rescue

Keegan's gaze swept across the entire area urgently, instantly locking onto Elaine—she stood there, her body trembling slightly, her face pale, her combat uniform stained with dust and dried blood, her usually calm and sharp eyes now filled with exhaustion and lingering fear, but fortunately, she did not appear to have any new external injuries.

Then, his gaze suddenly fell on her—Kruger lay sprawled against the cold rock wall like a rag doll, unconscious. The injuries around his eyes and chest looked horrific, as if he had just escaped death.

“Keegan!” Elaine’s voice came, trembling with relief and barely suppressed emotion. Her voice was like a fine needle, gently piercing Keegan’s taut nerves. Almost the instant her words fell, Keegan had already taken a few steps in front of her.

He didn't choose to embrace her, but instead stood firmly in front of her, extending his right hand, his warm, calloused palm firmly supporting her arm—a strength that was both a form of support and a silent affirmation. His gaze—those usually calm, almost icy, gray-blue eyes—quickly and meticulously examined her entire body: her pale cheeks, her slightly trembling arms, her standing legs.

When he finally confirmed that she really had no obvious wounds, the fear and worry that had surged deep in his eyes and almost swallowed him up slowly receded like the tide, turning into a heavy, almost exhausting sense of relief, like a boulder being dropped.

However, only for a moment. His gaze sharpened again, his tone low and urgent, heading straight for the most crucial question: "Can you walk?"

“Yes.” Elaine nodded vigorously, forcing herself to keep her voice steady, and said urgently, “But Kruger said before he fainted that Makarov was no longer on the island, that this is a trap, and that there’s a ‘big gift’…”

"Get out of here!" Keegan interrupted her; the situation was critical. He looked at Konig. Konig understood and stepped forward to hoist the unconscious Kruger onto his shoulder.

At that moment, a sudden change occurred!

Kruger, who was lying unconscious on Konig's shoulder, suddenly moved! With lightning speed, he drew a spare dagger from Konig's tactical vest, the tip of the blade aimed directly at Konig's carotid artery! The movement was silent yet deadly!

"Don't move!" Kruger's voice was hoarse and weak, yet as cold as iron. He opened his eyes a crack, revealing a beast-like vigilance and determination as he stared intently at Keegan.

Almost simultaneously, Keegan drew his gun, pointing it at Kruger's forehead. The atmosphere froze instantly! Elaine held her breath in shock.

Kruger's lips curled into a mocking, blood-frozen smile: "Keegan Russ... I knew... you'd come... put down your gun... or you'd take someone down with you..."

Keegan remained expressionless, his eyes icy. He neither lowered his gun nor fired. A few seconds later, with an extremely slow motion, he used his free left hand to remove his worn-out metal identification tag. With a flick of his wrist, the tag landed with a soft "snap" on the ground beside Kruger. Then, still holding his gun, he looked directly at Kruger and gave a very slight but clear nod.

A silent agreement was reached: I'll rescue you, and we'll call it even. If you make any moves, I'll kill you.

Kruger stared at the identification tag on the ground, then looked into Keegan's eyes. A complex emotion flashed in his eyes, ultimately settling into an absurd resignation. He chuckled, released the dagger, letting it fall to the ground. He gave Keegan one last look, his eyes seeming to say "deal," before his head lolled to the side and he fell into a deep coma once more.

Keegan immediately stepped forward, picked up the ID tag, and whispered, "Go!" The whole process took less than fifteen seconds.

The team quickly regrouped and sped towards the extraction point. They hadn't gone far from the cave when Hesh urgently reported, "Boss! Cleanup crew, speed up! 800 meters! They've spotted us!"

"Logan, set up the stun gun! Hesh, cover from the high ground! Konig, take the target and go first! Elaine, cover the rear!" Keegan gave the order instantly.

The squad operates efficiently. Logan plants the explosives, Hesh occupies the high ground for sniping, Konig carries Kruger and moves quickly under Elaine's guidance, while Keegan and Elaine cover the rear.

Intense gunfire and explosions soon followed from behind—the cleanup team was stalled but engaged Hesh. "The enemy has heavy firepower and is well-trained! They're elite!" Hesh reported.

"Alternate cover! Retreat to the extraction point!" Keegan commanded while returning fire.

The squad fought their way back along the rugged, rocky beach. Just as they were about to reach the rendezvous point, Ghost's cold voice brought even worse news: "Squad B report. The cleanup team is bait. The real killer is an unidentified, stealthy attack helicopter that is rapidly approaching you from the sea at extremely low altitude! It is expected to arrive within one minute!"

Ground elites drive them away, while invisible reapers descend from the sky! A decisive battle!

Keegan's eyes flashed with a cold light. He grabbed Elaine and pushed her toward the rendezvous point, yelling at the team, "Everyone! Charge at full speed! Board the ship! Now!" He himself turned around, gun at the ready, facing the direction of the incoming helicopter, his eyes resolute, prepared to use his body as a shield to buy his teammates a few last seconds.

In the nick of time, Price's calm, collected voice rang out across the communication channel, resolute and decisive: "Attention all units! This is Price! Execute 'Phantom' Protocol! Repeat, execute 'Phantom' Protocol! Hesh, Logan, drop all smoke grenades onto the designated reef area to create the illusion of being hit! Keegan, abandon the rendezvous point and immediately lead the entire team to the coordinates for a dive! Team B, create a false heat signature to draw the helicopter's attention! This is an order! Execute immediately!"

The "Phantom" Protocol? Everyone was taken aback, but their long-standing absolute trust led them to execute it instantly. Hesh and Logan quickly threw a large number of smoke grenades into the flank reef area and fired shots into the water, creating the illusion that the boat had been hit, exploded, caught fire, and that people had fallen into the water and were struggling.

Without hesitation, Keegan grabbed Elaine and yelled at Konig, "Follow me! Underwater dive!" The team instantly abandoned boarding the ship and, like drops of water entering the sea, silently submerged, using underwater propulsion to dive at full speed toward the new coordinates specified by Price.

The Ghost team quickly released several homing buoys simulating the body temperature of people who had fallen into the water, which, from the perspective of the helicopters in the air, looked like survivors struggling in the sea.

Less than a minute after the entire Ghost Squad submerged, something unexpected happened! BOOM—!!! A deafening roar erupted from the heart of Eagle Rock Island! Immediately following were a series of muffled, violent explosions! The entire island seemed to tremble; massive fireballs shot into the air, billowing smoke billowed, and the powerful shockwaves could be felt even underwater! The scale of the explosions far exceeded that of a typical firefight; clearly, a large number of pre-planted explosives had been detonated simultaneously!

"What's going on?!" The team members, who were diving underwater, were thrown off balance by the shockwave. "It's an island! The island is exploding!" Logan exclaimed in the comms.

Almost simultaneously, Ghost's icy voice came through, tinged with an unusual solemnity: "Group B reports. A massive series of explosions has occurred on the main peak of 'Eagle Rock,' covering an extremely wide area, with an energy level... enough to wipe out all life on the surface. NATO's cleanup teams and helicopters... have all lost signal."

Everyone gasped. Makarov's "gift" wasn't an ambush, but a self-destructive purge! He wanted to bury everyone who landed on the island, friend or foe!

Minutes later, the team surfaced several kilometers away beneath a highly concealed crevice in the reef. The hatch of a medium-sized submarine, disguised as a research vessel, quietly opened before them.

Price stood personally at the hatch, his face more grave than ever before: "Quick! Get on board! Submerge immediately!" Everyone quickly boarded the submarine, which rapidly submerged and silently sailed into the deep sea. Inside the submarine's command center, the atmosphere was oppressive. The screen displayed real-time satellite images of "Vulture Rock"—the central part of the island was a scene of devastation, thick smoke and raging fire, like hell.

“Makarov…he’s gone mad! He wants to take us all down with him!” Hesh said in a deep voice.

“No, he’s not crazy.” Price’s voice was icy as he pointed to the explosion analysis data on the screen. “The explosive yield was huge, but the detonation point was precisely calculated, mainly concentrated in the central and southern beaches of the island. The northeastern cave complex where we were previously located was relatively less affected. Moreover, the timing of the explosion… happened right after most of NATO’s cleanup teams and helicopters landed on the island and ‘engaged’ with us.”

Keegan's eyes sharpened: "He did it on purpose. He knew we would come, and he knew the NATO silencers would come. He detonated the island not to take us all down with him, but to create a perfect 'death scene.' To make everyone believe that the Ghost Squad, the NATO silencers, and Makarov himself had all been wiped out in the explosion."

Elaine instantly understood: "He used the explosion to deceive everyone and disappear completely from the public eye!"

“That’s right.” Price slammed his fist on the control panel. “What a cunning plan that kills two birds with one stone! It not only gets rid of NATO’s pursuit, but also makes us ‘die,’ allowing him to take the Night Watch’s core data and virus samples and go completely underground, waiting for the next opportunity to stir up trouble!”

A chill ran down everyone's spine. Makarov was more cunning and ruthless than they had imagined!

Price turned, his gaze sweeping over each weary and angry face. “NATO high command thought we were dead, and Makarov thought we were dead too. This gave us our only chance—the chance to operate in the shadows. From now on, Ghost Squad ceases to exist. On the official record, you are dead. We will break up into smaller units, go into absolute silence, and operate like true ghosts.” He looked at Keegan and Elaine. “The intelligence you brought back is crucial. Makarov will definitely try to contact his new financier or activate the backup plan. Find him, and finish him off before he causes even greater disaster. But this will be a war without support, an unacknowledged war.”

"We are facing not only Makarov, this viper, but also the jackals in suits behind him who could betray us again at any moment. The battle has entered its darkest phase!"