Asia.
Mont Jalada Country, Central City Dakar, 3:00 PM.
On the main roads of the city, the traffic was like a dragon stretching far into the distance.
Looking around, on both sides of the not-so-wide highway, various stalls with banners and sun umbrellas were lined up, along with pedestrians crossing randomly and motorcycles squeezing through gaps. This major road leading to the port became extremely congested, with traffic moving at a very slow pace!
At this moment, amidst the chaotic traffic, on an off-road pickup truck, Lu Ting, dressed in a simple gray-green t-shirt and combat pants, with a rugged face and a hint of seriousness between his brows, gripped the steering wheel with one hand, maneuvering the off-road pickup truck slowly along with the traffic. His other hand held a cigarette to his lips.
"Hiss——"
Looking at the dirty and chaotic street scenes outside the car window, and the slow-moving traffic, Lu Ting couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed. However, as soon as he thought about the commission he was about to receive, his annoyance subsided from his deep brown eyes.
At this moment, a Western Caucasian man sitting in the back seat of the off-road pickup truck gently patted his wife's shoulder in a comforting manner, then gathered his courage and tentatively asked Lu Ting in English, "Mr. Lu, how much longer until we reach the port?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Ting flicked the cigarette butt in his hand out of the window, and casually replied in English with an indifferent expression, "About half an hour."
Just a few brief words, succinct and to the point.
The man and his wife glanced at each other in the back seat, and did not ask any more questions.
Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.
...
Pandi River Bank.
The pickup truck which was covered in a murky gray from lack of maintenance with its original color almost indistinguishable, steadily parked in the bustling and noisy Dakar Inland Port.
The engine turned off, Lu Ting got out of the car, opened the rear door in smoothly executed series of movements.
"We're here."
Lu Ting nodded slightly towards the outside of the car, signaling the couple inside to get out.
The reason he personally opened the door was not out of politeness, but because he had an agreement with the couple from the beginning: during their employment, they were not allowed to get out of the car without his command!
"Alright alright!"
The man inside the car nodded repeatedly in agreement, and then quickly helped his wife out of the car.
Perhaps out of fear of Lu Ting's identity as a mercenary, or possibly due to the Colt 10mm pistol holstered at Lu Ting's waist, the Western Caucasian man hurriedly took out a leather pouch from his bag as soon as he got out of the car. He handed it to Lu Ting, saying, "Thank you, Mr. Lu. This is the remaining commission. Could you please count to verify?"
With half a cigarette butt still in his mouth, Lu Ting furrowed his brows, reached out to take the leather pouch, briefly glanced at the cash inside to confirm its thickness, waved his hand dismissively, and without looking up, said, "Hmm, you may go."
Upon hearing Lu Ting's words, the couple thanked him again earnestly, then turned and quickly disappeared into the crowd boarding the ship.
After they left, Lu Ting closed the rear door, then sat back in the driver's seat.
Looking once again at the cash in the leather pouch in his hand, the seriousness and tension on Lu Ting's face gradually relaxed. He couldn't help but chuckle self-deprecatingly, "Two days of hard work, a long trip, and this is all I earn. There probably isn't a more miserable mercenary than me."
Gazing at the bustling port outside the car window, crowded with people, Lu Ting's eyes gradually calmed down, and his thoughts began to wander.
As a young man in his prime, he should have been living an ordinary and peaceful life.
However, an accidental drowning incident unexpectedly transported him to this world, which was strikingly similar to Earth. Moreover, his new identity turned out to be the only son of the leader of a mercenary armed group!
Adopting a mindset of accepting whatever comes his way, Lu Ting quickly accepted the reality of his crossing over. After all, compared to the conventional and regimented life of his previous existence, the mercenary world offered a life full of money, weapons, killing, and freedom, which held immense appeal for him!
But who would have thought,
In the second year after Lu Ting crossed over to this world, a sudden upheaval occurred in his family's mercenary armed group!
His cheap old man, leading a crucial mercenary mission, fell victim to an enemy ambush due to incorrect intelligence and died from gunshot wounds. Along with him, his most loyal subordinates also perished!
Thus,
The responsibility of managing and maintaining a mercenary armed group fell into Lu Ting's hands.
To be honest, Lu Ting did want to continue running this armed group because he was indeed inadequate in this regard. Despite learning a lot of relevant knowledge from his deceased old man during the first year after crossing over, his lack of practical experience made it impossible for him to handle everything smoothly.
Moreover, the most fatal blow was that shortly after his old man fell, the opponents who had always been eyeing his family's armed group quickly formed an alliance, sensing blood like sharks, and united to exert pressure on him!
At the same time, they also paid high prices to poach a large number of mercenaries from the armed group!
It's worth noting that mercenaries are purely opportunistic. Naturally, they would go with whoever offered higher prices and seemed more reliable. Plus, at that time, Lu Ting clearly seemed incapable of managing an armed group.
With no support in sight, in just half a year, despite Lu Ting's efforts to keep it afloat, the mercenary armed group under his name inevitably became an empty shell, with members gradually dispersing and the group even facing bankruptcy and closure!
At that time, seeing the group becoming more desolate day by day, Lu Ting, exhausted for half a year, finally couldn't hold on any longer and thought it might be better to just close the group for good!
Washing his hands of it, while he still had some money left, he could seek another way out!
But what he didn't expect was that, in the midst of this critical crisis, a golden finger called the "Strongest Mercenary System" bound itself to Lu Ting!
As a transmigrator, Lu Ting naturally understood how impressive such systems could be!
According to the introduction of the "Strongest Mercenary System" at the time, it would activate automatically after receiving the first mercenary mission. Then, every time he was hired, the system would automatically generate corresponding tasks!
As long as Lu Ting completed the mercenary tasks, he would receive corresponding rewards!
The higher the difficulty of the mercenary tasks, the greater the danger, and the more generous the final task rewards would be!
At the same time, as long as Lu Ting had enough reputation, he could buy any state-of-the-art military weapons and equipment anytime and anywhere through the "Strongest Mercenary System"!
(End of the Chapter)