Chapter 157 Conditions

In the rebel-held territory, outside a small town called Cole, three cars came to a halt. Xue Ping’an got out of the car, holding a satellite phone.

Beside an endless field, Xue Ping’an, dressed in a Tang suit and with a cigarette in his mouth, dialed a number.

…

At the gate of a military airport in Hua Fu.

Zhou Xian sat in a helicopter, looking down and instructing his entourage, "Go to Old Jiu Shu's unit later and personally supervise their preparations. Tonight, host a banquet for the officers participating in this operation. Give money where money is due, and build relationships where relationships need building. Once I'm ready here, they can depart."

"Understood!" The officer below nodded.

Zhou Xian gestured for his assistant to close the cabin door and shouted, "Let's go!"

The helicopter took off, heading straight for Bana City.

Sitting in the cabin, Zhou Xian reached for a pen and paper, intending to jot something down, when his phone rang.

"Hello?"

Zhou Xian answered the phone.

"Chief Zhou, Xu Zhou and Zhu Peng are in my hands. Shall we chat?" an electronic voice said.

Zhou Xian frowned instantly, clenching his fist as he retorted, "What do you want to chat about?"

"Haha, it's nothing much. Just something you can accomplish with a single phone call: have the rebels and the Warhammer Group withdraw their troops," the other party demanded.

Zhou Xian's face darkened. "No matter who you are, no matter who you're holding, do you think such a condition could be agreed to? Even if I agree, would the higher-ups agree?!"

"No, huh?"

"…!" Zhou Xian was silent.

"Hehe, that's true! Although you're an old-school princeling, you still have to dance to the tune of the higher-ups," the other party mocked. "Then let's change the condition."

Zhou Xian still didn't respond.

"I want An Qiqi. Get her out and bring her to the edge of the district, then I'll contact you," the other party said softly. "Don't lie to me. I have friends in District One too. If An Qiqi doesn't come out, then I'll chop off another of Xu Zhou's hands."

Zhou Xian gritted his teeth, and after three seconds of silence, he replied decisively, "Alright, fine, I'll wait for your call."

"That's it."

The two ended the call, and Zhou Xian looked down at the paper and pen, lost in thought.

…

Outside Cole Town, Xue Ping’an hung up the satellite phone and turned to call out, "Let's go. Wait for Zhou Xian to react."

A burly man beside him immediately said, "Brother, why not just call Su Tianyu directly? Can't we just use Xu Zhou and Zhu Peng to exchange for our family members?"

"Definitely not!" Xue Ping’an replied, swaggering. "What does Su Tianyu care if Xu Zhou and Zhu Peng live or die? Our cards can't threaten him, so there's no way to negotiate. If I were Su Tianyu, I wouldn't want those two either. If you want to talk, just bring An Qiqi back. Wouldn't that be much easier?!"

The burly man nodded slowly. "That's true."

"Keep it quiet, we just need to go back."

"If we just go back like this, once Zhou Xian suspects something, we won't be able to leave," the burly man reminded.

"In their eyes, how much is my life worth? All of our family combined aren't worth as much as one young master Xu," Xue Ping’an said self-deprecatingly. "What can I do by risking my life? My life is worthless anyway!"

With that, Xue Ping’an stepped into the car and said calmly, "Let's go, back to the city."

…

In the helicopter.

While dialing Vice Commander Xu's number, Zhou Xian's brain was working at full speed. He looked down at his notebook and wrote a character on it first.

An! (安)

After writing it, the call connected. "Hello, Xiao Xian!"

"Uncle Xu, the kidnappers called me, claiming that Xiao Zhou and Xiao Zhu are with him," Zhou Xian said immediately. "Although I haven't confirmed if they're in his hands, judging from the conditions he proposed, he should be confident."

"How so?"

"He initially asked us to withdraw our troops. When I didn't respond, he asked for An Qiqi," Zhou Xian replied. "If the other party is making such demands, then there aren't many possible suspects."

At this point, Zhou Xian wrote another character on the notebook – Su! (苏)

Vice Commander Xu paused for a moment. "Why didn't he call me?"

"Maybe he thought it would be more secure to contact me," Zhou Xian replied immediately. "Uncle Xu, no matter who they are, as long as they make demands, it'll be easier to deal with. Leave this to me. Don't worry, I will…!"

"You wait for their call. If you confirm that the two children are in their hands, notify me immediately, and I'll have someone handle it," Vice Commander Xu said immediately, clearly not willing to entrust his son's fate to Zhou Xian. "Don't make any decisions lightly."

"Alright," Zhou Xian nodded. "What about An Qiqi?"

"Get her out," Vice Commander Xu said without a doubt. "But she absolutely can't be lost. We must keep her in our hands."

"Understood!"

"That's it."

The two ended the call, and Zhou Xian wrote another character on the notebook – Xue! (薛)

With the three characters written, Zhou Xian looked down at his notebook, contemplating for a full ten minutes before turning to his assistant and saying, "Call Kang Dinghuang and tell him that the situation in Bana City has changed. I need people. Have him transfer Xue Ping’an to the Warhammer command base, immediately!"

"Yes!" The assistant knew that Zhou Xian and Kang Dinghuang had just had an argument, so he didn't try to persuade the former to call and communicate himself.

…

A little after three in the afternoon, inside a key prison in Hua Fu, a dozen female guards walked to the door of an isolated cell.

Inside the low, confined cell, less than one and a half meters high and two meters wide, An Qiqi hugged her legs, her hair disheveled, her body reeking, and her eyes blankly staring at the floor.

"You, come out! Squat against the wall!" The stout female guard in the lead shouted at An Qiqi in English.

The cell door opened, and An Qiqi practically crawled out, silently leaning against the wall.

In the bright light, An Qiqi, dressed in a prison uniform, was covered in bruises and scratches. She had lost at least twenty pounds, and the cheekbones on her face were clearly protruding.

An Qiqi was already a slender girl, about one meter seventy tall, but even at her heaviest, she only weighed about one hundred and two or three pounds. So, with this weight loss, she looked completely emaciated.

Beside the wall, An Qiqi looked down at her toes, her delicate face devoid of panic and fear.

In just over twenty days, God knows what this flower in a greenhouse had gone through!

…

S Lanka Chizai military base.

Xin Xiaodong strode into the command post, frowning as he said to Su Tianyu, "Tagu's command post has contacted us three times in the past hour. They are requesting that our troops arrive near Bana City as soon as possible to provide them with support."

Su Tianyu pressed his hands on the table. "Reply: We are leaving immediately."

"Yes!"