Amid the din of the students, the sound of someone stepping on a twig would not be so obvious. Ren Xiaosu skillfully disengaged the safety of the automatic rifle in his hand and loaded it with a full magazine. Under the illumination of the campfire, the brass rounds in the magazine appeared extremely dense and heavy.
Ren Xiaosu looked up and was surprised to see that Zhou Yingxue had also taken her pistol out. “You heard that as well?”
“No.” Zhou Yingxue said in surprise, “Heard what? I saw you taking out your gun, so I got mine out as well. Aren’t we robbing these Qinghe University students? They look rather rich….”
Ren Xiaosu was confused. How did it end up as them trying to rob the students?!
He said in a speechless manner, “Be on guard. There’s someone quietly approaching us. I wonder if they’re coming after that group of students or us, but the probability of them coming after us is lower.”
In Ren Xiaosu’s opinion, they had caused such a big mess at Stronghold 73 recently. Although Zhou Xilong was not the ruler of the Zhou Consortium, he was still a significant figure.
Later, he even handed an audio recording to Luo Lan to help him. If Luo Lan had a slip of the tongue, it could be possible that the Zhou Consortium would come and hunt them down.
However, Ren Xiaosu felt it was unlikely this intruder was coming after them. That was because he felt that Luo Lan would not have a slip of the tongue, and this was a form of trust he had in Luo Lan’s ability in handling matters.
Although that fatty could be quite frivolous, he was always dependable when it came to getting things done.
Zhou Yingxue whispered, “Should we help them if this uninvited guest is here for the students and a battle breaks out?”
“I’m not gonna help.” Ren Xiaosu said calmly, “Only the fittest survive in the wilderness, so why should we help those who are unrelated to us?”
Zhou Yingxue curled her lips. “Master, you’re really cold-blooded….”
The people lurking were getting closer and closer. As the campfire illuminated the forest, Ren Xiaosu could already discern some figures approaching within the shadows of the swaying leaves. There was more than one person!
“Pay attention to our surroundings. This is a group operation.” Ren Xiaosu said coldly, “Be careful not to get surrounded. I estimate that there’s around 10 to 20 of them.”
However, Ren Xiaosu was slightly relieved to note that these people were really targeting the group of students. It was just that Zhou Yingxue and he had been dragged in.
“What should we do now?” Zhou Yingxue asked.
“Let’s leave before they focus their attention on us,” Ren Xiaosu said.
But before they could leave, Ren Xiaosu also heard footsteps come from nearby as well. In fact, this unit seemed to have already surrounded all of them.
Ren Xiaosu frowned. “They’re a well-trained unit. Why would such troops appear here?”
It was clear that these uninvited guests were not some small-time bandits that got a spur of the moment idea about them but professionals who had set a premeditated ambush.
The squad closest to the students had already fanned out of the forest. It was clear they did not think highly of this group of students and were looking to capture them in one fell swoop.
However, the uninvited guests did not open fire. Xu Zhi was the first student to discover the enemy as he had remained sober.
But before he could pick up his gun, he realized several black muzzles were already pointing at him. He could not move at all.
Someone slowly walked up to Xu Zhi with a rifle in hand and kicked his weapon away. Then the other students were scared out of their drunken stupor. They still did not realize what was happening.
Someone quickly said, “Is there a misunderstanding? We’re just normal students.”
All of these intruders were wearing combat boots, IOTVs[1], and combat helmets. Their firearms were also relatively expensive M16A2s with an effective range of 900 meters. They were also equipped with night vision goggles and walkie-talkies on their helmets.
Bandits could not afford to buy a setup like that, nor would they even have access to buy it.
Ren Xiaosu was looking at the soldiers in front of him with great interest. Since they did not allow them to escape, he was forced to stay. He looked at Zhou Yingxue and asked, “Can you tell where they’re from?”
“They’re mercenaries,” Zhou Yingxue replied. “They specialize in doing dirty work.”
Since there were organizations like the Anjing House that upheld justice, there would be organizations specializing in dirty work as well. Of course, these organizations only used the most elite of soldiers for their deeds, so their members tended to all be infamous outlaws.
Ren Xiaosu nodded. He had really broadened his horizons after coming to the Central Plains.
He surreptitiously counted the number of people and found that there were 15 of them. This was less than the number of people in a platoon. However, their movements were extremely well-coordinated.
The leader of the mercenaries looked at Xu Zhi and handed him a satellite phone. “Call your father and tell him we want a 10 million yuan ransom in cash within seven days.”
Only now did the students finally realize this was not a misunderstanding. The mercenaries had come prepared, and they were even professional kidnappers.
The male students who said they had guns and were showing them off earlier to the girls no longer dared to say any more. Some of them actually still had their pistols with them, but they did not even have the courage to draw them.
However, Ren Xiaosu thought this was normal. After all, the kidnappers were wielding a lot more guns than them.
Some of them even subconsciously looked at Ren Xiaosu and Zhou Yingxue. But when they realized the two were also being held at gunpoint by six soldiers, they immediately sank into despair.
Xu Zhi said calmly, “You want cash? You’re brave enough to retrieve it?”
“You don’t have to worry about how we’re going to retrieve it.” The mercenary said, “Since we’ve managed to gather so many people for the job, it’ll be unacceptable if we return without making some money.”
“If we pay the ransom, will you let us go back?” Xu Zhi asked.
“Of course, we’re very trustworthy people,” the mercenary said with a laugh.
“Aren’t you afraid the Riders will go after you?” Xu Zhi asked again.
“It’s not like the Riders are working for your Xu clan,” the mercenary said with a sneer.
Those words surprised Ren Xiaosu a little. Were the Riders and the Qinghe Group not on the same side? It sounded like these mercenaries knew more about the inside story.
Xu Zhi gave it some thought and said, “Seeing that you people can follow us here and grasp our timing so accurately, may I ask who your informant is? Tell me, and I’ll immediately call my father. Look, I’m already in your hands, so can’t you fulfill this small request of mine?”
The mercenary leader was amused. He pointed at the chubster next to Xu Zhi. “We promised to give 2 million yuan to your good friend over here once the deed was done.”
Xu Zhi looked at the chubster next to him and shook his head. “You know they aren’t gonna pay you, right?”
All of the students looked at the chubster and found it a little hard to believe. They had never expected a spy would be among them. After all, they were all classmates! Then they remembered it was the chubster who persuaded everyone to drink. So it turned out that was a premeditated move.
The chubster said in panic, “It was my uncle who made me do it! I didn’t want to!”
The mercenary said with a smile, “Weren’t you the one who wanted a share of the money? That wasn’t what your uncle asked for.”
Ren Xiaosu shook his head. It seemed the Qinghe Group was no longer as united after so many years of changes to its internal management. Of course, he couldn’t pass any judgment on what really happened internally.
However, it looked like the mercenaries were going to silence everyone after this. That was because they were acting without the slightest scruple after taking control of the situation.
[1] The Improved Outer Tactical Vest (IOTV) is a type of ballistic vest. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Improved_Outer_Tactical_Vest
