Chapter 21: Take What You Can Get
Chapter 21: Take What You Can Get
After changing his clothes, Lin Mu immediately left for the Tenglong Building.
When he arrived at the base, it was bustling with activity. Everyone was gathered in the main hall, nervously watching the information on the screens.
“What happened? What’s going on?” Lin Mu stood behind Tang Beibei and asked softly.
“This is serious. We’re majorly dropping the ball,” Tang Beibei replied quickly, her expression grave. “A group of mercenaries has taken over a dozen hostages and are trying to blackmail the Huaxia government into releasing their leader. A while back, their leader was arrested in Huaxia for several crimes.”
“Things were under our control at first, but wrong intel a few days ago distracted us. Most of our personnel were pulled away. Who knew they’d pull a surprise turnaround?”
Lin Mu got the gist of it. “So what are we going to do about it?”
“Right now, that merc group plans to escalate things. They’re targeting the Pearl Tower. It’s right in the middle of the city center! We absolutely cannot let them succeed!”
“The most crucial thing now is the hostages they’re holding. If we can free them, we can go all out against the mercenaries without worrying.”
Lin Mu nodded. “So rescuing those hostages falls to us, right? But surely it’s not just the two of us?”
“Of course not. You’re still the new guy. I wouldn’t have called you over if we weren’t so short-handed,” Tang Beibei shot him an annoyed look. “Mainly it’s because the hostages’ location is extremely well hidden. We still don’t know exactly where they are. Once we mobilize, your job is to scout for the hostages’ location. The moment you find anything, contact the others immediately.”
At this, Lin Mu finally understood why he’d been called in. He was basically being used as a runner.
But it made sense. To the Dragon Protection Corps, he was just a total newbie with little combat strength. They weren’t about to send him into the fire.
After analysing the situation, Lu Shouyang emphasized the mission’s importance once more before sending out a team of six, including Lin Mu, to execute the hostage rescue mission.
Intelligence had narrowed the hostages’ location down to a village in the Pingjiang District. Its remote location, being on the outskirts with inconvenient transport, made it a good spot for the mercenaries to stash them.
But pinpointing their exact location within the village remained unclear. Once on site, the Dragon Protection Corps members would have to play it by ear.
In the vehicle, Lin Mu sat with his eyes closed, resting. But by judging the auras of his five teammates, he got a rough idea of their strength.
Three were around Tang Beibei’s level, just starting out in the Agility Realm. The other two were slightly stronger, having reached the mid-stage of the Agility Realm.
Compared to ordinary people, their breaths were noticeably long and steady, clearly the result of practicing Breathing Technique for a long time.
Initial practice of Breathing Technique couldn’t absorb Spiritual Energy from the air to convert into Zhenqi, but subtle conditioning led to massive physical improvements.
Combined with Martial Arts Cultivation, the resulting destructive power was naturally terrifying.
The car drove fast, reaching the small village in less than thirty minutes. To avoid detection by any lookouts, everyone got out immediately and slipped quietly into the village.
Once inside, they dispersed without a word. Their earlier assignments were clear. Here, each would act independently to find the hostages.
Tang Beibei shot Lin Mu a look urging caution, then flickered into motion, disappearing between the village’s low buildings.
Lin Mu crouched low, scanning all around, then began a meticulous search.
Approaching a low hut, Lin Mu suddenly sensed something off. Focusing his senses fully, he detected a strong quantity of human presence inside this particular building.
The village itself was on the outskirts of Pingjiang District. Most inhabitants were elderly women, meaning the whole place had little human presence.
This strangeness captured Lin Mu’s attention. Combined with their previous intel, he became near certain the hostages were held here.
He stealthily slipped over the low surrounding wall. Pressing against the window, he carefully peered inside. The space was small, containing only a few shabby pieces of furniture.
“That makes no sense!”
Lin Mu frowned. The intense human presence emanated from this very hut. If the hostages had merely passed through and left, the residual presence couldn’t linger so strongly now.
He carefully observed the surrounding area again. On the dirt yard to the right, a large, ink-black iron lid, about five feet across, caught his eye.
Walking closer and focusing his awareness once more, Lin Mu finally pinpointed the source of the strong human presence. It came from beneath this iron lid.
Gripping its edge, the muscles in his arm bulged. With immense effort, Lin Mu alone heaved up the three-hundred-plus-pound lid, revealing a slanted earthen staircase beneath.
“Seems like a cellar,” he muttered.
Flat on his stomach by the opening, Lin Mu’s ears twitched as he listened intently for movement below. Hearing nothing, he climbed down the stairs using all four limbs in an awkward posture.
The stairs ended at another iron door, guarded by a single mercenary in camouflage, holding a submachine gun.
The moment Lin Mu saw the mercenary, the mercenary saw him. But Lin Mu’s bizarre climbing pose startled him, causing a slight delay in reaction.
Lin Mu wouldn’t give him time to recover. His limbs explosively shoved him forward, launching off the stairs directly at the mercenary. He spun low to the ground, hooking his legs around the man’s left arm and throat.
Flexing his core, Lin Mu’s thighs clamped down instantly. Horrified, the mercenary didn’t even get a chance to struggle before being hurled to the floor. A light tap to the neck from Lin Mu’s left foot rendered him instantly unconscious.
Lin Mu swiftly stripped the man of his outfit and put it on. After tidying it slightly, he rapped on the iron door.
With a screech, the door opened from the inside.
The dim underground light made it hard for the opener to spot anything amiss. But after asking twice without a reply, alarm flashed in his eyes. His right hand shot towards the holster on his hip.
Lin Mu’s eyes gleamed. He grabbed the man’s gun-hand, forcefully jamming the weapon back into its holster.
The doorman reacted with incredible speed. Seeing his gun-grab fail, he immediately drove his knee violently towards Lin Mu’s stomach.
Lin Mu neither dodged nor flinched. He slammed his own knee forward. A sharp crack echoed as the man let out a stifled grunt. Knee-cap shattered entirely from the collision.
Still, he was a professional mercenary. Despite excruciating pain, he stifled a cry. His left fist shot towards Lin Mu’s head.
But Lin Mu didn’t retract the knee he’d just driven upwards. Instead, relying on it as a pivot, he snapped his lower leg outwards like a whip. His foot connected squarely with the man’s chin.
It was a clean, powerful rising kick. Even as the mercenary lifted into the air, Lin Mu followed through. His right hand chopped sharply like a striking Hand Blade onto the assailant’s neck, knocking him cold.
Lin Mu tossed this man into the cellar behind him before stepping inside himself. Under faint yellow lighting, over a dozen frightened men and women huddled together in one corner.
His eyes swept the space, landing next on two large bags in the opposite corner. Inside, through partially opened zippers, stacks and stacks of brand-new banknotes were visible.
The hostages had witnessed the earlier encounter. Seeing Lin Mu in the same mercenary uniform, they assumed this was infighting among the thugs over their spoils.
Lin Mu glanced at the bag of money, then back at the huddled group. A plan instantly formed.
Without a word, he walked calmly to the corner, picked up both heavy bags, checked them briefly, zipped them shut, and began walking out.
Just as he stepped outside, someone from the group exploded into motion. They lunged forward, rolled past Lin Mu towards the unconscious mercenary, and snatched the pistol from his holster.
“Freeze! Drop those bags, or I shoot!”
The clear, sharp voice belonged to a woman.
The sudden turn of events left the other hostages frozen, staring dumbly at the woman who’d thrown herself forward.
“Miss,” Lin Mu growled, pitching his voice low and hoarse. “Did you suddenly develop a taste for easy money too?”
“Rubbish! I’m police! Turn around!” the woman barked again.
“Police?”
Lin Mu chuckled grimly, turning leisurely. “Alright, officer. There are two bags here. We split them—one piece each. Then we pretend this never happened. How ‘bout it?”
He started stepping towards her.
“Stop! Another step and I shoot!” the woman retreated instantly, shaking the gun. “Get down on your knees and put your hands on your head!”
“Okay, okay! Officer, whatever you say!” Lin Mu sighed, dropping the bags. He raised his hands, then knelt, lacing his fingers behind his head.
“You! Come here!” The woman gestured to a middle-aged man among the hostages. “Use your belt to tie his wrists!”
The middle-aged man froze, then nervously crept forward. He began unclasping the belt from his trousers.
In that moment, Lin Mu’s clasped hands shot outwards with sudden force. He shoved the middle-aged man hard enough to send him flying backwards into the woman holding the gun.
Both cried out in shock. But Lin Mu was already in motion. He sprang to his feet, chopped the gun from the woman’s grasp with brutal efficiency, and coldly snarled, “All of you! Get back to the corner! Hands on your heads!”
Watching the two scramble back to the huddled mass, Lin Mu snorted contemptuously. He hoisted the two heavy bags and swiftly exited the cellar without another word.