Chapter 120: Wrath of the Reaper (1)

"I just arrived. Nanxing is in trouble, so I came," Ren Qianxing replied calmly. "As for Sister Yan, I had already made arrangements before coming here."

Lin Fan nodded slightly, saying nothing more. He trusted his brothers as implicitly as he trusted himself.

Ren Qianxing turned to look at Xu Qiang, gripped his hand firmly, and said, "Ren Qianxing, Dragon Soul."

For years, Lin Fan had been using the influence of Dragon Soul to search for Xu Qiang. Ren Qianxing and the others had long known of Xu Qiang's existence, though they had never met. It was Xu Qiang who had seized the opportunity to lure away the M-nation agents, allowing Lin Fan—who had been injured because of him—to escape, which eventually led him to meet Han Feng, the former captain of Dragon Soul.

The two exchanged brief greetings, knowing there would be plenty of time to get to know each other later; there was no rush.

"Boss!" The three men, along with the other Dragon Soul brothers, stood in a neat military salute and shouted in unison. Xu Qiang naturally joined them. For a moment, he felt an illusion that he had returned to the Falcon unit; he loved days like this.

The title "Boss" felt slightly awkward in this context, somewhat spoiling the atmosphere, but it had been Lin Fan's requirement from the start. "Captain" was what his men had called him back in the Falcon unit, representing his past. "Boss" signified that he was finished with the Falcon unit forever. Moreover, in Lin Fan's heart, there was only ever one captain of Dragon Soul: Han Feng, the man who had founded both Dragon Soul and Star Soul and had altered the trajectory of his life.

Lin Fan nodded slightly, turned, and opened a crate, revealing a large cache of weapons and ammunition. "These are the weapons for this operation. Distribute them. We move out in fifteen minutes."

The men approached the crate, and the sound of mechanical clicks filled the air as they skillfully loaded their weapons. Lu Cunxing, Zhang Lei, was a master of firearms; any gun in his hands seemed to come alive. Xu Qiang naturally picked up his preferred sniper rifle. As for Ren Qianxing, he favored knives, merely taking a pistol for self-defense.

"Boss, the gear provided by the Blue Flag Army is a bit outdated," Zhang Lei remarked, sighing as he toyed with his submachine gun.

"Do you want me to fetch a few main battle tanks and fighter jets for you?" Lin Fan said, his face cold.

Zhang Lei was slightly startled. It had been a long time since he had seen Lin Fan this angry. Through Tan Zhiyong, they already knew that someone was deliberately targeting Dragon Soul, having hired the organization to assassinate their own client to set a trap and capture Li Nanxing. It seemed the matter had truly enraged their boss. No one had expected that someone would dare to play games with Dragon Soul. Zhang Lei knew that the "Grim Reaper" was truly furious; the people behind the scenes were in for a world of trouble.

Once all the ammunition had been distributed, Lin Fan checked his watch and said, "Mo Fei has already gone ahead to scout the situation. We will assign the mission details once we reach our destination. Move out."

As soon as Lin Fan finished, no one dared to show the slightest hesitation. They jumped into the vehicles and headed toward their destination. Inside, everyone remained silent, each checking their own weapons. The atmosphere was heavy. Whether the others felt the same, Xu Qiang didn't know, but he found himself regaining the feeling of executing missions back in the Falcon unit. With Lin Fan, he knew he would never lack intensity.

Compared to the others, Lin Fan was even more quiet and somber. He only hoped that Li Nanxing had suffered nothing more than physical injuries and not any inhumane torture.

The sun slowly dipped below the horizon, painting half the sky in the red of sunset. Gradually, darkness descended like a predatory demon, swallowing the last sliver of light from the earth. By the time the sky was completely shrouded in darkness, the group had arrived at their destination.

The area was surrounded by rugged mountains and dense forests, and the air was thick with moisture. According to information from Jin Zhengyang, the major drug lord known as "Scorpion" resided on this mountain, and he had a significant number of men at his disposal, well-stocked with weapons and ammunition.

Due to the terrain, the group had to disembark and continue on foot. After camouflaging their vehicles with tree branches, Lin Fan led the Dragon Soul members toward the foot of the mountain.

"Boss," Mo Fei suddenly jumped out from the bushes, calling out after recognizing Lin Fan and his group.

"You scared the hell out of me!" Zhang Lei cursed, glaring at Mo Fei, who had startled him by appearing so suddenly.

Ignoring Zhang Lei, Mo Fei said, "Qianxing, you came too? When did you arrive?"

"Just now," Ren Qianxing replied, his lips barely moving. He was a man who, if he could express a thought in one word, would never use two. He was a typical introvert, not good at expressing himself, but undoubtedly a true man.

Seeing Mo Fei about to speak further, Lin Fan gave him a sharp glare, clearly blaming him for being too talkative. Seeing Lin Fan’s anger, Mo Fei could only stick out his tongue in secret and give Zhang Lei a look, signaling him to take the lead.

Originally, it was supposed to be Mo Fei who spoke, but now that the task had been pushed onto him, Zhang Lei was naturally reluctant. However, they were all brothers, and it didn't matter who said it. "Boss, you don't need to go up there. You can command from the foot of the mountain, and we'll go rescue Nanxing," Zhang Lei said tentatively, praying that Lin Fan wouldn't see through his ruse.

"It was little Yong who called you specifically, wasn't it?" Lin Fan said with his back to Zhang Lei, his face devoid of expression.

"Boss, this wasn't Yong's idea alone; it's the consensus of all of us," Zhang Lei said with a bitter smile. It seemed impossible to deceive their boss.

After Zhang Lei finished, Mo Fei and Ren Qianxing nodded in agreement, and even Xu Qiang stood with them. Lin Fan didn't need to ask; he knew they must have conspired in private.

Seeing them united, Lin Fan felt an indescribable sense of being moved. As the boss of Dragon Soul, how could he not understand what Zhang Lei and the others were thinking?

When Tan Zhiyong had first told him, Lin Fan knew that the enemy had laid a massive trap to capture Li Nanxing but hadn't killed him. It was clear they were waiting for someone from Dragon Soul to come for him, and they had likely already prepared an ambush. Lin Fan had to go, without a doubt, because if he didn't, his brother would surely die.

What Lin Fan could foresee, Tan Zhiyong—as the second-in-command of Dragon Soul—was no fool either. He had guessed the general situation, which was why he had urged Zhang Lei and the others to join forces with Xu Qiang to persuade Lin Fan not to go himself.

After all, Lin Fan was the boss of Dragon Soul; if anything happened to him, it would be a devastating blow to the organization. But Tan Zhiyong knew the chances of keeping Lin Fan from rescuing Li Nanxing were slim to none, because Lin Fan would never abandon any of his brothers—not even their corpses.