8 Chapter 4: Choice_1

Captain hit Arturo hard on the neck, and then poor Arturo passed out again.

Then, Captain quickly got up and rushed to the outer room, once again standing by the door.

Gao Guang felt that Captain must have been frightened because he could hear Captain's rapid breathing, but there wasn't time to say much, as the drug dealers' cars had already driven into the yard.

"Wait until they have all come in before opening fire. Don't rush, keep steady, and watch your shooting positions..."

Captain spoke in a low voice, and as he did, the first car had already entered the yard. By the time he finished speaking, the third car had also come in.

Just at that moment, Captain suddenly turned around, pointed his gun, and fired at the still-moving car.

"Fire!"

He fired before speaking, and while Gao Guang was still dazed, he saw Captain had already kicked the slightly ajar door open, holding his gun and firing as he rushed out.

It was then that Gao Guang realized that the battle had begun.

Taking a deep breath, Gao Guang followed Captain out of the house.

Four people opened fire fiercely at three cars, sweeping the vehicles. Once the battle had reached this stage, the outcome was pretty much determined.

Even if the drug dealers were ready, Captain and his team were clearly more professional. Four M4 rifles firing at three cars all at once might not seem like overwhelming firepower, but the element of surprise and the simultaneous attack from four directions created maximum damage in the shortest time.

Gao Guang, holding his gun, didn't know where to shoot, but just as he was about to fire at a car at random, he heard Captain urgently call out, "Ceasefire!"

The gunshots suddenly stopped, and at that moment, Captain took out a magazine to reload swiftly and stably commanded, "Bottle Cap, check the vehicles for cover."

Captain's team clearly worked well together. Bottle Cap methodically opened the car doors, and regardless of whether the people inside were dead or alive, he shot each person an additional time. The three vehicles were quickly checked.

The battle ended just like that, and as soon as Bottle Cap fired four shots at someone in the last car, without any delay, Captain immediately commanded, "Retreat, you..."

Captain glanced at Gao Guang, then pointed to a car and said, "Get in the car!"

Ultimately, the effort paid off. Having successfully ambushed instead of exchanging gunfire with the drug dealers who came to check things out, Gao Guang was definitely instrumental.

Gao Guang certainly didn't want to stay there, because if the drug dealers could send one group to check out the situation, they could send more. So, no matter who Captain and his team were or where they were headed, leaving with them was far safer than staying.

What followed was a matter of course. Gao Guang picked up his bag and got into the car Captain had indicated.

It was only after the car left the yard that Gao Guang understood why Captain and his team needed to ambush. Since Sanchez's place was out in the boondocks with only a small road connecting to a distant highway, if they hadn't taken down the drug dealers, fighting in the wilderness would have been troublesome for Captain and his team.

When the car hit the small road, Rubber, who was driving, urgently asked, "Should we switch to our cars, or what's the plan?"

Captain thought for a moment, then said in a grave voice, "No, we can't stick to the original plan. The middleman didn't say Sanchez worked for the Zeta Group. The fact that Zeta could send someone to check on us so quickly means they're not far away. It won't be long before Zeta sends more people after us."

Bottle Cap, sitting in the passenger seat, slightly turned his head and said, "What do you mean by not following the original plan? Are we not meeting with the middleman anymore? If not, we won't get the rest of our fee."

"As long as that idiot... As long as we still have the hostage, we'll get our fee. It's just going to be in a different place."

Captain finished speaking, then took a deep breath and said, "Right now, I'm not worried about the fee but whether we can leave Tijuana alive. We need to get out of Mexico as quickly as possible, or things will get very complicated."

Bottle Cap waved his hand, "Fine, you make the decision."

Captain fell silent for a moment and then suddenly said, "You mimicked Sanchez's voice very well, managing to fool those drug dealers. I must admit, that was critical; you helped us out a lot."

Gao Guang reacted for a moment, confirming Captain was speaking to him, and he politely responded, "It's the least I could do, you guys saved my life first."

The car was dark and Captain was wearing a mask, so Gao Guang couldn't see his expression or movement, only hearing Captain say faintly, "Now you have two choices, one is to stop in the Tijuana city area and let you off, and the other is to come with us to the United States. What's your choice?"

Time for decision-making again, which immediately threw Gao Guang into a quandary.

His difficulty with decisions was secondary; the main issue was that Gao Guang had long since realized that every time he faced an important crossroad in life, he invariably made the wrong choice.

When he was six years old, Gao Guang's parents thought it was time for him to join some interest classes, preferably ones that could strengthen his physique and cultivate masculinity. They let him choose between Sanda, Taekwondo, and Martial Arts, and Gao Guang chose Martial Arts.

Then Gao Guang joined the closest martial arts training class to his home, where the coach was a secondary athlete who had placed in the top three in provincial martial arts competitions, very sharp and stylish, which dazzled young Gao Guang.

In the beginning, it was all fine, but once they started stretching and opening the groin, Gao Guang began to regret it when his father had already paid for an entire term. He persevered until the ninth grade.

Now Gao Guang knew that martial arts routines were just for show, with no real combat effectiveness, but back then, how could Gao Guang have thought about whether martial arts routines were practical in combat? As long as they looked cool and he could show off, that was enough.

High school began, and his studies intensified, so Gao Guang stopped training in martial arts classes and became fascinated with the military—it's normal for boys to like knives and guns. But Gao Guang's interest wasn't limited to light weaponry; he was keen on researching land, sea, air, and space warfare, as well as military history from all periods and countries.

It wasn't a big deal to have an interest in the military, but this hobby influenced Gao Guang's aspirations.

Gao Guang's dream was to become a war correspondent. Never mind how he came to this idea, but throughout his three years of high school, he was single-minded about becoming the type of war correspondent who runs towards the battlefields.

Then, when it came time to choose between taking the college entrance exams or joining the army, Gao Guang chose the former over the latter.

His performance on the college entrance exams wasn't spectacular, but he at least got into a tier-three university. However, when selecting his major, he unhesitatingly chose foreign languages because he felt it brought him closer to his dream.

And in another significant life choice, Gao Guang chose to specialize in Spanish.

Those who study foreign languages, especially less common ones, usually also learn English. Although Spanish can't be considered a minor language, Gao Guang still followed the convention, learning English quite well too.

At this point, you couldn't say Gao Guang's life choices were terribly wrong, but in his senior year of college, when faced with the choice between brotherhood and being a bystander, he made a mistake and consequently lost his chance to graduate, winding up with only a certificate of completion.

Forced to enter society early, Gao Guang's dream of being a war correspondent had long dissipated. Yet, faced with the choice between a mundane life or taking a risk, Gao Guang chose to take a chance.

It's not a big issue for a spirited young man to want to take on a challenge, but after more than a year of hustling in society, doing odd jobs, and trying his hand at business, Gao Guang not only failed to make money but also drained his already impoverished family's resources even further.

Not wanting to live off his parents and lacking capital to start a business, he couldn't find an appropriate job, either. Having studied Spanish for so many years naturally sparked the idea of going abroad to see the world.

After casually working for half a year and freelancing as a translator online, Gao Guang, who scrimped and saved 20,000 yuan ($3,000), started making plans.

Unable to acquire a visa for Spain, an EU Schengen country, he had to choose among the many Spanish-speaking nations, eventually settling on Mexico.

Choosing Mexico for his first trip abroad was enough, but between Mexico City and Tijuana, Gao Guang picked a flight that landed him in Tijuana first.

If he hadn't learned Spanish, he wouldn't have come to Mexico; if he hadn't come to Mexico, he wouldn't have ended up in Tijuana; if he hadn't been in Tijuana, he wouldn't have been abducted.

Always making the wrong choice at critical moments, Gao Guang once again faced a decision, and this time, it was a matter of life and death.

But still, Gao Guang did not let others make the choice for him. He just hesitated for a moment, then said very firmly, "I'll go with you, but I don't have a visa for the United States. Can I still go like this?"

"Yes."

Gao Guang thought for a moment, then asked, "But doesn't that count as illegal immigration? Will I be able to return home afterward?"

The Captain wasn't impatient; he responded gently, "Going from Mexico to the United States, they check very strictly, but if you go from the United States to Mexico, especially from San Diego to Tijuana, there won't be any checks. I suggest you come with us to San Diego, and after a few days, when it's safe, you'll be able to go back to Tijuana anytime you want."

Gao Guang no longer hesitated; he immediately said, "I'll go to the United States with you."

Bottle Cap muttered from ahead, "Alright then, you've saved the money for smuggling, a substantial amount."

The Captain smiled and then continued, "What languages can you speak?"

"Uh, Spanish, English, and of course, Chinese, my mother tongue," Gao Guang replied.

The Captain's interest piqued; he said, "You have a talent for translation and imitating voices—did you study this professionally?"

Gao Guang replied nonchalantly, "Oh, I've always liked mimicking other people's voices since I was a kid. I never studied it formally; it was just a small hobby."

"Just a small hobby, huh? Hmm, you seem very familiar with weapons; have you ever served in the military?"

Gao Guang let out a bitter laugh and said, "No, I just like weapons and the military, so I've always watched stuff online. That's how I know a bit about them."

"Oh, I see…"

For some reason, the Captain's tone seemed somewhat disappointed, but he quickly said, "Well, even though you don't have military experience, that's not very important. I have a translation job here that you might be interested in. Are you?"

Of course, Gao Guang was interested; he immediately asked, "What job?"

"PMC."

After finishing, the Captain quickly added, "The operation tonight is just a temporary gig for us, but the job I'm talking about is a legal one, a legal PMC. Do you understand what I mean?"