Chapter 1803 - 1376: Hell on the Screen

Fifteen kilometers away from Titrik, at the Joint Command Center.

Song Heping stood in front of the command console, hands pressed against the edge of the table, knuckles white from exertion.

On the massive screen before him, twelve real-time drone feeds were displayed in split view.

The majority of the images were obscured by yellow smoke, as if a dirty filter had been draped over the cityscape.

Yet, there were still two high-angle camera feeds that remained relatively clear.

They captured the scene from the first few minutes of the gas release.

"Replay Frame Three." Song Heping pointed at the screen with a cold expression and said, "Slow motion."

The technical officer operated the console.

In the center of the screen, an overhead view slowly began to replay.

Three buildings simultaneously collapsed from within, not through explosive destruction, but through precise directional blasting, aimed at releasing rather than demolishing.

Then, yellow smoke surged out.

"Pause." Song Heping, noticing something, said, "Magnify that canister."

The scene froze.

The technical officer zoomed in on the rubble of one building, revealing a twisted metal canister amid the shattered concrete.

The canister's surface bore rough welding marks and handwritten Arabic script.

He understood Arabic.

Those were warning symbols and alerts.

"These aren't military-standard chemical weapon storage canisters."

Standing next to Song Heping, Jiang Feng said softly, "Look at this welding craftsmanship, and the thickness of the canister... It's homemade. Or rather, industrial storage tanks modified."

Song Heping remained silent.

He stared at the feed, observing how the smoke seeped from the ruins, moved along the ground, and sought out gaps and passages as if alive.

"The dispersion pattern analysis is completed," another technical officer reported. "Reconstruction from various angles reveals seventeen gas release points scattered city-wide. The key is their distribution pattern—"

He pulled up a city map marked with red dots indicating high concentration gas zones.

"These points form an irregular grid, covering all major streets and strategic points. Moreover,"

He switched layers to show wind direction data.

"The release timing was staggered to coincide perfectly with the morning breeze. This was calculated, Sir. Not a random terrorist attack, but a military operation."

The command center fell into dead silence.

Everyone stared at that map, at the precisely distributed red dots.

"Casualty report." Song Heping finally spoke.

The communications officer's voice was dry: "Commander Samir has retreated to a safe area, but he confirmed the loss of at least 480 men and over 750 more displaying poisoning symptoms. As for Commander Abu You's side... we've lost all contact. The last signal came from the Central Avenue area, now one of the highest gas concentration zones."

Song Heping closed his eyes.

Abu You's face floated before him.

Three days ago, he pointed at the map here and promised: "Boss, give me 48 hours. In 48 hours, I'll bring back Zakavi's corpse."

"Keep trying to establish contact."

Song Heping forced down the tumult inside him: "Deploy all drones, search for any signs of life. Especially in Abu You's last known area."

"Sir, gas concentrations remain lethal in those regions—"

"Then fly the drones at low altitude! Use thermal imaging! Use life detectors! Disinfect them when they're back if needed!"

Song Heping abruptly turned, his calm shattered to reveal a storm of anger beneath: "I need to know if there is anyone still alive! Understand?"

"Understood, Sir!"

Just then, the command center doors were flung open.

A staff officer rushed in, breathless: "Sir, emergency! The US Army... US Special Forces suddenly appeared at the civilian evacuation point; they've forcibly taken over there! Colonel Khalid in charge of the evacuation point clashed with them and was detained by the Americans!"

Song Heping froze. For a few seconds, he thought he'd misheard.

"What did you say?"

"It's Major General Duke! He brought the Delta Force, about thirty men, fully armed, directly storming the evacuation point!"

The staff officer still bore a look of shock: "They claimed the evacuation point is now under US control, and all civilians must be gathered for screening. Colonel Khalid protested, but their men pointed guns at him—"

Song Heping felt a surge of fury rising from the depths of his chest.

His troops were suffering a chemical weapons attack in Titrik, soldiers were dying in the gas, and the Americans chose this moment to add to the chaos?

He took a deep breath, forcing calm upon himself.

Turning to Jiang Feng by his side: "You take over command. Halt the offensive temporarily, consolidate and organize the troops, establish a defense line, continue searching for survivors, arrange medical evacuations, and set up disinfection and isolation zones. I'll personally go to the evacuation point and see what's going on."

"Old squad leader, if you go now, it might—"

"Duke wouldn't appear here without reason," Song Heping had already begun walking out: "Especially not at this moment, something's likely happened."

The civilian evacuation point was located in a wide river valley northeast of Titrik.

Three days ago, it was just a pasture for grazing herds; now, it was crowded with over eight thousand civilians who had fled the city.

When Song Heping's convoy arrived, he saw a scene that made his blood pressure spike.

The US Army's Hummer stood across the entrance, with M2 heavy machine guns mounted.