The man lay prone on the ground, his face obscured. He wore the most familiar Air Force combat uniform, with his rifle positioned in front, its dark barrel aimed at the remaining armed militants outside the glass window.

He fired a single precise shot, then quickly shifted to press himself back against the corner of the wall.

In that instant, several well-placed bullets followed in rapid succession, hitting the wall with sparks flying as chunks of plaster crumbled, falling into small pieces. Lu Huaizheng pressed against the corner, took a deep breath, turned, and slowly extended his gun barrel out again, unhesitatingly pulling the trigger. The bullet once more precisely struck between the militant’s eyebrows. Watching the enemy fall with a thud, at this moment of extreme tension, everyone in the airport terminal felt an inexplicable surge of morale!

Hundreds of pairs of eyes focused intently on that striking patch of Chinese military green on the elevated platform, hearts pounding with excitement.

Lu Huaizheng pressed against the wall, deftly reloading his magazine. Through his earpiece came Sun Kai’s voice: “Not good, they’re breaking the glass!!” Lu Huaizheng instinctively flinched, peering around the corner to see the remaining three militants frantically jabbing at the airport’s glass doors with their rifles.

Lu Huaizheng quickly returned to his original sniping position, aligning his sight with the gun barrel while speaking to Sun Kai through his earpiece: “Cover me, draw their fire, and I’ll end this quickly.”

Two shots rang out, decisive and resolute. The militant who had been prying at the airport glass door fell backward, while another quickly ducked around a corner, his gaze scanning the vast terminal building.

He vaguely spotted someone lying on the sky bridge connecting the two terminal buildings. With a merciless gaze, he fired a shot without hesitation in that direction.

The terminal building had few places to hide; everyone was firing and then moving to a new concealment spot.

That shot landed near Sun Kai’s foot, shattering the glass beneath into a radiating star pattern. He crawled toward another section of glass, finally pressing himself against a glass railing, cursing under his breath as he gasped for air.

Everyone inside the airport erupted!

They waved their arms, shouting in unison: “Chinese soldiers! Chinese soldiers!”

However, just as Lu Huaizheng shot and killed the last militant, a heavy armored vehicle suddenly stopped at the airport perimeter. Two identical armored vehicles soon followed, with nearly twenty turbaned militants jumping down from them.

Sun Kai’s expression changed abruptly as he cursed into his earpiece: “Damn, this is starting to feel like Plants vs. Zombies! What the hell are the Tuslan government forces doing?” The group of men held their guns high, their vehicles loaded with looted goods. With fierce grins, they advanced step by step toward the terminal building, waving their weapons as if they were on stimulants, slowly approaching the airport hall.

Lu Huaizheng watched the group, his expression cold and steady as a mountain: “Cover me. Has Wu Heping entered the hall?”

Wu Heping had just closed the glass doors of the airport hall, pressing his earpiece as he replied: “Just entered.”

Lu Huaizheng raised his rifle slightly, positioning it on the platform railing. He narrowed one eye to aim, his cheek against the rifle stock and said: “Disperse the crowd, don’t let them gather together. Expand the target.”

“Yes, sir!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Huaizheng’s shot blew apart the head of the lead militant.

The people below instantly looked up, and Lu Huaizheng pressed back against the wall corner, his breathing slightly constricted. He activated his earpiece: “Sun Kai.”

Sun Kai understood immediately, his expression remarkably relaxed, as if engaged in guerrilla warfare: “Received.”

Immediately after, snipers hidden at various high points fired several shots in succession, each one hitting its mark! As several militants fell, the opposition’s formation grew chaotic. They looked up warily, their gazes sweeping the dense terminal building like machine guns.

Until their gaze fell on Sun Kai at the sky bridge. Following this, the firepower of more than a dozen men opened fully toward the bridge.

Amid the “rat-tat-tat” of gunfire, the glass gradually shattered, branching out like a tree, and slowly developing cracks. Then the bridge emitted a violent shattering sound before exploding. Half of the glass bridge suddenly broke off from mid-air, crashing straight to the ground!

With a “BANG”! Like a boulder plunging into the deep sea, creating a massive splash that seemed ready to engulf everyone!

This heart-stopping scene made the civilians in the hall stand with their hair on end, and their hearts in their throats.

In an instant, Sun Kai had reached the bridge pier, crouching against the wall and poking his head out.

Everyone’s hearts followed these knife-edge moments, rising and falling like eight buckets of water being emptied, more thrilling than a roller coaster!

Truly worthy of being called soldiers!

In the administrative building of the other terminal, Lu Huaizheng crouched with half his body against the wall corner. He pulled the slide on his gun while saying into his earpiece: “Jiang Weiping, Sun Kai, and I will draw their fire. You and Zhou Tao keep watch, absolutely do not expose your positions.”

There weren’t many places here to set up sniping points; Lu Huaizheng and Sun Kai were almost exposed to everyone’s line of sight.

They had high mobility and could find cover at any time, but if Jiang Weiping and Zhou Tao’s positions were exposed, they would lose their snipers.

By now, the militants below had reached the hall entrance.

Lu Huaizheng hesitated no longer. He took a deep breath, suddenly stood up, and pointed his gun at the people below. “Bang, bang, bang!” Several consecutive shots.

After firing, he immediately dropped down and asked Sun Kai on the other end of the earpiece, “How many?”

Sun Kai strained his vision, counting. “Three!” Then, mounting his rifle, he extended slightly from the wall corner: “Take a break, I’ll handle this.”

Just as all the militants opened fire on Lu Huaizheng, the wall beside him was riddled with bullet holes. Behind him, Sun Kai followed up with several shots aimed at the feet of the front-row militants, taking down two armed men simultaneously.

“Beautiful,” Lu Huaizheng smiled, pressed against the wall corner.

Back in China, Weibo discussions about the earthquake event continued to surge.

Netizens maintained a high level of attention, their nerves taut, each news update making them anxious!

“Tuslan earthquake, local armed forces have temporarily launched a coup, six hundred Chinese nationals trapped at Tuslan airport! Outside the airport, an unprecedented gunfight has broken out. Chinese soldiers are so cool, headshots with every bullet.”

Seeing such information, Yu Hao’s heart trembled.

She knew he must be involved.

Zhao Dailin could no longer contain herself, slapping the table as she stood up, “I need to catch a connecting flight to Tuslan.”

This time, Yu Hao was calmer, stopping her, “The airports are all closed, what’s the point of going?”

Zhao Dailin looked at her suspiciously, “Why are you so calm? Do you know some inside information?”

Yu Hao lowered her head with a bitter smile: “What inside information would I know? Senior, be mature. If we go there now, we’ll only cause trouble for them. Don’t make a fuss, just sit quietly and wait for news.”

Zhao Dailin grunted, letting out a long sigh, “Hmph, how did I fall in love with such a man.” Then she exhaled again, saying as if to comfort herself, “But it’s fair while enjoying the benefits, one must also pay a price.”

Yu Hao was confused by her words, “What benefits? What price?”

Zhao Dailin raised an eyebrow, full of sensuality, “The pleasure in bed, the psychological price.”

Yu Hao’s face turned red, “You have issues.”

Zhao Dailin laughed meaningfully, deliberately leaning close to her ear to whisper provocatively: “So, has Captain Lu improved recently?”

Yu Hao’s face turned liver-red with anger: “If I ever discuss this with you again, I’m a pig!”

Zhao Dailin laughed heartily, “Your husband disgraces the special forces!”

“Stop it!!!”

Seeing that she was genuinely upset, Zhao Dailin gradually stopped laughing and moved closer with a gossipy air, nudging her shoulder to ask: “Seriously though, have you two done it again?”

“I’m not telling you,” Yu Hao said firmly.

Zhao Dailin clicked her tongue twice, “You need to tell your big sister so I can help you judge if this man is any good. I thought special forces soldiers like Lu Huaizheng would last at least half an hour, right?”

“You’re so annoying!” Yu Hao pretended to glare at her, but honestly admitted: “I guarantee it’s half an hour.”

“Only half an hour?” Zhao Dailin was surprised, her glasses nearly falling off—she had just randomly named a number, “Sun Kai lasts longer.”

“When he’s just going through the motions, it’s half an hour. When he’s not, it’s several hours,” Yu Hao began to exaggerate.

In reality, they hadn’t done it many times, roughly just a few occasions. Lu Huaizheng was the energetic type who could go back and forth several times in one night, though toward the end, he just perfunctorily did it a couple of times to finish.

He simply didn’t want to separate from her.

If Yu Hao didn’t beg him to stop, he absolutely wouldn’t; he would only barely get off her when she softened her voice to plead with him, then lazily indicate he would spare her for now.

Several hours probably counted as two sessions as one. His longest time was persisting for over an hour, only stopping when Yu Hao was in too much pain and he soothed her to quickly finish.

Zhao Dailin didn’t believe her, “Listen to you brag.”

Just then, Weibo exploded with another piece of bombshell news: “Tuslan government forces preparing to deploy bomber aircraft! Foreign Ministry in negotiations.”

Netizens’ hearts were once again suspended by a thread.

“What about the stranded people at the airport? Will they become sacrifices of the coup?”

“Trust the country, trust the government!”

“I see the young girl’s Weibo hasn’t been updated! Has something happened or not?! Give us some news!”

That summer, everyone’s hearts were tightly gripped by this evacuation, as if all Chinese people’s hearts had suddenly, in an instant, been twisted into a single rope.

When they received this news, Sun Kai and Lu Huaizheng simultaneously cursed.

At the command center, Li Hongwen was now pounding the table in a rage.

“I’ll say it again, those fighting outside the airport are China’s most elite airborne troops, including the six hundred Chinese nationals inside the airport. I want all these people to return! Not one fewer! If even one is missing, we won’t rule out diplomatic sanctions!”

“They’re only trying to control these rioters.”

Li Hongwen cut him off directly. He spoke to the person on the radio in English, each word clear and forceful, his expression resolute, almost gritting his teeth: “I’m sorry, I only want to protect my country’s citizens.”

From the other side: “Colonel Li, I completely understand your concerns. It’s not that there are no other options, we just hope you can compromise…”

Li Hongwen shouted furiously, “No compromise, no concessions. If you don’t have the capability, then shut up!”

Cutting off the call, he turned to the communications officer: “Connect me to Lu Huaizheng.”

After two beeps, the signal connected, “Lu Huaizheng!”

“Received.” The man’s voice was deep and powerful.

At this moment, his arm had been shot, blood gushing out steadily, his clothes covered with scattered bloodstains, including the snow-white wall next to him. The man seemed unfazed, holding his rifle as he aimed at the dark mass of heads below.

Li Hongwen said: “Half an hour left, finish these people. The Tuslan government is running out of patience.”

“Don’t need half an hour, give me fifteen minutes.” After saying this, he looked up at the sky, “Has our plane arrived?”

“Will reach in ten minutes, the airport will resume operations in ten minutes.”

“Understood!”

But Li Hongwen didn’t end the call. After a while, he said in a subdued voice: “Well done. Chen Rui just sent word that Professor Liang and Xu Yanshi have been rescued safely and are being escorted to the port. It’s all up to you now!”

“Rest assured.”

After ending the call, Lu Huaizheng spoke into his earpiece, “Sun Kai, the plane arrives in ten minutes. Go in and help Wu Heping evacuate the civilians. Leave this to me and Zhou Tao’s team.”

Sun Kai was startled, “What about the bombers?”

The wound throbbed with pain as Lu Huaizheng gritted his teeth: “They’ll arrive in half an hour. If we can’t evacuate in time, no matter what, you leave first.”

Sun Kai lowered his gun and began running frantically toward the airport hall like an unleashed wild horse. The wind roared in his ears, but Lu Huaizheng’s words came through as clearly as a gentle breeze. His expression tense, teeth nearly grinding to powder, he squeezed out through clenched teeth: “I’ll wait for you inside. If you don’t come in, the plane won’t leave.”

“Alright.”

But when the time came, it wouldn’t be up to anyone whether to leave or not. Half an hour later, the plane would depart on schedule.

Lu Huaizheng didn’t concern himself further with Sun Kai, calling to Zhou Tao behind him, “How’s your situation?”

“The enemy hasn’t discovered my position.”

“Good, continue. I’ll draw their fire, you snipe! If necessary, cover Jiang Weiping!”

“Captain Lu, I can see you’re wounded. Should Jiang Weiping switch with you?”

Lu Huaizheng shouted furiously: “Stop the fucking nonsense! Shoot quickly, finish, and go home!”

At this moment, the militants below were charging step by step toward the airport hall. Lu Huaizheng fired an unexpected shot, causing them to concentrate their firepower and slightly divert their attention. Zhou Tao followed immediately with several shots, taking down three men.

With about ten remaining, they began frantically smashing the airport’s glass windows.

Sun Kai unexpectedly fired a shot outside the glass window, then stood on the airport platform, shouting: “All Chinese citizens come to me!! Show your passports! The plane will arrive at the airport in ten minutes. No tickets needed, your passport is your pass!”

The crowd below erupted in applause, and cheers, with tears in their eyes!

Sun Kai shouted again at the top of his lungs: “The plane will take off in half an hour, whether you’re on it or not. So please follow the order. Don’t create chaos, or no one will be able to leave! Understand?!”

A young man suddenly replied: “Let the elderly and children go first, we men will hold the rear!”

Several loud voices of agreement followed: “Right! Women, children, and elderly first, we men will bring up the rear! That’s how Chinese men are—so gallant!!”

The young women nearby were especially moved. Hearing the last sentence spoken with a slight accent, they couldn’t help but laugh through their tears, covering their mouths as they sobbed.

Having participated in countless rescues, this one was the most urgent and dangerous, yet also the most moving for Sun Kai!

What he never expected was what happened next.

As the plane approached with Lu Huaizheng and Zhou Tao still outside, and the militants were breaking through the glass windows, a turbaned militant suddenly rushed into Lu Huaizheng’s sniping position. Out of ammunition, he lunged at Lu Huaizheng with bare hands.

The two grappled together. Lu Huaizheng couldn’t use his injured arm and was pinned against the railing, half his body hanging over the rail.

Sun Kai looked at the time and cursed, shouting into his earpiece: “Zhou Tao, are you dead?!!”

Zhou Tao: “I’m trying to find an angle! They’re moving too fast, constantly changing positions. At this distance, I’m afraid I’ll hit Captain Lu.”

“Damn!”

Five minutes remained before boarding.

At this moment, someone in the hall began singing the national anthem. Gradually, more and more people joined in.

One voice rising above another.

It was the most unified, resounding, and pure rendition of the national anthem that Sun Kai had ever heard.