Chapter 96 Not bad looking at all
The military advanced quickly, and soon Xie Rong received a report from his subordinates that a reconnaissance drone had been spotted in the airspace to the north.
The mercenaries were very cautious. After assessing the situation, they said that the people from the southern base should arrive within ten minutes. They suggested that we should shoot down the reconnaissance drone first and then move to a different position.
Xie Rong waved his hand, telling them to do it. After shooting down the drone, the mercenaries returned to his side with solemn expressions and reported that the military equipment level of the southern base was higher than they had expected. They suggested taking several lightly mobile hostages with weak resistance and evacuating by helicopter.
Xie Rong's face immediately darkened: "My grandfather paid you so much money, and this is how you do things? Two hundred million per person, and you just bought a few cowards who wanted to desert before even seeing the enemy?"
The mercenary who was named did not back down, and his tone remained neither humble nor arrogant: "Mr. Dobin hired us to ensure your safe evacuation."
“We can obey any other orders you give, at any cost,” he paused, his tone calm but firm, “but the premise of our obedience to any order you give is that your personal safety must be guaranteed first.”
“Firstly, we did not anticipate that you intended to threaten the Southern Base rather than the police, which you did not inform us of beforehand. Secondly, the Southern Base’s military capabilities are higher than we imagined, and we cannot guarantee your safe return should we engage in combat with the Southern Base. Therefore, we cannot obey your orders.”
"Police? Do you think those useless police can bring him here? Xie Fan and I are locked in a life-or-death struggle. If he doesn't die, my dad and I won't be safe no matter where we flee to!"
“I don’t think it’s wise to use hostages to threaten the Marine Corps’ southern base into handing over your enemy,” the mercenary hesitated, his gaze slightly darkening, but his tone remained calm. “However, we will try our best to obey your orders. The military values its reputation more than the police, and our deterrence against them has been successful. Reducing the number of hostages now isn’t a bad thing. If you still disagree, we can certainly use force against you…”
They were not making a lot of noise about their plan, and they deliberately kept their distance. Mu Yan could only hear them talking, but he couldn't make out what they were saying.
He sensed that the lead kidnapper was arguing with his subordinate, becoming increasingly agitated. His subordinate, however, showed no sign of backing down.
Just as they were at an impasse, the door creaked open, and a mercenary who had been making a phone call at the door walked in, a half-smoked cigarette dangling from his lips: "Boss, what's all the noise about?"
The mercenary who had argued with the leader quickly explained the whole story to him, and the mercenary with a cigarette in his mouth nonchalantly exhaled a puff of smoke: "That's perfect, now you don't have to argue anymore."
The mercenary who had initially argued with Xie Rong glanced at him suspiciously. The mercenary with a cigarette in his mouth leaned closer and handed over his phone, showing the two arguing men photos on it.
"Boss, is this your enemy? You're really lucky, his lover happens to be here too."
“Guess what,” he took another drag of his cigarette, “we’re incredibly lucky. This guy isn’t a citizen of country A. Maybe there are only a few people on this plane who don’t have permanent residency. We just happened to run into him. If the Marines want to rescue him, they’ll have to apply to country C… But I doubt they’ll bother with this matter.”
Xie Rong looked down and saw a candid photo. At the exit of the amusement park, a slender beta youth was being gently held in the arms of an alpha, separating him from the crowded people.
The young man tilted his head slightly, turned his face to look at his alpha lover, and smiled gently and shyly.
Even though he could only see his back, Xie Rong recognized the person next to him in an instant—it was Xie Fan, the enemy he was looking for.
The mercenary, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, possessed an exceptional memory, almost never forgetting anyone he had ever seen. He walked into the crowd, his gaze landing precisely on the beta youth in the corner.
Mu Yan was dragged out of the crowd by his hair and forced to kneel on the ground. The mercenary squatted down and blew a smoke ring in his face.
The smell of cheap cigarettes immediately filled Mu Yan's nasal cavity, causing him to cough violently.
Her face was very pale, and tears streamed down her reddened eyes.
"Not bad looking," the mercenary remarked flippantly. "I wonder how far the boss's enemy would go for you?"
Xie Rong stepped forward and looked Mu Yan up and down, as if examining a cheap and unsightly counterfeit.
"Is it good-looking?" he said with some disdain. "It's only because you guys haven't played with good ones. I wouldn't take this kind of trash even if it were given to me for free. It's only good for a scumbag like Xie Fan."
"Yes, yes, boss, you've seen the world. After this mission is over, I'll take those two hundred million and go spend a few hundred thousand a night." The mercenary with a cigarette in his mouth wasn't angry at being mocked like that, and just grinned and agreed.
Mu Yan's hands were bound and his eyes were covered. Because of the darkness, all his senses other than sight were magnified infinitely. He could clearly feel people's breathing, footsteps, and the air currents created by people moving.
Along with the amplification of his senses, Mu Yan also felt fear. He could feel himself being taken to a car first, and then dragged off the car and taken to the beach.
There was a sound of wind by the sea, the sea breeze was damp and salty. The tall man pulled him onto the boat. Mu Yan stumbled as he boarded, and for a moment he almost thought he was going to fall into the sea.
If he dies at sea, his mother and brother... might not even be able to retrieve his body.
“Come on,” the mercenary who had blown a smoke ring at him sat down beside him. He heard a beeping sound, like the sound of a phone call, “say something to your little boyfriend.”
A cell phone was handed to him. Mu Yan touched the familiar texture and feel of the phone case and realized that it was his own phone.
"Where are you?" He Fan's urgent voice came through the receiver. "Are you hurt? I'll be there to find you soon."
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Mu Yan's tears fell without her realizing it.
These people are using him to threaten He Fan.
Don't come any closer.
He wanted to tell He Fan.
But when he opened his mouth, it was as if he had suddenly lost his voice, and he couldn't make a sound at all.
Losing one's voice is a common reaction under extreme fear; mercenaries have seen countless people, so this is not uncommon for them.
"So scared." The mercenary beside him sneered. He grabbed Mu Yan's hair and slammed him hard against the wall. Mu Yan finally couldn't help but let out a muffled groan.
His body was almost paralyzed from the impact, and a bloody mark appeared on his forehead from hitting the wall, with a sticky heat running down his temples.
"Xie Rong!" His pained voice reached He Fan without a doubt. He Fan, unaware of what had happened to him, was extremely anxious. "You beast! If you dare to let anything happen to him, I guarantee you'll regret it."
"Don't hurt him," Xie Rong said, now showing some rationality. "If he dies, we won't be able to threaten Xie Fan anymore."
“Boss, don’t question me,” the mercenary, who had just been smoking, chuckled nonchalantly. “Every time I crash into him, whether he feels a bit of pain, gets a concussion, or is knocked unconscious or killed, I’ll be absolutely accurate.”
“Alright, I’ve sent you the coordinates,” the more composed mercenary who had argued with Xie Rong earlier finally couldn’t stand it anymore. He took Mu Yan’s phone and said to He Fan on the other end of the line, “If you want to rescue him, come aboard our ship alone. He’s no use to us. Once you’re on board, we’ll release him.”
The mercenary leader didn't give Xie Rong a chance to utter any harsh words before abruptly ending the call. Xie Rong glanced at him with some displeasure, while the leader smiled helplessly.
Those two hundred million are really hard to earn. If I had known I would end up with such a stupid and difficult employer, I would have preferred to go to war.
...
"Flight AZ7009 had 59 passengers kidnapped. One person is dead and one is missing. The identity of the deceased has been confirmed. The missing passenger is not a citizen of our country and does not have permanent residency status," the lieutenant handed Xie Chen the missing passenger's information. "We will report to the government of Country C. If there are no problems, please confirm and withdraw."
It would take at least six hours to fly here from Country C, and even if their government forces were willing to intervene, it would probably be too late. The lieutenant felt very sorry and saddened for the Chinese citizen who had been taken hostage.
But for those who are not citizens of this country, all they can do is feel sorry and sad for him.
Xie Chen looked down at the missing passenger's information. A crack appeared on his usually calm and unyielding face, but it vanished in an instant.
"Has my retirement application been approved yet?"
The subordinate was surprised that he would say something so abruptly, but he did not ask why. He simply made a phone call as instructed.
"It's already been processed. You can sign it online when you get back, and that should mark your application as successful."
This can be considered another successfully completed mission, adding a brilliant touch to Xie Chen's military resume.
Xie Chen lowered his head, picked up his phone, quickly found the email, and signed his name on the document.
The subordinate was stunned. Only after confirming that the team had returned to the base would the mission be counted as a successful mission led by Xie Chen. Xie Chen completing all the retirement procedures before the mission ended meant that the mission was a waste of time.
"Can you overreport the loss of one drone, two sniper rifles, and two loads of ammunition? Can you do me that?" Xie Chen continued. "I didn't bring any long-range high-precision weapons with me this time, but I'll secretly get more. You can underreport the loss next time."
“And this pilot,” Xie Chen handed him a pilot’s file, “do me a favor and temporarily ground him.”
The subordinate glanced at the pilot's file. He was an ace pilot from the Marine Corps who had a good personal relationship with Xie Chen. After retiring, he heard that he went to fly a private plane for Xie Chen's younger brother.
For pilots who have served in the military, the military has the right to monitor their behavior after retirement to prevent them from being used by enemy countries in wartime.
The colonel was exaggerating the losses because he wanted to use the weapons and ammunition to rescue the trapped hostage, but what was the purpose of the no-fly zone around Hols?
[Author's Note]
We're about to meet (rubbing hands)
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