Mercenary's War

Used to being surrounded, and having experienced being surrounded with severely injured people around, for a mercenary, fighting outnumbered behind enemy lines is routine. Once a comrade is injured, you must stay to protect them until they are moved or given first aid. So, Gao Yang is quite familiar with all this.

This time is not more dangerous than before, but this time, Gao Yang severely lacks backup, and mostly he lacks time. For someone like Gao Yang who is very familiar and skilled at fighting and escaping simultaneously, his biggest fear is losing the space to move, because if he leaves, Justin is absolutely doomed.

The space in the mall is quite big. Gao Yang glanced around, wanting to grab someone as a hostage. But no one’s stupid; outside there’s gunfire and cars crashing around, who wouldn’t hide? So, Gao Yang looked around and saw people, but they were too far away, and those he could see were quickly escaping.

Gao Yang took a deep breath, inserted a pistol into his waistband, took out his phone, and dialed Yarebin. Once Yarebin answered, he said softly: "Sorry, teacher, I seem to have no way out. I’ve put myself in a corner again."

Yarebin replied in a deep voice: "Are you injured?"

"No, Justin is injured, seriously. The carotid artery is ruptured, but there’s still hope. We’re in an ambulance so the problem lies here. If Justin weren’t salvageable I’d have a chance to escape alone, but now there are doctors and emergency supplies."

Yarebin let out a breath and immediately said: "Justin is worthless now, kill him and leave immediately."

Gao Yang said helplessly: "I can’t do it."

"Damn it! You should do the right thing! Justin is going to die and drag you down; you should give him a bullet and escape as fast as possible!" 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Gao Yang said quietly: "I actually planned to do that. When we were escaping, I thought about it. If I couldn’t escape, I’d kill him and leave myself. But now, I can’t do it, really can’t. If not for Justin, I’d have been the one shot; he pushed me away and got shot himself, understand? So I can’t leave, nor can I kill him."

"Stay and die with him. If you leave, at least one person survives. Don’t throw everything away!"

Yarebin sounded urgent. Gao Yang took a deep breath and said: "Sorry, teacher, I always make choices you think are wrong. I always disappoint you. I don’t have time to talk on the phone. Please tell the others for me; if I die, they know what to do. That’s it, the enemy will soon come in."

Yarebin urgently asked: "Who are you facing?"

Gao Yang thought for a moment and said softly: "Not Mario’s people; it’s police and military. So now it can be confirmed that the official government is fully involved. I saw soldiers wearing camouflage pants and black headgear. Now I just hope they’re not leather headgear people."

Yarebin paused for a moment, then said softly: "Then they are leather headgear. I hope you can hold on a little longer. I’ll work to create a miracle for you. If I fail, you’ll accompany Justin to die."

Gao Yang said softly: "I can tolerate everything I do, but I can’t forgive myself for abandoning a comrade, especially one who took a bullet for me. Sorry, teacher."

Gao Yang hung up the phone, put the phone in his pocket, and pulled out a second pistol.

Gao Yang suddenly looked at the lying Justin and, with an annoyed expression, said: "I just called you my comrade! Damn, it’s really unlucky."

Annoyed by his slip, Gao Yang stood behind the ambulance’s front end, placed a pistol on the hood, and then put several magazines on it. He held the gun with both hands, aiming at the mall entrance.

Using both guns ambidextrously looks cool and allows for fast shooting, but that’s when very precise shooting isn’t required. If rapid and accurate shots are needed, holding the gun with both hands is better.

The upcoming enemies are different—not Mario’s hired random people, possibly gang or mercenary enemies. They are no longer the riffraff; the next enemies may well be the famous leather headgear.

Every country has its own special forces elite, and leather headgear is Italy’s most prominent team.

The true name of leather headgear should be Central Special Operations Security Team, formed in 1978. Its history isn’t long, but its record is decent—few operations but no failures. Overall, it’s a professional Special Forces unit, Italy’s finest for hostage rescue and indoor battles.

Because leather headgear came, a team tasked with hostage rescue missions, they were slow to enter. If it were Mario’s people, they wouldn’t care about hostages and would have rushed in.

Gao Yang fears leather headgear’s orderly planning, blocking all escape routes before launching a professional assault. Mario’s people are comparatively easier to deal with.

Gao Yang chose to grip the gun with both hands because he knows that if leather headgear comes in, they’ll definitely be wearing bulletproof vests, and he has only four 9mm pistols. If he doesn’t shoot accurately, it’s over.

Five minutes have passed, and no one has come; this indicates a tightly enclosing circle being set up outside. However, Gao Yang hopes the attack comes as late as possible.

Finally, a man in a suit, with a heavy bulletproof vest outside, appeared slowly at the entrance, raising his hands. After waving outside, he shouted: "Can you hear me? Please don’t shoot. I’m a negotiation expert; can we talk?"

Gao Yang welcomes negotiations very much, because negotiations mean time.

"Alright, let’s talk. You come in; I promise not to shoot."

The negotiation expert slowly walked to the entrance, turned around, showed Gao Yang he wasn’t carrying a gun, and then shouted in English: "Can I put my hands down to talk? Holding them up is very tiring."

Gao Yang’s eyes occasionally glanced at the negotiation expert, but his main focus was on both sides of the entrance. He shouted: "Put your hands down; we can chat like friends."

The negotiation expert let out a breath, smiled, and said: "It seems you’re not crazy. It’s good you’re not crazy. Listen, buddy, you can’t get out; there are at least hundreds outside waiting for you. But you can put down your gun and come out yourself. I guarantee you won’t be hurt."

Gao Yang shouted loudly: "That’s really bad news. Maybe I really should consider surrendering. Listen up, friend, how much do you know about me?"

"So far almost zero. I volunteered, hoping to rescue the three respected medical staff. Friend, can you tell me what it takes to let them go?"

Gao Yang chuckled and said: "That depends on whether you’ll meet my conditions. Actually, I’m very easy to talk to."