Chapter: 2673

“Grass!”

When Hamid heard this, his heart sank. He had led his team for many years, and he was good at reading the situation. At that moment, he realized that he and Charlie Wade each held part of the power in this tense situation.

“In this cellar, the power lies with this guy from China,” Hamid thought. “He has a gun pointed at me and has bought my subordinates. He could kill me at any moment.”

But Hamid reminded himself that he wasn’t completely helpless. No matter how strong Charlie was, he couldn’t possibly buy off all one or two thousand people in the entire base. If he could, he wouldn’t need to sneak into this cellar at all.

With that thought in mind, Hamid turned to Charlie Wade and said, “My friend, let’s not act too impulsively. We can talk this over. I’ve been studying in China for many years, and it’s nice to see you!”

Charlie Wade nodded, smiling. “Talking is easy. But I have one condition: if you let me take my people away, I won’t make things hard for you. If you don’t, I’ll have to kill you first.”

He added seriously, “Once I kill you, I can get away before your men even realize what happened. Trust me, they didn’t notice me coming in, and they won’t notice me leaving either.”

As soon as Charlie said this, Hamid’s nerves kicked in. He wasn’t a fool. If a single Chinese man could sneak into his base of one or two thousand people, it showed that his defenses weren’t as strong as he thought.

Charlie continued, “By the time they find your body in this cellar, I might already be out of Syria. But what about…”

Hamid felt a wave of dread wash over him. He realized that he and Charlie Wade were not as close as he had thought. If Charlie decided to take action against him, Hamid would be in serious trouble. The thought of Charlie turning against him made his stomach churn. If Charlie killed himself and managed to escape, Hamid would be left as the big loser.

This realization made Hamid feel extremely downcast. He didn’t want to give up easily, especially since he needed the hostages to demand money from the US Embassy. With two thousand soldiers to support, he felt the pressure. They depended on him, and he needed funds to keep them fed and to buy better weapons and equipment.

Money was crucial, but as a commander, he also had a sense of pride. He was like a warlord, a local ruler, and he knew that even if he didn’t make money now, he could still find opportunities in the future. There was a chance that the opposition could win, and he might end up in a powerful position if he played his cards right.

For Hamid, the most important thing was to stay alive and safe. If he died, he would lose everything. Because of this, he didn’t dare to confront Charlie Wade head-on.