Somalia, outside Mogadishu.

Inside the abandoned refinery, the smell of rust and diesel mixed with the desert heat was suffocating.

Sajja Mahmoud walked into the factory area with over sixty fully armed men, boots crunching on the broken concrete with crisp sounds.

His gaze swept around—armed factions from various parties in Somalia gathered in small groups, AK-47s casually slung over their shoulders. Some smoked, others spoke in low voices, but no one noticed his arrival.

"Something's wrong."

After looking around, Sajja whispered to his confidant, Hal: "Song Heping isn't here."

Hal narrowed his eyes, fingers unconsciously stroking the trigger of the tactical rifle slung across his chest.

"Boss, might he not have come at all?"

Sajja didn't answer but walked straight to the container yard in the center of the factory area.

There, Abdul was sitting on a shabby sofa, surrounded by four bodyguards in black masks, holding AK-74 assault rifles with grenade launchers.

"Abdul." Sajja approached, his voice deep: "Have you seen Song Heping?"

Abdul raised his head, his eyes sharp. He slowly exhaled a smoke ring and sneered: "You're asking me? I was about to ask you."

His face turned ugly.

"I should be the one asking you. You said you would lure him here. Where is he?"

Sajja's face instantly turned grim. He lowered his voice: "Weren't your men keeping watch here all the time? I just called him, and he said he'd already arrived here..."

Abdul suddenly stood up, grabbing Sajja's collar, clenched his teeth, and said: "Are you fucking with me? Song Heping is nowhere here! My men have been watching, but they haven't seen him. I'm waiting for your update! And now you're asking if I've seen him?"

The atmosphere on the scene suddenly tensed.

The surrounding armed men sensed something was wrong, stopped their conversations, and their hands instinctively reached for their weapons.

Sajja abruptly pushed Abdul's hand away and said harshly, "Calm down! Song Heping must have blended in the crowd! Doing this will alert him..."

"Bullshit!" Abdul roared: "My men have checked everyone! No Asian faces, no unknown armed teams! Are you fucking covering for Song Heping?"

With that, killing intent flashed in his eyes as he reached for his waist.

Sajja's face turned ashen, like a dead man.

He suddenly realized he was caught in a deadlock—if Song Heping didn't come, he would be seen by Abdul as a liar, even a traitor.

If Song Heping did come, he certainly saw all this and knew he was betrayed.

Abdul, with his bad temper, was anything but calm.

This time, everything was exposed.

Damn fool!

Sajja was angry at Abdul's stupidity.

"Boss..."

Hal approached Sajja, throwing him a glance.

Sajja glanced, and Abdul's men had already silently taken the high ground, with several PKM machine guns aimed at them.

"Damn..." Sajja gritted his teeth, turned to Abdul: "Abdul, what do you mean by this?!"

Abdul suddenly drew his gun, pointing it at Sajja's head: "Stop acting, Sajja. Isn't it just that you want more territory? Why go through the theater and mention Song Heping! Where is he? Show him to me! I hate being played like a monkey!"

"Calm down, Abdul, I have no reason to act in front of you... It's true that Song Heping contacted me through Nura to cooperate in dealing with you..."

"You think I'll believe that?" Abdul sneered: "If so, where is he?"

"He might be here..."

"Bullshit!"

Abdul rudely interrupted Sajja's explanation, his eyes even more fierce, like an angry wild bull.

Sajja reacted faster.

He knew at this point there was no turning back, the situation was a deadlock.

"Wait! Don't shoot, listen to me explain."

Sajja first showed weakness, and when Abdul slightly relaxed, he suddenly sidestepped, simultaneously drawing a Glock Pistol from his waist, and fired at Abdul.

Abdul was shocked and simultaneously pulled the trigger.

Bang—

Abdul was shot in the shoulder and fell to the ground.

Sajja, as clever as a ghost, rolled aside while shooting.

With the sound of gunfire, chaos instantly erupted at the refinery.

Abdul's guards swarmed forward, while Sajja and his men took the opportunity to retreat from the refinery.

"Kill them!"

Seeing Sajja making a run for it, Abdul covered his shoulder and shouted angrily.

"Leave none alive!"

Da-da-da-da—

The roar of the PKM machine guns tore through the air, bullets pouring down like a torrential rain. Two of Sajja's men were instantly riddled with bullets, blood splattering on the rusty steel.

"Find cover!"

Sajja rolled behind an abandoned oil tanker, Hal right behind him, simultaneously tearing a smoke bomb from his gear and hurling it towards Abdul.

"Hiss—"

Thick smoke instantly spread, obscuring the view.

"RPGs!"

One of Abdul's men shouted.

"Take them out!"

"Boom!"

The rocket-propelled grenade whistled out, hitting the oil tanker Sajja was hiding behind directly, and the explosion sent Sajja flying, his eardrums ringing.

"Boss! We need to break out!"

Hal yanked Sajja up, making a hand gesture behind him.

Sajja's men immediately counterattacked, several AKM rifles firing simultaneously, bullets darting through the refinery, sparks flying.

The scene turned chaotic.

Surrounding armed men who hadn't figured out what was happening were shot and fell. Those not hit picked up their guns, unsure of who to shoot at, not knowing the enemy.

Once the situation turned chaotic, the killing turned into shoot-now-ask-later. If they saw someone shooting and he wasn't one of theirs, they unleashed a burst on him.

The entire refinery, with over a thousand people from various Somali armed organizations—ranging from dozens to hundreds—engaged in close-quarters firefights among different factions in the tight factory space.

"Damn Song Heping, that bastard..."

Behind one of the refinery's supporting columns, Sajja spat out blood, his eyes burning with anger: "We've been tricked. He deliberately lured us here!"

Hal gritted his teeth and said, "Boss, now's not the time for this! Abdul's men are too many! We have to run!"

Sajja suddenly grabbed an RPG-7 from a subordinate's shoulder, aiming it at the abandoned oil tank Abdul was hiding behind.

"Boom!"

An explosion lit the sky, and several of Abdul's bodyguards were blasted into pieces.

"Kill them all!"

Abdul roared, personally picking up an RPK light machine gun, spraying fire wildly at Sajja's position.

The entire refinery turned into a battlefield, bullets flying, explosions echoing relentlessly.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com