Just as the convoy with Song Heping changed its route, bypassing Ramadi and heading south towards Amiji Castle, above them at an altitude of about seven thousand meters, an MQ-1 drone swept across the sky like an eagle, indifferently observing the ground convoy from above.
Meanwhile, over ten thousand kilometers away in a secret Air Force command center in the Nevada Desert of Lighthouse Country, two Air Force officers were sitting in front of the control screens for the MQ-1 Predator drone.
Each had several screens, one of which displayed the GPS navigation trajectory, while another showed the live feed from the drone's nose camera.
In front of the flight controller, the entire escort squad was under the perfect surveillance of the ISA, truly inescapable.
This system, along with the drone itself, had been recently purchased and started to be equipped on a large scale within the Air Force; it was top-notch on a global scale.
The two officers were as relaxed as if they were sitting in front of a computer playing a real-time strategy game, staring at the screens, gripping the controllers, and then reporting movements to the Joint Special Operations Command in the Green Zone of Illigo through radio communication.
Inside the Green Zone command center, the officer in charge of this mission, ISA Colonel Dawn Brown, received the report from Nevada. He stroked his golden-yellow mustache and turned his gaze to a computer nearby.
On the screen was another tracking pattern.
It looked like a tracking graph from some tracking device, with two green dots blinking and moving on the side.
Thomas, sitting beside him, snorted coldly, "Colonel, rest assured, even if they detour into the Siria Desert, they won't escape!"
Song Heping arrived with the convoy
Amiji Castle, part of Anbar Province, was an insignificant town.
Traveling approximately eighty kilometers southwest from Ramadi along the main road would lead to Amiji Castle. Continuing westward across the Siria Desert past Rubat would take one into the territory of Siria Country.
Following the "Illigo Freedom" operation, most battle locations of the coalition forces were situated in the northwest of Illigo and the regions bordering Siria and Turkey Country. The southern part was adjacent to Saudi and Jordan, therefore, the Resistance Organization was relatively less active than in the northwest.
Thus, the convoy didn't encounter much trouble along the way, but after leaving the main road, the condition worsened significantly, causing a slow progression.
Especially when passing through Amiji Castle, pedestrians began appearing along the roadsides, particularly women carrying gas cylinders on their heads, which made one on edge.
Although common in Illigo, and it being a local characteristic for women to take on heavy household duties while men idle away, the explosive power of those gas cylinders was no small matter. Every time Song Heping saw these women, he wondered if they would throw their gas cylinders into the convoy and detonate them the next second.
Aside from the nerve-wracking stretch near Amiji Castle, the rest of the route was sparsely populated; after all, this road was on the edge of the Siria Desert, where endless yellow sand was everywhere, and the buildings were also yellow, as if they were constructed out of sand itself.
Looking at the monotonous scenery continuously receding outside the vehicle, Song Heping felt a mixture of desolation and sadness filling his heart.
This was one of the cradles of ancient civilization in Blue Star's Mesopotamian Plain.
The region was once fertile and rich in resources, positioned on the East-West trade routes—a battleground for various ethnic groups since ancient times.
It gave birth to the renowned ancient kingdoms such as the Cuba Babylon Kingdom, the Assyrian Empire, and the New Babylon Kingdom, created a brilliant culture, and achieved high levels in mathematics and astronomy, even influencing ancient Greek culture.
This area was once rich with oil, where every family had cars and villas, living comfortable lives that others envied.
However, all that Song Heping saw now seemed unrelated to the glorious past.
Rotten corpses, destroyed tanks, cars burnt to frames, and houses riddled with bullet holes.
As the gaunt locals passed by the convoy, Song Heping could even see a certain calmness in their eyes——
It was the calmness of having despaired.
Unable to resist, only to be slaughtered at will.
This country was finished.
Song Heping thought.
At six in the evening, the sky had not yet darkened, the afterglow still present.
The convoy finally reached its destination, Krasa Town.
About five kilometers from the town, the cook ordered the convoy to halt via the communication channel and stopped next to a hill in front.
Unlike the desert area of Amiji Castle, Krasa Town was entirely in an oasis area.
Near Haditha and the famous freshwater lake of Salsal in Illigo, the sight here was different from the endless yellow sands previously seen —there were trees, and quite a number of them.
"Shit!"
The cook came over and ordered Song Heping to get out of the vehicle, instructing the convoy to drive into a grove beneath the hill, and then gathered together the five mercenaries and Angel.
"Krasa Town is right ahead."
He said to Angel, "As I mentioned before, according to the plan, we won't go into the town. We'll wait outside for your informant to contact you; when the final meeting place is determined, we'll then take you over there."
"There's a problem," Angel suddenly said. "When meeting, only a few of you can come with me."
She turned her head and glanced at the ISF security personnel.
"They can't come."
"Why!?"
The cook was stunned.
"You didn't have that requirement before."
"I'm not agreeing just because I don't bring it up," Angel said. "My informant is very sensitive to soldiers under the Temporary Management Committee. He has warned me time and again that if any ISF personnel appear, he'll cancel the meeting immediately."
"Damn it!"
White Bear cursed in Russian off to the side.
Song Heping also felt that this foreign chick, Angel, was going too far.
How could she suddenly change the mission requirements like this?
Wasn't this just toying with them?
The cook looked furious but was powerless.
The VIP was the boss.
Even if you have a boss who constantly makes things difficult for you, you can't do anything to her.
After a brief emotional adjustment, the cook managed to suppress his anger and said to Angel, "Alright, only the five of us will go to the meeting, but the ISF must be on standby nearby, preferably hidden around the meeting spot so at least they can provide some support if anything happens."
"That won't work," Angel said. "If they get discovered, the whole thing will be ruined. I can't afford that risk."
"You can't afford it!?" White Bear finally couldn't hold back, unhooked the cook, moved next to Angel, and said loudly, "Do you have any idea you could get us killed like this? Don't think you're so great just because you're paying a lot. If I'm earning your money, I have to be alive to spend it, right?!"
Then he turned to the cook and said, "Boss, this chick is crazy! Let's just dump her here and leave!"
White Bear's temper was already bad.
Angel was being completely unreasonable, and of course, he couldn't help it.
Even though the VIP is the employer, the boss, they can't completely disregard the feelings of their employees.
After all, this is a war zone. A slight mistake could cost lives.
Even a high salary of fifteen thousand US dollars a day couldn't justify risking people's lives, right?
"Enough!"
The cook showed unusual calmness.
"Andre, you go stand over there!"
White Bear walked away, fuming.
The cook said, "Miss Angel, what you're doing is a breach of our contract. Our contract states that I'm in charge of operations."
Angel replied, "The contract also states that the requirements come from me, and must be met. Yevgeny, I am a Yale Law School graduate. Are you sure you want to discuss the spirit of contracts with me?"
The cook's face turned red with restraint, and finally, he said, "But by changing your requirements like this at the last minute, we can't just agree..."
"Twenty thousand dollars," Angel said. "I'll pay more!"
The cook: "…"
Song Heping: "…"
Everyone looked at each other in confusion.
This woman from Lighthouse Country really was throwing around her money.
"Thirty thousand!"
The cook: "…"
Song Heping: "…"
Even White Bear went silent.
"If the mission is completed smoothly and I'm satisfied, I'll give an additional reward of a hundred thousand US dollars."
Angel, with her demeanor of not caring about the cost, completely shocked Song Heping.
Damn...
Money really can make someone so capricious...
"Deal!"
The cook said through gritted teeth.
"Just the five of us! No ISF! Tell your informant to set up the meeting!"
Angel said, "It's already arranged."
She took out a GPS and showed the coordinates to everyone.
"Here?!"
Song Heping took one look and immediately gasped in shock.