Everything was as Song Heping had expected.

The disappearance of the shepherd boy caused a commotion in the small village.

Soon, the entire village was mobilized to search for the child.

After two hours of searching, the villagers finally found the little shepherd boy on the mountain west of the village, bound and gagged.

The first thing the shepherd boy said when the cloth was removed from his mouth was—"There are Americans who have come!"

This sentence was like a bomb, instantly igniting emotions.

Members of the Ata Organization hiding in the village quickly received the news that two Americans had already infiltrated near the village.

The Ata Organization has been operating here for many years and has long become united with some of the mountain villagers along the border.

They often hide in the village, and whenever government forces arrive, people from miles around would notify them.

More importantly, the Ata Organization also has contacts within certain Pakistani intelligence departments and the military, which inevitably leads to leaks of any military operation.

At this time, Curtis was indeed hiding in one of the houses in the village.

After defecting from the US Army, he was sent here.

Because this place is safer than inside the Afghan border.

As a blond-haired, blue-eyed convert, Curtis gave up a comfortable life and a promising future to join the ranks of Ata.

In a certain sense, he is an idealist and a zealot.

While at university, influenced by an MSL classmate, Curtis began studying religion, and by the time he graduated, he already harbored eerie thoughts.

But at that time, his father, Old Curtis, the Congressman, wanted him to join the military.

He hadn't been a soldier for two years when the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan broke out.

As an officer inside the US Army, Curtis saw many secrets and documents that outsiders couldn't see.

Including intelligence about the US Army's killing of civilians in Illiguo and Afghan.

This intelligence was locked away in safes or stored on highly secure computers, combined with his father's fervent support for the war, Curtis felt an inner torment.

Being deployed to work with the coalition forces was the best opportunity for him. Lieutenant Curtis took a bunch of US Army intelligence and during the "Absolute Isolation" operation, he directly sought out the Ata Organization and surrendered to them.

Ata obtaining Curtis was equivalent to gaining a valuable asset.

One can imagine if a video recorded by Curtis appeared on the internet, relentlessly criticizing the United States' war on terror, it would be a weapon deadlier than planes and cannons, especially as Curtis once worked in the US Army's intelligence analysis department, knowing many things that shouldn't be exposed.

Once these were revealed by him, the consequences would be unimaginable.

From the perspective of the US military, they would prefer to kill Curtis outright to solve all the problems.

But from the perspective of the old lords on Congress Hill and Congressman Curtis, these civilians still had naive ideas; they even believed that Curtis was momentarily confused, misled by some negative propaganda and made such a terrible decision.

If they could bring Curtis back, then persuade him, and portray him as a hero for propaganda, they could turn a very bad situation into a rather good publicity opportunity.

Such civilian thinking is scoffed at by the military.

They even thought that these bureaucrats sitting on Congress Hill and in the White House had gone mad.

To a traitor, does it matter whether it was a moment of confusion or a long-term premeditation?

Just kill and be done with it.

Would he have had such an opportunity if not for his father the Congressman?

But the fact is that Old Curtis is not only a Congressman, but his family is also very wealthy local gentry with significant influence in swing states.

The swing state is vitally important to the occupant of the White House, and in future elections, whether it's the Donkey Party or the Elephant Party, winning the swing state is a key factor.

Therefore, the plan to rescue Curtis was actually conceived.

As a result, the ODA squad sent to rescue Lieutenant Curtis was almost wiped out, and the military decided to avoid using its own Special Forces, but instead hired a highly skilled PMC team to hunt down that stupid Curtis.

Less than fifteen minutes after the shepherd boy was found, the leader of the Ata Organization, Damir, entered Curtis's room.

"My brother, your whereabouts have been exposed. Just now the villagers came to report that American traces were found outside the village."

Curtis was meditating with closed eyes. Hearing Damir's words, he opened his eyes.

There was an inexplicable calmness in his expression, almost with a smile, he said to Damir: "They've finally come? I thought they wouldn't dare. No worries, my brother Damir. If they kill me, it will aid me in achieving my path."

After speaking, he closed his eyes again.

Perhaps it was this calmness in the face of death that moved Damir.

Crouching in front of Curtis, he said: "Brother, you are very important now, important to us, important to this war. You must leave; you still have much to do, now is not the time for martyrdom."

Curtis did not open his eyes, as if he was a monk in deep meditation, unshakable no matter the storm raging outside.

"The Alliance Commander asked me to tell you, it's time to take you to meet him."

Upon hearing Damir's words, Curtis finally opened his eyes.

In the first few days after his defection, his identity was still under investigation.

The Ata Organization doesn't just take anyone who defects as one of their own.

Especially since Curtis was going to meet that spiritual leader who had been missing for a long time, Laden, the one whom US Army had placed the highest bounty on for his head.

"The leader of the Alliance" is an extremely esteemed figure in the sect, an allusion to Laden.

As Laden's messenger dispatched here, Damir's words naturally represent Laden's.

"He's willing to meet me?"

Curtis has always idolized Laden.

The first thing after defecting was to meet this idol.

But to see this mysterious figure, one must undergo strict identity checks and tests.

It seems that this time Damir truly trusts me.

"Yes, we will move now. It's no longer safe to stay here. I'll take you away from here first, then arrange a meeting with the leader."

Seeing Damir's sincerity, Curtis no longer doubted.

"Okay, let's go."

Both men stood up and left the room, and as they left the house and entered the yard, Curtis saw armed personnel all around.

This is the advantage of hiding soldiers among civilians.

Anyone coming here to root out terrorists would not see their targets; all they would see are ordinary villagers.

Three rickety pickups and an old truck had already stopped by the road outside, and a bodyguard team of dozens of people showed how much Damir valued this.

After quickly boarding the vehicles, Damir's phone rang.

After finishing the call, his face looked even more grim.

"The US Army has proposed to the Pakistani Intelligence Bureau and the military that they believe you are hiding here so they have requested a joint operation to clear out this area. It seems our decision to move was correct. Don't worry, there are many of our people around this area. More comrades will join us along the way. We will go to Peshawar first, then hide there and wait for a summons from the Alliance leader."

While the Ata armed personnel in the small village were evacuating, on the north side of Jialum town, by a huge boulder on a mountain road, Song Heping was estimating the wind speed and twisting the knobs on the scope to correct for wind drift.

Next to him, Willie was using an observation mirror to observe the road across, where the distance was displayed by a laser range finder.

"We are 400 meters from that road, are you confident at night?"

"Piece of cake." After adjusting the knobs, Song Heping gently set down his rifle and then took out a packet of chocolate, which he began to eat voraciously.

"How can you be sure they will definitely pass by here?"

Willie was still quite doubtful.

When they were retreating earlier, Song Heping asked him if he wanted to bet on it.

According to Song Heping, now that the Ata Organization knew that he and Willie had appeared around the village, they would definitely want to flee like scared rabbits.

And due to the geography and the mountains, this road was the only passable vehicle escape route.

"They know we've infiltrated, so they'll use the fastest speed to leave that village, and didn't you say that the military has proposed to the Bafang to start a joint counterterrorism operation in the Jialum area? If there are their insiders within the military and intelligence departments of Ba Country, this will surely reach their ears, and then..."

Here, Song Heping asked with a smile: "How do you think they'll leave Jialum as quickly as possible? By walking? Of course, not! They'll take a vehicle, and this is the only road out of the Jialum mountain area that vehicle can travel on."

Willie found Song Heping's words quite reasonable and was secretly amazed that this China People seemed in no way inferior to any Special Forces Commander in his own army, furthermore surprised that Song Heping was proficient with nearly all standard-issue weapons.

This would make him a jack-of-all-trades in the army, usually an officer.

Unable to contain his curiosity, he asked: "Were you a soldier in China before?"

Song Heping knew what he was going to ask.

So he continued with a laugh: "Yes, I was, specialized in pig farming."

Willie was surprised: "Pig farming? As a soldier?"

Song Heping casually spun a yarn: "Yes, we farmed pigs, because we needed to feed ourselves, we called it a sideline, as our nation values 'self-reliance'."

"Isn't your meat directly supplied?" Willie was confused.

Song Heping replied: "We buy it too, but we also raise our own, and the pork we raise ourselves tastes particularly good, not smelly like your pork."

Willie realized he'd been led around in circles.

He was trying to probe Song Heping's background, but the conversation somehow got steered towards pig farming.

"So how come you, a pig farmer, have such great skills?"

"Pig farmers can't have good skills?"

Song Heping scoffed.

"In our army, pig farming is a post only reclusive experts can hold, it's a cushy job, if your training isn't up to scratch you're not qualified to raise pigs. Right, I met an expert there and got trained by him."

"I see..."

Willie was still confused, half-understanding.

He felt it was unreal, yet Song Heping spoke with such earnestness that it didn't seem like lying at all.

"So..."

He was about to ask further when Song Heping interrupted him.

"Look! People are coming!"

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com