Chapter 538: Just a few hundred bucks—what kind of life are you playing with?

"Tammur Garyev, you bastard, why were you hiding in the back and not firing just now?"

The speedboat fled the island at high speed; the reddish-brown-haired man, gripping a light machine gun, angrily questioned the guy steering the boat.

Tammur said without turning his head: "Why should I fire?"

The reddish-brown-haired man angrily demanded: "You're a mercenary; you accepted the employer's commission!"

"The commission I received was to escort the cargo, not to fight."

Tammur defended himself: "You saw the situation—there are so many of them, and they're very likely Longguo soldiers! Those damn drug traffickers only pay me three hundred dollars a day; what's my life worth for such paltry pay?"

Besides, we had agreed on daily settlement, but they've dragged it out for three full days!

That bunch clearly has money, yet they still withhold mercenaries' pay—truly despicable!

If I go back and they still make excuses not to pay my wages, I'll definitely make them taste my wrath!

The reddish-brown-haired man, exasperated, said: "Tammur, being a mercenary, is it just for money, for the pay?"

Tammur turned his head, as if his worldview had shattered: "What else? Not for money, why would I come to this damned Southeast Asian tropical rainforest—to play games?"

"The intermediary said fighting was imminent here, with rebels hiring mercenaries at great expense; but after just a few days, they suddenly stopped fighting?"

"Airfare is so expensive, and I can't line up other work for now, so I can only pick up odd jobs locally."

"I'm not like you, purely out to experience life and seek thrills; my sole purpose as a mercenary is to make money."

"I'm desperately short of money, extremely short; if the employer's price is high enough, I'm willing to go to my death; my wife and daughter are still waiting for me to send money home!"

The reddish-brown-haired man, speechless, said: "Enough, stop talking; slow down a bit—someone's catching up from behind. Let me take him out, then I'll have my father help introduce you to a proper mercenary unit."

Tammur chuckled, not taking it too seriously, after all he'd only known this guy for less than a week,

Tammur glanced back, advising him to quit then, perhaps they could still leave smoothly.

Once he actually killed someone, he could pack up; they'd definitely not escape.

Even if they got away, they'd be hunted to the ends of the earth.

But the reddish-brown-haired man paid no heed, insisting on taking action.

He still muttered something about having to uphold a mercenary's professional code and keep his reputation.

Tammur was utterly speechless—mercenaries still talk about honor; today, A pays, we hit B; tomorrow B pays, we help B hit A.

If they both end up losing, he'd seize the chance to wipe them out, take the money and run, find a place to live it up—that's his professional creed.

"Valentin, I just don't get it—you clearly know the opponents are Longguo soldiers, so why are you still determined to take them out?"

"Haven't you heard the saying in the circles that Longguo is a no-go zone for all mercenaries? If I weren't desperate for cash, I'd rather die than come to this damned place!"

The reddish-brown-haired man swapped in a fresh ammo drum, gave a scornful chuckle: "So what if I've heard it? I'm just out to prove that the so-called rumor is nothing but a joke passed along by mistake."

"What fighting power can an army that hasn't seen war in decades, relying only on drills and training, possibly have?"

"You saw it yourself on the beach earlier—I took on a whole group by myself and even wounded one!"

"Now I'm going to prove that saying is pure bullshit, not worth mentioning at all!"

He pulled the bolt, stood at the stern, and pulled the trigger on the incoming speedboat.

The FN Minimi light machine gun's muzzle spat flames, its bullets sweeping toward Lu Yang like a grim reaper's scythe.

Water splashed up from the sea where it was hit, the speedboat's prow gained several bullet holes, and the windshield cracked in spiderweb lines.

Lu Yang lowered his body, his head nearly buried under the steering wheel; at the same time he raised the enemy's AK74 rifle and fired directly at them in a blind shot.

The waves made the boat pitch and roll violently; in this situation there's no time to aim carefully—just wait for a moment and fire roughly in that direction.

As the saying goes, when narrow roads meet, the brave prevail—here you just shoot by feel.

After all, Lu Yang had to steer, press the accelerator, dodge incoming bullets, and still pull off a counterstrike.

In this situation, whether you hit the target doesn't matter; what matters is suppressing them, somehow keeping them pinned until reinforcements arrive.

Lu Yang's luck was genuinely good; a volley of blind fire happened to strike the enemy's abdomen, instantly robbing them of any ability to fight back.

"I, I've been shot!"

The reddish-brown-haired man plopped back onto the boat, clutching his bleeding abdomen—no trace of his earlier arrogance remained.

The burning pain and the incessant flow of fresh blood filled his face with panic and unease.

Tammur looked back and saw blood soaking the seat; he jumped in fright: "Brother, I warned you, but you wouldn't listen!"

"At least they have a bow and a windshield to block the view a bit—you're standing in the stern holding a light machine gun, aren't you just asking to die?"

"Hang on; as long as we can get out of this sea area safely, you'll be..."

Before he could finish, Tammur noticed with shock that the tachometer was dropping.

Looking back, he saw the engine had somehow stalled—likely a stray bullet had hit and disabled it earlier.

At the same time he saw the pursuing speedboat closing in, and a Longguo military helicopter speeding toward them from the sky.

Seeing no escape, Tammur sighed, pulled a cigarette from his pocket, and lit it.

As he tried to light it, he discovered the lighter had been knocked broken sometime ago and wouldn't spark.

Three hundred dollars a day, charging into Longguo waters—he ended up laying down his life; if he told anyone, his peers would laugh themselves sick.

"This is the Longguo Navy—your vessel has entered our territorial waters without permission!"

"Please shut off the engine, stop moving, raise both hands, and place them where they can be seen!"

The helicopter hovered overhead, delivering a stern warning in English and then in Chinese.

This is procedure, also necessary duty; if repeated warnings are ignored, the only recourse is to open fire and shoot them down.

Fortunately, the two on the speedboat were somewhat sensible; one took a bullet to the gut and lay motionless, the other tossed his gun aside and raised both hands.

A rope dropped from the air; Bai Yuan clamped his legs around it and rappelled straight from the helicopter onto the speedboat; Lu Yang also brought the boat alongside from behind, rifle at the ready, leapt up after him, and pointed at the two.

"Hands on heads!"

Two guns aimed together at Tammur, frightening him into crouching with his hands over his head, lest a delay blow his brains out.

But the reddish-brown-haired man lying on the ground, bleeding from a gut wound, quietly slipped his hand into the pocket of his tactical vest.

Don't move, stop!

Bai Yuan's gun muzzle pointed at Tamuer, not moving, but his eyes were full of killing intent.

Lu Yang's gun muzzle then quickly pressed down, smacking onto the face of that guy lying on the ground.

The reddish-brown-haired youth lying on the ground closed his eyes and stopped moving.

"Relax, I'm not going to take a weapon, don't be nervous, don't shoot......"

Bai Yuan gave a glance, and Lu Yang immediately half-squatted, reaching his hand toward that tactical pocket.

He first pinched it from the outside—it wasn't a magazine, nor a grenade-like object; it was soft, more like first-aid gauze used for bandaging.

Lu Yang reached his hand in, pulled out a white silk handkerchief, and a system prompt simultaneously popped up before his eyes.

【System detected new knowledge point: raise white flag!】

【Knowledge point analysis: In the late 19th to early 20th century, international convention laws such as the Hague Conventions and the Geneva Conventions clearly stipulate that the white flag signifies the signal of surrender, ceasefire, and negotiation......】

Lu Yang furrowed his brows, asking the reddish-brown-haired man who had been shot in the abdomen.

"Drug dealer?"

"I am, a mercenary."

"Which country's?"

"France."

Lu Yang shook the white handkerchief in his hand, solemnly nodded: "Hmm, that makes sense, traditional performing arts belong to."