Mercenary's War

Karl’s face looked grim. Being threatened with one’s family would certainly make anyone feel unhappy.

Gao Yang sighed helplessly, "You see, the truth is sometimes hard to accept, but please believe me, Karl, I am a man of my word. If I say I won’t kill you to silence you, I won’t. But if I say I will kill your entire family, then I will."

Karl replied coldly, "I understand, you don’t need to keep repeating it."

Gao Yang shook his head, "No, I need to remind you once more to emphasize or let you understand the consequences of your mistakes. I said I would kill your whole family, not just kill, but torture, the kind you absolutely can’t endure."

Karl clenched his fist, he was starting to get angry.

Gao Yang sighed again, "You see, humans are selfish, always good at forgetting the favors of others. I saved you, it was a risk. The reason was simply that I sympathized with you and thought you shouldn’t die just like that, so I had to find a benefit in saving you that was good for me. I saved your lives and fulfilled your wishes, shouldn’t you be grateful to me? You need to realize that as long as you don’t betray me, my warning is just a warning. Don’t you understand?"

Karl slowly unclenched his fist, speaking in a deep voice, "It just makes people uncomfortable."

Gao Yang pointed dominantly at Karl and shouted, "Now, you should say thank you."

Karl nodded and said to Gao Yang, "If you can do everything you said, then I should thank you."

Gao Yang laughed, waving his hands back and forth, "Now is the time for us to understand each other and eliminate doubts, so if there are any questions, bring them up now. I’ll go first. Can you tell me why you want to kill Grand Ivan? You mentioned it was because of many casualties, but what exactly happened?"

Karl spoke in a deep voice, "I was ordered to command a decapitation operation, targeting Grand Ivan. During the operation, we were hit by artillery... It was a trap, nearly all my men were killed, and two people who needed to take responsibility for the failure committed suicide because my unit had never suffered such a defeat since its inception. No failures whatsoever, but this time we were almost completely wiped out. I didn’t commit suicide because I want revenge, that’s it."

Gao Yang nodded, and Karl seemed puzzled, asking, "I want to ask you a question..."

Gao Yang gestured with his hands, "No, I’ll go first. Which unit are you from? You claim to be SEALs, but I don’t think so. I somewhat know SEALs, so if you find it inconvenient to answer, I can let this question slide."

Karl hesitated for a moment, but he then calmly replied, "Naval Tactics Study Group, Red Team, a top-secret military unit, America’s strongest special operations force, known only to the President, Navy Commander, and a few officials from the Ministry of Defense. We use SEALs as our cover unit."

Gao Yang had an enlightened expression, like he was pretending to believe Karl’s real background.

"No wonder! I knew SEALs weren’t as capable as you guys. You mentioned the Red Team; do you have other teams?"

Karl replied in a deep voice, "Blue Team and White Team; their tasks and operations differ. Blue Team is for maritime operations, White Team is for aerial missions, Red Team is naturally for ground. But most of the time, Blue Team and White Team exist as support units. Now it’s my turn to ask you."

Gao Yang gestured with his hands, "No, no, I have one very important question. Hmm, you know where Grand Ivan is, right?"

Karl frowned, "What do you mean?"

Gao Yang sighed, smiling wryly, "Grand Ivan’s whereabouts are a mystery, his residence is a mystery. Many want to take him out but can’t. Why? Because first, you have to find him."

Karl quickly replied, "I know where he is!"

Gao Yang then seriously said, "Tell me! You must understand, I spent a fortune and took tremendous risks to rescue you. Knowing Grand Ivan’s whereabouts is a very important goal. Even if you can’t kill him, knowing his whereabouts is a pretty good gain for me."

Karl seemed slightly relaxed, then smiled, "What, you want to kill him without knowing where he is?"

"Our prior contact made me believe you knew where Grand Ivan was. I have more faith in the CIA’s capabilities."

Karl exhaled, looking unhappy, "Intelligence capability? If the CIA’s intelligence didn’t make errors, how could my men have died! Those motherf***** bastards, they repeatedly assured there’d be no mistakes, yet my people got blown up by dozens of cannons!"

After speaking in extreme resentment, Karl exhaled loudly, "Grand Ivan is in South Africa, in a manor outside Johannesburg. I know where he is!"

Gao Yang also exhaled deeply, "Very good, very good, but is this intelligence accurate?"

Karl spoke softly, "My officer was dismissed, and before the jerk who replaced him kicked us out, he told me where Grand Ivan was hiding. This information is absolutely accurate!"

Gao Yang looked pensive, speaking solemnly, "Then, for now, let’s consider Grand Ivan’s location in South Africa as credible, South Africa, Johannesburg..."

After pondering for a moment, Gao Yang waved his hand, "We’ll temporarily set aside details for now. You need to recover from your injuries. While you do, I’ll try to undertake the task of taking out Grand Ivan and discuss the details when there is time. Now tell me, do you have confidence in taking out Grand Ivan?"

Karl replied confidently, "No!"

Gao Yang almost jumped up, then shouted, "With that expression, you tell me you have no confidence?"

Karl shouted, "But I’m willing to pay any price! You shouldn’t doubt our determination anymore, should you? So I must now ask you a question: Are you willing to help us increase our success rate?"

"Of course, is that even a question?"

Karl spoke solemnly, "We need to use many things; it might cost a lot."

Gao Yang smiled, "As long as I can afford it, no problem. I’ve already spent a lot of money on you. I don’t mind spending a bit more, just as long as you can eliminate Grand Ivan, then I can definitely make a profit. If you fail, as before, I just made a failed investment, that’s all."

"One more question, can you tell me how much you spent to rescue us?"

Gao Yang extended four fingers with a serious expression, "Forty million! Your four lives cost me forty million US dollars!"

Karl laughed and shook his head, "Didn’t expect our lives to be so valuable. Okay, the last question, and the most important, how did you rescue us? You have to answer this one."