Mercenary’s War
Chapter 1259: 1242: The Scapegoat

Chapter 1259: Chapter 1242: The Scapegoat

The long-standing confusion in Gao Yang’s mind was finally resolved. Now he finally understood why Tomler would set up a trap for them out of nowhere.

To put it plainly, Tomler’s plan had a much higher chance of success than failure. As long as Gao Yang accepted the mission, the destruction of Satan Mercenary Corps would have been almost inevitable. However, the final outcome defied all odds; Satan escaped a seemingly certain death and then carried out a crazy revenge operation.

In fact, Tomler was very close to succeeding. Although the ambush attempts by the Iron Madonna and IS failed, the chemical weapon leak should have accelerated Satan’s demise more thoroughly. But Bruce exchanged his own life for the lives of the others, completely derailing Tomler’s entire plan.

Now Gao Yang was aware that the Iron Madonna had become their mortal enemy, a conflict that would only end with the death of one side. Furthermore, besides IS and the Iron Madonna, they now had one more enemy—a carefully scheming adversary who was hell-bent on their destruction.

“The Shahs you mentioned—who exactly are they?”

“The Shah Intelligence Agency.”

Gao Yang waved his hand and muttered under his breath, “Damn it!”

Krulney said in a low voice, “By surrendering to you, I had to pay a price—plain and simple. Here’s the thing: the ones who most want you dead now aren’t me or the Iron Madonna; it’s the Shah Intelligence Agency. They’ve been pushing me to take action and kill you. If I fail to meet their expectations this time, the Shah Intelligence Agency will intervene personally.”

Gao Yang took a deep breath and asked in a grave tone, “The Shah Intelligence Agency intervening personally? What are they planning to do?”

Krulney gestured with his hand and said, “It’s unlikely they’d make a move in America, as the Shahs wouldn’t dare offend the United States. But don’t forget—Shahs have money. The Shah Intelligence Agency doesn’t need its own people to come forward. They can throw out a massive sum of money, and countless people would gladly do their bidding.”

The thing Gao Yang feared most had happened. As a mercenary, getting into an irreconcilable conflict with a nation and becoming a thorn in their side was bound to end badly. Fighting a country single-handedly? What a joke.

Gao Yang felt miserable. Tomler worked for America, and now the Shahs were involved. He couldn’t afford to provoke either country. And this entire ordeal wasn’t like the time they clashed head-on with the CIA to rescue Grand Ivan. Back then, their identities had been completely concealed. But this time, if the name “Satan Mercenary Corps” got out, the outcome was already set in stone.

Noticing Gao Yang’s face darkening, Krulney cautiously said, “Actually, there’s a piece of good news I haven’t told you yet.”

Gao Yang looked at Krulney and sneered, “Good news? In this current situation, what kind of news could possibly be considered good for me?”

Krulney offered a tentative smile and said softly, “It’s really good news. Hear me out—the Shahs still don’t know who their target is. Hmm, the Shahs think the ones they need to eliminate are the Angel Mercenary Corps.”

For a moment, Gao Yang didn’t react. He looked utterly confused and asked, “What did you say? Angel?”

Krulney smiled slightly, spreading his hands. “That’s right. The Shahs asked us to find an even more formidable mercenary group to escort the chemical weapons and then eliminate that mercenary group. For this, they were willing to pay a hefty sum. Part of this payment depended on the reputation of the mercenary group, and the rest—the ‘cleanup fee’—was based on how strong the group was. After all, the stronger the group, the more costly it would be to silence them. You can’t skimp on that.

And, well, you know—even though Satan has been making waves recently, you’re still not as well-known as the old-school Angel Mercenary Corps, right? Plus, you’re a tiny, ultra-small mercenary group, while the Angels are a small-scale mercenary group. You’re in totally different leagues when it comes to size. So, while Tomler actually hired you, he reported to the Shahs that it was the Angel Mercenary Corps. Naturally, he charged them the going rate for the Angels.”

To push the blame onto the Angels and use them as scapegoats—hearing this, Gao Yang didn’t know whether to be angry or pleased.

Seeing Gao Yang’s bewildered expression, Krulney gave a wry smile. “You escaped, ruining Tomler’s plan. But he can’t exactly go back and tell the Shahs, ‘Actually, we hired Satan, not the Angels. If you want to silence someone, go after Satan. This has nothing to do with the Angels.’ How could he let the Shahs find out something like that!

So the Shahs are pressuring us to resolve everything as soon as possible. But first it was Tomler, then it was me—we could only pretend to go after the Angels, while secretly aiming to eliminate you. This entire situation is a mess. If we’d killed you during the IS operation, none of this would be an issue because who cares if the dead are Satan or the Angels? But you didn’t die, and the Angels are still around. Now Tomler’s in an awkward spot. Unless he manages to wipe out both the Angels and you, he has no way to explain things to the Shahs.”

Gao Yang didn’t know what to say. Being impersonated or impersonating someone else—it all made him feel equally unpleasant. But thanks to a twist of fate, the Angels had now taken the fall and become scapegoats. Satan no longer had to worry about the Shah Intelligence Agency hunting them worldwide, which was undeniably a cause for celebration.

Krulney spread his hands and gave a bitter laugh. “Surprising, isn’t it? Honestly, I don’t even know how to handle this mess anymore. Oh, and there’s one more thing—you might be even happier to hear this.”

“Speak.”

“Hmm, we all know that mercenaries should never deal with official governments; otherwise, they’d end up dead before knowing what hit them. But as a mercenary broker, it’s a different story. We can always find plenty of expendable cannon fodder. No one cares how cannon fodder dies, right? So that’s why Tomler dared to deal with the U.S. Government.

This time, it was the CIA commissioning Tomler for the job. But the CIA only set the requirements for Tomler to handle, and they never concern themselves with the specifics. The Shahs are the ones paying and transporting the goods, while IS is the recipient. So the CIA essentially acted as a middleman, and they don’t even know how Tomler executed the details—because they don’t care. Who would care about the identities of expendable cannon fodder doomed to die, right?

And now that this mission has been botched, the CIA still doesn’t care. They’re eager to wash their hands of it entirely. So the end result is that the CIA doesn’t know Tomler hired Satan Mercenary Corps, and the Shahs think Tomler worked with the Angel Mercenary Corps. That’s how it stands.”

The worst-case scenario was hilariously and completely avoided, leaving Gao Yang quite relieved and in a much better mood.

Letting out a silent sigh of relief, Gao Yang smiled at Krulney and asked, “One small question—how much is our name worth compared to Angels’? What’s the gap that made Tomler con the Shahs so badly?” (To be continued. If you enjoyed this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation tickets and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)