The Ultimate War Of The Apocalypse-Chapter 424 - 417 Black Devil

The truck was loaded with rocket launchers, quite a few of them, no less than six launchers and twenty-four rockets to be exact. However, the models were outdated—all of them were RPG-7s, and the rockets were of two types: armor-piercing and high-explosive, twelve of each.

These armor-piercing rockets were critical for taking out armored vehicles and tanks; the rocket launchers were relied upon for this task.

To set up an ambush for the enemy and to keep as much distance from this location as possible, they could drive, which would be faster.

Sirte glanced into the back of the truck and his face changed immediately because François and the other three captives were still thrown in there, alive and well.

"They’re not dead?"

Sirte asked in surprise, then Ralph glanced over and said, "Yes, they’re not dead."

Sirte fell silent. He stood at the rear of the vehicle, gazing at the bound prisoners lying in the truck bed, lost in thought.

After a moment of silence, Sirte turned around, took off his helmet, and silently saluted the bodies of the fallen soldiers. Then he turned back to salute those who were being treated for injuries and those waiting to be treated.

After the salute, Sirte seemed hesitant to speak, but after several pauses, he finally said loudly, "I’m sorry!"

Gao Yuan could understand this apology, so he looked at Sirte in surprise.

Ralph and Sirte were the kind of comrades who didn’t get along well. They weren’t sworn enemies, but they simply didn’t mesh. Even so, Ralph replied in a serious tone, "Why say sorry?"

Indeed, why say sorry? There seemed to be no need for an apology.

Though it was Sirte who decided to let François use the radio to respond to the call from their allies, this still wasn’t a reason for Sirte to apologize.

They had been ambushed and suffered heavy losses, but who was to be held responsible?

Gao Yuan wasn’t responsible because he had never been a commanding leader. He would readily accept any rational suggestion from anyone, knowing his own capabilities, and aware that experienced veterans like Sirte and Yuri wouldn’t act unilaterally in normal times, let alone during a crucial moment of escape.

Therefore, where and how to proceed was the result of discussion among several experienced individuals.

Should Sirte be held responsible? He was the one who interrogated François, watched over him, and observed François answering the call on the radio. Yet Sirte should not and could not be held accountable for this.

François was an officer and a valuable prisoner. He could provide key intelligence about the Sanitation Worker, such as troop deployment, firepower arrangement, command systems, combat style, responses in battle, and the leadership’s command style—all incredibly valuable information.

As a captain leading a battalion’s worth of troops, François knew a lot that the average soldier didn’t, making him a gold mine of intelligence.

Therefore, of course, François could not be killed; he had to be taken along, and a few more captives had to be brought as well to corroborate François’ statements.

And having taken François along, when they received a call from the enemy for him, naturally they had to let François answer. Not allowing him to would alert the enemy to a problem—a problem that would lead them to investigate and would expose Spark Squad even faster.

So did Sirte have any responsibility? He had none—he certainly didn’t need to apologize.

Spark Squad had done their best, achieving perfection in everything they could based on their capabilities.

Perfection doesn’t guarantee victory in war, where there are no rules. It is like an artist creating a perfect painting, only for his competitor to splatter a pot of ink across it and utterly destroy the piece.

A perfect act of creation is never as powerful as a perfect act of destruction.

Take America’s invasion of Iraq for example. Iraq knew America was going to attack, knew when and where it would begin, and even the specific time it would start.

Iraq did everything a small country could possibly do, but the outcome? They still lost miserably.

In the end, it’s a matter of power disparity. What chance does Iraq have against such overwhelming odds? None.

Now Spark Squad and Sanitation Worker are in the same boat. After the battle against François’ forces ends, Sanitation Worker will eventually find out. They just need to track the time the fight ended to approximate Spark Squad’s location.

Drawing a circle centered on the site of the engagement, Spark Squad wouldn’t be more than thirty kilometers away within an hour after the battle, no more than sixty kilometers after two hours, considering the limits of their vehicles’ speed.

Then, all Sanitation Worker has to do is send out enough assault vehicles for a search and reconnaissance. They’re bound to catch up with Spark Squad, especially since trucks leave tracks, and assault vehicles can definitely follow them.

But if we don’t leave by vehicle, we’ll be even slower. We might split up, but if Sanitation Worker sends a large force to encircle us, where can Spark Squad run?

So, there’s nothing we can do. We know what Sanitation Worker will do, but the outcome is unavoidable.

Ralph and Sirte don’t get along, but Ralph still doesn’t want Sirte to apologize. They’re all soldiers, and if Ralph were to take this ambush as an opportunity to mock and belittle Sirte, he would be insulting himself because they are the root cause of this situation.

Sirte was silent for a moment before he said softly, "I apologize for not being capable enough."

After thinking for a while, Ralph frowned and asked quietly, "What do you mean?"

Sirte replied gravely, "I failed to completely destroy the prisoner’s will, to make him utterly collapse and lose all thoughts of resistance. I didn’t accomplish that. It’s my lack of capability, and I apologize for that."

Ralph thought for a moment and said, "You’re just a soldier. Your only job is to quickly extract confessions on the battlefield. As for interrogation, that’s not your or my responsibility because we’re just soldiers. Besides, completely destroying a person’s will to resist in a matter of minutes is impossible. I don’t think anyone could do that."

Sirte heaved a sigh and said, "Some people can."

"Who?"

"Black Devil."

After answering Ralph’s question, Sirte put his helmet on and then looked at François calmly and said, "Since he’s not dead yet, let’s keep him for now. Be ready to take them out at any moment, but if possible, let them live to see Black Devil."

Ralph frowned and asked, "Who is Black Devil?"

"A group of Black Devils."

Ralph was persistent, continuing, "What exactly does Black Devil refer to? Is it a codename for a person, a group of people, or a military unit?"

Gazing at François with no hatred in his eyes, only pity, Sirte slowly replied, "Black Devil is Black Devil. If you live to meet Ram, then you’ll certainly encounter Black Devil. You must see how they torture François to understand—they are a group of devils focused on toying with the human mind, true devils!"