Fatal Strike: Paladins Mercenary Road

Chapter 843 Showing Off Belly
The mountain eagle's nighttime hunting plan was a complete success...

The trap made of fish eventually attracted a pack of more than a dozen gray wolves, and once they got near the igloo, they were doomed.

With no trees or bushes to cover the exposed ice, and the thick snow slowing down the wolves, once Mountain Eagle and his men fired the first shot, the outcome would be decided solely by marksmanship.

Wolves are terrifying, but well-prepared humans are even more terrifying. Even a child as young as a few years old can fire deadly bullets if given a weapon.

Xiao Wan tried it at first, but when she hit a gray wolf and watched it howl in agony on the snow for several minutes before dying, she instantly lost interest in hunting.

This is determined by the personality formed from childhood, or rather, most students at the University of Tokyo receive similar education from a young age.

Don't bully others; if someone hits you, hit them back twice as hard!

Few parents actively teach their children how to maintain aggression or how to launch strategic attacks.

Of course, most parents don't actually have that ability!
This phenomenon is related to cultural genes to some extent...

Most people at the University of Tokyo feel that bullying the weak is a shameful thing. This is the logic behind how famous historical figures always made sure they had a legitimate reason for doing anything.

If I'm going to hit you, I have to have the upper hand in reasoning so that you're convinced of my superiority.

Mountain Eagle is not that kind of person, and he doesn't want his children to be like that either, because if ordinary people develop similar habits, they will definitely miss some opportunities due to personality issues.

Aggression, when applied to modern society, can also be transformed into initiative.

In his experience, whether in school or in the workplace, those who are proactive, and sometimes even assertive and unpopular, have a higher probability of success than those who remain silent.

Because resources are always limited, you can't just sit there and wait for others to allocate them to you. Most of the time, the good food you get is already what others have left over.

In fact, in many cases, if you dare to stand up and fight for your interests, you can reap the political benefits of competition.

This phenomenon is particularly evident in the political circles of countries other than the University of Tokyo. While multi-party competition constantly drives up their political costs, it allows their politicians to become extremely wealthy despite accomplishing nothing.

For example, parties A and B are enemies...

A wants to do something, such as improving the sanitation in the community. B knows that this is the right thing to do, but out of a need for confrontation, B will resolutely oppose it and try every means to find fault and create obstacles to prevent A from succeeding...

This internal friction will first generate unnecessary costs. At this point, A can either choose to give up or negotiate with B, giving up some of its benefits in exchange for B's cooperation.

If you are a Western politician who holds power, you don't even need to do the right thing; you can reap political benefits simply by becoming an 'obstacle' that others cannot bypass.

The protests by various Western NGOs and the biased reporting by the media are all endorsing certain people as 'obstacles'.

The most typical example is various environmental organizations!
The events that happened to Shan Ying's father destined his child's future development strategy to focus on places outside of Dongda University...

If they cannot develop good habits and cultivate sufficient aggression and initiative from a young age, they will inevitably suffer losses.

Mountain Eagle certainly doesn't want its children to follow the path of being a "troublemaker" or a "burden"...

He hopes that his children will understand their future friends and rivals, and always be proactive and responsible in striving for everything they want.

Mountain Eagle would not compromise on this aspect of training, so even though his wife, Xiao Wan, showed some discomfort, he still insisted on staying in the igloo with the child for two nights, killing two packs of wolves.

Then, before the blizzard arrived, they dragged the wolf carcasses back to the village and distributed them to the villagers, along with a recipe that could be called a 'secret manual'.

During this time, the children received high praise from the villagers, which gave them even more motivation.

Unfortunately, the blizzard interrupted the children's work, and everyone had to retreat back into the cabin...

A lot happened during the two days that the mountain eagle and her child stayed in the igloo...

Ryan Donovan, along with the scavenger team that arrived later, ventured into the western woods to engage the wolf pack and retrieve two boxes of airdropped medical supplies and ammunition...

Then the Black Hawk crew took off at great risk, airdropping pre-allocated supplies, along with medicine and ammunition, to the surrounding Inuit villages. They also took two seriously wounded soldiers, whose conditions had been stabilized after emergency surgery, to a hospital in Fairbanks.

Mountain Eagle sent a photo of the IOU to the company behind Ryan Donovan through an international intermediary. The other party readily paid the money, and then Ryan Donovan showed up at the door during a blizzard...

…………

"cooperate?"

Mountain Eagle, dressed in light loungewear, greeted Ryan Donovan, who had come to visit, and Martin, the leader of the Cleaners, in the living room...

After the introductions, Mountain Eagle learned of the other party's purpose and asked with feigned curiosity, "You want to cooperate with me?"
What areas can we collaborate on?

What can you possibly give me?

Ryan Donovan held a cup of hot cocoa in both hands, took a sip, and then, with an expectant look in his eyes, said, "Sir, I know what you need. I have some information here that you're interested in. In exchange, I'd like to ask you to help me complete the task I'm currently handling..."

Mountain Eagle glanced at Martin beside him. The guy looked a bit hungry; his eyes hadn't left the food on the table since he entered the cabin...

These people have been living in dire straits these past few days. Although they received some food supplies from Razer after clearly demonstrating their stance, the Inuit's food reserves are hardly delicious. They have hunted wolves themselves, but they have no way of cooking wolf meat into something tasty.

Mountain Eagle clearly heard the rumbling in Martin's stomach. He smiled and asked Marta to prepare a large box of rice for each of the two men, pouring the leftover wolf meat from dinner over it, and treated them to a meal.

As Mountain Eagle wolfed down his food in Ruian, trying his best to maintain his composure, he smiled and asked, "What's your mission?"

Ryan devoured the food in his lunchbox in three minutes. He first nodded his thanks to Marta, who had prepared the meal for him, then wiped his mouth, took a satisfying sip of his hot cocoa, and said, "My clients are several high-ranking figures in the Alaskan military..."

I believe you already know the whole story, so you should know that my client needs peace and quiet.

Upon hearing this, Mountain Eagle shook his head slightly and said, "You think hiring you to kidnap Kerry Cantona and his family will bring peace to those people?"

Ryan nodded, then shook his head and said, "Sir, Kerry Cantona is very important. He has details and evidence of most of the arms smuggling transactions in Alaska over the past five years because he himself is a very important part of the transactions."

But these aren't the most important factors, because the profits from arms smuggling are very limited...

The real key point is that Kerry Cantona, along with project managers from several companies, helped some people sign dozens of contracts with the Pentagon worth billions of dollars through insider trading.

Once the FBI traces Kerry Cantona through arms dealing, those contracts signed through insider trading will be exposed.

Sir, my employers don't care about arms smuggling at all; they need Kerry Cantona to shut up.

Of course, the best way is to silence them!

The problem now is that Kerry Cantona has put the evidence in the hands of someone in Washington, and once that person dies, the evidence will be exposed.

The consequences of the evidence being exposed are something my employer cannot afford!

Upon hearing this, Mountain Eagle nodded slightly and said, "That's true. Once insider trading is exposed, it will not only involve corruption issues, but also trigger audits of contract projects, and may even invalidate previously completed tenders."

That's a multi-billion dollar contract; many people would love to scrap it and start over.

Although the FBI has faced some pressure, I know they have never given up on the investigation...

I think I understand now, this has already turned into a political struggle!

Ryan nodded slightly, saying with a helpless expression, "Yes, there isn't that much corruption; it's really just political infighting."

My employer now needs an acceptable outcome!

Upon hearing this, Mountain Eagle spread his hands, somewhat puzzled, and said, "Then coming to me won't do any good. Kerry Cantona is in your hands right now, and I can't help you control that guy's family..."

After a moment of silence, Ryan said, "Sir, Kerry Cantona thinks he's doomed, so he set very strict 'evidence trigger conditions'."

He needs to leave a message on a specific website every day to prove that he is still alive, so that the evidence will remain silent.

That guy was smart. He knew very well that if the evidence were exposed and caused huge losses to many important people, he and his family would have no chance of survival.

We're at a stalemate!
Capturing Kerry Cantona's family was a last resort for me...

My original plan was to send his family to Washington in an attempt to lure out the person holding the evidence.

But now I have some other ideas…

Upon hearing this, the mountain eagle frowned and said, "Your 'other ideas' are related to me?"

Kerry nodded slightly and said, "Yes, I am the 'cleaner'. I do not advocate using violence to solve problems, because violence can only deal with the people involved in the problem, but it cannot solve the problem itself."

Mountain Eagle hadn't asked Ryan about the so-called 'important news' yet; he simply looked at the guy calmly and said, "Get to the point..."

After a few seconds of silence, Ryan said, "The company has given me an ultimatum. They will send someone to take over my task in three days."

I don't think the people they send can do a better job than me. I need to finish my current assignment and then completely end my contract with the company.

Sir, you need someone like me to help you handle some complex problems.

The mountain eagle shook its head noncommittally and said, "Get to the point!"

(End of this chapter)