, forming an encirclement. The gunfire wasn’t the chattering of AKs; it was crisp and continuous, like the weapons of Western elite forces such as SCAR or HK416.

"Retreat! Alternate cover! To the designated exit point!" Gals ordered decisively. This wasn’t a cleanup, it was a counter-ambush. The opponent’s numbers and firepower exceeded expectations, and their tactical prowess was top-notch.

The squad fired back as they retreated, bullets whistling through the dense forest. Another team member took a hit to the leg, dragged by comrades in retreat. The opponent pursued methodically, not advancing recklessly, using firepower to suppress, attempting to drive them to a more disadvantageous position.

"Captain! The drone shows headlights approaching from the northeast! Very fast!" a monitoring team member shouted.

Reinforcements. This area was indeed a key node for the opponent.

"Smoke grenades! Full-speed retreat!" Gals shouted.

Several smoke grenades were thrown, immediately filling the woods with thick smoke. Using the cover, the squad desperately sprinted toward the predetermined exit point with waiting vehicles. Behind them, gunfire and shouts grew closer.

As they finally burst out of the jungle, stumbling onto two waiting modified off-road vehicles, the pursuers appeared at the forest edge. The gunman on the roof opened fire without hesitation, suppressing the opponent temporarily with a hot barrage.

The off-road car roared onto the bumpy dirt road, leaving the gunfire and pursuers behind. Inside the vehicle, Gals gasped for breath, checking the wounded. One dead, two severely wounded, almost everyone lightly injured. Heavy losses.

"Not ordinary drug traffickers...," he wiped blood and sweat from his forehead, his eyes cold, "They’re regular military personnel, or at least top-tier mercenaries. Equipment, tactics, reaction speed... They’ve operated here longer and deeper than we thought."

He picked up the encrypted satellite phone and connected with Mendoza: "Operation failed. The opponent was prepared, they’re tough. We lost a third. Their influence here is strong, and... it doesn’t seem just for drugs or robbery. I suspect there’s something more important in that cave. Requesting higher clearance and more resources, or... change strategy."

On the other end, Mendoza was silent for a few seconds, then said, "Clean up the traces, bring the wounded back. I’m aware of the situation. We need to reassess. Also, just received intelligence from West Africa, a new ’Skull and Snake’ power is rapidly rising, the pattern is quite similar. They might be... linking up."

Scotland, Glasgow.

John McLean’s investigation made a breakthrough at the cost of a life.

A small-time thug trying to sell "Black Pearl" among construction workers was found floating in a backwater bay of the Clyde River the morning after being "invited for a talk" by McLean’s men, with strangulation marks on his neck and signs of brutal interrogation on his body. However, several key fingers had been cut off—a typical "Zetas" method for dealing with traitors or failures.

"He revealed a name before he died, and an address for a warehouse," McLean reported at the warehouse base to McTavish, who had come personally. "The name belongs to an enforcer under Ramirez called ’Carlos,’ responsible for logistics. The warehouse is in the East District Old Port, ostensibly storing fishery supplies."

"Do the police know?" McTavish asked, his face grim.