Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 206 - 194 Brothers

Chapter 206: Chapter 194 Brothers

Gao Yi stood still, utterly dumbfounded, at a loss for words.

Luca’s eyes bulged in astonishment, his mouth opened and closed several times, wanting to speak, but in the end, he remained silent.

It took a lot to leave two men who had long ago disregarded life and death in a state of rigid shock.

Are you satisfied?

Gao Yi wanted to say he was satisfied and then say thank you.

But what Luca really wanted to do was to kneel down, hug Shaman’s thigh, and call him daddy.

It wasn’t that Luca had no restraint; it was simply that His Highness had given too much, far too much, so much that it could allow someone to have reborn parents.

The Harold family’s fortune was rumored to be around a hundred billion dollars in cash.

As for fixed assets, who the hell knew how much Harold had.

The key point was, before Harold took out his perverted brother Fesari, he only had a twenty-five percent share of the company. By the time Harold was supposed to receive the shares after getting rid of Fesari, Shaman had already made a move to capture Harold.

That is to say, Harold now had only twenty-five percent of the company shares. Even with Fesari’s shares, it wasn’t up to forty-nine percent.

But by waiting three years, Harold wouldn’t only recover his previous holdings; he would gain double.

Wasn’t Gao Yi supposed to be helping Harold? And hadn’t Harold swiftly switched sides to the light? Well, Shaman was rewarding Harold for it.

After waiting for those three years, by which time Shaman would have likely stabilized the situation, as long as Harold didn’t do anything stupid, like raising the banner of opposition against Shaman again, he would receive an extremely generous reward.

And then, Gao Yi had a good relationship with Harold, didn’t he? He was helping Harold without taking a single cent.

Shaman paid Gao Yi on behalf of Harold.

Half of the company’s business had to go through Gao Yi’s hands. What did that mean? The company’s annual turnover was at least in the hundred billion dollars.

Even if Gao Yi only added a one percent profit, he’d have a cool billion dollars. Following industry norms and adding a ten percent profit, he’d have ten billion dollars.

Shaman had forcefully carved out a large portion of Harold’s income for Gao Yi, and after the company was nationalized, whether it was selling oil or importing oil equipment, the prices and profits would be fixed. That is to say, if Harold had a twenty percent profit margin, then under unchanged prices, Gao Yi and his group would be taking ten percent of those profits from Harold.

They could just lie back and earn money, really not needing to do anything, and so it was cost-free.

But this money was coming from Harold.

In the end, Shaman appointed Mu Tianwen to take Harold’s place.

No matter how many sons Harold had, no matter who he favored in the future, it was all useless now, for Muhan, as the eldest son, became the sole heir to the Harold family.

This was Shaman’s reward to Muhan.

At such a tender age, Muhan had boldly risked his life, making a great contribution to the rescue of Abdulla, and so naturally, Shaman had to repay him, and it had to be a significant repayment.

What was money? Shaman didn’t just give money; what he offered was something more precious than money.

You could say Shaman was both ruthless and clever.

He restored things to their rightful owner and then played the role of giving away a borrowed gift, finally granting Harold, who had switched to the winning side, an unexpectedly lavish reward. Gao Yi, a great benefactor, received a reward that could enrich him for life, and the young and daring Muhan received the greatest reward of his life.

They even secured three years’ time, allowing Harold to hand over his assets to Shaman, paving the way for Shaman’s asset restructuring and removing a significant obstacle.

Indeed, brilliant tactics — all sides reaped huge benefits.

Truly magnanimous, everyone received benefits far beyond their expectations.

Gao Yi and Luca exchanged a look.

Luca had always faulted Gao Yi for not naming a price to Shaman. This time, Gao Yi had called him over directly, urging him to quickly establish a fee that was appropriate and to voice it.

But when Luca arrived, he had no chance to speak.

What could he say now? Suggest a mere two or three hundred million dollars to His Highness?

To exchange future overwhelming riches for a few hundred million dollars in cash, Luca would have to be foolish to even consider it.

So there was nothing to say, no more words were needed.

After holding it in for a long while, Luca finally stammered, "I’m very grateful for the prince’s generosity, I... really appreciate it."

Is that it?

All that holding back and all you can say is this?

Gao Yi looked down on Luca; if Luca had had even half of Feng Biao’s skill, he wouldn’t have just come out with this dry statement.

Guess it’s up to me.

Gao Yi stepped forward and said solemnly and earnestly, "Your Highness, on behalf of Harold, I thank you for your forgiveness. My brother isn’t a fool; he will understand which side he should stand on in the future."

For some reason, Shaman felt somewhat envious.

"You call him brother?"

"Yes, I call Harold brother."

Shaman nodded lightly and then spoke softly, "I should probably call him uncle."

Gao Yi was silent.

Everyone sticking to their own arguments?

Yet, seems like sticking to their own isn’t quite enough.

In the blink of an eye, at the moment of life and death, Gao Yi whispered, "According to our traditions, ’big brother’ is a term of respect, a title for someone who has status, bears responsibilities, and has capabilities, and who genuinely earns our respect; thus, they are called ’big brother.’"

After he finished speaking, Gao Yi sighed helplessly and continued, "That’s why Muhan also calls me big brother, and I call his father big brother. He calls me big brother—it might seem a bit chaotic, but after all, it’s just a term of respect."

Luca still looked at Gao Yi, making no commitment.

Gao Yi said with a solemn face, "Given His Highness’s esteemed status, I can only admire and respect him from the bottom of my heart, but I wouldn’t dare to call him big brother."

Luca smiled slightly and said, "Regardless of status, we are all brothers. From now on, you are my brother."

Shock, emotion, gratitude with tears streaming down, confusion, disbelief.

At that moment, the expressions on Gao Yi’s face were truly rich.

To Luca, the expressions on Gao Yi’s face were simply splendid.

"Can I... May I... May I really?"

"Why not? If Harold can be your big brother, why can’t I?"

"No, it’s not that... Big brother!"

Gao Yi was thrilled, his face flushed as he said, "Big brother esteems me, there’s nothing to be said. From now on, whatever big brother commands, your little brother here will definitely... Big brother, just watch how I perform."

Luca patted Gao Yi on the shoulder and then he whispered, "You might not have received the news yet, but last night, the CIA started a manhunt for you."

"Uh, what?"

Luca continued, "The entire CIA is in motion; they are determined to find the Sky Garden and kill every member of the Sky Garden without exception. Our National Intelligence Bureau has also been notified; the CIA wants us to cooperate in searching for any intelligence related to the Sky Garden."

Gao Yi truly didn’t know this.

Luca went on, "Throughout the Middle East, every intelligence agency with ties to the CIA has received this official notification asking for assistance from the CIA. The National Intelligence Service of Iraq will undoubtedly take action against you as well. The reason why I’m here is that without my intervention, you probably wouldn’t be able to leave Middle Eastern airspace."

Gao Yi was taken aback.

But Luca continued, "You are in this situation because you were working for me, so of course, I can’t ignore it. From now on, don’t call yourselves the Sky Garden; change your name. Also... I’ll prepare a few bodies. The intelligence agents who died last night, let them be the entirety of the Sky Garden members."

Gao Yi swallowed hard and asked, "When did this information come about?"

"This morning. The CIA’s stance was clear and firm; this had to be their response to Naaoi’s death. Originally, I planned to invite you to join the National Intelligence Bureau, and by doing so, you would naturally have protection. But as you said, right now the National Intelligence Bureau is basically a subsidiary of the CIA; joining before the cleanup would mean harming you."

Though having an official position wasn’t bad, with the sieve-like nature of the National Intelligence Bureau these days, Gao Yi definitely wouldn’t join.

Isn’t it better to take the money and enjoy life freely? Once you’re in an institution like the National Intelligence Bureau, it’s easy to enter but hard to leave. If you really became a person of the National Intelligence Bureau, you’d never be free again.

But now, knowing that the CIA had directly named the Sky Garden and was initiating a precise strike, this was truly troublesome.

Gao Yi and Luca exchanged glances, both eyes filled with surprise and doubt.

Luca, however, was not afraid; he simply said, "You’ve been in hiding for two years, wait for things to settle down a bit, and it will be fine."

Gao Yi nodded.

Luca took a breath, pointed to the screen, and said, "Now, tell me about Abdulla’s performance. Are there any key points I should be concerned about?"

In Luca’s presence, the issue of Gao Yi’s group being hunted by the CIA was turned over, but for Gao Yi, the trouble was just beginning.

However, Luca had brought up the topic, and since he had talked about so many things before asking about Abdulla, that was quite considerate.

Gao Yi immediately put on a grave expression and responded, "He did not confess, and kept silent throughout. Your Highness..."

"Hm?"

"Big brother, Abdulla’s loyalty is ensured; he truly has a strong backbone. I’ve seen many tough men, but I’ve never seen or even heard of anyone quite like Abdulla. The reason I admire big brother is because you’ve earned the loyalty and admiration of a tough man like Abdulla, which means you must be an extraordinary person yourself."

Gao Yi rewound the video to the moment where Abdulla instinctively shouted ’Long live the Prince.’

The CIA interrogators spoke English, and after being drugged with truth serum, naturally, one would respond to the questions in English, answering in the language they were questioned in.

The moment when Abdulla unconsciously shouted ’Long live the Prince’ seriously scored points with Luca.

Luca showed a pleased and touched expression on his face.

Gao Yi continued, "Big brother, look at the part before this."

As the video played back further, Gao Yi showed Luca the footage of Abdulla enduring water torture without uttering a sound.

Luca watched patiently for three minutes, then, he sighed, "Abdulla has you to thank!"

"It’s his own performance; why should he thank me?"

Luca said indifferently, "Because if you hadn’t let me see this scene, I wouldn’t have known his loyalty. Do you think those from the National Intelligence Bureau would let me see this? I even doubt whether they would report it truthfully."

Gao Yi sighed and said softly, "In that case, Your Highness, you really should clean up your base."

Luca nodded, then he continued in a low voice, "The position of director of the intelligence bureau suits Abdulla well. Leave the cleanup to him, but I’ll let him know what you did."

Gao Yi immediately said, "Big brother, it’s enough for the favor to come from you alone. Why should Abdulla thank me? Big brother, he only needs to thank you!"

Luca smiled, patted Gao Yi’s shoulder again, and said, "Rest up. Wait until after my visit is over, then we’ll leave together. You are my brother, and I will ensure your safety."