The White Olive Tree

Chapter 52

Jose waited outside for Song Ran, noticing her pale face when she approached, he asked, "What's wrong with you? You look quite unwell."

Song Ran shook her head, "It's nothing."

But then she quickly darted into an alley, running while looking around. 

Jose caught up and asked, "Song, what are you looking for?"

Song Ran climbed the stairs of a residential building, tiptoeing and craning her neck. "I'm looking for a good vantage point to see the whole hillside."

It was past one in the morning, yet the moonlight was strong. In the dim alley, each empty window resembled the deep eyes of specters. They searched until they found a rooftop that offered a clear view without being directly in the line of fire.

Song Ran was relatively composed, setting up the tripod and adjusting her equipment methodically. However, after setting up, she began to move around, trying different angles, none of which satisfied her.

Jose remarked, "Song, the rooftop is only so big, the angles are more or less the same."

Without responding, Song Ran finally settled in the outermost corner, restless and eventually lying prone along the edge of the roof. She felt her abdomen pressing against the ground, heaving heavily, and her legs trembling.

The hillside was silent as if the warring sides had paused. But she knew this was the calm before the storm. She zoomed in her lens, clearly seeing machine gun and cannon placements hidden within the enemy fortress.

The moon illuminated the hillside beautifully. This serene and quiet night was not suitable for lurking.

Looking up, Song Ran could still see the artillery fire several kilometers away on the front line. On such a quiet and beautiful night, not a soul in the city could sleep peacefully. Looking at the moon, ancient and bright in the sky, she felt a deep sorrow. Why must humanity do this to itself?

Her eyes moist, suddenly, a cannon fired. A shell landed at the base of the hill, exploding and creating a huge crater.

Song Ran, without blinking, saw a familiar figure carrying explosives, swiftly rolling into the crater amidst the flying dirt and smoke.

The fortress immediately returned fire in a panic, firing wildly without clear aim or sight of the figure.

After a bout of confused firing, as the gunfire subsided and the enemy hesitated, another shell exploded above the crater, and Li Zan leaped out, rolling into a new hole.

Only then did the terrorists on the fortress realize someone was attacking.

As one showed his head, ready to fire into the hole, the Armed Forces soldiers' long-range snipers, who had been waiting, fired. A bullet flew, and the terrorist in the cannon was instantly killed. Several snipers aimed at their respective targets, shooting as soon as they saw movement, covering Li Zan.

As the third shell exploded, creating a new crater, Li Zan quickly climbed out and rolled into another hole. Pressing close to the dirt wall, he gasped for air, his black mask violently moving with his breaths, outlining the sharp angles of his nose and chin. Sweat poured down his forehead as if he had emerged from a battle in the water. He had earplugs in, but the shockwave from the close explosions was so intense that it made his head reel, as if even his organs were trembling.

He struggled to keep his mind clear, taking rapid, deep breaths, resting for only a few seconds before raising the knife on the back of his glove, signaling his comrades with the reflected light.

Three, two, one!

The next shell smashed a few meters away.

Li Zan clenched his jaw, charged forward with one foot against the dirt wall, one hand gripping the ground, and leaped out of the pit, diving into the new one.