CHAPTER 524: CHAPTER 524: BARGAINING, TWENTY MINUTES!

Hearing Luo An’s words about "raising the price," Hamidun and Jesper who were gagged with rags in their mouths, rolled their eyes in exasperation.

Captain John, who had brought back the captives, along with his team members, all stared at Luo An dumbfounded.

Although they knew Luo An was bluffing with the adversary, they couldn’t shake the feeling that Group Leader Luo An seemed quite skilled at demanding money!

Winslow hurriedly gestured silently to everyone to reorganize their positions, while Mona and Chenier, unconcerned with Luo An’s words, were intently watching the progress bar at 93% on the computer.

Hale Rick, on the other end of the phone, burst into laughter when he heard Luo An state the figure of 10 million US Dollars:

"Do you think thatfigure is realistic?"

Luo An stepped aside to a rock, eyeshalf-closed as he saw the speedboats beginningto land on the shore, and replied:

"The 10 million US Dollars is just my opening bid, Mr. Hale Rick can make a counteroffer."

"Alright, 8 million US Dollars."

"Deal!"

"..."

Hearing Luo An agreeing so quickly, Hale Rick was momentarily speechless.

After taking a deep breath, he continued to speak:

"You release the people, and I’ll transfer the money and let you go."

Luo An shook his head repeatedly in refusal:

"That’s impossible, you pay first, let us leave, and we’ll release the people last."

"You don’t trust me?"

"No, it’s that you, Mr. Hale Rick, don’t trust me."

"..."

As Luo An finished speaking, there was a long silence in the air, followed by a cold snort from Hale Rick on the phone before he hung up abruptly.

"Did the negotiation break down?"

Winslow, who observed this, had a slight change in expression and asked:

"Isn’t Hale Rick afraid that we’ll kill Hamidun and Jesper?"

"From Hale Rick’s point of view, we wouldn’t dare."

Luo An shook his head; he had just pretended to be a human smuggler, and Hamidun and Jesper were his only bargaining chips.

From Hale Rick’s perspective, as long as Luo An didn’t want to die at the hands of those fifty or so men, he wouldn’t dare actually kill Hamidun and Jesper.

Would a smuggler be afraid of dying? Undoubtedly, of course they’d be afraid of dying. Luo An’s exorbitant demands just now had proved as much.

Hale Rick’s words had always been probing, trying to sense and confirm Luo An’s greed and fear of death before daring to abruptly end the call.

However, Hale Rick was on the third level, while Luo An was on the fifth. Smiling and patting Winslow on the shoulder, he walked over to Mona and asked:

"How did it go?"

"Success!"

Joy was written all over the faces of Mona and Chenier. Luo An had just bought them time, allowing them to successfully pinpoint Hale Rick’s location:

"He’s currently on a main island of the Bahamas!"

Winslow’s face instantly brightened, while Luo An remained composed. He had already guessed this possibility; Hale Rick, who placed such importance on Hamidun and Jesper and sent over fifty people to the island, was very likely to be in the Bahamas himself.

Now that the enemy’s position was confirmed, Luo An immediately pulled out a flip phone and dialed Trick Kennedy:

"Sir, I’ve captured Jesper."

Trick Kennedy, on the other end of the phone, was visibly astonished, but before a smile could form on his face, he heard the situation Luo An and his team were currently surrounded in.

"F**k!"

After listening to Luo An’s description, Trick Kennedy immediately became anxious, stood up with a slap on the table, and said urgently:

"I’ll send a rescue to that island immediately!"

"There’s no time, sir."

Watching the enemies starting to enter the jungle not far away, Luo An briefly recounted his recent talk with Hale Rick and the latter’s current location, then said:

"Sir, didn’t you send a group of people to the Bahamas earlier? Have them capture Hale Rick!

As long as we capture Hale Rick, we can force him to order the cessation of their operations, and we’ll be safe here."

"Okay, okay, okay!"

Trick Kennedy nodded continuously, quickly picking up the nearby landline to inquire about that team’s status and, moments later, hastily picked up the cellphone to tell Luo An:

"Luo An, the operation team has already arrived in the Bahamas. The capture operation is expected to take 15 minutes! You must hold out for 15 minutes!"

"Understood."

After hanging up the phone, Luo An looked at the position that had already been handled by Captain John and the others, shook his cellphone, and loudly said:

"Everyone, 20 minutes! We hold out for 20 minutes!"

Considering the possibility of unexpected situations, Luo An extended the time by five minutes.

"No problem!"

"Understood!"

Learning that Headquarters had dispatched backup, Captain John and his teammates were instantly boosted in morale.

A moment later, one teammate guarded Hamidun, Jesper, and the other captives, while Mona, Winslow, and four other team members, a total of seven people, crouched at the position. Luo An, Chenier, and Captain John, three people each, took their places at surrounding vantage points ready to face the enemy together.

A total of 53 enemies, this was information Mona had received earlier. As time ticked by, more and more enemies slowly appeared before everyone’s eyes. Luo An immediately pressed the communicator:

"Attack!"

Bang Bang Bang—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Boom!

Boom!

As Luo An’s words fell, fierce gunfire and deafening explosions erupted all at once. The narrow terrain and the higher position of Winslow and the others, along with the vantage points occupied by Luo An’s trio, caught Hale Rick’s men completely off-guard.

"Left side! Left side!"

"Seize the high ground!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Holding an AR-15 with a scope previously confiscated, Luo An, under Captain John’s astonished gaze, took down one enemy with each shot, quickly eliminating four men who had tried to seize the high ground.

The first wave of enemies suffered heavy losses and promptly retreated when they realized the situation. Winslow and the others did not pursue; they collected their weapons and ammunition, waiting quietly for the second wave of enemies to arrive.

Before long, the enemy’s second wave of assault resumed. Luo An shot and killed an enemy with a single bullet, his brow furrowing as he sensed something was off. He immediately pressed the communicator, saying:

"Winslow, the count of the enemy doesn’t add up. Check the cliff behind us for any activity!"

"Understood!"

Winslow quickly got up from his position and ran toward the nearby cliff. After observing for a few seconds, his pupils constricted, and he urgently pressed the communicator:

"Luo An, you’re right! There are enemies below the cliff!"

"Son of a bitch!"

Hearing that the enemy was planning to sneak attack from behind, everyone’s expressions changed at once; they were already outnumbered by the enemy several times over. If they split their forces to the rear, the situation would only worsen.

But if they didn’t divide their forces, and the enemy successfully flanked them, none would escape.

"I’ll take care of the cliff!"

Luo An, without revealing any panic, took out a bottle of [Stamina Potion] and a bottle of [Hemostatic Potion] and gulped them down. Then he pressed the communicator and ordered Winslow to take his high ground position, while he would deal with the enemies at the cliff.

"But..."

Winslow wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Luo An’s loud command and had to hurry to the high ground, a position that was equally crucial.

The cliff behind them was not insurmountable. On the contrary, as soon as one enemy could successfully climb up the rocks to reach the top and block the attack, the rest could follow that path up.

Luo An moved quickly behind a large rock and saw the view at the bottom of the cliff was completely obscured by smoke grenades thrown by the enemy. He grinned and activated "Emotional Perception" in his mind.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three gunshots rang out, and three enemies in the midst of climbing within the thick smoke fell to the ground. The remaining enemies were stunned and quickly moved to find cover, loudly guessing:

"Does the person above have infrared equipment?"

"How would I know?"

"Fire! Suppress their firepower!"

Hale Rick’s men, in fact, had no other choice. The path before them was firmly suppressed by Winslow and the others, and they couldn’t take the high ground, so they had opted to flank.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Over a dozen enemies threw a few more smoke grenades. While some of them were climbing, others aimed their guns and suppressed Luo An’s position with gunfire.

What shocked them was that Luo An, obviously suppressed behind the rock, unable to show his head, always managed to throw a grenade with incredible accuracy right next to those about to reach the summit, exploding thunderously beside them.

While the enemy was unable to comprehend and grew even angrier, since nearly a dozen of them were actually being held back by Luo An alone!

At the same time, far away, on an island in the Bahamas, dozens of fully armed operation team members were ready, guns raised as they stormed into a seaside villa.