132: Chapter 131 Preparing to Return Home

Three people remained among the piles of rocks. The young man's death caused the Commander of Black Scorpion to break down instantly. Though the Anjin Martial Artist was horrified, he remained relatively calm; ignoring the Commander of Black Scorpion, he pinned his cousin to the ground. Without a word, he raised his gun and fired wildly toward Cao Xiao's position. His cousin, however, had already lost control of his bowels and bladder. His face was pale, and despite being in his late forties or fifties, he was wailing like a small child.

"Sister Yan, are you alright?" Cao Xiao moved the sniper rifle from the roof and handed it to Niu Zhen. He adjusted the channel on his walkie-talkie and asked with concern.

"I'm fine, just a scratch. Cao Xiao, was that you firing just now? Why did the fire suddenly stop?" Hearing Cao Xiao's voice, Yan Qingcheng put down her gun, hid behind a vehicle, and asked in confusion.

"It was me. I used special ammunition to clear the obstacles. There are only three people left inside now. Tell the soldiers to cease fire! Have them treat the wounded. I'll go bring that man to you," Cao Xiao said with a sigh of relief. Through the detection interface, he could see that Yan Qingcheng had no visible external injuries, but he couldn't very well use X-ray vision to scan her body for internal injuries.

Cao Xiao got out of the car with a pistol. Brother Duan and the other five followed closely, guarding him while firing toward the rock piles to keep the middle-aged man from showing his face. Yan Qingcheng also limped over.

Cao Xiao watched the middle-aged man's every move. Seeing Cao Xiao and the others approaching, the man dropped his gun, pulled out a dagger, and hid behind a large rock, poised to pounce at any moment.

He signaled the bodyguards to stop firing. Several of them took out daggers or pistols and cautiously approached the spot.

Thirty meters... ten meters... five meters... three meters... Niu Zhen, who was in the lead, was about to continue forward when a dark shadow suddenly flashed before his eyes. It was incredibly fast. As a master of close-quarters combat, he only had time to stop and pull back. A cold glint approached his head with lightning speed, and he could only watch helplessly.

Bang!

Just as Niu Zhen was in despair, a gunshot rang out from behind him, making his ears ring. The dark shadow in his vision faltered in mid-air. In that split second, relying on instincts honed over years of life-and-death situations, his hand subconsciously thrust his dagger into the shadow with all his might.

Puchi!

As expected, he felt the dagger sink into flesh. He caught the dark shadow with his hand, and upon closer inspection, it was a middle-aged man in black, skewered on his blade. The man's eyes were wide like a bull's but devoid of life. A thumb-sized bloody hole in his forehead was gushing blood and white matter. Perhaps needing a release, Niu Zhen grabbed the man's clothes with his other hand, lifted the corpse with one arm, and slammed it heavily onto the ground. He then pulled out his pistol and fired repeatedly toward the direction the man had leaped from.

"Brother Niu, stop! There's no threat anymore." Seeing Niu Zhen about to rush in while firing in a rage, Cao Xiao quickly intervened, worried he might accidentally kill the two people inside.

"Thank you, Mr. Cao! You just saved my life. This person was an Other. If you hadn't shot him just now, we'd all be dead." Niu Zhen looked at Cao Xiao with gratitude, speaking with lingering fear.

"It's fine! We're all on the same side. Brother Duan, go inside and bring out whoever's still alive," Cao Xiao comforted Niu Zhen before turning to Duan Hong.

He had been monitoring the middle-aged man's movements and saw him preparing an ambush. So, when the man pounced, Cao Xiao activated his probe and raised his pistol. That was why the man had faltered in mid-air; otherwise, with his mediocre marksmanship, how could he have killed an Anjin Martial Artist so easily? In a short while, two Anjin Martial Artists had died by his hand. If he had achieved this feat solely through marksmanship, it would be something to be proud of. Unfortunately, it wasn't! No one understood the power of an Anjin Martial Artist better than him. The speed at which the man had pounced just now exceeded a hundred meters per second—a fraction of the speed of a bullet. In a head-on confrontation, an Anjin Martial Artist could easily dodge bullets. He couldn't even track their movements with the naked eye, let alone land a precise kill.

In less than two minutes, Niu Zhen appeared before Cao Xiao, carrying a person in each hand. He slammed them onto the ground, and they tumbled like rolling gourds. Cao Xiao frowned and covered his nose, saying, "Sister Yan, I'll leave these people to you. Arrange for someone to clean up the battlefield. Brother Duan, take this man; we're going to the Black Scorpion base."

"Thank you, Mr. Cao!" Now that her enemies were captured, Yan Qingcheng appeared surprisingly calm.

"Mr. Cao, this is that young man's weapon. It seems to be an antique," Duan Hong said, handing a golden scimitar to Cao Xiao.

"Hmm, an ancient version of an Alloy Scimitar. It likely contains a significant amount of gold, silver, and other precious metals, and it's very sharp. Keep it for yourself. When we return home, selling it should get you a house. If you find someone who knows their stuff, you might even get a car out of it." Cao Xiao had already scanned the scimitar. As the personal weapon of an Anjin Martial Artist, it was sharp and tough but had no other special properties, so he didn't care for it.

"I'll go look too!" Hearing that a scimitar could be traded for a house, Niu Zhen immediately turned back to search the middle-aged man's corpse. To his surprise, he actually found a few items. He quickly brought them to Cao Xiao and asked, "Mr. Cao, look at these. Are they worth anything?"

Cao Xiao smiled at this. Niu Zhen was straightforward and not particularly greedy, but he wouldn't pass up a benefit when he saw one. These were spoils of war; Cao Xiao didn't mind, and to them, it was a significant amount of money—there was no reason to throw it away. After carefully examining the items in Niu Zhen's hand, he said, "Brother Niu, you've struck it rich. The stone on this ring is an Emerald, about ten carats, and the quality is top-tier. It's worth at least two million, and that's in us dollar. This pendant is made of authentic Mutton-fat White Jade suet, flawless throughout, with master-level carving. It's an antique from the Ming Dynasty. I can't estimate its exact value, but it's at least over a million. You can buy a large villa once you sell it back home. Tell you what, Li Quanshuo, search this guy's belongings. He's the Commander of Black Scorpion, so he should have plenty of valuable items. You four can split them equally."

"I'll put mine in too! Once we sell them back home, we'll split the money among the twenty of us, including Sister Yan," Niu Zhen said, slapping his forehead with a bit of self-reproach.

"Mine too," Duan Hong added.

Cao Xiao laughed. "Suit yourselves. We'll tally the spoils later. All combat and logistics personnel will receive a bonus. You can keep these items for yourselves."

"Don't touch me, I'll take them out myself! This is a Vacheron Constantin watch, limited to twenty pieces worldwide. This is a thirteen-carat diamond ring. There's also a small bag of cut diamonds here, all over one carat, worth more than two hundred million us dollar. If you let me go, I can provide another two hundred million us dollar as ransom!" Just then, seeing Li Quanshuo approach, the Commander of Black Scorpion trembled as he pulled items from his person.

Cao Xiao looked over in surprise. Seeing the Commander of Black Scorpion's terrified state, his heart stirred. He pointed his pistol at him and said with a cold sneer, "Does the life of the famous Commander of Black Scorpion Mercenary Group only cost two hundred million us dollar?"

"No, no, no! I'm just a figurehead, not the true leader of the mercenary group. Two hundred million is my entire net worth accumulated over the years. If you let me go, I'll hand it all over." Seeing Cao Xiao approach, the Commander of Black Scorpion kept scuttling backward on the ground.

"Oh, a figurehead? What power is behind Black Scorpion?" Cao Xiao stopped and asked with a frown.

"I can't say! If I do, I'll be dead even if I make it back alive! My family will die too! Even if you kill me now, I won't say it. I'll add another fifty million us dollar—that's Black Scorpion's liquid capital. That's the absolute limit, or I won't be able to explain myself when I get back." The Commander of Black Scorpion grew even more terrified at the thought of that power.

Cao Xiao hadn't expected the Black Scorpion Mercenary Group to be the armed force of a major power. This made things complicated. Judging by the Commander's genuine terror, that power was not to be trifled with. They had two Anjin Martial Artists on the surface, so their hidden strength must be even more formidable. He wouldn't get any answers, but he couldn't let the Commander go back either. Someone who could firmly control Black Scorpion for many years and remain unscathed was not as simple as he appeared; he must have some status within that organization. His current submission was merely for survival. Letting him go would be like releasing a tiger back to the mountain. Thus, he withdrew his pistol and said, "I can let you go, but you must hand over five hundred million us dollar. Not a cent less!"

"Fine, fine! Five hundred million it is. I can transfer it immediately. Please give me your account number." Hearing that Cao Xiao would release him, the Commander of Black Scorpion scrambled up from the ground. He took out his phone and walked over to Cao Xiao, bowing slightly, looking pained but relieved.

Cao Xiao gave him the account number. The man took out his phone and skillfully began the transfer. In less than two minutes, Cao Xiao logged into his online banking account and saw that five hundred million us dollar had indeed been added. He was overjoyed.

At that moment, a cold glint approached Cao Xiao's chest like a bolt of lightning. The distance between them was less than a meter. No one had expected the Commander of Black Scorpion to launch a sudden attack.

A savage grin spread across the Commander of Black Scorpion's aging face, but suddenly, he couldn't smile anymore. He looked in disbelief at the dagger plunged into his own heart, while his own blade seemed to have struck steel, unable to advance an inch. He felt his body grow weak and his vision fade, yet his mind was strangely clear. He stared blankly at Cao Xiao's undamaged clothes and asked in a daze, "Is this... Huaxia's bulletproof vest?"

"Heh! You can ponder that in hell!" Cao Xiao had been wary of this seemingly terrified Commander of Black Scorpion all along. While putting his pistol back behind him, he had produced a dagger in his other hand. He had kept his hands behind his back while watching the man transfer the money. He hadn't expected the Commander to be a cultivator as well, and even with his full concentration, he hadn't been able to block the attack in time. However, in that split second, he had thrust the dagger behind him at his maximum speed. The man hadn't expected Cao Xiao to be on guard, thinking the huge sum of money had fully occupied his attention, so he hadn't noticed Cao Xiao's thrust. Cao Xiao didn't waste words; he twisted the dagger inside the man's body. The Commander of Black Scorpion twitched and then fell straight backward.

"Mr. Cao, are you alright?" Niu Zhen rushed over and asked anxiously, grabbing Cao Xiao.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Cao. We were also on guard, but we didn't expect this frail-looking man to be an Other as well. That's why we let him get close. By the time we realized, it was too late to react," Duan Hong said self-reproachfully.

"It's fine. I was prepared for him. I'm no pushover myself. Go search him and see if you can find any useful information." Cao Xiao sighed. This man had been playing the pig to eat the tiger, likely not just to deceive them but as a permanent persona. This explained how he could control the Black Scorpion Mercenary Group. If not for the bulletproof vest, he might have actually succeeded today. Once he killed Cao Xiao, with his great martial strength, Duan Hong and the others wouldn't have been a match for him at close range. He could have hijacked an assault vehicle and made a clean getaway. But today, he had met his match—or rather, kicked a steel plate—and died a rather pathetic death.

"Mr. Cao, there's nothing on him to prove his identity, but there is a very realistic scorpion tattoo on his arm," Duan Hong said after searching the Commander of Black Scorpion's corpse.

"Mr. Cao, a self-destruct program was installed on his phone. I just tried to crack it, but the program activated, and the internal chips and memory card are fried," Li Quanshuo said helplessly.

"Then forget about it. If that power really dares to come looking for us, we'll just deal with them then. Sister Yan, I'll leave things here to you. We're going to the base; Brother Wu and the others should have finished packing by now." With all leads cut off, Cao Xiao didn't bother worrying anymore. He would deal with whatever came his way. He had already offended plenty of people; one more wouldn't make a difference.

"Mr. Cao, here is the bag of diamonds." Li Quanshuo handed a small velvet bag to Cao Xiao.

"I'll take them for now. I have plenty of diamonds. Each of you take two. Don't sell them; have them made into jewelry for your wives. For those who aren't married, you've got your engagement rings. You can go propose now. Haha!" Cao Xiao had lost interest in ordinary diamonds. He had so many he didn't know what to do with them; taking more would just mean letting them gather dust.

"Thank you, Mr. Cao!" Duan Hong and the others thanked him in unison, delighted.

"Let's go! The weather here is just too hot. Once we've handled things here, we'll set off for home." Cao Xiao took out a folding fan and fanned himself vigorously before speaking.

...

Arriving at the Black Scorpion base, the patrolling guards had already been replaced by soldiers from the Iron Fist Mercenary Group. A large crowd of people was crouching in the square, appearing to be no fewer than two thousand. Hundreds of soldiers were guarding them with guns.