Chapter 44: Not Dead?

White Bear’s aggressive and brutal words startled everyone.

This was absolute madness—the modus operandi of outlaws.

Take Angel hostage?

Are you out of your mind!

"I object."

Song Heping had to pry Angel’s hands apart before standing up to oppose White Bear’s insane proposal.

"If we do that, we’ll all die."

"Sang! She has an aunt who is a party whip! If we take her hostage and head west, cross the border into Syria, we have contacts there who can get us to the port of Tartus. I still have comrades serving there. Not even the US special forces can touch us!"

Tartus was a naval port leased by Russia in Syria.

White Bear’s intention was crystal clear.

He wanted to use Angel as a human shield and make a run for it.

Hearing White Bear’s plan, Song Heping almost burst out laughing.

"Great idea!"

He couldn't help but give White Bear a thumbs-up.

Thinking he was being praised, White Bear grinned triumphantly.

"It really is a great idea—if your goal is to commit suicide."

Song Heping continued, "We just killed two guys who were likely US special forces, and now you want to violently kidnap the niece of a Lighthouse Country Donkey Party whip and senator? Furthermore, this woman is a star reporter for the *Washington Post*. Then we illegally cross the Syrian border and rely on your comrades and Russian military connections to escape?"

At this point, he couldn't help giving White Bear another thumbs-up.

He had to admit one thing: there were very few normal people in this team.

These big Russians operated with almost linear logic: either you kill the other guy, or you get killed by him.

"White Bear, you're a fucking genius! You want to try every possible way to die, and you've thought of every dead end imaginable. If we run away the way you suggested, let alone whether you can make it back to Russia, even if you did, your president wouldn't be able to save you!"

"Sang is right."

The previously silent Cook suddenly spoke up.

"If we do that, we’ll probably hit the front page of international news immediately."

White Bear’s face darkened.

"You guys are so smart! You tell me then, what the hell should we do? The people are already dead, we’re already in this deep, how do we get out now? Tell me, how do we get out!"

For a moment, even Cook was left speechless.

Indeed, he hadn't come up with any good solution either.

Provoking the US special forces and getting entangled in the vortex of high-level power struggles within the largest military empire on the planet—no matter how you looked at it, it was a dead end.

Angel sat on the ground, her eyes never leaving Song Heping, filled entirely with desperate pleading.

Among so many people, Angel felt that Song Heping was the most likely person to put in a good word for her.

Probably only Song Heping could help her.

If she fell into the hands of the others, she would either be killed or violated; either way, death would be preferable to what they would put her through.

"Help me..."

She pleaded softly, tears streaming down her face in a truly pitiful display.

Before Song Heping could utter a word, White Bear lost his temper.

"Sang, are you bewitched by this chick? Let me tell you, go back to Russia with your brother, there are plenty of girls prettier than her. I’ll hook you up with a few, and I guarantee you’ll say *harasho* afterwards!"

"Damn it..."

Song Heping was utterly speechless.

Cook said, "Sang, you tell us, what do we do now?"

Song Heping was furious. "What do we do? Are you all idiots?! We don't need to do anything. We literally don't need to do a damn thing!"

"Huh?"

Cook and the others were instantly confused.

Do nothing?

White Bear soon sneered and said loudly, "Do nothing? What, wait here to die?!"

Song Heping said, "Why wait to die? We just need to wait here for half an hour or an hour. The militants won't hold out long before leaving Krasa Town, because the Victory Camp soldiers will be arriving here soon. If those militants aren't brain dead, they'll choose to retreat before the coalition forces arrive."

White Bear said, "And then? Then we wait for the special forces to come catch us? And wipe us out to avenge their teammates?"

Song Heping was amused to the point of anger. "I'm the one who killed them and I'm not afraid, what are you afraid of? What do you think they'll do to us?"

He suddenly pointed a finger at Angel sitting on the ground.

"You got one thing right—she is very important. She is our amulet!"

"What do you mean?" Cook couldn't help chiming in.

Song Heping said, "She's an American, a thoroughbred American, and a reporter for a major newspaper. Do you think those US soldiers are going to execute us right in front of the Victory Camp troops? Take a guess: is their mission in Krasa Town tonight classified or public?"

He tapped his own head lightly with his index finger in exasperation, loudly reminding his stubborn, thick-headed teammate.

"White Bear, use that brain of yours and think. If it were a covert operation, killing us would just expose the entire operation—it's pure self-destruction. Then tomorrow's US news headline would be about US special forces slaughtering an American reporter named Angel. Would her aunt the party whip make a huge fuss in Congress over this? Would that old man the president let the operational unit take the fall? How many of those old intelligence foxes at Langley do you think think and act as recklessly as you do?"

A series of rhetorical questions left White Bear completely speechless.

His brain simply couldn't process the mental gymnastics.

Cook, however, figured it out quickly.

"Sang is right! If they want to cover this up, their best move isn't killing us. Besides, Mr. J is already dead. If I were the commander, I would definitely order the scene cleaned up immediately and evacuate at top speed, as if nothing ever happened! Nobody knowing what happened is the best cover-up!"

"Yes, yes, yes."

Hearing Song Heping's explanation, Angel instantly saw a glimmer of hope for survival and felt that her judgment of character had been spot-on.

Song Heping truly was the most reliable person among them all.

To Angel, everyone else was a sheer lunatic!

A 99.9999% pure moron!

Seizing the moment, she quickly chimed in, "I can guarantee your safety. We can contact Aunt Nancy right now, tell her everything that's happened, and even make a recording. If I can't return to America, it means I was killed by Langley. The moment this recording is made public, Langley won't have an easy time either!"

Song Heping chuckled. This foreign chick wasn't stupid at all.

At critical moments, she certainly knew her survival skills.

"My phone..."

Angel suddenly remembered something, patted her body in a panic, and her expression turned frantic.

"Where's my phone..."

Song Heping glanced back at the Lincoln SUV and said, "Go check the car. You might have accidentally dropped it inside when you panicked earlier."

As fate would have it, right as Song Heping finished speaking, the phone ringtone actually began to play from inside the Lincoln SUV.

"Go answer the phone and see if it's your Aunt Nancy," Song Heping said.

Angel nodded hurriedly. "It's very likely Aunt Nancy calling to check on my status."

She was actually lying.

She had no clue who was calling.

The reason she deliberately emphasized her Aunt Nancy was to prevent anyone from plotting against her life and to prove she still had leverage.

Otherwise, simple-minded Russian mercenaries like White Bear and Cook might actually skin her alive.

While Angel scrambled back into the car to answer the phone, Cook stepped up to Song Heping’s side and asked in a low voice, "Sang, do you really think... we can just swagger back to the Green Zone like this and be fine?"

"What could possibly happen?" Song Heping said. "They wanted Mr. J, not us. What are we? They don't even want to kill Angel. Mr. J is dead, so their objective of silencing him is achieved. Do you think they're stupid enough to blow things up and expose all their dirty secrets? Believe me, if this leaks, tomorrow they'll be drowned in the spit of their own domestic media."

Cook nodded repeatedly as he listened, his small eyes darting back and forth across Song Heping multiple times.

He felt that agreeing to join Song Heping’s crew was the smartest decision he had made in years.

"There's one thing..."

Cook suddenly furrowed his brow.

"How did those guys track—"

Before he could finish, Angel popped her head out from the car and shouted, "Something's wrong..."

"What's wrong?"

Song Heping and Cook asked in near-unison.

Holding the satellite phone with an expression as if she had seen a ghost, Angel said, "Mr. J isn't dead... The call is from him..."