It's Them
Pledge only $1, and get instant access until c365. Of course, feel free to tip us if you can pledge a higher tier: Patreon!
Outside the courtyard of the Cai residence, Yang Chen had a cigarette in his mouth while he leaned against a huge locust tree. Raising his head to look at Lin Zhiguo, he said, “I’m not in a good mood right now. Summarize what you want to say.”
Lin Zhiguo nodded in agreement. “Do you know why Yang Lie went down the mountains with his master Daoist Yu Jizi from the Kunlun Sect and came to Zhonghai?”
“This isn’t my concern,” Yang Chen replied.
“But it’s my concern. It’s something concerning the Yellow Flame Iron Brigade,” Lin Zhiguo said solemnly. “This time, they came mainly to support us. Last month, we received a threatening challenge for a battle. The strength of the opponent forced us to invite experts outside the Yellow Flame Iron Brigade for assistance. Although Yang Lie hadn’t officially joined the team yet, his power can rival that of Sky Dragon. In addition to his master Daoist Yu Jizi, they’d be a huge help to us.”
“So?”
“So, since you injured Yang Lie, you have to compensate us in some way. Otherwise this may negatively affect everyone should we lose the battle,” Lin Zhiguo said with a smile. It could be seen from his face that he was rather pleased.
Yang Chen laughed in contempt. “I attacked him for your granddaughter’s sake. Aren’t you supposed to thank me?”
“Even if Hui’er was brought away by Yang Lie, she wouldn’t have been harmed and Yang Lie could still participate in the battle. However, you almost ended his life this time, which made him unable to recover fully before a month, but our battle can take place at anytime. Don’t you think you are being very unfair to us?”
“Why should I care if it’s fair to you or not, and why must I make up for it?” Yang Chen said before flicking his cigarette.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Lin Zhiguo looked towards the direction of Zhonghai City. “We tolerated you for bringing a team of Sea Eagles into China. This is already your biggest privilege. This time, you injured our main combatant but we’re not going to hold you accountable for it, though I admit part of the reason is because of the awe we have for you. However, don’t you think that even after all that has happened, you should provide us something in return?”
Yang Chen pondered for a while before asking, “Tell me who the opponent is first, and their aim this time.”
Lin Zhiguo squinted while strictness appeared in his eyes. “You certainly know more about our enemy than us. They’re the Sandstorm Mercenary Corps, while their target is the nuclear aircraft carrier we’re secretly constructing at a hidden bay in Zhonghai.”
Upon hearing this name, Yang Chen instantly frowned.
The news that China is building a nuclear aircraft carrier has been a spreading rumor internationally, but I didn’t know that it was true. Evidently, this is something detrimental to a lot of strong countries, so it’s highly possible for them to hire mercenaries to come and cause damage.
After all, comparing the power of China’s mercenaries to those abroad, the power levels of their mercenaries are much higher.
“I thought Sandstorm Mercenary Corps never leaves the Middle East?” Yang Chen said.
“That’s right. Since it was founded, no one knew how this organization was built. They’ve only been active for the past two years. If we consider that the Sea Eagles who listens to your command dominates the Mediterranean Sea and Northern Europe, then similarly, Sandstorm would be the ones that dominate the Middle East. To be honest, our special forces Water Dragon are no match for them,” Lin Zhiguo said in a serious manner.
Yang Chen inhaled a mouthful of smoke. The stimulation derived from the poor-quality tobacco cleared his mind. After throwing the cigarette butt away, he started to think carefully…
Although Yang Chen hadn’t had many interactions with Sandstorm, his men had suffered significant losses because of them.
According to the reports given by Sauron, major contracts from the Middle East were almost all snatched away by Sandstorm since they were founded. It wasn’t because the Sea Eagles were inferior to their them. Most members from Sea Eagles were from the Mediterranean Sea and Northern Europe, and had lived almost all of their lives on snowy and icy lands in addition to the ocean, so they weren’t very good at battles on the desert.
As a result, for the past two years, a line had been drawn between the two major mercenary corps from the Middle East and Europe. Sandstorm would earn their wealth from extracting oil, while the Sea Eagles would earn the money from European royal families. None of them would interfere each other, but they had been vaguely competing for awhile now.
The most famous battle Sandstorm took place in, was when they overthrew a country’s government after being hired by some revolutionary army in the Middle East. In this process, America had tried to use advanced technologies to pressure them while controlling the regime, but got intruded by the armies from Sandstorm, causing one of their generals to be seized which was the main reason they lost the war.
Sandstorm’s reputation has peaked since then. No one dared to look down on this group of mercenaries. Since they only operated in the Middle East, they didn’t cause too much trouble to many of the countries.
Sandstorm also had a weird ‘hobby’. Every time before they initiated a war, they’d send an ‘invitation letter’ for war, stating that ‘We’re coming to fight you. Get ready!’
They were indeed a group of arrogant and incredibly confident mercenaries. However, if their fighting records are what they say it is, they are a formidable bunch.
Two years ago, Yang Chen slowly distanced himself from the bloody circle, and passed the powers under his name to Sauron, Makedon and others, so he had never truly interacted with the people from Sandstorm.
The founder of Sandstorm was a mysterious fellow. There were no records regarding his past. The only information available about him was he was a relatively young guy.
Yang Chen finally understood why Lin Zhiguo acted this thick-skinned and swallowed his pride to ask for his help. If Sandstorm really came to China, Yellow Flame Iron Brigade definitely couldn’t hold them down.
The power level of the Group of Eight was extraordinary, but the members of the Dragon Group were at most on par with Sandstorm. However, they were much less brutal and brave than Sandstorm.
Inviting Yu Jizi and Yang Lie down from the mountains was the only thing he could do.
“Sandstorm will be coming over from the Persian Gulf. They wouldn’t bring a large number of troops for an ocean combat. They’d most likely send over two platoons of elites. Can’t you guys stop them on the ocean?” Yang Chen asked.
Lin Zhiguo smiled bitterly. “We want to. But do you know who hired Sandstorm this time?”
Yang Chen shook his head. There were people all over the world who wanted to stop China from having a nuclear aircraft carrier.
“Brahma,” Lin Zhiguo said before sighing.
Yang Chen finally got astonished this time. It’s them!
“I bet you didn’t expect them too, did you? Brahma from India, can be considered the most inactive hidden organization under a country in the world. They hired Sandstorm all the way from the Middle East to cause damage to our base in Zhonghai which has a nuclear aircraft carrier in construction,” Lin Zhiguo said.
Yang Chen got excited. In this world, the organizations which he felt had no point in existing included Brahma from India.
After the nonviolent civil disobedience in India ended when their founding father Gandhi was assassinated, Brahma was founded secretly to protect the core people running the country.
According to ancient Indian myths, Brahma was the strongest ‘creator god’. In their legends, Indra the guardian deity, Agni the fire god, Varuna the water god, could all only be considered as second-class gods.
Brahma, Asura, Vishnu and the other principal gods were the true, top Indian gods.
Every leader of Brahma would be titled ‘King of Brahma’. It was said that this group of people could use various types of witchcraft since they practised ancient Indian yoga, while every King of Brahma could use it extraordinarily well.
Although many people refused to believe how magical yoga was when practised to its peak, Yang Chen was well aware that once mental strength reached its peak, it was possible for some ‘witchcraft’, so to speak, to be used.
For example, the dead Noriko Okawa’s killing aura had reached a certain level which allowed him to unleash the horrifying power of the demon’s blade. Even a jinnin like Hannya couldn’t utilize the slightest bit of strength from the blade.
If the people from Brahma really had the high mental strengths that they claimed they had, it was quite possible that they are able to utilize the aforementioned techniques. After all, China had the art of internal energy, and India being one of a similar nature having an ancient history, naturally had something of that sort.
However, Brahma had always operated in India alone, to protect their core members. There were almost no records of them battling outside their country.
Yang Chen didn’t expect that China’s construction of a nuclear aircraft carrier would bring such a huge impact to India. Although it wasn’t necessarily planned by India alone, they must’ve only made such a decision when they were left with no other options.
The aircraft carriers used by India were all purchased old models. If China could successfully build a nuclear aircraft carrier on their own, their war strategies would have to be completely redesigned.
Since it was a planned by India, Sandstorm naturally couldn’t be stopped on the ocean, since they would cross the mountains in Tibet to step onto the land of China.
Wanting to catch this group of people on land was straight-up impossible. Regular armies would only end up serving as cannon fodder.
At the same time, if the fight was overly intense, innocent citizens would be harmed. Inevitably, it certainly was something that couldn’t take place.
The most they could do was to wait for Sandstorm to arrive at the construction site in Zhonghai to initiate the battle!
Yang Chen was rather looking forward to meeting this group of fellows who were deeply associated with Indian legends. Also, he wouldn’t be too happy if they caused a commotion in the country he was residing in.
However, if he really helped the Yellow Flame Iron Brigade, he would spoil his relationship with the organizations from other countries. He said, “I can send Molin to lead the small team of Sea Eagles to assist you guys. With them, holding back a group of mercenaries from Sandstorm isn’t a problem. However, I myself will only protect my Sea Eagles teammates. It’s none of my concern if your people die.”
“Understood. It’d already be a huge help if you can send the Sea Eagles over.” Lin Zhiguo felt very much relieved. Smiling, he said, “Then the way to contact the Sea Eagles…”
“You must’ve already checked up on them. Don’t act like you haven’t investigated them in front of me. I’ll inform Molin tonight and you’ll contact him yourself.” Yang Chen directly exposed Lin Zhiguo’s intention.
Being old, Lin Zhiguo wasn’t at all awkward in this situation. “Young Man, you’re still my junior at the end of the day. Leave me some face where applicable.”
“If you want to fight for your face, do something that will make me respect you first.” Yang Chen shook his head and turned around before walking away from the tree.
Standing in the distance, Cai Ning had been waiting for Yang Chen in a car. Evidently, she had planned to personally send Yang Chen back.