Mercenary's War

Gao Yang didn't know if the sniper he had taken down was the last one. He carefully surveyed the surroundings and didn't spot any moving shadows. However, Gao Yang still didn't feel completely at ease. He picked up the M1A again, scanned through the night vision scope once more, and only after confirming there were no living people around did he finally relax.

With no enemies in sight, Gao Yang didn't let his guard down completely because Morgan and his son Bob seemed too mysterious. Gao Yang thought it best to remain cautious until he was sure these two had no hostile intentions.

Gao Yang picked up the M4A1, stood up, and called out, "All clear, come on out."

Morgan and Bob came out one after the other. Morgan was holding a flashlight in one hand and a handgun in the other. After inspecting the area by the car door, he stood up and quickly ran to where Gao Yang had taken down the sniper. Bob, on the other hand, held a shiny revolver and quickly approached Gao Yang.

When Bob reached Gao Yang, he sized him up and down before exclaiming with exaggeration, "Wow, man, you're amazing. Especially after seeing your outfit, I've got to say, I'm totally impressed. You're like my idol. Dressed up like a primitive, man, how did you come up with that?"

Bob was a slightly overweight young man who looked to be in his early twenties, quite tall, but with overly expressive body language and a propensity to shout, which gave him an erratic impression.

Gao Yang ignored Bob and tilted his head towards Morgan, saying, "Aren't you going to check on your dad?"

Bob transferred his revolver to his left hand, then raised his right hand high, "Come on, brother, high five. Can I take a few photos of you for my Twitter? Oh, my name's Bob Reeves, nice to meet you."

Gao Yang reached out and patted the hand Bob offered, saying, "My name is Gao Yang from Huaxia. Thanks for your compliment on the rifle, but please don't take my picture, or I'll get upset, thank you."

Bob shrugged his shoulders with a look of disappointment, "Okay, I respect your wishes, but what a pity, brother, you just missed a great chance to become famous."

Gao Yang thought that he might be able to learn more from Bob rather than from his father, who would likely be much harder to get information from.

"Hey, Bob, why were you guys attacked? I mean, you couldn't have actually been out here hunting, right?"

"This damned country, only God knows why we were targeted. Damn it, I really was out hunting. I love hunting, but I've hunted every kind of game in America. I got my new gun, but there was no interesting game to try it on, so when my dad came to Sudan, I followed."

"What is your father here for? Brother, don't tell me you need a rocket launcher for hunting, right?"

"Oh, my dad came for business. As you know, South Sudan is about to become independent. They've already voted, and soon South Sudan will be an independent nation. My father wants to seize this opportunity to make some big deals."

"South Sudan becoming independent? That's indeed a big deal. Hmm, what kind of business does your dad do?"

"Anything that makes money. My dad has made contacts with several big Dinka Tribe tribes here. I guess he wants to buy a large piece of land. You know, this area is rich in oil, and once South Sudan becomes independent, they should be able to extract it. We've been here for a few days, and I think, like me, my dad probably wanted to hunt a lion to decorate our fireplace back home. So we went out hunting during the day, but then we were attacked out of nowhere. And then you saw, my father's two bodyguards died. If it weren't for you, we might both be dead by now."

Bob didn't hide anything from Gao Yang, saying whatever came to mind. Gao Yang wanted to ask Bob for more details, but just then Morgan rushed back, glanced at Bob, and then extended his hand to Gao Yang, saying, "Let me introduce myself, I'm Morgan Reeves. Thank you for your help, I am truly grateful, but we need to leave quickly. The danger is far from over."

After shaking hands with Morgan, Gao Yang said, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Reeves. If it's not too much trouble, may I ask what other danger there is?"

Mr. Reeves reholstered his gun and took out a walkie-talkie from his waist, his face grim, "This is why. Somebody just tried to call the dead sniper, so, unless something unexpected happens, others will come."

Just at that moment, the walkie-talkie in Morgan's hand buzzed again, but this time the voice spoke in codes, a bunch of meaningless words to Gao Yang, yet the voice was familiar.

None of them made a sound until the voice on the walkie-talkie stopped. Gao Yang pointed at his own walkie-talkie, "I've heard this man's voice before. He said he was going to kill you, but he mistook the target and killed some innocents instead. Also, he said if we wanted revenge, we should look for the Sudan People's Liberation Front. I engaged these people in a firefight this afternoon. Clearly, some of them are highly skilled, though most of them are not."

Morgan nodded glumly, his face contorted with anger as he gnashed his teeth and said, "Damn idiots, they're fighting amongst themselves before they've even truly gained independence. Thank you for the info, but we have to leave now."

Gao Yang hesitated for a moment but then shook his head, saying, "Sorry, I can't go with you. I have people to look out for, and I need to find them. You can go on your own, just pretend you never saw me."

Morgan thought for a moment before shaking his head and replying, "I can't go by myself, I'm not familiar with the environment here and it's very likely I'll be discovered. So please, help us. I'll pay you a bounty. Name your price. I can hire you at the highest rate for bodyguards or mercenaries. No, let's do this—you take me to Malakal, and I'll pay you one hundred thousand US dollars, how about that?"

Gao Yang shook his head and answered, "It's not about money. Like I said, I have people waiting for me, and also, I do not take on jobs because I don't want to get killed."

Morgan fell silent, hesitating as if making a decision. He then nodded and said to Gao Yang, "Please, take us with you when you go to find your people. I think they will also need to get out, right? I'll still give you one hundred thousand US dollars. Mr. Gao Yang, please, I beg you to help us."

Gao Yang hesitated. He was afraid that taking Morgan and Bob with him would lead to unwanted pursuit. Yet, having just shared a battle with these two, he found it difficult to simply abandon them. After a brief moment of contemplation, Gao Yang nodded and said, "Wait a moment. I need to contact my friends. I must ask for their opinion."

After speaking, Gao Yang stepped aside and took out the walkie-talkie, whispering, "This is Gao Yang, please respond if you hear this."

Catherine's voice came through almost immediately, clearly waiting for his call.

"This is Catherine, go ahead."

After recounting the situation, especially mentioning the identities of Morgan and Bob and how their presence had brought misfortune to their photography team, Gao Yang directly asked what Catherine and Professor Buck thought. If Professor Buck and Catherine felt they should help them, Gao Yang would bring the two to meet up with them. If they did not wish to help, Gao Yang would go back alone.

Although they were strangers, Professor Buck and his group had provided selfless help to Gao Yang, and since their origins were clear, Gao Yang naturally considered them as his own. As for Morgan and his son, Gao had no obligation toward them, and if it were not for getting swept up in the battle, he would have already left.

The decision came quickly from Professor Buck and Catherine: if it was convenient for Gao Yang, they asked that he help Morgan and his son. Of course, this was on the condition that Gao Yang was willing.

With the response in hand, Gao Yang did not delay. He ran back to Morgan and his son, saying, "We're short on time; let's pack up and leave quickly."

Morgan and his son were naturally overjoyed, and without any more chit-chat, they all headed to the car. Morgan pointed to the two corpses lying next to the vehicle, his expression filled with sorrow, and said, "If you agree, I'd like to take their bodies with us. Maybe we could find a place to bury them after we leave, is that alright?"

Gao Yang nodded and replied, "Start the car, and I'll help you carry the bodies."

Morgan and his son's car was riddled with bullets and peppered with bullet holes all over, but miraculously it hadn't been disabled. Morgan managed to start the car easily, and with Morgan's help, they placed the two bodies on the back seat. Meanwhile, Gao Yang took four M4A1 magazines from one of the bodies.

With two corpses on the back seat, there was no room for passengers. At that moment, Gao Yang slapped his forehead and ran to the attackers' car. After pulling the corpse out of the driver's seat, he tried to start the car. Fortunately, this car was also undamaged, except for the blood splattered on the windows and seats. Gao Yang shot out all four corners of the windshield and then kicked it down before driving the car over to where Bob and his son were.

Gao Yang knew how to drive, but it had been years since he last did, so he was a bit rusty. Nevertheless, he managed to get the car moving. After turning on the headlights, he began transferring his belongings to his car.

Gao Yang unceremoniously took Bob's M1A rifle and threw it into his car, then deliberately went back to the sniper he had killed, retrieving a sniper rifle and all its ammunition, the most important piece being a helmet-mounted night vision device.

Initially not wanting to take anything else, but looking at the rifles scattered around, Gao Yang found it hard to resist. After some thought, Gao Yang called out for Bob to help and gathered six relatively new-looking AK-47s from the enemies he had killed.

The AK-47s that Gao Yang gathered were far better than the rusty one he had been using, and he also collected over a dozen spare magazines. If it weren't for the urgency and the hassle of collecting all the magazines, Gao Yang would have liked to take all the weapons and ammunition. It was only after Morgan loudly urged him to hurry that Gao Yang reluctantly jumped into the car and took the lead.