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No one can remain calm after almost being killed in a sneak attack. These people, fearing for their own lives, had no choice but to beg for mercy.

No one is truly unafraid of death; it's just a matter of not having faced that moment yet. Especially when life or death becomes a choice...

"Relax, as long as you honestly answer my questions, I won't kill you…"

Qin Fang really had no interest in killing these people.

If it weren't for the possibility that these people might have information on Tang Cheng, Qin Fang wouldn't have even wanted to deal with them. As for their current predicament, it was entirely their own fault, and they had no one else to blame but themselves.

"Y-Yes, yes... Just go ahead and ask. We'll answer everything we know without holding anything back!"

By this point, this small drug cartel had completely caved. Although the man standing before them was alone, his strength was terrifying, and he killed without so much as blinking. If they even slightly infuriated him, there's no telling which of the seven of them might be the next to fall.

Rather than resist and die, it was better to comply and perhaps grasp a slim chance of survival.

"You just mentioned that you previously encountered Anlang's government forces?"

Qin Fang ignored the somewhat sycophantic "Boss" and instead walked directly up to Xiao Liu, who had spoken earlier. Locking eyes with Xiao Liu, whose gaze was evasive and filled with evident fear, he asked the question.

"Yes… They took 30% of our goods!"

Xiao Liu nodded frantically. He couldn't understand why Qin Fang was asking this question but instinctively provided an accurate answer.

Even their typically domineering leader had already given in, and the most ruthless among them, the Anlang man, had already fallen to Qin Fang's gun. Xiao Liu understood all too well what choice he had to make.

"But Ruan Laosi said those people weren't actually Anlang's government forces..."

After blurting out his first response, Xiao Liu seemed to suddenly recall something and hastily added it, fearing that leaving out any detail might later cause trouble with Qin Fang.

"You're Ruan Laosi?"

Qin Fang nodded casually. He had already overheard what Xiao Liu said earlier, so asking again was almost redundant. He walked straight over to Ruan Laosi, the Anlang man whose appearance was distinctly different from Dragon Country people. Fixing Ruan Laosi with a piercing gaze, he asked the question.

Ruan Laosi, an Anlang native, was known for being a calculated and quiet individual within their group. While he often spoke little, Qin Fang had noticed earlier that Ruan Laosi's ruthlessness exceeded even that of the Anlang man Qin Fang had just killed.

"It's often said that silent dogs bite the hardest…" And Ruan Laosi epitomized such a person.

However, at this moment, even this "silent dog" could only obediently nod to answer Qin Fang's question.

"Those people weren't Anlang's police or military?"

Qin Fang posed the question again.

Qin Fang had already used the Mind Reading Technique to learn some details from Xiao Liu concerning their encounter with the so-called government forces.

But Xiao Liu didn't know much. Key details still required clarification from Ruan Laosi, who understood the local context better.

In Anlang, when drug traffickers encountered military police, they were rarely stopped outright. Instead, the authorities would typically extort them by taking a cut of their goods. Large, well-connected trafficking organizations often faced reduced or waived cuts after proper "arrangements."

However, for small, powerless groups like this one, being caught meant a mandatory 30% cut of their goods—a loss that deeply stung.

A few days ago, they had run into one such group. Knowing they were drug traffickers heading to the Dragon Country's border, the group wasted no time in seizing 30% of their goods.

The eight of them had considered resisting, but with 20-30 fully armed soldiers suddenly appearing, they were immediately disheartened.

The issue lay here: typically, Anlang's military police set up checkpoints on well-trafficked smuggling routes, extorting trafficking groups as they passed by.

No matter how poorly armed the traffickers were, they couldn't realistically challenge these well-prepared defensive positions.

This time, however, the "military police" they encountered were deep in the forest. Ironically, the group had chosen a remote path to avoid such military police, only to stumble directly into them.

The group had seized their 30% cut without a word. The traffickers thought it was standard procedure and assumed they had come across a hidden government force.

The key reason Ruan Laosi believed these people were not locals, however, was that their weapons and equipment were too advanced—far superior to Anlang's most elite forces.

If Anlang's military had such formidable supplies, they would undoubtedly behave even more tyrannically, potentially starting another border conflict with Dragon Country.

"Where exactly did you meet them?"

After learning this key detail from Ruan Laosi, Qin Fang gained a clearer understanding. He didn't need much more information; the priority now was to locate this group's current position.

If Qin Fang's guess was correct, this mysterious and dangerous group must be the same one that breached Dragon Country's border and disbanded Tang Cheng's special forces team.

This group was likely a mercenary organization. Only a force of that nature could possess such power and advanced weaponry to accomplish these feats.

The reason they took the traffickers' goods might have been mere happenstance. Taking 30% of the goods could have been an effort to masquerade as local military police, forcing the drug traffickers to quietly accept their loss.

It was also possible that there were drug users among the mercenaries...

This wouldn't be surprising at all. Mercenaries led dangerous lives, even more so than drug traffickers' perilous trade.

Drug traffickers, despite their risks navigating mountains and borders, could usually escape with their lives if they abandoned their haul.

But mercenaries lived in war zones, surrounded by gunfire. A single misstep could mean death without any chance of recovery.

Because of this, mercenaries often splurged their earnings as quickly as they earned them, knowing the uncertainty of completing their next mission alive.

Their indulgences typically fell into familiar vices—women, gambling, and drugs.

As Qin Fang pieced these elements together, his understanding of the mercenary group's presence near the border became clearer. Their clash with Tang Cheng's special forces had nearly annihilated Tang Cheng's team.

This amounted to an outright provocation of the Dragon Country Military's tolerance—a blatant act of self-destruction. If Dragon Country mobilized significantly into Anlang's forests, this mercenary group, formidable as it may be, would stand no chance against a full-scale assault involving ground, forest, and air strikes.

Yet, despite this, they had remained and seemed intent on provoking a rash response from Dragon Country's military...

"Damn it, there's probably some American scheme behind this!"

Qin Fang didn't have extensive political insight, but after some simple analysis, the entire scheme became somewhat clearer to him.

This mercenary group breached Dragon Country's border, then retreated deep into Anlang's forests. Sending in special forces like Tang Cheng's team wasn't a problem, but a large military operation by Dragon Country's armed forces would constitute an unauthorized invasion into another nation's territory...

And when that happened, America would undoubtedly be the first to start making a fuss, likely fabricating nauseatingly absurd accusations as part of their machinations.

"They're stationed about ten kilometers south from here, slightly to the west…"

Ruan Laosi and the others quickly provided all the intel they had.

Qin Fang, however, consistently used the Mind Reading Technique on them. These individuals were inherently untrustworthy, and even in this situation, their spoken words were not necessarily reliable.

Only the information gleaned through the Mind Reading Technique was absolutely accurate, extracted from the core of their thoughts without any room for fabrication.

"Fortunately, you've been cooperative and didn't try to deceive me... I'll let you off this time. Get lost!"

After cross-checking the results of the Mind Reading Technique among them, Qin Fang confirmed that they hadn't lied. Perhaps they hadn't had time to collude. Fabricating a false story would have easily been exposed by inconsistencies among them—a guaranteed death wish.

Faced with such risks, it was safer to tell the truth directly!

Having secured the information he needed, Qin Fang saw no further reason to waste his time on these now-useless traffickers. Without another glance, he quickly disappeared into the dense forest.

The traffickers had encountered the mercenary group two days before. Two days was more than enough time for many developments and relocations, so the group might no longer be in the same area.

Qin Fang couldn't afford any delays—he needed to catch up as soon as possible.

Tracking the mercenary group was critical. More importantly, Qin Fang had to rescue Tang Cheng and his men before the mercenaries could find them.

That was the primary purpose of Qin Fang's trip to Anlang. Everything else was secondary.

For instance, the traffickers Qin Fang spared this time. While he didn't kill them, he reckoned that they'd eventually run into the massive joint military forces gathering near the border—a case of walking straight into a trap…

(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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