The men threw smoke grenades outside and waited until the enemies' vision was obscured.

A dozen seconds later, everyone nodded and exited the building, hugging the wall as they hoped to avoid fire from the enemies.

Seeing the first team of four succeed in moving onward without the slightest reaction, the rest followed suit. This time they bunched up together compared to the dispersed four.

Claudia also followed her men later, seeing their safe exit. Except for a few bodyguards directly under the affiliation of Mossad, she didn't trust the mercenaries.

Together, the large team managed to escape the containment. Everyone sensed strangeness as they elicited no reactions. The premonition grew stronger as time passed, but they had no chance to think too much.

Just then, bursts of whiplashes cracked above their heads. The enemies were shooting at them through the smoke. Some shots kicked up sand and ricocheted. Fortunately, they stayed close to the wall and didn't have to expose themselves for long.

The group scurried to the nearby houses and flooded through the rooms, not bothering about the women's shrieks and children's cries.

What Claudia and her men didn't know was that Spirit Fox operatives responsible for containment had been watching their every move in hindsight.

Not even the smoke posed an obstacle to observation. The girls were equipped with enhanced NVGs with thermal overlays on the original night vision.

The contours of heat signatures running away directly entered Spirit Fox operators' line of sight.

Initially, they were about to squeeze the trigger when leadership ordered them to refrain from killing outright because the distance between them and the targets was too far to ascertain whether the packages they intended to capture were running alongside.

Otherwise, the whole secondary mission would collapse, and poor performance would be on record. Other sisters might laugh at them for failing Ling Qingyu's request.

Of course, because of the short pause before they pretended to fire through the smoke, they managed to spot a female figure. Not sure if the target was Claudia or Sheemah, they hesitated.

In fact, Ling Qingyu didn't care about the completeness of the missions—particularly the secondary objectives. As long as her harem members were safe and well-protected, she'd spoil them nonstop.

Even if Sheemah and Claudia were killed, Ling Qingyu might just shrug it off. Nonetheless, Athena and Elena pursued perfection, though they didn't demand it from Spirit Fox. Their temperaments influenced the latter.

Another team had closed in on Claudia's previously occupied building and cleared it quickly, catching up with the escapees ahead.

With Athena monitoring from above, proper guidance reached Spirit Fox operatives in pursuit.

Elsewhere, a Spirit Fox operator captured a woman who was struggling hard. Pressing her down, the operator cuffed her hands behind her back while her partner took out a hood to secure her head.

The operators ignored the curses and small kicks. If she pressed further, they delivered a light slap on the cheeks. The woman was indeed Sheemah, unable to escape because she stood near the X-mark.

Her other mercenary co-workers were either killed in action or groaning from wounds. They would die very soon if not treated immediately.

Spirit Fox operators ignored their plight and mercilessly pulled away the "victim" to the consolidation point.

Sheemah sighed helplessly as she gave up. She watched her allies mowed down from a distance when they exposed themselves. Even in CQB, where they had the local advantage, resistance was futile.

A burst of shots or two was all her team achieved. Then, everyone was gunned down. The enemy's swift actions and seamless coordination blinded her years of experience.

They were fast—not simply human fast, but lightning fast. She felt like they were fighting against real ghosts.

In the short battle—no, it was a massacre—their blind firing didn't inhibit the opponents, nor did their prepared tactics stand a chance against accuracy and momentum.

However, these didn't matter because in a close duel—Sheemah refused to admit that she lost to another girl in a melee fight, and it was because the enemies exploited momentum to distract her thoughts—she noticed her enemies were mostly women.

Wait, actually, they could all be female. Since she was covered shortly upon contact, she couldn't confirm her guess, but her ears still worked.

As a gambler who walked on the edge of the sword daily, her civil skills weren't for nothing. She perfectly understood Country C's language and figured out the identity of her enemies.

Except for some SOP terminology, she roughly understood the communication and was flattered that she was one of the targets to be apprehended alive.

Her wariness and worries for Claudia lessened. Perhaps that clever bastard had reached the tunnel while she remained stuck here. Or maybe Claudia was happy to remove an ear nuisance. Sheemah amused herself.

Listening further, she realized her conjecture of her captors being an all-female unit was proven correct.

Their presence drew her attention so much that she didn't pay the slightest heed to her former hostages. Even the handsome man she had kidded around with was dust in her eyes now.

Sheemah recalled a short video spreading online once, narrating the ranking of the world's top ten direct action special police. One from Country C was included in the list and caught her eye because the narrators weren't sure, but rumor suggested the police members were women.

As a fellow woman, the existence of such a special force unit belonging to a law enforcement bureau intrigued Sheemah.

Especially when compared with the world's elite—renowned dangerous elements from Country R and Country S, the latter comprising both the former and the West in terms of doctrines, techniques, and tactics.

That female unit somehow surpassed the above and ranked just behind GIGN and GSG of Country F and D respectively.

Meanwhile, Claudia's group couldn't escape in the end and experienced several more fallen teammates.

The invincible accuracy and speed forced them back until they had nowhere else to go. They were supposed to distance themselves from the enemies, but the helicopters above delivered a negative answer.

Like divine punishment, explosive rounds clattered on their premeditated path, locking them down. The enemies clearly displayed the intention to surround and annihilate them.

One by one, Claudia watched her men die, including her close aides. Although they weren't close except for the current mission, they were under her orders, after all.

In the end, Claudia had to wield firearms and shoot. She wondered why the men around her fell when she didn't, even though she exposed herself more. Her sixth sense seemed to be telling her something, but she couldn't grasp it.

Until a flashbang exploded in her ears and incapacitated her, Claudia thought she had fought hard. She was pushed down against the harsh surface, spun around, and forced to eat dirt. Her arms were stretched tight behind her.

Damn, they were close… Impossible to be the element she was fighting. Alas, it wasn't a positive notion to be flanked by others.

Soon, she heard the groans of her men and felt pain in her neck. Then, she knew nothing.

The battlefield quieted down. The operator pinning Claudia swung her around and stroked her beautiful chin, studying her face.

"It's her. Our target," she reported to her leader.

"Good job… All stations, Jackpot again. Jackpot."

Puff! Puff!

Spirit Fox sisters nearby ended the misery of their wounded enemies. The groaning halted.

Athena voiced over. "Net call—well done. Beautiful ops, girls. Consolidate and prepare to exfil."

"Athena, do we or do we not need SSE and secure the zone?" someone asked on the comms.

"Negative. Our stage show has alarmed everyone nearby. Do you expect us to fight opponents outside our range of activity?"

"Well, it's not that impossible," another groaned in dissatisfaction.

"All stations, focus on consolidation and exfil. How copy?!" Athena ignored the girls' plight and commanded.

"Solid copy, Deltas are to prep exfil, out." Unwilling responses acknowledged Athena's order.

Athena knew why Spirit Fox showed emotions about solving problems to the root. In addition to her mother's lead in thoroughness and Spirit Fox's policing work, the girls expressed their desire to help the locals.

Especially when they witnessed women and children showing signs of being trafficked and kidnapped. Weak civilians always suffered during war, particularly women, children, and the elderly. Hence, the saying—protect elders, women, and children—since young strong men were often the culprits. The strong devoured the weak.

From a humanitarian perspective, Athena should have catered to Spirit Fox's opinions, but the need to avoid diplomatic backlash and the impossibility of solving the problems at their root proved otherwise.

If one desired to help, then think through everything and help without stopping. Don't do so if you aren't sure. Likewise, growing war in this region meant enormous resources and time would be needed to solve the trafficking of women and children. Unless her mother sent boots on the ground and planned to settle.

Not to mention, doing so would expose secrets. Athena might be affected by Ling Qingyu's love, but her core was utmost rationality—seeking the greatest benefits regardless.

Well, Athena wavered on whether to delay reporting to her mother.

The same report could bring different consequences depending on timing.

What if Ling Qingyu wanted to recruit the women and children out of kindness?

Tang Ziyi & Xiao Yue: Ling Qingyu is kind? Why don't we know? We think our niece has a wrong judgment of kindness.

Ling Qingyu: "…"

If Elena had carried more troops and manufactured more Virgins, perhaps Athena would have agreed to Spirit Fox's reluctance without hesitation.

Her final decision came when she consulted Elena, and she regretted it.

If she asked someone who always wanted more action for advice, she should have known the results.

That heretic ship AI desired to explode matters and alter the geography of the planet.

What terrorists? What about the eyes of the world? Anything that could be solved by a shot from an electromagnetic gun was easy.

If not once, then twice. If not twice, then thrice.

Athena suffered a momentary virtual headache and called her mother.

Fortunately, much of what she intended aligned with her mother's reply, and her worries dissipated.

But she kept tracking the victims via satellite spectrum.

Who knew—one day Spirit Fox might rescue them.

On the ground, Spirit Fox teams grouped together separately near designated LZ, packing away hostages and targets. Above, Virgin 2 suppressed mercilessly, shredding bodies that dared to pop out of buildings to fire at the teams.

As the operators flowed back toward the waiting helicopters, rotors already spooling up, Athena allowed herself the smallest flicker of what might have been pride. Even Elena prodded on the channel though the former was uncertain what made Elena proud here. She made all the plans, okay!!

Mission clock: 12 minutes 43 seconds from first missile to last boot off the ground.

Lightning assault ended successfully. Virgin 1s lifted off the ground and the formation headed back. The town behind erupted into balls of flames as multiple explosions saluted their return. Weapon caches burned and destroyed.

The operatives aboard whistled and shook playful punches, admiring their handiwork. No one feared hurting the innocents since they'd informed the locals.

Another ghost story the world would never hear.

And somewhere far above, invisible to every radar on Earth, the God-tier satellites rolled over the horizon, already prepared to smother and wash away any darkness in the world to their master's will.