Adnan stepped forward to negotiate, but his status as a governnt official didn't have any effect; on the contrary, he was roughly pushed to the ground by the other party.
A group of soldiers from the Iraqi Governnt Army also noticed the off-road vehicle parked not far away. Approximately a squad of soldiers, ard with guns, approached the ard vehicle.
"Damn it, they're not thinking about robbing us too, are they?" Nangong Huang was a bit taken aback.
Ludmila, however, let out a cold laugh and pressed an aftermarket button on the steering wheel.
The roof of the off-road vehicle slowly retracted backward, revealing a heavy machine gun mounted on top.
The approaching soldiers, who had been holding their guns with the muzzles pointed diagonally toward the ground, suddenly tensed up. They raised their semi-automatic rifles, aiming in the direction of the off-road vehicle, and slowly advanced in a crouched combat formation. One of the leading figures also shouted sothing loudly.
"What are you doing?!" Suming was taken aback. This chick doesn't think things through, does she? No matter what, they were governnt forces, and they were in the city. They might not be able to fight it out. At worst, they could just pay so money and buy the rhino from them since they were planning to buy it anyway.
But her blatantly showing off the gun barrel like this was an outright provocation!
That group of soldiers was about the size of a platoon, more than twenty n, each ard with a semi-automatic rifle. If it really ca to a fight, they would definitely be at a disadvantage.
Even if the chick were possessed by Rambo, she couldn't possibly take them all out. If even one or two got away, they'd be waiting to be wanted by the Iraqi Governnt, with deportation being the best outco.
Huaxia people, the Aricans behind Iraq, Russian rcenaries, dammit, these different factors mixing together could potentially lead to a huge East-West dispute.
In the blink of an eye, Suming's mind flashed through the situation clearly. He grabbed Ludmila's hand and frowned, "Miss Ludmila, I paid you to protect us, not to create chaos."
With a flick of her wrist, Ludmila deftly freed herself from Suming's grip, and with a huff, said, "I'm doing exactly this for your safety! This is Iraq!"
"So what?"
"In Iraq, you have to play by Iraq's rules!"
After saying this, Ludmila flipped her blonde hair disdainfully, stood up from inside the vehicle, exposing over half of her body in front of the opposite muzzles, and pressed her hands against the heavy machine gun mounted on the vehicle. Without uttering another word, a rattling burst of bullets fired into the sky.
The muzzle spat flas like a fire serpent, casings flew wildly, and the gunfire was deafening.
Nangong Huang was sitting just below the machine gun, as shell casings rained down. His little koala hurriedly covered its head with its hands and curled up into a ball, seeking refuge in his arms. A scorching hot shell casing just happened to fall into Nangong Huang's neck, causing him to shiver all over.
Suming was shocked. Was Ludmila out of her mind?! She seed ready to start a fight!
Strangely, after Ludmila's nearly senseless shooting into the sky, the soldiers opposite didn't retaliate at all. Instead, they slamd on the brakes, frozen in place, and a few of the more alert ones even made tactical maneuvers, quickly seeking cover.
Yet not a single one fired back.
Ludmila sneered, pulled out a flag from behind the vehicle, and gave it a shake. A Russian flag appeared in her hands.
"Attention, n on the other side, this is Russian Moran International. Any attack on this vehicle and its occupants will be considered a provocation against Russia and a declaration of war on Moran International!"
Ludmila first declared loudly in clear Russian, then repeated it in Arabic.
After seeing this flag, the Iraqi Governnt soldiers looked at each other, and then unanimously turned their heads to look at the officer still arguing with the zoo staff.
"Get it now? This is the style of Iraq! Here, no one takes wimps seriously!" Ludmila, standing behind the machine gun, looked ahead and proudly said to Suming.
"Aweso! Seriously aweso!"
Suming gave a thumbs up, thinking to himself, 'playing the big card by flaunting a tiger skin, I can do that too! Who doesn't have a national flag?'
He also took out a Huaxia Country flag from the car, shook it with a swish, and stuck it next to the Russian flag at the front of the vehicle, both flags fluttering in the wind, side by side.
"Listen up, people in front, I represent Huaxia coming to this land; any attack on this flag will be considered a declaration of war against the eighty million party mbers of Huaxia! Mr. Zhao, help translate," Suming called out.
Zhao Yun maintained the unshakable composure typical of a steady force amidst a bustling army, holding a thermos cup and drinking water. He was caught off guard by Suming's words and choked hard, coughing a few tis, but still translated the ssage.
Ludmila's eyes nearly rolled all the way to the heavens.
Party mbers?! In Russia, that was such a familiar yet strangely foreign term. This guy really had the nerve to boast, claiming he represented eighty million party mbers just because he's a businessman here to buy animals?
But then again, she acted the sa, threating to declare war on Moran and such for the provocations towards Russia, equally bluffing.
The two exchanged glances, a mutual expression of admiration for each other's audacity visible on their faces.
Now things were looking up, with the flags of both Eastern powerhouses mounted on the car; even the Aricans would have to weigh their options before taking action. It seed that in the whole world, apart from IS Country, over a hundred kiloters away, no country's soldiers would dare to fire at this vehicle.
The line of soldiers opposite had even unconsciously lowered their gun barrels slightly, fearing an accidental shot at the two vehicles.
Amidst the commotion, the officer leading the other side finally left the zoo staff behind and walked towards them with the remaining dozen or so soldiers.
Adnan hastened to follow with a jog, bypassing the officer with a broad smile and hurriedly ran back to the side of the vehicle.
The officer leading their group was a lean man in his thirties with a sharp gaze. He stopped two ters away from the off-road vehicle, first saluting the car and then, with a stern face, said sothing in a forceful torrent.
"He's asking us, what we're doing here and why we're interfering with their affairs?" Adnan quickly translated.
This ti, Ludmila didn't speak. She just sat down, cross-legged, and with a shrug, glanced at Suming—a look that said, 'It's all on you now.'
"Ask him why he wants the rhinoceros?" Suming asked.
After communicating with the officer, Adnan relayed, "He says it's a matter internal to the Iraqi people and is none of the business of the Huaxia or Russian people!"
Suming nodded in understanding. What they said was right—this was an internal conflict among the Iraqi people, not Suming's place to intervene.
"Tell him, if he wants the rhinoceros to sell for money, he can na a price; I will pay," Suming said.
"Oh boss, these soldiers can be exceedingly greedy!" Adnan warned hastily.
"Just translate," Suming instructed, thinking the excessively greedy would still have their price. As long as there was a price, everything else could be handled. Eighty million party mbers and Russian beauties were his greatest bargaining chips.
To his surprise, the officer reacted to Adnan's words without any hesitation, shaking his head vigorously and pouring out a torrent of impassioned speech.
"Boss, he says no amount of money will do, and they must take those two rhinoceroses!" Adnan said with a troubled look, whispering softly after that, "It's not about the money; they need the rhinoceros horns for a religious ritual, to communicate with the deities of their tribe!"
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