Chapter Twenty-Four: Biological Smoke Grenade

“Damn it, who leaked the information?” A blond foreigner hid behind a rock, poked his head out to fire a few shots, then immediately ducked back, shouting in anger.

“Jim, now’s not the time for that! Think about what we’re going to do!”

“What else can we do? We only have three pistols. Judging by the sounds from across, there are at least twenty of them, all armed with rifles. We don’t stand a chance. If it weren’t for the presence of other groups, we’d have met our maker by now.”

“No, there are four groups!” someone said more calmly, having listened carefully.

“Four groups?” Jim was puzzled.

“Remember the group that got off the plane before us?”

“The four Chinese men?”

“That’s right. If I remember correctly, they landed to the west, and we’re to the south. The first shots came from the east. The fourth group didn’t open fire until after the eastern group did.”

“So, you’re saying…”

“The northern group is after us, and the eastern group is after the Chinese.”

“I see. In that case, there’s still hope. The map!”

Crouched behind the rock, this was the foreigner behind Zhu Lan. At first, he’d seemed like an ordinary person, but clearly, that wasn’t the case. Anyone could understand: when trouble strikes, most ordinary people don’t try to save themselves. They simply wait for rescue, not because they’re scared stiff or foolish, but because in peacetime, people believe the state will hold up the sky if it falls. They pay their taxes; the country is obliged to protect them.

Normally, that’s true. But here, praying for government rescue would mean you’d soon be seeing God.

The gunfire came and went swiftly.

The three groups ceased fire. Now, Zhu Lan and the others all understood the situation.

“We have to find a way into the mountains. Without weapons, we’re dead men,” Zhai Bang said gravely.

Qin Shi and Wang Sheng both nodded. They knew how serious things were.

“How do we get there?” Zhu Lan asked, and silence fell.

They were on the plain closest to the mountains, but even so, there were at least two kilometers to cover. Beyond the cover of the trees was open plain. Though there were some scattered rocks, none of them could guarantee they’d escape bullets out there. They had no idea if the enemy had vehicles. The moment they left the trees, the outcome would be clear: death.

“There’s movement. I can hear footsteps relaying orders,” Wang Sheng said quietly, lying down to listen.

“That’s not good news.”

“What do you mean?” Zhu Lan looked at Qin Shi, confused.

“Now everyone knows the others are here. The group opposite us is after us. The other group isn’t, but they’re still lying in wait. The group to the south—if I’m not mistaken—are the foreigners who parachuted in after us. They’re armed, which means the other group is after them. Two enemies, two targets. Things are quiet now, which means both targets are probably negotiating. Once that’s over, the hunt begins.”

Though complicated, Zhu Lan understood: both hunters had found prey. One’s attack prompted the other’s move. Now, with the prey in trouble, the two hunters were negotiating—each would hunt his own, not interfere. Once their deal was struck, death was close at hand.

“What do we do?” Zhu Lan asked once more.

“First, we need to understand why they’re after us,” Qin Shi replied coolly.

“They’re after me, aren’t they?” Zhu Lan glanced at Zhai Bang.

Zhai Bang neither nodded nor shook his head.

“They’re after the boss?” Qin Shi looked at Zhu Lan and Zhai Bang in surprise.

“It’s because of the item I took for testing in Germany.”

“The gene optimization serum? I see now!” Qin Shi understood at once.

“Now’s not the time to discuss this. We have to get away, or the consequences will be bad for all of us.”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gunfire erupted again, and the group’s faces changed dramatically.

“This is bad. They’ve finished negotiating. I saw a few men who look Middle Eastern creeping toward us,” Wang Sheng said anxiously. He didn’t dare stick his head out again, and reported to Zhu Lan.

Zhu Lan was silent, feeling his legs had fully recovered. He thought he could walk now.

“I can buy us half a minute. Let’s run for the mountains!” Zhu Lan announced suddenly.

“What?”

Seeing that Qin Shi and Zhai Bang didn’t believe him, Zhu Lan sighed. “I’m a biologist. I have ways to confuse the enemy!” With that, Zhu Lan reached into his pocket and took out a strange tube of liquid, giving it a shake.

“What’s that?” Zhai Bang asked curiously. Qin Shi glanced at it, then edged back to the rock, wanting to peek out, but the hail of bullets kept him pinned.

“This was a serendipitous discovery. I found it useful and kept it with me to observe its reactions. It’s a mutated solution—completely harmless, non-toxic. Its sole function is to produce a massive amount of smoke. You could call it a biological smoke grenade.”

“Brilliant!” Zhai Bang didn’t question further, grabbing the tube.

“How does it work?”

“Just throw it on the ground. When it’s exposed to air, there’s a chemical reaction. In three seconds, it’ll produce a lot of smoke. I haven’t tested the hazard level, but the reaction isn’t toxic.”

Zhai Bang nodded. “All right, let’s get ready. When the smoke starts, we run for the mountains with everything we have. We must get out of range and into the hills. Once we escape their electronic interference, we can contact home and there’ll be hope!”

Zhu Lan nodded as well.

“Boss, are your legs okay?”

“No problem. I can feel them now—there’s still a little pain, but it won’t slow me down.”

Qin Shi nodded. “Good, it’s settled