Chapter 519: A Necessary Help
Translator: _Min_ Editor: Caron_
Inside the Empire Hotel, Carmen put the phone on the desk, picked up a wine glass, and walked back to the window. The night had cast its terror on the city. Carmen stared at his reflection in the window as well as the street lit up by police lights. He grinned.
The vivid, bright liquid swirled together and added a hint of menace to his smile.
An armored vehicle full of special forces disappeared at the end of the street and helicopters hovered above the Ber sky.
The door to the presidential suite opened.
Johnson, in a black suit, walked inside and quietly closed the door behind him.
“The actors have left the stage.”
“Great.”
Carmen’s fingers rhythmically tapped the wineglass as he seemed to be deep in thought.
Johnson, who stood behind him, held his breath while waiting for an order.
“Johnson.”
Johnson raised his chest.
“Yes!”
But to his surprise, his boss didn’t give him an order but rather, spoke slowly and meaningfully.
“Ber is an interesting place.”
Carmen’s words made Johnson feel puzzled as he searched for an explanation from his boss.
Perhaps Carmen saw Johnson’s confusion through the reflection in the window – he smiled.
“Johnson, you were part of Fran’s expat army, right?”
“Yes, boss,” Johnson replied in a deep voice.
“What’s the closest scene that you have seen that resembled hell?” Carmen quietly asked.
Johnson carefully recollected a memory before he answered.
“In 2008, during a peacekeeping mission in Haiti, we were traveling with the peacekeepers whose task was to maintain local order and our task was to rescue the French diplomats besieged in the embassy. When we left the city, we encountered an attack from the opposition’s armed forces… They were an army and thought we were an international food aid organization. In a country where 15 presidents were overthrown in 72 years, there was no reason for rationality and our commander was decisive. There was no communication – they fired first and we fought back immediately. They blocked us, so we killed our way through.
“How many people died?” Carmen said nonchalantly.
Johnson shook his head.
“That operation wasn’t recorded on file; I only remember a lot of people fell that day.”
Death didn’t seem to bother him. But Carmen’s face reflected in the wine glass had a greater menace written on it.
“Is that the worst hell you’ve seen? That’s too minor.” Carmen grinned.
Johnson shrugged. “In modern warfare, not a lot of people die.”
“Is that so?”
Carmen spoke with an underlying meaning. He left the window and placed his wine on an expensive redwood table.
“This city is fortunate enough to witness history again. Johnson, remember what I said today. The decision made by the Rothschild family today is to prevent hell from breaking out.”
…
“As you wish.” Johnson nodded.
“Also, I need you to do something else for me.”
When Johnson heard his boss had a mission for him, he immediately put on a serious expression and stood up straight.
“On your command.”
“There’s a fish that escaped the net – I need you to take care of it for me.”
“Who?”
“Our beloved Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Evelyn.”
…
The gunshots were from the direction of the library with a total of three shots.
Jiang Chen felt something was terribly wrong since he thought Ayesha was still there. He ran to the underground garage while he took out his pistol from the storage dimension and stuffed it in his pocket.
The streetlights continuously elongated his shadow; there wasn’t a single student to be seen along the way. Security in foreign countries wasn’t as stable as in Hua with so few people outside at night to begin with, not to mention the curfew now in place.
When he ran into the garage and saw Ayesha and the four bodyguards standing beside the two black Benz cars, he felt assured.
“I heard gunshots from the garage?”
“No, it was from the library.” Ayesha shook her head. Seeing as Jiang Chen safely returned, she looked evidently relieved. “Please return to the car, it’s not safe outside.”
As Ayesha spoke, she extended her hand to Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen understood the meaning behind her resolute gaze as he reached into his pocket and took out the pistol and silencer. Because she didn’t have a gun license, the weapons were all with Jiang Chen.
Ayesha installed modules on the Type-11 Pistol before stuffing it into her suit pocket. Although they might not engage in battle, it was safer to be prepared with gunshots in the vicinity.
Just as Jiang Chen was planning to get into the car, a voice in the distance stopped him.
“Please wait, Mr. Jiang Chen.”
Jiang Chen’s hand stopped at the car door. From the elevator in the garage, a middle-aged man in a suit was jogging towards him with heavy breaths. Ayesha put her hand beside herself in preparation and the four bodyguards all stood in front of Jiang Chen with a defensive stance.
From the lamp in the underground garage, Jiang Chen saw the person’s face and signaled the bodyguards to not worry to allow the man to walk in front of him.
It was Evelyn, the Deputy Prime Minister of Frankberg. Jiang Chen just shook hands with him.
“Mr. Deputy Prime Minister, could I please ask—”
Because of his age and the fact he was wearing dress shoes, the one-hundred-meter distance was already overwhelming for him. With his hands on his knees, Evelyn took a moment to steady his arrhythmic breaths before standing up and looked seriously at Jiang Chen.
“I’ve certainly taken the liberty, but please help me, Mr. Jiang Chen.”
Just as he spoke, Jiang Chen noticed the blood stains on the left arm of his suit. And his bodyguards were all gone.
“Help you… Could you tell me what happened?”
Jiang Chen was hesitant when he said this. Since he was about to leave Frankberg, he didn’t want to go out of his way to trouble himself. But the one requesting help was the Deputy Prime Minister of Frankberg; it was hard for him to reject him.
“We have no time to explain – their people are about to be here.” As Evelyn spoke, he anxiously looked in the direction of the elevator. “Please, take me out of here.”
Jiang Chen only hesitated for one second before four blinding rays of light appeared at the entrance of the underground garage. Seeing this, Evelyn decisively got down on the ground with his hands covering his head. Four gunshots consecutively rang out from the distance.
The sound of bullets blowing by his ear made Jiang Chen jump up. Although he was wearing a carbon Nano bulletproof vest, guns weren’t something to be messed with. The four bodyguards immediately swarmed Jiang Chen to act as human shields while Ayesha opened the bulletproof car door while firing back with her pistol.
Because she was wearing shades, the car lights didn’t interfere with Ayesha’s vision. Two bullets penetrated the other side’s car window and struck the driver’s head. This van rushing in their direction immediately stalled and smashed into a concrete pillar.
Seeing Jiang Chen’s side firing back, the driver of the other van immediately turned his steering wheel and drifted the van to stop horizontally. The militants in baseball caps and masks swarmed out of the car while firing back behind cover.
There was no time for Jiang Chen to hesitate further. With guns being fired, he had no choice but to help the Deputy Prime Minister of Frankberg.
“Open the signal jammer! Don’t just stand here; I have a bulletproof vest on. Take cover and prepare to fire back!”
“Roger!”
He dragged open the car door and threw Evelyn, curled up on the ground, into the backseat. He then reached under the car seat and took out a briefcase from the storage dimension with the cover of darkness and tossed it out of the car.
The Celestial Trade bodyguard behind the pillar took the briefcase. He smoothly took out the pistols and clips from inside and tossed the weapons to his comrades. The four bodyguards finished equipping themselves in less than three seconds and started to fire back.
Fortunately both sides used pistols, and in terms of the penetrative power of the bullets and the stability of the pistols, Jiang Chen’s side was certainly at an advantage.
Just then, the elevator a hundred meters behind Jiang Chen began to open.
The pursuants from the library had made their way down!