Foster father

11

The torrential rain started falling in the middle of the night and showed no signs of stopping by dawn. Originally, everyone was sleeping in tents, but soon they all sought shelter in the vehicles as the cold, dampness made everyone feel miserable.

Once it was daylight, they hastily ate and then set off.

Myanmar, being a country with limited resources, has very few highways, and in the sparsely populated areas, there are almost no paved roads. Once it rained, the roads became extremely difficult to navigate. The ground grew muddier and more treacherous as they went along, but luckily, the vehicles had high ground clearance and plenty of power. Without that, they wouldn't have been able to pass through many of the muddy sections, and sometimes the people had to get out and push.

When they finally reached the outskirts of the forest, it was seven hours later than planned—already past midnight. It was far too dangerous to enter the forest at this hour, so Ail directed everyone to park the vehicles in a circular formation, with the front of the vehicles facing inward and outward, with four people standing guard through the night, rotating every two hours. They ate and rested in the vehicles.

After dinner, Ail went to Carter Vaughn’s vehicle and used electronic equipment to pull up the map of the forest, where he discussed the plan for the next day with Carter. After their discussion, they both agreed that traveling tomorrow was unlikely. The roads in the forest would be impassable for the vehicles, and walking would be too exhausting. They decided to wait for a day, hoping the weather would clear up.

Finally, Ail looked seriously at Carter Vaughn, a hint of worry in his eyes, "John, I have a bad feeling about this."

Carter Vaughn stared out at the heavy rain, "If we get attacked in this weather, being unfamiliar with the terrain and environment will make things bad."

"It's not just that. I have some doubts about this mission," Ail said.

Carter Vaughn nodded, "I feel something’s off too. Don’t you think the cargo I’m transporting this time..."

"It's too little, right?"

Carter Vaughn’s expression darkened, "Exactly. Two hundred pounds, it’s too little. The transaction price is nowhere near enough to cover our commission."

"When I negotiated with the employer, I asked him about this. He said that this is his first time working with those Mexicans. They don't trust him, so this transaction is just a way to check the quality of the goods and test his credibility. His main goal isn’t to make money this time, but to keep this client."

Carter Vaughn said, "What if his main goal isn’t the goods, but he wants us to eliminate his rivals?"

Ail shook his head, "That’s unlikely. They won’t send everyone after us. Even if someone does attack us, it’s probably just hired mercenaries. To be honest, if he really wanted us to wipe out his enemies’ base, no amount of money would make me take on that job. We’re unfamiliar with this place. I don’t do jobs I’m not sure about. If it weren’t for the attractive payment, I would’ve just walked away."

Carter Vaughn pondered for a moment, "What if... he’s using us as bait?"

Ail’s eyes flickered with coldness as he sneered, "I considered that possibility too. Two hundred pounds of cargo, along with our protection, is definitely an obvious bait. I’ve prepared for this, so if it happens, we’ll turn around and make him pay double the commission."

Carter Vaughn grinned, "You really are a money-hungry bastard. You’ll risk anything for money."

Ail rubbed his hair, "Isn’t that what we do? Besides, if I don’t make money, how can I feed you lot?"

Carter Vaughn tilted his head, "Ail, I’m not a kid anymore."

Ail chuckled, "You told me that a few years ago. But now, it’s a bit more convincing since you’ve got a kid." Ail glanced at Oliver, who was curled up, fast asleep on the seat.

Carter Vaughn followed his gaze and smiled, "Ail, he’s clever. He’ll become a valuable member of our mercenary group."

Ail snorted, "In ten years? Who knows if we’ll even survive that long."

Carter Vaughn stretched, "Who cares about how long we live, as long as we live well today."

Ail chuckled softly, "Well, I’m heading back to my car."

"Yeah, I’m going to sleep too."

Ail pointed to his cheek, smiling gently, "Give your big brother a goodnight kiss."

Carter Vaughn slapped his back with a "thud", "Cut it out."

After Ail got out of the car, Carter Vaughn walked around Perel and sat in the back seat. He leaned back and closed his eyes, trying to sleep, but the air around him was cold and damp, making it uncomfortable. After a while, he gave up trying to sleep and leaned forward, poking the soft, chubby face of the child with his finger.

The child quickly woke up, his eyes bleary as he looked up at Carter Vaughn, feeling particularly wronged as he muttered in a sleepy voice, "What’s going on?"

Carter Vaughn stretched out his arm and lifted him up.

The child, still half-asleep, struggled a little before whining in a tired, almost crying voice, "What now?"

"Come sleep with me, it’s really f*****g cold tonight." Carter Vaughn said as he roughly scooped the child from the front seat to the back and shoved him into his arms.

The child, small in size, could sleep anywhere, and after curling up in Carter Vaughn’s embrace, found a comfortable position and dozed off again.

With something warm in his arms, Carter Vaughn felt much more energized. He leaned back in his seat and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

They were all awakened by a gunshot. Carter Vaughn jumped up, his head hitting the car ceiling and leaving him dazed for a few seconds.

Dino yelled, "We’re under attack!" He crouched down and pressed his body against the window, scanning the outside for movement.

Carter Vaughn instantly pulled out his gun. He wiped the fog off the window and saw their sentries firing into the forest, shooting aimlessly in a chaotic manner.

Carter Vaughn shoved the child away, opened the car door, and jumped out of the vehicle, shouting, "Stop firing, crouch down!"

The four sentries immediately crouched down and moved towards the car’s shield. Ail jumped out of another car, shouting, "John, get the rocket launcher! Firing guns is useless if we can’t even see the enemy."

Carter Vaughn opened the trunk and quickly assembled the M72 rocket launcher. He then stepped onto the car door, grabbed the luggage rack with one hand, and jumped up onto the car roof. After shouldering the rocket launcher, he fired with a loud bang. The explosion in the nearby forest created a burst of brilliant sparks. They clearly saw someone being thrown into the air, and shadows moved in the aftermath of the fire.

After firing, he immediately jumped down from the car, knowing that staying on top would make him an easy target. Once on the ground, he tossed the rocket launcher aside and grabbed a submachine gun, shouting, "Ail, you watch over the cargo, I’m taking a few men in to kill these bastards."

Ail ordered the snipers to get ready for cover, and the tiny red dots from their infrared night vision scopes swept across the dark forest, like demons' eyes scanning for prey. The enemy probably didn’t expect snipers to be present, and the forest suddenly fell silent, as if even the slightest movement could be heard.

Perel climbed onto another vehicle, pulled out night vision goggles, and tossed them at Carter Vaughn’s feet. Carter Vaughn used his finger to point at four men to follow him, then tossed the goggles to them. Among the four was Jim.

Jim wasn’t strong in face-to-face combat, but in such low-visibility conditions, his small frame and incredible speed made him a perfect fit to silently slit an enemy’s throat in the dark. He was the best assassin in the "Falcon" group, and even though many looked down on his methods, they kept him around because, in the mercenary business, only useful people were kept.

The five men put on the night vision goggles and crouched low, moving silently into the forest.

In close-quarters combat, submachine guns weren’t very useful. Carter Vaughn strapped his beloved MP5 to his back and held a handgun in one hand. To prevent ambushes, he drew the combat knife from his boot.

Carter Vaughn’s obsession with knives was as strong as Joe’s obsession with women. Though he collected various types of knives, his favorite and most reliable weapon was this kukri curved knife from Nepal.

The knife was treated with a carbon finish, its black blade and handle exuding a rugged, masculine vibe. The curve of the blade followed the principles of aerodynamics. When Carter Vaughn wielded it, it was like an extension of his arm. Its sharp edge could easily sever the neck of an adult man.

Carter Vaughn clenched his fist, extending his arm at shoulder height, signaling the others to move forward in a horizontal line. The four men quickly spread out, forming a straight line as they moved forward.

The two men at the furthest distance soon became blurry to him. Carter Vaughn gripped his knife with his other hand, carefully making his way into the forest, his sharp eyes scanning every inch of the terrain.

The enemies weren’t far away. He could feel them.