Chapter 72


    The menacing ck barrel of a gun was aiming at a man and woman right before it.


    Among the three people of different races, holding guns, one Asian man, speaking Japanese with


    some difficulty, coldly said to Eileen and Egbert, “Don’t move!”


    Eileen and Egbert nced at each other, raised their hands, and didn’t resist.


    The criminals started conversing in the localnguage.


    “Which country’s military uniform are they wearing?”


    “Are they here to capture us? But they don’t seem like it; they’re not carrying any weapons.”


    “You’re the interpreter; why don’t you ask them?”


    The Asian man asked, “Are you in the military?”


    Out of the corner of her eye, Eileen noticed that the drone in the sky had flown further away, hiding


    behind the trees.


    She squinted her eyes, then said, “We’re from the International Wildlife Rescue Association. We


    received a signal that a juvenile jaguar, which had been imnted with a tracking chip, was in danger


    in the northwest of the jungle. Its vital signs are weak, and we’re here to rescue it.”


    The Asian man furrowed his brow and ryed that exnation to hispanions.


    Eileen carefully listened to their conversation.


    Theirnguage skills varied, indicating that they were not from the same country.


    What brought them together?


    As Eileen was mulling over this, a brown-skinned man with a submachine gun walked over, using the


    barrel of his gun to flick off Egbert’s hat.


    Eileen was on alert, ready to take action at any moment.


    Egbert suddenly grabbed her wrist and gave her a look, signaling her not to act rashly.


    The brown-skinned man furrowed his brow, sizing up Egbert’s face.


    Then he said to hispanions, “Doesn’t he look familiar?”


    “All foreigners look the same.”


    “Monkey, take a look.”


    The man they referred to as Monkey was the only Asian among them.


    He also looked at Egbert and said, with some confusion, “He does look a bit like…”


    “Egbert!” A woman with short hair and a gray-blue vest at the back suddenly blurted out this name in a


    less than pleasantnguage.


    Then she walked over with her gun, pointing the barrel at Egbert’s neck.


    She turned back and excitedly told herpanions in a tongue-twisternguage, “He’s the lead actor


    in a famous movie!”


    The brown-skinned man and the Asian man both frowned. Apparently, they were not familiar with


    movies and were living a life full of hardships.


    The woman with short hair had deep features, and her eye sockets were somewhat dark. She greedily


    traced Egbert’s face with her gun, oozing seduction.


    Finally, she said contentedly, “I really like him.”


    A dangerous light shed in Eileen’s eyes.


    Egbert sensed that she was about to take action again, frowned, and tightened his grip on her wrist.


    Eileen red at Egbert and finally gritted her teeth, deciding not to act.


    The Asian man stepped forward, forcibly pulled away the loose woman, and amid the woman’s


    dissatisfied protests, he said to the brown-skinned man, “It’s simpler to kill them.”


    “We’re definitely taking them with us.” The dark-skinned man came over, suddenly grabbing Eileen’s


    chin.


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    Egbert’s eyes grew cold, and he suddenly made a move. Eileen blinked; this time she grabbed his


    wrist, stopping him in his tracks. At the same time, she looked at him.


    Eileen asked, “Didn’t you say to stay calm? What are you doing?”


    Egbert squinted his eyes; his expression was gloomy.


    “You’re quite a looker.” The dark-skinned man grinned, “Let’s take her back. It’s been a while since I’ve


    had some fun.”


    The Asian man seemed unsatisfied but didn’t say more. He walked over, pressed on Eileen and


    Egbert’s backs, and roughly pushed them forward.


    The three of them seemed to havee out to fetch water. After they got the water, they took the two


    with them. They took a roundabout path and headed deeper into the rainforest.


    From the sky, a drone flew in from afar, following them.


    Outside the camp, the director anxiously asked, “Should we stop the live broadcast first? And the


    others, should we rescue them first?”


    The officer furrowed his brow in thought. Then, after a while, he said, “I’ll make a call.”


    He walked off to make a call, and when he came back, he asked the soldier operating the drone,


    “Where’s Burton Lopez?”


    The soldier switched to another camera, and the disheveled, shirtless Burton appeared in the frame.


    The officer was taken aback, “How did he end up like this?”


    The soldier said, “He was stung by a wasp, then ran into a crocodile, and then a python. He slept in a


    treest night and woke up to find several pustules from mosquito bites. He’s currently looking for a


    water source to clean his wounds. He lost his shirt and supply bag while trying to escape from these


    dangers.”


    The officer silently watched the muscr young man in the frame, carefully squatting by the river and


    vigntly-observing his surroundings.


    Then he asionally scooped up some water and poured it on his arm wound. He looked somewhat


    pitiful.


    The officer sighed and said, “Inform Burton. There’s a temporary mission – hostage rescue.”


    The director opposed, “No, it’s too dangerous.”


    The officer waved his hand and said, “He’s different. Although he’s a rookie too, he has been on special


    missions. He’s a top-notch special forces soldier. And…” The officer’s gaze swept over to Egbert, who


    was being held hostage on another monitor, “He will have help.”


    The director was taken aback, “Who will help him?”


    It was not a secret; the officer massaged his temple with a headache and said, “The superior has


    ordered during the call just now that the live broadcast will continue, and the drone will keep observing


    covertly. Egbert will lead the attack, Burton will assist, and they will take down this nest of wanted


    criminals. After the arrest, the foreign affairs department will have a good ‘discussion’ with the local


    foreign affairs at the international conference using this incident.”


    “Discussion” meant that they were nning to elevate this unintentional act of assistance to a national


    act.


    “Egbert will lead the attack?”


    The officer nced at the director and said, “You’ve been in the military too. You should have heard of


    the first leader of Moonlight Raptors Team 1.”


    “I’ve heard of it, but…”


    The director’s voice trailed off, and the temporary camp suddenly fell silent.


    The director looked at the officer in shock, then turned to look at Egbert on the monitor, who had a


    serious expression on his face. He asked incredulously, “Are you saying… he, he is…”


    “He is.”


    The officer stated seriously, “Does he think he can just waltz into a military project? He even reced


    another star guest who was all ready to go. That poor guy made it all the way to the airport, only to be


    called back. Now, the finance department has to cough up the penalty fee.”


    The director was almost unable to digest that, “So, he is? Then, why is he now…”


    “Why is he now acting?”


    The officer exined tersely, “He’s retired. His granny’s a national treasure in acting. He started acting


    when he was a kid, then decided to be a soldier. But a few years ago, he did a film for an


    undercover mission and ended up winning the Best Actor award. That’s never happened in our country


    before. When the big wigs found out, they decided he should hang up his uniform and devote his full


    attention to the movie business. His job now is to put our country’s cinema on the global map.”


    That answer left the director momentarily confused and speechless.