Chapter 39: Blood Diamond

  Zhao Ziyang single-handedly charged into the Guardian's base, completing his goal of blowing it up, causing the Guardians to lose face and get slapped hard.

  The commotion of this magnitude shocked the black city, and they all speculated what kind of enemy attack the guardian had suffered. The strength of the guardian is obvious to all, and the guardian mercenaries all over the world are enough to explain that it is a war machine that never stops operating at any moment.

  At this time, a true rumor spread from the black town: The Guardian mercenaries were ambushed by the Lurker mercenaries, and the ambusher was a member of the Lurker called Special Soldier.

  No one knew where the rumor came from, but everyone in Black Town believed it. They now knew that there was a mercenary organization called Ambushers, so powerful that one person could blow up the Defender's base to smithereens.

  As people's exploration, the lurker surfaced, and it suddenly dawned on them: the lurker was actually the enemy of the guardian all along, and this special soldier was just an ordinary member of the lurker.

  For a time, the power and mystery of the Lurkers were on everyone's lips, and almost overnight, their name became known to those who dwelled in the darker side of the world as mercenaries standing at the pinnacle of the world.

  Because they are mysterious and powerful, the name of Special Forces is even more legendary, to the point where it's said that they're immune to knives and guns. In any case, the Lurker emerges in an extremely powerful form, entering the mercenary competition and ranking.

  The mission to sniper Norwegian troops has achieved its effect, after the video was spread, the Norwegian people were outraged, they took to the streets, held up banners demanding that the country stop the war, stop all aggressive behavior against other countries, and demand that the country withdraw from the battlefield in Afghanistan.

  Under pressure, the Norwegian government finally compromised and withdrew its troops from Afghanistan. This also directly led to the bankruptcy of the US side's efforts to eradicate the Taliban armed forces, and had no choice but to maintain the status quo for the time being.

  At this time, the latent mercenary troops quietly set out for Africa, where they will develop and grow in strength, eventually returning to avenge their enemies when they have grown strong enough.

  The mercenary corps was determined with Angel as the core force and Pandora as the deputy commander, making it look a bit yin dominant and yang weak.

  But it doesn't matter, the sharp knives and others in the team are very clear about who is in charge of the mercenary group. After a series of battles, everyone fully recognizes Zhao Zi Yang, including Swarte, who has never been very friendly to Zhao Zi Yang, also sincerely admires him.

  He charged into the headquarters of the Guardians alone, not to mention that the battle on the Ba-A border had already established Zhao Ziyang's irreplaceable position, let alone they all owed Zhao Ziyang a life.

  Africa, Sierra Leone.

  This is a diamond mining area, the shrub forests on both sides have been replaced by a piece of sandy red soil, and the deep pits and small earth bags left on the ground are the traces left after mining. There is no longer any green shade of the shrub forest here, the big trees were uprooted, and the thick trunks lie horizontally in the deep pits, like patients who are moaning.

  As I walked further, everywhere were trees that had been uprooted and overturned. Almost every inch of land had been turned upside down. After passing through a small path, what appeared before my eyes was a large mining area. Miners with their bodies submerged in water and their waists bent were using a bamboo basket to sift through rocks on the surface of the water.

  It is said that diamonds that have been moistened by water in the sunlight will emit a dazzling light, so even the smallest diamond cannot escape their eyes.

  A grass hut was built on the high place of the mine, a white man sat in the grass hut drinking iced red wine, holding a monocular telescope to observe every corner below, supervising the workers who were working hard under the scorching sun of the dry season.

  At one end of the mine, a large tree had bloody hands hanging from it, several meters above the ground, along with two mummified corpses with their abdomens cut open. Miners who attempted to smuggle diamonds out of the mine would be subjected to severe punishment, either having their hands chopped off or their abdomens sliced open.

  The bodies of the murdered miners were hung from trees to dry slowly, until they became gruesome mummies with bloody palms suspended above their heads, intimidating the digging miners.

  On the outermost edge of the mine, a few black soldiers wearing military uniforms and carrying guns were walking around. These black soldiers belonged to the local armed forces, preventing any diamonds from flowing out of the mine.

  As for the white man sitting under a thatched hut drinking red wine, he is the mine owner who contracted the mine pit. All diamonds mined must be sold to local armed forces at a low price without any conditions, and it is absolutely not allowed to take out a single diamond from the mine pit. Despite this, after deducting the annual contract fee of $3 million, there are still huge profits.

  The white mine owner cursed loudly, wielding a dark-colored whip that was clearly stained with fresh blood, and walked towards the mine, striking a miner heavily.

  With a "crack", the whip came into contact with the miner's body, producing a crisp sound, and the back that was struck suddenly split open.

  "Get to work, no slacking off!" The mine owner cursed and scolded: "Damn it, not a single diamond has been seen in three days. If you can't dig up any diamonds, I'll feed you all to the wild dogs! This damned dry season, I curse it!"

  Watching the miner who had been flogged continue to work in agony, the mine owner looked up at the sun hanging high in the sky, and unable to bear it, he hastily retreated into his own thatched hut, took a big gulp of liquor, let out a comfortable sigh, and continued to monitor every corner of the mine with binoculars.

  The day was about to pass, still without any gain. The mine owner's emotions became extremely violent, and he kept scolding and cursing in his mouth. When he saw a miner standing motionless with his back bent in the water pit, he became even more furious, grabbed the whip and rushed over.

  "Come on, lazybones! Get to work! Get to work!"

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  As the mine owner's curses rained down, the black miner was flayed alive, his skin ripped open and his flesh torn apart. Yet this black miner seemed to be completely unaware of any pain, instead wearing a crazed grin on his face.

  "Boss, blood, blood diamond, blood diamond!!!" The black miner's mouth opened wide as he let out an unbelievable sound, then pulled out a stone covered in mud and speckled with bright red from the basket.

  The owner of the mine snatched the stone from the miner's hand and scrubbed it clean in the water, revealing its true appearance: a bright red like blood, stunningly beautiful, emitting a soft red glow under the sunlight, so pure that it seemed to be dripping with blood.

  This is a 7-carat blood diamond, an extremely rare and precious gemstone among colored diamonds. It's not only priceless but also one-of-a-kind in the world, impossible to estimate its value.

  In the spring of 1989, at a jewelry exhibition in Paris, France, a blood diamond weighing only 2.23 carats, called "La Qui", was exhibited with a price tag of $42 million. La Qui's beauty was breathtaking, worth more than 20 times that of colorless diamonds.

  The blood diamond in front of me, whether it's size or purity, is far superior to the "Laki" that shocked the world back then. If it were to be auctioned off, its value would be impossible to estimate.

  The mine owner's heart was racing wildly: 1 billion? 2 billion? 10 billion?!

  There is no doubt that this blood diamond is worth hundreds of billions of dollars, it is three times larger than the "Cullinan", and once exhibited, it will cause a global sensation.

  "Oh God..." The mine owner groaned in his throat, his right hand tightly grasping the blood diamond, closing his eyes to pray.

  His body trembled involuntarily, and two lines of tears flowed from his eyes.

  After a while, the mine owner slowly opened his eyes, glanced around at the soldiers' positions, and then smiled broadly at the miner who had discovered the blood diamond: "Baby, do you know? You are really too great, the whole world will remember your name. You won't go hungry again, you'll live a happy life, you'll live in unparalleled comfort!"

  The miner's dark face was filled with intense excitement, nodding frantically. He knew that finding such a large diamond would bring about a dramatic change in his life, the boss would give him a huge share, and he would never have to work as a diamond digger again. He would have all the bread he could eat, own a pair of shoes made from genuine calfskin, and even possess a beautiful cowboy hat.

  With a "plop", the sound of a sharp blade entering the body was heard, and the miner's boss, who had been smiling just a moment before, turned into a terrifying figure. He felt his strength disappear, and blood gushed out from his chest, splashing onto the blood diamond that was supposed to bring him a better life, as he fell heavily into the water pit with infinite longing for happiness.

  The mine owner who had just killed the miner swiftly pulled out a sheet of tin foil from his pocket, wrapped the blood-soaked drill in it, and swallowed it whole.

  Bang! Bang!

  A crisp gunshot rang out, and two soldiers' occipital bones were pierced by bullets, with blood spraying everywhere, one of them falling to the ground.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!......

  The mine owner started shooting at the miners, killing them one by one. Only the farthest one managed to escape to the other side of the mine and hid behind a mound of earth, covering his mouth and nose tightly.

  He took a glance at the bloody mining site, and the mine owner immediately ran to the jeep parked outside the pit, jumped on the car and quickly started it, stepping on the accelerator towards the vast grassland. The local armed forces were just 10 kilometers away in a small town, this blood diamond that could make him an overnight millionaire absolutely couldn't fall into their hands, he wanted to own it alone, even if it cost his life.

  The armed forces who heard the sound of gunfire from the mine immediately realized that something was wrong with the mine. They jumped into their cars, guns in hand, and rushed to the mine. When they heard the only surviving miner say that he had discovered blood diamonds, they immediately launched a frantic pursuit towards the mine.

  Everyone knows the value of blood diamonds, and for such a blood diamond, even if thousands or tens of thousands of people die, it is worth it.

  "Rat-a-tat-tat..." The sound of gunfire rang out, and the armed forces in the distance saw the Jeep speeding ahead and immediately took aim and fired.

  "Clang! Clang! Clang!"

  The sound of bullets piercing the jeep's body came out, and the fleeing mine owner turned his head to take a look, picked up his pistol and fired back at the armed forces chasing behind.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!......

  With one breath, he emptied the bullets in his handgun and grabbed a satellite phone, quickly dialing a string of numbers. Urgently shouting into the receiver, "Mr. Rodriguez, hurry! I need mercenaries, I need the best mercenaries!"

  "Ah? Mr. Hans, I can provide you with the best mercenaries. If you need security protection, I can contact Blackwater to serve you; if you need to overthrow a government, I can help you contact the Spanish Foreign Legion; if you need to fight against armed forces, I can help you contact the Gurkha Mercenary Corps, of course, you must pay the corresponding commission..."

  "Damn it, shut up! I need protection, I need mercenaries, the best mercenaries! I have a 7-carat blood diamond on me, and I'll pay half of it as the mercenary fee. Remember, I want the world's best mercenaries, the very best!!!"

  There was a pause on the phone, then Rodriguez's cheerful voice came through: "As you wish, Lurker, the world's best mercenary. Just hold out for thirty minutes and you'll be safe."

  He tossed the phone aside, and Hans, the mine owner, sped away in a mad dash for escape. He had to hold on for thirty minutes or he would be hacked to pieces, disembowelled, and left to rot in the wilderness as food for wild dogs.