Mercenary’s War
Chapter 1257: One Thousand Two Hundred Forty I Surrender

Chapter 1257: Chapter One Thousand Two Hundred Forty I Surrender

Gao Yang had no intention of hiding the truth. He smiled at Krulney and said, “That’s right. You’re ranked relatively low on our revenge list, but unfortunately, it’s your turn now.”

After speaking, Gao Yang softly continued, “To be honest, I’m very curious about what tricks you’re playing, so I’m waiting for your explanation.”

Krulney sighed, thought for a moment, and said gravely, “It’s the same as before. I don’t want to die, so my original plan was to strike first—to eliminate you before you eliminate me. But given the current situation, I underestimated your strength earlier. I can’t take you down, and the most likely outcome is that you’ll take me down.”

Gao Yang chuckled and said, “You’ve done a pretty good job, sending people to make moves in New York and even surrounding Little Donnie’s house. I thought you were going to stick it out.”

Krulney waved his hand and said decisively, “Little Donnie isn’t in any danger. My people would never make a move on him, you can rest assured of that.”

Gao Yang didn’t say anything, because since Krulney had begun to speak, he would undoubtedly finish his words.

Krulney sighed again and said, “Here’s the thing—I did a lot of work to ensure I could wipe out you and your Satan Mercenary Corps completely. Your retaliation methods are far too fierce. I don’t want to die, so I had to eliminate you all. But everything changed not long ago. To be honest, I got scared because I realized I couldn’t take you down. The most likely outcome was that you’d take me down.”

Krulney gestured again and spoke in a deep voice, “The change in my thinking stems from an experience not long ago. I set traps, hoping that you would step into them yourselves, but you never did. I got impatient. I knew your agent was in New York—that’s not a secret—and I thought your main base of operation was likely also in America. So I planned to move in New York and eliminate you using Little Donnie as bait.

We all know that in America, especially in New York, you absolutely can’t make too big of a move. New York is the core territory of America, and we have to follow the rules.”

Krulney raised his head and fixed his gaze on Gao Yang, saying, “You killed Mr. Tomler in New York, mobilized a large number of personnel, and used heavy weapons. Yet the investigation concluded it was gang warfare. Other than the clueless civilians, no one believes this nonsense. But all the evidence only leads to gang warfare. The scene was too clean; all the evidence left behind was deliberately arranged. None of it was genuinely useful. This is the hallmark of the clean-up crew. Only the clean-up crew could turn a large-scale assault into this kind of outcome in a place like New York. There’s no other plausible explanation.”

Some things can be done but can’t be spoken about. It was clear Krulney knew about the clean-up crew’s existence, but Gao Yang absolutely wouldn’t utter a word about them to Krulney. So all he did was smile silently.

“There’s no evidence, but I know it was you. Not long ago, desperate and with no other choice, I planned to pull off the same trick in New York to eliminate you. If I were to do that, I, too, would need to hire the clean-up crew.”

After saying this, Krulney let out a long sigh and showed a face full of helplessness, saying, “I managed to contact the clean-up crew and requested their services. If I found you in New York, I would strike. Even if I couldn’t completely wipe out Satan, killing even one of you would be worth it. We’re already mortal enemies, and killing one more makes no difference.

I made my request, and the clean-up crew agreed. But just as I was ready to go all out—no matter the cost—the clean-up crew suddenly notified me that they were canceling all cooperation with me. Everything!”

After finishing his words, Krulney bitterly shook his head, his face filled with sorrow. “The clean-up crew is a very reputable organization. Once they’ve taken a job, they never back out. But they rejected my business and canceled all future possibilities of cooperation with me. This means that I’m destined to be a target for them, never again able to hire them for anything. From that moment, I knew I couldn’t afford to provoke you because we both understand what it means when the clean-up crew terminates cooperation with someone.”

Actually, Gao Yang didn’t know what it meant when the clean-up crew terminated someone’s cooperation. He genuinely didn’t know.

Gao Yang, keeping a poker face, asked, “Do you know what it means?”

Krulney smiled faintly and said, “Don’t underestimate me. Although I haven’t had many dealings with the clean-up crew, I’ve dealt with them enough to understand what this means. The clean-up crew doesn’t kill people, but they aren’t much different from assassins in how they operate. They’ll work for anyone who pays them. So when you hired the clean-up crew to clean up after killing Mr. Tomler, I wasn’t surprised at all.”

Krulney bitterly smiled again, as though bitter smiles were the only expression left for him.

“But what completely stunned me was that the clean-up crew actually canceled my cooperation eligibility. Though hard to accept, I understood. We’re not on the same level. I understand that the clean-up crew rejects clients when those with lower status intend to act against higher-status clients. If they accept a job and later revoke it, there’s only one explanation: your status is far superior to mine.”

Krulney spread his hands again, sighed, and said to Gao Yang, “Mr. Tomler was a Level Five Client, and that’s not a low status. I used Mr. Tomler’s status to submit my request, thinking there would be no issue. But clearly, your status is far higher than Mr. Tomler’s. I’m guessing—you must be a Level Three Client, aren’t you?”

Gao Yang was actually a Level Two Client of the clean-up crew, not Level Three. Moreover, he had never known that hiring the clean-up crew required qualifications. In his view, weren’t the clean-up crew similar to mercenaries? Give them money and they’d get the job done—the only issue being the negotiation of price. Who knew there were so many processes involved? This sounded absurd to him.

Krulney’s face was full of defeat as he said powerlessly, “You’re a Level Three Client. Level Three Clients can do anything in the world without worrying about being tracked. In America, you can act with impunity. I might not fear a mercenary group, but a Level Three Client mercenary group backed by the clean-up crew—I know I can’t afford to provoke that. From that moment on, I stopped thinking about how to protect myself.”

Gao Yang felt a bit dazed. It was only now that he realized the significance of the grand gift Grand Ivan had given him. No wonder every time he contacted the clean-up crew, they would emphasize his status as a Level Two Client. It turned out that being a Level Two Client of the clean-up crew was truly extraordinary.

Gao Yang’s brief silence was interpreted in a different way by Krulney.

Krulney stood up, bent over, and bowed deeply to Gao Yang, saying, “Ram, I don’t know the depth of your background, and I truly have no intention of probing. I’ve already abandoned all plans to discover your secrets. I just need to know you’re someone I can’t afford to cross. Ram, I surrender. Spare me! I don’t want to die. I’m willing to do whatever it takes—I just beg you to let me live!” (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com for reading.)