Fatal Strike: Mercenary Road of Gunfire Ranger-Chapter 2 - Investigator

Yue Ziheng did not answer the old man's question; he shifted his body laboriously, making his painfully injured right leg a bit more comfortable...

"Thank you for saving my life, but I need to leave now..."

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The old man watched Yue Ziheng's expression twist in pain, threw away the gun in his hand, and pointed to the cabin door while laughing, "You can try, and if you can leave, it would be best to take me with you."

"What do you mean?"

Yue Ziheng struggled to stand up, moved to the door, and tried the handle only to find that the door was locked from the outside...

Looking at the old man standing before him with a smile, Yue Ziheng frowned and said, "Is this a cell?

But why are you..."

The old man kicked the Makarov pistol lying on the ground to Yue Ziheng's feet and said with a smile, "I told you, a pistol without bullets is like a bull without balls..."

The old man then looked at the Ruger Silent Pistol in Yue Ziheng's hand, his expression somewhat curious, "Kid, I don't know how you managed it, but our situations are similar now..."

To relieve the pain in his right leg, Yue Ziheng leaned against the wall beside the cabin door and slowly sat down, saying, "So you mean everything you said before was false..."

The old man shook his head and said, "The part about pulling you out of the water and the bounty is true.

You are very lucky; if it weren't for the one million US Dollar bounty on you, you would have been thrown into the water to feed the fish yesterday."

The old man glanced again at Yue Ziheng's pistol, thought for a few seconds, then slightly shook his head and continued, "However, the current situation isn't much better for you. This ship will arrive at its destination tomorrow, and the people outside will hand you over to the drug lord Naokan...

You killed Naokan's most promising son, and he said he wants to cut out your heart and eat it...

To my knowledge, he has done such things before!"

Yue Ziheng didn't particularly believe what the old man was saying. He frowned, looked at the relaxed expression of the old man, and said in a firm voice, "What about you? Why are you locked up here?"

Then Yue Ziheng glanced at the coffee cup and the pistol, and said, "If you were locked in, those people seem too polite to you...

Who exactly are you?"

The old man seemed to appreciate Yue Ziheng's attentiveness and responded with a smile, "I'm a retired mercenary, my friends call me 'Blood Fox'..."

Yue Ziheng muttered the words 'mercenary' which felt both familiar and strange, then shook his head and said, "That doesn't explain our current situation...

You appear too calm, not like someone who is imprisoned.

Unless you know those people won't hurt you!"

Then Yue Ziheng, looking into 'Blood Fox's' eyes, demanded in a deep voice, "Who exactly are you, and what do you want from me?"

'Blood Fox' nodded with a smile and explained, "After retiring, I took a consultant job at the International Intermediary Company, mainly to investigate contracts with disputes between parties and to ultimately deliver an investigation result.

You could consider this role as that of an 'Insurance Investigator,' because all parties involved with the International Intermediary Company have to pay 'internal insurance' when registering as members."

The role of this insurance is to allow the International Intermediary Company to intervene when disputes arise between the employing parties due to mission issues, providing a clear and fair result.

Of course, the workplace of the investigator is generally quite remote, as the clients of the International Intermediary Company are usually individuals who operate in gray areas.

"While traveling to the Golden Triangle, I fished you out of the water. Yesterday, someone recognized your identity, and then those people clearly had some other plans..."

Yue Ziheng shook his head and said, "I don't understand. They recognized me, but why would they control you?"

Blood Fox waved his hand casually and said, "I was cooperating in the investigation with people from the Southeast Asia Truth Foundation...

Three months ago, they hired a squad of mercenaries to protect them while they carried out humanitarian work in the Golden Triangle...

After the mission ended, the mercenaries died. Their families raised concerns due to some suspicions, so I took over the investigation.

My original plan was to visit the Golden Triangle to investigate the true cause of the mercenaries' deaths, but yesterday they stole the bullets from my gun and locked me up with you; this has already explained a lot...

The deaths of those mercenaries must be related to them, and now they want to kill me as well..."

Yue Ziheng is a thoughtful person; he frowned and looked at the seemingly calm old man in front of him and said, "I have not heard of the International Intermediary Company, but from what you've said, it seems like a very influential organization.

They even send someone to investigate when there's a problem with the contract, so attacking an investigator should have even more severe consequences.

They only took action against you yesterday, which suggests they initially weren't sure how to handle this..."

While speaking, Yue Ziheng suddenly realized something, he pointed to himself and said with a bitter smile, "If what you're saying is all true, and the International Intermediary Company is really that powerful, then could I end up as the scapegoat for killing you?

That way, they could avoid taking responsibility themselves!"

Blood Fox laughed and gave a thumbs up in response, "You forgot, you'd also be sold to the drug lord Naokan..."

Blood Fox continued, laughing and counting on his fingers, "Here's how things would go down...

I met you during my investigation, pulled you out of the river, and after you regained consciousness, to evade arrest, you killed me and then directly ran into drug lord Naokan's territory where he disemboweled you."

Yue Ziheng responded helplessly, "Is that it? Just concoct a story and all problems are solved?

The International Intermediary Company investigates disputed contracts, wouldn't someone question the death of an investigator?"

Blood Fox laughed and shook his head, "Of course, each investigator has a Revenge Fund worth 500,000 US Dollars, which gets activated if the investigator dies.

However, once there is concrete evidence that the killer is already dead, it becomes difficult for the Revenge Fund to attract capable people to conduct an investigation...

Kid, the International Intermediary Company is very powerful, as long as you abide by their rules, you'll receive protection that matches your worth, but don't expect an underground platform to operate without flaws."

Yue Ziheng rubbed his swollen temples; he didn't know whether he should believe the old man, as what he said was completely beyond his understanding, he even couldn't be sure if the old man was making up stories...

Seeing Yue Ziheng's thoughts, Blood Fox said with a smile, "In about 20 hours, someone will open the door and force you to kill me and leave visual evidence, then you'll know whether I'm telling the truth or not..."

Noticing Yue Ziheng's Ruger Pistol, Blood Fox curiously said, "I hope by then your miraculous pistol still has bullets, otherwise you're truly doomed..."

After hearing this, Yue Ziheng took a deep breath and said, "Then let's wait and see..."