Mercenary's War

Gao Yang suddenly laughed.

If Karl asked him why he was laughing, Gao Yang would explain in detail, but Karl didn’t ask, and didn’t react as if he hadn’t heard it, so Gao Yang had to stop laughing himself.

"Let me explain to you, you’re on guard against us, you don’t trust me, but similarly, I can’t particularly trust you either, because for some things I’ve done, it’s worth it for America to pay a huge price to gain my trust."

After saying a few words indifferently, Gao Yang said in a deep voice, "Put down the gun, ease the tension a bit."

Karl said in a deep voice, "Don’t interrupt, I’m waiting for your explanation."

Gao Yang said in a deep voice, "About Grand Ivan, if I hadn’t found out who your revenge target was, without confirming your usefulness, do you think I’d make a move to save you?"

Karl said very calmly, "This is top-secret."

"Top secret? How top-secret? Since I was able to get you out, do you think such a thing would still be an impossible secret for me to know?"

Actually, Karl was right. The name "Grand Ivan" wasn’t highly confidential, but the matters between America and Grand Ivan were top-secret. Even those tasked with hunting down Karl and his people didn’t know the real reason, but Gao Yang claimed to know, and how could Karl prove that Gao Yang couldn’t know?

After pondering for a moment, Karl said in a deep voice, "Alright, assuming you really know our target is Grand Ivan, what about Mario? Do you think I’d take Mario to be the Djo Malthael you mentioned?"

Gao Yang laughed, "Oh, that... that was just me talking nonsense. I really thought you were cut off from the world, so I just casually threw out a line."

Karl merely sneered, then said in a deep voice, "When Mario died, we were still in the army. The assassination shot against Mario was studied as a sniper tactic example by countless special forces. Do you think I’d be so ignorant as not to know the name of the deceased?"

"Then do you know who Mario was?"

Gao Yang’s counter-question left Karl a bit dazed, so Gao Yang followed up, "Mario’s full name was Mario Cicero. He was the head of the Cicero Family. Do you know what the Cicero Family does?"

Karl immediately said, "I don’t need to know."

Gao Yang smiled slightly, speaking in a deep voice, "The Cicero Family is the world’s biggest intelligence broker. So to speak, even the CIA often buys intelligence from the Cicero Family. Do you know what this means?"

Karl was stunned for a moment, and Gao Yang continued in a very calm tone, "Mario was an enemy of Grand Ivan, so Grand Ivan had him taken out. When I said Djo Malthael did it, well, it wasn’t just to test you; I really was just blurting it out because Djo Malthael was also taken out by Grand Ivan, albeit in a swimming pool, but similar to Mario, he was also killed with a sniper’s one shot."

Karl said in a deep voice, "Does this have anything to do with you lying to me?"

Gao Yang said in surprise, "Lying to you? Don’t be ridiculous, buddy. If I were really lying, I wouldn’t make such a low-level mistake."

Karl was still in thought, looking hesitant. Gao Yang sighed and said in a low voice, "Alright, alright, since you know the name Mario, I’ll be frank with you. The Cicero Family has to eliminate Grand Ivan, but they don’t want to be implicated in your affairs, so I just merged Djo and Mario, who both died at Grand Ivan’s hands, into one person. I really thought you didn’t know."

Karl frowned, "The Cicero Family was implicated in our affairs?"

Gao Yang said with a hint of disdain, "Buddy, guess where I got my intelligence? Guess who will pay me a huge sum to take out Grand Ivan? And guess who provided the place you’re in now?"

Looking at the safe house that was obviously prepared by a spy agency, Karl said skeptically, "All of it... the Cicero Family?"

Gao Yang impatiently said, "You guessed it, should I praise you for being smart?"

Karl thought for a moment, then retracted his right hand, moving the scalpel away from Gao Yang’s neck.

"Sorry, but you should have explained this sooner."

Gao Yang rubbed his neck, took a step forward, raised his hand to stop Li Jinfang and Frey from raising their guns again, then said calmly, "This was just a misunderstanding, it’s fine now. Don’t act like you’re going to take him out. There’s no point in doing meaningless actions."

Karl stared at Gao Yang and said, "So is the matter with Djo Malthael true?"

Gao Yang smiled mysteriously, then spread his hands and said in a deep voice, "I don’t want to tell you too much, but... Djo Malthael is indeed someone we took out."

Karl widened his eyes.

Gao Yang said dismissively, "We’re mercenaries. Whoever pays us to do a job, we work for them. You should understand that, right? Yes, we were commissioned to take out Djo Malthael. We accomplished it, so we received 100 million dollars. However, that doesn’t stop me from taking out Grand Ivan now. Do you understand?"

Karl’s eye twitched for a moment before he said in a deep voice, "You took him out!"

Gao Yang immediately said, "Not Mario! I also don’t know who took out Mario. As you said, that was a perfect sniper example, and we’ve studied it for a long time."

Karl seemed completely bewildered, and Gao Yang sighed, "Grand Ivan is an extraordinary person. Simply too extraordinary. Djo Malthael, Mario Cicero, oh, and add you in, anyone who opposes Grand Ivan gets taken out. He’s the King of Destruction in the underworld, so by taking him out, I can make an astronomical amount of money. Now back to our initial topic. Are you willing to go and take out Grand Ivan?"

Mike said weakly, "Sounds about right."

Karl still didn’t speak. He pondered for a while, finally looked up, and solemnly said, "I have no reason to doubt anymore, nor is there a need to doubt. We will go and take out Grand Ivan. Even if it means being used by you to make money, I am willing. Just like you said, happy cooperation."

Gao Yang and Karl shook hands again, smiling, "Happy cooperation."

After saying that, Gao Yang suddenly said, "If you succeed in taking out Grand Ivan, I’ll give you a sum of money. Not too much, but enough for you to start a new life, if you get the chance."

Karl smiled and said, "You’re very candid, yet not off-putting. You honestly tell us you’ll use us, but I’m still grateful to you. Thank you. We’ll do our best not to make your investment a failure, as a return for saving us."