173: Chapter 172: Causes and Consequences 173: Chapter 172: Causes and Consequences Gao Yang and his team changed back into the clothes they had come in, gathered their belongings, and waited for Simon to come and escort them out of the base.
However, they still left with their heads shrouded as they had arrived.
By the time Gao Yang removed the hood from his head and stepped out of the vehicle, they were already at Destin’s training camp.
The lights in Destin’s office were bright.
As soon as Simon and Gao Yang arrived, Destin immediately picked up a stack of documents and said, “Simon, this is the latest information that’s just come in.
Take a look, Ram, welcome back.”
Arthur, Hill, and Frank were also in Destin’s office, each engrossed in their work in front of a computer, intermittently downloading and printing out materials.
Upon Gao Yang and his team’s entrance, they only looked up to greet them briefly before returning to their tasks.
Simon quickly flipped through the documents in his hands and asked in a grave tone, “Is there any new progress or anything useful?”
Destin nodded and replied, “Yes, we can now rule out three locations.
From various indications, it’s impossible for Bob to be there.
Our people remaining in the United States are working hard to trace the last known location of Bob, but so far there’s no news.”
After Simon had hastily finished reviewing the documents, he shook his head and said, “This isn’t much help for the region we’re responsible for.
Destin, you continue to wait for news; I’m going to talk in detail with Gao and the others about this operation.”
Simon gestured for Gao Yang and the rest to take a seat, and once everyone was seated, he rubbed his temples and said with a weary expression, “Guys, let me give you the specifics on this operation.
Firstly, we’re headed to Tijuana, Mexico, a place controlled by gangs and drug traffickers.
There will be only the ten of us in this room participating in the mission, and we may also have to take on a hostage rescue task, so this mission is going to be tough and dangerous.
If you have any questions, I will answer them fully.
And if you don’t want to participate in this operation, I won’t hold it against you, since for most of you this is just business.”
Cui Bo, looking puzzled, said, “Simon, we go way back, so I’ll just speak my mind.
Morgan is so wealthy and influential, why is it that only a few of us are in this operation?”
Simon gave a wry smile, “There are things you can do but can’t talk about, nor let others talk about, especially not let your enemies get hold of any evidence.
Therefore, people whose loyalties can’t be verified are absolutely out of the question.
Morgan has a lot of money, but he can’t use it to find enough reliable people in such a short time.”
Gao Yang frowned and said, “I don’t understand, Bob is not an impulsive man.
Now that Morgan is in trouble, and with ongoing operations against Morgan never stopping, how could Bob have been easily kidnapped?
Didn’t Morgan provide him with bodyguards?”
Simon let out another bitter laugh, “Bob has been staying at his home in the United States recently.
Even if he went out, he would always be surrounded by at least four bodyguards who never left his side.
Moreover, Bob seldom went out during this period.
Nonetheless, Bob disappeared without a trace, as if evaporating into thin air.
That’s what has us most puzzled.
We know who did it, but we don’t know how they did it.”
Gao Yang continued, “Speaking for myself, I will do everything in my power to save Bob, but I have to be responsible for my people, so I need to ask you clearly, Simon, you must answer this question, who are our enemies?
And will we be subject to retaliation afterward?”
After hesitating for a moment, Simon still spoke in a serious tone, “Your enemies are a family that has risen in the United States over the past twenty years, called the Candimon family.
Their background is not very clean, closely linked to the Mafia.
However, in recent years they have successfully legitimized themselves and expanded their influence into the political arena, already achieving some initial success.
Nonetheless, their actions still tend to align with those of the Mafia, particularly in the last two years, where they’ve frequently crossed the line and drawn public outrage.
As a result, they will be eliminated by the big shots and backing families.”
Since Morgan’s first assassination attempt in Sudan, he has been on guard and resolute to fight fire with fire, blood for blood.
He promptly reached an agreement with some big shots for a retaliatory strike against the Candimon family.
The number two person within the Candimon family was assassinated in Sudan, as a response to their attempt on Morgan’s life.
As retaliation for the Abdul incident, the Candimon family’s number four member and a significant external family member were killed in Libya.
I did that just last month, before I went to the base to train you with the shotgun.
The Candimon family could break the rules, but Morgan couldn’t, unless Morgan also wanted to become a rule-breaker.
The retaliation against the Candimon family had to be completed outside of the United States.
Hence, the most important members of the Candimon family and their political spokespeople needed to be dealt with on the political level.
Now, Morgan was ready to launch a devastating strike on the Candimon family’s assets outside the United States.
In the political arena, the re-election for the Congressmen was to take place in four days.
The Candimon family’s most critical political force was two Congressmen, and they would, without any surprises, end their careers and be sent to prison.
Hence, the Candimon family decided to go all in; they kidnapped Bob in an attempt to blackmail Morgan into pressuring the bigwigs behind him, thereby resolving the predicament they faced.
Unfortunately for the Candimon family, they overestimated Morgan’s influence and underestimated the resolve of Morgan and those behind him.
As a spokesperson, Morgan could halt the assault on the Candimon family’s overseas assets, but he couldn’t decide the direction of the whole affair.
The bigwigs behind Morgan wouldn’t abandon their efforts to destroy the Candimon family for the sake of Bob’s life.
Therefore, Morgan could only rely on his own power to rescue Bob.
In fact, from Morgan’s assassination attempt in Sudan, to being surrounded in Libya, to Abdul’s capture, it was all a continuation of the same incident.
Bob’s recent disappearance would put an end to the entire struggle.
The Candimon family was destined for destruction, and whether Bob survived or not depended on our efforts.
“Personally, I don’t think the Candimon family would notice such small fries as you and me, so we don’t need to worry about retaliation.
Moreover, I don’t believe the Candimon family has the power to strike back anymore,” he said.
After listening to Simon’s lengthy explanation, Gao Yang and Glolov exchanged glances.
Understanding one another’s thoughts, Gao Yang nodded and said, “All right, we’ll all participate in this operation.
Now, I only hope we can successfully rescue Bob.”
Simon nodded and said, “Thank you.
Although I knew you would definitely participate, I want to remind you that everyone involved in this operation, regardless of whether there’s a battle or not, will receive five hundred thousand US dollars for their troubles.
If a fight does break out, the reward is five million US dollars, and the team that rescues Bob will get an additional five million US dollars as a bonus.
Destin and the others will join in, too, but since I’m Morgan’s bodyguard, I won’t be taking a cut of the money.
However, another person will be coming along, so there will be ten people sharing this money.
Can you accept that?”
Gao Yang looked at Destin and the others, who were busy with their tasks, and said in a grave tone, “Even though they’ll participate, I still feel we’re short on manpower.
Are we definitely unable to get more help?
Honestly, I’d rather have more people to share the money with, just to have more hands on deck.”
Simon gave a bitter smile and said, “It looks like there’s no one else for now, unless we can find more reliable support.
I’ll try again.
In fact, as you can see, this is a major operation.
Morgan has already deployed all his forces, launching attacks in several corners of the world at the same time.
Right now, we really can’t spare additional people, unless we can pin down Bob’s location.
But the good news is that we’ll keep receiving intelligence from the United States, so perhaps we’ll soon be able to figure out where Bob is.”
Gao Yang did some quick mental calculations.
If they could get five million from this operation, even split among ten people, the price was already very high.
For a one-off operation, even if a fierce battle occurred, a rate of fifty thousand per person was astronomical.
If there was no combat, getting fifty thousand dollars each just for the effort was a sign of Morgan’s decency because those movie plots where everyone gets a few million dollars per operation were utter nonsense.
In reality, mercenaries were aplenty who were willing to risk their lives for a mere couple of hundred dollars.
Of course, these were the lowest-rung mercenaries, but even for elite mercenaries involved in very dangerous operations, the daily rate was only a couple of thousand dollars.
Even though Gaddafi recently inflated the mercenary market, the very best of the mercenaries could only command at most ten thousand dollars a day.
Money was not so easily earned, even when risking one’s life.
Gao Yang glanced at Glolov and the others and exchanged another look.
Seeing that everyone was satisfied with Simon’s terms, Gao Yang said in a deep voice, “We have no issues then.
What can we do right now?”
Simon shook his head and replied, “Nothing now, just rest well.
You’ve just been through Hell Month and Crazy Month.
Now, you need to slowly recover.
My original plan was for you to train at the base for three months, then recover with another three months of training at this camp, but it looks like we must change plans now.”
Confused, Gao Yang said, “What are Hell Month and Crazy Month?
Why has no one explained this to us?”
Shrugging his shoulders, Simon answered, “No one at the base would explain to you.
Let me tell you now.
Hell Month is all about triggering your body’s full potential under various extreme and unfavorable conditions, while Crazy Month is about pushing your psyche and nerves to the limit.
Both are meant to push you to your actual limit.
As long as you don’t go insane, die, or get crippled, you have to endure both months.
This is the legendary Hell Mode.
Whether you like it or not, once you come for training, you have to endure all these.” (To be continued.
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