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Ch. 35 Hunted Moment
🕑 Added 2023-09-19 16:00:07 +0000 UTCAlthough the people in the stronghold had all been taken care of, Russell knew that this would only slightly delay the time the Ten Rings would find out.
When they couldn't contact the stronghold, they would surely grow suspicious.
While it was unlikely they would figure out it was his doing and would more likely blame the U.S. military, for safety's sake, they might decide to flee with Tony overnight.
Russell didn't plan to stay in Afghanistan for too long.
If he could resolve this today, he wouldn't wait until the next day.
Not to mention, he had the soft and fragrant Diana waiting for him back in New York.
The distance between the two strongholds wasn't very far.
If he drove like before in the off-road vehicle, he was confident he could reach the destination within an hour.
However, the battle-damaged appearance of the pickup truck severely limited his capabilities now.
He had been somewhat dissatisfied with the off-road vehicle provided by the Continental Hotel.
Yet, now he felt he had been unfair to the Continental Hotel's staff.
In Afghanistan, the off-road vehicle he had driven earlier was considered a top-quality vehicle.
If he were to rate the off-road vehicle he had complained about earlier a 60, the current pickup truck wouldn't even score a 40.
To improve the driving experience, he had to generate some symbiotes from his body and modify the seats with them.
Driving experience could be enhanced through symbiote transformations.
However, there was no way to improve the vehicle's performance.
This awful driving experience made him even more eager for the "Endosymbiotic Battle Armor" reward.
If he already had the "Endosymbiotic Battle Armor" now, he wouldn't have to endure this frustrating driving experience.
Although he had done his best to "care" for the pickup truck and hadn't pushed it to its limits, after driving recklessly for forty to fifty minutes, the pickup truck reached the end of its lifespan.
A loud "bang" signaled the engine had blown.
Damn it!
Only a little over ten kilometers left!
After cursing, Russell opened the car door and got out.
Glancing at the map and the GPS device, he discarded most of his equipment and set off lightly.
Two pistols, a knife, four magazines, a satellite phone, and a GPS device!
Aside from these items, he discarded everything else.
With the pickup truck blown, he no longer needed to consider taking the mountain road to the stronghold where Tony was held.
Venom form!
After only a few steps, he transformed into his Venom form—nearly three meters tall, with venomous fangs—through his symbiote abilities.
Between two points, take the shortest line!
With his Venom form active, he dashed straight toward the stronghold where Tony was held.
In the cave-converted workshop, Tony and Yinsen were continually dismantling missiles.
Outside the cave, Raza, the leader, was patrolling the valley.
One of the strongholds had completely lost contact.
Over the past hour, Raza's subordinates had confirmed this.
Although he had dispatched his subordinates to the disconnected stronghold, his unease not only hadn't diminished, but had grown more pronounced.
Had the information leaked?
This thought unconsciously crossed Raza's mind.
However, he quickly dismissed this speculation.
Besides himself and his subordinates, only Obadiah knew about Tony being in his hands.
He had confidence in his subordinates.
Obadiah wouldn't have leaked this information either.
As for the U.S. military, he didn't believe their intelligence personnel had such capabilities.
After years of dealing with the Afghan U.S. military, he was well aware of their capabilities.
If the U.S. military's intelligence could uncover something like this, they would have eradicated the terrorists hiding in the mountains long ago.
Despite the fact that the U.S. military had better equipment and combat skills than the terrorists, the mountainous terrain in Afghanistan was a significant factor preventing their complete annihilation.
They couldn't conduct large-scale military movements, rendering them unable to fully utilize their firepower advantage.
Small units were also unable to effectively combat terrorists hidden in the mountains.
These terrorists could easily disappear by finding a random cave to hide in.
Raza was pondering where things had gone wrong.
Meanwhile, on a peak in the valley, Russell in his Venom form was overlooking the situation in the valley from above.
Though the distance was a bit far, he could clearly see the Stark Industries weapons stored in military camouflage tents.
He could even read the words "Manufactured by Stark Industries" on the boxes.
Opened boxes, unopened boxes.
Individual rocket launchers, various models of miniature missiles.
Though the Ten Rings members in the valley were dressed somewhat shabbily, it had to be admitted that the heavy weaponry they had obtained was quite high-end.
There were approximately thirty to forty Ten Rings members visible now.
If he counted those who hadn't emerged from the cave, the total might reach seventy to eighty.
At the entrance of the valley, a heavy machine gun was set up.
Ten Rings members were scattered around the valley, some sitting together chatting, others patrolling and observing.
Not many people, not a big problem!
Observing the valley's layout, Russell controlled his black tendrils to retrieve his only two handguns.
Let's begin!
The moment to hunt had arrived!
Russell didn't hesitate at all. He forcefully kicked off from the mountaintop, descending into the valley like a black comet.
Before he even landed, the enormous shadow cast on the ground attracted the Ten Rings members' attention.
As they looked up at the sky, Russell, still in the midst of falling, controlled his black tendrils and pulled the triggers.
Gun-fu!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang...
Bullets shot out like lightning, flying toward the Ten Rings members in the valley.
Some of the bullets followed a normal trajectory, flying straight toward their targets.
However, many of them carved out erratic arcs in the air, heading for the Ten Rings members taking cover behind obstacles.
Thunk!
Almost simultaneously with the bullets leaving the barrels, the demon-like Russell landed squarely in the middle of the valley, assuming a superhero-like posture on one knee.
Thanks to the enhancements from the symbiote, his knee didn't hurt at all.
In fact, even without symbiote enhancement, his knees wouldn't hurt.
The height wasn't enough to make him feel uncomfortable.
As he touched down, the black tendrils continued pulling the triggers, and the sound of gunshots filled the air.
While controlling the black tendrils to fire, he also generated new tendrils from his body, sending them flying toward the single-use rocket launchers and other weapons within the disguised military tents.
The Ten Rings members didn't expect that on an ordinary afternoon, a black monster would descend from the sky.
What surprised them even more was that this black monster began a fierce attack the moment it appeared.
Before they could even raise their weapons to fight back, over a dozen of their companions fell to Russell's gunfire.
