When he heard a bird-like sound soar through the air, a smile crept up the corners of Xia Lei’s lips.

The weight on his shoulders had disappeared.

Giovanna turned around nervously. “I thought I heard a gun, what happened?”

Xia Lei also turned to look. “I can’t see, it should be your people. There must’ve been a shootout with the FA organisation.”

Stella said, “Didn’t you and your people kill the enemies in that area already?”

“Then I’m not so sure. Did they meet a bear or something?”

Giovanna touched her belly. “Wait for me.” She then scurried into the shadows of the trees.

Siberia was beautiful. Her fair skin blended well with the white snow, hot fluids interacted with the cold air. A female rider was peeing on the ground as she spoke into the device on her outerwear. “Commander, we are approaching Dark Mona’s coordinates...”

There was no reply.

“Commander?”

There was still no reply.

Giovanna’s heart was sinking fast.

Xia Lei took two steps horizontally to a spot where he could see Giovanna and said loudly, “Miss Giovanna, what did you eat last night? Did you have food poisoning or something?”

Stella blocked in front of Xia Lei, her blue eyes widened. “What are you looking at?”

“Your sister’s ass,” said Xia Lei with a smirk. “It’s very fair.”

Stella was speechless. “You...”

Since you think I’m a pervert, I’ll be a pervert!

“Asshole,” Theresa cussed, glaring fiercely.

Xia Lei grinned. “I hope you’re all not delaying this on purpose? Are you planning something I’m not aware of?”

“What bullshit is that?” roared Rosa. “We are allies! We are helping you!”

Xia Lei laughed coldly. “Helping me? I paid fifty million dollars for this, plus I’ll be giving you your sacred stuff. It’s not like you’re helping me out of kindness.”

“That’s enough.” Giovanna walked out from behind a few trees, lifting her pants up. “Mister Xia, please do not doubt our sincerity. We have very strong faith, we are not the scum you think we are.”

Xia Lei shrugged and walked towards the foot of the mountain. He did not want to continue this discussion. He believed that they had faith but they were not trustable. Trustworthiness and faith in religion were two different things.

“What happened?” Rosa asked in a low voice. “Why aren’t our people here yet?”

“We’ll be entering FA territory if we trek straight ahead. Once a shootout happens between us and FA, the consequences could be disastrous,” said Theresa.

If there was gunfire, Xia Lei could be captured or killed by Dark Mona. No matter what the end result was, it was not good for the Knight Hospitallers.

Rosa, Theresa and Stella all looked at Giovanna.

She shook her head, her voice filled with worry. “I couldn’t contact them.”

“How is that possible?” asked Theresa.

Giovanna replied, “All we can hope for is that the FA cut off our communications using an interference device. If not...”

Xia Lei turned around. “Hey, are we going or not?”

“Let’s not talk. He’s already suspicious.” Giovanna walked towards Xia Lei.

As they continued walking, the four ladies would occasionally give each other looks. Yet the person they wanted to see never appeared.

Half an hour passed.

The foot of the mountain was right before them. There was dense vegetation and the ground was covered in a thick blanket of snow. When they looked up, they could not see if there was anyone hiding in the mountains or among the trees.

“Let’s not go forward anymore,” said Giovanna. “We’re sure this is where the FA is, Dark Mona and her people are on this mountain.”

“We’ll wait for our people to surround this place, then attack,” said Stella.

Xia Lei suddenly shouted as loud as he could. “I, Xia Lei, have arrived!”

The four ladies jumped in surprise.

Before they could stop him, Xia Lei lifted his gust assault rifle in the air and fired a shot.

“Dark Mona! Didn’t you want me to come? Well, I’m here! Get the hell out of there!”

Was he mad?

Both the Grey and Russo sisters thought he had completely lost his mind.

The gunshot and Xia Lei’s angry roars echoed across the mountains. If Dark Mona was really on this mountain, then she must have heard his voice and the gunshot fired to provoke her.

Giovanna rushed forward to grab his gun. “What are you doing? Are you crazy?!”

Xia Lei stared at the mountain, a grin creeping up his face. “You’re too late, she’s already here with her people.”

Stella looked up with her binoculars. With its help, she could see movement on the mountain. There were a few armed men in camouflage moving down the slope.

Xia Lei quickly scanned across the entire mountain. There was movement on both sides of the mountain, about thirty armed guards were coming!

The report from the Knight Hospitallers was wrong. Last night, when he eavesdropped on Arthur and Angelo’s video call, he heard Arthur say that there were twenty people. So far, he had already killed more than ten of them- yet there were thirty here! Just based on the FA’s highly trained soldiers plus the advantage of the terrain, Dark Mona was not afraid of the Knight Hospitallers and the mercenaries at all if they attacked. It looked like Dark Mona was feigning weakness to lure him in!

He couldn’t see Dark Mona, but he was sure she was one of the armed guards running down the mountain.

Xia Lei smirked. Dark Mona’s battle strategy at this moment wasn’t the best. She was just capitalising on his anger and her confidence in her own capabilities!

“They’re here! Oh my goodness, they have.... More than thirty people!” Stella panicked. “The reports we received were wrong!”

“How is it possible? How could they have so many people?” Rosa was anxious too.

“Prepare to fight!” Giovanna said.

“It’s useless, there are only five of us. We’re no match for them!” came Theresa’s voice filled not just with anxiety but also fear.

There was only one calm person among the five. He said in a flat tone, “They’re here. They only want me. You can still run if you wish.”

Rosa was furious. “We are the Knight Hospitallers, we never run away from battle!”

“It’s all your fault! Why didn’t you follow our plan? Why did you want to make Dark Mona and her people come?” Theresa was equally angry.

Xia Lei shrugged. “If I don’t lure her down, what would we do? Fight just like that? Dark Mona and her people have a high ground advantage. It will be difficult for us to fight our way out. I couldn’t bear for you all to die. You’re gifts sent to me by the Knight Hospitallers. You’re all basically my girls!”

“Shut up!” snapped Stella. “You’re still in the mood to spout such bullshit?”

“We are Knights from the Knights Hospitaller! We are not goods, especially not your ‘girls’!” warned Theresa angrily.

Xia Lei chuckled. “Goods, knights, whatever. You were still given to me by the Knights Hospitallers.” When he finished, he lifted his gun once again and fired into the air.

Bang! Bang! Bang...

The gunshots were deafening, breaking the tranquillity of Siberia. He’d once again announced his exact location of the FA.

“You’re mad, you’re mad!” cried Giovanna.

“If you want to live, get Arthur to bring his men here immediately.”

“He...” Giovanna wanted to say something but stopped. She’d attempted to contact him many times but couldn’t.

“Alright, let’s say he’s dead.” Xia Lei continued, “Then who in the Knights Hospitaller is in charge now?”

Giovanna hesitated before saying, “The four of us.”

Xia Lei replied, “That’s good, I think you’re the most decisive one. Let’s pretend Arthur is dead. Your people can’t be leaderless. Send out your orders immediately, get them to rush over here now for the battle.”

Giovanna did not move. She wasn’t sure.

Xia Lei spoke sternly once again, “If you do not do that now, your people will die here! We will all die here! Get your people and we will battle the FA once and for all! We have larger numbers and your people are better equipped!”

Giovanna gave the other three a look and there was a silent discussion.

“You can discuss it yourself, I’m leaving.” Xia Lei turned and left.

They all rolled their eyes as he left.

Giovanna took the communication device out of her jacket and changed the channel. In a low voice, she said, “I am Giovanna. I will take over from Arthur to lead this battle. Come to the FA’s meeting point immediately and prepare to engage in battle.”

Xia Lei turned around to add, “Tell them I’ll pay five hundred thousand dollars per FA guard killed and one million dollars per leader killed. If they catch or kill Dark Mona, I will pay ten million dollars as a reward.”

Giovanna relayed his message.

To Xia Lei, the brightest elites of the Knight Hospitallers were no longer present. The rest was just about twenty regular armed-members. This army mostly consisted of mercenaries, assassins and armed groups. Their sole motivation? Money.

A reply came through the device very soon.

Xia Lei walked to a spot of snow, unzipped his pants and urinated. A water arc of two meters formed and landed on the ground, melting the snow quickly. Steam rose.

“Can’t you do this somewhere else?” Stella frowned.

The flow of urine annoyed her greatly, along with the other three ladies.

“You’re useless! I can’t believe you’re still in the mood to do something so disgusting in a moment like that!” said Rosa.

Xia Lei looked at the four ladies. “Alright, I’ll get behind a tree. Oh, right, do you have toilet paper?”

“I have bullets, would that work?” Theresa was going insane!

“Alright, I’ll just use a leaf.” Xia Lei zipped up and walked behind a row of trees.

“Hurry up, Dark Mona and her people are coming!” cried Giovanna anxiously.

“I know, I’ll be quick,” came his voice from behind a tree.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

They heard gunshots.

A few bullets whistled past their heads and torso.

The four ladies dropped to the ground and separated, using trees and boulders as shields then returned fire.

“Damn it!” After a few shots, Giovanna roared in the direction where Xia Lei was. “They’re here!”

There was no reply.

“Mister Xia?”

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

There was still no reply.