With a cacophony of rubbing, a Ford car stopped in front of a bar called "Golden-Rose in a zigzag trajectory," causing an almost equally shrill scream, apparently female, before the scream turned into a male rebuke and swearing. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 Not far away, two Chinese policemen on patrol noticed the sudden quarrel and began to move closer to this side. However, when they saw the conspicuous umbrella sign on the door, the two quickly and unanimously changed directions, hurried towards a beggar a few hundred yards away.

"You, that's right, it's you! Begging is forbidden here! The two enforcers shouted, not to reprimand the beggar who had appeared in the wrong place, but to make the citizens around them hear more clearly and understand that they were too busy to deal with the incident at the door of the bar.

This is Zhanjiang City. As part of the Guangzhou Bay lease, there are two large groups that the city's law enforcement officers are unwilling to deal with: the American military and Umbrella's private security contractors, both violent elements, both have a lot of connections at the top, and they are tricky to deal with, and the slightest carelessness can cause unnecessary trouble for themselves, so as long as they don't make a big mess, provoke people they shouldn't mess with, or attract the attention of big people who own the city, the police will turn a blind eye to their actions.

Still, that doesn't mean that these people can run amok here, and there are still people who can restrain their behavior if necessary: call the gendarmerie if you're a U.S. soldier, and if you're a contractor, call the Umbrella Internal Office.

And at some point, out of his own sense of morality or simply not wanting to see someone tarnish the company's public image, there will be higher-ranking or older contractors who will come forward.

Before a couple of drunken guys in the car escalated the argument into a street brawl that broke out out out of nowhere, a man in his mid-thirties and dressed in the latest Chinese Army uniform knocked on the hood of the car from the other side.

"Everyone, shut your mouth immediately!" He scolded harshly.

At first, none of the contractors reacted, and he had to bang on the hood of the car again, raise the volume and repeat his command. This time they finally reacted a little, not following his orders, but being annoyed by an outsider giving them orders, until a contractor with a far clearer mind than his companion saw the umbrella armband on the man's uniform.

He then noticed a series of medals on the left chest of the uniform, all awarded by Umbrella: the Distinguished Staff Medal for Five Years and the Outstanding Staff Medal for Ten Years, the Marine Corps and Army Service Medals, and the Abyssinian, Philippine, Vietnamese, and Chinese War Medals. In addition to this, there is a sign that began to be used not long ago, representing his rank: soldier, eighth rank.

One Sergeant Major II (MasterSergeant).

At the same time, this is also his rank in the Chinese army - the uniform has a military rank mark on it.

Once all this information is combined, the gentleman's identity becomes abundantly clear: he is a veteran contractor with seniority dating back to the year the company was founded, has participated in every major military operation in the first days, and is serving as an instructor in the Chinese army.

If they were on a mission, they needed to stand up and salute him immediately, and luckily they were on vacation, so there was no need to make themselves look too embarrassed - but still follow the instructions of the venerable gentleman.

The contractor acted decisively and used various means to alert his companions, including hitting one of the contractors on the head.

They were finally quiet.

"I'm Wendehei." When the chaos was completely gone, Sergeant 2nd Class immediately identified himself and immediately issued the order: "Now, I ask you to apologize to these gentlemen and ladies, and then walk back to the base." Do you know what I mean? ”

"Understand, sir!" Several contractors nodded at the same time, and immediately complied.

Whether they really wanted to or not, they could only accept Wen Desi's request: a veteran employee like him must have many old friends who had fought alongside him, some of whom might still be at Umbrella, either commanders or senior non-commissioned officers, who might happen to be at the Canton Bay base, or even the direct superiors of one of them.

With just a phone call, he could keep everyone present walking around without eating.

And, now that several contractors are fully awake, they recognize how bad their situation is: while Umbrella always favors its employees, drunk driving, heated arguments with passers-by, or even outright fights are not acceptable to the company, let alone a few white-looking whites who are in conflict with them.

But it's only "a little", and the gentlemen and ladies aren't rich enough to really do anything to them, it's just that these people are white, and the city is under the jurisdiction of the United States, and the United States is a white country - more or less, these people will cause some trouble, and they are not small characters to be dealt with.

This is why Wen Deji demanded an apology: if it was an ordinary Chinese who had clashed with them – although the probability of such a thing happening was extremely low and few would have the guts – he would still prevent the conflict from escalating further, but only so much more and not make further demands; Or the white people who are the city's ubiquitous adventurers who come from the other side of the Pacific to make a fortune will stand by and wait for a few contractors to beat them up and make the hillbillies from the bottom of society, who have no connections or roots, but who have the superiority of the upper classes, know that this is not the place they imagined.

Wen Desi admits that it is neither just nor fair to do so, but in this miserable world, justice and fairness are rather rare things that idealists may seek and maintain, but he is not an idealist, he is just an ordinary contractor, he has worked for Umbrella for many years, and has lived in the political center of China for a not-so-short period of time as a military instructor sent by the company to the Imperial Army of the Qing Dynasty, and has become very adept at taking different approaches to problems depending on who people are.

A means that can be accepted by all.

If the frightened ladies and gentlemen had enough sense, they would have accepted his arrangement—and they did. After politely but coldly thanking him, the men immediately left the scene of the conflict.

Their attitude did not exceed his expectations.

Wendeji shrugged his shoulders and turned to walk through the door of the "Gilded Rose".

It was his first time in this place, but not the first time he had heard of it. In fact, all contractors in China have heard of the bar. It was the property of a senior adviser to the company, and the name was chosen by Qin Lang -- it is said that the senior adviser mentioned on the sidelines of a meeting at the Pentagon that he had invested in a bar, which had not yet been named, so Qin Lang put forward the name as a formal proposal.

He didn't explain why, but it was settled, like most of Umbrella's decisions.

Guess the reason Qin Lang named it "Gold-Encrusted Rose" is a topic that most contractors like, but they prefer to talk about it itself. The bar is the main meeting place for contractors stationed at the Guangzhou Bay base, with what most people consider to be a very luxurious interior, one of the best American bands in the Far East, all drinks discounted to Umbrella employees, and a beautiful group of hostesses.

Obviously, they are the main reason contractors love this bar.

But Moon's hex didn't come here for the hostesses. By the time many contractors were single, he had already had a failed marriage and a son diagnosed with autism. For the time being, he has no interest in hooking up with women.

He just came here to meet up with a few old friends.

In a corner of the bar, Wen Desi found the people who had been on the same team as him: Zhang Biao, William? Butz and Vince? Vaughn. After Qin Lang laid off most of the contractors, this was the first time they got together.

But there was another person with them that Wen Deji had never seen before, a muscular guy who was nearly six feet tall, had no beard, and his black hair was shaved short, and he introduced himself as Shangguan Yundun.

The problem is that he is clearly a white man.

"You don't look like Shangguan Yundun." Wen Deji commented.

"Shangguan Yunton" understood what he meant, so he reintroduced himself: "Jean-Claude? Camille? François? Fan? Wahnberg. ”

"Okay." Wen Desi felt that the previous name was better, "Shangguan Yundun." ”

Shangguan Yundun showed a smile like showing off. "It's the name my wife wants."

"His wife is Chinese." William? Butz placed a glass of beer in front of Wen Deji and explained to him the origin of Shangguan Yunton, but he did not say much, only one sentence: "We were both sent by the company to northern China to assist the Russians in fighting the Japanese, in the same platoon, and finally he dragged me out of an armored car that was on fire." ”

"He got stuck, and he almost lost his life there." Zhang Biao continued, "If Shangguan hadn't dragged him out, we would have to visit him at a cemetery in the northeast." ”

"Cemetery? Oh no, not a cemetery. Butz shook his head slowly, indicating that he did not agree with Zhang Biao's opinion. If I die in battle, there will be a faithful chariot as my grave. ”

His last sentence caused a moment of silence: it didn't look like the kind of sentence that Butz could say, according to his friends. At first, they just didn't want to expose this, but in the end, Zhang Biao still couldn't hold back, laughed and said what was in his heart: "Mr. Butz, this sentence is definitely not what you thought of yourself. ”

Vince? Van and Shangguan Yunton shouted, indicating that they completely agreed with his judgment.

Butz snorted in feigned displeasure. "Gentlemen, laugh now! But in the end, I was the one who had the last laugh. After pausing for a moment and taking a big sip of beer, he made no secret of his plans: "I will compose an unforgettable battle song for our armored vehicle units." And I've come up with a good name for it, and it's called "Song of the Panzers." ”

The laughter grew louder.

"I hope we can see your results, William, hopefully." Wen Deji emphasized the word, laughed with his glass for a moment, and then put it back on the table, bringing the conversation back to the part about the grave, "But how did you return to Guangzhou Bay?" As far as I know, the war is not over. ”

In fact, he wanted to ask why Butz returned to the Guangzhou Bay base: although he participated in the company's mission as a member of the armored vehicle unit, at the public level, he had long since left Umbrella and only had a short-term contract with the company, and once the mission was over or the contract expired, he could go wherever he wanted instead of returning to the company's base.

Mr. Wen thought it was unlikely that he was just accompanying Shangguan Yundun or coming to meet a few old friends—he was wearing a company uniform, and it was new, with his name tag on it.

But he didn't ask that question in the end. After all, it is not surprising that a fighter with a lot of experience like Butz wants to return to Umbrella as much as he wants to.

Butz's answer confirmed his suspicions. "The Pentagon recalled us. In fact, most of the officers and soldiers were recalled, and only a few remained with the Russians, who were said to assist Mr. Yi in investigating the cause of the troop losses. "Some of us will return to San Diego, where the Pentagon is preparing to integrate them into an experimental force, while the rest are here to receive new armored vehicles." ”

He stopped again and began to drink, while Shangguan Yundun made a brief addition: "We believe that the company may form an armored vehicle unit in Guangzhou Bay. Until then, though, everyone has to submit a detailed record of the battle. ”

"How detailed?"

"I don't know, the company hasn't sent the specific requirements to us yet, but according to the grapevine, it will make everyone never want to see a typewriter again."

"Sounds terrible."

"That's right." Butz muttered indistinctly, "I'm already creepy." ”

"Thankfully, Vince and I don't have to submit any hellish reports." Zhang Biao gloated, "But don't worry, we will support you, mentally." ”

"We'll remember you, Mr. Zhang." Butz replied, giving him a middle finger.

"Then you'd better take some real action." Zhang Biao accepted it calmly, taking it as a compliment, "How about integrating me and Vince into your armored vehicle unit?" We're all interested in that new war machine. ”

However, he was just joking. Both he and Vane were in a higher unit, a special unit, and it was neither possible nor necessary to enter a front-line combat unit, even if it was an armored vehicle unit - for this weapon, Zhang Biao was not as interested as he appeared.

He was really interested in something else.

"Have you heard any interesting rumors in Beijing?" Zhang Biao looked at Wen Desi, intending to get some information from him that he didn't know, "Or an unusual change?" ”

Although he didn't know his purpose, Wen Deji replied: "Change? Yes, there were some changes, and before I left, several units stationed near Beijing, including the one I was in, all raised the alert level, and the holidays for officers and soldiers were canceled. ”

Everyone present understood what this message meant, and the forces were preparing for a large-scale military operation.

"Drills?" Butz guessed.

"No, I think it's something else." Zhang Biao once again played a role against him, but not without reason. "You should be more concerned about the situation in China."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, maybe there's going to be big news." (To be continued.) )