“Old man, do you want to blow us up and hoard all the gold for yourself!?”
After a moment of panic, the mercenary leader Mark, with a face ashen with anger, drew his pistol and aimed it at Adolf, who was becoming increasingly intolerable to him.
“What are you talking about? You idiot, I’m crippled, how can I kill you and move the gold out!?”
Seeing Mark doubt him, Adolf slammed his hands on the wheelchair in anger, cursing without restraint: “You fools, you idiots! The off-road vehicles outside the base, the corpse of my superior that disappeared for no reason, the traps at the entrance, the key in front of the base gate—these signs all indicate that someone has entered the base before us. These missiles are their traps, meant to blow us all up.”
“And now you’re blaming me, your employer, instead of finding them!?”
He shouted furiously, “You idiot, don’t forget that I hired you; I am your employer.”
“Ha, you are indeed my employer, but that was before we found the gold. Now that we have found it, you have no value in staying alive.”
Mark’s expression turned cold as he cocked the gun with a click and aimed it directly at Adolf. “I’ve had enough of you, cursing us as fools all day long. Do you really think you’re a king? That we’ll listen to you?”
“Let me tell you, this time next year will be your death anniversary.”
“You’re going to betray me!?”
Adolf’s face was filled with disbelief.
Mark enjoyed the look of horror on Adolf’s face and laughed, “For money, we can betray anyone. Killing you means all the gold here belongs to us.”
Given the amount of gold in the base, it was enough for these mercenaries, who worked for money, to betray anyone.
The other mercenaries watched coldly; they had long been dissatisfied with Adolf, who often berated them. What Mark was about to do was merely a reflection of their collective will; otherwise, someone would have already stepped up to oppose it.
“Wait, you can’t kill me.”
Seeing that Mark seemed determined to kill him, Adolf immediately backed down, panic evident in his voice. “There’s still a lot of gold in the base, and I’m the only one who knows where it’s hidden. If you don’t kill me, I’ll tell you all the locations of the gold.”
“There’s a large stash of gold hidden behind the passage, and the people who came in before us might be hiding inside, waiting to kill us.”
He desperately tried to show his value to avoid being killed.
Mark pondered for a moment and signaled to a nearby lackey, “You keep an eye on him; the rest of you come with me to search for the gold and those who came in early.”
Adolf was just a cripple; they could kill him anytime.
Before that, they could use him to find more gold and deal with the other competitors.
Adolf sat in his wheelchair, watching Mark and the others enter the passage leading to the wind tunnel laboratory. His eyes flickered, and he glanced at the mercenary guarding him, who was happily picking up gold bars, completely disregarding him as a cripple.
He looked at the lever at the entrance, steeled his gaze, and pushed himself forward, pulling the lever. In an instant, the storeroom door and the iron door of the passage closed completely.
As a familiar figure in the base, Adolf knew the mechanisms here inside and out.
“What’s going on!?”
“Damn it, I’ve been tricked by that bastard Adolf.”
“Open the door and take out that old man.”
The mercenaries shouted as they saw the door behind them close, immediately raising their assault rifles and firing at the iron door.
Adolf fell to the ground, listening to the intense gunfire, knowing that his time was running out.
He glanced at the control room above and gritted his teeth, using his hands to climb the stairs, step by step making his way up to the control room.
This scene brought him back to over forty years ago when he had the same experience of being crippled and had to crawl out of the base with his hands, only to be saved by passing travelers.
Now the situation was repeating itself, but this time he wasn’t trying to survive; he was going to drag this group of mercenaries who betrayed him down with him.
Everyone must die!
He struggled to climb up to the control room, propping himself up with his hands, looking at the four red buttons on the control panel that represented danger. He laughed loudly and slammed his fist down hard.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
As the red button was pressed, the electronic timer immediately began its countdown.
Adolf, dragging his heavy body, sat in a chair, listening to the ticking of the countdown, his hands clasped in front of him, a serene expression on his face, as memories of his war days in Africa with his teammates flooded his mind.
“Guys, I’m coming to join you.”
He murmured to himself.
Bang!!
As time passed, the door below the control room was finally broken through, and mercenary leader Mark, with a face ashen with anger, followed the traces of Adolf’s climb to the control room.
“Old man, do you have any last words?”
Mark swore he wouldn’t let this bastard go this time.
“Last words!?”
Adolf smiled slightly and slowly opened his arms, “Mark, welcome to my funeral—no, to be precise, our funeral.”
“What nonsense are you talking about, old man!?”
Mark’s expression tightened, looking at Adolf, who seemed to be talking crazy.
“I’ve activated the self-destruct mechanism of the base; it’s going to explode soon, and we’ll all die.”
Adolf laughed maniacally, “Haha, all the gold is mine; no one can take it from me.”
Mark looked horrified at the control panel, realizing that the buttons had been pressed and the timer was counting down rapidly.
“Get out!!”
He screamed desperately, then turned and rushed toward the base entrance.
“It’s too late; everyone stay here to accompany me and my buddies!!”
“With so much gold as burial goods, you should be satisfied.”
“Haha!!”
Boom!!
Accompanied by Adolf’s maniacal laughter, the entire base suddenly erupted with explosions, flames and shockwaves surged through the passage, sweeping through every corner of the base in the blink of an eye.
Mark and the others didn’t even have time to scream before being engulfed by the explosions.
As the explosions continued, the base’s armory also detonated, the immense energy causing the entire base to tremble violently.
Walls cracked, ceilings collapsed, and the ground split open with spiderweb-like fissures.
The entire base collapsed at an alarming speed.
Along with the remaining gold, it sank into endless yellow sand.
……
Thanks to the book friend “Fei Xiang” for the thousand rewards, thank you.