Return to the City: The Strongest King
Chapter 284 - 285 Execution by Shooting

Chapter 284: Chapter 285 Execution by Shooting

After more than six hours of flight, it was already midnight. Miao Qingqing and Miao Xuanxuan were anxious and even more exhausted. With Song Xiaodong’s comfort, both of them eventually fell asleep on Song Xiaodong’s shoulder.

Song Xiaodong looked at their haggard faces and couldn’t help but feel a pang of heartache. Although he had been young when his own parents died, he remembered how heartbroken he had been. He could fully empathize with the siblings.

What Song Xiaodong was most worried about was that when he arranged for friends to rescue Miao Qingyuan, they had made it clear that there wasn’t much hope of success. It wasn’t that those people were too difficult to handle, but that local armed groups would typically kill their captives after robbing them, rarely leaving any survivors.

However, he truly couldn’t bear to tell Miao Qingqing and Miao Xuanxuan this—it was simply too cruel.

Upon arriving in Soko, the three of them had just left the airport when a burly man came up to greet them. Song Xiaodong went over and gave him a warm hug, saying, "Heizi, you’ve gotten even more robust."

This was Song Xiaodong’s former comrade, Sun Zhen, but because of his dark skin, he had gotten the nickname Heizi. He now joined a Mercenary organization and was on a mission there.

Warriors like Song Xiaodong needed to be honed on the battlefield, but in a world that was mostly at peace, with only occasional minor frictions with surrounding countries that didn’t amount to war, there was no battlefield for them to fight on.

Therefore, some special warriors were sent to war-torn areas for training under various pretexts and names.

Sun Zhen gave Song Xiaodong’s shoulder a friendly punch and chuckled, "Heh, Eldest Brother, you’ve become much fairer. This young man must be living the good life. Oh, and these must be the sister-in-laws." He first made a smooth comment when he looked at Miao Qingqing and Miao Xuanxuan, then immediately his eyes widened, and he gave Song Xiaodong a thumbs up with a lewd expression on his face.

Song Xiaodong glared at him and said, "Don’t talk nonsense." Then he turned to Miao Qingqing and Miao Xuanxuan, "Qingqing, Xuanxuan, this is my good brother Sun Zhen, his nickname is Heizi, everything about Uncle Miao is in his hands."

The phrase "two sister-in-laws" made Miao Qingqing and Miao Xuanxuan feel a bit awkward, but they couldn’t afford to care about that now. Miao Qingqing immediately said, "Mr. Sun, thank you so much for your trouble."

Sun Zhen quickly responded, "Sister-in-law, please don’t say that. The tasks Eldest Brother assigns me, I must carry out unconditionally. Helping sister-in-law is the same as helping Eldest Brother."

Miao Qingqing was even more grateful and said, "Then I won’t say anymore polite words, I just hope Mr. Sun can rescue my father."

Sun Zhen hurriedly said, "Sister-in-law, you might as well call me Heizi. I’ve already sent out my brothers to track down that local armed group. There’s no news yet, but as soon as there is, I will let sister-in-law know immediately. The hotel has been arranged; Eldest Brother, sisters-in-law, you’ve been on a long flight, you should rest first."

"Can’t we go there right away?" Miao Qingqing was a bit anxious.

Sun Zhen explained, "Sister-in-law, going to that place is very dangerous, and getting there right now would be quite complicated. Even if you went, it wouldn’t help. It’s better to wait here for news."

"This..." Miao Qingqing frowned, clearly still reluctant.

Song Xiaodong gently patted Miao Qingqing’s shoulder and said, "Alright, let’s head to the hotel first and leave the rest to Heizi and me."

Having arrived here, Miao Qingqing and Miao Xuanxuan were completely powerless. Hearing Song Xiaodong say this, they could only agree.

Sun Zhen took the three of them to a five-star hotel’s advanced suite and said, "Eldest Brother, the presidential suites are all booked, so this is all I could manage, my apologies."

Song Xiaodong said, "We’re here to get things done, not to enjoy ourselves, this is fine."

He had Miao Qingqing and Miao Xuanxuan rest in the inner room while he and Heizi sat down on the balcony chairs. Lighting a cigarette, Song Xiaodong spoke in a heavy voice, "Is the situation bad?"

Sun Zhen nodded, "There’s something fishy about this. Normally, there’s no way for that side to leak anything through the embassy; they’d just off people straight away. Acting like this now, perhaps they’re plotting something?"

Song Xiaodong’s eyes narrowed, a cold glint flashing through them, "Are you suggesting they might be targeting me?"

Sun Zhen shook his head, "That’s not out of the question, but given their military strength, trying to take down Eldest Brother would be suicide. We’re aware of each combat zone’s situation, and their strength over there is clearly not formidable. Furthermore, we haven’t heard about any external forces infiltrating. While I don’t discount the possibility of someone coming after you, I find it hard to believe."

Song Xiaodong exhaled deeply, glanced into the suite, and said, "Then let’s investigate thoroughly and see what’s really going on. I hope they haven’t made a move on anyone yet."

Sun Zhen gave a wry smile, "Eldest Brother, why would the fathers of our two sister-in-laws bother coming here? They’re just asking for trouble."

"How would I know? He went abroad for business days ago, and we had no idea what he was up to. Now, this is what we find out."

"Could he be... involved in some trouble?" Sun Zhen frowned.

Song Xiaodong knew Sun Zhen was referring to Miao Qingyuan and could only give a bitter smile as he said, "I’m not sure about that, but regardless, let’s try our best to save him first."

At that moment, Sun Zhen’s phone rang. After answering the call and barely exchanging a few words, Sun Zhen’s face grew grim, then he looked at Song Xiaodong.

"What happened?" Song Xiaodong immediately had a strong premonition that something was terribly wrong.

"They said... they’ve already executed the man, and they’ve filmed a video," Sun Zhen said with a bitter smile.

A twitch crossed Song Xiaodong’s face. He wasn’t close to Miao Qingyuan, having met only a few times, but he was Miao Xuanxuan’s father, and his death was truly upsetting.

Sun Zhen’s phone vibrated again. He pulled up a video and handed it to Song Xiaodong.

In the video, several people were kneeling on the ground with soldiers behind them holding guns. The soldiers laughed as they executed the people one by one, and the third was unmistakably Miao Qingyuan. At the sound of a gunshot, Miao Qingyuan collapsed to the ground.

Taking a deep breath, Song Xiaodong shut off the video, his eyes filled with an indescribable chill. He said slowly, "Wipe them out."

"Done!" Sun Zhen responded, then immediately sent out a text message.

Song Xiaodong wasn’t particularly grieved by Miao Qingyuan’s death. His greatest concern now was for Miao Qingqing and Miao Xuanxuan; if they found out about this, they certainly wouldn’t be able to accept it.