775: Chapter 766: Leaving No Troubles Behind 775: Chapter 766: Leaving No Troubles Behind To stay alive, Lendel did everything he could.
He surrendered, killed Philip, and had Jansen videotape the murder to deliver the leverage into Gao Yang’s hands, then he tried to carve out a useful role for himself, even throwing out diamonds worth four million US dollars as his capital for survival.
Coming up with a plan in just a few minutes or even seconds, and unhesitatingly killing a companion—Lendel was quite a character indeed.
Upon reflection, Gao Yang felt that if he had been in a team with Philip, a pig of a teammate, he would have made the same choice as Lendel, even if he couldn’t save his own life in the end, he would still have killed Philip to vent his anger.
Gao Yang began to appreciate Lendel somewhat.
He waved his hand and said, “Tell me your plan.”
With his own life on the line, Lendel thought through every word beforehand, then he spoke to Gao Yang in a measured tone, “There’s one thing Philip didn’t lie about—his uncle is indeed a notable figure.
If it became known that I killed Philip, my end would be very miserable, extremely miserable.”
Gao Yang nodded and said, “I understand, now tell me what use you are to me.”
Lendel took a breath and said, “Sir, as you might know, anything that must be hidden from the light won’t fetch a high price, and of course, the same goes for blood diamonds.
We purchase blood diamonds from Captain Sadiq at a price that’s not even a tenth of a normal rough diamond, which means I brought four hundred thousand US dollars here, but left with diamonds worth four million US dollars.
After processing in Antwerp, the profits would at least quintuple.
Therefore, these diamonds will be in high demand, and I can very conveniently find a buyer to sell them at the normal price, which amounts to four million.
Doesn’t that interest you?”
Four million is a considerable sum, and Gao Yang was surely tempted, but he wasn’t that naïve.
Every trade has its mastery, and not being from this inner circle, selling blood diamonds at the price of diamonds from regular channels is utterly impossible.
Those merchants wouldn’t care how the diamonds came about, but they are not philanthropists.
Without proof that the diamonds are from legitimate sources, any diamond trader will drive a hard bargain, a very hard bargain.
Your only choices would be to sell at twenty or thirty percent of the real price, and that’s about it.
Gao Yang said indifferently, “The key issue is that the diamonds aren’t in your hands or mine, they are in the hands of Captain Sadiq.
Isn’t it a bit early to discuss this matter?”
Lendel spoke urgently, “Sadiq doesn’t know what has happened here yet.
I think we can set up an ambush here, and when he comes with the diamonds to trade, we take him out—the diamonds and the money will all be yours!”
Fearing he could not persuade Gao Yang, Lendel continued urgently, “Sir, the quality of the diamonds here is extremely high, with very large carats!
Very large!
Besides trading with us, Captain Sadiq has no other means to sell the diamonds, so the price we offer is very low.
Ten times is just a conservative estimate.
If Sadiq has some exceptionally large stones this time, it is possible to get five or even six million.”
After vigorously waving his arms to enhance the believability of his words, Lendel said loudly, “Sir, if you try to sell the diamonds on your own, you could only get eight hundred thousand dollars, maybe one million at most.
But I have extensive connections, as soon as we leave here, I can help you sell them at a very high price!
You need my help with this!
The leverage is in your hands, I wouldn’t dare nor would I pose any threat to you.”
Lendel’s words were indeed attractive, and Gao Yang seriously considered his proposal before quickly making a choice.
Raising the barrel of his gun and aiming at Lendel, Gao Yang sighed and said, “If you needed to convince someone else, maybe you would have succeeded, but I’m sorry, Lendel, you’ve failed.”
Lendel, with a face full of panic, said urgently, “Why?
My proposal is reasonable.
Don’t you want to make a lot of money?”
Gao Yang shrugged his shoulders and said, “Firstly, the diamonds are still with Sadiq, and I do not have the habit of counting things that I haven’t received yet as income.
Sadiq might indeed come here to trade with you, but I don’t like setting traps and waiting for people to fall into them.
I prefer to take the initiative.”
Gao Yang was telling the truth.
If they were to wait at this outpost for Sadiq to come for the trade, not to mention the many uncertainties, just the need to passively wait for Sadiq was something Gao Yang would not agree to.
Setting an ambush based on the assumption that no word had leaked was not Gao Yang’s style.
What if Sadiq got wind of the situation or deduced that something major had happened from some clues, and came here with a hundred people ready for battle?
As capable as Gao Yang was in combat, he couldn’t ignore the possibility of Sadiq firing a mortar and blasting him to oblivion.
Actually, Gao Yang wasn’t particularly interested in the diamonds; he was more concerned about the safety of the Chieftain and his people.
If Gao Yang really wanted the diamonds, why would he employ such an elaborate method?
He could acquire them in a much more secure way, such as bringing in the entire Satan Mercenary Corps.
A mere mine’s worth of extracted diamonds weren’t worth that much—in fact, Gao Yang could simply take over the entire diamond mine.
Gao Yang had the capability and the confidence to snatch diamonds or even a diamond mine, and all he needed was to make a phone call.
The aid that Lendel could provide simply couldn’t move him, and this was the crux of the problem.
Seeing that Lendel wanted to say more, Gao Yang shook his head and said, “Lendel, I was actually ready to let you go, but do you know why I changed my mind?”
Lendel’s face turned ashen.
He remained silent, having realized that the more Gao Yang explained to him, the more certainly he was doomed to die.
Looking at the silent Lendel, Gao Yang said in a deep voice, “You react quickly, your methods are clever, and most importantly, you’re ruthless.
Although you misjudged the situation because you don’t understand what I’m capable of, it’s not your fault.
Let me make it clear to you, you’re ruthless enough to pose a threat to me, and I prefer to nip threats in the bud.”
Gao Yang shrugged his shoulders and said, “I would never want a potentially fatal leverage in someone else’s hands.
If it were me, anyone who holds a leverage that could threaten my life, I would definitely eliminate them, especially if that leverage was something I handed over to someone else in order to survive.
I would have to find every possible way to dispose of them and erase all evidence.
I don’t know what you’re capable of, but you’re ruthless and smart enough to potentially threaten me if I let you live, so I have to ensure there are no loose ends, and for that, I’m sorry.”
After Gao Yang finished speaking, he looked at Bantuna and said, “You heard me, do me a favor.”
Bantuna shrugged his shoulders, one hand carrying the case, the other hand on the rifle slung around his neck.
He twisted his body slightly, aimed the rifle at Lendel, and pulled the trigger.
After Lendel took four or five bullets and fell, his face still held an expression of despair.
Gao Yang had explained things very clearly, and Lendel died with a full understanding.
This was Gao Yang’s repayment for the measures Lendel had taken to try to survive.
After killing Lendel, Bantuna said to Gao Yang, “You’ve said you don’t believe in God.”
Gao Yang shrugged and replied, “One can disbelieve, but must still show respect.
I made a vow not to kill him, so I definitely couldn’t do it myself.
Thanks.”
After he finished speaking, Gao Yang pointed towards the captives lying on the ground, then gestured towards the villagers who had already picked up their rifles, drawing his hand across his throat in a slashing motion.
Seeing Gao Yang’s gesture, the villagers who had been glaring at the captives with fury rushed over.
Some of them shot at the captives, but a few women beat the captives fiercely with their rifle butts, crying and screaming as they did so.
The scene was brutal, with screams and blood spattering.
Gao Yang turned his head away and said to Bantuna in a stern voice, “I thought those captives would resist.”
But Bantuna, looking pleased, said in an undisguised cheerful tone, “These damned people only bully unarmed civilians.
They had a chance to resist and they gave it up, not to mention in this certain death situation.
Without forgiveness, why should these people bother with futile resistance?”
Jansen looked away, unable to bear the sight, and then said to Bantuna, “You seem to enjoy this, quite happy.”
Bantuna licked his lips and said, “Indeed, my father, my wife, and more than half of my village were killed by such scum.
When the civil war caused a group of defeated soldiers to loot our village, I took great pleasure in wiping out such scum, and I still do.”
The abducted people swiftly exacted their revenge, and once their grief overpowered their fury, they started weeping around the dead couple.
For a moment, the cries were deafening.
Gao Yang sighed and said, “We need to send them away.
These people don’t understand English, which is good.
They don’t know what’s happened here, and I don’t want the events here being leaked.”
Suddenly, Jansen said, “There’s a problem.
Do you guys know where these abducted people are from?”
Gao Yang’s mouth fell open as he said, “Crap, I forgot about that.”
Bantuna immediately shouted in Amharic to the villagers and, after speaking with one person, Bantuna looked troubled and said, “This is bad.
These people only know the name of their village, but they don’t know which province they belong to, nor do they know where they came from.
They have no idea how to get home, f**k, what now.”
After speaking, Bantuna gave a wry smile and said, “Okay, the good news is they don’t know who attacked them, where they’re from, or where this is, so there’s no need to worry about them revealing anything about this place.
The bad news is, how we get them to leave.”(To be continued.
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