The bulletproof Lincoln was indeed a luxury vehicle.
Song Heping drove it alone, escorting Angel to the dam.
The car was great and handled smoothly; it was the best car Song Heping had ever driven, especially with its B7-level bulletproof capabilities, which provided a full sense of security.
When they arrived next to the dam and parked, the surroundings were pitch dark. Song Heping looked around and then turned to Angel in the back seat, saying, "You wait in the car. I'll go down to check things out and call you when it's time to get out."
Perhaps because she could only rely on Song Heping here, Angel didn't fuss as usual. Instead, she obediently nodded her head like a well-behaved cat.
"Okay, I'm counting on you then," she said politely, which caught Song Heping off guard.
This Western girl seemed smart.
She knew where she could make a fuss and where she couldn't.
He got out of the car, closed the door, and looked around.
The moon was high, casting a clear light everywhere.
Visibility was good.
Song Heping felt somewhat relieved.
After all, an overly dark night was not favorable to him.
Night vision goggles.
He thought back to that pricey piece of equipment.
This time when he returned, he must get one, no matter what.
During night operations, that thing really was useful.
Looking towards the direction of the dam, he saw no people.
Song Heping took out his binoculars and carefully observed again.
Only the wind, only the trees, but no people.
Had he arrived early?
He checked his watch.
The time was just hitting eight o'clock sharp.
"VIP calling, are all of you in position?"
"Grey Wolf in position," came the reply.
"Chef White Bear in position."
"Queen in position."
"It's too quiet here. Have you noticed anything?"
Grey Wolf said, "Nothing on my end."
Chef responded, "There are people at your 5 o'clock, about a dozen or so."
Queen said, "On the opposite side of the dam, at 11 o'clock, there are two enemies, likely snipers."
Song Heping put away the binoculars.
Without night vision capability, the binoculars were useless to look through.
He glanced towards the 5 o'clock and 11 o'clock directions.
Song Heping memorized the rough positions.
If a situation arose, he would need to find cover immediately to ensure the enemy's sniper team wouldn't take out Angel.
But with positions at 11 o'clock and 5 o'clock directly opposing each other, setting up a successful crossfire, finding the right cover was crucial; otherwise, he could evade initially but not for long.
His gaze fell on the top of the dam; the ends of the dam's crest were about one meter high concrete barriers, protruding sections that could block the line of sight from attacks at 11 o'clock and 5 o'clock.
The only concern was the front of the vehicle.
How many people Mr. J would bring onto the dam was critical.
Suddenly, some black dots seemed to appear on the opposite bank's yellow soil, moving quickly towards the direction of the dam.
Song Heping quickly picked up the binoculars again to observe the moving targets.
On closer look, there were two SUVs and a pickup truck.
There appeared to be people standing in the back of the pickup.
The convoy stopped at the entrance to the dam, a few people got out to guard, and after some dallying, finally one person emerged from the SUVs.
"Attention, they're here," Chef's voice came through the earpiece.
"Got it."
Song Heping's words had not faded when the door of the Lincoln bulletproof car behind him opened.
Angel got out of the car, holding a satellite phone, "Mr. J is calling, he wants us on the dam."
Song Heping hurried over, standing in front of Angel, and said, "Could you confirm it's him?"
"It's him!"
Excitement flickered in Angel's eyes.
"It's his voice!"
Song Heping looked around, understanding that since a meeting was set, he could not possibly block all potential ambushers' line of sight by himself.
No security plan could be foolproof.
Whether there would be trouble now or whether they would die was up to God now.
"Let's go, let's meet him."
Song Heping glanced over Angel, checking her bulletproof vest and helmet, and after ensuring everything was fine, he stepped aside.
Angel led, with him on her right rear side, maintaining a distance of about a meter.
Too far was not okay, too close was not okay either.
It was necessary to ensure he could reach the VIP with an outstretched hand, to facilitate controlling the situation.
A hundred meters, not a far distance.
But at that time, Song Heping felt it incredibly long.
"Cook, Grey Wolf, White Bear, Queen, we are now moving toward the center of the dam, the rest is up to you."
"Don't worry, I have my sights on the sniper across, and if anything arises, I'll send them to meet their maker."
Queen was very confident.
She was four hundred meters from the opposite bank.
Song Heping had estimated that if her shooting skills were good enough, she could take out the opposition in no time.
"Sadam, remember, if anything happens, immediately pull Angel behind the concrete barricade over there at the 5 o'clock position, I'll handle the person there,"
"Understood."
The distance was closing.
Song Heping and Angel reached the dam, walking about fifty meters when they saw people coming from the opposite side.
Both parties were less than two hundred meters apart.
Song Heping could see a total of seven people on the other side.
Among them, a tall man in a masked robe and no arms led, the others were all holding assault rifles.
It was clear that the lead man was Mr. J.
Although Song Heping was cautious and vigilant everywhere, he felt Mr. J was sincere, with very little malicious intent at least.
After all, arranging a meeting in such a place was a demonstration of sincerity in itself.
On the dam, not only was he in a perilous situation, but so was the opposition.
If Mr. J killed both him and Angel, he too would not escape Queen's SVD sniper range.
The reason for this act was to imply to Angel that he had enough sincerity.
Just as Song Heping and Mr. J were getting closer, in the sky above, an MQ-1 Predator drone with two AGM-114 Hellfire missiles mounted stealthily swept across the night sky at three thousand meters.
The clear reconnaissance camera under the drone's nose continuously transmitted the images it captured back to the drone control center in Lighthouse Country thousands of miles away via the ku-band satellite data link and simultaneously to the screens at the Green Zone Joint Special Operations Command Center.
"Target sighted!"
An ISA agent turned away from the screen, shouting excitedly.
They had been tracking Muhammad Sayyaf for a while now.
Since the invasion of Illiguo, Sadam had disappeared, and so had Sayyaf.
Intelligence indicated both were hiding in northern Illiguo, but their exact locations were unclear.
The drone's camera footage was quickly magnified, with individual images captured.
The focus was on the masked-robed man walking at the front of the group.
Pictures were taken and quickly divided into different parts for zoom views on the analysis system—
Whole body, face, neck, hands, legs, waist.
The computer continued analyzing, comparing rapidly with all information on Sayyaf in the databases of Lighthouse Country's intelligence systems, from approximate age and bone growth conditions to physical comparisons, height, and weight estimates.
Finally, the system popped up the final conclusion—
"65% feature match rate."
"65% match!" the agent said, "Not up to standard!"
Brown's face sank instantly.