Mercenary's War-Chapter 2140 - 2117: True and False

Fatino left, and Gao Yang was left alone, fastened to the iron chair, staring at his right arm that was still throbbing with pain.

Fortunately, his hand wasn’t crippled. Looking at the knife still protruding a few centimeters out of his arm, Gao Yang felt a chill in his heart. Although his arm wasn’t crippled yet, if Fatino continued to stab him, it was only a matter of time before it would be.

The most frustrating and helpless part for Gao Yang was that he genuinely did not know Justin’s whereabouts. This was the saddest thing, because no matter how people tortured him, he couldn’t provide a satisfactory answer. Without an answer, he would only endure more torment until Mario confirmed that he truly didn’t know rather than was refusing to speak.

Now, Gao Yang just wanted to find a way to deceive Fatino to achieve some reprieve, ending the immediate pain was secondary. The main goal was to buy some time, to suffer less until someone came to rescue him.

It was still night, dinnertime. According to Gao Yang’s estimation, it would be at least until the next day before Satan’s people realized he was missing. After discovering his disappearance, they would likely seek help from Grand Ivan. Even if Grand Ivan’s call to Mario for his release worked, it would be the next day. If Grand Ivan’s words were ineffective, and Satan’s people had to mount a rescue, it might take at least three days or even longer, because it would take time for Satan to dispatch men from Somalia, which would take over two days at the quickest.

Gao Yang’s goal was to stall for three days. As long as he didn’t suffer during those three days, he’d be fine. Now, he didn’t want to explain anything to Mario. Saying he had nothing to do with Justin wouldn’t be believed by Mario. Since that was the case, he might as well give Mario false information and use the time Mario spent verifying it.

If he was going to lie, it had to be believable. Gao Yang had to quickly fabricate a plausible lie that Mario could believe. If he mentioned a particularly remote place, like Justin hiding in Antarctica, Mario wouldn’t believe it.

As Gao Yang was pondering, the door was pushed open, and Mario strode in with two of his men. After glancing at the lethargic Gao Yang, he gave a cold smile and said, "Why bother? Just tell me, where is Justin?"

Gao Yang sighed, looking resigned, and said, "I don’t know Justin’s exact location. This is true. Whether you believe it or not doesn’t matter. Even if you torture me to death, I can’t tell you."

Mario smiled slightly, and said, "I didn’t expect you to know his exact location. Tell me everything you know now."

Gao Yang had been thinking about how to deceive Mario. He sighed and said, "There’s a phone number that Justin and I used to contact each other."

Mario immediately took out a phone and said loudly, "Give me the number."

Gao Yang recited the contact number he had with Justin. After Mario noted it down on his phone, he said loudly, "This is a good start. Continue."

It seemed Mario didn’t know this number of Justin’s, as he looked quite satisfied. So Gao Yang grimaced and said, "I don’t know what happened between you and Justin, but Justin did once seek my help. To be exact, he wanted to hire us, because he didn’t have the military power to contend with you. No matter how you fight, it would ultimately require bloodshed. Once someone died, the struggle would naturally end."

Mario smiled and said, "The fool thought he could rely on you to take me on? Foolish. Go on."

Gao Yang spoke slowly, "Justin offered me 200 million dollars. He did indeed pay me 100 million dollars, agreeing to pay the first 100 million upfront and the remaining once we dealt with you."

Mario looked serious and said, "Continue."

Gao Yang sighed and said, "I got 100 million dollars, but before we took action, Justin suddenly disappeared, and I couldn’t contact him."

Mario asked urgently, "When and where did he pay you?"

Gao Yang’s story was part truth, part lie. Justin had indeed given money, but not to him. It was a war loan to Andre, who died soon after. But the arrangements were handled by Gao Yang, so he remembered the timing relatively well.

He turned the loan into a commission, and after accurately revealing the dates, Mario gave a serious look to one of his men and said, "Verify it."

Not long after, one of the men who went out to make a phone call returned to Mario and said in a low voice, "Yes, there was a 100 million dollar transfer. The dates are accurate, but tracing the flow of the funds might take a long time."

Mario waved his hand and smiled, "No need to trace the funds anymore, Mr. Ram. Judging by the dates, Justin had planned against me long before my father chose him as the head. Looks like Justin was quite foresightful. Please, continue."

Gao Yang said helplessly, "I don’t know what transpired between you. I received the money, but there was no news to act, and I lost contact with Justin until one day Justin called and said it was time to act, but by then you had already become the head of the Cicero Family. I’d be crazy to act against you for 200 million dollars, so I said 200 million wasn’t enough because your status had changed. To continue hiring us to kill you required 400 million dollars, with half paid upfront, and the other half after the job, take it or leave it."

Mario said with a smile, "You have quite an appetite, continue."

Gao Yang sighed and said, "Justin agreed, so I said no wire transfers, only cash. Then he asked me to go to Colombia to collect the money. I didn’t plan to go, and said he had to deliver the cash to me, and then, I never contacted Justin again."

Having finished, Gao Yang looked at Mario, sincerely saying, "Do you understand now? I never intended to take Justin’s money because once I took it, I would have to deal with you. Before, you weren’t the head of the Cicero Family, just a member. Killing you wouldn’t have been too worrying. But once you controlled the Cicero Family, I realized the 100 million dollars I received as a deposit was enough. It wasn’t worth risking more over additional money. I think Justin should be in Bogota, Colombia, because he repeatedly asked me to go there for the money." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Gao Yang had already thought up excuses to explain inconsistencies, like why he hadn’t mentioned these details earlier. This story benefited him significantly if Justin were dead. But before Gao Yang could start explaining, Mario looked disappointed and said, "You’re lying, I’m very disappointed and angry."

Gao Yang looked bewildered and asked, "Why say that? I’m not lying."

Mario sighed and said, "I thought you’d finally speak truthfully, but you tried to deceive me. Fine, you will suffer greatly."