"Damn, you just killed him like that?" White Ghost asked in surprise, watching as Black Ghost wiped the blood off his blade after slashing the leader.
"He raised you, didn't he? And didn't you want to learn his fast movement technique?"
"This one?" Black Ghost asked, and suddenly vanished from White Ghost's sight. Before White Ghost could react, Black Ghost's voice came from behind him. "The technique's nothing special. All it requires is speed and stealth. If you want to learn it, start by ditching that white outfit."
White Ghost silently grumbled to himself, "If I don't wear white, how can I still be called White Ghost?" Then he said, "Don't worry about what I wear. Just tell me the tips and techniques. Whether I can learn it or not is up to me."
"Gentlemen, I must remind you that it's time to retreat," Sunday interrupted. "The noise you just made has already attracted the attention of some nearby American forces. Their small drones have just taken off and are heading this way."
The two men exchanged nods at the reminder. "See you in London," Black Ghost said.
"OK," White Ghost responded, and both of their figures quickly vanished into the night.
An hour later, the Delta squad leader, who had arrived first, reported to Luke Hobbs, who had just finished handling the aftermath at Ozunu's stronghold.
"We found six bodies at the scene, all likely Ozunu members who escaped through the tunnel. The fatal wounds were from darts. One of them, who seems to have been the leader, was stabbed in the heart after being knocked down.
Also, all of them had leg injuries from explosions. Our explosives expert said the wounds were caused by small self-detonation devices. While the blast radius isn't large, they're very effective at close range. We're not sure what type of device it is yet."
"Got it," Luke said, looking at the bodies for a few moments before picking up his radio. "This is Luke. I need to know if anyone inside the Ozunu base was killed by micro-explosives."
"Understood, sir," came the response after a brief pause. "Yes, sir. There are bodies with such injuries, and based on where they fell and their wounds, someone launched an attack while we were bombarding the base. They used the explosions from our plane's machine guns as cover, and it was highly effective. We've already identified over twenty people who were killed in their sleep."
"OK, got it. I'll need a detailed report later. Over."
"Understood, sir."
Luke thought for a moment, then told the squad leader beside him, "Forget about all this for now. Let the higher-ups deal with it. Our mission is complete, time to pull out."
"Understood," the squad leader agreed, relieved. Having someone helping in the shadows was fine with him, and he was only concerned with the fact that today's operation had been a success with no casualties on their side.
After Luke left, the squad leader turned to his teammate. "Ricard, get rid of all the bodies. This way, even if someone suspects us, it'll be easier to deny without any evidence."
The squad leader gave his companion a knowing look and smiled. "I don't want to mess with a force that can outsmart both our bosses and Ozunu. I bet you don't either, right, buddy?"
"Got it, Duke. Didn't expect you to be so sneaky, but I like it," Ricard replied with a grin. "At least this time, we're not enemies with the third party. Who knows, we might have to deal with them again in the future. Too bad they'll never know we helped them."
After cleaning up the bodies and tying up loose ends, Ricard shook his head at Duke. "The drones didn't find anything. Looks like they really left, or they just didn't want to show themselves right now."
Duke patted Ricard's shoulder. "Forget it. We were just trying our luck. Let's go, time to retreat for real."
Once all the soldiers had left, a spider robot crawled out from underground, jumped onto the drone launcher that had flown down to pick it up, and flew back to the transport plane, which was now resting on the sea surface. After depositing the last spider robot under the wing, the launcher flew off and, like the others, self-destructed over the ocean.
Now, the only things left on Ozunu Island were the Black Blade drone carrier and twelve Black Blade drones, watching over the island to see if any remnants of Ozunu would return.
The spider robot quietly crawled into the plane's cabin, retracting its limbs and transforming into a steel ball. It hid away in Duke's shoulder badge while the crew closed their eyes to rest during the flight.
Nine hours later, in London, William sat on his couch, watching the news while waiting for the black market antiques dealer, the plump Lawrence, to arrive. Suddenly, Sunday's voice came through his earpiece.
"SIR, I think you'll want to see this."
The TV screen in front of him switched to footage from an office, showing a familiar yet somewhat surprising face.
"Huh, that bastard Church said he was just enjoying his retirement," William muttered in disdain as he watched Church silently read through a report.
The footage fast-forwarded, showing Church putting the report down and telling Duke and Luke, "I understand. You don't need to worry about the rest. And remember, keep it confidential, got it?"
"Yes, Colonel," Duke and Luke replied, saluting before leaving the office.
The footage fast-forwarded again, showing Church sitting in his chair, thinking for about ten minutes before taking the report to a shredder and destroying it.
Seeing Church shred the report, William smiled with satisfaction. "Looks like all the money I invested in that bastard is finally paying off. When did this happen?"
"SIR, this was two hours ago. The footage was taken by the spider robot you left with Duke. It crawled out of the base and used a civilian network to transmit the video back."
"Two hours ago?" William muttered in surprise. "That's odd. Knowing Church, he'd be calling me right now to boast. Is he planning to use this as leverage later? Maybe to make me owe him a favor?"
"SIR, Lawrence has arrived."
Sunday's interruption pulled William from his thoughts. He decided to let it go for now, figuring he'd deal with Church when he called. If it was something simple, he'd help him out. But if it was too much trouble, he'd just ignore him.
Standing up and adjusting his clothes, William walked out to the main entrance, where he saw Lawrence carrying two boxes.
"Good morning, Mr. Devonshire," Lawrence greeted with a cheerful smile, lifting the boxes to signal why he couldn't shake hands.
"No worries. Good morning, Lawrence."
After the brief pleasantries, William led Lawrence into a small sitting room. "Make yourself comfortable. What would you like to drink?"
Placing the two boxes on the coffee table, Lawrence patted them and smiled. "I think we should open a bottle of champagne to celebrate."
"OK," William agreed, taking a bottle of Polkov champagne from the wine cabinet and pouring two glasses himself.
Lawrence gratefully accepted the glass and, with a broad smile, raised it. "Thank you. Cheers, sir."
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