Chapter 3486

Ma Kui's response caused all the Chinese people present, as well as foreigners who understood Chinese, to cheer.

Those who didn't understand were confused, but the people nearby quickly explained it to them.

Soon, everyone knew this good news, and each felt as if they had survived a disaster, cheering excitedly, even embracing relatives and weeping.

Ma Lan and Xiao Changkun were also moved to tears, tightly embracing each other, unable to stop crying.

At the same time, the entire internet exploded.

Tawana mercilessly live-streamed the entire scene, with at least hundreds of millions of people worldwide watching in real time; the Maldivian high command was equally furious and immediately dispatched over half of the nation's troops to White Horse Island.

Know that the Maldivian military totals only around three thousand people; after removing officers and logistics, the truly combat-effective personnel likely number fewer than two thousand.

The Maldivian military's operational vessels have a maximum displacement of just over a hundred tons, most being second-hand equipment from neighboring countries; the air force has only two or three foreign-assisted helicopters, with poor maneuverability, so the first batch immediately sent several dozen marines to White Horse Island to control the situation.

At the same time, the high command personally called Bernard Arnault, expressing deep concern and asking for specific details about him and White Horse Island.

After Bernard Arnault informed them the situation was under control, they told him the troops had already departed.

Subsequently, Ma Kui staged a scene in public, holding a submachine gun and saying to Bernard Arnault: "Mr. Arnault, we have already received your cryptocurrency; thank you for your generosity—we are withdrawing first!"

After saying that, he gave a glance to the few surviving subordinates, who quickly followed him, guns in hand, toward the door.

Ma Kui looked around and said to all the tourists in the bar: "Maldivian military personnel, if they hurry, can arrive in forty minutes; I don't know if my men outside are dead or not, so I advise you not to move around randomly—wait for the Maldivian military to arrive."

After saying that, without waiting for a response, he turned and led his men out.

Because he is the supreme commander of Blackwater Company for this terrorist attack and has seriously violated Maldivian law, if he stays here, the Maldivian military will certainly arrest them immediately upon arrival.

Therefore, the plan Ye Chen devised for them is: after Ma Kui publicly betrays Blackwater Company, he will immediately take his people and drive the speedboat they arrived in to flee, while Ye Chen will arrange for a merchant ship escorted by the Wanlong Temple to meet them in international waters.

Given the Maldivian navy's level, they have no vessel capable of catching up to the speedboat Ma Kui and his few men used to arrive.

Moreover, Ye Chen is not worried that Ma Kui will escape control; after betraying Blackwater Company, with his personal ability, there is almost nowhere left in the world for him to hide—Hamid's place, however, remains the only option.

If he dares to flee, he will not only offend Blackwater Company but also offend himself, making his future even more difficult.

Ma Kui himself clearly understands that at this time, what use is a bicycle? He should honestly go to Syria, follow Hamid, and still help him purge internal potential traitors; if he earns further military merit, he might even have a chance to rise in the future—far better than spending a lifetime as a fugitive.

Thus, he led the people back to the dock; after destroying the other speedboats, they drove the last speedboat away from White Horse Island.

The people in the bar dared not go out.

They did not know what was happening outside, only that Ma Kui had said there might still be undead terrorists, and if they were targeted and shot, they wouldn't even have a chance to cry.

So, everyone stayed honestly in the bar, while Tawana continued her nonstop live-stream, condemning Blackwater Company's actions in the broadcast.

Blackwater Company's reputation has plummeted to the bottom; many netizens even urged the U. S. to designate it as a terrorist organization, and for this, they specifically launched a petition on the White House website.

Half an hour later, as the helicopter sounds grew closer, the Maldivian marines finally arrived at White Horse Island.

Tawana heard the helicopter sound and immediately went to the window to live-stream with her phone; the Maldivian marine high command was then watching the live stream in the capital, Malé; seeing Tawana point the camera at the military helicopter, they immediately notified the on-site commander: "Tawana Svet is live-streaming—have our soldiers rappel down!"

His intention was simply to have the marine corps members rappel down to look cool, after all, those special forces and marines, when performing emergency missions, always rappel directly from helicopters—very cool and stylish, able to give the Maldivian military some face; after all, letting people come in to carry out a terrorist attack has already been embarrassing, so if later performance could regain some face, that wouldn't be bad.

But the commander embarrassedly said: "Sir, our soldiers haven't practiced rappelling in a long time; I still suggest we avoid the risk and let the helicopter land smoothly on flat terrain!"

The high command angrily retorted: "For such an urgent mission, of course we need to appear urgent—slow, leisurely landing, seen by netizens worldwide, what would that look like? You must give our military some face!"

The commander also felt embarrassed, helplessly saying: "Sir, a few years ago, the Indian military performed a rappelling demonstration, also thinking they'd gain face, but a soldier fell during rappelling and even injured two comrades below; that time, the Indian military lost face globally in front of the world; our soldiers' daily training still doesn't match the Indian military's, so if we try to show off and fail, we'll likely be mocked and ridiculed by the global public!"

The high command angrily shouted: "Let you defend the homeland, yet you neglect training—I will definitely investigate this to the end and give you the harshest punishment!"

The commander gloomily said: "Sir, I have long applied for the relevant budget, including but not limited to purchasing new helicopters and increasing helicopter training funds, but the higher-ups have never approved it! Our helicopters lack even basic maintenance—where would we get the budget to support rappelling training?"

The high command also found it hard to bear, irritably saying: "Fine, I'll figure this out—since that's the case, don't use rappelling; just find a suitable landing spot!"

The people in the bar, as well as the global netizens watching Tawana's live stream, were waiting to see the soldiers rappel down, but unexpectedly, the helicopter hovered for a long time and finally chose a flat, open area to land slowly.

This slow behavior dissatisfied global netizens immensely, and even more bizarrely followed: when these soldiers saw corpses with heads blown apart by bullets scattered across the ground, some even held their legs and vomited.

Fortunately, Tawana's camera could only vaguely capture bodies on the ground but not their gruesome state; otherwise, the video live-streaming platform would likely have to blur the footage.

While suppressing his urge to vomit, the commander led the barely able soldiers to the bar; upon entering, he immediately said: "All terrorists, raise your hands and surrender immediately, or we will open fire directly!"

Bernard Arnault stepped forward, face full of disdain, saying: "The living terrorists have already left—I don't know if you can catch up to them."

"What? Left?!" The commander immediately panicked, blurting: "How did you let them leave?! Why didn't you detain them?!"

Bernard Arnault pointed at his own nose, eyes wide, asking: "You ask me? If I had that ability, why would I need you? I might as well form a unit to protect you!"

The commander, also a bit embarrassed, touched his nose and quickly asked: "How are the civilians on scene? Is anyone injured?"

"No." Bernard Arnault said unhappily: "I truly don't know what your military is doing—letting so many armed militants sneak in, completely unaware—truly excessive!"

As he spoke, he wanted to pat himself on the back, so he coldly said: "Thanks to my key-moment financial offensive that caused this gang of terrorists to internally collapse, otherwise, I and Miss Svet, plus so many guests on White Horse Island, would likely have become cold corpses!"

For Bernard Arnault, money spent must be maximized for benefit.

Although he didn't actually give Ma Kui one hundred million U. S. dollars, he gave White Horse Island to Ye Chen and also bought the JD Island from the Dubai consortium to give to Ye Chen—this back-and-forth, including losses and expenses, saw over ten billion U. S. dollars vanish.

However, Ye Chen is also decent—this time he gave himself a chance to be a hero, and moreover, he saved over a hundred people and saved the superstar Tawana Svet, making him a French hero.

As long as he seizes this opportunity, the benefits this brings him will surely far exceed the loss of over ten billion U. S. dollars, so from now on, he must constantly boast about this achievement.

The commander also felt embarrassed, only able to flatter: "Mr. Arnault, today indeed we owe you—rest assured, we will definitely strengthen national defense security afterward and prevent such incidents from recurring!"

Bernard Arnault unintentionally glanced and saw Tawana had already pointed her phone's live-stream camera at him, so he immediately cleared his throat and loudly said: "These are all our esteemed guests on White Horse Island; for them, I would spend any amount of money, and I spend it without hesitation—only my bodyguards and Miss Svet's bodyguards were killed in this attack, failing to save them is my greatest regret!"

After saying that, he blamed: "It's mainly because you guys are really terrible, you know? So many tourists come to your place for vacation and spending worldwide—ensuring everyone's safety is your most basic duty; I hope you start taking this seriously from this moment!"

The commander immediately nodded and said: "Mr. Arnault, the criticism you made—I will report it to the high command, apply for increased national defense funding, and ensure the safety of all tourists."

Bernard Arnault waved his hand and said: "Like this—after this matter is settled, I will donate fifty million U. S. dollars to your defense department to strengthen your maritime defense capabilities, hoping this incident will never happen again!"