Chapter 993: Kidnapping Hostages

After a round of interrogation, He Yuzhu learned that the CIA specialist James had planted over twenty informants around the hotel.

As for James himself, he was holed up in a manor on the outskirts of the city, mingling with an extremist armed Commander of the Islamic Party.

Since the other side had already drawn their knives, He Yuzhu did not intend to be polite anymore—he would first pull out these hidden nails, then go and wipe out that "Command Headquarters" to drag James out.

Following the clues confessed by the sniper, he headed straight for the small supermarket next to the hotel.

Before entering, he still felt a bit of hesitation—what if there were innocent people being held hostage inside? He couldn't accidentally hurt good people.

As he pushed the door open, he called out toward the counter: "Hey, give me a bottle of beer."

A young black man waved his hand impatiently: "Go away, go away! We're doing inventory today, we're not selling anything!"

He Yuzhu thought that in this chaotic country, if they didn't even want to earn money, there was only one possibility: they were not the shop owners.

He grinned and said: "Don't be nervous, I was sent by Major James to inspect. You all need to be alert; the enemy is very cunning."

The black man was stunned and subconsciously looked at the two people stocking shelves beside the racks.

Those two had just stood up with a "whoosh," but He Yuzhu didn't give them any time to react; with a thought, he directly collected all three into his space.

He performed a Scanning of the entire shop; it wasn't large, and there was a storage room in the back where someone was fast asleep.

Beside that person was an AK47.

He Yuzhu walked over and knocked on the door, and the person inside immediately started cursing: "The operation is at night, what the hell are you making noise for?"

Upon hearing this, He Yuzhu couldn't be bothered to talk back and directly collected the person into his space.

Next, he crept toward a half-collapsed residential building.

Seven or eight terrorists wearing discarded old US Military uniforms were gathered around a bonfire roasting fish.

He Yuzhu walked straight over and said loudly: "Colonel James said tonight's mission is canceled."

Several people looked up alertly: "Who are you? We don't know who James is!"

"I'm the Colonel's new assistant." He Yuzhu smiled and moved closer, his footsteps not stopping.

A man with a scar on his face stood up—he was clearly the leader—and his hand reached behind his waist.

He Yuzhu moved his mind, and the seven or eight people vanished instantly.

Immediately after, he proceeded to wipe out several more sniper spots one after another.

But by the time he arrived at the next designated location, the people had already run away.

He immediately understood that someone must have seen him dealing with those people and had come to report the news.

He Yuzhu had originally been hesitating about whether to move against the Islamic Party rebel command, but now he made up his mind: he would do it tonight.

He returned to the base and reported the situation he had grasped in full detail to Deputy Minister Sun.

Upon hearing this, Deputy Minister Sun's expression tightened, and he immediately convened a meeting of the core members.

He always liked collective discussion, listening to everyone's opinions first before making the final decision himself.

He Yuzhu laid out the raid plan, but out of five people, three shook their heads—only he and Bureau Chief Zhang agreed.

The minority yielded to the majority, and the plan was rejected.

He Yuzhu handed the hotel security over to Bureau Chief Zhang and the hundred-plus Bodyguards to take turns on duty, while he himself slept until dawn.

Early the next morning, He Yuzhu escorted the delegation to the Somalia Interim Government for negotiations.

At the same time, at the Islamic Party base, James was listening to the mercenary leader Farhe report.

Farhe looked pained: "Major, the Huaxia side is too ruthless. In one day and one night, I lost over forty brothers. I can't do this job anymore! Why don't you add some money, and I'll go hire some pirates who aren't afraid of death to take their place."

James frowned: "Farhe, don't push your luck. Fifty thousand US dollars is already quite a lot. You guys buy a life for three hundred dollars here; fifty thousand is enough to trade for nearly two hundred lives."

Farhe replied unhurriedly: "Major, among the forty-plus people who died, fifteen were snipers. They usually charge three hundred dollars a day for a job; nine of them died this time, so the compensation should be in the thousands—some even several thousands. If you don't add money, this fifty thousand will just be the settlement fee for my brothers. I'm not doing the rest of the work! The people hired by the Huaxia side are too powerful; we can't hold them off."

"You bastard—" James swallowed the words that reached his lips. He knew that this was Somalia territory, and Farhe was considered a figure in the Islamic Party; if they really fell out, he shouldn't expect the rest of his affairs to go smoothly. He sighed, pulled another ten thousand dollars from his suitcase, and threw it over: "No more than this. Any more, and I'll just go find the East Europeans; they are more trustworthy than you."

Farhe grabbed the money and scratched his hair, still wearing a look of dissatisfaction on his face as he muttered: "Major, I heard that your side gets funding in the tens of millions; why are you so stingy?"

James got angry: "Bullshit! Do you think my money comes from the wind? The higher-ups allocate one million, but only five hundred thousand reaches my hands, and I still have to report it as one million. With everyone taking a cut at every level, how much do you think I have left?"

Farhe grinned: "Yo, so you guys are even darker than us."

James waved his hand impatiently: "Cut the crap. Tell me, do you have any confidence in taking care of that Huaxia group?"

Farhe immediately turned serious: "Of course I have confidence. But it's hard to make a move at the presidential palace or the base. The roads are full of Temporary Government soldiers, and those people don't dare offend the Huaxia people. We need patience—they have to come out and move around eventually; once they do, there will be an opportunity."

James raised an eyebrow and lowered his voice: "Use your brain. You can't touch the people in the delegation, but you can always touch the ones running errands for them, right? Kidnap them, and I'm not afraid they won't walk into the trap."

Farhe slapped his forehead, his eyes lighting up: "You really have the best ideas! My brothers did indeed find a clue—there's a local Huaxia Chamber of Commerce President who handles odd jobs for the delegation. If we grab this guy, the delegation side definitely won't be able to sit still. Once they step in, hehe, we'll catch them all in one net."

James stood up and patted his shoulder, his tone softening: "Use your brain when doing things; take a detour, and you'll get twice the result with half the effort."

Farhe straightened his back: "Done, I'll arrange for people to do it right now."

As soon as the negotiations ended in the afternoon, He Yuzhu personally drove the bulletproof SUV to lead the way, with the bus following closely behind.

He didn't dare to relax along the way, his nerves pulled tight.

Fortunately, the road conditions were relatively peaceful, and the convoy returned to the base smoothly.

Just as the car stopped, Xiao Wang, the assistant to the local Chamber of Commerce President Lao Yu, rushed over in a panic, covered in sweat, his voice cracking: "Deputy Minister Sun! Where is he?"

Deputy Minister Sun had just gotten out of the car and frowned: "What's wrong? Xiao Wang, speak slowly."

Xiao Wang was out of breath: "Deputy, Deputy Minister Sun! Our Boss Yu went out to pick up his child this afternoon and was kidnapped by a group of unidentified people halfway there!"

Deputy Minister Sun's heart sank: "Did the other side demand a ransom?"

Xiao Wang nodded desperately: "They did! One million US dollars, to be delivered to the abandoned factory in the south of the city. But the Boss isn't here, where are we supposed to scrape together such a large amount of cash? The Boss's wife is going crazy at home!"

Deputy Minister Sun didn't hesitate, turned around, and called He Yuzhu: "Factory Director He, we cannot stand by and watch this. Lao Yu has run around and helped out quite a bit for this visit."

He Yuzhu nodded with a dark face: "If I'm not mistaken, it's ten to one that the M Country people are desperate. Since they didn't succeed with us, they turned around and bit Lao Yu."

Deputy Minister Sun pondered: "But this... what should we do?"

He Yuzhu simply waved his hand: "I'll go deliver the money with Xiao Wang. I want to see just how much capability these people have."

Xiao Wang was troubled: "Factory Director He, you're going alone... will it be okay? What if we pay the money and still can't get the person back?"

He Yuzhu laughed: "Rest assured, the one million doesn't need to come from your Chamber of Commerce. I'll just carry an empty suitcase. If something really goes wrong, it won't be blamed on you."

Deputy Minister Sun and Bureau Chief Zhang exchanged a look.

Bureau Chief Zhang leaned into Deputy Minister Sun's ear, and Deputy Minister Sun lowered his voice to ask: "Old Zhang, is this matter... reliable?"

Bureau Chief Zhang chuckled, full of confidence: "As long as Factory Director He takes action, let alone in Africa, even if the hostages were locked inside the White House, he could still fish them out in one piece."

Upon hearing this, Deputy Minister Sun said nothing more, but the trace of hesitation in his eyes quietly surfaced.