261: Chapter 259: Saint’s Halo 261: Chapter 259: Saint’s Halo Maide spoke in a rush, wanting even to sit up to talk to Gao Yang, but seeing Maide struggle to rise, Gao Yang hurriedly said, “Don’t move, and don’t get agitated.
Over such a small matter, how could I not agree?
Rest assured, at least until you can take over, we aren’t going anywhere.
We will definitely help you get through this difficult time.”
Gao Yang’s words noticeably relaxed Maide, but Maide was still in an extremely weak state.
Just the excitement had him wheezing heavily.
“That’s great, Ram, I knew you wouldn’t just stand by and not care.
Thank you, thank you.
I know if it weren’t for you guys this time, everything would have been over.
Bringing you here was the wisest decision I’ve ever made.”
Gao Yang scratched his head in concern, and said in a deep voice, “During this time, we’ll increase our training intensity and train more people too.
People from the Instruction Platoon, while being trained, will also need to start taking on roles as junior officers.
This will increase combat power more quickly, although it will certainly run counter to our original strategy favoring elite troops, and the training of the Instruction Platoon will be greatly affected.
But we have too few hands available now, and I just worry that by the time the Instruction Platoon is ready to officially take on the task of training others, it will be too late.”
Maide managed a weary smile, saying, “Ram, there’s no need to discuss these matters with me.
You make the decisions, everything is in your hands.
Listen to me, our income has been good these past two months.
Just the passing fees collected at sea were over three million US dollars, and including what was left over from before, we have nearly fourteen million US dollars in cash.
Ram, you have full control over this money.
Take out your commission and with the rest, buy whatever you need.
In short, you can make decisions for everything concerning the Skull Gang.”
Moved, Gao Yang couldn’t help but feel surprised, because he hadn’t anticipated that not only was Maide entrusting him with the military power, but he had also handed over the financial authority, effectively giving him complete control over the Skull Gang.
Seeing the surprise in Gao Yang’s eyes, Maide gave a faint smile, saying, “I’ve told you before, I’ve never regarded the Skull Gang as my private army.
I just want to create a paradise in Somalia.
As long as the Skull Gang can become legitimized, I really don’t mind who leads them.
If you are willing to stay and lead them forward, then I welcome you to officially take over the Skull Gang starting now.”
Gao Yang sighed, “Don’t think that we’ll stay.
I have no interest in staying in this godforsaken place, so you’d better just focus on healing your wounds, and when you’re better, hurry up and take charge of your Skull Gang again.
And you know, not even ‘Saint’ was like you, no, now you’re even more saintlike than ‘Saint.’ Just stop talking, I’m afraid the more you speak, the sooner you’ll die.
Don’t you know that Pioneers usually have short lives?”
Maide smiled softly, “The road to victory is strewn with thorns, and it’s impossible to win without shedding blood.
If someone is destined to fall on this path, I don’t mind being the first.
As long as I’ve given them an ideal, then regardless of whether I fall or not, we will ultimately win.
I’ve told you this before, and I’ll say it again, if the Skull Gang can develop better, I don’t mind dying right now.”
Gao Yang waved his hands dismissively, “Stop, just stop, please don’t say any more.
Okay, we guarantee to leave you with a force that can be called an army.
That should suffice, right?
I’m really done with your talking, you could bring the dead back to life with your words.
Just stay put, will you?
Now, if I don’t rush to do something, I feel like I’d be failing you.
If you keep talking, I might just have a brain fart and seriously consider staying to conquer the world with you, and wouldn’t that be just tragic?
As for saving your people from dire straits, you better handle that yourself, as I have no interest, and I’m looking forward to going back and enjoying life.
That’s it, goodbye now.”
After rushing through the conversation with Maide, Gao Yang quickly asked Bruce, “How’s Little Ma’s injury?
He’ll live, right?”
Gao Yang spoke to Maide in Chinese while naturally switching to English when speaking with Bruce, so he wasn’t worried about Maide understanding what they were talking about and becoming agitated by knowing the severity of his own injuries.
Bruce indifferently said, “As long as his wound doesn’t get infected, there shouldn’t be a problem with him surviving.
We have plenty of antibiotics, so my answer is that as long as no unexpected misfortune occurs, he can be considered likely to survive.
To add one more thing, I’ve never seen someone who, upon waking up and realizing they’ve lost an arm, shows no reaction.
So, Maide is the first person I’ve seen like that, and I can only say his mental strength is too good.”
Gao Yang spoke solemnly, “If you understood Chinese, you’d realize that Maide isn’t just mentally strong, but he’s also a saint.
But let’s not talk about that, how is Abu?
How is he doing?”
Bruce shook his head, “It’s hard to say.
Abu’s injuries are very serious.
Even though I’ve removed the bullet and treated the wound, and the blood transfusion was timely, whether he can survive depends on Abu’s physical condition.
If he withstands it, he’ll live; if not, he’ll die.
My advice is to quickly find drugs and food that can help seriously wounded people strengthen their constitution and resistance, of course, assuming they’re able to eat.
If Abu can eat, then he’s essentially likely to make it.”
Gao Yang nodded, “Let me know what drugs and food you need as soon as you have time.
I’ll figure out how to buy them and have them delivered as quickly as possible.
Abu is very important; we must do our best to save him.”
Bruce nodded, “I’ll do my best.
If there’s nothing else, please leave, I need to continue performing surgeries.”
Gao Yang shrugged his shoulders and said, “Alright, I won’t disturb your work.
Just a reminder, I’ve arranged another emergency aid station.
It should be cleaner and more spacious than this one.
If it’s ready, you’d better move there.”
Bruce simply nodded, then shouted toward the door, “Bring in the wounded, and quick!
There are still many more people waiting!”
Seeing that Maide still seemed intent on speaking, Gao Yang quickly called out to Maide loudly, “You just focus on healing and don’t worry about anything.
I’ve got everything covered.
I’m leaving now, see you, see you later.”
Gao Yang appeared to be fleeing in a panic because he feared that, in a moment of impulse, he might actually agree to Maide’s implied suggestion to stay.
Maide had an aura of a saint about him, along with a potent personal charisma.
Every word he spoke seemed to be imbued with a bewitching power.
Gao Yang, considering himself an ordinary man, thought it wise to just honestly make money and live life.
He certainly did not have the martyrdom mindset to save foreigners at the expense of his own life.
In fact, he was not even willing to suffer much, so it was better to stay away from Maide to avoid being bewitched.
After leaving the emergency aid station, Gao Yang first went to see Abu, but Abu was still in a coma and seemed in very bad shape, indeed hanging by a thread.
Gao Yang could only sigh and walk away after a brief look.
Having escaped from Maide, Gao Yang felt a temporary lack of things to do; whatever needed to be done couldn’t be solved in just a few days.
Currently, the most important tasks were treating the wounded and burying the dead.
Gao Yang believed the living were more important than the dead, so after some thought, he decided to call Uriyangko and ask if he could send some urgently needed medical supplies.
Gao Yang’s satellite phone was left at the Instruction Platoon’s camp, and he needed to go back to retrieve it in order to make the call.
However, before heading back, he thought it necessary to remind the others.
“This is Ram.
I’m heading back to the barracks now to make a couple of calls.
If any of you finish your current tasks, come find me at the barracks.
We need to procure some items again, so see if there are any urgent needs in the areas you’re responsible for, and let me know as soon as possible.
We need to shorten the delivery time as much as we can, so it’s best to hurry.”
“Big Dog here, I’ve received that.
I need some special artillery shells, and also get me a set of Russian artillery manuals, basic ones will do.
They must be in Russian, and by no means get NATO countries’ artillery manuals—they just don’t know how to use the big guns.
No, forget it.
I guess it’s hard to teach them with books.
This is something for a professional drill instructor to handle in the future.
I don’t want to trouble myself.”
Gao Yang, with his head pounding, hastily said, “Stop, think carefully about what you need and make a list of these during this time.
I’ll let you know if I need it urgently.”
“Rabbit here, I’m free at the moment and will head to the barracks to meet up with you.
I have a lot of things I need to buy, we’ll talk when we meet.”
“Toad here, I’ve got a lot of equipment that needs to be replenished, but I’m too busy right now.
I’ll give you the list later.”
“Little Fly here, I don’t have any immediate needs at the moment, I need to think it over before getting back to you.
Oh, actually, should we buy some cars?
Like the pickups they have in Libya for hauling heavy machine guns, mortars, and rocket launchers.”
“Test Tube here, I’m in the middle of a surgery right now.
I’ll inform you later on what I need, or you can send someone to get the list.
Make sure they can read—I don’t have time to write it down.”
“Ram understands, just tell me directly what you need when you’ve decided.”
Gao Yang didn’t want to disturb Bruce’s work, especially since there were many people waiting for surgery.
At first, he was unaware of Bruce’s skills, but now Gao Yang was completely reassured, having a good combat medic in his team was an undeniably happy affair.
However, Gao Yang hoped that no one in his team would get injured so that Bruce’s skills wouldn’t be needed, especially after witnessing Bruce conduct emergency surgery and promptly move on when a victim was beyond help, Gao Yang was even less inclined to give Bruce an opportunity to be put to use.
While communicating with his team over the walkie-talkie, Gao Yang quickly ran back to his room.
Upon entering, he didn’t rush to make the call but first loaded up his sniper rifle magazines and slung a shotgun over his shoulder.
Only then did Gao Yang grab the phone, ready to contact Uriyangko.
(To be continued.
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