Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 342 - 326: Raising the Curtain

Chapter 342: Chapter 326: Raising the Curtain

Gao Yi had a feeling that if he wasn’t the money-paying boss, that phrase "you don’t understand" might have set off a tantrum.

But since Gao Yi wasn’t a real mercenary but a money-paying boss, so what if he said something you don’t understand?

"You don’t understand the world of the wealthy, is that not okay?"

Then Donkey just accepted it, perhaps feeling it unnecessary to discuss further with Gao Yi or maybe out of respect for his status as the boss, and so the matter was dropped.

As for why the members of War Axe Mercenary Group were surprised or found it unbelievable, that was their problem. Gao Yi couldn’t care less.

How could the leader of a mercenary group understand guns better than Li Jie?

Even if Donkey was knowledgeable about guns, did he understand Gao Yi’s situation?

Being experienced was one thing, but Gao Yi’s situation was special. If he changed his gun to a more reliable model, he wouldn’t be able to aim it properly anyway—a gun that never jammed but couldn’t hit anyone, what was it good for? Just to scare people?

It was nonsensical.

Gao Yi went back to his room and for the time being, it was just waiting.

It was only nine o’clock in the evening, still a long way off from dawn.

"Should I get some sleep?"

Gao Yi asked Lucy, and she was surprised, "Here?"

From what Lucy said, Gao Yi knew she had misunderstood. Before Lucy could say anything sillier, Gao Yi quickly added, "Just sleeping!"

Lucy looked relieved and said, "Oh, no, I won’t sleep."

Feng Biao couldn’t help but chuckle a few times, then he said to Gao Yi, "If you can fall asleep, go ahead, I’ll keep watch."

Although nothing was likely to happen for a while, such a tense moment wasn’t really a time for sleep, and of course, Gao Yi shook his head, "No sleep. Can’t sleep anyway. It’s quite boring just waiting here, not knowing what to do."

With too much idle time, it was perhaps wise to make a call.

He called Grasse.

"Has the military received any news?"

CIA actions don’t necessarily require assistance from the military, but if the CIA needs to deploy heavy equipment, they must seek help from the military.

Whether it’s a request for cooperation initiated by the CIA or an order from the White House, as soon as the military gets involved, Gao Yi would definitely be informed.

For instance, if an emergency dispatch of a special forces team from the United States to Baghdad was needed, the military’s transport planes would be necessary, and for surveillance of the area where Gao Yi was, large drones operated by the military would be used.

Not to mention transport helicopters, armed helicopters, or bomber jets—once the CIA files a request to the military, Gao Yi would receive a call almost immediately.

If the military indeed had to deploy large heavy weapons, Gao Yi’s only option would be to hide.

Like an F-15 dropping a bomb—how could Gao Yi defend against that, or several cruise missiles launched from the sea—Gao Yi certainly couldn’t cope.

What he needed to guard against was the Freedom Wind calling in the Iraqi Defense Army. Technically, the CIA has no right to deploy the Iraqi Defense Army, but even if the CIA decided to use the power of the Iraqi Military, Gao Yi would still get timely news.

All that was needed was to also keep an eye on the Iraqi Defense Army, most importantly, not to forget about Panetta, the mole.

No matter how one looked at it, the CIA could only use their own people. Freedom Wind’s faction had gathered many personnel, whether rushing over from Europe, pulling personnel locally from Iraq, or even urgently sending people from the United States mainland didn’t matter; the high altitude guns were prepared for these special forces.

"Currently, the military hasn’t received any request for collaboration, no orders have been issued, and the air force base is very quiet. I’ve got two men monitoring it, and any deployment of their aircraft will be reported immediately. Don’t worry, I’ll inform you right away if there’s any news," reassured Grasse.

Grasse knew Gao Yi was anxious, so he patiently soothed him.

If there had been a real issue, Grasse would have informed him earlier. Gao Yi understood this, but his tension came from the tedious wait.

The trap was set by Freedom Wind, but Gao Yi seriously doubted they could eliminate Freedom Wind. Why would Freedom Wind actively engage in combat?

After Hurricane and Tornado were taken out, Freedom Wind no longer had strong combat forces. Having found Sky Garden, they were commanding others to fight. Why would Wei Feng, skilled in intelligence, choose to engage directly in combat, a method he wasn’t good at?

But for Panetta, what mattered was Freedom Wind’s failure—a complete failure would suffice, and physically eliminating Freedom Wind would be ideal but not essential.

Thus, the trap would succeed regardless.

Stepping back ten thousand paces, even if it didn’t succeed, Gao Yi wouldn’t be in much danger; he could simply retreat upon receiving news, essentially unbeatable.

But why was he still so anxious?

A foolproof ambush with only victory and no defeat, why did it still make him feel uneasy?

Time ticked away slowly, and Lin Xianghua came back with a phone.

When Luca called back using the exposed phone, Lin Xianghua would return to Gao Yi’s side with the phone monitored by Dark Web.

Gao Yi answered the call and then heard Luca whispering, "The goods are already on the ship, although we encountered a little trouble, it’s been resolved. Costs and expenses have increased a bit, but everything is within acceptable limits."

He glanced at his watch— it was now past three in the morning.

Loading a ship in just a few hours, that was fast.

Pretending, Gao Yi said, "That’s good, you can leave now, that’s it."

The call ended, and there was nothing to do again. There was no conversation that needed to be monitored by the Dark Web, so Gao Yi made a gesture to Lin Xianghua, signaling him to hide with his cell phone again.

The phone couldn’t be stored in a container like a fridge because if the Dark Web or the CIA lost surveillance on this phone, suspicions might arise. Besides, Gao Yi was still waiting for Luca’s call and needed to send out some fake messages occasionally, so Lin Xianghua had to keep it with him at all times.

Lin Xianghua once again left with the phone.

Finally, Gao Yi couldn’t hold back and said to Feng Biao, "It’s been so long, and there’s been no reaction at all."

Feng Biao shrugged and replied, "I don’t know how Freedom Wind operates; we just don’t know."

Although Freedom Wind hadn’t struck yet, there should have been some sort of reaction, like asking the military for a few transport helicopters for an aerial raid.

It wasn’t feasible for the CIA’s action team to drive all the way here; that would be too slow.

It was 3:30 a.m. now.

It had been six and a half hours since Luca mentioned the word "moth," and it was the fastest time by which Freedom Wind could respond.

Any occurrence now would be normal; even if Freedom Wind suddenly attacked, Gao Yi wouldn’t find it strange.

But it was the utter silence, with not even a hint of movement, that was frustrating.

It wasn’t fear, just irritation, pure irritation.

The irritation had lasted the whole night.

Just as Gao Yi was about to ask again, the room door suddenly knocked.

Thinking it was Lin Xianghua returning, but before Gao Yi could invite him in, the door was pushed open, and Donkey appeared at the doorway.

"There’s a situation!"

Donkey had a stern face, he seemed not in a hurry, but his words startled Gao Yi.

"What’s the situation?"

Donkey said in a low voice, "I just contacted Lego, but there was no response."

After speaking, he handed over a walkie-talkie.

To prevent leakage of information, Gao Yi didn’t have a walkie-talkie at hand since he feared his phone was under surveillance. Thus, the task of periodically contacting the Lego Mercenary Corps was assigned to the War Axe Mercenary Group.

They would call through the walkie-talkie periodically. It had been fine until now, but the sudden loss of contact definitely indicated a problem.

The distance was too short for signal issues.

Gao Yi did not take the walkie-talkie; instead, he asked Donkey, "What do you think is going on?"

Donkey spoke softly, "I suspect electronic interference."

Gao Yi had just hung up the phone. Hearing that it might be interference, his first thought was whether the walkie-talkie was broken.

Just a quick check would do. Gao Yi didn’t take Donkey’s walkie-talkie; instead, he directly picked up a satellite phone to dial.

At that moment, someone outside shouted, "Boss! Can’t get through! It’s interference!"

Donkey immediately said, "Our internal frequency is also jammed. I’m sure it’s electronic interference. Who exactly are we dealing with?"

Donkey had the right and reason to question, but Gao Yi was too preoccupied to respond; he directly dialed Grasse’s number.

The call wouldn’t go through.

The satellite phone also lost its signal.

The signal of a satellite phone is different from that of a walkie-talkie. If both the satellite phone and walkie-talkie weren’t working, then the situation was serious.

Gao Yi exclaimed, "Impossible!"

Indeed it was impossible because only the military had the capability to block all frequencies, and had there been any movement of military jammers, Gao Yi would have definitely been informed.

Seeing Gao Yi’s reaction, Donkey no longer bothered to say anything else; he turned around and yelled, "Enemy attack! Prepare to face the enemy!"

But where was the enemy?

Feng Biao shouted in panic, "The enemy! Ah Gui, run! Ditch the phone and run—ditch the phone!"

Despite the risk of being monitored, and with the electronic interference, there was no need to worry about that anymore. In a frantic state, Feng Biao began shouting in Chinese to Lin Xianghua to escape.

Feng Biao was shouting, and Gao Yi did not even know why Lin Xianghua had to ditch his phone and run.

At that moment, Lin Xianghua rushed out, leaving the room where he had been staying alone, looking confused and asking, "What’s going on?"

As of now, everything was still calm, making the panicked shouting of Donkey and Feng Biao seem rather absurd.

But it was just at this moment that there were explosions, three violent explosions in succession.

The blasts occurred in the room Lin Xianghua had just vacated. The shockwaves surged out from the open door behind Lin Xianghua, instantly devastating everything within the range of its destructive power.

In an instant, Gao Yi’s mind went blank.

Feng Biao yelled, "Air raid!"