After leaving the Kremlin, Vaghnief got into the armored car and said to his secretary in the front seat, "Imdiately get our mobile troops back and inform Moran International that we will closely monitor the disappearance of their personnel. If they need funds, materials, or policy conveniences, I will do my best to help."
"Understood, Mr. Director." The secretary nodded and quickly made several encrypted calls, feeling sowhat puzzled.
The director's words outwardly showed full support for Moran International, but the subtext was clear: the Russian Governnt would no longer directly involve itself in the following matters, leaving Moran International to handle it themselves - a complete contradiction to the director's initial intentions.
Could this be the President's intention? But this doesn't seem like the President's usual firm style.
However, as a secretary, he knew his place well; questions that shouldn't be asked, thoughts that shouldn't be entertained – it was best not to engage in either.
After the calls were made, the heavily ard squads that had been standing by within Ukrainian territory quietly withdrew back into Russia. The extensive investigation network shifted its focus to other tasks, sending only the exposé-worthy results of the preliminary investigation by fax to the headquarters of Moran International.
Without the support of the Russian Governnt, Moran International was rely a large rcenary organization, no longer possessing the capability for international coordination.
"May God bless Ludmila and her team," said a vice president of Moran International, sowhat helplessly.
...
"If the ladies are willing, we can go hunting in the mountains. During this season, most animals are weakened and may risk leaving their caves to store food for winter."
At Eibek Castle, Avitu, seeing the Eastern visitors' keen interest in cold weapons, suggested with a bit of enjoynt.
Hunting in Romania is a common outdoor sport enjoyed by n and won, young and old, but for most Easterners, the idea is appealing until it cos to the actual killing of living animals, which many still find heart-wrenching.
Zhao Yun chuckled, saying as one ages, the heart softens; he now could hardly bear to kill a chicken, let alone bring children to see such a bloody scene.
The castle had a special 'kennel' that used to breed hounds and beasts of prey, where eight large Grey Wolves resided, evidently eager to be tried. For them, hunting was a part of life, and Suming simply opened the kennel doors to let these creatures roam freely.
The wolf pack burst out of the castle in high spirits, and soon, a mournful howl was heard outside the castle.
"What's happening?"
From the castle balcony, they watched as a dark mass, like a 'black cloud', suddenly rose in the nearby forest and swiftly approached the castle.
The eight large Grey Wolves, as if seeing a ghost, dashed across the stone bridge and raced back into the castle.
The pursuing 'black cloud' drew closer, and from the balcony, the people clearly saw that it was not a cloud, but a large swarm of bats - bloodsucking bats!
"Why are these creatures here again?" Avitu frowned, puzzled. Bloodsucking bats were known to roam the mountain ranges but were rare in the past. He, responsible for maintaining the castle, ventured into the mountains annually, yet had only encountered them a few tis, mostly alone; why had their activity increased so frequently recently?
In desperate tis, strengths and weaknesses could clearly be seen. The three strongest adult wolves led at the front, leaving their pack trailing by twenty to thirty ters, first to dart into the dark castle corridors, howling wildly at the following wolves.
At that mont, the weakest wolf had just reached the middle of the stone bridge when a large bat powerfully flapped its wings and glided down, fiercely lunging at it.
Buzz!
The arrow sped through the vast space, not whimpering as one might imagine, but tearing through the air with a resonant buzz. A black-feathered arrow slashed through the sky, outpacing the bat and ruthlessly piercing one of its wings!
The arrow's montum did not falter, the great inertia altering the bat's original flight path, sending it beyond the stone bridge.
In mid-air, the bat struggled flapping its wings feebly; unfortunately, with one wing severely wounded, relying on the other wing alone wasn't enough to maintain flight. It crashed into the rocks and tumbled awkwardly into the torrents below the canyon, washed away by the flowing water.
Seizing the opportunity, the last wolf fled from danger, rushing back into the castle. With a squeak, the castle's gate slowly closed.
Cheers erupted from the terrace. Suming, holding the bow, gave Su ng a thumbs up, smiling, "Nicely done!"
After Su ng took down the pack leader bat, the remaining bats did not retreat but noticed a gathering of 'food' on the nearby castle terrace, fluttering their wings toward the terrace.
This sudden swarm of blood-sucking bats scared a few Grey Wolves but didn't cause Suming and the others too much tension.
After all, it was only a few bats. Although quite large and their blood-sucking trait sounded terrifying, with everyone ard with bows and guns, there was no real fear of substantial harm.
Just when they ntioned hunting, a group of blood-sucking bats appeared. Animals also need to look appealing, and while Suming and his group were reluctant to harm ordinary animals, shooting these ugly, ferocious creatures ca without any psychological burden.
The large bats couldn't match the speed of falcons and hawks in flight. Opening their wings in the air made them especially large targets, turning them into easy prey.
The group, newly trained in archery, found it an excellent opportunity to practice; Suming, Su ng, and Zhao Yun each held a longbow firing arrows chaotically, while the two won accompanied by Chengcheng shared two crossbow arrows, with the strongest, Nurse Hu, responsible for loading, and Chengcheng and Nangong Yan responsible for shooting.
Avitu, ard with a double-barreled shotgun, stood on the side to prevent any bats that escaped the barrage from approaching and possibly harming anyone. The shotgun spread its pellets wide. The bat, stretching about one square ter with its wings open, was an easy target even with eyes closed.
"I hit it!"
"Go, go!"
"So close, such a pity...forgot to lead the target..."
The group was thoroughly enjoying themselves, arrows flying chaotically on the terrace, with large bats occasionally getting hit, plumting awkwardly like kites with broken strings. The luckier ones crashed on the stone bridge below, severely injured, while the unfortunate ones, just like the first large bat, directly fell into the canyon below and were swept away by the stream.
Soon, the last bat was taken down by Su ng with an exploding headshot, clearing the sky.
"Yay!" Nangong Yan and Nurse Hu high-fived each other; Chengcheng's face flushed with excitent from the stimulating hunt.
"Avitu, let's head down and clean up the battlefield!" Suming pointed to several half-dead blood-sucking bats lying on the stone bridge.
These creatures were slightly different from the blood-sucking bats they had encountered in Huaxia; seemingly not controlled by spiritual power, capturing a few 'live specins' might unveil so clues.
Just as they were about to leave the terrace, Avitu's expression suddenly changed, pointing at the distant sky and exclaiming,"God, what is that!"
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