140: Escape

By the time Li Xiao and his team approached the border, the sky had cleared, but the border checkpoint had more than ten times the forces as when they arrived, with several infantry fighting vehicles and main battle tanks standing ready.

"Boss, what's the plan?"

Li Xiao, sitting in the passenger seat, stared carefully at the checkpoint and discovered that infantry fighting vehicles had already blocked the only access to the highway; it was impossible to bypass this point.

"Looks like we have to bite the bullet. Are these hundred or so people even enough to fill the gaps between our teeth?"

As Ling Chao spoke, he was already holding the steering wheel with one hand and a pistol in the other.

Li Xiao stopped him, "No. While we won't die, the same can't be said for Dr. Ma. I don't want anything to happen to him. Pull over, I'll figure something out."

The minibus stopped at the corner. After some discussion, Li Xiao decided, "Ling Chao, you lead the team to draw the checkpoint's fire and lead them south. Yue Ge's sniper team is responsible for covering Dr. Ma as he takes the opportunity to pass through the checkpoint."

"Understood!"

"Yes!"

By now, the members of the Shadow Special Forces had all recovered their health to over six million, enough to put up a fight.

Ten minutes later, Ling Chao, leading Chen Hu, Zhou Shuang, and the others, suddenly appeared in the sight of the checkpoint guards.

Ling Chao fired first with the Destroyer crystal energy gun, a three-round burst directly taking out a Captain.

Chen Hu and the others opened fire simultaneously. Six or seven members of the Black Hawk Unit were instantly killed in the first encounter, and suddenly, all the troops at the checkpoint swarmed out.

The gunner of the infantry fighting vehicle was the fastest. He immediately adjusted the autocannon, and shells came whizzing over.

"Retreat!"

Seeing a large number of Black Hawk Unit troops, including armored vehicles, rushing toward them, Ling Chao ordered Chen Hu and the others to retreat without hesitation.

Special forces had particularly strict requirements for obeying orders; even when they had the upper hand, they would not be greedy for merit.

The Black Hawk soldiers at the checkpoint seemed desperate to capture Li Xiao and his group, charging forward with reckless abandon.

Ling Chao and the others fired as they retreated, fully utilizing the excellent trajectory and power of the Destroyer in the hands of the Shadow Special Forces.

Every time they turned back to fire, they took down a few more men.

"Wow, this crystal energy gun is amazing! It’s practically point-and-shoot, the recoil is minimal, and the trajectory doesn't drift at all!"

Zhou Shuang loaded a fresh magazine. Every time he pulled the trigger, the laser emitter inside the gun fired a thermal laser into the ink crystal bullet, its speed far exceeding that of a traditional firing pin.

"Of course! Otherwise, why do you think the boss risked his life to get Mavis back? I guarantee that as long as we make it back safely this time, our combat effectiveness will increase several-fold!"

Ling Chao weaved left and right along the side of the road, trying to evade the infantry fighting vehicle's shelling. Ordinary bullets didn't amount to much, but the autocannon fire really hurt.

Seeing that fewer than a squad remained defending the checkpoint, Li Xiao decisively ordered Yue Ge's sniper team to charge.

In addition to carrying sniper rifles for long-range fire support, snipers were also equipped with rifles.

Yue Ge and his observer grabbed their rifles and charged to the front of the checkpoint in one go. The Black Hawk Unit reacted quickly and spotted the duo immediately. Both sides opened fire simultaneously, and bullets tore countless holes into both parties.

Within seconds, the battle was over. Relying on their crystal energy guns, Yue Ge and his observer wiped out the entire squad with only half a magazine of ammunition.

The checkpoint was successfully captured, and Li Xiao hurriedly led Mavis through it.

They hadn't gone far when several meng hu off-road vehicles pulled up to meet them; it was Zhao Feipeng, who had been on standby at the border.

The meng hu off-road vehicle stopped in front of Li Xiao. Zhao Feipeng and several Scouts quickly got out of the vehicle and helped Mavis into the back seat.

By this point, Li Xiao finally felt at ease. He ordered, "Yue Ge, you two and Zhao Feipeng, take Dr. Ma back to the base at full speed immediately!"

"Yes! Leave one vehicle, everyone else withdraw immediately!"

Zhao Feipeng didn't ask any questions and immediately turned around to leave.

Zhao Feipeng's two meng hu off-road vehicles were the only remaining transport vehicles with over ten million durability points; once Mavis was inside, he would be essentially safe.

After sending Mavis away, Li Xiao hurriedly drove a meng hu off-road vehicle back to find Ling Chao.

By this time, Ling Chao and the others had already ducked into the pre-planned forest.

The pursuing Imperial Army infantry had been almost entirely wiped out, and the remaining infantry fighting vehicles could only pour ammunition wildly into the forest.

A short while later, they spotted several infantry fighting vehicles and tanks on the side of the road. Li Xiao ordered Yue Ge to drive directly toward them.

"Ling Chao! Get out of there!"

Li Xiao yelled into the headset. Ling Chao and the other three immediately ran out of the forest, which was exactly what the Black Hawk Unit wanted. Immediately, tank artillery, anti-tank missiles from the infantry fighting vehicles, and autocannons all rained down on them.

The group was forced to scramble for cover, repeatedly falling to the ground.

Under such intense artillery fire, the health of Ling Chao and his team dropped rapidly, but they remained resilient. Even after the infantry fighting vehicles had exhausted their missiles, they still had four million health remaining.

Despite the Black Hawk Unit's desperate attempts to stop them, Ling Chao, Chen Hu, and the others managed to reach the road and successfully rendezvous with Li Xiao.

Once inside the vehicle, everyone breathed a sigh of relief; at this point, they were no longer afraid of whatever tank cannons might hit them.

Li Xiao did a U-turn on the spot and sped north along the road. The Black Hawk Unit's infantry fighting vehicles and tanks accelerated to give chase, their turrets continuing to fire at them relentlessly.

Even at full speed, the fastest infantry fighting vehicle couldn't keep up with the military off-road vehicle. Li Xiao floored the accelerator, pushing the speed to 140 or 150 yards, and quickly left the Black Hawk ground troops behind.

Just when everyone thought they could breathe a sigh of relief, they heard a roar from above. Looking up, they saw two armed helicopters.

"Boss! It's helicopters!"

Seeing this, Li Xiao slammed on the brakes, stopped right in the middle of the road, and jumped out of the vehicle.

He then retrieved a Stinger missile launcher from his backpack; this was his last Stinger missile, and it could take down at most one of them.

His rocket launcher was also empty; once this was fired, they would be reduced to sitting ducks.

Li Xiao's sudden stop caused the helicopters, which were currently aiming and locking on, to lose their target, forcing them to circle and readjust.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Li Xiao quickly powered up the launcher, and the Stinger missile soon locked onto one of the armed helicopters.

Whoosh!

The Stinger missile roared into the sky, heading straight for its target.

Seeing the missile soaring toward them, the helicopter pilot immediately banked to the side, pulled up, and released thermal infrared flares.

The next second, the missile flew right past the helicopter's underbelly.

"Damn! Nice flying!"

Li Xiao couldn't help but admire the maneuver, but the power of the Stinger missile wasn't just about its raw lethality.

After missing, the Stinger missile didn't lose its target; guided by its infrared search radar, it turned back around.

The helicopter, currently in a nose-up attitude, was unable to perform any rapid evasive maneuvers.

Boom!

The helicopter exploded in mid-air, and the sight of its falling wreckage caused the other helicopter to hurriedly pull away, immediately followed by it unleashing a barrage of fire.