1022: Chapter 1007: Punctuality is a Virtue 1022: Chapter 1007: Punctuality is a Virtue PS: To discover the exclusive story behind “War of Mercenaries,” and hear more of your suggestions about the novel, follow the QiDian ZhongWen Wang official WeChat account (add friends via WeChat – add official account – enter “qdread”) and secretly tell me!
A car was speeding along the highway, occasionally flying up off the uneven road surface, but the vehicle continued its rapid pace.
From the helicopter, Gao Yang had already spotted the car—a silver sedan going at least one hundred kilometers per hour on a bumpy road, a speed that meant danger.
Gao Yang wanted to capture someone alive, so the two Mi-24s that arrived first dared not fire; the reason was simple.
A car traveling at over one hundred kilometers per hour would almost surely be launched into the air by a blast, and even if the passengers inside weren’t killed by the explosion, the crash would likely kill them.
Two Mi-17s flew side by side, and Gao Yang could see Glolov sitting in the doorway of the plane ahead, but with a machine gun in hand, he also hesitated to open fire.
“Night Demon One, the guy below us is driving fast.
I am going to fire rockets ahead on the ground to make him slow down.”
Gao Yang grabbed the transceiver and said solemnly, “Agreed, be careful.
The other three cars and their passengers have turned into pieces, and I don’t want this last one to end up the same.”
Night Demon One fired two rockets at the road; they exploded four or five hundred meters away from the speeding sedan.
The people in the car clearly saw the explosion and the hovering helicopter above the road.
The car quickly decelerated, then turned and drove off the road towards an open area on the side.
In the transceiver, Gao Yang stated sternly, “Big Dog, it’s your turn.
National Bird descend.
We are going down to capture them.”
Glolov didn’t miss the car because it was fast, but a helicopter is faster, and with relative speed, hitting the car would have been easy for Glolov.
He refrained from shooting only because he worried about the car rolling over uncontrollably; now, as the car was slowing down to leave the road at about fifty kilometers per hour, roll-over wouldn’t be fatal.
Glolov immediately fired, shooting the front of the car and one of the front tires, sending the vehicle trying to reach the roadside desert area flipping over.
The car rolled over, landing roof-side up, and while Gao Yang and his team initially descended to capture people, now they had to rescue them.
Despite the car rolling over, they still had to beware of people inside shooting out; the helicopter landed about a hundred meters away.
After jumping out, Gao Yang, armed with the Blade of Satan, lay on the ground and aimed his gun at the car.
“Group two, go capture them!”
Members of Group Two took a detour and ran towards the sedan from the rear end, a position that prevented them from being seen by the people inside.
Capturing live captives was, after all, the most difficult part; being careful was paramount.
As Group Two approached, someone finally climbed out of the back seat of the car; the glass was completely shattered, blood covering one man’s head as he clumsily crawled out.
But before he could even turn around, someone stepped on his back.
Following that, Red Feather grabbed the person in the passenger seat while Li Yunzhe attempted to pull the driver from the driver’s seat, but the severely deformed cabin trapped the driver inside, rendering extraction impossible.
“Boss, the cabin is severely deformed; we’ll need to cut it open to get the driver out, but I don’t think it’s necessary.
He’s in a weird position, and he’s not moving.”
Having captured two live captives, Gao Yang felt it was enough.
He promptly said, “Then forget it, put one more shot into him and see if there are any documents inside the car.”
Gao Yang quickly ran towards the overturned car.
As he approached the two kneeling captives, he slung his rifle and shouted, “Hurry and interrogate right here to avoid missing anything.”
Yake and Number Thirteen looked at each other, then Yake suddenly smiled and said, “How about we see who can make them talk first?
Pick one each.”
Number Thirteen immediately pointed to one of the captives, “I pick him.”
Yake shrugged and replied, “Alright, I’ll take the other.”
Number Thirteen checked his watch and said solemnly, “Three minutes.”
Yake smirked and replied, “Looks like I’ll have to be done in two then.”
Unable to help himself, Gao Yang said, “Hey, you two, I need reliable statements, not some nonsense blurted out under distress by the captives.”
Number Thirteen smiled and said, “That’s exactly why we need to interrogate separately and then verify the statements.
Let’s get started.”
Gao Yang thought for a moment, then walked aside with Number Thirteen.
Number Thirteen pulled out a small knife, waved it in front of the captive’s eyes, and whispered in Arab, “You’re as good as dead.
I don’t mind telling you this, but I can tell you, if you give me what I want to know, I can kill you.”
Spit hit Number Thirteen’s face as his captive began shouting loudly, his emotions highly agitated.
Number Thirteen remained untroubled and methodically said, “Falling into our hands, you’d wish to die quickly.
Trust me, you would indeed wish for a swift death because I’ll make you understand what extreme pain feels like.
If you tell me everything you know and I get confirmation from your companion then I’ll kill you, putting an end to your suffering.
So you’d better start talking first because if you’re the second, the other man will die, and you’ll have to keep living.
Now, let me tell you what you would endure if you stay alive.”
Then, Number Thirteen stabbed the knife into the captive’s armpit and slowly dragged the blade.
Gao Yang turned his head to one side.
Although he could kill an enemy, he couldn’t bring himself to torture them or even bear to watch it.
Exposing himself too much to the perverse interrogation scenes conducted by Number Thirteen and Yake would only leave him psychologically scarred and plagued by nightmares.
The prisoner’s screams did not seem like sounds a human could make.
Just a few seconds later, the captive roared, “I’ll talk, I’ll say everything!
Kill me, let me die!”
Number Thirteen retracted the knife and said to Gao Yang, “I won, now you can ask whatever you want.”
Gao Yang squatted down, looked at the prisoner with tears streaming down his face, and asked, “Where is Badadi?”
The prisoner, lying on the ground and gasping for breath, replied, “I don’t know.”
Gao Yang was not angered but simply stated flatly, “I remind you once again, your companion will also speak.
If your statements don’t match, both of you will have to go through what you’ve just endured again, and the dishonest one will survive.
I’ll ask you one more time, where is Badadi?”
“I don’t know, I really don’t know.”
“Alright, which organization do you belong to, and what are you planning to do?”
“We are from IS, meeting with members of the Victory Front to discuss a ceasefire.”
That matched up.
Gao Yang secretly let out a sigh of relief but then became even more tense.
He continued, “If you don’t know where Badadi is, then tell me, how many vehicles do you have, how many people, and who holds the highest status?”
“We have four vehicles, fifteen men, the highest-ranking person is—”
The prisoner unconsciously glanced toward the man Yake was dealing with, who was still screaming wildly, and then promptly said, “It’s him!”
Gao Yang sighed and said, “Tell me his name and position, and your position too.”
“He’s called Walid, our external liaison, dealing with other organizations for discussions.
I am his bodyguard.”
Gao Yang breathed out and said, “Good, now tell me, when were you supposed to meet with the people from the Victory Front?”
“I don’t know.
I only know we were supposed to meet with Hamshami from the Victory Front, nothing more.”
“Why did you plan to meet with people from the Victory Front, and why didn’t it happen?”
“We ended up fighting with people from the Victory Front.
Walid was going to explain and stop the conflict between us.
As for not going, we saw thick smoke; we knew there was fighting ahead, so we couldn’t proceed.
Walid is always very cautious, he sensed trouble.”
Gao Yang stood up, looked toward Yake just as Yake was looking at him, and Yake gestured to him.
Without saying anything, Gao Yang walked over to Yake.
Upon reaching him, Yake, looking resigned, said, “Has the other one started talking?”
“Yes.”
With a resigned expression, Yake said, “F**k, my bad luck selecting an important persona, this guy is quite resistant.
But now it’s good, you can ask.”
Gao Yang, looking at the prisoner still gasping for air, asked, “What is your name?”
Walid glanced at Gao Yang, then said breathlessly, “Walid.”
“Who were you going to meet, tell me the exact time and place.”
“It’s a conflict with the Victory Front; I need to meet Hamshami to explain some things to cease the current hostility.
The time was three-thirty, at Meskenay.”
Gao Yang nodded and asked, “Where is Badadi, and why didn’t he come?”
“Badadi is in Damascus.
He was meant to come, and had made arrangements with the Victory Front, but he felt unwell and considered it risky to negotiate in the territory controlled by the Victory Front personally, so he sent me.”
Taking a deep breath, Gao Yang clenched his fists and paced silently in place for a moment before returning to Walid.
Then, stretching out his left hand, he pointed to his watch and said, “Look, tell me what time it is now.”
“Half-past four.”
“Why are you late?”
“Oh, it wasn’t intentional; I was overwhelmed last night and didn’t sleep well.
I took a short nap, woke up, had a cup of tea, and then I was slightly delayed getting here.”
Gao Yang slapped Walid across the face.
Pointing his finger at Walid and shouting furiously, “Punctuality is a virtue, didn’t your mother teach you that?
Bastard!
Badadi made an appointment to meet someone; why didn’t he come himself and sent a scum like you instead?
You scoundrels!
Do you even know what an agreement means?
Do you understand the meaning of a promise?
An agreement!
An agreement!
I fuck your agreement!
Agreements are meant to be honored, not forsaken, coward!
If you’re too scared to go onto someone else’s turf, don’t fucking say you’ll negotiate personally!
You time ignorant idiots!
Bastards!
You’re all a bunch of bastards!
A bunch of bastards!”