Rebirth of a Mercenary: The Ace Mercenary Forced to Be the Beloved of the Group

When the conference room door was pushed open, everyone's eyes were fixed on the doorway.

Bai Ye stood there, wearing a faded training T-shirt with his jacket draped over his arm, probably having just returned from training and not yet having had time to put it on. His face was expressionless, his gaze sweeping across the conference table, pausing for a moment on the spread-out satellite maps and intelligence summaries.

"I can go."

Lu Xiao rushed to Bai Ye in three quick steps, grabbed Bai Ye's shoulders with both hands, and the force was so great that Bai Ye leaned back.

"Little Cabbage, are you crazy?" Lu Xiao's voice was completely different from usual. The laughter that was always on his lips had completely disappeared, leaving only a dry, barely suppressed impatience. "Do you know what kind of mission this is? Do you know who Viper is? Do you know what it means to go undercover?"

Bai Ye was shaken by his grip on her shoulder, but she didn't break free; she just looked up at him.

"Do you know what will happen if your identity is exposed?" Lu Xiao's voice rose higher and higher, his words coming out like bullets fired in rapid succession. "Viper will chop off your fingers one by one and send them to Po Kong, then skin you alive in a video in front of everyone! You think I'm scaring you? They've done this more than once! Those guys in Southeast Asia who opposed Viper, their bodies still haven't all been recovered! Going there is just suicide!"

Bai Ye waited quietly for him to finish yelling, then said, "I know."

"You know? You know nothing! You're only sixteen! Before you entered the Void Realm, you didn't even know where Southeast Asia was! Do you know that it's so hot there during the rainy season that people die of thirst during the dry season, and that mosquitoes in the forests can spread malaria and dengue fever? You'll get sick from the change in environment in less than three days, then you'll have a fever and diarrhea, and then the Viper's people will find out you're not healthy and throw you out to be fed to crocodiles!"

"I will be prepared."

"Ready?!" Lu Xiao released Bai Ye's shoulder, put his hands on his hips, paced back and forth in the conference room a couple of times, then turned back, pointing his finger at Bai Ye's nose. "What are you ready for? How are you going to deal with a pervert who likes underage boys? Do you know where his bodyguards come from? They're all children he bought, kidnapped, or robbed from the border. He locks them up and trains them, beating those who disobey until they obey. You go, do you think you can pretend to be a kidnapped child? Your eyes are off! Your eyes clearly don't belong to an ordinary child! Viper's men are very shrewd; you won't be able to keep up the act for a week before you're exposed!"

"I can act."

"You act—" Lu Xiao swallowed the rest of his profanity, took a deep breath, and his voice changed from irritation to a desperate helplessness, "Can you listen to me for one sentence? Just one. I'll find someone else for this mission. You're not the only one of suitable age for Po Kong. I'll talk to He Zhen and cancel the mission. You just stay at the base and train, okay?"

Bai Ye looked at him and remained silent for two seconds: "Vice Captain. I heard you arguing inside just now from outside."

Lu Xiao's mouth was agape, as if someone had pressed the pause button on his entire body. He stared at Bai Ye's calm face, at those unwavering eyes, and felt as if something was blocking his throat, unable to utter a single word.

Li Mo stood up from his seat, walked around the conference table, and stood in front of Bai Ye. Unlike Lu Xiao, he didn't grab Bai Ye's shoulders and shake him; he simply stood in front of Bai Ye, looked down at him, and asked, "Did you hear all the details He Zhen mentioned?"

"I heard you clearly."

"You knew you would be sent into Viper's inner circle, forced to play the role of a kept teenage guard, and unable to show any abnormalities for at least three months?"

"Know."

"Do you know that once your identity is exposed, no one can save you? Remote support from the intelligence team is practically useless in that environment, and there might only be one window of opportunity to evacuate. Missing it means death."

"Know."

Li Mo looked into Bai Ye's eyes. Bai Ye didn't look away, nor did he raise his chin defiantly; he simply looked at him quietly, as if waiting for his next question.

Li Mo closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, his tone returned to its usual calm, but with an extra layer of something more pronounced: "You can go. But there are two conditions. First, I will be your direct communications partner throughout the entire process. The intelligence team will only provide technical support and will not participate in any decision-making. Second—come back alive. No matter what information you obtain, no matter how the mission progresses, if you feel you can't hold on any longer, retreat immediately. Don't consult anyone."

Bai Ye nodded: "Okay."

"It's not a nod. It's an agreement."

"I agree."

Standing to the side, Lu Xiao listened to Li Mo finish stating all the conditions, and when Bai Ye said "I agree," he felt as if half of his body had been hollowed out.

His voice was much lower than before, devoid of impatience and rage, replaced by a helpless compromise, like someone cornered: "Little Cabbage. Listen to me. You have to come back alive. You have to come back unharmed. If you're missing a single hair, I'll raid Viper's lair, skin his entire family, and hang them on the banks of the Mekong River to dry for three months. If anything happens to you—I'll find Viper no matter where he is, I'll tear him apart, bone by bone, and grind him to powder. I mean what I say."

Bai Ye looked at him and tilted her head slightly: "What you said is pretty much what the captain said."

"I was harsher than him."

"Yes. I heard you."

Lu Xiao stood up and turned to face He Zhen: "We've accepted the mission. Bai Ye will go. But let's get this straight—all subsequent plans and arrangements must be approved by Li Mo and me. All information from the intelligence team must be synchronized to Group A's terminal. During the mission, only Li Mo can access Bai Ye's communication channel; no one on your side is allowed to touch it. If your people do anything underhanded behind our backs—I wouldn't mind adding another missing person to Southeast Asia."

He Zhen sat at the other end of the conference table, looking at the smile on Lu Xiao's face. He remained silent for a while before nodding: "Okay. Do as you say. The intelligence team will compile detailed information on the terrain, personnel composition, and daily routines of the Viper base within forty-eight hours. The subsequent plans will be led by Li Mo, and Shen Lan will provide full cooperation."

Shen Lan nodded slightly beside her.

Li Mo turned around, his gaze returning to Bai Ye. He didn't say anything more, but simply reached out and gently patted Bai Ye's head.

"Go back to sleep. Start preparing tomorrow."