Chapter 539: Can

"Can you see?"

"I can't see anything."

"Let me take a look."

On the island, atop the lighthouse.

Zhou Kaidong snatched the binoculars from Guo Yongwen's hand and peered toward the distant sea where Lu Yang had vanished.

But because the distance was great and the sun had just risen, the sea surface refracted a little light, making it impossible to observe anything.

Zhou Kaidong worried, "Nothing's going to happen, right?"

Guo Yongwen shook his head, "Our military helicopters have already followed, the enemy shouldn't get away. Don't scare yourself here."

"What if, during the chase, the enemy fires at him?"

"The speedboat is so shaky; its shooting accuracy would be heavily reduced, missing the target. Besides, Lu Yang isn't a fool; he'll keep a safe distance. As long as we hold them back so they can't escape, that's enough."

"Did you notice earlier?"

"What?"

"The two who ran are Caucasians, unlike the ones we eliminated before."

"Are you worried those two are mercenaries?"

"I've heard many mercenaries are retired special forces from various nations, having fought on battlefields for years, so their combat experience is extremely rich; Lu Yang is just one person, while the opposite side has two…"

Guo Yongwen fell silent, saying he wasn't worried if it was false, and didn't care if it was a lie.

The space atop the lighthouse was already cramped and confined, and worrying about Lu Yang's situation made the mood increasingly oppressive and gloomy.

"Look over there!"

Suddenly, Guo Yongwen noticed something, and Zhou Kaidong hurriedly lifted the binoculars to look.

A speedboat appeared on the beach; at first they thought Lu Yang had returned, but saw several people disembarking; the boat bore the inscription "Longguo Navy" on its side.

On the shore, Kang Changyi, Chen Panpan, and Liu Ziqiang sat together, hugging their knees and staring blankly.

The small leader in a floral shirt who had been injured earlier was being guarded by Wu Sida.

Just as the few were stunned, a wave slammed a speedboat onto the shore.

The three looked up in confusion, expecting Lu Yang to return, but saw a group descending in special operations uniforms, exuding fierce killing intent.

Lao Mao jumped off the boat, but didn't walk toward the three; instead he took a few steps forward, then turned back, speaking coldly as if back on his own turf.

"The tiger's away, the monkey claims supremacy; silently, you actually run into someone else's house without a word of greeting?"

"Anyone breathing, speak up!"

Lao Mao roared, and Kang Changyi and the others quickly rose from the ground.

Zhou Kaidong and Guo Yongwen hurried from the lighthouse side to salute.

"Good day, commander."

"Hmm, just you few?"

Lao Mao, hands behind his back, asked in a flat tone.

Zhou Kaidong replied, "There's another over there; we captured a small head of a drug dealer and assigned one person to watch him."

Lao Mao hummed and asked, "Where's Lu Yang?"

"Lu Yang… he…"

Zhou Kaidong stopped mid‑sentence, because he recognized the person before him.

Same location, same position, same lofty tone, but this time he had no sunglasses.

Kang Changyi clearly also recognized him: "You, you are that instructor we met on the island before?"

Lao Mao lifted his chin slightly, took off his glove and patted the sleeve insignia on his arm: "Do you recognize this badge?"

Everyone looked together; it was a solitary sleeve badge, exquisitely designed, and the white dragon on it made them involuntarily widen their eyes.

"Jiaolong!"

"You, you're a Jiaolong Special Operations instructor!"

Lao Mao smiled, "You can tell quality!"

Kang Changyi beamed with joy; he never dreamed that the encounter last time was actually a secret training of Jiaolong Special Operations!

So this island is also a dedicated training ground for Jiaolong?

The others were equally thrilled; Jiaolong is the South Sea Fleet's only Special Forces unit, and a mountain the Marine Corps cannot surpass!

Whether in the Eastern or Southern war zones, the team's value is absolutely T0‑level!

Lao Mao enjoyed the admiring gazes, feeling secretly delighted, and after scanning the area asked.

"Where's Lu Yang?"

"Two enemies fled; he went after them."

"He alone went after them?"

"Yes."

"Which direction?"

"That way."

Lao Mao quickly grabbed the binoculars and looked that way.

Kang Changyi watched Lao Mao, slightly frowning, thinking to himself that the other must be displeased.

He definitely thinks that pursuing enemies is a special forces task, and you're just a little Carami leaping around here?

Kang Changyi thought that when Lu Yang returned, they'd surely receive a couple of criticisms; although the two hold captain ranks, Special Forces officers automatically gain a grade when meeting.

After waiting a moment, a helicopter shadow appeared in the distant sky, with a speedboat below it; Lu Yang was piloting the speedboat.

Soon, the helicopter landed on the beach first, the gusting wind blew Chen Panpan, Zhou Kaidong and others' eyes shut, and the lifted sand and gravel struck their faces painfully.

But at this moment, everyone's hearts held only envy; because whether it was the Army or the Marine Corps, usually only a unit like Special Operations would be equipped with helicopters.

They had grown up never having touched or ridden in one, so naturally they hoped their own unit could have one; even if it were just the oldest model, it would count as turning from an amphibious into an airborne unit.

Bai Yuan led people down from the helicopter, Lao Mao immediately ran over and saluted, giving a brief report on the situation on the island and also on that fishing boat earlier.

"The fishing boat has already been taken over by the coast guard and taken away; later, as long as our side's evidence matches theirs, plus the evidence gathered by the undercover agent, we can directly secure a conviction."

"Hmm, are the wounded okay?"

"I've checked; it's not serious, just a small piece of flesh grazed by a bullet."

Bai Yuan glanced toward Chen Panpan's side, then swept his gaze over the others.

Apart from Kang Changyi, who grinned obsequiously like a lackey, nobody else dared to meet his stare directly.

Just by stepping off the helicopter and standing there, his aura alone imposed an intangible pressure on everyone.

This pressure differed from the nervousness felt when facing the regiment commander in daily life; that kind stems from rank, grade, post, and identity.

Because the way he stood there, his rank and grade signified that his hands were surely stained with much enemy blood; whereas we, after expending tremendous effort, hadn't managed to kill a single one.

Those two who died were also personally finished off by Lu Yang.

Zhou Kaidong and the other guy even almost let the enemy slip away due to a mistake.

This feeling was like the first day on the job at a slaughterhouse, not knowing how to hold a knife; facing someone who had decades of slaughter experience, whose blades had been dulled from dozens of uses.

At the same time, Lu Yang sped the speedboat back, successfully returning with the two captured mercenaries.

He disembarked from the boat, and the two mercenaries were taken by Xu Ce, Tu Hongwei and a few others to the mountain outpost for detention, to be interrogated later.

"Lu Yang, long time no see, you're doing quite well nowadays, huh?"

"Again defusing bombs, again catching drug traffickers, and you even came to our Jiaolong's island to make arrests?"

Seeing Lao Mao walk over to Lu Yang, Kang Changyi instinctively thought they were preparing to confront him.

After all, sneaking over to someone's house to throw a party—if nobody found out it'd be fine, but you got caught red‑handed.

Lu Yang chuckled: "What's yours and mine—this island has your name written on it, written your little......"

"Hey!"

Lao Mao, quick-eyed and quick‑handed, grabbed Lu Yang's mouth with his fingers, his smile extremely embarrassed: "Hahaha, if we don't say those three words, we're still buddies!"

He lowered his voice and leaned in: "With so many people watching, give me some face—hardly anyone knows my real name; whether on a mission or in the barracks, everyone calls me Lao Mao."

Lu Yang tilted his head, waved his hand in front of him: "Then let me hear you meow, let me see."

Lao Mao rolled his eyes so hard they almost went to the back of his head, then punched him: "You alright?"

Lu Yang laughed: "Just two SSS‑rank top gold‑medal mercenaries, no big deal."

"Blowing smoke—obviously that kind of rag‑tag mercenary; their daily pay can exceed five hundred bucks, I'll eat shit."

"Hahaha, I asked—they get three hundred a day, but the black‑hearted boss docked their pay for several days."

"Worthless trash—with this skill they dare come here to jump around, really asking for death."

"Got a smoke?"

Lao Mao didn't answer, just pulled a cigarette out of his pocket.

Just as he was about to pull one out, Lu Yang snatched the whole pack away.

"Damn it, you're just grabbing it outright?"

"No talk, no talk."

Lu Yang casually tossed the cigarette to the dumbfounded Kang Changyi.

This guy was so startled he fumbled the cigarette and it fell to the ground—Ding Tengfei bent down and picked it up.

Lu Yang pointed at the others who were equally stunned and said: "The crisis is over, the battle's ended; you all did great—take one each to ease your inner tension."

Chen Panpan raised her hand: "Report, Brother Yang, I want to smoke too, but I don't know how."

"If you don't know, you can learn." Lu Yang said: "If you feel nauseous, want to vomit, feel awful inside, or are holding it in, just smoke to release the pressure; your injury isn't serious, so it won't affect you."

"All right, then I'll give it a try!"