North exit of Valley Ranch...

The forest that once buried the Red Ant Mercenary Corps seems particularly quiet and solemn in winter.

The Mountain Eagle and his team appeared at the exit on snowmobiles, then, under aerial guidance, struggled to traverse the forest, arriving at the place where the west side of the mountain meets the wetland.

Continuing north from here has a rather complex terrain; the seemingly sparse forest is covered with snow, but beneath the snow lie scattered wood and rocks, making the area unsuitable for snowmobiles.

The Mountain Eagle parked the snowmobile behind a large, wind-sheltering rock, but did not turn off the engine. Instead, using the snowmobile's power, he connected two sets of Spearhead missile launcher boxes.

Having finished these preparations, Mountain Eagle said to Razer and Chakdi, "I'll head north with Sled, taking a detour to drive them; you stay here and wait for my signal to intercept them from the side..."

He looked at the vast open wetlands to the west and chuckled, "The shrubs in the wetlands will affect the shooting line of sight, but those areas without shrubs are all frozen waterways, and you can use these frozen paths to quickly relocate with the snowmobiles.

As long as they enter the range of the western wetlands, they can't escape...

If possible, we can drive them further south, saving us a lot of trouble."

Razer glanced at the northern forest, frowned, and said, "How will you cross that area? If you rush too much, you might be out of strength before you even make contact."

Mountain Eagle laughed and pulled out a pair of snowboards, then tied a tow rope to the fixed points on the tactical vests of the two Magengxi Wolves...

Beside him, Sled made the same choice, controlling the two Magengxi Wolves, then checked the thermos on his waist, confirmed the hot cocoa was still warm, tidied up his lightweight tactical backpack, and nodded with satisfaction, saying with a smile, "We can set out now; we don't need to carry much luggage this time, our speed should be faster."

Mountain Eagle nodded to Razer and Chakdi, pointed his finger at the headset on his ear, then whistled...

Balang, who had been sticking close to Mountain Eagle's thigh, suddenly let out a low growl, then dashed towards the sparse forest to the north.

At this moment, Balang was like the lead dog among sled dogs; as it ran, the two Magengxi Wolves connected to Mountain Eagle and Sled began to exert their strength.

Though not fully mature, they were almost the size of adult Magengxi Wolves and far surpassed their kind in strength.

After a few slow exertions in place, as they dragged the snowboards forward, the speed gradually increased due to the friction.

Razer watched as Balang, seemingly clairvoyant, found a relatively safe snow trail using scent and instinct despite the complex ground conditions; Mountain Eagle skillfully used the ski poles in his hands to control the direction.

This legendary hunter shook his head in awe, saying to the somewhat unfamiliar Chakdi, "Let's take the snowmobiles for a spin around the wetlands...

If Mountain Eagle and Sled can really get those people running, then the traces we deliberately leave might change their direction of advance.

Sometimes hunting doesn't just involve focusing on animal trails; occasionally, you can create your own paths, forcing animals to run in the direction we've planned for."

Chakdi wasn't a hunter, and there were huge differences in both accent and habits between the two...

What Razer said was hard for Chakdi to fully understand, but this guy had one advantage: he didn't express too many opinions in areas he wasn't good at, and he didn't mind doing a bit more work...

In his view, in such situations, any extra preparation is beneficial because the bottom line had already been set, and their only aim was to strive for the best outcome.

Watching Razer turn around and start setting up animal traps on the sled, Chakdi moved forward to help, saying seriously, "You say, I'll do..."

Razer, holding an animal trap, was taken aback, then nodded in admiration, saying, "Why are Mountain Eagle's subordinates all as stubborn as you?

Butcher and his team are also similar; it seems like you can't do anything besides obeying orders..."

Chakdi frowned and said, "Because the boss doesn't need our advice, especially not advice from a bunch of failures!

I don't know about the others, but as for Butcher and them, they were planning to rob a bank, and it was a Russian bank before they met the boss.

I've seen some people from Arctic Fox, most of them are smart, and I bet most of Arctic Fox are smart, but over the years they've sacrificed so many people, and the money they've earned isn't even as much as our boss earns in six months.

A group of smart people working together, yet bound by pension issues...

I don't know the specific reason, do you?"

Razer listened, covered his aching heart, and sighed...

Though he felt a stab in his heart, he suddenly realized this seemingly naive Chakdi was quite right...

The Arctic Fox team are all strong individuals, each with extensive battle experience, yet life isn't treating them well.

Thinking about those years of retirement spent lying in the hospital where most of my savings were depleted, and finally returning home with empty pockets and unwillingness about the past, Razer sighed and said, "No one can guarantee they'll always be right, especially on an ever-changing battlefield.

An excellent soldier, or a great subordinate, needs to constantly think and offer their opinions to prevent their superiors or bosses from missing something.

This is what a real team should be like..."

Chakdi mounted the snowmobile, looked at Razer with a solemn expression, and shook his head, saying, "Unless like during breakfast when the boss asks proactively, an ever-changing battlefield doesn't require too many opinions…

The Commander is responsible for choosing, soldiers only need to execute orders, right and wrong are subjects for discussion afterward."

Saying this, Chakdi looked into Razer's eyes and said, "Sir, you are the head of our group, so I won't question your decisions."

Razer was amused by Chakdi's attitude. Riding a snowmobile towing a sled, he came beside Chakdi and joked, "If everyone had an attitude like yours, you'd never become a true comrade of Mountain Eagle…"

Chakdi looked at Razer with a strange expression and said, "I've never felt qualified to be the boss's comrade…

The boss is the boss, he's always emphasizing that he's not a mercenary, he himself charges to the front lines because we lack the capability!"

Razer was surprised, staring at the seemingly brainwashed Chakdi, wanting to say something, but finally swallowed his words, then started the snowmobile and rushed into the wetland…

......

Codfish One led his team trudging arduously through the sparse wooded snowfield…

Each of them had a traction rope tied around their waist, hauling a plastic sled carrying the key weapons for their mission.

Last night, the parachuting Chimera Squad came to assist because of vision and wind direction issues at night, and two men got caught in trees upon landing, one of whom was snagged by a branch and then lost balance with the parachute, causing him to fall from a height of over ten meters...

He landed as a seriously injured individual, adding misery to the already extremity-tormented Codfish Team.

They couldn't abandon the weapons parachuted to the ground to lighten their load, only managing to spare a sled to drag the injured, while distributing the surplus weapons equally onto everyone's sleds.

Both Codfish Team and Chimera Squad are elite groups within the Demon Group, even when marching in desolate areas, they never gave up vigilance, always maintaining a stance of 4-person advance vigilance with a rolling advance posture.

Although marching through snow in the woods was very difficult, they still maintained a pace of about 3 kilometers per hour.

Codfish One, named Carl, hails from the Israeli special forces, after which he was incorporated into Mossad for a few years, and finally recruited by the Demon Group to become a member of the Edward Foundation.

Chimera One is named Cohen, a British Jew, previously serving in the Special Air Service SAS, a staunch extremist Zionist, recruited by the Demon Group post-retirement from SAS.

Due to mistakes caused by the temporary parachute drop last night, the teams barely slept the whole night…

To coordinate with Commander Chuck's plan, they had to force a march at daybreak, aiming to reach the designated position within 72 hours.

In action, Carl clearly felt the team's speed was not as fast as in the past two days, he looked back at his struggling comrades, and said to Cohen beside him, "If we continue like this, it'll be hard to reach the designated location within 72 hours."

Cohen glanced at Carl, shaking his head, saying, "What are you trying to say? Abandon my people?

NO, that's impossible, leaving him here he wouldn't last a day…"

Carl frowned and said, "My thought is we split up; I'll fast-track with the Codfish Team, and you bring your people and the injured slowly.

Blocking the back route of the Brown Bear Camp doesn't require so many people, you can delay a bit and use a staggered barricade to coordinate with me, and you can use Spring Knives to attack the Indians, which reduces our exposure risk, the Commander won't blame you for this."

Speaking, Carl looked seriously into Cohen's eyes and said, "Buddy, if we can't reach the target location on time, we'll all face consequences."

Just as Cohen hesitated about whether to agree, a whistle cut across beside him, and then a bullet hit the big tree next to him…

"Bang…"

The sound of gunfire reached their ears only after the bullet hit the tree...

Cohen instinctively fell to the ground, quickly rolling to the back of a big tree and shouting loudly, "Nine o'clock direction, sniper, everyone find cover…

Launch a Spring Knife to scout the opponent's position…"

As they plunged into chaos, a howl emanated from the woods behind them…

"Awoo…"