Chapter 52

"Who are you?"

Sozali Minister of Military Asante stared at the girl opposite him with a pair of pale blue, world-weary eyes, his face full of vigilance.

Shi Yi said calmly in English: "Minister, excuse me. My name is Shi Yi, and I am a medical worker at Camp 21 of the Chinese rescue team."

To make Asante trust her, Shi Yi took out the passport and work ID she carried with her and handed them over respectfully.

Minister Asante looked down at the documents, his brows furrowed tightly, "Miss Shi, I'm afraid I've already said that we will do our best to rescue your friends. As for other matters, forgive me for not being able to disclose anything; please leave here immediately."

"I am not here to beg you to rescue my friends." Shi Yi raised her head, speaking neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Minister, I am here to apply to go to the Kuba military camp to exchange for the hostages."

Asante's brows furrowed even deeper: "Exchange for hostages? What on earth do you mean?"

Shi Yi's voice was steady and calm: "Minister, I know that you also intend to raise medicine and vaccines to rescue the 19 Sozali children kidnapped by Kuba, as well as my friend Zhou Yutong. But there is a problem now, which is that, no matter what, Kuba cannot possibly hand over all the hostages..."

"How do you know he won't?" Asante's face was clouded with gloom, looking at the girl opposite him with guard.

"Currently, the epidemic is raging in Kuba's army, and Kabango is also infected with the Ebola virus. The rebel army has lost its combat capability and is already like a trapped beast."

Shi Yi's amber eyes emitted a brilliant glow in the darkness, and she continued to speak slowly:

"Therefore, Kuba's only trump card is these hostages. So, regardless of whether we can meet his conditions, Kuba will at most release a portion of the hostages, because once he releases all of them, his entire camp will very likely be directly destroyed by missiles."

"Minister, if it were you, how would you choose?"

Asante was questioned by such a wet-behind-the-ears little girl; although he was very unhappy, he had to admit in his heart that this girl was very smart.

And the facts were exactly as she analyzed. The US military was already preparing to carry out a missile annihilation of the Kuba military camp.

"Continue." Asante said lightly.

Shi Yi took a deep breath and continued: "Therefore, the problem we are facing now is not whether we can raise the medicine, but how to rescue all the hostages. So, I think there is a method that is the lowest cost and lowest risk. That is... exchanging hostages."

Asante looked at the girl with interest and spoke slowly: "How do you want to exchange?"

"It's very simple: use me as a hostage, and when I go to deliver the medicine to Kuba, exchange for the 19 Sozali children and my friend."

Asante's eyes, as world-weary and deep as the sea, looked at Shi Yi quietly, not knowing what he was thinking. After a pause, he said: "Why would Kuba be willing to exchange with you?"

Shi Yi still had a calm expression: "First, because of the vaccines in my hands—of course, if we can't raise them, we can use fake vaccines or other things to fill the quota; this is not important, because whether they are real or fake, Kuba has to take a gamble; after all, he has no other choice. Second... because I am Chinese, my life is valuable."

Asante nodded secretly; he didn't expect this girl to look so young, yet have such deep and keen insight.

Indeed, as the girl said, Kuba currently urgently needed serum to treat Kabango, so the government army held a certain initiative in negotiations. And the value of a Chinese citizen's life was no less than that of 19 Sozali children. So, if Kuba wanted the medicine, he might have to accept this hostage exchange request.

However, Asante still twitched the corners of his mouth, smiling helplessly and sarcastically:

"Heh, you are young, but you think quite thoroughly. However, even if Kuba agrees to exchange you for his current hostages, I cannot do this, because I cannot risk the life of a Chinese citizen."

Asante knew clearly in his heart that rather than provoking the Chinese government, which had a tough attitude and strength that was by no means inferior to the US, he would rather quietly sacrifice 19 children of his own country.

"No need to notify the Chinese Embassy..."

The next second, a low voice came from the opposite side. Asante raised his head and saw that the expression on the girl's face was still calm and composed, only there was a hint of an elusive, sarcastic smile in the depths of her eyes.

"Because I never intended to come back alive. Don't consider my life; please, on the condition of exchanging for the 19 hostages and ensuring the safety of my friend, immediately implement a missile destruction of the Kuba military camp."

Asante's heart skipped a beat, "What did you say? You didn't intend to come back alive?"

Shi Yi's eyes were burning with raging fire: "That demon Kuba killed my two best friends; even if I have to risk my life, I must avenge them and rescue my friend! Besides..."

She smiled slightly again: "Living is also meaningless; I'm already tired of it."

Her tone was flat and full of self-deprecation, as if she were talking about the most ordinary thing.

"How about it, Minister? Can you consider the rescue plan I proposed?"

Asante looked into the girl's eyes and fell into deep thought. In his impression, Chinese people generally did not have any belief in God; he did not understand how this girl, in the prime of her youth, could have such an awareness.

But looking at her clear and transparent eyes, Asante felt that what she said didn't seem like a lie.

At this moment, only one day remained until Kuba's ultimatum. Now all the roads leading outside were cut off, and Asante knew very well that he could not possibly raise 1,000 doses of serum and 1,000 doses of vaccine no matter what. And he could not betray the US military at this time and ask the Chinese government for help.

Perhaps, accepting this girl's suggestion was the best choice at the moment...

Asante rested his chin on his hand and was silent for a while. A moment later, he raised his head again, looked into the girl's eyes, and said word for word:

"I agree to your suggestion, but... I have a request."

Shi Yi's heart tightened; she had actually persuaded the Sozali Minister of National Defense to agree to her plan! At this moment, she no longer cared about life or death, and no matter what request he made, she would agree to it immediately.

"Please speak."

Asante spoke slowly:

"Miss Shi, our side will try our best to ensure your safety, but just in case, please write a disclaimer for me, so that if the Chinese government really pursues the responsibility for this matter in the future, our side will have an explanation. This request is not too much, right?"

Shi Yi nodded and said readily:

"No problem."