Special Forces Medic

"Is the information accurate?" The person hiding in the shadows asked softly.

"Definitely!"

They had been holed up in this small alleyway for over an hour, but had yet to find any trace of life, not even a mouse.

The person who first asked was evidently extremely impatient. Based on accurate information, the people should have been here half an hour ago. Yet, there were still only a few of them. "Where are they?"

"This..." The latter evidently didn’t anticipate what was happening. "The person who went out to gather information couldn’t be wrong, unless the venue was changed at the last minute."

"Damn it!" A slightly chubby person jumped out. After waiting here for over an hour, only to be played by someone, it undoubtedly left him feeling extremely displeased.

Just as he was still brooding over waiting in vain, the sound of screeching brakes suddenly came from the alley entrance. The chubby man was stunned for a moment before flipping back into his hiding spot.

The sound of scattered footsteps approached from afar, mingled with faint laughter and whispers. Soon, he saw a few people entering from a section of the alley, appearing rushed. Among them, two were carrying boxes that seemed heavy, with veins bulging on their arms. The group stopped in front of a door. One person looked around and, after ensuring there was no one else, unlocked the door.

The scraping sound accompanied by the clanking of metal resounded as the heavy sliding iron door was pulled open to both sides, with a few people following inside. The last person glanced outside a few more times before closing the door, seemingly not shutting it completely, leaving a gap.

Click, a ray of light shone through, revealing a warehouse of about forty to fifty square meters with a height of three meters; it was a relatively small warehouse cluttered with boxes of various sizes, a table, and a few chairs. The only source of illumination was from the two white lights overhead.

The warehouse was simple and filled with a rusty scent, perhaps due to its proximity to the harbor, where the constant sea breeze made it exceptionally humid. The last person to enter the warehouse lit up an incense burner on the table, bringing a dry scent into the air.

"Mr. East Three Provinces is truly thoughtful!" Pete removed the mask from his head; the scent from the incense burner dispersed slowly, but as long as the area around the table was free of the rusty smell, it was enough.

"Doing business requires thoroughness, understanding your clients to become friends." Dan Ning chuckled. "Pete has quite a passion for scents, but there isn’t a decent and reliable trading post in Palermo, so I must inconvenience you."

"This incense is quite unique; I haven’t seen it on the market."

"Ah, this isn’t for sale. A friend specially concocted it. Doesn’t it have a scent of grass after the rain? It’s quite suitable for the current climate, and has a bit of Mugwort for dehumidifying and pest removal."

"The scent is very refreshing. Mr. East Three Provinces, could you let me take some back?"

"This..." East Three Provinces showed a troubled expression. "I could pay for it."

"Ah, it’s not about the money, but it’s very scarce. I would have to ask before I can answer you."

"Perhaps I could meet your friend; my interest in spices is no less than in firearms."

"Meeting isn’t necessary; my friend doesn’t like meeting people. How about this: if you really like it that much, I still have two to three grams of it. You can take it; it should last you through a summer." As he spoke, he took out a rather exquisite box from his pocket and pushed it in front of Pete. Even before opening it, the refreshing scent could already be smelled. Pete held it like a prized possession in his hand, the good scent paired with a nice box; it seemed this person was also a person of taste.

"I must still take the opportunity to have Mr. East Three Provinces introduce me sometime!"

Dan Ning smiled, and his men placed the box on the table. "Being able to satisfy you is part of my service, but since you’re introduced by James, a routine check is still necessary, I hope you don’t mind."

"What?" Before Pete could react, he and his bodyguards were already subdued by Dan Ning’s men.

"It’s just a routine check before the transaction, it will be over quickly."

Body searches were not uncommon, but the rough behavior of East Three Provinces caused a lot of anger to well up in Pete’s eyes. Several guns and daggers were found on the bodyguards and placed on the table. "I’ll keep these temporarily. It won’t interfere with you, I hope." Saying this, all the confiscated weapons were tossed into an iron barrel, making clattering sounds.

"Naturally!"

The opened box attracted everyone’s gaze, even Dan Ning, who sat slouched in his chair, could understand these strange weapons with his eyes closed.

"Is this the latest biochemical weapon?" Pete picked up a gun and tested it in his hand.

"Didn’t Shao Qinyi tell you?" East Three Provinces closed the box with a snap, propping one foot up on the table.

"He didn’t explain clearly, but it doesn’t affect our transaction."

"Money!"

"Hahaha, you can’t really think I’d carry a large amount of cash in and out, right, Mugwort?" Pete evidently heard something amusing, his laughter was a bit too loud.

"I have a preference for cash transactions, didn’t James mention that to you?" Dan Ning raised an eyebrow.

"He did mention it, but for our first transaction, we should be cautious, just as you don’t fully trust us, right!" Pete placed the weapon he held back on top of the box. "These are just samples, when can we expect the genuine products?"

"Only samples for now!"

"Then let’s handle it according to the old rules, 40% prepayment, balance paid in full upon receipt of genuine goods, including any supplemental payments after."

"You’re very familiar with my operating style, but this shipment is different, it’s not yet on the market, so it’s 100% prepayment, the increased quantity will be supplied after final delivery."

Pete sneered. "Mugwort, this is blackmail!"

"100% prepayment, or don’t even consider taking it." Suddenly, Dan Ning became forceful, and at that moment, his men also started tidying up the goods on the table.

"Mr. Mugwort!" Pete slapped his hand on the box, his short and stout stature almost seemed as if he would jump onto the table, while the bodyguards accompanying him began to crowd around.

Dan Ning gave them a glance, leaned forward, the front legs of his chair touched the ground, and he coldly scanned those bodyguards before finally resting his gaze on Pete’s face. "What does this mean?"

"I also want to know why Mugwort wants to change terms midway, are you unwilling to continue?"

"Heh! No matter how I look, you don’t seem like you’re doing business with me. If you want to buy goods from me, Mugwort, you must play by my rules. Whether it’s Shao Qinyi or James, if you’re listening to them, go to them and stop wasting time with me here. If you want this shipment, it’s 100% prepayment, everything else can be discussed in person."

"So you’re forcing us, trying to oppose our gang over this prepayment issue is not a wise move."

"What I dislike the most is being threatened, brothers, collect the goods and let’s go." Mugwort suddenly stood up from his chair, and at this moment, a loud noise came from overhead, causing both groups to bend down and hide under the table. "Pete, do you want to rob this?" Mugwort yelled angrily at Pete, ready to strike, but the short and stout man, surprisingly agile, blocked Mugwort’s punch with his left hand, and swung a left hook with his right.

"Damn it! I don’t need to rack my brains over this." Pete kicked a bodyguard beside him. "Go outside and check what’s going on."

Apparently, the explosive force coming from overhead was quite significant, the opponent’s weapons were much stronger than theirs.

"This transaction ends here for now, I’ll get in touch with you again." With that, Pete followed his bodyguard out, and at this moment, the warehouse, around fifty square meters, was filled with dense smoke, visibility was only about a meter.

Mugwort hid under the table, with the sound of gunfire all around, it was like being in the midst of a rain of bullets, occasionally hearing screams, and the dull sound of bullets piercing through flesh. About ten minutes later, it finally quieted down, he crawled out from under the table, the warehouse door was open, and smoke was dispersing in all directions, his sight fell on the empty table, the two boxes had disappeared.

"Boss, should we pursue?"

"Check the headcount." Mugwort brushed his fingers across the tabletop, a barely noticeable smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"We have two injured, Pete’s bodyguards, five of them, three died here."

"Ah, spread the news in ten minutes."

"Understood, so what about our people?"

"Have them all pull back, the rest isn’t our concern, where are the Assassin Group’s people?"

"They have already followed them, will they..."

"The people they want to kill, we’re not in a position to stop them. Once they make a move, only then Shao Qinyi will believe we are cooperating, and believe that we weren’t behind the arms hijack, naturally making Pete the greatest scapegoat."

The smoke had dissipated, Mugwort lingered in the warehouse, looking up at the hole in the ceiling in contemplation. He circled the warehouse, from the chaotic footprints he discovered a pair of different shoe prints. Pete’s bodyguards wore uniform combat boots, with standard sole prints, if another group were to appear based on their lifestyle preferences they surely wouldn’t be wearing high-end custom shoes, so who owned this extra footprint?

Mugwort stepped outside, seeing more of the same footprints at the entrance again; no wonder the feeling was odd earlier, turns out there was another group waiting outside, the high-end custom shoes’ owner almost certain.

"Wait a moment, change the content of the message, add an extra suspect."

"But that’s not part of the plan, boss!"

"Just do it." (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast recommendations and monthly votes, your support is my greatest motivation.)