Chapter 1006 - 934: The Temptation Laid Before Us

The wind high up on Gelbi Mountain was stronger, almost knocking him over.

The mountain is located in the eastern part of Siria, near Deir Ezzor and the oil-producing town of Alasha.

In terms of altitude, it is not the highest mountain range in Siria.

However, it stands at 851 meters.

This height, Song Heping had memorized long ago while devising battle plans during his map reviews.

He noticed that the contour lines on the map of Gelbi Mountain were extremely narrow.

That is to say, although this mountain is not high, it is undoubtedly treacherous, with significant elevation changes.

The 203 unit had trained him very well.

Although he was just a cadet back then, he was among the top three in the selection.

Particularly in special tactics and topography, no one in his batch was more outstanding than him.

This is also the reason he could make very decisive choices in emergency situations.

Even so, he himself felt unsure about this adventure.

He was gambling.

Betting on the CIA's hatred towards him.

In the distant 1515 camp, the armed groups were still gathering, some had already set out towards Gelbi Mountain, but most were still boarding vehicles in the camp area.

There was still some time left before the confrontation.

Just not much.

Song Heping kneeled on one knee behind a massive weathered stone, quickly unloading his backpack with such speed it nearly left afterimages.

First, he took out the satellite phone, encrypted in layers, and his fingers swiftly danced over the cold keys, inputting an extremely complex key sequence, dialing a preset emergency number.

It was an emergency secret line.

Because besides himself, only one Ferrari knew that number inside the entire "Musician" defense.

The reason Ferrari knew was that Song Heping made a record for himself, to convey messages in his place when he couldn't contact the other party in critical situations.

In case he gets killed.

It's also an important asset.

"Beep... beep..."

The waiting tone was so faint in the gale it was almost inaudible.

He checked his watch.

The current time in Siria was a quarter past four in the morning.

The guy answering the call should be just starting work in the afternoon according to time zone calculations.

That was right...

He couldn't help but smile.

His luck wasn't bad after all.

If the time zone the guy was in was early morning or night, it would really be tough to handle.

Afternoon was just right.

Starting work was just right.

Finally, the call connected.

"You're insane..."

The other party sounded frazzled just answering the call.

Before the other party could launch into complaint mode, Song Heping immediately interrupted.

"Listen, you'll receive a message shortly, deliver it to Vincent's office at the fastest speed and place it right in front of him."

Song Heping's voice was unusually steady, with no inflection, as if issuing an order to a subordinate.

Upon finishing, without giving the other party any chance to respond, he decisively hung up the call.

Then, his fingers rapidly typed a message on the keyboard—

"Coordinates sent. Confirmed target: Song Heping himself. Additional target: East flank of Gelbi Mountain, 1515 armed assembly area, estimated forces over three thousand, equipped with a large number of armed pickup trucks, heavy machine guns, recoilless rifles. Request: Top priority, immediate air strike. Repeat, target: Song Heping himself. Additional target: 1515 armed forces."

He clearly wrote a string of latitude and longitude numbers at the end, then quickly pressed the send button.

After all this, he smiled as he tied the satellite phone to a hand grenade, creating a trap device, slipped it into a crevice between rocks, and covered it with sand.

While doing all this, he could even imagine the shocked expression on that sneaky guy's face, at Langley Headquarters in some bathroom, upon seeing "Target: Song Heping himself" on the other end of the phone.

But he had no time to explain.

And he didn't feel a need to explain.

After all, the guy answering the call, even though an "old friend," wanted him dead too!

Heh.

What a strange relationship...

Next, he took out the most critical and dangerous piece of equipment he brought this time—AN/PEQ-15 laser target pointer, quickly mounting it onto the Picatinny rail of his AK-12.

The olive-green casing scraped against the rough rock, emitting a slight friction noise.

He quickly checked the batteries and calibrated the knobs, executing each action meticulously, like performing a precision surgery.

Advanced Target Pointer/Illuminator/Aiming Light, or the full name of AN/PEQ-15 (abbreviated as ATPIAL), means an advanced target indication/illumination/aiming light.

This laser/infrared aiming pointer is crafted by EOTECH, specifically designed for mounting on rifles through the Picatinny rail.

The so-called infrared laser is actually an IR laser indication beam difficult for the naked eye to detect, requiring night vision equipment to be seen.

This characteristic makes it especially crucial in night operations.

Bringing out this device was not intended to attract the 1515 armed members; he believed those bastards from Shanxi didn't have such good equipment in hand yet.

This was for the Americans to see, and for the British selling him out to see.

Their aerial surveillance equipment could easily discover him through this invisible laser.

Now, Song Heping was essentially marking his own position.

He had to do so.

He was now the most appealing bait in this area.

After finishing everything, he took a deep breath, picked up binoculars, and looked downhill.

In his field of vision, the hair-raising sight in the valley below was instantly zoomed in—dense, earth-colored figures wriggled like swarms of ants with more armed pickups kicking up clouds of yellow dust rolling in from all directions, the roar of engines resembling the roar of beasts, faintly audible even from such a far distance.

Several large-scale teams had begun to spread out in a fan shape, like a gigantic, slowly closing web of death, encircling the slope beneath his feet.

The closest group was possibly less than 2 kilometers in a direct line!

He could even make out the eerie metal glint on some heavy machine gun barrels mounted on the pickup rear seats under the sunlight.

Couldn't wait any longer!

Song Heping's fingers steadily touched the activation button of the laser designator.

He didn't choose to indicate any ground target but abruptly shot the laser beam towards the fragmented, gray-blue sky above.

A beam of infrared laser, invisible to the naked eye yet clearly detectable by aerial surveillance devices, instantly pierced through the sky, straight up high into infinity.

That beam of light became the death beacon he ignited for himself.

It was announcing to all "eyes" capable of seeing it: Song Heping is here! He is waiting for you to kill him!

Almost simultaneously as Song Heping's laser beam pierced through the overcast sky over Gelbi Mountain, in Virginia's Langley Headquarters, on the floor housing Director Vincent's office, Simon, holding a brief report, sprinted briskly down the corridor towards the director's office.

"Emergency! Top priority! See Director Vincent! Immediately! Now!"

Simon's voice was hoarse, each word squeezed out as if from his throat, with a sense of urgency teetering on the edge of collapse.

He didn't wait for the director's secretary to announce him and went directly to the door, rapping it hard with his fist.

The secretary, startled by his impatient demeanor, quickly recovered due to her professional training.

"Sir, Simon has an emergency situation and needs to meet you, he's already outside."

Quickly pressing the intercom key on her desk phone, the secretary reported to the director, Vincent, inside at her fastest speed.

"What's so urgent? Let him in!"

Vincent seemed to grasp the pressing nature of the issue and did not hinder.

The secretary stepped forward and opened the door to the director's office, allowing Simon to rush in headfirst.