Chapter 61: Chapter 60: The Legend of the Devil, Fear Among the People
At that moment, there was no one left alive at the checkpoint.
The M1A1 Abrams tank in the center of the yard had not even been put to use.
Cohen tossed a few grenades into the ammunition area, then swiftly left.
Moments later, a massive explosion destroyed the entire camp.
...
That same night.
In an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city.
CIA agents were in the middle of a transaction with some Afghan locals.
The agents threw out stacks of green cash, and the locals handed over a bag of "bricks."
Both sides were in sync, speaking little, and the transaction was completed within seconds.
Just as they were about to leave, a sudden stone flew through the air, shattering the lightbulb.
"Bastards, are you trying to double-cross us? We're agents of the great United States! Do you want to die?"
"Sir, no, we didn't mean to—"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Chaos, screams, and pleas for mercy followed. When the light flickered back on, the lead agent spat on the corpses on the ground, "Pah! You dare play dirty with us? Do you even know who you're dealing with? Let's go!"
As he turned, he suddenly noticed a shadowy figure moving in the darkness, and one of his comrades was missing.
What was happening?
The remaining agents immediately went on high alert, guns aimed in every direction.
"Swish!"
Another one was gone.
"Dammit, are we seeing ghosts?"
"Shoot! Fire at any suspicious targets and take him down!"
"Bang! Bang..."
Gunfire echoed through the abandoned factory.
If anyone could hear or discern it, they would realize that the gunfire, which started with six shooters, had dwindled to five, then four, then three...
After some time no one was left alive to tell the tale.
...
In a dark cave, a group of terrorists hid.
They had just carried out an attack against civilians.
"Quick, call Mossad and tell them to send the money. If not, we won't work with them anymore. MI6 is waiting to partner with us!"
But before they could even make the call to boast about their success, an uninvited guest barged into the cave.
Blood, slaughter and screams filled the whole cave.
It wasn't until their final moments that they realized how painful it was to bleed, and how terrifying death could be.
The legend of the Devil had begun to spread across the land.
...
Bagram Airfield.
A group of high-ranking U.S. military officials stationed in Afghanistan was watching a video.
It was footage of the recently notorious "Death Devil," along with a few lucky snapshots and videos.
When the clear, frontal image appeared on the screen, everyone couldn't help but gasp.
A devil?
Someone immediately objected, "I'm a staunch materialist, and I question the authenticity of this video and these photos. There's no way a devil exists in this world."
Another person agreed, "Although I'm a devout Christian, I don't believe a devil is slaughtering us. Could it be some kind of suit or armor?"
General Pulver, the head of the intelligence agency, stood up with a grave expression. "I'm afraid he might actually exist, folks. We have plenty of evidence to support this."
The room fell silent.
Someone whispered, "Could this be God's punishment on us?"
"But we're God's chosen people. Why would He punish us?"
The only Black general in the room stared at him, but after a moment of hesitation, remained silent—his rank was low.
The highest-ranking commander of the U.S. forces in Afghanistan, General Glenn, clapped his hands. "According to the intelligence, the Death Devil is not just targeting U.S. forces. So, gentlemen, let's not speculate wildly. I've called you here to discuss how we should handle this situation!"
"Pulver, share your agency's analysis."
"Yes, sir!" General Pulver stood up. "Gentlemen, after analyzing all the information, we've come up with the following conclusions. Since the U.S. military, CIA, Afghan National Army, and various armed groups have all been attacked, we believe the Death Devil is not just targeting us, but rather any group with a certain 'trait.'"
"What trait?"
Pulver hesitated. "Possibly... criminals."
"What?"
Pulver quickly clarified, "I'm just saying it's a possibility! In areas where the Death Devil has acted, some units of the Afghan National Army were attacked, while others were not. The same goes for armed groups. There was even an incident where the Death Devil stormed into an Afghan National Army base, killed half the people, and then left. Comparing the victims and survivors, we can easily identify common traits..."
"That's nonsense! I've never heard of a single U.S. soldier being spared. Are you saying all U.S. troops are criminals? That's impossible! Cooks, clerks, technicians—some of them haven't even left the base. Do they have crimes to answer for too?"
The room went silent.
Until someone sighed, "But they are, after all, soldiers on foreign soil..."
Everyone fell quiet.
"So, you're saying we're all guilty?"
"Damn it, this doesn't sound like the work of a devil! If anyone should be dealing with this, it should be God!"
"Kill him! We need to figure out how to kill him!"
"The sanctity of the U.S. military must not be contested. We'll take him down hard—planes, artillery, tanks! We're the strongest military in the world!"
General Glenn rapped on the table. "Gentlemen, I've called you here to discuss exactly that. Killing him is our only option. The question is, how do we do it?"
Pulver quickly jumped in. "Based on current intelligence, we speculate that the Death Devil may not be as powerful as we think. He's never attacked any large bases with over a hundred people, focusing instead on smaller checkpoints, outposts, and temporary bases with just a few dozen people. He seems to have some kind of extraordinary reconnaissance capability that allows him to locate many of our temporary actions and intercept them. Therefore, I believe we should immediately consolidate our scattered personnel to minimize casualties. We can temporarily house them at Bagram or other large bases. As for the Death Devil, we can form a specialized hunter unit to target him..."
While this group of high-ranking officers was discussing how to deal with Cohen, he was listening to their live broadcast.
It was unlikely that these officers could have imagined that the Death Devil was obtaining U.S. military actions by... wiretapping.
They had been so arrogant and undefeated in Afghanistan for so long that the idea of being wiretapped was beyond their consideration.
It wasn't just the U.S. military that feared the Death Devil; various Afghan armed groups were also terrified.
In his recent killing spree, Cohen had stumbled upon a terrorist group linked to the Ten Rings—those responsible for kidnapping Tony Stark, led by the bald man, Raza.
Talk about a windfall!
Cohen killed most of them, while the few survivors ran, terrified, straight to their boss.
Soon, he arrived at the cave where Stark was being held.
It was late at night, the guards at their most sluggish. He quietly infiltrated the cave.
There were several layers of iron doors, but he had come prepared.
Nine Spiders, the poison master, had given him several practical little poison vials.
He lit one of the bottles filled with dry grass and blew the smoke ahead. The guards quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Reaching a large iron door, he peered through a small window and saw Stark inside.
The man was sleeping soundly, snoring softly.
A smile crept onto Cohen's face. His plan to slaughter the golden goose relied entirely on this man!
His eyes swept the room and caught sight of some electrical wires running from behind the iron door, extending further down.
After a quick analysis, he identified the surveillance feed and added a small device to it, causing the monitors in the control room to freeze on a single frame. At this time of night, with Stark and Yinsen both asleep, it was normal for them not to move for a long time.
Cohen used the dry grass bottle on Stark and Yinsen as well. After the two fell into a deeper sleep, he slipped into the cave.
Taking out another small vial, he waved it under Stark's nose.
This was a hallucinogen. Used in combination with the dry grass, it could make the target unconsciously reveal secrets while sleeping.
"Stark, did you leave a backdoor in the Jericho missile?"
The Jericho missile was the multi-warhead missile Stark had demonstrated to the military.
There were three sample missiles, one of which had been used, while the remaining two were currently stored in a nearby U.S. military arsenal.
To slaughter the golden goose, this was the perfect tool!
But without a doubt, the launch sequence for such a weapon would be highly complex, requiring multiple layers of verification.
Unless...
(To be continued)
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