857: Chapter 847: Iron Madonna 857: Chapter 847: Iron Madonna After a confidential talk with Morgan, Gao Yang declined Morgan’s retention and rushed to Portland Airport, flying back to New York as fast as possible.
The reason why Gao Yang was in such a hurry to get back to New York can be summed up in one sentence: absence makes the heart grow fonder.
By the time Gao Yang arrived at New York Airport, it was already past two in the morning, but Yelena, who had received the news, was still waiting there to pick him up.
Now that his relationship with Yelena was clear, Gao Yang had no need for too many reservations.
As soon as he got off the plane and saw Yelena, the whispers of a reunion were enough for the car ride, and the rest, well, once they got to the hotel, everything was left unsaid.
The downside of having too much stamina…
is having too much stamina.
It wasn’t until the day was bright that Yelena finally got the chance to fall into a deep sleep.
Feeling refreshed, Gao Yang could finally relax and enjoy a good sleep, but it seemed he had barely drifted off when a series of phone rings woke him up.
Annoyed at having his good dream interrupted and worried the phone ringing would wake Yelena, Gao Yang grabbed the bedside phone as quickly as possible, answering the call without even seeing who it was.
“Hello, who is this!”
Gao Yang’s tone was rather irritable, but the person on the other end of the phone began with a laugh before speaking cheerfully, “Hey, Ram, your phone’s really hard to get through to, even your agent can’t reach you.
You’ve missed out on a big deal, but luckily, I’ve got another big job to offer you.
Want to hear about it?”
The call was from Justin, and although Gao Yang wasn’t too eager to take on a mission just yet, he immediately said, “Wait a minute, then talk.”
Not wanting to disturb Yelena, especially not wanting her to worry, Gao Yang tiptoed to the bathroom, carefully closed the door, and then whispered, “Alright, let’s hear about your deal.”
“Here’s the thing, um, Friend of Nature, F**k, just saying that crazy name makes me uncomfortable.
Okay, Friend of Nature has a mission, five million dollars.
Interested?”
Gao Yang couldn’t agree more; he also felt the name Friend of Nature was awkward no matter how you said it.
Moreover, just hearing that it was a mission from this super-rich playboy who didn’t want to just have fun but insisted on playing the Green Terror organization follower, he instinctively didn’t want to accept it.
Gao Yang would absolutely not want to have anything to do with Green Terror Organization.
He didn’t want to get involved in such a grand mission as protecting the environment, even if it paid well.
If he really wanted to protect the environment, Gao Yang would start with small things within his capabilities.
However, when it came to the way organizations like Green Terror Organization went about protecting the environment, he wouldn’t do it for any amount of money.
“Friend of Nature?
Sorry, I’m not interested, I’m busy and don’t have time to play their Earth protection games.”
Justin knew what was going on.
After laughing, he raised his voice and said, “I understand how you feel and get your concerns, buddy.
If it was about doing those so-called environmental protection tasks, I wouldn’t have called you.
This is different, um, actually, Friend of Nature is in a crisis, and this mission is to hire you guys to rescue the members of Friend of Nature.”
Gao Yang was finally interested in hearing the specifics of this mission.
“A hostage rescue type?
Alright, I can listen.
So, tell me the details.”
Justin chuckled, “Well, you know the guy from Friend of Nature, he formed, um, well, his Green Terror Organization, and now they’ve run into a problem.
A bunch of them have been protecting the lungs of Earth by attacking two major logging companies’ sites and sabotaging…”
“Wait, lungs of Earth?
Are you talking about the Amazon Rainforest?”
“Yes, yes, the Amazon.
Damn, Friend of Nature talks about their mission to protect the lungs of Earth; I’ve gotten used to his way of putting it.”
“Go on, and tell me where it is.
The Amazon’s huge.”
“Right, it’s in Brazil.
Friend of Nature led an attack on two logging sites, destroying all their logging machinery.
But now, they’re in trouble as those harassed companies have sent some mercenaries, and a fight broke out.
If you decide to take this job, what you need to do is go to Brazil and rescue all of Friend of Nature’s people.”
Gao Yang exhaled and said, “This mission might actually be worth considering.
I don’t do violent environmental protection, but protecting those who protect the environment is acceptable.
Alright, let’s talk price; maybe I’ll be interested.”
Justin laughed, “Five million dollars!”
“Do you need an introduction fee?”
“No, Friend of Nature is covering that.
So, what do you say?
Are you interested?”
Gao Yang took a moment to think and then said, “Buddy, five million isn’t much.
You have to understand, we’re talking about the rainforest, the Amazon Rainforest.
Also, you haven’t told me who the opposition is.”
Justin chuckled, “Five million isn’t small change.
Although I deal in information, don’t forget I also double as a middleman for mercenaries, and a five-million-dollar deal is big at any time.
Besides, this isn’t a deal with drug lords.
Five million is truly a fair price.”
Justin was right.
Deals worth tens of millions were rare, and a mission worth five million, even one requiring combat in the rainforest, was indeed a big opportunity that Gao Yang had, in principle, already agreed to.
“Repeat who the enemy is and how many people they have?
Going to war in South America, I’d have thought you would find Angel.”
Gao Yang had started discussing the details and Justin, very pleased, replied, “The Angel Mercenary Corps is in Ukraine, don’t you know?
Besides, even if Angel was available, I couldn’t choose them.
They have too many people, and a mission like this wouldn’t go for under 10 million dollars.
Plus, the enemy isn’t that numerous, estimated to be about ten people.
They’re just a super-small mercenary group.
The mission is very simple, and considering your last performance in the jungle was quite impressive, we have such a good relationship, so of course, I thought of you for this good deal.”
Even though Justin spoke lightly, Gao Yang’s intuition told him something was off.
Friend of Nature was supposedly too noble, but he wasn’t stupid.
The people Justin sought weren’t just any Tom, Dick, or Harry.
If Friend of Nature couldn’t even retreat and needed a rescue, such a mission being simple would be a joke.
After a moment of thought, Gao Yang sneered, “If it’s such an easy mission, great.
Then tell me, which company’s logging site did Friend of Nature attack?
Justin, please, in your professional capacity as an information broker, tell me the truth.”
After a moment of silence, Justin finally said somewhat awkwardly, “It’s a small Brazilian company called Andor Forest Products Company.
The two logging sites attacked by Friend of Nature belong to them, and then they were ambushed while attacking the third site.”
“You mean a counterattack, right?
Andor, that name sounds familiar, wait, wait, F**k!
Andor!
They’re a super-corporation.
At least half of the timber produced in the Amazon Rainforest is from their logging, and they also buy up at least 90% of the stealthily harvested timber from the Amazon.
And that’s not all, Andor is known for being extremely tough.
And you’re telling me it’s a small company?”
“At least they’re not a big company on the surface, right?
Okay, let’s put that aside.
Andor is a problem for Friend of Nature to consider, and you don’t need to worry too much on your side.”
Gao Yang said irritably, “Friend of Nature, those lunatics should have gone after multinational corporations that still have some face.
Why mess with Andor?
Are they easy to bully?”
“Andor cuts down trees the harshest, so what do you say, are you going to take the job?”
Gao Yang said irritably, “How can I accept if you haven’t told me everything?
How many people are there in Friend of Nature?
How many enemies are there?”
“Friend of Nature, there are about ten left alive.
As for the enemy, we know there are about ten, no more than that.”
“Ten people isn’t a lot, but you have to tell me who the enemy is.
Are they Andor’s own security forces, or a mercenary group?
You really think I’d take on this job without even knowing who the enemy is?”
Without hesitation, Justin replied, “We really haven’t confirmed the enemy’s identity yet.
And with the strength of Satan Mercenary Corps, do you really need to worry about who the enemy is?”
Gao Yang was confident, but confidence doesn’t mean he could take everything lightly, much less rush into action without even knowing the identity of the enemy.
The crux was that Gao Yang suspected there was a trap in Justin’s words, or at least a loophole left open.
“You don’t know who the enemy is?
Forget it, we won’t take on such a job, please find someone else.”
Before Gao Yang could finish, Justin urgently said, “Wait, wait, don’t hang up.
Let’s talk some more!”
Gao Yang sneered, “Buddy, you think I can’t hear the trap in your words?
Not confirming an enemy’s identity doesn’t mean you can’t make an educated guess, right?
Tell me honestly, who do you think the enemy might be?”
Gao Yang emphasized the word “think,” and after a moment of silence, Justin finally sighed, “Alright, based on our guess, maybe, probably, there’s a slight chance it’s, it’s the Iron Madonna, uh, a squad of the Iron Madonna…”
After a moment of silence, Gao Yang suddenly said, “Goodbye.”
Gao Yang immediately hung up the phone because he couldn’t take the job.
He finally understood why Justin had been reluctant to reveal the enemy and why he had been so adamant about convincing him to take the job.
Other than him, no one would dare take on this mission, and Justin feared that if he revealed the enemy was the Iron Madonna, even Gao Yang wouldn’t dare take the deal.
In fact, Gao Yang really didn’t want to, or rather, didn’t dare to take it.
What kind of existence was Iron Madonna?
Among super-small mercenary groups, it was the Satan, and among small mercenary groups, the Angel.
Ten people or fewer made a super-small mercenary group.
Even if the number exceeded ten but only by two members, it wouldn’t qualify as a small mercenary group, so Satan was still considered a super-small mercenary group, and by now, it was widely recognized as the top super-small mercenary group.
There’s no need to talk about Angel – nominally the second, but since Aurora, who was still listed, had been gone for a long time, Angel was indeed the top first small mercenary group, with no controversy there.
As for Iron Madonna, Gao Yang had been in the game long enough to know the name, even if he was otherwise uninformed, because just like Satan and Angel, Iron Madonna was, without dispute and with no room for doubt, the top mid-sized mercenary group with more than two hundred members.
A super mid-sized mercenary group with the necessary fighting capabilities and scale.
(To be continued.
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