Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 435 - 415: National Treasure

Chapter 435: Chapter 415: National Treasure

Gao Yi was waiting for things to finish up in Paris before leaving, also waiting for Marina to arrange a suitable flight for him.

Then, just after twelve at night, someone knocked on Gao Yi’s door.

There had been many people coming and going these past two days, but this was the first time a completely stranger had come knocking by himself.

At the door, Gao Yi saw a middle-aged man, who appeared to be in his forties or fifties, with deep wrinkles on his face, not particularly tall or burly, sun-darkened but unmistakably Caucasian rather than the Latin American he expected, the kind with slightly darker mixed-race skin.

The person at the door gestured to come in.

Gao Yi took a step back, allowing the knocker to enter his room.

"French? English? Spanish?"

"English."

The visitor asked in three languages and Gao Yi chose English.

"Hello, I’m Sith Fisher. If I’m not in the wrong room, then you are the person I am supposed to protect and the employer for whom I am to hand over the task."

Sith spoke decisively, with a military bearing, yet his face wore a friendly expression and he smiled while talking, which gave his style a slightly discordant feel.

And what Sith did next was even more incongruent.

"I have retired from the French Foreign Legion and now hold dual nationality in France and Chile. I have no official ties with France but was contacted by the Directorate-General for External Security. They say, you can offer me a very suitable job, and very suitable pay."

Gao Yi thought for a moment and said, "No ties to France at all? Are you sure?"

"I was supposed to, but the person who sent me insisted that I keep no official ties with France."

As he spoke, Sith pulled out a stack of photos from his pocket, protected by a folded A4 paper, and when he handed them to Gao Yi with both hands, he said solemnly, "This is my recently completed mission report."

Gao Yi took it, unfolded the A4 paper, and saw that it contained target information, while the enclosed photos were of a dead man.

A dead Middle Eastern man with wide-open eyes, his face free of any wounds.

The second photo showed the same body, but now the head was severed from the torso.

Gao Yi inhaled sharply.

"The target has definitely been confirmed without error. To prove the accuracy, I’ve brought the target’s head."

Sith pointed to the door and said, "Considering many are discomfited by such an item, I didn’t bring it in but left it in the car by the pool entrance. The head is stored in a plastic container with ice, and it’s very cleanly packaged."

"Alright."

Sith continued, "My task is completed, so now I should protect you or, following your orders, take out any person you want gone. I’d like to clarify that as a bodyguard, I’m the offensive type, dealing with all potential threats. As an assassin, I’m an executioner type—I kill whoever you want dead, but I’m not skilled in assassination, I’m not an assassin in the usual sense. This can be seen from my nickname: ’Guillotine’."

A very straightforward person, unsurprising, yet not someone ordinary people come across, nor easily accept.

Gao Yi nodded and then said warmly, "Good, I understand your style now."

Sith smiled, "If I joined the Directorate-General for External Security, I would have steady work and extraterritorial rights that I need. Working for you, I lose a lot of privileges and state protection, but I get more money. So, how much are you offering me?"

Gao Yi hesitated slightly, but Sith immediately added, "This operation doesn’t count, but I want to make clear that protecting you pays one salary, and killing for you pays another. I’m open to a fixed salary for bodyguard duties, while a per-job payment for the assassin work."

Marina did an excellent job, finding someone who is thoroughly disconnected from France, or at least superficially.

As for the salary, of course, that was not an issue.

"How much are you looking for?"

"Three hundred and sixty thousand Euros as a base salary, two months of fixed vacation a year, danger pay to be calculated separately, and extra work as a bodyguard to be calculated independently. I reserve the right to refuse."

"Good."

Gao Yi agreed easily, Sith seemed satisfied, and immediately smiled, "Then I’ll start protecting you from this moment."

"Alright, we are preparing to leave here. One question, can I trust you? If you hear something you shouldn’t, can you ensure you won’t speak of it?"

"You can absolutely trust me," Sith promptly replied.

It’s one thing to say he can be trusted, but Gao Yi would not reveal everything to Sith right away.

"Okay, wait here for a moment."

Gao Yi called for Green.

If possible, Gao Yi wanted Green to take Sith with him.

Mainly because they’ve just met, and Gao Yi felt someone with Sith’s unique background and experiences might best fist connect with Green.

If there were rules to explain, it would be better for Green to lay them out for Sith.

Green came over, and then he saw Sith, and the first thing he did was freeze for a moment.

Green was not the type to be left speechless by anyone he met, but there were very few who could break his composure.

"Falke, guillotine?"

Sith looked at Green, quite puzzled: "You know me?"

With Sith admitting it readily, Green was left with nothing but shock as he said to Gao Yi: "How did that woman get the French guillotine for you!"

Gao Yi looked at Sith, then back at Green and said: "Is it that famous?"

Green responded without hesitation: "Isn’t it obvious with the way I look? Guillotine... You’re Chilean?"

Sith nodded naturally: "It seems you already know."

Green let out a sigh and said: "I didn’t expect you to be Chilean; I always thought the guillotine was French... how did you end up in the Foreign Army Corps?"

"That’s complicated to explain. All I can say is that I was indeed formerly with the Foreign Army Corps."

"French themselves are incompetent; guillotine is actually a foreigner..."

Green said half mockingly, half wistfully, and then suddenly asked: "You’re not of German descent, are you?"

"I’m from the Great Lake Region."

Green eagerly asked: "Falke! You’re not a descendant of those Germans who fled there after World War II, are you?"

Sith still looked at Green and said without any hesitation: "Of course I am."

Green took a deep breath and said: "A war criminal?"

"Not that. My father isn’t high-profile enough, but he is indeed on the wanted list."

Having said that, Sith seriously added: "You done asking? So, what about you? I smell a British stench on you, are you with Military Intelligence Sixth Department?"

After Sith answered Green’s questions, Green turned abruptly to Gao Yi and said: "Wait a moment, I need to go to the restroom in my room."

Green turned and quickly headed to his own room.

Green had been waiting to see who Marina would arrange as a bodyguard for Gao Yi, and now that he knew, his defenses were breached.

How to follow?

If he couldn’t stir things up, the question now was how to follow?

Green returned to his room, actually entered the restroom, one hand pulling his zipper while the other took out his phone and dialed a number.

"Hello!"

Green’s voice was breaking as he spoke fiercely on the phone: "Damn the French, they’ve sent the f***ing guillotine! The French guillotine... f***ing foreigners, I always knew the guillotine could never be a damn French! Those sons of bitches!"

"Falke! Guillotine..."

"Who do we have that can f***ing match the guillotine! This devil is insane, but he’s the f***ing guillotine!"

Green almost shouted out, but luckily he was aware of his surroundings, so while his tone was furious, his volume was low.

It’s not that he was frightened of eavesdropping; he didn’t want to lose his composure, but even though his voice was low, his attitude and a string of censored curses made him decidedly ungentlemanly.

"Guillotine... how could the French possibly give the guillotine to Hammer God? How could they! Aren’t they doing dirty jobs anymore?"

"Perhaps the French had long wanted to get rid of the guillotine, but they didn’t do it themselves. Instead, they sent him to Hammer God. How are we to follow-up?"

Green looked frustrated and helpless as he murmured: "I can’t give any advice now. Jenny’s no use now, neither is Annie! Providing sentimental value and maintaining presence are useless, a perfectly comfortable tool cannot be replaced by any sentimental value, the French... they’re really ruthless!"

"It’s the French women who are ruthless, the national treasure Black Gloves just gave away like that, only a woman could ruin the house like this!"

Both British men let out a resigned sigh, followed by futile swearing, but in the end, they could only accept the reality with gloom.

Green said quietly: "The French are sending the guillotine to kill the target in Paris, then it’s onto London. I’m sure the plane is also arranged. I’m leaving with Hammer God, hope you can think of a suitable person before we arrive."

The person on the other end of the phone said softly: "I am ready to meet the plane, don’t worry about security, I will lead the team personally. But you should be mentally prepared, we might not be able to keep up with the French’s audacious moves. Sorry, as you know, we... sigh."

Green hung up the call, not wanting to hear the sighs of old comrades and colleagues.

With a heavy heart but an unaffected expression, Green went back to Gao Yi’s room and spoke in a calm voice: "Is the plane arranged? When do we leave?"

Gao Yi looked at Green, hesitated for a long time, and finally leaned close to Green, whispering: "Teacher, your zipper is down..."

A complete loss of composure, how embarrassing.

Green turned around, pulled up his zipper, and then as if nothing happened, he said: "One gets like this with age, um, is the plane ready?"