"Bastard, what did you say!"
"Do you think I'm a sow! How many more do you want to give birth to?"
Hearing Ye Cangtian's words, Tang Xinwan's face turned red. She stomped her feet and returned to the bed.
Ring!
Just as Ye Cangtian was appreciating Tang Xinwan's shy demeanor, the phone suddenly rang.
He glanced at the caller ID, it was Rose's number, so he answered.
"Ahem, well, my brothers heard that you got your marriage certificate today, so they specifically asked me to call and congratulate you!"
"Wishing you and sister-in-law a hundred years of happiness, early childbirth, and growing old together..."
Rose's voice came through, tinged with a hint of melancholy.
Ye Cangtian naturally understood the reason, but he had always regarded Rose as a sister, so he was not surprised and did not point it out.
"Thank my brothers for me."
"If I have time in the future, I'll bring Xinwan to see you..."
Ye Cangtian thanked him, then quickly changed the subject and said, "By the way, what's the situation with the Bright Hall now?"
Mentioning the Bright Hall's actions, Rose became serious.
According to intelligence continuously intercepted by Viper, the Tamu mercenary group should arrive at the headquarters of the Lightning mercenary group soon.
As for who will lead the team, there is no news yet.
Hearing this, Ye Cangtian's brow furrowed. The Lightning mercenary group was also a medium-sized force.
For forces of this type, even the Pandora mercenary group did not have much of a solution.
It was no help that the Pandora mercenary group was strong, but there were simply too few top experts.
If they forcibly annexed the Lightning mercenary group, even if successful, they would likely suffer heavy losses.
Therefore, the Pandora mercenary group mainly targeted smaller forces.
And judging by the actions of the Tamu mercenary group, the Bright Hall was the opposite of the Pandora mercenary group.
The Bright Hall had a multitude of experts and was more than capable of dealing with weakened medium-sized forces.
To avoid further complications, the Bright Hall's target was to start with medium-sized forces.
Therefore, time was extremely precious for Ye Cangtian.
If the Bright Hall annexed smaller forces, their expansion and strength enhancement would likely be minimal.
But medium-sized forces were different.
For example, the Ninja Division was not very strong originally, but after joining forces with the Rattlesnake mercenary group, they gained the ability to cause trouble.
This was also why they were highly regarded by the Dark Association and the Bright Hall.
From this, one could see the importance of a medium-sized mercenary group to a force.
Therefore, whether it was for Po Xiao of the Dark Association or Ye Cangtian of the Hidden Group, he could not let the Bright Hall have its way.
Having made up his mind, Ye Cangtian said into the phone, "Alright, I'll deal with the Lightning mercenary group's affairs as soon as possible. You continue to collect intelligence, and we'll stay in touch."
With that, Ye Cangtian hung up the phone and lit a cigarette on the balcony.
These medium-sized forces were currently weakened. Not only the Bright Hall, but also the Dark Association had the idea of annexation.
Zi Long's mission for him was to annex these forces as much as possible for his own use, while preventing the Bright Hall's actions.
Ye Cangtian was not a member of the Dark Association, so he naturally would not let the Dark Association annex these forces.
But these forces were currently weakened and might not escape annexation.
Then came the problem. Ye Cangtian wanted to take over these forces in the name of the Hidden Group.
However, after discussing this with Old Master Xu before, Old Master Xu clearly refused.
The reason given was that China adhered to the principle of peace, would not annex any forces, nor would it cultivate its own forces overseas.
So the question was, what would be the ultimate fate of these forces?
Ye Cangtian racked his brains over this.
The Death Squad could not possibly take over. The Death Squad was a small but powerful team and did not have the energy to manage forces.
As for the Pandora mercenary group, there were too few experts. Moreover, they had already annexed some forces. If they made another move, Zhao Ziyang and Misha would not be able to handle it.
After thinking for a long time, Ye Cangtian could not think of a suitable solution and finally gave up in frustration. He would take it one step at a time.
He believed that where there's a will, there's a way.
...
The next morning.
After breakfast, Ye Cangtian took Tang Xinwan and boarded a helicopter back to Kyoto.
Upon returning to Kyoto, after sending Tang Xinwan to the branch company, Ye Cangtian informed Tang Xinwan of his upcoming departure.
Although Tang Xinwan was reluctant, she did not stop him, only reminding Ye Cangtian to be careful.
After bidding farewell to Tang Xinwan, Ye Cangtian boarded the plane again.
...
A thousand miles away.
An endless expanse of sea. From high in the sky, one could see islands dotted like stars.
The distance between these islands was not far.
Viewed from high above, they resembled a gate, hence the name—the Hell Gate Archipelago.
This was where the headquarters of the Lightning mercenary group was located.
At this moment, on the largest island of the Hell Gate Archipelago, in a militarized camp.
The generals of the Lightning mercenary group, as usual, were training their men.
Everyone knew that strength was king.
Only by improving their strength could the Lightning mercenary group's international standing be raised, and only by raising their international standing could everyone's treatment be improved.
Therefore, all the mercenaries here trained diligently every day, after all, as mercenaries, they were in it for the profit.
However, while everyone was training diligently, the roar of an airplane reached them.
Everyone looked up at the sky in unison. They saw a helicopter, flying at a very high speed, streaking across the sky.
If it had flown by normally, there would have been no problem.
But the problem was that the helicopter was not flying high, as if it was flying directly overhead, giving a sense of provocation.
In an instant.
Everyone's expression changed. They wished they could grab a rocket launcher and shoot the plane down for such a provocation.
Inside the military tent.
A figure stood by the window, watching the departing helicopter.
This person was wearing camouflage and was exceptionally robust. He was the leader of the Lightning mercenary group, Reardon.
"Commander, I think it's necessary to release some information on the battle network to emphasize the mercenary group's airspace and territorial waters!"
At this moment, a voice came from behind him.
A man walked into the command tent.
This person was one of Reardon's confidantes and the commander of the Lightning mercenary group, Charlie.
Charlie had always been very concerned about airspace and territorial waters.
In recent years, with the changes in the international situation, the Lightning mercenary group had not had an easy time.
Although there had been no major wars, foreign ships had been approaching the Hell Gate Archipelago, even showing signs of landing.
It should be known that these people were not fishermen, but scouts from various forces, essentially probing the strength of the Lightning mercenary group.
Charlie had often led people to deal with these nuisances, but the effect was not significant and did not serve as a warning to others.
And now it had become even more outrageous, with helicopters flying at low altitudes. This was completely disregarding the Lightning mercenary group!
Moreover, if such incidents happened a few more times, all the secrets of the Lightning mercenary group would be exposed to the eyes of various forces, which was simply courting disaster.
Therefore, Charlie repeatedly advised Reardon to declare the Lightning mercenary group's stance on the battle network, which would serve as a serious warning to all forces.
The message was clear: if anyone disregarded the warning and trespassed again, the Lightning mercenary group would not be polite.
"Charlie, a tough stance is important, but let's let this matter go for now."
"I've told you long ago that showing weakness is also a means of survival..."
Reardon naturally understood Charlie's intentions. He pondered for a moment and slowly spoke.
In his opinion, before the Lightning mercenary group became strong enough, they should lie low and not emphasize these matters.
After all, without strength, there was no voice; even if emphasized, no one would respect you.
Therefore, he allowed some forces to probe the Hell Gate. He could create a false impression, making other forces feel it was a chicken rib.
Thus, various forces would lose interest in the Lightning mercenary group.
"Commander, the situation is different now, and your approach may not work anymore."
Charlie shook his head immediately upon hearing this.
The Lightning mercenary group had recently suffered losses of many experts in China, and their overall strength had been weakened, leading to low morale.
At this time, they needed to be tougher, so that those petty troublemakers would not dare to offend them.
"Hmph! Are you brainless!"
"Even if you announce our sovereignty, what good would that do?"
"Are you going to shoot down planes from all the forces?"
Hearing Charlie's doubts, Reardon's expression turned cold.
Shooting down a plane was easy, but calming down a controversy was difficult.
With the current strength of the Lightning mercenary group, it was not suitable for them to engage in combat with any force, no matter how weak they were.
After all, once combat began, it meant mutual attrition. The more they attrited, the weaker the Lightning mercenary group would become, and the more they would be exposed.
At that time, wouldn't those powerful forces seize the opportunity?
"Commander..."
"Report!"
As Charlie was about to say something, a report came.