Death Notice

There was a natural beach west of Casablanca. The Oranienburg Special Forces Soldier squad was going to land there under the cover of night. All the Special Forces soldiers in the team had undergone strict frogman training and could dive three miles to assault the beach without difficulty. As for Lin Feng and the other two, because their roles were signalman and medic, they were also crammed into the seaplane and parachuted down together with the eight superhumans.

The seaplane made a wide circle and carried out the parachute drop in the wilderness more than twenty kilometers from the outskirts of Casablanca. Due to the arrival of the three nations’ leaders, Casablanca was now heavily guarded, with anti-aircraft guns spread all over the city. Unidentified aircraft simply could not get close.

“There is a small forest ahead. The captain told us to prepare to parachute!” Lieutenant Colonel Skorzeny entered the cabin and hooked the parachute on his back to the parachute hook. “Remember, after landing, don’t run around. Let the Baron’s vampire bats lead us to the rendezvous point.”

Casablanca bordered the Atlantic Ocean and had a mild climate all year round. Although it was early February, the night temperature was around 10 degrees, which was not very cold. When Qin Lun jumped out of the aircraft, the stars above were brilliant, and the sky was clear without a cloud, as if he could reach out and pluck the bright stars one by one.

“Rat-a-tat-tat!” Just as Qin Lun was looking up at the starry sky, the sound of cannons, like popcorn popping, shattered the night’s peace. Several huge searchlight beams cut through the sky like sharp swords, exposing the seaplane and the parachutes under the night sky.

“Didn’t they say there were no enemy anti-aircraft gun units here?” The commandos in mid-air were both shocked and angry. Those with quick minds soon thought of spies and traitors.

Given the dense anti-aircraft fire, the enemies on the ground were clearly prepared in advance and were not simply a garrison unit. This place was very far from Casablanca. Stationing the limited anti-aircraft gun troops here was obviously not a good idea, unless they knew in advance that there would be enemy paratroopers infiltrating.

“At least 500 meters from the ground! At the current speed, it will take about three minutes!”

Qin Lun touched the Shahbakh Ring on his hand. This ring had a Shahbakh’s Wall with 500 units. It definitely wasn’t enough to defend against armor-piercing rounds above 20mm. However, judging by the puffs of smoke from the explosions in the night sky, the enemy’s anti-aircraft guns clearly used delayed fuses. Defending against these scattered shrapnel was more than sufficient.

The three minutes passed in a flash. Qin Lun was lucky; no shell fragments hit his body, only his parachute was pierced in several places. After landing, as soon as he cut his parachute cords, he saw numerous figures appearing outside the forest. They found us so quickly! Qin Lun narrowed his eyes, quietly rolled up his parachute, and stuffed it into a dense bush. Modern firearms were very powerful. Even superhumans with immortal bloodlines like Grant and Wurdenbeller would suffer if hit by too many bullets, let alone an apostle like him with a junior elf bloodline.

Fortunately, this is a small forest! Qin Lun smiled lightly as he looked at the trees beside him, then pressed his palm against a tree trunk. The tree touched by his palm swayed slightly in the breeze, as if whispering softly.

Whether it was a failure in spy work or a traitor within the team, under these circumstances, they certainly could not follow Skorzeny’s order to wait in place for the Baron’s vampire bats.

“Two teams of skirmishers on the left, four teams on the right, armed with M3 submachine guns and Springfield sniper rifles… and even 60mm mortars!” Qin Lun raised an eyebrow. “These enemies know exactly who they are dealing with. It seems there is a traitor, not just Allied spies!”

For the “Heracles Plan,” the Third Reich even dispatched the last remaining Gneisenau, showing how much they valued the “Gentlemen Alliance.” Although this operation was led by Lieutenant Colonel Skorzeny, even the SS Intelligence Department only had partial understanding and could only make some guesses based on personnel assignments.

Apart from the Führer and a few top military officials, the only ones who truly knew the inside story were the internal members of the commando team. Moreover, the entire operation, from planning to execution, had only taken a few days. It was hard to imagine that Allied spies could have uncovered the specific details, unless their informant was inside the “Gentlemen Alliance” itself…

“The encirclement hasn’t fully formed yet…” Qin Lun’s thoughts shifted. He slung the leather case containing his sniper rifle over his back and crept in one direction.

Not far ahead, he saw a figure crouching in the grass, looking around nervously. Qin Lun smiled slightly. Among the plot characters in the Gentlemen Alliance, aside from Lieutenant Colonel Skorzeny, the others were no longer trustworthy. However, the apostles in his own team were definitely reliable. Even someone like Clown Grant wouldn’t betray the team this early in the mission.

“Ah! It’s… you! You scared me!” Lin Feng was startled by the hand that suddenly appeared on his shoulder and nervously wiped the cold sweat from his brow.

“Quiet. Is the communication equipment still working?” Qin Lun lowered his voice.

“It was hit by shrapnel, but I have spare parts in my bag. I should be able to fix it!” Lin Feng checked the communicator. The signalman he was possessing had repair experience and could handle this situation.

“Repair it while we move!” Qin Lun patted his shoulder, and a faint green light flickered in his eyes.

“Boss Qin Lun, can you see the direction clearly?” Lin Feng was overjoyed and asked quietly, “Are we going to find Little Lian and Lili?”

“No, there’s no time. The direction we’re breaking out is too far from them!” Qin Lun shook his head slowly and said calmly, “But… that guy is right in front of us. We can take him with us!”

“Is it the Joker?” Lin Feng asked bitterly. “Boss Qin Lun, can I use the team channel to give Little Lian and Lili directions for breaking out?”

“Tell them to go east. There’s still a small gap in the encirclement there, but they have to move quickly!” Qin Lun glanced at Lin Feng and replied indifferently.

The temporary team formed by the Black Iron Badges finally served its purpose. Although it didn’t have a Team Warehouse or team bonuses, the Team Channel alone was already worth it. It might just be information sharing, but it meant all team members effectively had Qin Lun’s Night Vision Ability and Elf Whispers.

Lin Feng sighed and started contacting the other three. He knew in his heart that Qin Lun sought him out first mainly because of the communication device, not out of genuine concern for him.

“Boss Grant, wait for us where you are… Little Lian, Lili, you won’t make it to the rendezvous in time. Run east, and be quick!”

“Hurry up and fix the telegraph. Once it’s done, send a message to the assault team on the beach and the Lieutenant Colonel!” Qin Lun said without expression.

All members selected for the “Gentlemen Alliance” had passed loyalty checks. Now that there was a traitor, and the Main Quest hadn’t changed, it was likely an unexpected temporary change. Shattered Starry Sky was just a collection of laws; it couldn’t calculate or judge the psychology of plot characters.

The members of the “Gentlemen Alliance” were all superhumans. Beings like vampires and flame men were hard to trap and kill. As long as Skorzeny was safe, they could still contact the German intelligence organization inside Casablanca. The Main Quest hadn’t completely failed yet.

But if Skorzeny died, within the remaining two short days, it would be very difficult for them to contact the intelligence organization again. The mission difficulty would likely become unimaginably high. Unless they could find other branching extensions of the Main Quest, Qin Lun would rather lose 55 points of Soul Lifespan than continue participating in the Main Plotline.

“Glad to see you again, Qin Lun!” Grant stood up from the darkness, a touch of pleasure in his voice. “It seems your bloodline has strong reconnaissance abilities, though it seems more suited for a long-range combat profession…”

“Heh, didn’t expect the ‘Dissector’ to choose a long-range combat profession, right?” Qin Lun’s eyes flashed. A hint of smile appeared in his pale gray, indifferent eyes as he said, half-truthfully, “We are only Junior Apostles; our resources aren’t abundant enough to freely choose Bloodline Items. Maybe in the future, if I get other close-combat bloodlines, I might change again.”

The Moon Night Elf Bloodline was actually suitable for many combat professions, not limited to long-range ones. It was just that the Elf Whispers Qin Lun currently displayed belonged to Perception, and Night Vision was a necessary ability for long-range attacks, which led Grant to misunderstand.

“Our combination is quite good!” Grant gave an embarrassed laugh and took the lead, walking ahead.

The three of them walked intermittently. As they neared the edge of the small forest, Lin Feng finally repaired the telegraph and sent brief messages to the assault team and Skorzeny separately. They soon received a response; the Lieutenant Colonel wore a small short-range transceiver.

“Skorzeny sent us an address within Casablanca and asked us to rendezvous there!” Lin Feng said happily. “He has already broken out of the encirclement. But the last part of the message was strange. He told us to be careful of… Green!”

“Green? What’s that?” Grant asked, puzzled.

“He didn’t say. The telegraph can’t send very long messages. Could it be the code name for the troops surrounding us?” Lin Feng replied cautiously.

“Another two hundred meters and we’ll be out of the forest. There’s a squad guarding the front, no mortars or machine guns…” Qin Lun opened his eyes and withdrew his hand from the tree trunk. “But they set up a simple fortification. I can’t take them all out at once.”

“No problem. I’ll charge once, and they’ll all show themselves!” Grant sneered and cracked his knuckles. “It’s up to your shooting skills now!”

“OK!” Qin Lun smiled and took down the leather case. “The modified Kar98k sniper rifle has exactly ten bullets per magazine. We can finish this fight in half a minute!”

“Click!” As the last cartridge case from the sniper rifle’s magazine hit the ground, a figure in the scope also dropped his head and fell onto the sandbags. Qin Lun wasn’t boasting. As soon as Grant had charged halfway across the clearing in front of the forest, there were no living souls left on the Allied Forces squad’s position.

“A perfect performance. It makes me want to practice my shooting skills too!” Grant licked his lips and tensed his muscles, slowly squeezing out the pointed bullets from the M3 submachine gun.

“Heh heh… Huh?” Qin Lun had just laughed twice when he frowned and looked up into the distance ahead.