Chapter 67: Umarov the Harbinger of Disaster

Seeing everyone frozen in place as if under a spell, Song Heping realized something was terribly wrong.

Grey Wolf hurried over, pulled Song Heping aside, and whispered, "Are you out of your mind?! Why the hell did you bring that jinx back here?"

"A jinx?"

Song Heping was still bewildered.

"What jinx?!"

"The guy behind you, the bearded one!" Grey Wolf said, "Isn't his name Umarov?"

Song Heping nodded repeatedly. "That's right."

Grey Wolf looked at Song Heping with a despairing expression. "Do you even know what his nickname is? He is a legendary figure in the Baghdad mercenary circle!"

Song Heping was completely clueless. "What is it? Is it God?! Like, GOD?!"

He thought to himself, does this have something to do with a nickname?

Grey Wolf's expression was as complicated as a rigged tripwire. "His nickname is the Jinx. Do you know why they call him that? This guy hasn't even been in Baghdad for three months, and he has wiped out four mercenary groups—averaging one annihilated group a month."

"Wiped out?"

"Yes," Grey Wolf said. "Whichever mercenary group he joins, they die in all sorts of ways. They die from roadside bombs, they die in ambushes, and the most bizarre thing of all is that whenever he joins a group, the leader always dies... That's why the Jinx can't survive in the Baghdad mercenary circle anymore. Nobody dares to sign him!"

At this, Song Heping's hair finally stood on end.

He secretly glanced at Cook.

Cook's face had petrified into solid marble, wearing the expression of someone desperately holding back their bladder, probably experiencing severe agonizing pain right about now.

Bloody hell...

No wonder they called him a jinx.

Damn it!

What kind of thing had he brought back?

He thought he had picked up a treasure, but it turned out to be poison.

This completely stumped Song Heping.

Then, after a moment of thought, he figured it wasn't such a big deal after all.

If what Grey Wolf said was true, and if the Jinx specialized in cursing leaders...

Then the one who should be panicking was Cook.

He was the head of the company.

Once his mind opened up, the world was his oyster.

Song Heping calmed down.

Cook, on the other hand, was in a very difficult position.

It wasn't that he couldn't bear to chase away the bearded jinx.

If the Jinx were the only one, Cook would have told him to get lost without a moment's hesitation.

But accompanying the Jinx was Guy.

Compared to the Jinx's terrible reputation, Guy's reputation was stellar.

He was a renowned sniper in the Baghdad mercenary circle.

One jinx, one supreme talent.

A truly magical combination.

"Hunter," Cook called out using Guy's nickname. "I would be more than happy to have you join us. As for the Jinx... I'm terribly sorry, but I'm afraid my life insurance isn't quite that good."

Guy said, "The Jinx saved my life. He is my brother, and I swore an oath to share weal and woe with him for the rest of my life. If you want to recruit both of us, we stay. Otherwise, we both leave. You make the call."

Cook said, "Is it really impossible to take just one of you?"

"Of course not. Either you take us both, or we both walk away."

Guy spoke in a tone that left no room for negotiation.

Umarov whispered something in Guy's ear.

Guy shook his head.

Song Heping figured that Umarov probably didn't want to drag Guy down and wanted to opt out.

Seeing that Cook remained silent, Guy picked up his backpack and turned to leave.

Umarov followed right behind him.

After the two had walked a dozen meters away, Song Heping called out to them, "Wait!"

Guy turned around, and Song Heping said, "Hunter, wait here for a moment. Let me discuss this with Cook."

With that, he walked over to Cook and lowered his voice. "We're short-handed right now, especially when it comes to core members. The oil patch is too vast, and we simply don't have enough personnel—particularly skilled long-range marksmen like Hunter. I've analyzed the situation: in the Hassan oil field area, a single excellent sniper can be more useful than ten infantrymen. I think we should keep them."

"Dammit!" Cook said. "Didn't you hear what Grey Wolf just said? Wherever the Jinx goes, the entire group gets wiped out!"

Song Heping said, "You actually believe that stuff?"

Cook retorted, "Do you think everyone is an atheist like you guys?"

After frowning as he finished speaking, his eyes suddenly rolled, and he said to Song Heping, "I have an idea. We could give it a try."

Song Heping hurriedly asked, "What idea?"

Cook said, "You become the registered legal representative of the defense company. I won't be the leader anymore; you'll be the boss from now on."

Song Heping was shocked. "Me?!"

He thought about how he had only joined the group a few days ago, yet they wanted him to be the boss.

Cook must have been genuinely scared shitless by the Jinx's track record.

"Yes."

Cook looked entirely serious.

"You're already a tactical genius. You're the one directing military operations anyway, so nobody will object to you taking charge. As for me..."

He grinned, revealing a flash of white teeth.

"I'll be your second-in-command."

"Damn it!" Song Heping snapped angrily. "You're afraid the Jinx will curse you, aren't you? I never expected you Russians to believe in this crap!"

Cook raised a hand and crossed himself in the Eastern Orthodox manner. "We believe in God."

Song Heping turned to look at Guy, finally gritting his teeth and saying, "Deal. I'll just be the legal representative and act as a mascot."

"That's the spirit." Cook said loudly to Guy, "Alright, you guys can join us."

Then he made sure to announce to everyone, "Starting today, Mourner is the boss of our defense company and mercenary group. As for me, I'm stepping down to the second-in-command. I am no longer the leader."

As soon as the words left his mouth, everyone couldn't help but laugh.

Song Heping had only joined the group a few days ago, yet he was now the head of "Musicians." Everyone knew why Cook was so willing to abdicate and yield his position—it was simply out of fear of that curse.

"Boss!"

Guy stepped forward and extended his hand.

"I won't say too many words of gratitude, but thank you for giving us brothers a place to stay. Oh, by the way, do you guys have any food left? We're starving."

This left Song Heping utterly dumbfounded once again.

He had seen mercenaries down on their luck, but this was his first time seeing ones who couldn't even afford a meal.

What on earth had these two brothers been through?

"We do. There are still plenty of canned goods, dark rye bread, and mutton in the kitchen. I'll have Grey Wolf show you guys in so you can fill your stomachs."

Once Guy and the others went into the kitchen, Queen teased Song Heping, "Boss, you'd better wear an extra layer of body armor the next time you go on a mission."

White Bear chimed in from the side, "No use. In the 'Eagle' mercenary group that the Jinx joined last time, the leader died from falling out of a helicopter. Body armor couldn't block that."

With that, the two exchanged glances, as if they had just heard the funniest joke in the world, and burst into uproarious laughter, leaning against each other.

Boss?

It would take Song Heping some time to get used to the title.

Just a few days ago, he was merely a small-time merchant selling generator sets in Baghdad.

A few days later, he was actually the leader of a mercenary organization and the legal representative of a defense company.

Most importantly, Song Heping now had nearly six hundred thousand US dollars sitting in his personal pocket.

Six hundred thousand dollars—roughly converted to over five million in Chinese currency!

Five million!

That was enough for Song Heping to buy more than thirty apartments back in his county town!

One for his younger sister, one for his younger brother, and he could still live off the rental income.

This money came far too fast!

It was a pity Old Ghost wasn't here.

Otherwise, his jaw would have hit the floor in shock.

Song Heping desperately wanted to share his joy with someone, but a second thought made him hold back.

His younger brother and sister were still young; they must never find out that their older brother had so much money, lest they develop a habit of spending lavishly and amount to nothing in the future.

Besides, the business he was in—to put it bluntly—involved earning bloody money, so it was better to keep it under wraps.

He decided to wire a small portion of the money back home first, so his sister could pay off all the debts owed to their relatives. After all, a light heart lives long, and Song Heping was long sick of the feeling of being in debt.

There was also another matter that had been worrying Song Heping, though he hadn't mentioned it to anyone.

It felt like a thorn in his heart, always making him feel uneasy.

Yet, just as he feared something, it happened anyway.

Whatever was meant to come would eventually arrive.

Chapter 3.

Currently, the initial subscriptions haven't crossed a thousand, so there will only be three chapters for now. Once it crosses a thousand, more chapters will be added.