Chapter 2684 - 2658: It’s Not a Ceremony

The plane landed in New York.

It was ten o’clock at night. No family or friends came to welcome Satan back, only Frey and Eileen were waiting at the VIP exit of the terminal, and besides them, Yake and Lucica.

Except for Number Thirteen, who no one knew where he had gone, the recuperating Liang Dong, and Bruce who was already dead, Satan hadn’t been this fully assembled in a long time.

Looking at Yake and Lucica, Glolov said in surprise, "Lucica, when did you get back?"

Lucica glanced at her watch and laughed. "Twenty minutes earlier than you guys."

Gao Yang waved his hand and said loudly, "Let’s get out of here and go to the place I prepared for you. Whatever needs saying, we’ll talk when we get there. Brothers, move out."

There were a lot of cars, carrying Satan’s people as they sped all the way to a bar with neon lights flashing at the entrance. Gao Yang got out of the car and beckoned everyone to go inside.

No one asked why, and no one felt it was strange to head straight into a bar after a long flight, but once they were all inside, they realized that the seemingly large bar was completely empty.

No music, no lights, no people, no servers, no dancers, no DJ—just a big, empty bar.

"Guys, this is set up for you. In a bit you can drink your fill, do whatever the hell you want, but before we officially start, there are some things I need to say to everyone."

Satan’s people instinctively lined up in a row, standing at attention in front of Gao Yang.

Gao Yang bowed his head and thought for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Number Thirteen has already gone off to live his own life, so he’s not here. Apart from Number Thirteen, all of us are here. No family, no friends, just us, just Satan!"

He raised his hand and waved it in the air, his voice growing louder as he said, "This is the welcome ceremony I arranged for you. If you want to treat it as a retirement ceremony, that works too. I’ve thought about this for a long time and decided we need some kind of ritual to say goodbye to the lives we used to live."

No one spoke. They all waited quietly for Gao Yang.

"We’ve been fighting for a long time. We’ve piled up money fast, and now we’re all rich enough. When I first became a mercenary, I told myself you have to die in a bed, surrounded by your children and grandchildren. You absolutely must not die on the battlefield! Absolutely not!"

Gao Yang smiled and said, "I’m rambling a bit, just saying whatever comes to mind. I’m probably like most of you—honestly, I don’t really want to retire either. It’s not that I still care about making more money, it’s that I don’t want to leave Satan. Even though we’re all still here, even though we can still be together, once we leave the banner of Satan, it feels like everything is going to be different..."

His voice suddenly caught. Gao Yang himself didn’t know why his emotions were surging so fiercely. After pausing for a moment, he went on, "But our meaning as mercenaries is gone. I became a mercenary because I had no choice, but the biggest reason was money. And now I don’t even know how much money I actually have. I believe I haven’t shortchanged any of you. So, brothers, we’re rich now. So many nights I asked myself, what are you still waiting for? Yeah, what are we waiting for? There’s nothing left to wait for. We should’ve left the mercenary business a long time ago. To be blunt, how long has it been since we took a contract and went out on a job? Do we even count as mercenaries anymore? We’re really just clinging to the banner of Satan, pretending we’re still mercenaries, that’s all."

Gao Yang let out a bitter little laugh and said, "So brothers, don’t tell me you don’t want to retire, because you’ve already been retired for a long time. Today, what I want to say is: from now on, we won’t be going into battle ourselves anymore. But we’re still members of Satan. Satan will not disband. Satan will always be here. It’s just that we won’t be going to the front lines."

When he finished, Gao Yang flung his hand out hard and shouted, "My head’s a bit of a mess and I’m talking in circles, but I think you understand what I mean. That’s it, that’s all I wanted to say."

There was no applause, no cheers, only silence.

Glolov suddenly said, "I remember back then, it was just Ram, Rabbit, Toad, and me, Big Dog. By some coincidence, four really tame animals got together and formed a mercenary group that didn’t even have a name. No—so we could get more pay, we casually picked a name for ourselves: Satan."

Gao Yang said with a smile, "Man, it was tough back then. We didn’t even have guns. Earning a few thousand a day felt so satisfying, so damn happy."

Cui Bo pointed at Frey and laughed. "Then we added him. Remember, guys? First time he went into battle he pissed his pants, hahaha."

Frey said angrily, "We agreed this was a secret and would never be brought up again!"

Li Jinfang said with deep feeling, "But that first-timer who pissed his pants, Little Fly, ended up saving all of us on that battle."

Gao Yang sighed as well. "Seriously, that time in Libya was brutal. Thinking back on it now, it’s a miracle we made it out."

Glolov said thoughtfully, "Then Bruce joined us. He really was a damn good field medic. Without him, we’d have been wiped out in the Gulf of Aden."

Gao Yang couldn’t help shivering. "You guys remember? In Colombia, Bruce just reached in and yanked Ivan’s rib right out. Ugh, it still freaks me out when I think about it. I can still clearly picture Bruce operating on Ivan right there on the counter."

Frey pointed at Eileen and said, "And when you two first met, you even got into a fight. Boss, you nailed Eileen hard with a Groin Kick."

Taylor said in surprise, "That happened?"

Eileen snapped, "Shut up! We said you’re not allowed to bring that up!"

Gao Yang took a long breath, then suddenly shouted, "Thinking back, all this feels like it happened just yesterday. I remember clearly how each of you joined. No matter early or late, brothers, we are Satan! No matter what we do from here on out, we’re still Satan!"

After he finished, Gao Yang suddenly shouted, "Big Dog!"

"Here!"

"Rabbit!"

"Present!"

"Toad!"

"Present!"

"Little Fly!"

"Present!"

"Worker Bee!"

"Present!"

"Bat!"

"Present!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Skunk!"

"Present!"

"Panda!"

"Here, sir!"

"Big Bird!"

"Present!"

"Fox!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Pigeon!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Fat Cat!"

"Here, Boss!"

"Wild Duck!"

"Present!"

"Turtle!"

"Present!"

"Clumsy Bear!"

"Present!"

"Crow!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Porcupine!"

"Here!"

"Cobra!"

"Present!"

Liang Dong and Number Thirteen were still absent, and of course there was Test-tube Bruce, who could never answer roll call again.

Gao Yang let out a long breath, then screamed himself hoarse, "Test Tube!"

"Present!"

Everyone shouted together, answering "Present!" in Bruce’s stead.

Gao Yang roared, "Satan!"

"Satan!"