Chapter 563: Returning Home
It was simply unbelievable! A task that was as impossible as trying to walk on water had been accomplished by this man so easily.
Sarah Mich.e.l.le froze in shock and wavered slightly as she gazed at Xiao Luo.
“You"re Mie from Hua Nation?”
The rear admiral glared at Xiao Luo with glowering eyes. He had a full head of white hair and, although there was a gun pointed to his head, he kept his calm and maintained an air of dignity.
Xiao Luo laughed. “You are correct, but no prizes for the right answer,” he replied.
“You single-handedly wiped out the Khun Sa Mercenary Corps, and you were able to escape a small town filled with more than 500 soldiers in one piece–you"re a powerful soldier. What do you think about becoming a Mei national and using your talents for Mei Nation? As long as you agree, I can immediately arrange for you to have a green card. The Mei Nation green card is universally recognized as one of the hardest ones to obtain, but with your skills and qualifications, getting this green card will be a piece of cake,” the rear admiral said.
Xiao Luo scorned at that man with a derisive smile. “I couldn"t care less about becoming a Mei Nation citizen. The only reason I came here was to kill you!”
As soon as he said that, he pulled the trigger with his index finger.
BANG!
A bullet pa.s.sed through the rear admiral"s head, leaving a b.l.o.o.d.y gaping hole in its back. The rear admiral"s eyes opened wide and his body stiffened before slumping to the floor in a heap.
Sarah paled and stared uneasily at Xiao Luo in fear. “You…you killed him?” she cried.
“Is it not obvious enough?” Xiao Luo responded.
The rear admiral had approved captain Powell"s request for artillery to rain on the forest, which was the main reason he had almost been killed in that forest. If Xiao Luo did not pull the trigger, he would always rue this opportunity to exact his revenge on the rear admiral.
“I"m leaving, Sarah. See you again the next time. Well, actually, no–I won"t ever see you again.”
Xiao Luo waved at Sarah, then turned around and left the way he entered.
Sarah Mich.e.l.le was stupefied and had her gaze fixed on the rear admiral"s corpse.
The next afternoon, Xiao Lu returned to the sh.o.r.e base where the Hua Nation was repatriating their nationals.
Jiang Zhiming and his company of men had returned to base some time ago, and Tang Wantian was safe and sound as well, having made friends with Ji Siying after they met. Gong Gaofeng, captain of the s.h.i.+p, expressed his grat.i.tude to Xiao Luo because he had heard from Jiang Zhiming the events that had transpired.
Gong Gaofeng chuckled, patting Xiao Luo"s shoulders. “The combat prowess of an NSA soldier is indeed not something to be trifled with. You"ll have to forgive me for underestimating you in the past!” he said.
Xiao Luo merely laughed without the need to make any reply.
He was the last Hua national from Libya to reach the sh.o.r.e base, and amid the cheers and shouts of the pa.s.sengers as soon as he embarked, the fleet set sail for home.
At night, the wind blew across the deck.
Xiao Luo and Ji Siying stood beside each other on the bow against the railing, looking out into the pitch darkness of the vast sea.
“You didn"t get injured, did you, Mr. Xiao Luo?” Ji Siying asked, looking at him in concern. A light cast on her and her delicate face made it difficult to focus on anything else.
Xiao Luo shook his head. “I"m alright,” he replied. He paused for a beat, and then continued, “Oh, right, be sure to report to the Bureau as soon as you can that the Bais wanted to use the Libyan army to kill me.”
“Alright, I will,” Ji Siying said with a gentle nod.
And then they said nothing else. Xiao Luo"s gaze was fixed in front as he let the sea breeze caress his face.
Ji Siying stepped closer and closer, leaned up against him, and then finally pillowed her head on his shoulder.
“Ahem! Ahem, ahem.” There was a faint sound of coughing.
Xiao Luo and Ji Siying turned around and saw Tang Wantian standing not too far away behind them, looking rather awkward. Initially, Tang Wantian was a.s.signed to berth with the nationals below, but she had been allowed to stay on this level because of her relations.h.i.+p with Xiao Luo.
Tang Wantian chuckle. “I"m not interrupting anything, am I?” she said.
“Did something happen?” Xiao Luo replied, cutting right to the chase.
“I came here to thank you.”
Tang Wantian walked a little closer and then lowered herself into a deep bow to Xiao Luo. “Thank you, Xiao Luo. If I hadn"t met you, I would probably have been dead.”
“You don"t have to thank me. We"re cla.s.smates, even friends—and it was well within my ability to save you,” Xiao Luo said.
“You"re right, but the fact remains that you saved my life. How about this—after we return, I"ll buy you a meal. This might not be much but it"s the only way I can think of to repay my grat.i.tude,” Tang Wantian said.
“There"s no need for that!”
Xiao Luo responded and shook his head, then smiled and said, “Of course, if you ever come to Xiahai, you"re free to call me up on my phone.”
“Alright then,” Tang Wantian said, nodding enthusiastically.
When he mentioned phones, Xiao Luo immediately c.o.c.ked his brow. The phone a.s.signed to him had been specially made by NSA and was destroyed by the explosion in the forest, and he was not too sure when he had lost it either. He made it a point to take a note of requesting another one from the NSA as soon as he returned home. After all, his phone was quite an important tool. One could even say it was indispensable.
Five days later, Xiao Luo and Ji Siying walked out of the Xiahai airport.
Gu Zhanguo had personally come to welcome them. He immediately held Xiao Luo"s hand as soon as he saw them. “Congratulations on completing your mission, Mie!” he said. Then he waved a hand, and an NSA agent came forward with a new phone. Gu Zhanguo took it from the agent and said, “The number"s the same. We"ve helped you restore your contacts according to your call log, and I don"t believe we"ve missed anyone out.”
Xiao Luo took the phone. “How are you going to handle the Bai family?”
“Don"t worry, I"ll keep you posted, you just take some time to rest up. I"ll have Night Sparrow notify you if there"s a mission,” Gu Zhanguo said.
Xiao Luo nodded. “Alright, I"ll just observe the Bais for now. I believe in the bureau"s power, but if they pull another stunt on me, I"ll deal with it myself.”
“Absolutely!”
Gu Zhanguo had no doubt that the Bai family was not just challenging Xiao Luo but the NSA"s authority.
Xiao Luo returned to Crescent Bay after he had dinner with Ji Siying.
He finally started up the WeChat app after he was bored out of his mind. There were dozens of messages waiting for him, and they had all been sent by Zhang Dashan.
“F*ck, man, why aren"t you picking up?”
“I"m coming to Xiahai today, hurry and come get me at the airport.”
“I"m gonna crush your nuts if I don"t see you at the airport.”
Xiao Luo furrowed his brows as he read the messages, and then he looked at the date those messages were sent. They were sent this morning, which meant that Zhang Dashan had long arrived at Xiahai.
He immediately dialed the man"s number, and the call went through after two rings.
“Dashan.”
“Don"t say anything, Lao Xiao, just hurry and come to the Longzhou Public Security Sub-bureau and bail me out. Hurry, alright? I"m waiting for you,” Zhang Dashan replied. His panicked voice crackled over the call right before the line cut.
Longzhou Public Security Sub-bureau?
Bail him out? What was going on? Was he detained at the sub-bureau?
Xiao Luo"s head was swimming with questions.
[At Longzhou Public Security Sub-bureau]
Zhang Dashan, sitting calmly in his suit, hung up on Xiao Luo. With his cherubic round face and a convincing, clear voice filled with emotions, he said, “Growing up, my family was really poor. We could barely afford our three meals a day and we had no phones. When I was six, I fell in love with a girl who lived next door to us. She was really sweet and gentle, and just one glance or one smile, was enough to make my heart race.”
At this point, tears formed in his eyes were threatening to fall.
He blinked through his tears and continued speaking, “Then, all of a sudden, she moved away and I finally saw her again more than 2 decades later. I was 90% sure that it was her, for I could never forget her. So I asked her, do you mind showing me your birthmark? And she said no, and then she started taking her clothes off. And then…”
Zhang Dashan spoke with a straight face and a pained voice to the officer opposite him who was recording his statement. “And then you guys barged in!” he said.