The air filled with the acrid smell of burning wood.
The leader felt every hair on his body stand on end from the shock of the lightning!
The others stared at Ye Chen, dumbfounded, unable to fathom that someone could control lightning itself!
Tawana and Hamid knew Ye Chen was formidable, but they never dreamed he was this otherworldly.
The leader finally realized that this young man was on an entirely different level, not even in the same world. Against such overwhelming power, he had no chance of winning.
Without hesitation, he dropped his gun, knelt with a thud, and said devoutly, “Mr. Ye, I was blind to offend you. I deserve death, but since I haven’t caused irreparable harm, I beg you to give me a chance to make amends.”
He quickly turned to his remaining men, shouting, “You idiots! Drop your guns and beg Mr. Ye for forgiveness!”
The men snapped out of their daze, dropped their weapons, and knelt.
Ye Chen nodded, saying calmly, “I like dealing with people who know their place.”
He then asked the leader, “Tell me everything you know, in detail.”
The leader, Ma Kui, replied respectfully, “Mr. Ye, my real name is Ma Kui. I’m Australian, of Chinese and Japanese descent. I joined Blackwater Company ten years ago as a level-seven mercenary, mainly handling affairs in the Southern Hemisphere.”
Ye Chen asked, “What’s a level-seven mercenary?”
Ma Kui explained, “Mr. Ye, Blackwater has a strict promotion system for internal management. Combat roles are divided into ten levels, from 1 to 10, with level-10 mercenaries being the strongest. Management roles follow a similar structure, from M1 to M10.”
Ye Chen frowned. “Sounds like the ranking systems of those internet companies.”
“Exactly!” Ma Kui said. “Blackwater has been reforming its management for years, essentially operating like a large multinational corporation now.”
Ye Chen asked, “As an Australian handling Southern Hemisphere business, why were you sent here? The Maldives is technically in the Northern Hemisphere, isn’t it?”
Ma Kui quickly replied, “Mr. Ye, most of Blackwater’s mercenaries are of European, American, or African descent. Asians are rare. This time, Blackwater specifically gathered a group of Asian mercenaries, so I was temporarily dispatched here.”
Ye Chen nodded and pressed, “Blackwater sent you to assassinate Commander Hamid, didn’t they?”
“Correct!” Ma Kui nodded firmly. “The opposition has long been backed by the U.S. government, and Blackwater’s higher-ups have been collaborating with the Syrian opposition. Since Wanlong Hall works with the government, they’re enemies of the U.S. and the opposition. The two have been colluding for a while.”
He continued, “The opposition has two goals: kill Hamid and take his territory, and drive Wanlong Hall out of Syria. Blackwater also wants to expand its influence in the Middle East. When they learned Hamid was vacationing in the Maldives, they decided to have us pose as Wanlong Hall mercenaries, stage a terrorist attack, and kill Hamid discreetly, framing it as a terrorist act. Then, they’d splash the blame on Wanlong Hall.”
“After that, the U.S. would push the UN to label Wanlong Hall an international terrorist organization, expel them from Syria, and hand their bases over to Blackwater…”
