Chapter 268.2: It's an Opportunity (1)
Bam! Pow!
As soon as he pulled the door of the mess hall open, he immediately heard people fighting.
Gérard elbowed Andrei in the cheek. Meanwhile, Andrei was punching Gérard’s side with his left fist.
Bam! Pow! Bam! Crash! Bam! Bam!
The two traded swift and powerful blows, pushing the table away.
Kang Chan rushed to Akrion—who was frightened by the commotion—and picked him up.
The fight was gruesome.
Full of spite, Andrei looked as if he planned to release all of the anger that had been building up inside him. Meanwhile, Gérard’s eyes glinted with the rage from losing his rookie and his loathing for Andrei’s attitude.
Bam! Pow! Pow!
Akrion flinched every time he heard them exchanging frightening blows.
Gérard’s cheek and the area above his left eye were cut open, and blood burst from Andrei’s mouth and nose.
Pow pow pow! Pow pow! Bam! Bam bam bam!
Roberre gritted his teeth as he stood in front of the elder to protect him.
There was no room for Kang Chan to butt into this. After all, this battle was between two special forces teams, between two commanders. Only when one of them had been knocked out cold or rendered unable to fight would all of this end.
Bam! Crack!
Andrei hit Gérard on the side again, making the latter twist in pain. In retaliation, he elbowed the area between Andrei’s nose and cheek.
Crash!
Andrei fell backward. Using a table as leverage, he pushed himself back up.
Gritting his teeth, Gérard reached out toward him.
Bam! Pow! Pow! Bam! Bam! Bam!
They would put an end to this whole affair with this final clash.
As Andrei punched him in the side and armpit, Gérard landed consecutive elbows on Andrei’s cheek.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Crash!
After sustaining a couple more hits, Andrei finally took a couple of steps back and leaned against a table.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Crack!
‘That should do it,’ Kang Chan thought.
He glanced at Seok Kang-Ho, who in turn rushed toward the two.
“Enough!” Seok Kang-Ho shouted.
“Huff! Huff!”
Seok Kang-Ho put his arms around Gérard and pulled him away from Andrei.
Crash! Thud.
The table slid back a little bit more, sending Andrei falling to the ground.
“Get him out of here,” Kang Chan ordered.
When he looked at the Spetsnaz soldiers, they immediately helped Andrei walk away. They seemed to have understood him even though he spoke in Korean.
“Roberre,” Kang Chan called.
“Oui.”
“Prepare two cups of warm tea.”
“Oui.”
As Roberre headed to their barracks, Gérard approached Kang Chan, blood flowing from the cut on his cheek and above his left eye.
“Go get treated. Make sure to have your ribs checked as well,” Kang Chan ordered.
“Yes, sir,” Gérard answered. He left the barracks with a frown.
“What happened?” Kang Chan asked Seok Kang-Ho.
“Well, I need to know what they said first before I can answer that.”
Oh right! Seok Kang-Ho doesn’t can’t speak French.
As Kang Chan smirked, Akrion carefully looked up.
“Let’s go outside. Tell the men to clean up this mess,” Kang Chan ordered.
“Got it.”
With Akrion still in his arms, Kang Chan walked out of the mess hall.
Even though this was their last day here, their situation still refused to get any easier for them.
Kang Chan headed to the bench near their barracks and seated Akrion next to him.
The elder carefully sat next to the child.
Soon, Roberre brought over two mugs and a few biscuits from the Foreign Legion’s barracks. He handed them to the elder and the child.
“What happened?” Kang Chan asked Roberre.
“We didn’t get to ask. The fight started as soon as our commander said that he wouldn’t let it go if anyone other than me butted into the fight—”
Crunch. Crunch.
The sound of him eating biscuits startled Akrion. Kang Chan smiled pleasantly at him.
Why is he so shy?
Finding Akrion’s response funny, Kang Chan burst into laughter.
“I’ve sent some people to the mess hall to clean up the mess. Seok Kang-Ho, who had dropped by their barracks, exclaimed. He then handed one of the cups of coffee that he prepared to Kang Chan. “Anyway, that bastard Gérard’s improved a lot since the last time we saw him!”
“What did he improve on?” Kang Chan asked.
“Didn’t you see the way he fought? I heard that a position changes people’s manners, but damn! I shouldn’t fight him unless absolutely necessary!” Seok Kang-Ho commented. “Well, look at that fucker suddenly appearing the moment we started talking about him! Nobility my ass.”
Gérard made his way to Kang Chan and Seok Kang-Ho as they spoke. He had folded gauze and bandages over the two cuts on his face.
“How’s the wound on your shoulder? It got ripped open again, didn’t it?” Kang Chan asked.
“I already got it stitched back up.”
Is it even possible to stitch him up and send him on his way so quickly? It’s not like they can use a sewing machine on him.
“Why didn’t you let us finish the fight?” Gérard wondered.
“Were you planning on killing Andrei?”
“No. I was just planning to beat him up until he can never be a part of the special forces ever again.”
Kang Chan just smiled in response.
Gérard took out a pack of cigarettes but quickly put it away again, realizing Akrion was with them.
Damn it!
Gérard often looked mischievous when he smiled. However, his face was so swollen right now that he looked like a monster when he did.
“Things would get out of hand at this rate, Gérard. Let’s just observe how things go for a bit and then withdraw. Otherwise, the Spetsnaz might suspect that we’re going after the red light,” Kang Chan said.
“What about that, then?” Gérard asked, looking toward the mountain.
“If what the elder said is true, then we can just let those who want to check for themselves search through the mountain as much as they want. They’re never going to find it anyway. I’m sure as hell they’re going after these two if they don’t find anything, though, so we’ll leave this place while they’re wasting their time. If we get into another fight here, we probably won’t survive.”
“Understood.”
Having sorted everything out, Kang Chan consoled Akrion and went back to their barracks.
“Has South Korea contacted us yet?” he asked as soon as he was inside.
“Yes, sir. They said our transport is expected to arrive tomorrow,” Cha Dong-Gyun firmly answered.
“What about our wounded at Mogadishu?”
“From what I’ve heard, they’re still there.”
“I know everyone is having a rough time right now, but once the US and UK special forces have left, I want everyone armed and ready for combat.”
“Understood.”
By the time Kang Chan had gone back outside, the Green Berets were already out of their barracks with their luggage. A UN employee stood next to them.
“The Green Berets are leaving! Let’s see them off!” Kang Chan exclaimed.
As he walked over, his men walked out of the barracks and crowded at the entrance.
They respectfully shook hands with each other, their free hand positioned under the elbow of the extended arm.
They nodded at each other every time their eyes met, exchanging respect one last time as their joint operation came to an end.
Not long after the French and South Korean teams sent the Green Berets off, the SBS departed as well.
The base suddenly felt empty.
After sending off the two teams, Kang Chan turned his head to the nearby South Korean and French soldiers.
“From now on, I want everyone armed at all times,” Kang Chan ordered in South Korean, then in French.
Starting with Gérard, the soldiers went back into their respective barracks.
As soon as Kang Chan entered their barracks, he strapped a pistol to his waist and left leg and a bayonet to his right leg. Afterward, he put magazines in the pouches of a vest, then put the vest somewhere he could easily grab at any given moment.
Heading back out, he found Akrion giggling.
This is fucking absurd! Gérard had been fighting with glinting eyes just a moment ago, but he’s now spouting bullshit just to make a child laugh even though he’s armed!
Kang Chan was watching the two when Seok Kang-Ho approached him.
“What have you decided to do with the child?” Seok Kang-Ho asked.
“I’m sending him to France with Gérard for now.”
“That’s probably better than staying here.” Seok Kang-Ho looked at the barracks that were near the entrance. “Even though there were only a few of us left to begin with since many of us died in the ambush, the two teams leaving still makes this place feel quite empty.”
“Why are you acting like you’re new to this?”
“I can’t smoke as much because of the kid!” Seok Kang-Ho grumbled while looking up at the sky.
They were in Africa.
Under its scorching sun, standing on dry and rough ground and basking in the rising heat only made them want to drink more coffee and smoke more cigarettes.
“South Korea is still lacking in a lot of aspects,” Seok Kang-Ho commented.
“What makes you say that?”
“Our transport should be at our location on the same day we decide to withdraw. Does it make sense to you that we have to stay here for another day or two because they still have to figure out how to get the aircraft here? If you weren’t here, the UN would have seen this as a perfect opportunity to treat us as a nuisance.”
The Spetsnaz’s barrack opened amid their conversation. Andrei—who looked like a mess—and his men came out with their luggage.
Kang Chan cocked his head. “Has that bastard decided not to stay here anymore?”
Did Andrei really decide to leave, even though he had stayed at the table with the other guys until the end when he could only eat soup because he couldn’t chew properly during our training in France?
Andrei definitely wasn’t the type to leave first just because he was ashamed of losing to Gérard.
Looking embarrassed, Andrei walked past Gérard and approached Kang Chan.
“We’ll get going,” Andrei said. His eyes were so swollen that not even Kang Chan could see them.
“Did Russia contact you guys?”
“Yes.”
“See you later, then,” Kang Chan said.
“All right.”
Andrei was so simple-minded that he could even be mistaken as stupid.
“Andrei,” Kang Chan called.
Andrei, who was about to walk away, looked over his shoulder and toward Kang Chan.
“As an ally in joint special forces operations, you’re really reliable. However, you’re lacking as a commander. Keep in mind that the more you fight those on your side, the more you discourage your men.”
Why is this simple-minded fucker smirking?
Even though Andrei’s eyes were swollen, Kang Chan could tell Andrei was looking straight at him.
“Got it,” Andrei answered, then walked toward the entrance of the base.
This was Kang Chan's first time encountering someone who would choose to be detestable until the very end.
The Spetsnaz followed behind their commander. A moment later, Kang Chan and the others heard the Russians’ cars leaving.
Should I have taught Andrei a lesson before sending him home so that he can get his shit together?
As Kang Chan pursed his lips, Seok Kang-Ho leaned closer to him.
“This is an opportunity,” Seok Kang-Ho said.
“What do you mean?”
“With the US, the UK, and Russia now out of the picture, only us, France, and the two tribespeople are left in this base.”
Following Seok Kang-Ho’s gaze, Kang Chan looked at Akrion and his grandfather.
Gérard, who was entertaining the child, seemed to be feeling his best.
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