Your Leader Is Dead Indeed

"Are you qualified?" Luke sneered and looked away, his eyes filled with strong hostility. "Luke." Bruno stopped Luke from saying any more. "Humph!" Luke snorted and turned his face away. Valentina didn't mind. She stole a glance at the sulking Luke and thought to herself, "My Little Luke is still so adorable." Before Bruno could say anything else, she snatched the military knife he was holding. She then rushed to search the front pocket of his jacket. Bruno reflexively reached his pocket and found his lighter was gone. Before he could ask, he heard her say, "Borrowing it." She then walked toward Badman who was seated under the tree, holding the knife. Valentina bent down. "What are you doing?" Badman watched the girl in front of him vigilantly and cautiously. "Don't move," Valentina commanded. She then pressed down on Badman's leg, and the tip of the knife was directed towards the bullet wound. The sudden action made everyone gasp. Luke tried to dart forward to stop her but was held back by Bruno. The two companions who were closest to Badman also tried to intervene, but Valentina was too fast. Before they could reach her, they saw her lift the knife and plunge it. The knife went into the wound. Once there, she made a twist and a hook - the bullet embedded in Badman's leg flew out and it fell to the ground stained with blood. Her technique was smoother and more decisive than their own, who spent years dodging bullets and walking the path of desperadoes. Badman groaned. Pain made him break out in cold sweat. Only then did they realize that Valentina was helping Badman and had no malice. Valentina then took out a lighter, and a flame shot out from it. The flame heated the back of the knife for sterilization. Then Valentina pressed the hot blade onto the bleeding bullet hole. A sizzling sound could be heard. Badman screamed in pain, swearing profusely. The few of them watched in disbelief, amazed that this seemingly ordinary little girl could work so briskly and dared to take action more than they did, which made them frown in surprise. "It's okay now." Valentina stood up and threw the knife and lighter back to Bruno. Another fellow quickly tore a strip of cloth and began to bandage Badman's wound, which had stopped bleeding. "We've returned your goods. Can we leave now?" The mercenary leader asked Valentina tentatively, clutching his intolerably painful chest. Valentina glanced at them out of the corner of her eye. "What's the hurry?" There was a tremor in the mercenary leader's heart. "What else? You can't just kill us. The God Armed Alliance will not allow your indiscriminate killing." Everyone, including Bruno, looked at the mercenary boss, who had been belittling the rules of the God Armed Alliance just a moment ago, but now invoked them to save himself, and then they couldn't help but glance at Valentina. "Leave a few with minor injuries to escort the goods for us. The rest can scram now," Valentina said. The thought of them, mercenaries, escorting goods for another band of mercenaries, who had once been their defeated opponents, was laughable enough to be a joke in Chadron. However, the boss of the mercenaries didn't dare to refuse, hastily picking out a few and personally offering them. Bruno and the others watched in astonishment, thinking to themselves that they would rather die than endure such humiliation. "Can we leave now?" The boss of the mercenaries asked again. Valentina didn't answer but reached out for the gun at Bruno's waist. Bruno subconsciously wanted to stop her, but in the end, he didn't move. "What... What do you want to do?" The group opposite was so frightened, they each backed away, their hearts in their throats. Valentina loaded the bullet, and there was a "click" sound. Then she directly lifted the gun and shot the boss of the mercenaries in the leg. A bloody hole immediately appeared. The boss clutched his leg, screaming in pain. Bruno and the others saw this and looked at Valentina again. She was taking revenge for Badman. "Boss." "Boss." About twenty subordinates looked at their boss who was shot, none daring to help. Many were so frightened that they almost couldn't control their legs, wanting to escape right away. Valentina commanded, "Get lost." "Go, go, go." A few subordinates clumsily carried their injured boss quickly away, leaving behind the few chosen previously to assist with the goods whose hearts were filled with anxiety. With a gesture from Valentina, the few mercenaries hurriedly climbed onto the driver's seats of the trucks. "Get in the car," Valentina said, leading the way onto the vehicle. Before dark, the goods were successfully transported to the designated location. Bruno and the others received a significant commission. By the moonlight, they made a fire on the spot to roast meat on their way back. Badman's leg needed to have a doctor re-treat the wound to prevent infection. They were just about to head to the hospital. Across the fire, Bruno looked at the girl sitting under a tree across the way, eyes closed in rest; the fire rendered her features hazy. Despite this being a face he had never seen before, and despite them being two completely different people, it all gave him the same familiar feeling. Be it her casual cold sneer, quirked eyebrows, direct and decisive style, the way she spoke, and even her aura, they were all too similar to that other person. Hearing a noise, Valentina barely opened her eyes to see Bruno offering a stack of money and a rabbit leg on a stick. She quirked an eyebrow, reached for the food but ignored the money. "Thanks for today. This is two-thirds of the commission for this task. You can take it and leave," Bruno said. Valentina's gaze swept over the others, noticing they were all watching her. She didn't care, instead taking a bite of the rabbit leg. "Do you want to be the boss of the Blackwater Mercenary Group?" Valentina asked while eating. "That's our business," Bruno replied. "After your boss died, you guys must've faced a lot of bullying this past year, right?" Valentina said. The moment their boss's death was mentioned, Luke looked furious. With a fierce expression on his face, he stood up and menacingly warned Valentina, "Shut up! If you dare say our boss is dead one more time, I'll kill you with a knife." Valentina laughed lightly, nonchalantly responding, "Are you sure you can beat me, Little Luke?" Luke was stunned. Valentina realized belatedly that she had slipped up. Not only was Luke stunned, but everyone else was as well. Luke was the youngest among them and looked quite childlike, so their boss loved calling him Little Luke in jest. Only their boss would call him so. Coming back to his senses, Luke was even more enraged. "Shut up, you're not allowed to call me that!" "Do you know our boss?" Bruno asked. "Yes." "What is your relationship with her? Where is she?" "She's dead, and has entrusted you all to me." Valentina's casual comment was like a heavy blow to Bruno and others. "What did you say?" "She's dead." Valentina reiterated, her tone still as casual as ever. "Impossible! There's no one in this world who could defeat our boss!" Luke refused to believe anything she was saying, even threatening he would tear Valentina's mouth apart if she continued spewing nonsense. After a long period of silence, Bruno asked in a deep voice, "Who did it?" Valentina's eyelashes slightly lowered, and a hint of a cold chill flashed in her eyes. She told them, "I will avenge your boss." Bruno decisively stated, "We will avenge our boss ourselves." But Valentina just said outright, "You can't do it." Bruno fell silent once again, harshly gritting his teeth. After a moment, he slammed his clenched fist into the ground in frustration. "Where is her body?" Bruno asked, containing his pain. Valentina answered, "Her body is beyond recognition." Bruno forcefully lifted his head, looking at Valentina in disbelief. "Nonsense! I can't believe it!" Unable to bear the truth, Luke shook his head, step by step withdrew back, then turned and rushed into the woods. Bruno and the others collectively fell silent. For a while, the only sounds were the crackling of the campfire and Valentina's chewing. After finishing a rabbit leg, Valentina casually comforted them, "Don't be too upset. People in your line of work can die at any time." "You said our boss entrusted us to you. Do you have any proof?" Bruno asked.