The Ultimate War Of The Apocalypse
Chapter 327 - 320: Talent

Chapter 327: Chapter 320: Talent

The Italian leading the team looked to be in his thirties, with neatly dressed clothes and a well-groomed mustache. On his head was a dark red beret with a cap badge featuring a winged sword, indicating the unit he belonged to, and beyond the unit insignia, there was also the emblem of Team Roma.

He wore the standard NATO three-color camouflage with a national flag on his left shoulder, representing his nationality.

His expression was stern, and his demeanor was commanding. Although the rank on his shoulder showed that he was only a captain, his presence seemed as if a general had come for an inspection.

In front of Andrew, this captain had more charisma than Andrew, a colonel himself.

"Colonel, my name is Renato Alphano, captain,"

the Italian said, saluting, then standing in a very standard pose in front of Andrew, certainly looking more like a soldier than the portly Andrew.

Andrew returned the salute, eyeing the Renato in front of him with suspicion, and then turned his gaze to the three soldiers behind Renato. Recognizing the nationality of these three through the patches on their arms.

Andrew pointed to the other three and asked with suspicion, "Are they Germans?"

Renato glanced back and then said indifferently, "Oh, yes, heard you were going back to Europa, I asked around and they were willing to come home with me, so we left together."

Andrew was still puzzled and said softly, "Did you get permission from the commander in Kabul?"

Renato shrugged and then smiled, "Well, about that, I am the Italian military liaison at NATO, and I can end my current assignment and return home at any time. In fact, I should have gone back long ago, but my schedule was disrupted by the damn aliens."

Andrew continued to frown and pointed to the three Germans, "Do they have permission to leave then? Why are there only four of you?"

Renato smiled, "They are... responsible for escorting me. I can’t travel alone, Colonel. I think, perhaps, your focus is somewhat misplaced? After all, what we need to consider now is how to get home."

Andrew took a deep breath, then touched his chin and asked, "So, you are the only Italian?"

"Yes, our troops have already finished their combat mission in Afghanistan and have all been withdrawn. Now, I’m the only Italian here, and I need protection. So finding three soldiers willing to go home with me isn’t too excessive, is it?"

Andrew thought for a moment, then suddenly shouted at the three Germany soldiers who had just gotten out of the vehicle, "Hey, you, speak English?"

The three Germans shook their heads together.

Andrew turned around and shouted, "Someone who speaks German, come translate for me!"

Renato’s face changed slightly, then he spoke loudly, "Colonel, don’t you want to ask how I got here? Don’t you want to know what has become of Afghanistan?"

Andrew shook his head and said softly, "I care, but I’m more interested in finding out exactly what happened, because when I contacted the commander of the Kabul airbase, he expressly refused our proposal to evacuate together."

Renato spread his arms, then exaggeratedly said, "Please, there are sensible people; not everyone is so inflexible that they cannot see the situation and insist on staying to die!"

Just then, a Germany soldier hurried over, saluted Andrew, and said urgently, "Sir, I can speak English, and of course, I can also speak German."

Andrew pointed to the three soldiers who had come with Renato and said, "Ask them what exactly happened, why only the three of them came, and what happened on the road."

Renato said, "Sir, you can ask me."

Andrew ignored Renato completely. The Germany soldier questioned his fellow countrymen, and they seemed to have a pleasant conversation. After a few words, the English-speaking Germany soldier turned to Andrew and said, "Sir, they heard we were going home, so they left with Commandant Renato Alphano."

Andrew frowned and said, "Deserters?"

The Germany soldier hesitated, then said, "Not deserters since there was no order prohibiting them from leaving, and the situation in Kabul is a mess right now."

Andrew thought for a moment, then he finally let go of the question whether Renato was a deserter or not.

"Ask them how they got here, if there were any fights along the way, and how they managed to travel so far and make it here alive."

"Sir, there were no fights on the road, but they encountered many blockades by the locals. Each time, Commandant... Alphano settled things with the locals, and their journey was smooth," the soldier answered.

Andrew looked at Renato in surprise, so did Li Yang, who had been translating for Gao Yuan. As for Gao Yuan, he was very, very curious.

Afghan was anything but peaceful; it was no small feat for four men to travel from Kabul to Kandahar without any obstructions.

Andrew stroked his chin thoughtfully for a long time, then he finally turned to Renato and asked, "How did you manage that?"

Renato shrugged and said, "It’s simple, you just need to respect their customs and understand the needs of the locals, then we can be friends with anyone."

Andrew immediately looked to the interpreter and said, "Ask them, how they managed to come over, why they didn’t need to fight."

The Germany soldier questioned his compatriots again.

It was clear that Andrew didn’t trust the Italian; he preferred to learn the truth from the mouths of the three Germany soldiers.

The interpreter quickly looked at Renato, then quietly said, "Bribery. By giving certain materials to the armed men blocking their way, they were granted safe passage. They encountered three blockades on their journey but managed to get away each time using this method."

Andrew said in astonishment, "How is that possible! Don’t those militants know they could take all the goods by just killing them? Why would they choose to let them go in exchange for a small amount of goods?"

Renato gave a light cough and then said with a smile, "Friendship, especially when it’s based on long-term cooperation, colonel. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that."

Andrew said in a low voice, "I should have thought of it earlier; you’ve used this trick before. You struck secret deals with those terrorists, using bribes to prevent them from attacking you. Fuck, Italy pulled out their troops long ago, and now you’re still able to play this card."

Renato shrugged, stood on his toes, and spread his hands with an innocent expression, "It keeps our soldiers from dying in distant Afghan, colonel. I just want to know if you really want to take them home now, otherwise, you should be seeing the value in what I’m doing, instead of continuously trying to interrogate my friends to find out if I’m a deserter. Am I right?"