Mercenary Black Mamba

Chapter 185: Chapter 22, Episode 8: Major General Philip Impresses Black Mamba

“I told you not to call me Ange de la Mort. If you punks hadn’t betrayed us, I wouldn’t have been called that in the first place. I’ve already killed 2,000 men. What would change if I killed one more?”

Menace emanated from Black Mamba’s body. I hate him. This was the person who used men out in the field like chess pieces, sitting comfortably while plotting at his desk.

Valvoue was the first DGSE director who had seen and done everything before. As the first counterintelligence government official, he was in charge of protecting the identities of important individuals. The acting administrative team was always at the higher rungs of the hierarchy.

Used to being the top dog, Black Mamba’s threatening nature didn’t really scare him. He just thought of him as a yellow man who was good at shooting. The third time was the limit for Black Mamba. Valvoue had already called him Ange de la Mort a fourth time.

A full tiger was forgiving. However, Black Mamba was not one to hold back for the fifth time. Not only did Valvoue pull the whiskers of the tiger, but he had also made a big mistake by poking his fingers into its nostril.

“Ange de la Mort, you…”

Thud—

Black Mamba, who had been sitting on the other side of the table, stretched out his foot and slammed it onto Valvoue’s cheek. With an accuracy of a whip, it avoided all the obstacles laid out on the tabletop and hit its target.

“Ack!”

With the footprint stamped onto his cheek, Valvoue rolled his way towards the wall at the back of the room. A couple of his teeth that had fallen out were glistening as it reflected the light.

“This son of a b**** just won’t listen. I don’t even like being called Black Mamba, but you call me Ange de la Mort.”

There was always someone in the organization that called for a beating. He’s so used to bossing others around, thinking that he’s higher than the sky like those Korean politicians.

“Fuck, ke omba!”[1]

Valvoue pulled out a gun from his holster.

“Ha!”

Black Mamba was flabbergasted. He dared to pull out a gun at the special call name, Ange de la Mort?

This meant that the communication inside the DGSE was disastrous. Either that or this punk was seriously stupid.

Swish—

The teaspoon that Black Mamba had been holding left his hand. Like a drop of rain, it penetrated Valvoue’s wrist.

Bang—

A shot went off. Unfortunately, it went off in Black Mamba’s direction.

Clang—

Crack—

Black Mamba used the coffee cup saucer to block the oncoming bullet. The saucer shattered after it got hit.

“Ack!”

He screamed after one tempo. Valvoue grabbed his wrist and rolled on the ground. His eyes had rolled back, revealing only his whites. Black Mamba picked up the last coffee cup.

“You’ve removed from your seat now, haven’t you? You can’t say anything if you die now.”

Usually, Black Mamba didn’t resort to using his hands, but when he did, he saw it to the end.

Clang—

A thin-looking doll slammed the door open as he ran in.

“Black, wait, wait!”

Black Mamba glanced back.

It was the head of the Africa division, Ariba. Ariba quickly checked on Valvoue’s status. His cheekbones were shattered, and his gums broken. A thick spoon was sticking out of his wrist. Ariba doubted that he could ever fully recover from it.

“Oh no, I’m too late.”

“No, you’re early. I haven’t killed him yet.”

Black Mamba put down the coffee cup that he had been holding in his hand. Ariba nodded his head. From his judgment, Black Mamba was an immensely dangerous entity. He had learned enough from what had happened to colonel Tanshe and director Miguel.

“He’s lost one of his wrists. Should I be relieved that he’s not dead yet?” Ariba muttered.

Having pulled out a gun at Black Mamba, Valvoue was blessed to still be alive. Ariba called in an agent and kicked Valvoue out.

“What’s with bringing that idiot here?”

“He’s more of a pain than Landre.”

Black Mamba kept his mouth shut. There was always one person in an organization that caused trouble. If the troublemaker was associated with someone in power, he would usually cling onto the organization to get a piece of that power.

Next, the troublemaker would cause havoc to the rest of the members of the organization. The responsibility fell on the organization. For a public organization, the damage went straight to the citizens. It’s something he had seen happen too many times in Korea.

Black Mamba’s face turned cold. His blade-like eyes stabbed at Ariba. A government that knew the extent of his skills would have no reason to hand him a contract listing all these legal obligations and clauses. Valvoue’s extensive threat was beyond logic too.

Instinctively, if he had some sense, he would have figured it out. He could gain no affection for these punks. Compared to these punks, colonel Philip was stubborn. At least, he had loyalty and comradeship.

“Ariba, I don’t like to be tested.”

“What do you mean?”

Swoosh—

The air inside suddenly wavered. The restricted resonance pushed the air surrounding Ariba’s face. The entire time he had been at Val-de-Grâce hospital, he had trained his resonance control. It had reached a point where he could block the air when in close contact.

“Ah! What is this?”

Ariba screamed. He couldn’t breathe. It felt like he was submerged in water.

“Kuck, kuck!”

Ariba’s face turned blue instantly. His lungs could not take in air, and he started to hyperventilate. If this continued for two minutes, the brain cells would start to die.

“Ariba, do you think I wouldn’t know? What did you hope to achieve from sending an idiot here to test me?”

“Kuck, it was curiosity. Spare me!”

“Tsk, did the DGSE mess with your employees’ DNA or did they only hire those with problems? Why are all of you so suspicious?”

Black Mamba clicked his tongue. These punks would be suspicious of their own deaths.

“Please don’t kill me. Kuck!”

Ariba’s eyes rolled to the back of his head.

“I’m disgusted by you, but I’ll let you live for now.”

Black Mamba stopped the air blockage and released the resonance. For a moment, the air in the room rippled. Ariba took in deep breaths of the air that he had been robbed off. Black Mamba quickly controlled his breathing too. He had used a large amount of mental and physical energy.

“Should I cut off your wrist or your ankle? If I cut it off when you’re distracted, it won’t hurt as much.”

This guy really is Ange de la Morte.

Ariba did his best to retrieve his wandering mind.

“You knew about it. My curiosity has gone too far. I apologize.”

“I don’t need your soulless apology. There will be no second chances. Next time, I’ll snap your neck.”

“I understand. I apologize again.”

Black Mamba ripped the contract that Valvoue had handed him.

“You deaf punk, bring the real contract.”

“Hoo!”

Ariba let out a long, defeated sigh. With shaking hands, he pulled out the contract from an aluminum bag.

The details of the contract were simple.

The DGSE could request Black Mamba into battle through Legion Etranger’s colonel Philip.

Black Mamba would not be allowed to refuse deployment into a secondary operation. The third operation would undergo negotiations before a final decision was made.

After being deployed into the operation, the government would pay him. The payment would be based on the importance of the operation. The amount would be negotiated and determined by both parties. Additional payment would be credited if the operation was a success.

The French government would not interfere with Black Mamba’s personal life. At all times, Black Mamba would continue to keep an open line of communication available for contact with the government.

This was the government’s present that colonel Philip had been talking about.

Will the father almighty help you?

He raised his head to the sky. The ceiling made of gypsum board blocked his view. He was disappointed that he couldn’t see the blue sky.

No matter how much he thought about it, the government’s conditions were too good to be true. It was specifically catered to suit him. The only restriction was that he had to agree to be deployed to any secondary operation. As a soldier, that was already a given.

“What is the reason for giving me such a generous offer?”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit. To extract Makumbo, the government had even requested the help of Clemenceau. They had put in an astronomical amount of 10,000,000 francs into the operation. It would have easily ended if they had employed Black Mamba for 20,000 francs instead.”

“That’s true. Truthfully, it was troublesome because I had to take care of the other comrades. If I had been by myself, I could have finished the operation within a week.”

“That’s exactly it. Other than the Communist Party of China and the Soviet Union, France is the only other country that utilizes a foreign deployment team. Africa, which France is heavily invested in, has many disputes. Tribal disputes, country disputes, it’s endless. You are France’s hidden sword. With you, there is no need for us to deploy large armies that will end up being criticized by the masses.”

“Are you going to use me as a hitman?”

Ariba jumped.

“Don’t be ridiculous. No one is dumb enough to hammer a nail in with a diamond. You are the best joker card we have in our arsenal.”

“I may have gained French citizenship, but I have no national pride for your country. How could you trust me enough to invest so much in me?”

“I don’t even trust myself, so how could I trust you? We are only realistic and efficient. I won’t insist on the idealistic notion of national pride. Pride for your country doesn’t just occur by talking about it. When you do your best for the country and get rewarded accordingly for the results, national pride will soon follow without any force. Plus, finding out that you are respected will also instill a sense of national pride. You have the skills that France needs, and France will pay you for the usage of those skills. This is the negotiable source that will maintain our trust with each other.”

“They say that the intelligence agents are cold-blooded and it must be true. I like it. I get paid a salary even when I’m not working and when I am working, I get a large incentive for completing it. There’s no reason for me to refuse this deal.”

Mu Ssang signed his name on the contract.

“I have a question. I need an explanation on the Special Operations Command Center.”

“Currently, the Special Operations are composed of the army, airforce, navy, and military police. This organization was made to regulate the combined troops of the Special Operations Force. The first group is the fixed organization, the second group is reinforcements, and the third group is the preliminary organization. Currently, the first group has reached its end. For the second and third groups to reach the fixed state, it will take over 10 years. Black Mamba, you will be an anomaly, but regardless, it will be good for you to know about it.”

Ariba marked on the map as he explained.

{@PIC:127306}

“The first group is the special force army(BFST), the first fixed navy force(1er RPIMa), 13 fixed units(13e RDP), and four special air force units(4e RHFS). That’s how it is set up. There are a total of 3,800 men. The navy has six commando teams with 600 men each. They are specialists in invasions, explosives, surveillance, sea attacks, sea terror, hostage rescue, and other atomic, biological, and chemical warfare. The air force has 250 commandos, Powtoon passenger plane(C-160 Transall), and special helicopter force(Escadrille spéciale d’hélicoptères).”

Black Mamba was highly interested in the organization of the Special Operations Force. It had already been 30 years since the armistice between North Korea and South Korea. There was enough reason for the Koreans to create a Special Operations Force on their end. Plus, it was information that he could use to create his own black culture team.

“How are the two groups organized?”

“Unfortunately, only the 11eBP’s(11e Brigade parachutiste) commandos and engineering regiment are established. Like I said before, creating all this will take over 10 years to establish. The French bureaucracy is the world’s best.”

“Bureaucracy existed 3,000 years ago too. What is the total number of men right now?”

“It’s fluid. Currently, we have 3,800 army troops, 600 navy, and 400 air force. That makes it a total of 4,800 men.”

“It just sounds like a fancy Special Operations team, but isn’t this the size of a normal brigade? In Korea, their Special Operations Force team has 10,000 men and 30,000 men in the navy.”

“South Koreans who are on standby against the North Koreans is a special situation. France truthfully has no flagship. 4,800 men for the special forces is not a small number.”

“Are you telling me to use these men if I need them?”

“That’s right. You can just press the 10 digit password to notify them. Once you call them, it will be approved. They might be small in number, but their skill and weaponry are top-notch.”

“Alright. I will do my best for France, who recognizes me.”

“Welcome. The DGSE will do its best to support you.”

“Are you going to dig through my personal life in Korea again?”

“No, no, no! Nothing like that will ever happen.”

Ariba’s expression was full of sincerity. Black Mamba snorted to himself.

You punk, I’d rather trust my uncle than trust the DGSE.

Black Mamba had been able to see the true face of the DGSE through the Sahel operation and the aftermath of their return. They stopped at nothing to get what they wanted. Their motto was to achieve their goals no matter what it took.

That wasn’t really a big problem. If they got on his nerves, he could kill them later.

After completing the secret freelancer contract between the DGSE and Park Mu Ssang, Black Mamba’s affiliation with Mu Ssang had disappeared. All that was left was the call name, Black Mamba. Now, he was Major Park.

There was no feast that didn’t end. Black Mamba hurriedly took off after leaving major Geofrey trembling in fear. After checking his account at the BNP Paris Bank, he received his checkbook.

Thanks to Landre, he had earned 1,900,000 francs. He had earned 20,182,000 francs from the Raccoon operation and had received 500,000 francs as a gift from colonel Philip. All of that was now sitting in his bank account.

He let Ombuti take care of the 300,000 francs that Bonipas gave him as vacation money. On top of that, he had received an additional 40,000 francs from elsewhere to add to the vacation fund.

His bank account contained 22,622,000 francs. If he multiplied 252 for the franc/won exchange rate, it added up to 5,700,744,000 won. Not only was the bank teller surprised, but he could not believe the amount either.

The Mu Ssang, who had grown up naive in the countryside, no longer existed. No, he was still the country boy, whose hands trembled while buying an egg or a bag of rice.

Black Mamba stared at the 10 digit number. It was an astronomical amount for an individual. However, he still had a long way to go before reaching his intended destination. It was still not enough.

“I see. As time is relative, so is money! Whether I have a lot or little money depends on how my heart interprets it.”

Black Mamba smiled. Be freed from your greed!

[1] “Damned punk, die!”