DB Chapter 126

Chapter 126 – The End of ‘Peregrine Falcon’ 

Novel Title: 龙血 (Dragon Blood)

Author：水千丞 (Shui Qian Cheng)

Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)

Protagonists: 单鸣 (Shan Ming -MC), 沈长泽 (Shen Changze -ML)

*Please read at Novels Space.space, the original site of translation. TQ*

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Ayer’s condition was very frightening. His heart stopped beating twice. But he finally recovered. Shan Ming watched helplessly as lavender dragon scales began to appear on his body. Those dragon scales protruded from the skin. It was as if they were trying to get out of his body from within. Ayer was bleeding profusely all over his body. He didn’t look like a living person at all.

The dragon blood fusion experiments he had seen were all carried out in meticulous laboratories. This is the evolution of a Dragon Blood Man. He was accompanied by the investigation, research and cooperation of dozens of scientific researchers and had to be done for a long time. After data analysis and discussion of feasibility, the experiment will start. The preparation work usually lasts for half a year and targeted training is required for the experimental subjects. Even so, the success rate is still very low. However, Ayer did not have all this data from the beginning. He was evolved on the verge of death. Tang Tingzhi just plunged a dose of dragon’s blood liquid into his heart and fused it by force. Although the principle is not impossible, the execution is simply extraordinary. It was done on the 50% chance of death and survival.

If the fusion failed, Ayer would die. But if the fusion succeeded, his injuries can be completely healed by a Dragon Blood Man.

It was a gamble. They were betting on whether Ayer’s desire to love is strong enough.

That day was unspeakably chaotic.

Shan Ming didn’t think about anything else. He just carried the injured back to the village with the people who were still able to move. It rained halfway there so the fire in the village was extinguished. A few wooden houses were left to shelter them from the wind and rain.

They were gathered with all the medical equipment and medicines. They treated the wounded to the greatest extent.

The next morning, they made a simple stretcher out of tree branches and walked through the muddy forests for more than 30 kilometres. They carried the wounded out of the nightmarish primaeval forest to find a better and cleaner environment for medical help.

Ayer survived. But he is currently in a deep coma. Tang Tingzhi said that the fusion was considered successful if he woke up and there were no major changes in his temperament. Shan Ming doesn’t care about this. As long as Ayer is alive, he could care less. One of Tiger Shark’s eyes is disabled while the other is severely amblyopic as time goes by. His good eye is gone. The other will eventually lose its light. Although he can still manage his life with this one eye, his mercenary career ended at forty-seven years old. Tiger Shark was very calm. Many people retired at his age. He at least came out of the battlefield alive. Both Lily and Pell were seriously injured. They couldn’t get off the bed in a short time. Falcon didn’t die. He had one ear torn off by a Dragon Blood Man and there were extensive other torn wounds. But his limbs were not seriously injured. Job’s liver was ruptured and he nearly died out of blood loss. But he finally survived the death line. Koski was the least injured of all. He was able to get out of bed and walk around the next day. Huang Ying was seriously injured and fell into a deep coma like Ayer. He was recovering at an extremely slow speed.

‘Peregrine Falcon’ had lost five people this time and almost all of them were seriously injured. On Tang Tingzhi side, eleven special forces were killed and except for himself, all of the rest were injured.

Important members of the ‘Peregrine Falcon’ were seriously injured this time. The three of them are Tiger Shark, Ayer and Shan Ming. One was basically blind, one became unable to gain freedom, while the other could barely speak.

Although most of them survived and despite there still being some members at the base who did not participate in the operation, everyone knew that the ‘Peregrine Falcon’ was at its end.

Every mercenary regiment will be over one day. It could happen due to them being completely wiped out by the enemy at once on the battlefield or it could be because long-term members died. And without suitable fresh blood, they will gradually decline. It can be said that the ‘Peregrine Falcon’ was a combination of these two situations. The last time that they even had new recruits was only two years ago. Sooner or later, the old members would withdraw from the stage of history and the ‘Peregrine Falcon’ would also become a dusty memory in the historical materials of international mercenaries. They would gradually be forgotten.

They used to have unparalleled brilliance. They were once one of the best mercenary regiments in the world. They travelled all over the world. With their hot barrels and bloody sabres, they witnessed honours and victories.

***

It’s time for them to leave.

They landed in South Africa under the name of a merchant ship. They then flew back to China under the arrangement of Tang Tingzhi.

After three months, they entered this underground military base again. But last time, they returned with victory. This time, however…

The wounded got better treatment in the base and even Ayer woke up under the stimulation of drugs. But he was locked in the laboratory all the time. Except for Tang Tingzhi, no one else can see him for the time being.

The Chinese side was very dissatisfied with Shan Ming’s actions. But they couldn’t hold him accountable. Under the circumstances at the time, in order to keep the majority of people safe, that was probably the only choice they had left.

Since that day, Shan Ming has not spoken much. He was in a bad mood every day. There was also almost no expression on his face.

This was the heaviest blow he had ever faced in his life. He wanted to vent. So he vented in various ways. But his heart was still clogged with depression and his mind was full of the last look on Shen Changze’s face.

Back then, daily, he and Shen Changze spent time in this base. It formed a strong contrast with the present situation. He was almost unable to tell whether he was still in the real world or not.

He stayed in his room for two weeks without showing his face until one day someone knocked on his door.

Shan Ming was lying on the bed. He was neither asleep nor awake. He was just lying there. The sound of knocking on the door was directly ignored by him.

“Open the door. It’s me.” Ayer’s clear voice came from outside the door.

Shan Ming opened his eyes and immediately jumped out of bed. He opened the door.

It was really Ayer outside the door, with bright blond hair and blue eyes. He looked intact and extremely healthy.

Shan Ming’s lips trembled. He didn’t make a sound for a long time. He then hugged Ayer tightly.

Ayer also stretched out his hand and hugged him back with such a strength that it could almost break him in half.

Only through such a close embrace can they be sure that the other is truly alive.

Ayer stroked his hair, “I knew it. You’ve been depressed for long enough. It’s time to cheer up. If we want to defeat Shen Yao, we must do everything we can to defeat him.”

Shan Ming opened his mouth and his tears streamed down for the first time. He hugged Ayer’s hot body. It was as if his soul could warm him.

Ayer took Shan Ming out of the room and brought him into a meeting room where only the members of ‘Peregrine Falcon’ were there.

Everyone in the room looked up at Shan Ming. Shan Ming couldn’t help himself but to only lower his head.

Tiger Shark was wearing sunglasses. He said in a deep voice: “This is a failure for the whole ‘Peregrine Falcon’ on our mission. So put away your childish self-blame.”

Shan Ming raised his head. His eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of mist. They looked gloomy and did not contain any brilliance.

Tiger Shark said calmly, “Sooner or later, such a day will come. We won’t always be victorious. I think this is God’s signal to ask us to stop here. At least, we could take most of our comrades’ bodies back. For a mercenary regiment, this is already the best ending.”

No one else spoke. Everyone was suffering indescribably.

Tiger Shark continued: “We will return to Colombia the day after tomorrow to deal with the matter. Then, those who want to go home for the New Year can go home for the New Year.”

Two days later, they returned to Colombia together.

Everyone in the base had already heard the news. This return trip was different from any previous one. There were no cheers and beers to celebrate the victory. It was just that everyone gathered together and had a long meeting to discuss how to deal with the common assets that had been lost and where each member would go.

Tiger Shark decided to go back to the American countryside, buy a ranch, and live a life that he could live in with his current state. Pell said without hesitation that she would follow him.

Lily will return to China. She wanted to be with Huang Ying. She said she is interested in marriage for the first time.

Since Ayer has just evolved, he was not in a very stable state. So he cannot leave the laboratory for a while. He would be spending a lot of time in China. He was like a child who was just learning how to walk, learning how to control the strange dragon blood in his body.

Kali and Jushi did not take part in the operation due to their injuries from last time. They have basically recovered now. Together with Koski, Job and Falcon, they stated that they will inherit the ‘Peregrine Falcon’. They will find new recruits and re-establish the mercenary regiment. They already have a ready-made base, a dozen members, reputation, and a steady stream of business. So they don’t want to change their current lives.

In the end, everyone looked at Shan Ming and asked him about his plan with their eyes.

Shan Ming said softly but firmly, “I’m going to save my son.”

It was a very long meeting and everyone could hear the groans in each other’s hearts.

It’s winter and Christmas is coming. Most of them will go home for the New Year and for some, their families can only wait for their bodies to be brought back.

On the night before parting, they had one last drink together.

Even though many of them were still injured and not suitable to drink, it didn’t dissuade them.

This will be the last sip of wine they have with their brothers, comrades-in-arms, and friends. This time, they don’t know when they will see each other again. They drank a lot and got very drunk.

During the dinner, some people called for Dino and Tiny Knife by their names while cursing, mocking them as cowards for running away after drinking only half of wine. They proposed to bring these two bastards back. So they started looking for them all over the room, under the table, under the chairs, and even in the cabinet. But they still couldn’t find them.

Then, some people began to realise that these two people were gone. More and more people then realised that many of them were already gone. They would no longer clink the bottle with them and drink this heartburning vodka.

Everyone was crying and wailing.

They are the comrades who have fought side by side with them for more than ten years. They could rest assured to hand over their backs to them. But they are no longer here.

They are a group of mercenaries who wander outside the law and routine. They stain their hands in blood in a foreign country and they do not hesitate to deprive strangers of their lives for profit. They are not good people. They will go to hell after death. No one will sympathise with them because here, every single one of them deserves to be damned. Only the comrades around can block an attack for them in times of crisis. Only the comrades around will not give up on them in danger. And only the comrades around can make them drink and eat meat at ease. On the shadowy and dangerous battlefield, only the protection of the comrades around can make them close their tired eyes and sleep for at least twenty minutes.

Goodbye… everyone will part sooner or later…

The next day, everyone who was supposed to leave left without saying goodbye or exchanging pleasantries. They just left quietly.

Shan Ming, Ayer and Lily took the same plane and returned to Beijing. Tang Tingzhi sent someone to bring them back to the base.

Shan Ming said to Tang Tingzhi, “I came here to know Shen Yao’s whereabouts. I will definitely go find him. I’m not done with him yet.”

Ayer’s eyes darkened, “That’s right. It’s not over yet. For the sake of our dead comrades in arms and also for the ‘Peregrine Falcon’, between us Shen Yao, we are far from over.”

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*P/S: Thanks to Darknari for reminding me of my mistakes in previous chapters!

*GLOSSARY: Amblyopic eyes = Lazy eye

Next update: 2023.–.–(*TBA)

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