Chapter 46: The Final Desperate Gamble!

Xing Xiaolong could no longer recall how he had made his way back from the rescue command base. More than an hour had passed since his return, but he had sat like a stone at the edge of his bed, staring blankly into space. His eyes were unfocused, gazing emptily ahead.

He had received the answer he sought, but that answer came wrapped in the cold reality of his own powerlessness, a defeat that seemed to seep from his very bones. Xing Xiaolong was no coward afraid of death—far from it. He was a veteran, toughened by service. He even possessed extraordinary golden and silver rings that could conjure weapons from thin air. Yet, what did it matter?

Against hundreds, perhaps thousands, of adversaries, he stood alone. He was not the legendary soldier who could vanquish a hundred foes single-handedly. No matter how many weapons lay within his rings, no matter how deadly they might be, two fists could never overcome four hundred hands.

He faced not just a few, but an entire Black tribe—at least one or two hundred armed men, if not more. To charge in alone? Ridiculous. Reality was not some brainless melodrama where enemies are idiots to be slaughtered at will. If Xing Xiaolong rashly ventured into a strange African tribe to attempt a rescue, even if he were bristling with guns and courage, he would never make it out alive.

To put it bluntly, faced with the tribe’s armed men and the hundreds or thousands of villagers, even their collective spit would be enough to drown him. His only hope—the peacekeeping forces—had given him a merciless answer. The last resort, the embassy, might negotiate officially, but who could say how long such talks would last? A day? A week? A month?

During an indefinite negotiation, no one could guarantee that nothing would go wrong. Especially given that Lady Su—young, beautiful, and alluring as a ripe peach—was left to languish in the Kaso tribe’s hands, every extra day posed new dangers to her honor.

Xing Xiaolong did not want to be haunted by regret for half his life, but his options were pitifully limited. This knowledge tormented him.

For over an hour, as he sat at the edge of the bed, he cursed his own helplessness. Every time he imagined Lady Su surrounded by a crowd of Black men, forced into a corner, sobbing in despair, his heart twisted in agony. The pain pierced his soul, clutched at his breath, and nearly drove him mad.

Fortunately, years of military discipline allowed him to claw back a sliver of composure from the brink of madness. He forced himself to set aside the chaos in his mind and search for solutions under pressure, seeking a single ray of light in the despair—however faint.

And at last, he found two possible paths, though neither guaranteed success. Still, they were all he had.

The first: pay the Kaso tribe’s demanded ransom. By now, Lady Su’s family must know of the crash and were likely already on their way. With their means, scraping together a million dollars to ransom their only daughter would be hard, but not impossible. After all, her family had risen from a small county to establish a successful export business—they had some resources.

Yet, even if the ransom was paid, this path might well go nowhere. In an international incident of this scale, the question of ransom was beyond a single family’s control—it was a matter of national interest and reputation. They could not alter the entire negotiation strategy just because one party agreed to pay. Even if secret deals were made behind the scenes, the official stance would not change.

Moreover, the Kaso tribe was unlikely to expose the hostages’ location or risk multiple uncertain transactions just for one ransom. To protect themselves, they would either release all the hostages at once or none at all, dragging things out as long as possible. Any hostages who died during the stalemate could be written off as succumbing to “illness” or other “accidents,” clearing the tribe of blame.

And if talks ultimately failed, the Kaso tribe could simply claim that anti-government guerrillas had seized the hostages, washing their hands of the affair. With the guerrillas hiding in the jungle and refusing all contact, not even the UN could verify the story.

It was precisely because of this three-way standoff that the Kaso tribe dared to exploit the chaos, brazenly offering the crash survivors for sale. This was likely why Louis Gabriel Lagos, distrustful of the UN, was preparing to act with his own men.

The only remaining option was to cooperate with Louis Gabriel Lagos, whose background and intentions remained shrouded in mystery, and whose methods were anything but conventional.

Though Louis had yet to specify what he wanted from Xing Xiaolong, it was clear to anyone with sense that it would not be aboveboard. If it were, why bother keeping the UN peacekeepers and the embassy in the dark, or demand secrecy from the start?

This was why Xing Xiaolong hesitated: he wanted nothing to do with gray or black-market forces, fearful that a single misstep would forever bar him from a normal life. Only in utter desperation would he consider collaboration.

“Is this really the only road left to me?” he thought helplessly, glancing numbly at Louis before turning back to stare ahead.

Louis, sharp-eyed as ever, read Xing Xiaolong’s state at a glance, a fleeting joy flashing in his gaze. He knew Xing Xiaolong had made his choice.

“Young man, have you decided? Things aren’t as complicated as you think. If you’re willing, I can help you return to the life you want when it’s all over,” Louis said, seizing on the moment to offer reassurance.

And with that promise—the final straw—Xing Xiaolong cast aside his last doubts, ready to risk everything to save Lady Su.

“I agree to work with you, regardless of what you want me to do. But I have one last condition,” Xing Xiaolong said, his eyes blazing unwaveringly into Louis’s blue ones. “I must participate in the rescue operation. Your people must take me with them.”

“You don’t trust me?” Louis chuckled.

“That’s right. There’s no bond between us—I can’t trust you. Only by joining in myself can I ensure my goal is achieved,” Xing Xiaolong replied firmly.

“This young Asian is impressive,” Louis thought. “Courage, cunning, self-control, and his own ideas—he even seems to have military experience. If I were to introduce him for some special training, perhaps…”

His mind made up, Louis extended his right hand with a smile. “Very well. I accept your condition. May our cooperation be a fruitful one.”