Fatal Strike: Mercenary Road of Gunfire Ranger-Chapter 962 - 898: Buying Gifts

As Mountain Eagle spoke, the burly man leading the group, wearing just a jacket despite the cold weather, walked up to Mountain Eagle with his men...

This guy glanced up and down at Mountain Eagle, then said gruffly, "Are you Mountain Eagle?"

Mountain Eagle pushed Kobe aside with one hand, looked over these men who seemed to be looking for trouble, and seeing they were unarmed, withdrew his right hand from his waist...

In a distant corner, Galahad and Robbin also stood up at this point, retreating with some of the nervous restaurant patrons to the entrance, positioning themselves at the side and rear of these burly men.

Seeing Robbin's inquiring gaze, Mountain Eagle slightly shook his head, signaling them not to act first, then stepped forward, staring into the eyes of the leading burly man, and said, "I am Mountain Eagle, who are you?"

The lead man's eyes carried a heavy intimidation, but realizing he couldn't scare Mountain Eagle, he grinned and said gruffly, "My boss wants to see you..."

Mountain Eagle spread his hands with a puzzled look and said, "Who are you? And who is your boss?"

The burly man grinned, extending his hand to Mountain Eagle, and said, "I'm called Sako, everybody calls me 'Armor'..."

Mountain Eagle looked at the burly man's prominently knuckled right hand, shook his head slightly, then reached out and shook hands with the guy...

The burly man was over 1.9 meters tall, but with an exaggerated width, making him look much stronger than Mountain Eagle, although he was a few centimeters shorter.

The moment their hands clasped, the burly man's face changed...

He had been a professional boxer, naturally possessing great hand strength, but when he gripped Mountain Eagle's right hand, he felt as though he had grasped a vise. No matter how much force he applied, Mountain Eagle remained unfazed, slowly increasing pressure...

They held this stalemate for less than a minute before sweat began to break out on the burly man's forehead!

Mountain Eagle, familiar with the temperament of these Europeans and Americans, did not choose to let go first. Instead, he continued applying pressure at the limit of the opponent's tolerance until the man started to jerk his right hand back fiercely, at which point he let go with a smile, saying, "Now can I know who your boss is?"

The burly man, twitching his face, hid his right hand behind his back, squeezed it a few times, then with a flushed face said in a deep voice, "My boss is Colonel Tadic of the 'Northern Brigade.' He invites you to our camp."

Mountain Eagle had a rough idea of what was going on. Before coming here, Blood Fox and the others had mentioned finding an old friend for a visit, and possibly seeking some operational assistance.

This 'old friend' might be Colonel Tadic that Sako mentioned.

Moreover, he had heard of the 'Northern Brigade,' reportedly a Serbian community militia targeting gang warlords like the Kosovo Liberation Organization in the Kosovo Region.

It was rumored the 'Northern Brigade' received official support from Serbia and was active for years in the border areas, assisting Serbs in northern Kosovo.

Due to the Easterners' simple sense of camaraderie with Serbia, Mountain Eagle was emotionally inclined towards Serbia, but Sako's reckless behavior made him question this 'Northern Brigade.'

Was there no one else available?

Or was Colonel Tadic indirectly refusing?

Noting the defiant expression on Sako's heavily muscled face, Mountain Eagle frowned and shook his head, taking out his phone, he said, "I don't know your boss, so I need to make a call to confirm...

Maybe there's a misunderstanding between us, or possibly, you've got the wrong person!"

Hearing this, Sako seemed to remember his duty, somewhat impatiently waved his hand and said, "No need to call, if you are looking for a few old men, then let me tell you, they're all drunk.

Colonel Tadic specifically instructed me to bring you to our base, our car is outside..."

As he spoke, Sako stared into Mountain Eagle's eyes, with a trace of provocation in his tone, saying, "Your grip is strong, but I wonder how your other abilities are?

An old man named Eddie said you're the best gunman, my brothers and I want to see what the best gunman looks like!"

Upon hearing this, Mountain Eagle felt like this was something Eddie would say...

Looking at the group of Serbian men eyeing him like a hawk, Mountain Eagle, feeling a bit troubled, pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "Then let's go, I need to look after those old guys, they definitely seem a bit too inebriated!"

Saying this, Mountain Eagle gestured to Galahad and Robbin standing guard at the door. Sako, suddenly realizing he had company outside, looked surprised, while Mountain Eagle sighed, turning his head to the puzzled Kobe, and whispered, "You should leave first..."

Seeing the amateurs in the restaurant trying to mimic gangsters, Kobe, a bit worried, said, "Are you sure you haven't mistaken someone?

They..."

Seeing Sako's somewhat darkened face, Mountain Eagle waved his hand, pushing on Kobe's arm, signaling him to leave quickly...

Mountain Eagle himself wasn't too impressed with the people in front of him because they were too closed-off.

Now, anyone involved in the underworld should know the famous Mountain Eagle, shouldn't they?

These people seemed tough but had revealed their own flaws...

Perhaps they were competent soldiers, but that's about it!

But when it comes to seeking help, Mountain Eagle has absolute confidence in Blood Fox...

The old fellow is extremely experienced, and when the core of problem-solving shrinks down to dealing with a specific person, Blood Fox, a KGB veteran, is in his element since his entire career after leaving the KGB revolves around combat...

This old man is noticeably out of touch with the macro perspective and modern business issues, but when it comes to handling specific problems, especially solving matters involving individuals, he remains a top expert!

Mountain Eagle watched Kobe leave the restaurant through the front door and get into a car, then he smiled at the burly Sako and said, "An unannounced visit might be a bit impolite, there are a few shops nearby, I'll go prepare some gifts.

If you don't mind, what does your boss, Colonel Tadic, usually like?

Coffee? Cigars? Alcohol?"

Sako was momentarily stunned and instinctively blurted out, "The colonel likes strong liquor," then he looked at Mountain Eagle with a slightly unnatural expression and said, "Gifts aren't needed, the colonel wants to see you..."

Upon hearing this, Mountain Eagle guessed that things might not be going well for these guys, so he smiled and said, "Give me a few minutes, buying things won't take long.

It's a tradition for Easterners not to show up empty-handed, otherwise I'd feel awkward..."

Mountain Eagle's attitude left Sako, with his farmer-like personality, a bit unsure of how to respond. Even if Mountain Eagle showed a tough and angry demeanor, he would know what to do, but this approach of making you feel uneasy first, then lowering himself to display proper etiquette, left him at a loss.

Watching Mountain Eagle smilingly squeeze past his companions out of the restaurant, not forgetting to pay for his coffee along with a tip as he left, made Sako feel that his performance was a bit too low...

A guy wearing a biker jacket with a knitted cap came up to Sako, asking quietly, "Boss, what should we do next?"

Sako looked at his minion's sneaky demeanor, glared with bull-like eyes, somewhat annoyed and said, "What should we do? Get into the car and wait, I'll go buy some things too..."

Then Sako pushed past the minion to the restaurant door, then seemed to realize something, turned back to look at his crew, and stiffly said, "I forgot to bring money when I went out, did anyone bring money, I need to buy a few buckets of beer to take back."

The minions who were full of themselves a few minutes ago looked at each other, then generously emptied their pockets, gathering more than thirty thousand dinar in total, patchwork...

Mountain Eagle was unaware of what was happening with Sako, as soon as he stepped out, he saw the rundown cars covered in mud Sako's group had driven, along with a very old truck.

Of course, Serbia isn't particularly wealthy, and New Pazar is far from being a central city, so being poor is quite normal...

But for the 'Northern Brigade' being a European civilian anti-separatist armed force, supposedly with official funding and policy support, not having decent vehicles is really shabby.

Though Sako and his group weren't particularly welcoming, their 'poverty and shabbiness' evoked a bit of goodwill from Mountain Eagle.

Not for any particular reason, just the fact that they have guns but still live quite poorly shows that they don't intend to impose their power and violence on civilians.

The Northern Brigade is a renowned team in the Balkans, and if they wished, be it through smuggling or outright extortion or robbery, they could quickly amass wealth...

Their main opponent, the Kosovo Liberation Organization, does just that, and has developed to the point where they can cooperate with giant intermediaries like 'White Whale', imagine how much they've made.

In comparison, the performance of the 'Northern Brigade' hints at the idea of 'remaining firm and unyielding despite poverty'...

The sudden burst of goodwill caused Mountain Eagle to immediately adjust his gift-giving plan.

Next to the restaurant was a fairly large store, Mountain Eagle walked in, browsed a bit, then found a waiter to inquire about the most popular local alcohol and cigarettes, directly maxed out his card to clear out the store's stock of several types of alcohol and cigarettes.

Because his movements were so swift, Sako only walked into the store after he'd finished paying...

The big burly man saw Mountain Eagle standing at the counter, eyes on the high-priced cigarettes and alcohol, he walked over shaking his head saying, "Those are what women fancy, our boss only likes strong liquor..."

After speaking, Sako entered the store, searched the liquor shelf, grabbed four bottles of locally produced Serbian fruit brandy in one hand, and two bottles of whiskey in the other, and walked to the counter...

He plunked the alcohol down on the counter and gruffly said to the staff inside, "Ring me up, I also need 4 kegs of beer, a pack of Marlboros..."

The waiter seemed a bit scared of Sako, glanced at Mountain Eagle, then swallowed nervously, awkwardly pointed at the two bottles of whiskey on the counter and said to Sako, "Sir, this gentleman here has already bought all the Marlboros, brandy, and beer from our store.

You can have the whiskey, but you may need to give me some time for the other items, I'll have someone fetch them from the warehouse."

Sako clenched a wad of dinar in his hand, looked at Mountain Eagle in surprise...

"What?"

Mountain Eagle spread his hands, smiling and said, "I saw you have a truck, so...

Why not?

I want to make a good impression on everyone, and after all, these don't really cost much, right?"

Sako instinctively tightened his grip on the dinar, then glared with bull-like eyes at the high-roller before him, stubbornly saying, "We don't need these!"