“What’s going on exactly?”

The group leader stared at the young man through the telescope, for the first time doubting his eyesight and memory, “Did we mistake the person?”

Liang Qiuchi answered him confidently, “No mistake.”

At this time, another person walked out of the wooden house, similar in age to Roy Reinis but slightly taller, and walked a few steps to the side with his arm around Roy’s shoulder.

“That’s the guy, Godwin,” Xiang Bei recognized him immediately, “Roy’s cousin.”

The two brothers stood under the eaves of the house, chatting and smoking, their expressions very relaxed, and they laughed a few times as they talked.

It was hard to believe they were hostages.

“What the hell are they up to?” The group leader, fearing that the intelligence received by the command center might be wrong, decided to sneak into the village to find out.

Everyone in the village was chatting and laughing, with low vigilance. As long as they could quietly deal with the two guards, they wouldn’t alert the enemy.

The group leader sought the opinions of Liang Qiuchi and Xiang Bei.

The three of them decided to act together, just in case their tracks were exposed, they could cover for each other.

The watchtowers located at the two corners of the village were built with wood, offering a broad field of view. Anyone approaching could be easily spotted.

Xiang Bei was responsible for creating disturbances in the nearby forest to attract the attention of the guards, while Liang Qiuchi took the opportunity to quickly climb up the watchtower from the opposite direction. The group leader lay hidden in the grass, rifle aimed, prepared for any unforeseen circumstances.

Liang Qiuchi was very skilled at climbing. The two-and-a-half-meter-high platform posed no challenge for him as he effortlessly leaped up and flipped over the railing.

It wasn’t until he crossed the railing and his footsteps fell behind the guard that the man realized something was wrong.

But before he could turn around, Liang Qiuchi swiftly broke his neck.

There was no time to sound any alarm to his companion.

Liang Qiuchi arranged the body in a sitting position leaning against the railing, only exposing half of his head, making it seem like he was just resting there.

Then they repeated the process, silently dealing with the second guard.

Liang Qiuchi took the hats and jackets of the two guards and distributed them to Xiang Bei and the group leader as disguises. The three of them circled around the village, sneaking in from the unmanned southeast corner.

Just as they were about to approach the wooden house, footsteps were heard slowly approaching.

Xiang Bei and the group leader lowered their hat brims, disguised as Lugo armed members chatting outside the house, while Liang Qiuchi hastened his pace, leaping up and grabbing onto the eaves of the wooden house. He climbed up before the enemy turned the corner.

He lay on the roof of the wooden house, practically invisible to anyone who didn’t look carefully.

A middle-aged man strolled over leisurely. Seeing someone chatting behind the wooden house, he waved his hand and said in a thick Lugo accent, “You two, watch the windows. If anyone dares to jump out of the window to escape, take care of him.”

“Don’t worry.” The group leader casually waved his hand towards the man, tilting his head to the side.

The man didn’t suspect anything and walked to the edge of the woods to relieve himself, then hummed a tune as he walked back.

Xiang Bei breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, “Leader, your accent sounds a lot like theirs.”

The group leader chuckled again with a hint of luck, “I’m from Lugo.”

“Huh? Then why didn’t you join them, but instead joined the federal special forces?” Xiang Bei was quite surprised.

Most young people from Lugo, the majority of them supported the civilian armed pursuit of autonomy, which was the result of the education they had received since childhood.

Young people like the group leader, who were from Lugo but served the federation, were few and far between.

At least Xiang Bei had never heard of such a thing before.

“To tell you the truth,” the group leader whispered proudly into Xiang Bei’s ear, covering his mouth, “My sister is also in the army. She’s a staunch and brave federalist soldier.”

“Really? That’s impressive!” Xiang Bei was even more surprised.

The group leader took out a pocket watch from his pocket and showed Xiang Bei a small photo inside, “Isn’t she pretty?”

Indeed, she was a pretty girl, exuding a heroic aura between her eyebrows and eyes.

Xiang Bei wanted to take a closer look, but the group leader quickly put the pocket watch away.

He patted his chest and smiled, “This is a precious gift from my sister. I can’t afford to lose it, or she’ll scold me to death.”

Xiang Bei was about to say he was stingy when suddenly, his ears twitched—the door of the wooden house creaked!

The two of them instantly tensed up, no longer chatting, standing silently under the window, listening carefully to the sounds from inside.

Meanwhile, Liang Qiuchi slowly moved on the roof, finding a gap in the corner. Looking down from above, he could see half of the room’s situation.

Roy Reinis with red hair walked in from outside and sat down on a simple single-person sofa.

He crossed his legs arrogantly and said, “”We’ve discussed it, and 50 million is indeed the bottom line.”

Immediately after, Godwin also came into Liang Qiuchi’s view. He stood next to Roy and echoed, “These anti-aircraft missiles are the most advanced technology. Some federal armies don’t even have them yet. Considering we’re old friends, we’re only asking for 50 million from you. For anyone else, this price is non-negotiable.”

How did it involve arms trading? Liang Qiuchi slowly furrowed his brow.

He tried to get a clear look at the person sitting opposite Roy, but his view was limited, so he could only rely on the sound.

It was a coarse male voice, mixed with a hint of Lugo local accent, with a rather tough attitude: “Eight million, not a penny more.”

“Eight million? Do you think we’re beggars?” Godwin retorted angrily.

“It’s the same old rule, settle with oil and diamonds,” it was a done deal on their side, with no room for compromise, “If you have any objections, let Reinis come and talk to me in person.”

“We two brothers can represent the Reinis family’s opinion. There’s no need for my uncle to make another trip,” Godwin said arrogantly, “If you’re sincere about the trade, give us a serious number, or we’ll leave. This batch of goods won’t have trouble finding another buyer.”

There was silence from the other side for a moment.

The Reinis brothers couldn’t quite grasp his meaning either, but once the word to leave was spoken, remaining silent wasn’t an option.

Roy sighed and said, “What a pity,” as he stood up with his cousin to leave. At that moment, the two armed men guarding the door raised their pistols at them.

Roy stepped back to his original position, pretending to remain calm as he asked, “What’s the meaning of this?”

“I’d like to ask why Reinis sent two inexperienced kids to negotiate with me. What does it mean?” replied a middle-aged man with long hair and a beard, stepping into Liang Qiuchi’s line of sight.

He held a standard-issue pistol in his hand, tapped Godwin’s pale face, played with it for a few moments, then suddenly pulled the trigger.

Godwin screamed in terror, closing his eyes.

But instead of a gunshot, there was a muffled “click” sound.

Liang Qiuchi could tell it was a misfire.

Roy quickly raised his hands in surrender, trying to calm things down, “Don’t be agitated, don’t be agitated! We can negotiate the price again…”

“No need to negotiate,” the man pointed his gun at Roy, saying impatiently, “This is the merchandise you sent last time, all obsolete junk. Do you take me for a fool?”

“Misunderstanding, misunderstanding…” Godwin was sweating profusely, also holding up his hands in surrender, “There won’t be a similar situation this time! How about… 40 million? We’ll give you another million, consider it compensation for your previous loss.”

“Eight million is eight million,” the man said impatiently, “Money or life, you choose.”

“You don’t need to intimidate us,” Roy squeezed out a fake smile, “We cooperated with you in this kidnapping charade, giving you a chance to protest against the federation legally. If news of you breaking your word gets out, it’ll affect your reputation. Besides, if blood is spilled, how are we supposed to do business in the future?”

“You’re a smart guy, but don’t forget, as long as Lugo and the federation keep fighting, your kind of arms dealers will make more war profits,” the man pointed his gun at Roy, then finally aimed at Godwin’s chest, “It’s just the death of a nephew. What’s the big deal?”

“Ge, Ge!” Godwin was so scared he almost wet himself, desperately pleading to Roy for help.

The man chuckled and disengaged the safety of his gun, teasing Godwin, “Kid, do you think it’ll misfire this time?”

“Ge! Save me!” Godwin’s knees buckled, and he knelt on the ground.

Roy gritted his teeth. Just before the man pulled the trigger, he shouted loudly, “Eight million! It’s eight million! We’ll figure out the rest of the money ourselves.” They couldn’t really bring eight million to report to his father; otherwise, they might end up in an even worse situation.

The man laughed, tossing the gun to his subordinate nearby and patting Godwin’s face, “I advise you to quickly get rid of the last batch of goods you smuggled. Young people have too big appetites; they’ll end up killing themselves.”

He walked casually towards the door, while the Reinis brothers stood and knelt, their faces pale.

Liang Qiuchi, along with Xiang Bei and the group leader outside the window, couldn’t help but feel shocked and angry.

With a cold heart, they hadn’t fully absorbed this information yet when suddenly, a hurried whistle sounded in the village.

Someone shouted, “The guard’s dead! Be on high alert!”