Chapter 72: How Insidious I Am
William heard a bandit shouting for reinforcements. Thinking quickly, he retreated to the hotel entrance, found three AKs, and cleared their chambers.
He tossed the AKs to the hotel security guards. After throwing the three rifles, he threw them a dozen magazines. The whole exchange took no more than ten seconds.
The guards hiding in the corner and at the staircase entrance felt their confidence surge after receiving the three AKs and a dozen magazines. One of them loaded a magazine, then gave William a thumbs-up. They now fully believed William was an ally.
William gestured to the hotel security, indicating he would deal with the bandits' reinforcements. The guard nodded in understanding. He knew that if William stayed at the entrance, he would be caught in a pincer attack, which was far too dangerous.
And now they had AKs in their hands. Their firepower in the corner and at the staircase was no longer at a disadvantage. As long as they could hold the stairs and keep the bandits from advancing further into the hotel, their own support would arrive in ten minutes.
William slipped out the door and ran quickly towards the side wall of the hotel. Peeking out, he saw five or six men armed with AKs about a hundred meters away.
Damn it, this place wasn't good for an ambush. He didn't want a direct confrontation with the kidnappers, so he looked around for a better position.
He spotted a window on the second floor of the hotel's side wall. The ever-insidious William immediately had an idea. He backed up five or six steps, then sprinted towards the wall.
He jumped, kicked off the first-floor windowsill, and launched himself upwards. Flying more than two meters into the air, he grabbed the second-floor windowsill with both hands. Using his momentum, he vaulted over the ledge and into the room.
He had left his M4A1 on the windowsill where he could grab it quickly. For now, he pulled out the Glock 17 in his right hand and hid by the window, waiting for the approaching bandits.
The group of bandits ran to the side wall and observed their surroundings carefully. Seeing no immediate threat, they began to advance towards the hotel entrance, keeping close to the wall.
William waited until all six men had passed his window, their backs turned to him. He leaned out and fired the Glock 17 six times. Six shots, six headshots.
Some hotel guests, hiding in their rooms and watching the scene unfold, were terrified. They wondered who this man was—so ruthless, every shot a headshot, not a single miss. And so incredibly insidious.
A large Russian man, who had been gambling at the same table as William earlier, saw him at the window. He was so frightened by the look in William's eyes that he stumbled back seven or eight steps and collapsed onto a sofa. His heart pounded in his chest, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He was overcome with a lingering fear, but also a secret sense of relief.
'Fortunately, I didn't act rashly,' he thought. 'Otherwise, that god of death would have come for me, and my men wouldn't have been able to stop him. I never want to see that guy again.'
William had glanced up and sensed a hostile gaze, but he had no time to deal with that person now.
William jumped down from the second floor, reloading his Glock 17 as he landed. He could hear the sound of AKs firing in the distance, down the street.
William ignored the firefight on the street. His priority was to eliminate the remaining six bandits inside the hotel.
Carrying his M4A1, he carefully entered the lobby. It was quiet now; no one was shooting. Everyone was hiding in fear. The gangsters didn't dare to rush again now that the hotel security had AKs. A single stray bullet could be fatal.
He gestured to the security guards hiding behind a pillar. He then took out two stun grenades hanging from his tactical vest. William carefully explained the plan with hand signals, and the guards nodded. Holding one of the grenades, William pulled the pin with his teeth and tossed it towards the bandits' position.
The effect of the stun grenade in the enclosed space was immense. Even William, hiding more than ten meters away, felt disoriented, to say nothing of the gangsters at the center of the blast.
William stepped out from behind the pillar, Glock 17 in hand, and fired at the dazed gangsters.
A few consecutive shots, all headshots. The security guards hiding at the stairwell entrance were stunned. They couldn't believe how ruthless William was. They now recognized him as the new billionaire who had been winning big at the casino for the past two days. Seeing him now, they were too intimidated to speak.
William walked over to the bandit leader, kicked his AK away, found an M92 Beretta on him, and tossed that aside as well. He then dragged the leader into the elevator. Once inside, William dislocated both of the man's arms.
When the elevator reached the top floor, William dragged the bandit leader out like a sack of potatoes, went up the stairs to the rooftop, and walked to the edge overlooking the street. He threw the man to the ground and asked, "How many of you are there? Who hired you? What mercenary group are you from, and where is your base?"
The bandit spat bloody saliva at William and laughed, but said nothing.
William kicked the bandit, who groaned in pain.
"Talk, and I won't kill you. I'll hand you over to the Heishan police," William demanded.
"Hah, kill me then. I'm not going to live anyway, and neither are you. Just wait for our revenge. Our commander will never let you or your family go."
Damn it. Hearing the bandit's defiance and the threat against his family, William stepped forward and drew his Glock, pointing it at the man's head. He regretted not killing him downstairs. Bringing him up here meant it would be difficult to explain his death to the police when they arrived.
After hesitating for a few seconds, William saw the man was truly resigned to death, which meant there was no way to make him talk. He took out his phone, snapped a picture of the bandit, and sent it to his liaison from the Dead Team with a message: "Do you know this guy?"
William's voice turned cold. "If you don't talk, I'll find your loved ones. You definitely don't want me showing up at your family's home."
The bandit spat at William and grinned. "I'm a war orphan. No family. But since you want to die so badly, I'll tell you. The mission is a failure, so I won't live anyway. We're from the Chief Mercenary Corps, hired by Lesifer to come to Heishan. Our commander has a lot of money tied up with Lesifer. My orders were to get that money, or we kill Lesifer. There were 36 of us. Go find our commander. I'll be waiting in hell. Whether you go to hell or our commander goes to hell, it's best if you all go together."
William shrugged, thinking their commander could go to hell for all he cared. He ignored the man's perverse curse. He did a quick mental tally and looked down at the firefight still raging between the bandits and the Heishan police. It seemed more than 37 had been killed.
Oh, right, there were Lesifer's men, too. And the 42 who were still in the firefight. Florib's chief was also dead.
William lifted the bandit and carried him to the edge of the rooftop. The man was useless to him now. "If you want to die so much, jump yourself."
After saying that, William ignored the man. He had already checked him; his weapons had been thrown away by William, and his arms were still dislocated.
William went back inside, retrieved his AWP sniper rifle, and returned to the rooftop. He lay down and took aim at the five remaining bandits who were still fighting ferociously with the police. Fortunately, this was a tourist city with plenty of streetlights providing illumination. He loaded a magazine into the rifle.
He picked up the AWP, thinking he couldn't use these guns again in the future. Otherwise, the ballistics from any bullets he fired could be traced back, identifying them as coming from the same weapon.
When he turned to look at the bandit leader again, the man had a desperate look on his face. He gritted his teeth and said, "I'll be waiting for you in hell," and then threw himself off the building.
William stared at the falling body. So ruthless. "Damn it," he muttered, "you can wait in hell for a hundred years for all I care."
He turned and walked back to his hotel room. After a moment's thought, he called Garis Marili, the chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee. Before William could explain, Garis simply said, "I know."
William was taken aback. Was Garis being unreliable? He shook his head. It was useless to dwell on it now. He took a shower, changed his clothes, and sat on the sofa in his room to wait for the Heishan police and the English authorities to arrive.
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