Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 376 - 358: Destitution

Chapter 376: Chapter 358: Destitution

Joelson used a process of elimination.

He treated everyone entering the embassy as a suspect and eliminated them one by one. If they truly could be cleared of suspicion, he’d abandon surveillance. But as long as he couldn’t completely rule out doubt, he’d monitor them closely.

Especially those whose suspicions grew the more he investigated—Joelson was just short of taking matters into his own hands.

Alas, the CIA was currently divided into two factions internally bickering, not yet at the point of civil war. Joelson had been granted more authority than before, but he still didn’t have absolute control.

Moreover, the embassy didn’t only house a CIA intelligence unit—there were offices for the Department of Homeland Security, the NSA, and even Grasse had his own office within the embassy.

The largest embassy in the Middle East was also the largest intelligence center, and that was no joke.

The most Joelson could do was to locate Burning Wind; the idea of relying on him to eliminate Burning Wind was out of the question.

Now, Joelson’s two suspects included one who had entered through the staff passage before the embassy doors opened that morning, secretly ushered in by the CIA.

Everything seemed right—it should be Burning Wind. However, having seen Burning Wind once in Libya, Joelson judged that this person, who clearly resembled Burning Wind, had a different body type from the one he’d seen, which meant this person was an impostor.

Another was a diplomatic advisor who had just entered the embassy, unrelated to the CIA. This person’s profile showed no signs of suspicion, but Joelson couldn’t observe him because he simply couldn’t see him.

The one most worthy of suspicion was that this afternoon, a diplomatic flight from the United States would arrive in Baghdad. After a brief stop, it would take off again, carrying people back to the United States.

The likelihood of Burning Wind being among these people was extremely high, as certain as nails on a board.

It was a simple tactic of deceiving both openly and secretly—not particularly clever or rare, but effective nonetheless.

Why were such easily decipherable tactics still deemed effective? Because the diplomats returning to the country were a group, not just one individual. There would be dozens of them returning this time, and even if the plane landed at the Air Force Base and not Baghdad International Airport, the military couldn’t stop the flight from taking off.

What to do? It was manageable.

As for how to resolve this issue, there were only a few options.

Panetta had ways to deal with it within the CIA, which meant having Joelson directly take out Burning Wind.

If Joelson couldn’t manage it, then they’d rely on Gao Yi to live up to his assassin’s nature, infiltrate the embassy, get close to Burning Wind, and eliminate him.

If penetrating the embassy was too difficult, and then making a move at the heavily-guarded Air Force Base was also problematic, the only option left would be to make a move midway.

Making a move midway would be up to the War Axe Mercenary Group and Sherkin’s men.

That’s all there was to it—it wasn’t a multiple-choice question but a mathematical fill-in-the-blank problem. There wasn’t a choice; just fill in the correct answer.

After checking the information sent over by Joelson, Gao Yi, who now had an idea of the situation, said to Donkey, who was engrossed in cleaning his pistol, "We’ve got intelligence."

Donkey was in the middle of reassembling his weapon. Without looking up, he responded calmly, "When do we take action?"

"The timing isn’t set yet. The plane coming to pick them up hasn’t landed. Our only chance will be to act halfway."

One couldn’t gauge a person’s state of mind by what they said; that was just a façade.

Gao Yi preferred analyzing psychological states through actions.

Every Kung Fu master is more adept at capturing movement.

Donkey’s hands never stopped moving, his exertion was completely steady, as if the news he just heard was totally unrelated to him.

Gao Yi had to admit he didn’t have that kind of mental fortitude. Knowing there would be a tough fight, there would always be some psychological fluctuations.

It could only be said that Donkey’s mentality was too stable.

He pulled the slide back, released it, and listened for any extraneous noises as the slide returned to its position. Finally satisfied with the crisp "click" sound and feeling no unnecessary friction as the slide moved, Donkey commented with satisfaction, "Very good, in optimal condition."

He inserted the magazine again, pulled back the slide, feeling the bullet chamber, ready to fire as soon as the trigger was pulled. Donkey remarked once more, "Feels really good!"

A precision-made pistol like this gave a different tactile feedback with each moving part; one truly couldn’t appreciate the contained beauty without being a connoisseur.

"Using this gun in a competition would be a pleasure."

Once more emphasizing the correct use for the pistol, Donkey removed the magazine, pulled back the slide, ejected the round from the chamber, and then placed the now harmless gun on the table. This was a basic rule for anyone adjusting firearms.

Putting the gun on the table, Donkey stood up, stepped to the side, and then told Gao Yi, "Thank you for your support, but what I’m most grateful for is that you’ve given us a chance to retire. Now that the plan of action is set, I’m going to prepare."

Gao Yi waved his hand and said, "The plane hasn’t even landed, and we don’t know how the target is going to get to the airport. We don’t even know where the best place to set up an ambush is, so no rush."

Gao Yi gestured for Donkey to sit down, wanting to chat a bit more.

They might not have an opportunity to talk after the battle, and since Donkey was someone worth investing in heavily, it made sense to learn more about him.

Donkey took a seat opposite Gao Yi at the desk.

Gao Yi sat back behind the desk and picked up the phone to call Sherkin.

Sherkin picked up the phone, and his voice sounded abnormal.

It was just right to be abnormal because Sherkin’s trachea was damaged, and whether there was a punctured lung or not was unknown; it would require an X-ray to determine.

Gao Yi’s full-strength punch didn’t kill Sherkin on the spot, proving Sherkin had a formidable ability to take a punch, at least much stronger than Gao Yi.

If Gao Yi had taken a punch from himself, he would have definitely died.

"Are we about to make a move?"

Sherkin’s speech was breathless and his voice hoarse.

The damaged trachea, vocal cords, broken ribs, bleeding in the lungs—every place that could bleed was bleeding. That was the power of Gao Yi’s punch.

"Yes, we’re going to intercept the target halfway. How are you feeling?"

"Three broken ribs, two hairline fractures, lung blisters, esophageal bleeding, tracheal bleeding, irregular heartbeat, I need to rest in bed for three months."

Sherkin spoke coherently, and his tone did not convey any resentment towards Gao Yi, although what he said should’ve been infuriating.

"My body is at a dangerous threshold; right now, I could be considered seriously injured or just lightly wounded. But life and death are just a fraction of a force away. If you had been just a bit stronger, my heart could have stopped, and without immediate aid, I would have been dead."

This is the nature of Kung Fu—the line between life and death is thin.

Sherkin said seriously, "Did you intentionally control your strength? Can you guarantee to knock me down without being fatal? Are you... that skilled?"

No wonder Sherkin had so much to say. As a combat expert, he was very eager to know if Gao Yi had intentionally injured without killing him.

If that were the case, it would mean Gao Yi was not just a little stronger than Sherkin.

To show off or not to show off?

Gao Yi didn’t hesitate, "Of course, I only wanted to resolve the dispute between you and Donkey; I didn’t want to kill you."

Sherkin was speechless. After a long silence, he said, "That means you not only need to have extremely precise control over your body, but you also need a very clear understanding of my strength and physical condition to do so. I don’t believe you can achieve that."

"I only need to see you and Donkey fight to know, I understand your body better than you do yourself."

Gao Yi was boastful without a script, but his confidence made it seem like he wasn’t bragging, and of course, the result supported that belief.

Sherkin let out a soft sigh, "Kung Fu?"

"Kung Fu!"

Sherkin did not continue probing about their confrontation. He spoke softly, "My people are ready, just give me the time, location, and target, and I can complete the task you assign. I’m waiting for your orders at any time."

"Alright."

Sherkin continued, "May I offer you a piece of advice?"

"Go ahead."

"I’m familiar with Donkey; he’s a decent mercenary, but that’s just what he is—a mercenary. His people are not fixed and he lacks a cohesive team. I know you want to promote him, but while he can be a good mercenary, he lacks a stable Mercenary Group. So if you really need someone to do the job, just give us the assignment directly. That’s the easiest choice."

Sherkin was really...

He wouldn’t pass up any opportunity to grab business.

Gao Yi chuckled, "That’s my concern, you just be ready; that’s it."

After hanging up the phone, Gao Yi couldn’t help but shake his head and smile, "Sherkin is something, huh, a real little guy."

Donkey didn’t say anything.

Gao Yi turned to look at Donkey, "Are you really going to disband War Axe and retire?"

Donkey nodded and then shook his head, saying, "War Axe must disband; we’ve earned enough money and lost the desire and reason to continue fighting. A Mercenary Group without the desire to fight must disband. Only thing is, I’m not retiring yet. I need to build a new Mercenary Group with strong fighting desire. There’s no combat effectiveness without it. So, the dissolution is only for the current members of War Axe, not that War Axe is really going away."

Gao Yi paused, then said, "Oh, so what you mean is... War Axe is just you?"

"That’s right, I am War Axe, and War Axe is me."

Gao Yi said with interest, "How do you ensure the fighting desire of your members? What are your recruitment standards?"

"One word, poverty!"

Donkey held up a finger, saying earnestly, "I only recruit poor devils—those with combat ability and experience, who have families and loved ones to provide for. I don’t want any of the old mercenaries who have been around long enough. I don’t want poor devils who can feed their whole family by themselves. I want those in urgent need of money, those who just want to earn money, and those who still need to support a large family after earning it. Those willing to exchange their lives for their family’s happiness, I cultivate as important backbones. That’s my only recruitment standard."

Gao Yi thought about it seriously, then responded to Donkey, "Makes sense! Your standard is excellent, really good, but it’s not easy to find such people, is it?"

Donkey smiled and said softly, "The world is never short of poor people, and there’s never a shortage of poor devils with a sense of responsibility who have families to feed. As long as you look carefully, it’s easy to find. This is my little insight and my top secret that I’ve never been willing to tell anyone. Hammer God, if you need some poor devils willing to exchange their lives for their family’s good life, I can help you find them. You want some, I’ve got plenty."