Chapter 13: Evacuation (Please collect and recommend votes)
“Consul He, I just received a call from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A French-Chinese reporter named Xia Nan contacted them through their hotline, saying she personally witnessed the Green Valley Energy Company being attacked by rebels, and some staff members were kidnapped, possibly including our personnel. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hopes we can verify the situation as soon as possible.”
“Green Valley Energy?” He Qingliu exclaimed, frantically pulling out his phone to find Deng Mei’s number and dial it. Unsurprisingly, he heard it was unreachable. He then found another number, which was also turned off. “Consul He, what’s going on?” Gao Yun asked.
He Qingliu hung up the phone, trying to calm himself down. “There are indeed two of our people still at Green Valley Energy. Can we confirm if they were actually kidnapped? If it really happened, then things will be troublesome.”
Gao Yun and Zhao Haiguang exchanged glances. Zhao Haiguang said, “Alright, I’ll go verify Xia Nan’s identity first and ask about the specific situation.” Just as he was about to turn and leave, He Qingliu suddenly remembered something. “Wait a moment, maybe it’s not that bad. We have Comrade Luo Jialing with us. Can we ask her to come over?”
“Greetings, Chief!” Luo Jialing stood rigidly in front of Gao Yun and the others, saluting in an extremely standard posture. Gao Yun looked at the soldier in a black combat uniform without any insignia and returned a serious military salute.
He Qingliu asked anxiously, “Comrade Luo, Green Valley Energy was attacked, and Deng Mei’s phone is unreachable now. Do you have any way to find out the specific situation?”
Luo Jialing paused, then replied somewhat apologetically, “Sorry, Consul He, things were too chaotic before, and I forgot about this. Comrade Deng Mei is already safe. She and Secretary Li Fei are already on their way to Aden. According to the journey, if all goes well, they will arrive within half an hour.”
He Qingliu let out a long breath, visibly relaxing. “I knew it. Since that kid made arrangements here, he wouldn’t possibly leave Deng Mei unattended.”
Zhao Haiguang continued, “Then let’s wait until they arrive before we respond to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” He opened his folder, looking at it as he spoke, “However, when I contacted Xia Nan just now—the French-Chinese reporter—she told me this: a supervisor at Green Valley Energy smuggled a batch of radioactive materials and a dirty bomb manufacturing technique. That’s why the rebels attacked Green Valley Energy Company. She asked if we could take some action.”
Luo Jialing thought for a moment. “Report, you just need to report this matter truthfully. If Xia Nan calls again, tell her to contact the French Embassy. We are not obligated to clean up their mess.”
“Okay, I understand,” Zhao Haiguang replied with a smile, closing his folder.
“Who are those armed personnel? I heard from the armed police comrades that they claimed to be commissioned by the Yemeni government,” Gao Yun asked.
“They are employees of a security company, recently hired by the Yemeni government to train their special forces, and they happened to encounter this rebellion.”
“Mercenaries, huh?”
Luo Jialing pondered for a moment. “Uh, actually, there’s still a difference.”
With the matters mostly discussed, Luo Jialing finally said to He Qingliu, “Consul He, the previous work caused you a lot of trouble. I wish you a smooth journey here.” She then saluted.
He Qingliu quickly stood up. “What, you’re not coming with us?”
“There’s still work to be done here. I can’t leave yet.”
“Alright then, please be careful,” He Qingliu sighed and said, “I’ll see you out.”
Gao Yun and Zhao Haiguang waited until the two had left the cabin. “Looks like she didn’t tell us everything, huh?”
“Heh, a bunch of mercenaries coming to rescue our consulate personnel? Commissioned by the Yemeni government? I don’t believe a word of it.”
—
Xu Chuan drove a dilapidated Toyota Land Cruiser speeding down the road to Aden. Li Fei, sitting in the back seat, was tossed around so much even with her seatbelt on that her stomach churned. “Can you slow down? I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
Xu Chuan glanced at her in the rearview mirror and said coldly, “If you dare to throw up in the car, I’ll make you eat it back.”
Li Fei’s body instantly stiffened. She slowly swallowed, desperately suppressing the urge to vomit. Deng Mei, sitting behind the driver’s seat, kicked Xu Chuan’s seat back hard. “Talk nicely, don’t scare her. Also, if you keep driving like this, I’ll be throwing up too.”
“Oh,” Xu Chuan reluctantly slowed down and rolled down the window a bit. “Aden is almost here.” Deng Mei looked at the city dimly visible in the distance, and the rolling black smoke rising everywhere in the city, saying with a hint of sadness, “What a pity, such a good city, about to be destroyed by war.”
Xu Chuan opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say. Deng Mei continued, looking out the window, “Xiao Chuan, you must take good care of yourself. If something happens to you, your sister wouldn’t know how sad she’d be. I won’t ask what you’re doing; I know even if I asked, you wouldn’t tell me.” Deng Mei gripped Xu Chuan’s shoulder tightly. “In any case, you must be careful. If anything happens, contact home.”
Xu Chuan replied emotionally, “If you asked, maybe I would have answered.” He clearly felt the hand gripping him stiffen for a moment. He continued, “Actually, I opened a company called Umbrella Private Tactical Services. Currently, we take on security-related service jobs. Sigh, speaking of this, it’s infuriating, you know? Our company participated in your group’s previous bidding, and I was eliminated in the first round! If it weren’t for our company being short-staffed at the time, even if we won the bid, we might not have been able to handle it. I would definitely have gone to find you and talk it over properly. The bidding team definitely took kickbacks, you know?”
Deng Mei listened speechlessly to Xu Chuan’s endless complaints, which completely ruined the touching atmosphere. She clenched her fist and hit Xu Chuan’s shoulder twice. “You fellow, really.” Unconsciously, a smile returned to her face.
Xu Chuan saw an SUV parked on the roadside not far ahead and instinctively slowed down. He flashed his headlights twice, then honked twice. After a moment, the car on the side of the road honked three times in response. Only then did Xu Chuan accelerate past, explaining to the nervous two behind him, “This is the escort. Otherwise, with the city sealed off, it wouldn’t be easy for us to get in.” With that, he closely followed the escort vehicle in front.
—
Swagg sat in the Humvee, chatting idly with John Smith, who was smoking a cigar. Masuku sat in the back reading a book. Templeton Pike was chatting with Dong Qin not far away, occasionally letting out laughter. Bosco Albert, with a Mohawk haircut, was confronting a tall, muscular Navy commando. Curtis was constantly instigating them to fight. Williams and Sanborn, the demolition experts who had recently joined the company, stood somewhat nervously to the side, looking at the 730 Close-In Weapon System on the warship that was constantly pointed at them. “Can a mine-resistant vehicle block this thing?”
“What are you thinking? 4200 rounds per minute of tungsten-core armor-piercing rounds, an M1 tank can’t block that. But the good news is, there shouldn’t be much pain if you get hit by this thing.”
“You’re really good at comforting people.”
Just as everyone was bored, Xu Chuan’s car finally arrived. It successfully passed the Government Army checkpoint but was stopped by the outer Navy alert personnel. Xu Chuan got out of the car. His black headscarf and attire, similar to that of the rebels, immediately caught the Navy’s attention, not to mention the clearly blackened bloodstains on his clothes. Several combat personnel immediately and quietly surrounded him from several directions. Xu Chuan looked around and waved to Luo Jialing, who was not far away.
“Don’t worry, he’s one of us,” Luo Jialing quickly ran over, stopping the Navy and explaining. Xu Chuan didn’t speak, beckoned her into the car, and drove towards the warship.
He parked the car at the gangway, opened the back door for Deng Mei and Li Fei to get out. “I won’t see you up. My uncle-in-law and Xuan Xuan should already be on board.” As Xu Chuan turned, he accidentally saw a small figure secretly climbing into a Humvee. Xu Chuan frowned and said to Deng Mei, “Wait a moment, help me bring a little mouse back.”
Luo Jialing smiled, silently offering a prayer for Dong Qin. Xu Chuan quickly walked to the Humvee, pointing through the glass at Dong Qin, who was trying to hide in the back compartment. “Get out yourself, don’t make me come and get you.”
Dong Qin hesitated but finally pushed open the door and got out. Xu Chuan suppressed his anger. “If I remember correctly, you should be at school preparing for your college entrance exam right now.”
Dong Qin stood in front of Xu Chuan with her hands behind her back, head down, not saying a word, unconsciously kicking the ground with her right foot. Xu Chuan continued, “Do you remember what you promised me?”
“Study hard, and at least get into a 985 university,” a mosquito-like voice replied.
Xu Chuan smiled silently, but Dong Qin, with her head down, didn’t see it. He continued with a stern face, “Take off your gear and go back with my aunt. If you dare to run out again, see how I’ll deal with you.” With that, he stepped forward to help her take off her tactical vest. “Take everything out; you still need to go through security later.”
“Oh,” Dong Qin replied sullenly. Although she really didn’t want to go back like this, she was even more afraid of Xu Chuan being angry with her. She pulled out all sorts of small tools from her pockets. Xu Chuan frowned as he watched her unstrap the Glock 2K3 Ontario military knife tied to her calf, and couldn’t help but sigh towards the sky, “Can you please not learn from Falme and Nikita?”
Pulling Dong Qin over, Deng Mei finally recognized the little girl. “Isn’t this Dong Qin?”
Dong Qin lowered her head and sullenly called out, “Aunt Deng.”
Xu Chuan said with a headache, “Take her back. This girl has a month left until her exam.”