Mercenary's War

Chapter 2423 - 2399: The Fox Returns to the Team

Although Gao Yang and the others had made preparations for big contracts and big business, they hadn’t managed to land the first major job yet, but being able to secure a pretty lucrative deal in such fierce competition was already a very good start.Gao Yang had a lot of things that needed coordinating. After finishing his call with Abdul, he made several more calls, then checked his watch and still felt time was passing too slowly.

There was only one reason that could make Gao Yang feel impatient: he was going to pick someone up, and not just anyone, but an old hand, an old friend.

After a long period of recovery, Yake was finally coming back to the team.

Yake was actually very important to Satan. During the time Yake was away, a lot of his work could only be partially covered by Black Demon, with Gao Yang taking on some of it himself. Satan’s operations hadn’t been disrupted, but Gao Yang was exhausted, and things were definitely not as convenient as when Yake was around.

James had been forced to retire from Satan by his disability, and Jesse Lee was disabled as well. Although Gao Yang had given him a reason to keep living, Jesse Lee had also said goodbye to Satan forever. So Yake’s return meant a lot to Gao Yang, not just because he was gaining a capable right-hand man back, but because of that brotherhood between them.

He checked his watch. There was at least an hour and a half before Yake’s plane landed, but Gao Yang couldn’t wait any longer. He grabbed the radio on his watch and shouted, "Guys, let’s go pick up Yake!"

Everyone came out of their rooms laughing and joking. Almost the entire Satan team headed out to welcome Yake’s return.

Hadi had already fled, but Sanaa City still wasn’t peaceful, so having more people around meant better security.

The Satan members got into their own vehicles. The cars they were using now were no longer the junkers provided by the Houthis Armed Forces, but brand-new good vehicles Gao Yang had specially shipped in through Polovich’s channels, with the exteriors deliberately made to look filthy and beat-up, while all the parts you couldn’t see were shiny new machines.

After switching to their own imported vehicles, even though they weren’t bulletproof, at least the air conditioning in these cars was powerful, which was a huge help for rapid maneuvering in combat. And even if they had to run for their lives, it made things a lot easier, didn’t it.

They arrived at the airport and waited for a bit. The plane carrying only Yake finally touched down. Now, Gao Yang and the others could park their cars right beside the runway without any issue, so there was no need to wait outside to pick him up.

When Yake came down from the plane, grinning and carrying his bag, Gao Yang was the first to hug him, and they held on for quite a while before he patted Yake on the shoulder and laughed, "Old Fox, welcome back."

With a big smile, Yake casually snapped off a salute to everyone, then shouted, "Looks like you all missed me. The turnout’s pretty good."

Gao Yang laughed and said, "No, there’s still one person not here. A new guy you don’t know yet—our Cook Soldier. He’s busy getting your welcome dinner ready. Let me introduce him properly later. Joseph, you can call him Porcupine, our new member."

Yake raised his hand and smiled. "Hey there, rookie."

Joseph just gave a slight nod, without any extra movement or words. Gao Yang pointed at Yuri and laughed, "You should have seen him already, but he’s a full member now. Yuri, Clumsy Bear."

Yake pointed at Yuri and laughed. "You’ve got a callsign now, buddy."

Yuri gave a goofy smile and said, "Hello, Fox."

Gao Yang then pointed at Phoenix and said, "You’ve met her. Her callsign now is Crow. Oh, and Peter—he’s got his dedicated Satan callsign too: Turtle."

Eileen couldn’t hold back and said, "Yake! I thought you’d be wearing an eye patch, all cool like one of those Pirates."

Yake had had one eye removed. He pointed at his own eye and laughed. "Well? Doesn’t it look pretty real? Can you tell it’s a fake? Cost a lot, this one—top of the line in realism right now."

Eileen said loudly, "If you don’t look closely, you really can’t tell at all."

They were both one-eyed, but unlike Destin, Yake hadn’t chosen to wear an eye patch. He’d had a prosthetic eye put into his socket. Destin had been shot, and part of his eye socket had been blown out. He’d survived, but he had a huge scar on his face, so he simply went with an eye patch.

As for Yake, his identity and responsibilities required him to stay inconspicuous, and an eye patch would definitely draw unnecessary attention. It would be a really obvious marker, so he had no choice but to have a fake eye put in. And the effect of his prosthetic really was pretty good. As long as you didn’t make direct eye contact with him, it wasn’t easy to notice that one of his eyes was fake.

As for losing an eye, Yake was pretty open-minded about it. He even had the mood to crack jokes with others about his fake eye.

After chatting for a bit on the runway, Gao Yang laughed and said, "Alright, let’s head back. You ride with me, I’ll fill you in on the way."

On the road, he went over what they’d gone through in Yemen, and roughly laid out the current situation as well. By the time they returned to the camp, he’d basically finished his briefing.

Once they passed through the camp gate, Liang Dong was already waiting in the yard. He still had an apron on. After shaking hands with Yake when they met, he hurriedly said, "I’ve still got pots on the stove, sorry, I’ve got to get back to the kitchen."

After a quick greeting with Yake, Liang Dong ran back again—he still had cooking to do. Watching Liang Dong’s back, Yake pointed and laughed. "That’s our Cook Soldier?"

Gao Yang nodded. "That’s right, that’s him!"

"How is he?"

Gao Yang patted his own face and said solemnly, "Look at how rosy our faces are, look at how happiness is just radiating from everyone inside and out, and you’ll know how good he is at his job. Buddy, I guarantee you’ll fall in love with his cooking."

Yake nodded. "Very good, very good. If he’s able to stick around, he’s definitely got skills. Sounds like our days here won’t be too miserable."

Eileen said very seriously, "Judging purely by the food, life here is actually pretty enjoyable. I’ve even put on weight—two kilos, and it’s not muscle. As for everything else, well, let’s just say it’s not exactly torture, but it’s definitely not comfortable."

Yake shrugged. "For me, if there’s good food, it’s all the same no matter where we are."

The group sat around in a big room and chatted for a while, talking about all the interesting things that had happened to everyone during the time they’d been apart. Someone also brought out a few items they’d taken from the Yemeni Presidential Palace as gifts.

When it was finally time to eat, and Liang Dong had set dish after dish on the table, and Yake finally started to dig in, his eyes went wide as he glared at the others and said, "While you lot were enjoying food like this, why the hell didn’t anyone call me back sooner?"

Then Yake turned to Liang Dong and said, "My respects to you, buddy. Just like the Boss said, I really am starting to fall in love with you!"