Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 212 - 200 Not Alone

Chapter 212: Chapter 200 Not Alone

Working in a profession that easily incurs vendettas, you have to be prepared for them at any time, so you can’t slack off mentally.

Gao Yi was well hidden within the United States with the unofficial protection of the FBI, making it quite difficult for CIA agents to find him. However, Luca’s situation was different. Constantly on the move, working with high-risk individual Abdulla, and employed by Shaman, he couldn’t avoid drawing attention.

But there was a problem.

Two months had passed, and there was no specific retaliatory action from the CIA.

Yet now, as soon as Luca logged onto the Dark Web, he felt like he was being watched.

One must trust their sixth sense.

Those who work in perilous jobs tend to be superstitious; the more dangerous the work, the more superstitious people become.

But for an assassin, this sixth sense isn’t just superstition—it’s something to be taken seriously and cautiously, unless there’s no choice. Any sense of danger means you should immediately withdraw.

"Luca has a bad feeling."

Gao Yi hung up the phone, his face grave as he said to Lucy, "We might be under surveillance. We have to be careful."

"Oh, okay."

"There’s something I don’t understand. Why is it that nothing happens until I log onto the Dark Web, and then I suddenly feel like I’m being watched? Could it be that the Dark Web has informed the CIA? It’s very likely."

Gao Yi was analyzing the situation, but Lucy wasn’t someone to discuss this with, so he muttered to himself, "There used to be no trouble using the name Sky Garden because it wasn’t a target the CIA was desperate to eliminate. But now it’s different. Now, the CIA wants to take down Sky Garden, so as soon as the Sky Garden’s registered account is logged in, it gets traced by the Dark Web, tipping off the CIA to Luca’s location. It should be like that."

The Garden nickname couldn’t be used anymore, so he had registered with the alias Sky Garden, but once Sky Garden became famous from one battle, what was once a little-known name became widely recognized.

So the name Sky Garden absolutely cannot appear on the Dark Web again.

As Gao Yi pondered, Lucy suddenly asked, "Why do we have to deal with the Dark Web at all?"

"Because in this digital age, without going online, you really can’t connect to any missions or get any work."

Lucy frowned, deep in thought.

What could Lucy come up with?

Gao Yi sighed and said, "No, we must be cautious and prepared to respond to any crisis. Call the team, be ready to handle the emergency."

Lucy naturally had no objections, and Gao Yi immediately picked up his phone and started dialing Feng Biao’s number.

No answer on the phone, Gao Yi felt both angry and anxious, so he sent a text message instead.

"Bastard! Gather up."

"Bastard" was for Feng Biao not answering the call, and for everything else, a single word to gather sufficed.

Gao Yi had just sent the text, not even waiting to call anyone else, when Feng Biao’s phone call immediately came through.

Feng didn’t want to answer the phone, not that he couldn’t.

When Gao Yi answered the call, he heard Feng Biao breathing a little heavily, "What happened, where are we gathering?"

"You bastard..."

Before Gao Yi could finish, he heard a voice on Feng Biao’s end, filled with panic and concern.

A woman’s voice.

Gao Yi paused, and Feng Biao said something in halting Russian, then continued, "You always call at night or the middle of the night, brother. We have time differences, you know! Can’t you avoid calling me when I’m in the middle of something, can you, can you?"

Gao Yi suddenly felt a little guilty. He paused for a moment, then said softly, "Luca has a bad feeling. He thinks he’s being watched. We need to be careful."

"Thinks he’s being watched? Oh, that’s not good. Better to be safe than sorry—if he feels he’s being watched, then it’s usually the case. I’ve been through this."

Feng Biao’s reaction was even more fervent than Gao Yi’s.

What need is there for evidence or verification? We are people who make a living on the knife’s edge. A single misstep could mean death, or even the death of an entire family. When it comes to danger, we are all paranoid. There’s no room for questioning.

That sort of scene, where someone says they have a bad feeling and might encounter trouble, followed by mockery from their peers for being cowards, only happens in movies or third-rate novels—to force a conflict and escalate the danger to an uncontrollable level. Otherwise, there’d be no plot to carry on with the movie.

But those who are really in the business, whether it’s a wrong hunch or intuition, if they feel danger, they run.

Especially Feng Biao, who’s known as the Wind Vane. His sense of danger is extremely sharp. It’s simply inconceivable for him to carelessly dismiss concerns.

Feng Biao would only grow more anxious than Gao Yi.

"Alert Iron Rooster to stop all activities, discard all electronic devices on him, and immediately distance himself from Abdulla and their group. Leave the city to a place without surveillance and cameras, and find somewhere remote to hide for now."

Feng Biao, being neither an assassin nor a spy, offered a solution without technical finesse—the simplest and most direct approach.

Feng sounded like he was getting dressed, and Gao Yi could hear a woman seemingly entangled with Feng. Feng started off whispering softly to soothe her, but quickly lost patience and began scolding her sharply.

Covering the receiver, the conversation was inaudible, but once Feng got excited and his hand moved away, his voice pierced Gao Yi’s ear.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t comprehensible, certainly nothing pleasant.

After a while, Feng Biao panted, "Anyway, just have Luca hide somewhere without people or cameras. The CIA isn’t supernatural. You just need to avoid the first round of direct surveillance and attack. It’s going to be much harder for them to find someone after that."

"I know. What’s happening on your end?"

"My end, damn it, don’t even mention it. I don’t have time to settle them down; I need to go to the assembly point first and figure things out later."

"They... you... your brother’s widow?"

"Uh, no."

"No?"

"Yes and no. It’s not just my brother’s wife and children, there’s also... damn it!"

Feng Biao sounded like he was about to go mad; he helplessly said, "Forget it, it’s too complicated to explain right now. We’ll talk when we meet. Where’s the assembly? It won’t be a short trip for me; it’ll take at least two days at the soonest."

Damn curiosity, why do I have to know what’s going on at a time like this?

"Just spit it out. Maybe I can help solve your problem. Need money?"

"It’s not money I need; it’s people. I’m just one person; I can’t split myself in two. Sigh, I can’t talk about it—it’s absurd, ridiculous, and embarrassing!"

If it weren’t absurd or ridiculous, Gao Yi wouldn’t want to hear it.

"Come on, can’t you be straightforward? What’s with the hesitation like a coy man?"

"Uh, my brother died, left behind a wife with two children. I thought I’d settle them down before coming to check things out, but... life here is really hard; you could say it’s unlivable."

Just from Feng Biao’s tone and his hesitant manner, Gao Yi knew that Feng Biao must have slept with the widow.

"Your wife, I’ll raise; there’s nothing wrong with that. Orphans and a widow without anyone to take care of them can’t get by. Stepping in isn’t a bad thing."

"Sigh..."

"What? No way?"

Feng Biao whispered, "I thought his wife was at least in her thirties, but it turns out she’s only twenty-four."

"Ah... oh... young and pretty—no, I mean, it’s definitely hard for a young and pretty woman with two children to get by. It’s right for you to take care of them."

"His sister is twenty-two, unmarried, never had a boyfriend. This time I came to take care of their family, and his sister took a liking to me."

Gao Yi felt this was beyond his comprehension. After a pause, he said, "So, it’s not the young widow—no, not your brother’s widow’s issue, it’s your brother’s sister’s issue. Well, that’s easy to solve. You should be able to take care of a woman with your money, right?"

"If it were that simple, would I still be worried? When you think about the problem, can you consider adding layers of complexity?"

Gao Yi exclaimed in shock, "Damn you, you didn’t sleep with his wife and sister, did you?"

"Uh-huh."

"Damn it, you beast!"

"Don’t blame me! Really, it’s not my fault! The situation here is special. I had no choice!"

Feng Biao briefly lamented, then he whispered, "Where am I? I’m in Donetsk! I’m in a rural area near the city of Donetsk. This place has been a war zone for many years. My brother’s father joined the East Ukraine militia and died in action, his elder brother died in combat, and their family was so poor they couldn’t take it anymore. My brother went out to make some quick money, planning to return to fight West Ukraine after he had funds to support the family. His bloody family is nothing but cannon fodder! When I came here, I’m faced with this family of widows—my brother’s mother, his wife, and his sister, four women and four children. What am I supposed to do?"

Gao Yi was stunned for a while, then he said in astonishment, "You, you also slept with your brother’s mother and sister-in-law?"

"Get lost! Get lost! What are you talking about?"

After cursing for a couple of sentences, Feng Biao then whispered softly, "Just his wife and sister. Sigh, actually, I wanted to take his sister with me, but his wife refused, saying that for the sake of the two children, I should take them all. But the very next day after I arrived, his sister... you know... got intimate with me. I was really helpless."

"And then?"

"Then my brother’s mother suggested I might as well take both women with me, to stick with me. Staying in this place means certain death sooner or later. The two sides have become deadly enemies, and this war won’t end for ten or eight years. Staying here might mean getting blown to pieces by a stray bomb someday. That’s how one of my other brother’s children died."

Gao Yi took a deep breath and said, "What a mess, let me get this straight. So now you have two ’wives’ and two children?"

"Umm... not wives. There can only be one wife, another... another... junior wife. Marry his sister, and I’ll have a mother-in-law; marry his wife, and it’s like accepting a godmother. Then I can’t just ignore his sister-in-law struggling to survive. I have to take care of her, so there are four women and four children."

"Who are you sleeping with now?"

"Err..."

"Don’t tell me it’s all together!"

"No choice, there’s no place. The house used to be big, but it’s been bombed to ruins. There’s nowhere else to live. Like I said, this is a hotly contested area, very dangerous."

Gao Yi said irritably, "You animal!"

"Umm, I sort of feel the same. But after arriving here, just... just... inexplicably, I adapted. Anyway, the most common thing around here is widows, and they seem not to mind it. But I also feel like it’s too beastly..."

Gao Yi took a breath and said, "Money can solve any problem that’s not a problem. Take them all. If you don’t have enough money, I’ll give it to you. You beast, take them to a safe place and rejoin the group as soon as possible. Wasting two months of time, I really despise you."

"Go where?"

Gao Yi angrily said, "Go wherever you can, somewhere you can escape to. Just leave, let me know if you need money, and hurry up and assemble! Hang up, damn it!"