Foster father

14

After Ai’er and the team arrived, they combed the entire area. Now, not only had they failed to get the doubled payment from their employer, but the remaining ten million dollars still hadn't been paid, and their employer was dead. Ai’er was so furious he almost cried.

Although they found a large amount of cash, weapons, jewelry, and precious metals in the villa, it was far from the amount they had expected. This big drug lord surely didn’t keep all his wealth in one place, and they couldn’t stay here any longer, so in the end, they lost money on this trip.

Ai’er was dissatisfied, eyeing the pile of methamphetamine they couldn’t take with them, pacing around in place, finally whispering to Carter Vaughan, "Why don’t we take some of it back? We could get someone in Colombia to sell it in Mexico."

Carter Vaughan shot him a glare, "You're a real money-hungry bastard, aren’t you? The drug market in Colombia is too complicated. We have our own work to do. Why stir up trouble?"

Ai’er replied, "I, Ai’er Mo Lei, never do a losing business. This is a disgrace!"

Carter Vaughan snorted, "I never agreed to come to Asia in the first place. The more politically stable a place is, the farther we should stay away from it. It’s very dangerous to operate along the Vietnam border. It’s already a miracle we didn’t face a major crisis. You’re the one who wanted this deal, and if there’s not enough to share among the brothers, we’ll take it from your little savings. Whoever paid you, you go with them, you deserve it."

Ai’er pouted, "Is it really just because Vietnam isn't suitable for business that you didn’t want to come? I’ve known you for years, and you’ve never been bothered by the difficulty of the task. Isn't it because it’s your homeland? So you’re a little... what's that word I learned? Ah, right—'homesick'!"

Carter Vaughan shot him a fierce glare, "Stop joking. I don’t have any concept of a homeland. Don’t act dumb. You know I didn’t want to come here because of that monster we encountered in Hanoi..."

Ai’er’s playful expression turned serious for a moment, "I hope we never encounter that thing again..." He shook his head and shrugged nonchalantly, "At least that thing is dead, so we don’t have to chase monsters down to avenge our father."

"So, of the few survivors, who would want to get close to that place again?" Carter Vaughan’s tone shifted as he reached out and grabbed Ai’er by the neck, growling, "You’re the only greedy bastard who insisted on bringing us here, and now we’re stuck with a losing deal. I can’t wait to see how you explain this to the Shark."

Ai’er rested his chin in thought, "I’ll take on more contracts for killers and bodyguards. Even if it’s small fry, saving up will fill the stomach."

Carter Vaughan grimaced, "Then send Jim out as soon as possible. I can’t stand the way he looks at that kid. Who knows, one of these days I might just skin him."

Ai’er raised an eyebrow, "I know, Jim is a top assassin. He prefers to go solo on missions."

Carter Vaughan’s expression softened slightly.

Ai’er continued, "Originally, that fat guy was supposed to take us back, but now he’s dead, so I’ll have Shark figure out a way to pick us up. I just discussed the route with him, and he said we should make our way to the southern port. He’ll arrange a ship with the proper papers to get us out to international waters."

"With all that’s happened here, we’ve killed the fat guy’s enemies and lost his protection. This journey won’t be easy."

"Yeah, it won’t be easy, but we don’t have any other options. As long as we can make it to international waters, there’ll be no danger. Pack up, we leave tonight."

As they drove toward the southernmost part of Myanmar, Ai’er couldn’t sleep and went to Carter Vaughan’s car to chat with him about their employer’s death, raising many questions.

"How did they offend the Vietnamese military? This definitely isn’t an official response to border crimes, it feels more like it's tied to some unspeakable secret... Even the Vietnamese special forces entering might have been illegal." Ai’er scratched his chin, his mind racing with various speculations, but none of them seemed plausible. "In any case, the inside story must be interesting."

Carter Vaughan let him speculate freely, showing no reaction on his face.

If Ai’er knew those special forces were likely after Oliver, even if only as a "possibility," he might have urged Carter to deal with the child. But Carter Vaughan, on the other hand, felt there was no need for Oliver to die. If those people couldn’t trace them, the child would be raised as his son. If they did find them, based on the fate of the drug lord, they would undoubtedly eliminate them all. Whether the child lived or died didn’t matter much; on the contrary, keeping him alive was an extra bargaining chip.

Although Carter Vaughan felt his plan made sense, and Ai’er always supported him, he intended to keep this information from anyone for now. The fewer people who knew, the better. Once they made it to international waters and returned to their base in Colombia, even if the Vietnamese special forces grew wings, they would be powerless.

No matter who Oliver was, whatever Carter Vaughan found, it was his. He would see who dared try to take it from him!

After two days of travel, they finally reached the south.

According to the information Shark provided, when they arrived, they needed to find a man named Mu Tai. They would pay him the agreed-upon fee, and he would arrange for a reliable ship to take them out to sea within two days. Once they reached Indonesia’s southwestern waters, Shark had already arranged for a plane to take them back to Colombia.

They found a place to rest, and Ai’er took Jobber with him to find Mu Tai.

Carter Vaughan, being Asian, was less noticeable compared to his team members who had the build of bodybuilders. After the sun set, Carter Vaughan took the child to the beach, carrying him into waist-deep water and throwing him in, ordering him to learn how to swim by the end of the day.

After the child sank, Carter Vaughan pulled him back up, taught him how to swim, then threw him back in again.

The child swallowed a stomachful of bitter seawater, his nose and eyes streaming with tears, his limbs flailing as he almost ran out of strength.

Carter Vaughan tirelessly repeated the process, pulling the child up and throwing him back in until the child could float on his own.

After more than three hours of this, the child had thrown up all the food he ate that evening. Carter Vaughan, satisfied that the child could swim a short distance, finally brought him back to shore.

The child collapsed on the beach as soon as he touched land, too exhausted to move his fingers, breathing heavily for fresh air.

Carter Vaughan lay down on the warm sand, looking up at the pure blue sky, feeling drowsy.

Just as he was about to close his eyes, a handful of sand suddenly flew into his face, quickly getting into his nose and mouth. He immediately sat up, spitting several times.

He glared at Oliver, who was looking at him somewhat fearfully.

Oliver raised his chin and said, "I didn’t do it on purpose."

Carter Vaughan stood up, picked the child up by the waist, and carried him toward the sea. "Seems like you haven’t had enough seawater yet."

The child struggled, realizing he had no hope as Carter Vaughan moved toward the sea. In desperation, he screamed, "You deserve it! You deserve it! When I grow up, I’m going to make you drink seawater and eat sand too! Just wait!"

Carter Vaughan raised him above his head and, with the strength of an Olympic shot-putter, tossed him into the sea.

The child hit the water with a dizzying impact and sank immediately.

Carter Vaughan laughed loudly as he watched the child flail around.

At that moment, someone called his name from behind.

He turned around and saw Koski. "What’s up?"

"Ai’er’s back. The man named Mu Tai is missing. You’d better head back."

Carter Vaughan’s face darkened.

By this time, Oliver had managed to swim back, running up the beach with his bare buttocks, grabbing a handful of sand to throw at Carter Vaughan’s back.

Carter Vaughan turned around and glared at him, "You want me to tie you up and hang you in the sea?"

The child hesitated, looking at him with a mixture of hatred and fear.

Carter Vaughan wasn’t in the mood to play with this little toy anymore. Something was definitely wrong.

The three of them quickly headed back.