Due to the need to handle the bodies and avoid detection, Liang En and his team spent extra time staging the scene, only to have the mastermind behind the incident arrive just in time to witness the aftermath.
Soon, four off-road vehicles stopped outside the forest, and a group of security personnel, equipped with firearms and dressed in various clothing, disembarked from the vehicles.
Amidst these security personnel, a middle-aged man with a potbelly and sunglasses leisurely stepped out of the car and began issuing orders to the guards beside him.
“Well done, Ali. Now, bring out our guests. I hope they can help us with the excavation. I have a feeling we’re onto a big discovery this time.”
“And throw the body of that guy who refused to pay my rent into the river. I think our guests should now understand the situation and know what to do next.”
“Yes, Shah.” A young security guard nodded slightly, indicating his understanding, and then, with another person, walked toward the forest.
“The mastermind, huh?” Liang En frowned. He suspected these people wouldn’t be that easy to deal with, but their only option now was to fight and then figure things out.
As the two armed men rounded a bend and approached the clearing where the hostages had been hidden, they abruptly stopped, noticing that the bodies that had been hanging from the trees were gone.
This was Liang En’s doing. Feeling it was wrong to leave the innocent dead exposed to the elements, he had used supernatural powers to bury them.
However, this significantly altered the scene, so the person named Ali quickly reached for the radio on his shoulder to report the anomaly.
But just as his hand lifted halfway, an arrow, accompanied by a faint breeze, flew over and pierced his exposed neck.
“Ugh—” The arrow shattered his cervical vertebrae, causing the security guard named Ali to drop his hand and collapse to the ground.
As he fell, he saw his companion also collapse in the same position, an arrow similarly lodged in his neck.
Just as Ali was about to take his last breath, he noticed two fully cloaked figures emerge, holding bows.
“Let’s see what these people are up to—” Despite having overheard some information through a raven earlier, Liang En approached to search the two bodies to confirm the details.
Both corpses were dressed like standard local elite bodyguards, wearing T-shirts and jeans with bulletproof vests and tactical gear. Each carried an M4 military-issue automatic rifle.
Like India, this country had strict gun laws but lax enforcement. Outside the big cities, it was easy to acquire firearms if you had the money.
Especially in Pakistan, the neighboring war in Afghanistan made illegal firearms much more prevalent than in India, so it wasn’t unusual for the wealthy here to get their hands on military-issue M4 rifles.
The man outside, named Shah, appeared to be a traditional landlord, likely valuing private armed forces and willing to spend on weapons to arm himself.
Besides this gear, the two men also carried some cash, keys, and other small items, making them indistinguishable from the locals.
However, as Liang En conducted a thorough search, he discovered something more interesting: upon removing the underwear of the leader among the two armed men, he found a tattoo of a black sun on a hidden part of his body.
This was something they learned after clashing with the Thule Society: their official members tattooed the black sun symbol on themselves to signify their identity, but to avoid unnecessary exposure, the tattoo was placed in a concealed spot.
“What should we do next?” Jeanne, who had come closer to examine the situation, looked up at the group outside the forest and asked.
“At least we can confirm they are indeed related to the Thule Society, so I think if we want to figure out what’s going on, we might need to take action against the target.”
“I don’t mind taking out those who kill innocents indiscriminately,” Liang En said, pulling an MG42 machine gun from his storage space and handing it to Jeanne before taking out another one for himself and loading it with ammunition.
“To be honest, we don’t need to leave any survivors in the upcoming operation. What we need to do now is to take them all out in a normal mode and see if we can disrupt their actions.”
The Golden Dawn had always been a scholarly organization, so in their long-term conflict with the Thule Society, the Golden Dawn had often suffered because of their traditional methods.
However, for the Golden Dawn, their orthodox methods were also their advantage. Imitating the Thule Society’s tactics was actually foolish.
After all, the Thule Society was naturally adept at those underhanded tactics, so fighting them in their area of expertise was clearly unwise.
But unlike other members of the Golden Dawn, Liang En’s combat capabilities far exceeded those of the scholars. So, facing the Thule Society’s strange actions this time, Liang En decided to simply break their strategy with force.
At least, judging by what that guy said outside the forest, these people were clearly the kind of scum who kill innocents without a second thought. So, Liang En and his team decided to hit them hard.
As Liang En and Jeanne, each with a machine gun, quickly moved toward the people outside the forest, they unexpectedly overheard a conversation. When they moved to flank the group, the targets were completely unaware of the impending danger and were discussing the whereabouts of their companions.
“Where is Ali? Why haven’t they returned yet?” The rich man named Shah, looking visibly bored, asked the others around him.
“Perhaps our guests are being uncooperative,” another security guard quickly replied. “So you might want to rest in the car for a while. We’ll send someone in to check—”
This explanation made some sense. After all, they had kidnapped over a dozen people, and it would indeed be difficult for two armed men and the three others to move all those people at once.
So, the wealthy man named Shah quickly nodded, indicating his understanding, and climbed back into the car, while two armed men with guns walked toward the forest.
However, as they approached the forest, they unexpectedly heard the sound of metal clashing. Before they could realize that it was the sound of a weapon being loaded, it was too late.
In an instant, flames erupted from both sides, and whips of fire lashed out at the armed men.
Amidst a series of sharp, ripping sounds, the armed men convulsed and collapsed. Although the man in the car tried to escape, he was also riddled with bullets and turned into a sieve along with the vehicle.
Soon, the sound of the machine guns ceased, and by then, no one was left standing. After a few final shots to finish off any survivors, two figures holding guns emerged from the edge of the forest.
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