Yama Reborn

Chapter Two Hundred Nineteen [Coincidence?]

Under everyone's gaze, Golden Bird sighed and began his account.

After the night attack began and they realized that the artillery fire was coming from the direction of the riverbank, Sea Monster led Golden Bird toward the riverbank.

By the time they arrived, a group had already taken over the riverbank's gunboats and were using the gunboats' cannons to fire at the camp.

"The ones we left on the fleet... they're all dead... By the time we got there, they were already dead. We only saw a group of people operating the ship's cannons to shoot."

Vanel took a deep breath and asked, "How many people?"

"Quite a few, dozens," Golden Bird shook his head. "Then we could only charge in. Sea Monster told me we had to take back the gunship.

We are Ability Users. And though many of us aren't afraid of bullets, not everyone can withstand cannon shells! Moreover, there were so many mercenaries in the camp."

Chen Nuo glanced at the blood-covered Sea Monster.

Obviously, this guy has been on a rampage.

"We killed quite a few, but we didn't take back the gunship. Those guys blew up the gunboat.

We killed some, and the rest took off on our hovercraft. We didn't dare to pursue in the dark, as we didn't know how things were at camp here, so we gave up the chase. By the time we returned, we met the people Vanel had sent to rendezvous.

That's pretty much the situation."

Although he was psychologically prepared—after all, everyone had seen the flames and heard the explosions from the riverbank before the battle ended—Vanel was still so furious after hearing the account that he kicked over a nearby supply crate.

At that moment, Selena slowly walked over.

This mercenary leader was not in good condition. She had sustained some injuries, and bandages on her left shoulder were still faintly seeping blood.

Vanel immediately went up to her, "Are you all right?"

"It's nothing; a shrapnel scrape, just a flesh wound," Selena answered coldly, then handed something to Vanel and whispered something to him.

Vanel was stunned, his eyes instantly widening. "Are you sure?"

"It's been verified," Selena said through clenched teeth, her voice grave. "I'm just as surprised... but my people have checked twice! And... there's an even more interesting discovery."

Vanel took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it.

Turning around, his face wore an odd expression as he looked at Chen Nuo and the others. "Folks, there's some new information! Come with me."

On the southern clearing of the camp, the bodies from the night attack had already been sorted.

The corpses of the Steel Fire Mercenary Corps members were placed in body bags, ready for burial nearby.

On the other hand, a neatly arranged pile of bodies on the ground belonged to tonight's attackers, the soldiers.

When Vanel led Chen Nuo and the other Ability Users there, he first approached one of the attacker's corpses, squatting down to examine it carefully.

Chen Nuo, standing to the side, frowned at Vanel's actions when suddenly, he looked down to see Sato Ryoko beside him, gently tugging at the hem of his clothes.

Chen Nuo frowned and turned to see a tense expression on Sato Ryoko's face.

Thinking Sato Ryoko was afraid, he spoke impatiently, "Miss Ryoko, I'm not in the mood to comfort you right now! If you're still caught up in fear, I can only say you're not cut out for this kind of thing—you'd better go back to Japan and live as a normal person."

"No, it's not that, I'm not scared of these bodies," Sato Ryoko stammered. "I, I wanted to tell you that I also made some strange discoveries tonight."

"Hmm?" Something piqued Chen Nuo's interest, just as he was about to ask...

"Everyone, come over here and take a look," Vanel suddenly stood up from beside the body and called everyone over with a turn.

Chen Nuo gave Sato Ryoko a glance and whispered, "Let's talk about it later."

Sato Ryoko nodded silently, then followed Chen Nuo toward Vanel.

Vanel stood beside a sprawl of bodies. He watched the approaching Ability Users, then glanced at Selena beside him and nodded.

Selena immediately turned away, dispersing the mercenaries who were still preparing to transport the bodies and telling everyone to step back.

As the mercenaries left, Vanel turned his gaze back to the group, but Chen Nuo noticed Vanel's eyes were looking more somber.

RUSTLE.

Vanel opened his hand; clutched in his large palm was a bunch of items that he threw directly to the ground.

These were metal tags. Each consisted of a thin metal plate strung on a metal chain. They weren't very large, but each bore inscriptions: letters and numbers.

Chen Nuo picked one up and recognized it immediately.

These were soldiers' identity tags.

Well, in common terms, what military enthusiasts often call dog tags.

The others clearly recognized the items too, and Bonfrey immediately asked, "Soldiers' dog tags? Does this mean the identities of the attackers can be determined?"

"Yes," Vanel said with a wry smile.

"Who is behind this? Which group?"

Vanel took a deep breath, his expression even more strange. "...Ourselves."

"..."

"Mr. Harvey, do you remember when we talked before, I mentioned to you that... before our group, our company had sent out search teams into the Amazon jungle twice before?

But, the first and the second teams both mysteriously disappeared in this vast rainforest."

Vanel spoke loudly, forcing out a smile that was uglier than a grimace.

Chen Nuo was shocked!

"You mean…the people who attacked us are..."

"Yes! It's the first and second teams that we had sent!"

"The first time we searched this rainforest, we hired the Desert Fox Mercenary Corps from North Africa. We paid them well, naturally, and they dispatched their elite forces—all truly experienced veterans.

That time, including guides, jungle experts, and medical personnel, the team consisted of one hundred people. Eighty of them were soldiers from the Desert Fox Mercenary Corps. I can assure you, every single one was an elite, with over three years of mission experience in North Africa.

But that time, the mission failed, and the entire team vanished into this damned rainforest. We never found any traces of them again!

We later sent a search party to the coordinates where they last made contact with us before disappearing, but there was nothing there!

Not a person, boat, supplies, equipment—absolutely nothing was found.

That was a year and a half ago."

A year and a half ago?

Chen Nuo's mind stirred; this was even earlier than his own rebirth.

"We couldn't make any valuable inferences about the failure of that mission, so we could only categorize it as an abnormal disappearance. Perhaps that group got lost in the jungle... We all know how vast this jungle is! The chances of finding a hundred people in millions of square kilometers are incredibly slim."

Vanel sighed, then continued:

"The second time, we learned from the first failure and invited the renowned Black Bee Mercenary Corps.

After they accepted our commission, Black Bee took it very seriously, detaching four tactical squads from the Middle East, each with outstanding combat records and impressive mission accomplishments, especially in executing the most dangerous military tasks in the war-torn Middle East.

Furthermore, to handle the unique rainforest environment, Black Bee also brought in two combat teams from Southeast Asia. These teams were accustomed to fighting anti-government guerrillas in the tropical rainforests of the Philippines and were thus more adept at operating in such climates and conditions.

In total, there were two hundred heavily-armed Black Bee mercenaries, plus logistics, medical support personnel, and guides. We invested heavily in that mission and believed we were thoroughly prepared.

The second search team, we had high hopes for.

They departed last December, and then, right before Christmas Eve... this group, once again, mysteriously lost all contact with us, disappearing into this vast tropical rainforest..."

Vanel's account made everyone fall silent, each with an uneasy expression on their face.

Yet, Chen Nuo harbored a strange notion in his mind!

"Vanel, you said, the second search team, when exactly did they disappear?"

"The end of last year, around eleven in the morning on December 23," Vanel said solemnly. "That was the last time the second search team made contact with the main base."

Chen Nuo: ...

December 23, 2000... Isn't that... the day of my rebirth? Even the time is precise to the hour! The second search team lost contact around eleven in the morning... And when I woke up after my rebirth, it was around that same time, wasn't it…?

Chen Nuo's expression remained unchanged, but his mind was churning with thoughts.

Such a coincidence between the two? Is there some connection? Or is it... just a coincidence?