Chapter 37: Good news and bad news

Translated by: kevin1782

Edited by: Isalee

Tribo stared blankly at Gao Yang and only managed to mumble after a while. “Impossible, right? This rifle looks very new.”

Gao Yang was so furious that he was at loss at what to say. He finally bursted out in rage: “You dumba.s.s, Dragunovs from where? Even if you can’t recognize the real Dragunov, at least you can see that the words engraved on her aren’t Russian right? This is m*therf*cking Iraq Tabuk-Aokade sniper rifle! Look properly, the gun clearly states that it’s an imitation model. A rip-off, get it? This gun’s pretty good if she could fire two thousand rounds, and you still use this bullsh*t to train your marksmans.h.i.+p, how the f*ck did you train without any freakin’ bore-lines?”

Hare wanted to cry, but there were no tears for him to do so. He inspected the gun on his legs, then he suddenly patted his head hard before furiously muttering, “I was wondering why it wouldn’t hit no matter how well I aimed after three hundred meters. I always thought it was my problem. After wasting half the time, it’s ‘cause this gun’s sh*t.”

“Pff, just this gun’s problem? The SVD’s ammo is the 7N1, which are specifically sniper rifle rounds and your broken gun can’t even hit those. See what rounds you fire? They’re 7.62 X 54R rounds, for GPMGs. You think you can hit accurately?”

Tribo took the round from Gao Yang’s hand and looked at it before sighing heavily, “It’s really scary without any civilization. I like this sniper rifle but I didn’t research the Dragunov, I just liked to research bolt-action gun mechs. I didn’t get even a glimpse of any half or full semi-auto sniper rifle info handouts man. I didn’t have any good impressions of that old dude’s SVD. If not for the dearth of options, I wasn’t gonna buy the Dragunov man, so that’s why I didn’t recognize that she was fake. Second, isn’t this the first time I’ve touched a real gun, how the h.e.l.l do I know that the boreline’s out man? The gun seller told me it was brand new, so I used it like it was brand new.”

Gao Yang also knew that Hare wasn’t to blame since Tribo’s gun knowledge was all theory without any practical applications. If it weren’t for the shooting training he’d endured last time, he wouldn’t have seen that her boreline was so severely worn out. There were just some things that had to be hands-on and experiential.

“Got it, say nothin’ else. You still wanted to be a merc? You’d be dead without knowing why. Go back China with me, don’t say any more c.r.a.p son.”

Hare dejectedly nodded and didn’t have any intention of talking back. Gao Yang saw that he wasn’t so resolute on staying behind to be a mercenary. He heaved a sigh of relief deep down in his heart. In order to prevent Tribo from developing any thoughts of staying, he didn’t dare to hook up anymore words from Tribo. Instead, he started to speak with Grolev in English since Tribo didn’t understand English anyways.

“Grolev, it’s really nice to know you, we’re gonna go back China, what’s your next move? Are you going to stay?”

Grolev was sitting shotgun. He turned his head smiled at Gao Yang and said, “Of course I’m gonna stay. You know, these few years could be considered world peace since there’s almost no more merc jobs. Even if there is, it’d be big companies like Black Waters. Now that there’s finally chaos brewing, it’s time for money-makin’.”

“Hah, y’all probably are the group of people who hope to have war in this world the most eh? What are you going to do? Find a merc corp to join?”

Grolev was silent for a moment before he nodded and said, “I gotta thank you, it’s because of you that’s why I got a good boss, two grand a day, it’s a really high price. I think after this mission, I’m probably gonna find a merc corp to join since, I admit, it’s too hard not having reliable comrades on my side.”

Gao Yang nodded and replied, “That’s right, if you intend to stay a merc, it’s best to find a few trustworthy comrades. But do you really intend on staying as one? Ever considered was.h.i.+ng your hands off that? I’m just saying, you haven’t considered your retirement?”

Grolev’s face sank and he heaved a long sigh before bitterly grinning, “I know nothin’ else apart from war, and I’ve got a wife and kid to bring up. I haven’t gotten much these few years, not even enough for daughter’s school fees. I’ve got to work hard while there’s money to be made till the day I die on battlefield. Yeap.”

Gao Yang shook his head before saying, “Your daughter’s fees must be really costly.”

After mentioning his daughter, Grolev’s face was like on cloud nine. He resolutely nodded his head and said, “Yeah, my daughter’s talented in music, I could even say that she’s a prodigy. I think I could buy a good piano for her. The one she’s currently using is too old, and furthermore, it ain’t tuned accurately. Also, I want to let her get into the best musical schools, either Tchaikovsky Conservatory [1] or St. Petersburg’s[2]. But those two music schools’ fees are really expensive, I gotta work real hard for it.” 

After saying all that in high spirits, Grolev’s face was full of yearning. That smile on his face that looked like he was floating off into a reverie… It lasted for a long while before Grolev spoke while looking troubled: “Don’t know how tall my girl’s now, she must be a great beauty by now, or have a boyfriend probably. Hmm, if her boyfriend bullies her, I’d shove my GPMG up his an*s and fire! No, nope, tis’ too violent. Alright, if her boyfriend bullied her, I’d give him hooks and uppercuts to teach him a lesson, yeap, that’s it!”

Seeing Grolev’s face that was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with a look of yearning, Gao Yang burst into a roar of laughter. “Why don’t you ask your daughter? Technology’s so advanced now that you could even video-chat her instead of a phone call, why imagine all that by yourself?”

After Gao Yang said that, he suddenly found Grolev’s face grow dim again. Or rather, his face was full of sorrow.

“Nope, I can’t get in touch with them, I’ve already not seen them for eight years. Forget it, not gonna continue.”

After saying that with a face of bereavement and desolation, Grolev didn’t have the mood to continue. He turned his head back and looked at the scenery outside the window, dazed, n.o.body knew what he was thinking.

Gao Yang was little guilty for unravelling, although unintentionally, Grolev’s sad memories. Then he found out that he had gotten two people into ‘brooding mode’. He figured that he wasn’t a good candidate for conversation at all.

Seeing that Grolev was down and spiritless missing his family, Gao Yang couldn’t take it either. He was reminded of his parents, and as soon as the ‘Gate of Longing’ was opened, he could no longer close it even when he wanted to. His head was full of his parents. He was on the verge of tears at this point. He was just silently praying that he could get home safe and sound.

When the fast-rolling car suddenly stopped, Gao Yang got out of that reverie he floated off to earlier finally. He saw that there’s a building not far from him in front. He knew that they had finally reached the airport.

After getting out of that car, he saw Morgan and Bob excitedly walk over. Morgan’s face was full of ‘hard-to-compress’ excitement, he almost couldn’t hold it in. After seeing Gao Yang, Morgan excitedly patted Gao Yang’s face twice,

 before saying, “Gao, you’re really my angel, with you always comes good news. You know what, I can leave this G.o.d-d.a.m.ned place, I’m gonna go with y’all.”

Gao Yang was glad as long as he could get the heck out of there. But after knowing that Morgan also could, he was still really glad for him as well.

“That’s really good news, congratulations!”

Morgan laughed twice and twisted his head towards Gao Yang, saying, “Let’s go, they’ve already arranged the runway for us. We should get going and take off!”

Hearing that Morgan was going, Grolev’s face changed and his voice sunk, “Sir, you said you’re hiring me till you leave, now seems to be the time.”

Morgan nodded and said, “If you want to leave, I can take you too. If you want to stay, I’m going to give the ten days worth of money to you. You can take it that I’m hiring you to enjoy the life here on my behalf. What you’re gonna do is up to you. Alright, come aboard to get the money.”

Grolev shook his head and replied, “Thank you for your kind intentions, but I still gotta refuse. I have personal pride in this, can’t accept your donation and charity.”

Gao Yang quickly nudged Grolev and said, “Don’t do this, you said you need the money very much now. Think of it this way: the one grand is your pay, and the twenty grand the tip for your service. The tip is a commendation for your labor, and you know how Americans give tips on a habitual basis. Morgan wouldn’t care for this amount of money. ”

Morgan shrugged and smiled, “You can take it that way. I am always grateful to people who have helped me. Or you can take it as business is business, the negotiated deal can’t be shortchanged, but tips are fine.”

Grolev grinned and said, “It seems like I really met a good boss, alright, thank you for your generosity, out of career ethics, in the next ten days, you can ask me to do anything. Doesn’t matter if you’re here or not.”

Morgan slapped his hands really hard and bawled in laughter, “Alright, that’s it, let’s board the plane.”

The airport was already controlled by the Resistance, and Gao Yang followed Morg to the hangar without going through the checkpoint. All the planes couldn’t fly at this point of time. Only Morgan’s private jet was on the runway.

The plane was ready to take off. When Gao Yang and the group reached the plane, Morgan waved to his bodyguard. He went up the plane swiftly and came down with a suitcase.

Morgan took the suitcase and took four stacks of notes from it. He then pa.s.sed two stacks to Grolev and the other two to Hare. Seeing Hare’s puzzled look, Morgan smiled, “Take it, I know you’re Gao Yang’s friend, not a merc, but there’s no other way for me to profess my thanks.”

After Gao Yang translated what Morgan said, he told him in Mandarin, “Take it, it’s free so why not? You deserve this much anyways.”

Tribo wasn’t overly polite and took the notes. He just shoved them into his pockets without much care. While shoving the money into his pockets, his phone simultaneously rang.

He was shoving the money into his pockets with one hand and he took the phone call with the other. But just after saying “h.e.l.lo”, he riveted to the floor. Even the shoving of cash stopped. a

After talking in Arab for a few sentences, he hung up and looked at Gao Yang in disbelief and dazedly said a sentence.

“Bro Yang, Malik’s dead, Fedor too. They’ve been killed.”

Translator’s notes: