"Food, yours."
That's worse English than a certain Oriental.
The terrorist with a veil on his face and an AK47 on his chest placed a plate of turbid soup and a piece of black bread on the table in the room. He glanced mockingly at the white man squatting in the corner, turned around and slammed the door.
After seeing the man leaving with his peripheral vision, Roberts moved weakly, then quickly moved to the edge of the table and grabbed the bread that was as hard as a stone.
His golden curly hair has become slightly shiny, and his face has almost turned a weak waxy yellow, but his eyes are still very clear. Even though there was a thick soup of unknown ingredients before him, and a piece of bread that was almost too chewy to hold in his hand, he did not show the slightest expression of frustration.
He chewed very carefully, even though the thing in his hand was as hard to swallow as pig food.
But he also knew very well that only in this way could he absorb the maximum amount of energy and conserve his physical strength so that he could seize the opportunity to escape when the time came.
The expression on Roberts' face was very relaxed. Even if the unfortunate reporter squatting next to him heard the screams of a slaughtering pig yesterday, he did not show any fear or other emotions.
Without even thinking about it, that guy must have been dragged into a slasher horror movie. After all, most governments will never compromise with terrorist organizations and pay ransoms for hostages. Maybe he would be able to see that unlucky guy again on Facebook in two days, given the video situation... if he could go back to the Internet alive.
This is not the first time Roberts has faced such a dangerous situation. He was kidnapped by guerrillas in Kuwait and almost had his neck wiped. Fortunately, Blackwater International actually did something after taking the money, and cooperated with the US Marine Corps to rescue him at the critical moment.
But now the matter is a bit uncertain. Although he is a US citizen and what he did in the past few years was in the national interest, his smuggling of crude oil from Iran in the past two years has been targeted by the FI. It is said that special agents are collecting evidence in this regard, but apparently there is no tension. It is very possible that the sudden betrayal of the informant was a trick used by the FI to kill someone with a knife. Then how could the US military send someone to rescue him
Barton's bald man was very timid. He was afraid that the FI would just give him a few casual knocks, so he would join some kind of witness protection program and sell his old friend outright.
Roberts was not too angry about this. He had seen a lot of betrayal. If he ends up here this time, then good luck to the bald guy Bud, if he makes it back to Los Angeles alive... Humph.
A stern smile appeared on Roberts' face.
Of course, these are all nonsense now, after all, the probability of his survival is really slim now. Although Nick is trustworthy, he is also a good fighter. But no matter what, he is just one person, and it is still a bit unrealistic to deal with a group of heavily armed terrorists.
What's more, it's a hostage rescue, and it must be done quickly.
Shaking his head mockingly, Roberts nibbled off the last bit of bread and lay back on the bed.
His gut told him that he would be fine this time. His intuition saved his life more than once, so he trusted his intuition and did not give up hope of survival...
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After getting off the plane, Jiang Chen stepped on the ground of Baghdad International Airport.
This city, which is full of religious atmosphere, is not in dire straits as depicted in the news broadcast, at least not near the airport.
The scars left by the war on this exotic and charming city have been gradually repaired by time, and the foreign tourists coming and going at the airport seem to confirm this. Of course, he also knew that such prosperity had its limits.
IS has occupied half of northern Iraq. Even though the sky above Baghdad is still clear, it won't be long before the sky is filled with smoke again.
Wearing sunglasses, Jiang Chen stood at the airport gate for a while, then took out his mobile phone and checked Google Maps, and quickly found the location where Nick and he had agreed to meet.
When he was about to stop a taxi, a car without a license plate stopped in front of him.
"Sir, do you need taxi service?"
It's actually Chinese? Although not smooth.
"Indeed, do you speak Chinese?" Jiang Chen was slightly surprised. After hesitating for a moment, he opened the car door.
"Because I often find work near your oil wells, such as transporting PetroChina employees. Over time, I learned Chinese." The young man smiled, showing his white teeth, and then started the car skillfully. "My name is Aisa. Where are you, sir?"
"Jiang Chen, go to this location on the map." Jiang Chen pointed out the location on the map on his phone to Aisa.
"OK."
Looking at the changing street scenes on both sides, Jiang Chen chatted casually with the taxi driver, who seemed to be about the same age as him. I heard a lot of interesting things.
"Sir, if you are here to travel, I recommend several cities in the south that are quite interesting. Don't go north. The town of Hadithay has almost fallen. It may not be long before even Baghdad is unsafe. "
"Oh? It seems you know a lot about this. How long have you been doing this?" Jiang Chen asked with a smile.
"It's been almost six years. After I was discharged from the army, I started working as a taxi and also worked as a tour guide for a while." Aisa said with a grin.
"Have you ever been a soldier? I feel like you are not older than me." Jiang Chen asked with some confusion.
"I joined the army when I was 12 years old. In your terms, it should be called the Iraq War." Aisa shrugged indifferently and said, "A farce that even the enemy could not see ended quickly. I was I just felt like I was shot with a gun by Sa-Dam and then rushed to the front line to surrender."
Secretly amazed at the young man's experience, he did not continue on the topic.
The car quickly arrived at its destination, and Jiang Chen generously handed $10 to his hand. Looking at the direction of the car leaving, Jiang Chen stretched out and began to look for Nick.
"This way." At this moment, a foreigner drinking coffee under a shed suddenly waved to Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen sat directly opposite Nick. Before he could sit still, Nick spoke hurriedly.
"Only you?"
"That's right." Jiang Chen picked up the empty cup on the side and filled himself a cup.
It's very bitter, and it seems to be a relatively pure Turkish coffee.
Jiang Chen took a sip and put it down. At this moment, he noticed the slightly disappointed expression on Nick's face.
"Oh? You seem disappointed?" Jiang Chen asked, raising his eyebrows.
"You should be very skilled, but it will be difficult if there are only two of us." Nick whispered.
"My strength is not just about my skills. You will know when the time comes." Jiang Chen shrugged, "Where are your weapons?"
"Do you want me to prepare a handful for you in the car?" Nick asked when he saw Jiang Chen's empty hands.
"No, my weapons are ready. I believe you already have clues about your boss. Let's go and rescue him right away. Haha, he still owes me a piece of business." Jiang Chen smiled, The tone was very relaxed, as if he didn't take those terrorists into consideration at all.
Jiang Chen's "underestimating the enemy" performance made Nick frown slightly, but there was no better way at the moment, and it would be dangerous to delay it for another day.
As a soldier, his instinct told him that this person was quite skilled, but he wasn't sure exactly.
"Let's talk about the specific situation in the car. Roberts's situation is not good. If you watched the news yesterday, you will find that IS has executed an American journalist. If the ransom is not obtained before tomorrow, IS will Maybe." Nick lit a cigarette, handed one to Jiang Chen, and led Jiang Chen to his car.
"Can't your boss pay the ransom?" Jiang Chen put the cigarette in his mouth, took out the lighter and lit it.
"IS wants it from the US government." Nick said calmly.
The meaning is self-evident.
The car started, and Nick took the steering wheel and drove out of the city. We passed a total of two security force checkpoints along the way, but they were all symbolic checks, and they were released after finding that there were no bombs. The rifle hidden under the seat cushion by Nick also passed the security inspection successfully both times.
On the way, Nick explained to Jiang Chen what kind of trouble they encountered this time.
About five days ago, Roberts came to Iraq at the invitation of his old friend Patton. An arms order worth 20 million US dollars, the buyer is a Kurdish armed officer who is fighting IS on the front line. It has become a common practice in this desert to place orders with American middlemen and then obtain additional arms supplies. Although Roberts felt something was wrong, he did not doubt it too much.
After all, this is a 20 million US dollar order, and he can make more than 1 million US dollars from it as soon as he changes hands.
This old guy Barton is so interesting!
Yes, it's so interesting...
The military finally managed to get the gunfire to the front line of the battle between government forces and IS, but what they didn't expect was a group of extremist armed forces shouting "Alla-Huba Akka".
Nick is indeed good at fighting. With an M27, he killed at least 9 gangsters who were not afraid of death. However, this was of no use.
In order to intercept this batch of arms, IS, which obtained "secret intelligence", dispatched at least one infantry company, equipped with vehicle-mounted heavy machine guns, RG and other firepower. He was beaten into disgrace within minutes, and he was almost confessed there.
The arms fell into the hands of IS and Roberts was captured. Nick fought his way out and finally escaped to a safe area.
Of course, that doesn't mean he's leaving his boss behind. Roberts saved his life. But he knew that he could only rescue his boss if he escaped first.
He had been wandering around the town of Haditha, and he had a hunch that the IS organization had not taken Roberts to the rear. Sure enough, the next day he suddenly received a strange phone call. The person on the phone claimed to have picked up a ten-dollar bill, and it said, "Call this number and tell him the location where you found the bill, and you will be paid $100." Nick's first reaction was that this might be a trap, but this was his only clue. After meeting the Arab man, Nick paid him $100 and followed him to the area where the money was found.
Fortunately, this is not a trap. Roberts is indeed an old fox. He always hides a ten-dollar bill in the sole of his shoe. He believes that the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States can bring him wealth. At the same time, it can save his life at a critical moment.
Apparently, "Hamilton" saved his life.
"Why don't you contact the embassy? Aren't your American soldiers experts at rescuing hostages?" Jiang Chen said with a relaxed expression and a smile.
"It was originally the fault of the FI. Those idiots couldn't find any evidence, so they simply wanted to get rid of Roberts." Nick was holding a cigarette in his mouth. At this time, he had already put on his sunglasses, and Jiang Chen couldn't see him clearly. The expression on the face.
"Oh? I thought Roberts represented the interests of your government." Jiang Chen shrugged.
"Yes in Iraq, yes in Ukraine, but not in Iran." Nick summarized the problem simply, turned the steering wheel, and drove the car off the road.
It can be seen that Roberts trusts his bodyguard very much and even told him these inconvenient things.
Speaking of which, Jiang Chen seemed to remember that Roberts had told him before that he had done oil smuggling. He must have exposed something and was targeted by the FI.
"Aren't you going to take the highway?"
"There is a checkpoint set up by IS ahead, and we can't pass it. And it's almost there." Roberts calmly drove the car into the alley and turned off the engine.
Jiang Chen opened the door and got out of the car, then looked around. This seemed to be a slum, and occasionally one or two children poked their skinny faces out of the windows to look at the two foreigners curiously. But soon a big hand would stretch out, pull those restless children back, and then close the window tightly.
"It seems that these civilians are quite sensitive to war." Jiang Chen said with a smile and threw away the cigarette butt in his hand.
"They have experienced war from the moment they opened their eyes." Nick took out a travel bag from under the car seat and slung it on his shoulder. When he saw Jiang Chen's calm look, he frowned and asked, "Is this okay with you?"
"No problem, trust me." Jiang Chen sighed.
"In Iraq, Chinese Kung Fu has no place."
"In the eyes of you foreigners, do we Chinese know kung fu?" Jiang Chen said with a smile.
Sure enough, I still have to show off my skills
Jiang Chen reached his right hand behind his back and activated the storage space. In Nick's eyes, with just a flicker, a pistol appeared in Jiang Chen's hand.
Nick was secretly shocked that even he, a veteran, didn't realize where Jiang Chen had hidden the gun.
Moreover, he had no impression of the gun at all.
"What's this gun?"
"Type 11 tactical pistol, privately customized, don't worry." Jiang Chen put the pistol in his purse and shrugged.
After seeing this, Nick nodded and said nothing more about his abilities.
In this way, Jiang Chen followed Nick and walked towards the building where Roberts was imprisoned.
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