669: Chapter Six Hundred and Sixty-One: The Human Heart 669: Chapter Six Hundred and Sixty-One: The Human Heart Uriyangke’s face turned green, but at least he maintained the composure that was expected of him.
After speaking absentmindedly to Gao Yang, Uriyangke suddenly tightened his grip on the phone and bellowed, “Speak quickly, what’s the matter?
What happened to Grand Ivan!”
Uriyangke listened to the phone with disbelief on his face while Gao Yang and the others didn’t make a sound, just watched Uriyangke nervously.
After a few moments of listening stupefied, Uriyangke slumped powerlessly onto the couch, and the phone, loosened from his weak hand, fell on the thick, soft carpet.
The face of Uriyangke, which had been reddened with excitement not long before, had now turned deathly pale.
Without uttering a word, he covered his face with his hand and leaned back on the couch.
Gao Yang took a couple of quick steps forward, picked up Uriyangke’s phone, and put it to his ear to listen, but he heard no sound; Ivan from the other end had already hung up.
Gao Yang checked the call log and redialed Ivan without hesitation, but all he got from the receiver was a busy signal; Ivan was on another call.
Gao Yang said to Uriyangke angrily, “What happened?
Speak up, don’t be like a woman.”
Uriyangke let out a long sigh and said weakly, “Grand Ivan is dead, he’s gone.”
Gao Yang was deeply shaken, also stunned by the terrible news.
The place where Gao Yang stood was the presidential suite that Grand Ivan had invited him to enjoy, but before he could even go to South Africa to meet Grand Ivan, he had shockingly heard the news of his death.
Glolov furrowed his brow and yelled, “Uri, you’re a battle-hardened man, who has crawled out of piles of dead bodies time after time; how can you now not speak clearly!
What exactly happened!”
Uriyangke said in a weak voice, “Grand Ivan is dead, and we still don’t know what happened.
His estate was broken into, by many people.
Ivan is in Johannesburg, and he’s rushing to Cape Town.
He needs to go to Cape Town to assess the situation.
Right now, we don’t know who did it, but many bodies were carried out of Grand Ivan’s estate; his estate was breached.
Under these circumstances, Grand Ivan couldn’t possibly be alive.
That’s what Ivan also said.”
After giving a feeble explanation, Uriyangke covered his face again and said softly, “Sorry, I lost control.
Please let me have a moment of peace.”
Looking at Uriyangke, Gao Yang was very surprised, as Uriyangke’s sorrow seemed to exceed the level of emotion one would typically have for a boss.
Gao Yang said solemnly, “I think it’s not yet time for you to grieve.
Right now, mobilizing all the resources you can to uncover the truth of the matter is what’s most urgent.”
Uriyangke answered Gao Yang’s doubts himself, speaking in a low voice, “Sorry, but please let me be quiet for a moment.
I need to calm down.
I am really sad; Grand Ivan wasn’t just my boss, he saved my life, avenged me, gave me a new life, and I regarded Grand Ivan as my father.
Sorry, please let me have a quiet moment.
I really need to be quiet.”
Gao Yang and the others fell silent.
Uriyangko just held his head in his hands, lying motionless on the sofa.
Gao Yang could clearly see that beneath his hands, which covered his eyes, tears were flowing.
Uriyangko’s behavior was unlike that of an arms dealer.
Someone like him should have been accustomed to receiving bad news and familiar with sudden death announcements.
After leaning on the sofa for five minutes, Uriyangko lowered his hands from his face and abruptly sat up.
He said in a hoarse voice, “Bring me my phone.”
Gao Yang handed his phone to Uriyangko, who took it and quickly dialed a number, then said, “Drop everything you’re doing and gather our people, all of them.
Get ready for any combat situation and head to Cape Town as fast as possible.
Don’t ask why—just do as I say, hurry!”
After speaking rapidly, Uriyangko dialed another number and said through clenched teeth, “Grand Ivan has had an incident.
I want everything cleared up, I mean every detail from beginning to end, and quickly.”
Uriyangko made a third call, and once the person on the other end answered, he said urgently, “Do you know?
Okay, I’ll tell you, something big has happened, the boss is dead.
No, no, maybe he’s dead, but there’s no concrete news yet.
Ivan is on his way to Cape Town.
What are you planning to do?
What?
Now is not the time to wait and see!
Send all your men!
Send them to Cape Town, damn it!”
Uriyangko hung up the phone furiously, his face filled with rage.
He quickly dialed a fourth number, and as soon as it connected, he said immediately, “Polovich, Grand Ivan has had an incident.
You know that, right?
Okay, what are you planning to do?”
After a moment, Uriyangko bellowed, “Calm down?
How can you be calm at a time like this!
Whoever did this, we should strike back immediately.
If Grand Ivan is dead, we need to avenge him.
Not dead?
If he’s not dead, how can you remain calm?
We should be making plans to rescue him, not sitting around waiting to see what happens.
Even if we want to see what happens, we should mobilize our people first before deciding.
Polovich, don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to.
Even if Grand Ivan is dead, you’re not going to take control of the Middle East channels!
Without Grand Ivan, you’re nothing.
Don’t think you can stay out of this.
If you don’t respond with the strongest stance immediately, you won’t be able to protect anything!”
From the third call on, Uriyangko spoke in Russian, and Gao Yang understood most of it.
With Yelena and Glolov around, Gao Yang had started to learn Russian some time ago.
Although he was not yet able to roll his r’s and pronounce Russian perfectly, and he didn’t know many written words, understanding conversations was not a problem for him, at least for the most part.
From Uriyangko’s conversations, it was evident that his colleagues did not share his views.
Of course, this was normal.
Even though they all worked for Grand Ivan, it was not likely that everyone had the same loyalty and personal feelings towards him as Uriyangko did.
The boss is dead, and his subordinates must avenge him?
That was a joke.
“Every man for himself” was the norm.
More likely, the subordinates were thinking about how to elevate their own status and gain more after the boss’s death.
That was the most natural thought to have.
Uriyangko was furious, but he was not stupid.
After confirming the thoughts of a few other colleagues with phone calls, Uriyangko did not attempt to persuade others with long speeches, nor did he beg pitifully.
Instead, he decided to go it alone immediately.
Having hung up the phone, Uriyangko said to Gao Yang urgently, “I need to leave now, right away.
Now only Ivan and I will do something.”
Gao Yang immediately said, “Whatever you need us to do, just say it.”