Hidden Assassin 96

When he saw the island, Nguyen Zong Gan’s taut nerves finally relaxed a little.

He was Vietnamese and had been a special forces soldier. After retiring, he became a freelance mercenary. He and his brother Nguyen Zong Jue had fought in Thailand, Israel, and Pakistan for nearly twelve years before establishing their own mercenary group. Compared to other mercenaries who had fought their whole lives and didn’t even have a grave when they died, he was a lucky man. Of course, if someone said that to him, he would be very angry, because he had truly sacrificed too much in those twelve years, much more than just simple effort.

Before participating in the Star Dream’s raid, he had never had any contact with Chinese combat. This time, he was drawn in by the sheer allure of the mission, the detailed plans and information, and the trust he had in the other mercenary groups. This is why he participated in this operation.

However, the outcome of the operation was a disgrace. They had planned to conquer the entire cruise ship in an hour, but it took four hours before they had to retreat under the threat of the navy. They didn’t even have time to set off the bombs properly. They fled in disarray, until they ended up in their current predicament.

In addition to the disgrace, he was still one of the lucky ones. The impact of this incident was so bad that as soon as the news came out, the military set up a tight net across the Chinese maritime domain, imposing a strict blockade. As far as Nguyen Zong Gan knew, at least half of the comrades who participated in the incident had been discovered or sunk. He had been hiding at sea for nearly two days, in a state of constant fear. Then he heard about a massive sea storm that was forming.

It was a fool’s dream to think that his small boat could withstand such a large storm. Although the navy couldn’t pursue them at that time, he couldn’t escape either. The only thing he needed to worry about was finding a place to shelter from the storm. It was a stroke of luck that a freelance mercenary he had temporarily taken in told him about an uncharted island nearby. After taking a few wrong turns, they finally found the temporary shelter.

He took a sigh of relief, letting everyone disembark. He also transferred the hostages they had captured on the ship. This was the only thing they had gained from this mission. In the future, if they were discovered by the navy, this would be their only bargaining chip. They couldn’t let anything bad happen to them. After sending a patrol boat to scout the island, he received startling news: on the other side of the island, there was a heavily damaged gunboat stranded. Based on initial estimates, some of their comrades from the last operation must have arrived here beforehand.

When he said they had many comrades on the last operation, it was actually a lie because they underestimated the enemy, which led to everyone fighting their own battles. In the current situation, they might be able to unite under external pressure, but they still had to be wary. After some consideration, he decided to stay at the beach tonight and send a ten-man team into the mountains to search and negotiate. Since the enemy’s ship had been destroyed, their two gunboats were their best bargaining chips.

After making the plan, he had dinner and watched his most trusted ten men disappear into the dark forest. He felt that they might be able to recoup some of their losses here. This thought made him feel a little happier.

This was truly a precious spirit of finding joy in hardship.

After sending the ten messengers into the woods, he slowly walked back to the camp. It wasn’t a big camp, but it was already noisy. Between the large bonfires, a mercenary was dragging a long-haired Chinese girl out of a tent.

She was one of the hostages they had captured. Although she was only about fifteen or sixteen years old, her body was well-developed. She had a beautiful and delicate face. On the ship, some of the mercenaries had been tempted to touch her, but Nguyen Zong Gan had stopped them. Now, the girl’s hands were tightly bound behind her back, and her long hair was being pulled by the mercenary. She struggled desperately, refusing to leave the tent. A group of mercenaries cheered and laughed around her, creating a lively scene.

Seeing this, Nguyen Zong Gan couldn’t help but feel angry. He didn’t care about these things, but he cared about his authority as the leader. Since he had previously ordered them not to touch her, he wouldn’t allow anyone to do so until he revoked the order. As he was about to rush forward and knock the mercenary who had never seen a woman in his life to the ground, suddenly there was a loud shout of “Ah!” A figure rushed out of the tent. The mercenary at the entrance was caught off guard and was knocked flying, landing face-first on the sand, covered in dust.

The one who had rushed out was a boy with his hands also bound. It was said to be the girl’s brother. Now, the siblings were huddled together. Although both of them were bound, their eyes were fierce. The mercenary got up from the ground, embarrassed and angry, and was about to raise his assault rifle. But in the next moment, Nguyen Zong Gan walked over and knocked him to the ground with a punch.

“Wild Ox, I told you before, no one is allowed to do anything without my orders. It seems you didn’t listen to me.”

“S-sorry, Boss, I understand…” The mercenary, nicknamed Wild Ox, got up from the ground, wiped the blood off his lips, and said so with his mouth, but his eyes clearly showed that he wasn’t convinced. Nguyen Zong Gan looked at the boy on the ground and said, “However, I can give you a chance now.” As he spoke, he took out his dagger and cut the rope on the boy’s hands. In the boy’s bewildered gaze, he pointed at the two of them and said in Chinese, “You two, fight each other. The winner gets to speak.”

The boy got up from the ground, rubbed his red wrists that had been tied by the rope, hesitated for a moment, looked at Nguyen Zong Gan, and then reached behind him, “Sister, you go back inside.” As the girl retreated to the tent, Wild Ox also took off his knife and gun. In his opinion, this boy was only seventeen or eighteen years old, a奶油小生 (literally “creamy little man,” meaning effeminate or delicate). Fighting him was an insult to himself.

This opinion was corrected moments later.

The members of this mercenary group’s fighting skills were mainly based on brutal Muay Thai. Wild Ox’s fighting skills in this mercenary group were only average, but compared to ordinary so-called martial artists, he was already much better. However, when his first few attacks were dodged by the boy’s nimble movements, everyone realized that the boy had some fighting skills. He was using Chinese kung fu, which is known as the world’s best fighting style, but is often considered fancy by the fighting world.

Seeing that the boring beatdown had turned into a real exciting fight, everyone became excited. Seeing that he couldn’t defeat the boy, Wild Ox became impatient. He unleashed powerful left and right sweeping kicks in succession. The boy continued to retreat and dodge in the circle. After a while, he finally seized an opportunity when Wild Ox overexerted himself, and he suddenly charged forward, colliding with him.

It was still a collision, and Wild Ox flew off the ground. Although the actual injury wasn’t serious, he fell hard on the ground. As he tried to get up, he saw that the boy was already charging towards him without stopping. With a powerful kick, he sent Wild Ox flying, and at the same time, he hit him hard on the temple. For a moment, his entire vision became blurred. He rolled over and got up. The boy simply rubbed his bruised abdomen and charged forward without stopping. Then, two heavy punches landed on each other.

Just a moment ago, he was just dodging passively. Now, he was attacking with no reservations, punch for punch, kick for kick. This reckless fighting style, appearing on such a young boy, was truly surprising. Although he didn’t have the terrifying aura and killing intent that came from facing death countless times, his technique was far superior to Wild Ox’s. In the fight, Wild Ox was actually at a disadvantage. Soon, the two of them were covered in blood, and the injuries on their faces were quite shocking. At one point, the boy, who had been fighting desperately, suddenly dodged a punch from Wild Ox.

He had prepared to take a punch when he hit the other party, but the other party suddenly dodged with such a large arc. Wild Ox felt a surge of joy and thought the boy had finally been intimidated by his momentum, but in the next moment, the boy had miraculously circled behind him, grabbed his left arm, and punched his joint. If he had hit him, the boy’s left arm would have been immediately disabled. However, the punch stopped in mid-air because a gun was pressed against his forehead, it was Nguyen Zong Gan.

The three of them froze in their positions. The boy looked at Nguyen Zong Gan and said, “I knew you wouldn’t keep your word… Ugh…”

Wild Ox suddenly turned around and punched him hard in the stomach. The boy spat out a mouthful of blood and bent his body forward. Then, he was kicked hard by Wild Ox’s sweeping kick.

The following events basically became a one-sided beatdown. The boy had lost most of his ability to fight back and could only protect his vital parts while Wild Ox kicked and punched him. The girl in the tent screamed and ran out, but she was held down by a mercenary who was watching. As the girl cried, the boy was beaten until he was on the verge of death, almost a bloody mess.

Feeling slightly relieved, Wild Ox wiped the blood off his face and staggered towards the girl who was being held down. He was about to lean down when the gun barrel was pressed against his forehead. Nguyen Zong Gan looked at him coldly, “You lost, if you touch her again, you’ll die.”

“I…” Seeing his companions around him looking at him with scorn and disdain, Wild Ox knew he had performed poorly. He glared at the dying boy with hatred and turned away. A short time later, at Nguyen Zong Gan’s instructions, everyone tied the siblings’ hands and feet and sent them back into the tent. Looking at the boy covered in blood, Nguyen Zong Gan frowned. In the past two days, he didn’t even know there was such a skilled guy among the hostages. Luckily, they had fought to this point, so he didn’t think he could cause any trouble anymore.

For the time being… they couldn’t kill him. He heard that they were from a famous family in Jiang Hai City. The boy’s name was Dongfang Lu, and the girl’s name was Dongfang…

… Wan? That must be it. Chinese names are really hard to remember.

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For the mercenaries in the camp, this was just a small incident. After the incident, some people talked about Dongfang Lu’s fighting skills, and some people thought about Dongfang Wan’s body and the boss’s order, discussing how to cleverly turn the incident into a real “incident.” Time passed slowly. The journey on the cramped ship was too tiring, so most people went to bed in their tents around ten o’clock. Only the people on watch remained by the bonfire, talking.

In the small tent where the hostages were being held, Dongfang Wan, with tear-stained cheeks, leaned against her brother’s side. She looked out through a crack in the tent, both nervous and worried, because her brother was using a rough pebble to try and cut the rope on her hands. These mercenaries had a unique way of tying people up. Although their fingers could move, the ropes were tied in a way that made it impossible to untie them without seeing the knots.

They had been captured because of a really stupid mistake. The details of this ridiculous reason weren’t important. During the two-day journey, her fear had exceeded the total amount she had experienced in her entire life. The gunboat wasn’t very big. Nearly fifty people were crowded on it, and the mercenaries didn’t have any proper living quarters, let alone the hostages. On the ship, the most embarrassing time was every time she wanted to use the toilet. She had been so close to being ** several times, and she had often hated herself for being a woman. Now, her brother had been beaten up like this to protect her, and she felt even more guilty.

She leaned on her brother and cried for a long time, and in his low voice, she learned that her brother had actually been beaten up on purpose. This way, people would underestimate him, and he would be able to hide a pebble under the watchful eyes of the sharp mercenaries. Although it wasn’t sharp, it was rough around the edges. By now, he had been rubbing it for two hours, enduring the pain in his body. Even wood would have been nearly burned to ashes by now. The rope was almost worn through.

In the dim light, there was another hostage nearby, a fat man named Fu, who seemed to be fast asleep, snoring loudly.

Dongfang Wan felt a pang of contempt. The most unreliable men were like this. As she was thinking, she suddenly widened her eyes and looked out through the crack. On the surface of the sea, where only dim light shone, a black shadow seemed to silently emerge from the side of a gunboat and drift along the side of the boat. Its movements were incredibly bizarre. A chill ran down her spine. Like a ghost, the shadow silently drifted into the gunboat’s cabin…

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