Mr. CEO, Spoil me 100 Percent! - Chapter 450

Chapter 450: Stunned

 

That’s right, the weapons and grenades in Ryan’s men’s hands once belonged to SamWolf. Those were salvaged from the house that belonged to them. The fact that their haul had fallen into Ryan’s hands irked them greatly. They were chased away from their own house and were now being attacked by their own weapons; it made their hearts burn. However, there was nothing they could do. Their opponent had the number’s advantage and grenades; they didn’t dare to act flightily.

“Ryan, do you intend to kill all of us?” Sam asked him in a measured tone.

Ryan offered a slimy smile. “Don’t be so melodramatic. As long as you leave the reward money and weapons, I swear I will let you people go. Trust me, I’m a man of my word.”

“Only an idiot will believe you!” Ali scoffed with derision.

Ryan laughed. “What choice do you have? Either you leave the gold and weapons, or you leave everything behind, including your lives!”

“I think that was your plan from the very beginning,” Sam said with a cold sneer.

Ryan smiled and dropped his pretentious façade. He admitted, “Fine, the plan is to claim your lives and take the gold. When I saw it was you people, I was overjoyed because I’ve been waiting to kill you people for a very long time!”

“So, you have no idea where Charlie really is?” Cairn asked quickly.

Ryan’s eyes shifted ever so slightly. He used the butt of his gun to scratch his head. “Actually, I will give you a free information, I do know where Charlie is but I will not tell you. No worries, he’ll soon meet you down there after you die.”

“Since we’re going to die soon, why not give us the satisfaction of knowing Charlie’s location?” Sam egged him on but Ryan was too cunning to fall for that.

“I will not give you bunch of people any satisfaction. You’ll die never knowing where Charlie is. However, I promise your group will congregate down there! Men, aim and…”

Before the last word could get out of Ryan’s mouth, someone had already fired. The sudden shot made Ryan swallow his words and froze the atmosphere for about half a second. The next second, Ryan started wailing.

“My leg!” He crumbled to the floor suddenly, his eyes wide looking at the wound on his right leg. A bullet had shot through his leg!

“Who was it? Show yourself!” Ryan’s flustered men shouted. Everyone turned around to check for enemies hiding in the dark. They fired aimlessly into the dark, not caring whether the bullets hit their target or not.

This was a fatal mistake but now they had exposed their backs to Sam’s group. Sam’s group moved into action immediately. While Ryan’s men were shooting blindly, they took down the few people carrying the grenades.

When Ryan’s men turned back to deal with Sam’s group, this time their weakness was exposed to the people who ambushed them earlier.

The shots rang incessantly. In almost a blink of an eye, two-third of Ryan’s men were dead. Clouded by panic, a few of men even fell under friendly fire.

Eventually, only three of Ryan’s men left. They stared at the bodies piled around them in stunned silence.

What just happened‽

A few seconds had passed but almost all of their men had died!

Chapter 451: I’m a Poor Shot

 

They didn’t even have time to react to what had happened. Almost all of them had been wiped out before they even knew who their enemies were…

This sudden development scared the few remaining people. With no regards for Ryan, they escaped, begging for dear life. However, that was impossible.

“Don’t leave even one rat alive!” Sam ordered. Wolf and the rest opened fire, and the escaping men collapsed into lifeless piles. Ryan looked at all these with a blank expression. Who can tell me what’s going on…

However, he subconsciously lifted up his gun and pointed it at Sam. His dark skin frighteningly pale.

“Stay, stay away from me!” He demanded in a shaking voice. There were even tears streaming down his face. Sam and the rest shook their heads in derision while looking at him. They were not fazed by his threat.

“Ryan, I advise you to put down your gun…”

“Don’t come near me!” Like a spooked bird, Ryan pressed on the trigger upon hearing Sam’s voice. Sam jumped out of the way and the rest all cursed loudly.

“F*ck, he really fired!”

“Sh*t, I’ll shoot him in the head!”

Wolf pulled out his pistol to end Ryan, but at that moment, Xinghe’s clear voice rang out, “Stop.”

Wolf froze and turned to see Xinghe walking into view with twenty mercenaries behind her. The mercenaries surrounded her, keeping her in the middle of their protective circle. They scanned the surrounding alertly before their gazes fell on Ryan.

Ryan was already out of bullets but he still pressed the trigger relentlessly like a mad man. Since everyone’s attention was on Xinghe, Ryan took the opportunity to crawl to reach a gun not far away from him.

The moment his hand reached out, a bullet was shot, grazing his arm, almost incapacitating him. Ryan retracted his arm with a scream and looked at Xinghe who fired the bullet.

Xinghe’s pistol was aimed at Ryan. She said calmly, “I’m a poor shot, why don’t you try your luck again?”

Ryan went as still as a statue. Even Sam’s gang felt chilled by her words. The poor shots were the most dangerous because no one could tell who they would hurt!

Xinghe was satisfied with Ryan’s reaction. She stopped before his cowering body and asked, “Do you want to die?”

Ryan shook his head vigorously. Who would want that?

Xinghe nodded. “Good, then answer my question, where is Charlie?”

Ryan swallowed hard when he saw the threat in Xinghe’s eyes. She would not hesitate to kill him if he lied or refused to answer…

Ryan couldn’t have imagined that this woman, who’d just recently appeared, would be so powerful. She even managed to get herself a group of mercenaries. Is it true that she is really related to Charlie?

No matter what, she was not someone he could cross. There were so many people hoping for his death; he was a lamb waiting for slaughter. However, Ryan was not so dumb as to give up everything.

He stared right at Xinghe and said, “It’s not that I don’t want to say, but even if I do, I’ll still die.”

Chapter 452: Charlie Is…

 

Xinghe smiled. “Do you think you can live if you don’t answer?”

“Since I’m dead either way, why should I give you the satisfaction‽” Ryan flared up thinking about his men that had died.

“Fine, if that’s your wish, then I’ll fulfil it for you.” Sam raised his gun.

Xinghe stopped him suddenly. “Give him the gold.”

“What?” Sam was shocked.

Xinghe repeated herself, “Give him the gold bars as promised.”

Sam understood what Xinghe’s meant. Even though he was reluctant, he still heaved up the chest and dropped it in front of Ryan.

Ryan looked at the chest and asked, “What’s the meaning of this?”

“Tell me where Charlie is and you can walk away with this chest of gold,” Xinghe answered coldly.

Ryan widened his eyes in shock and asked with obvious disbelief, “If I tell you, you’ll let me go with all this gold?”

“That’s right, this is also your only chance so don’t play any tricks on me.”

“You’ll really let me go?” Ryan was still skeptical.

“Do you have any other choice than to believe me?” Xinghe questioned. Ryan was quiet; she was right, this was the only chance he had.

“Fine, I’ll tell you!” Ryan came to a decision. He grabbed at the chest and held on to it guardedly, “Charlie is in Barron’s hands!”

“What‽” Sam’s gang thought they heard him wrongly. Charlie is in Barron’s hands…

Even Xinghe was surprised by this revelation. After all, Charlie had helped Barron more than once before and Barron was a General. What kind of use he would have for capturing Charlie?

“Why does Barron have him?” Xinghe asked solemnly.

Ryan shook his head. “I have no idea. I only know that he has Charlie, I have no idea why.”

“Then what else you do know?”

Ryan thought about it before answering, “Barron is also selling drugs, the Grey Rats have helped him smuggle drugs once or twice.”

“No wonder he values your people so much!” Sam concluded. “What else?”

“That’s all,” Ryan hugged the chest and asked hesitatingly, “I’ve told you everything I know, can I go now?”

“You can.” Xinghe nodded. Ryan got up immediately and hobbled towards a car parked not far away with his injured leg.

Wolf stared at his retreating shadow and frowned. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to let him go?”

“He has so much gold on him. If he’s lucky, he might rise again – but I doubt he is that lucky,” Xinghe said softly, not at all worried that Ryan would come back for revenge. After all, he needed to be alive to do that.

“Let’s go, we will return to the house for now,” Xinghe said and turned to leave.

Suddenly, the leader of the mercenaries called her, “Miss Xia.”

Xinghe turned to look at him. “Yes?”

The leader whispered, “I have some business to deal with, I’ll be back in a bit. Can you give me some off-duty time?”

Xinghe stared at the leader and the leader didn’t move his eyes away, not at all afraid that Xinghe could read his thoughts.

“Sure,” Xinghe allowed without giving it much thought.

“Thank you,” The leader nodded in appreciation and his gaze turned coldly down the direction Ryan had left.

Chapter 453: Torture

 

Xinghe and Sam’s group got into one car and the mercenaries another. In the car, Wolf asked, “Is he going after Ryan?”

Sam nodded with a smirk. “He’s not hiding the fact that he is.”

Ali said with worry, “Will he come after us then?”

“He won’t,” Xinghe answered, “We hired them through the private bank, they need the reputation and I’ve paid them quite a handsome amount for their service.”

“That’s right, these people will do anything for money but ruin their own reputation and credibility because that’s their long-time meal ticket,” Sam explained and Ali sighed in relief.

“Are we going to save Charlie?” Ali asked.

Xinghe nodded. “We will, but we have to collect more information first.”

…

Xinghe started working after she returned home. Hacking into Barron’s military system was a cakewalk for her. The surveillance in the camp was complete so Xinghe found the footage she needed quickly. There were a lot of cameras in and around the jail. Each individual jail had a camera probably because they housed some dangerous people. Xinghe found Charlie in a matter of minutes.

“Charlie! That’s Charlie!” Sam yelped when he saw a bloodied man inside a jail cell. Ali and the rest followed his direction and stared at the screen.

“That’s Charlie!” Ali said with sadness in her voice, “What happened to him?”

Charlie’s four limbs were cuffed to steel chains. He was like a puppet strung to the wall. His hair and beard had grown in to cover most of his face but one could still pick up his features if one looked closely. His body had cuts and bruises. The clothes he had on were dirty and dyed a dark red. He had endured the torture for a long time…

“Has Barron been torturing him for the past month‽” Cairn huffed angrily.

“I’ll go kill Barron!” Wolf pulled out a gun and rushed out.

“Don’t be hasty!” Sam pulled him back. “You won’t be able to do anything even if you go now.”

Wolf was enraged. “But Charlie is dying being tortured by them! I can’t stand here and do nothing while this is happening to him!”

“Barron is going in!” Ali yelped. Her voice attracted everyone’s attention immediately. They all turned to the screen where Barron walked in with one of his men.

The men said no words and gave Charlie two lashes of his whip immediately!

The surveillance was silent but Xinghe and the rest could hear the sound of the whip lashing through the air. The two lashes seemed to fall on Ali and the rest’s bodies as well; they grimaced and their eyes glowered darkly.

The pain woke Charlie up from his half-sleep. Barron was talking to him but Charlie gave no response but looked silently at him. This enraged Barron. He grabbed the whip away from his man and dished out the punishment himself.

The whip kept flying over the air and Charlie’s features twisted in pain, however not a word escaped from his clenched teeth.

However, the more he defied him, the harder Barron whipped. Each lash tore open old and new wounds on Charlie’s body. On the screen, they could see fresh blood spraying in the air…

Sam and the rest’s fists were clenched; the eyes that were on Barron were practically burning.

Chapter 454: Saving Charlie

 

“F*ck, we’ll go kill him now and save Charlie!” This time it was Sam who lost his cool. As he said so, the other four moved together with him.

Xinghe stood up and said, “What are you people doing? Stop right there!”

Sam turned back and said chillingly, “Miss Xia, we have to save Charlie. This is our problem so please keep yourself out of it; we don’t want to cause you the trouble.”

Ali also nodded. “That’s right, we cannot wait anymore. We will not allow Charlie to continue the suffering!”

“He is way too important to us!” Cairn concluded. Xinghe saw the determination in their eyes.

“If you go just like this, you’ll just get captured,” Xinghe reminded them with a sigh.

Wolf smirked. “We are not afraid of that because we cannot allow Charlie to die in front of our eyes and do nothing about it. He is like our father, you don’t understand how this feels to us.”

Xinghe nodded. “I do, if this happened to any one of my family, I’d be the same way.”

“So, you should understand why we must do this,” Sam said firmly. Xinghe was reminded of the time they rushed into a base that grossly over numbered them to save Ali. Their single goal was to save Ali, they didn’t consider anything beyond that…

It was the same for them now.

“I’m not saying that we shouldn’t save him but we need to plan first…”

“We cannot wait anymore, we must save him tonight!” Sam said in a voice the brooked no argument. On the screen, Barron was still whipping Charlie.

Ali’s eyes were red. “Xinghe, we cannot wait anymore or Barron will whip him to death!”

“Take your ear-mics, I will give you the directions. Take more weapons and be alert!” Xinghe said with a solemn nod. Sam’s group was shocked but quickly broke into smiles.

“Xinghe, thank you!” Sam walked to in front of her and said seriously, “If this mission is a success, please consider me as your boyfriend, I’m serious this time.”

“…” For certain reasons, part of Xinghe wished for him to fail…

Without waiting for her answer, Sam and the rest went off to prepare. They were prepared to save Charlie or die trying. However, they still retained a certain degree of rationality to listen to Xinghe’s arrangement through the ear mic. Night quickly fell.

Xinghe had already tweaked the military camp’s surveillance. Sam’s group would not appear on screen. With Xinghe’s help, Sam’s group snuck into the camp successfully. Xinghe was operating more than a few computers, her fingers flew over the keyboard and she rattled off her directions in a hurry.

“There are two men guarding the jail entrance and I’ve changed the video. However, you only have five minutes to get in and get out before the other guards get suspicious.”

“No problem!” Sam whispered back before leading the rest into the jail. The moment they walked in, they stumbled across the two guards. Before the two men could react, they leaped forward and snapped their necks.

“Change into their clothes as a disguise,” Xinghe ordered. Cairn and Sam did exactly that while Ali and Wolf hid the bodies away. They continued to push towards Charlie.

The surveillance video was switched back to normal by Xinghe.

Chapter 455: Someone Important Is Here

 

Cairn and Sam stood like they were really the entrance guards. Xinghe would tamper with the surveillance again after they rescued Charlie…

Ali and Wolf quickly found Charlie’s room. They used the key swiped from the guards to unlock the door and save Charlie. They were exact and precise in their movements. The atmosphere was heightened and nervous. After they saved Charlie, they planned to escape by retracing their steps.

However, at that moment, Xinghe saw from the surveillance a long row of military-use vehicles arriving at the military camp gate. Their arrival woke up the entire camp. The soldiers who were resting were roused from their sleep and pulled back to their post. The security suddenly became tight.

There was a seriousness in Xinghe’s eyes when she informed Sam’s gang, “Stay put for now. A good number of people have arrived at the camp and the soldiers are everything. If you go out now, you’ll be discovered.”

Sam’s gang’s faces shifted. They didn’t expect to happen across such a sudden development.

“What should we do now?” Sam whispered.

“Stay quiet and wait for my orders,” Xinghe said as she moved to watch what was happening. Apparently, some important person had arrived because the whole camp was woken up to welcome the group. Even Barron who was asleep changed and rushed out.

…

“Where’s General Philip?” Barron asked his adjutant as he rushed down the stairs, still putting on his pants.

“The general has entered the camp, I’ve already had our men go welcome him.”

“Why would he come so suddenly? He should have informed me beforehand,” Barron couldn’t help but grumble.

“The general’s visit is indeed very sudden,” the adjutant agreed. Even so, they didn’t dare waste any more time. They rushed to meet General Philip. When they arrived at the middle field, more than ten armored cars were parked there. The one at the front was the most lavish. Needless to say, General Philip was in it.

Barron rushed forward and saw General Philip in his military uniform sitting at the back.

“Good afternoon, General!” Barron gave him a salute as his eyes strayed to a mysterious man in a black garment beside the General. The man was wearing a black suit and a dark hat that was pressed low on his face. It shielded his face from view. Barron could only see his thin lips and sharp jaw. Even though his identity was a mystery, Barron could sense the strong presence radiating off him.

Philip returned him a salute and said, “I came at such short notice because I need your help with something.”

“Please give me your orders, General!” Barron opened his mouth to say with utter respect, a complete reversal of his usual smug self. They might both be generals, but Philip’s ranking was much higher than his.

Philip didn’t waste time and cut to the chase. “I heard earlier that you managed to grab some military munitions from IV Syndicate?”

“Yes, General!” Barron’s face brightened with pride. It was an impressive feat to be able to grab anything back from IV Syndicate. This organization was strong and mysterious, even Interpol had difficulties tracking them down.

Therefore, the fact that he could wrangle the munitions back from IV Syndicate proved Barron’s value to the military.

Chapter 456: Something’s Weird

 

“How did you manage that?” Philip questioned.

Barron answered, “We located their base and I had my men lay siege to it.”

“In other words, you know where their base is?”

“… Yes!” Barron’s answer was hesitant. This was because he didn’t exactly know where the base’s location was, only Charlie knew that. He’d only led his men to intercept the munitions that were heading out of the base.

Philip looked him straight in the eye and asked, “Where is their base?”

“General, why do you ask, has something happened?” Barron questioned instead.

“Answer me, who gave you the power to question me‽”

“I’m sorry, General!”

Philip asked again, more forcefully this time, “So where is the base?”

Barron’s eyes shifted and said confidently, “General, I have no idea where exactly their base is but the person who infiltrated the base would know. However, the person is currently kept in my captivity because he has committed a great disservice to the country. Why don’t you move to a drawing room first and I’ll have him over for you to interrogate.”?

Philip narrowed his eyes on him and finally nodded. “Then, bring the man over quickly. Any mishap and you’ll be punished!”

“Yes, sir!” Barron guaranteed loudly as he helped Philip open his door. “General, please wait at the drawing room.”

Philip got out of the car and rose to his full height. The other man got down from the other side. He was as tall as Philip but Barron still couldn’t get a good look of his face. He was curious about the man’s identity but he didn’t dare to ask or even take a look at him.

Philip didn’t make the introduction so it was not his business to ask. However, from the way Philip treated him, the person had a certain importance. After Barron’s adjutant led the two men to the drawing room, Barron brought a few men to the jail. Xinghe saw Barron heading towards the jail and quickly informed Sam’s gang.

“Barron is coming, Ali and Wolf go into hiding quick, Sam and Cairn try your best to not get exposed!”

“F*ck, why is he coming over?” Sam cursed under his breath but he quickly assumed his required post. Together with Cairn, they lowered their head and stood in attention.

They saluted wordlessly as Barron walked over. Barron stopped before them and ordered coldly, “Open Charlie’s jail cell now!”

“Yes, sir!” Sam coarsened his voice to answer and turned to walk in front of Barron.

Barron was still thinking about how to make Charlie cooperate when he noticed something funny about the guard walking in front of him. He narrowed his eyes slightly as his suspicions grew. However, he showed nothing on his face.

He stopped suddenly to whisper to one of his men. The soldier nodded before turning to walk away. Sam tried to keep his cool as he walked in front. The long corridor was suspiciously quiet. The sound of falling footsteps shook Sam’s heart.

Xinghe who stared at the screen felt a bad feeling rising in her gut.

“Barron might have found something suspicious…” Xinghe whispered into the mic, “Be on alert and take him hostage if necessary! I’ve arranged for the men to meet all of you outside, just be careful.”

After Xinghe said so, Sam’s hand over the machinegun tightened.

Chapter 457: Cover’s Blown

 

Ali and Wolf were hiding in the room, ready to jump on Barron. The air had become still with anticipation. Sam soon led Barron and his men to Charlie’s room. He had his back to Barron and pretended to open the already unlocked door with his key. He shoved open the door and moved to the side with his head bowed.

Barron stood there motionless. He ordered, “Go on and drag the man out!”

“Yes, sir!” Sam answered as his body tensed. How are we going to jump on Barron if he doesn’t go into the room?

Sam turned around slowly as his mind churned on the ways to attack Barron without getting shot first. They were running out of time.

“Do it now, the cover’s blown!” Xinghe’s voice came through the ear-mic. Sam pulled on his machinegun while his other hand grabbed towards Barron.

“Detain them!” To his surprise, Barron was prepared. He leaped out of Sam’s attack and pulled out his gun. Barron fired without hesitation. Sam gave up on his pursuit and leaped back, narrowly avoiding being shot. Ali and Wolf who were hiding in the room jumped out and fired their machineguns at Barron.

Barron grabbed one of his soldiers to use as a human shield. As the lifeless body of the soldier collapsed, a large troop of soldiers charged to the scene.

“Cease and desist! Drop your weapons now!” The adjutant who ran to the front demanded. The soldiers immediately formed a wall blocking their passage. More than a dozen machineguns pointed right at them.

Other than that, the adjutant pointed his gun right at Cairn’s head who’d been captured…

Sam and the rest dropped their machineguns and pulled out their grenades, ready for a final showdown. Barron climbed over his men’s bodies back to safety.

Finally, he stood upright to glare at them. “Sam, so it is your group! You people are courting death by attempting a jailbreak!”

Sam’s face was drawn, he didn’t expect the plan to go so wrongly.

“Barron, you kidnapped Charlie so you can’t blame us for coming to spring him out!” Sam answered coldly.

Barron smirked. “Then, you can’t blame me for punishing all of you! I was thinking about a way to deal with your group but you handed yourselves over to me so nicely. Drop your weapons or I’ll give him a shot to the head!”

Barron grabbed Cairn roughly. He pushed his gun into Cairn’s temple and made to pull the trigger. Cairn showed no fear. He was telling Sam and the gang wordlessly that they should leave him behind.

However, that was an impossible choice. Even if he wasn’t captured, they couldn’t escape easily. This was the whole military they were going up against.

“I’ll count to three and if you still haven’t dropped your weapons, I will kill him and then kill the rest of you one by one!” Barron threatened as he started the count down, “One, two…”

“We surrender!” Sam tossed his gun and grenade away before raising his hands in surrender. Ali and Wolf followed suit…

“Cuff them all,” Barron ordered with a sleazy smile. The soldiers moved forward and detained the three of them easily.

“Barron—” At the same time, Charlie dragged his weakened body out of his cell. His dark eyes stared at him and said, “If you still want the information from me, you will not touch one hair on them!”

Chapter 458: Where’s the Woman

 

Before Charlie could finish, he was subdued by two soldiers. None of them struggled…

Barron nodded satisfactorily. He took them all in with his eyes and laughed smugly. “Don’t worry, Charlie, I will not kill them as long as you’re willing to cooperate.”

Charlie knew Barron had him then, he would have to talk.

Barron didn’t waste any more time and ordered, “Lock them all up and watch over them carefully. Don’t hesitate to rough them up if they dare act defiant! Bring Charlie away with me!”

“Yes, sir!” The soldiers answered.

“Barron, where are you taking Charlie?” Sam demanded. The answer he got from Barron was a punch to the face. The punch almost broke Sam’s teeth; he spat out blood.

Barron stared at him like a scorpion. “Who are you to demand anything from me? One more word out of you and your people die!”

Sam gritted his teeth and glared at him. Barron started laughing again. He took count of them and asked with a salacious smile, “Where’s the other one? Where’s the woman? If any of you are willing to tell me, then I might consider sparing the torture.”

“Don’t know!” Wolf answered coldly, there was no fear in his eyes.

Barron’s smile turned frigid. “I will ask you again, where is the woman?”

“We don’t know what you’re talking about.” Sam smirked. “Barron, we are captured so we’re prepared to die!”

“We’ll see about that.” Barron ordered, “Chain them up and get the woman’s location out of them no matter what!”

“Yes, sir!” The group of soldiers brought them away. Barron laughed, satisfied. Then he realized he was needed elsewhere. After all, the group was already in his captivity; he had lots of time to work through them. Now, he needed to focus on getting Charlie to cooperate with him in front of Philip.

Sam’s group was chained to the pillars in the dungeon. What awaited them was endless torment…

Xinghe was still looking at the surveillance. After Sam’s group was caught, she uncovered everything she could about Barron. She hoped to find some dirt on him.

Her last words to Sam’s group before parting were, “Hang in there, I will find a way to save all of you!”

Sam’s group felt hopeful hearing her words, but they didn’t dare hold too much hope. Their only wish was that she didn’t get captured as well or else it would truly be over for them…

…

Philip’s men stood guard outside the large drawing room. Other than Philip and the mysterious man, the room was posted with quite a sizeable number of able-bodied soldiers. Even though this was a military camp, Philip’s security wasn’t lax.

“You just recovered, there’s no need to rush with these things, why not rest for a few days first?” Philip advised the man.

“I’m fine,” the man said as he operated on a laptop, “I need to find her as soon as possible.”

Philip nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ve sent my men out to look for this woman. I’m sure she’ll turn up soon enough.”

The man nodded as he continued working on the laptop. He was searching for online clues.

Chapter 459: That Eastern Woman

 

If Xinghe was still alive, she would have left a clue for him online…

However, there was nothing even after he had checked a few places. Under the rim of the hat, Mubai’s dark eyes dimmed, and his lips had melted into a thin line. He powered on regardless. At that time, Barron came in with Charlie.

“General, the men are here!” One of the soldiers came into to report.

“Let them in,” Philip said immediately.

“Yes!” The soldiers left to inform Barron. Barron nodded as he shot Charlie a warning glance. He had warned Charlie along the way, if he revealed more than the base’s location, he would kill Sam’s gang. Charlie promised him reluctantly which calmed Barron’s heart quite a bit.

After Barron led Charlie into the room, he saluted Philip and said reverentially, “General, I’ve brought you the man you need! He is Charlie, he once infiltrated the IV Syndicate’s base, you can ask him anything you want.”

Both Philip and Mubai looked at Charlie. His body was covered with wounds, his clothes were dyed red, his hair and beard unkempt. His tall body was swaying from exhaustion and his face was incredibly pale but there was an indomitable spirit behind his eyes. It was obvious that this was a character.

Philip waved Barron away. “Excuse us for now.”

Barron was shocked but he had to obey the order. He snuck Charlie one last warning glance before leaving. Charlie’s face was unchanged which worried Barron because Charlie could reveal something that would be harmful to him. However, the damage wouldn’t be big, or at least, not big enough to make Philip punish him. After all, this was a war-torn country; there was no innocents. If one looked hard enough, one could find skeletons in everyone’s closet.

Barron was comforted by these thoughts. However, as he closed the door behind him, he received a call.

“Hello?” Barron picked up the call from an unknown call.

“Barron, I will give you twenty minutes to let Sam’s group go or else the proof of your criminal activities will be known across the country,” a woman’s calm yet forceful voice came from the other end of the line.

Barron’s mind was stunned. He covered the phone and walked far away before demanding severely, “Who are you? Do you have any idea who you’re extorting‽”

Xinghe smirked. “I’m not kidding with you. I have the evidence of your drug smuggling and selling history, do you want me to send them to you to verify?”

Barron’s face shifted. “You’re that Eastern woman?”

Xinghe ignored him. “Don’t play tricks with me because I’m watching your every move. If you don’t cooperate, I don’t mind going down with you. But a clever man like you wouldn’t want that, right?”

Barron chuckled humorlessly. “I’m sorry I have no idea what you’re talking about. If I really have done such a thing, then release it to the public. But woman, I have to tell you, I will find you and make you pay for threatening me like this!”

Barron slammed his phone shut. He believed Xinghe was bluffing, she wouldn’t have the dirt on him.