"That useless Newman still hasn’t returned after all this time!"
In the drug cartel’s base on the other side of the canyon, a tall, burly Western man glanced at his watch, his face showing an expression of anger.
"After all, the opponent is a member of the Dragon Army Squad. It’s not surprising that Newman hasn’t returned yet!"
The man beside the burly man spoke up.
That person wore a hat pulled low over his face, making it impossible to see his features clearly. However, a scorpion tattoo was visible on the webbing of his left hand.
"Scorpion, is the Dragon Army Squad really that formidable as you say?"
Hearing Scorpion’s words, the burly man frowned slightly. This man had a significant background and came from the internationally renowned Death God Mercenaries.
The Death God Mercenaries were ranked in the top three in the international mercenary hierarchy, and the burly man was one of its founders.
The burly man’s name was Bordeaux. He had previously served in the Special Forces of three countries. During a mission, he became dissatisfied with the higher-ups for using his family as leverage and killed the higher-ups and their families.
For this reason, Bordeaux, once hailed as a hero, overnight became one of the most wanted men in the Underworld.
To evade pursuit by the Special Forces of various countries, Bordeaux and his good friends established the Death God Mercenary Corps. As the old saying in Dragon Country goes, it’s easy to share hardships but not so easy to share wealth.
In a bid to take sole control of the Death God Mercenary Corps, Bordeaux’s friends plotted to kill him. Having accepted his fate, Bordeaux happened to meet Scorpion.
Impressed by Scorpion’s formidable skills, Bordeaux accepted Scorpion’s invitation and joined the Scorpion Mercenary Corps, becoming its second-in-command.
Although Scorpion’s mercenary group was called a Corp, it only had a little over twenty members. However, each one of them was personally recruited by Scorpion and had the strength to fight against ten or even a hundred enemies alone.
Because of this, combined with Bordeaux’s strong network, the Scorpion Mercenary Corps emerged as a notable force in the Underworld within less than a year.
"Don’t forget, I came out of Dragon Country. No one understands the training of the Dragon Army Squad better than I do. Even the Death God Mercenary Corps you founded cannot compare to them!"
If anyone else had said this, Bordeaux would have scoffed and argued with them. But since it was Scorpion— the only man he had ever revered— who said it, Bordeaux naturally held his tongue.
"But I’m still curious, as one of the former trainers of the Dragon Army Squad, why did you leave?"
No sooner had Bordeaux finished speaking than he felt a wave of tangible killing intent wash over him. He instinctively looked at Scorpion, who was sitting beside him. Scorpion had slightly raised his head, his almond-shaped eyes glaring at Bordeaux with a penetrating intensity, as if two sharp knives were stabbing directly into Bordeaux’s heart.
Noticing Scorpion’s displeasure, Bordeaux forced a slightly terrified smile. Although Bordeaux was the second-in-command of Scorpion’s unit and Scorpion was usually very gentle with his brothers, anything related to that topic would reveal Scorpion’s true nature.
Scorpion’s gaze was like a venomous needle— even those who had braved mountains of blades and seas of fire found it chilling.
"Don’t ask about certain things."
Scorpion said this casually and then lowered his head again.
"If there’s no word from Newman in three minutes, we evacuate immediately. We can’t stay here any longer!"
Hearing Scorpion’s words, Bordeaux and the others nodded in acknowledgment. They were used to such operations by now. While the mercenary style is to act boldly and live quietly, always having an escape route ready, Bordeaux had never met anyone as cautious as Scorpion. Even as Scorpion’s second-in-command, Bordeaux didn’t know all of Scorpion’s escape routes. Not even the old adage of a crafty rabbit with three burrows could describe Scorpion’s endless backups.
But it was precisely because of Scorpion’s caution that they managed to retreat unharmed from every encirclement, without any of their brothers being injured. This was also why Scorpion’s standing continued to rise among the members of the mercenary corps.
In the Underworld, there were many mercenaries who wanted to join Scorpion’s squad, but very few succeeded. Even those who were rejected still forged a deep friendship with Scorpion.
As Bordeaux would say, if Scorpion had not pursued a military career, he would have been a world-class success in business.
"As always, if they don’t return, half of their share goes to their designated beneficiaries and the other half to the rest of the team!"
This was Scorpion’s consistent approach— if a comrade fell in battle, half of that person’s share would go to their designated beneficiaries, and the other half would be distributed among the other team members.