It just so happened, the missile's explosion location was not far from the helicopter. To avoid the scattering shrapnel, the captain didn't have time to do a follow-up shot and hurriedly pulled the helicopter up.
But by doing so, the belly of the helicopter was completely exposed in Aiden's line of sight.
"Beautifully done."
Aiden seized the opportunity and decisively pulled the trigger. Under the strong thrust, the rocket was pushed out from the launcher and accurately hit the Hind, which was climbing at a steep angle and unable to make any evasive maneuvers.
Boom!
A thunderous explosion rang out. The belly of the armed helicopter, which could resist direct fire from small-caliber autocannons, was blasted with a big hole by the rocket. As the explosion caused a fire, the armed helicopter was wrapped in thick smoke. Immediately after, due to the flames, the helicopter's internal components began to have all kinds of problems, especially the tail rotor, which was the first to stop functioning.
Inside the cabin, the captain desperately tried to control the rudder, but a helicopter that has lost its tail rotor only has one ending, and that is… crash.
Boom!
The helicopter, having lost all braking ability, spun down from the sky and finally crashed hard onto the ground. Even though the nearby ground was somewhat soft due to being close to a water channel, a giant object weighing over ten tons smashing down still caused an explosion.
Watching the rising flames, Aiden threw away the launcher in his hand and waved his fist, shouting, "YES. RPG!"
———
Port of Palawan.
At a remote dock, several black sedans were parked here.
Beside the vehicles stood a tall Slavic woman wearing an old-fashioned SL military uniform. She was looking toward the torpedo boat slowly approaching the shore.
Not long after, the torpedo boat docked, and Aiden's group jumped onto the shore from the boat.
"You're late, Dutch." The Slavic woman chuckled lightly and said.
"Ran into some small trouble on the way, Balalaika." Dutch shrugged, pulled a disc from his pocket, and handed it over. "Here's the thing you wanted."
"Thank you for your effort, Dutch." Balalaika took the disc but didn't even look at it and directly put it away. Then she looked at Dutch's torpedo boat and said in a regretful tone, "Looks really bad, Dutch. Must've been a big loss."
Dutch sighed slightly and didn't say anything. But Revy on the side couldn't help but speak, "Balalaika, next time don't give us this kind of job. Risking our lives for twenty thousand is fine, since that's our job anyway. But now we also lost a boat, and that twenty thousand sure isn't enough."
"Of course, we'll find a way to compensate you a bit more." Balalaika nodded, then glanced at Okajima Rokuro, whose expression had suddenly turned extremely cold, and also at Aiden, who was curiously looking her over.
After a short pause, Balalaika turned around and spoke to the two Japanese people not far away, "Now, it's time for our transaction. Mr. Kageyama, at Hotel Moscow we value honor. I hope you do too."
"Aren't you people from Bougainvillea Trading?" The man called Kageyama was the Minister from Asahi Heavy Industries who had spoken with Okajima Rokuro earlier. Since seeing this person, Rokuro's expression hadn't changed once.
"What difference does it make? It's all for business anyway." Balalaika walked toward Minister Kageyama and handed over the disc.
"Hope there's no hard feelings."
Minister Kageyama took the disc and put it into the inner pocket of his suit, speaking calmly, "There are too many helpless things in this world. Resentment? Hmph, there won't be any."
"Very good." Balalaika still smiled, "Then let's proceed with the transaction your way. We can discuss the details back at the hotel."
"Understood." Minister Kageyama nodded, adjusted his jacket, and turned to Okajima Rokuro.
"Okajima, good work. Let's go together." He spoke as if nothing had happened.
His assistant next to him also shouted, "What are you still waiting for, Okajima? Get in the car."
The assistant didn't know the inside story, and his tone sounded more friendly than Minister Kageyama's.
Okajima Rokuro wavered. It sounded like… he could really go back?
"Oh my, Rock, you can go home now." On Aiden's side, Revy patted Okajima Rokuro's shoulder hard, half smiling, "It's all resolved. Looks like your boss didn't blame you. Going back, you're probably getting a promotion, right?
If so, remember to send us some money later, just as your ransom. Don't worry, not much, just a few hundred bills with Franklin's face on them."
"You really know how to ask, Revy. But honestly, he might get promoted a few levels. After he goes back, he's probably going to be a section chief." Aiden also laughed weirdly, "Going from staff member to section chief, an average Japanese employee might need twenty years. Revy, you're asking too little."
Listening to their sarcastic comments, the once-wavering Okajima Rokuro's eyes suddenly turned firm. He stepped out from behind Aiden.
"Minister, do you still remember?" Okajima Rokuro pulled off his tie and said coldly, "I... am already dead. Those were your exact words."
Minister Kageyama slightly raised his head and looked at Rokuro without a hint of emotion, "So what?"
"So now, my name is Rock." Okajima Rokuro, no, Rock, let go of the tie, letting it drift away in the sea breeze, as if symbolizing his future no longer being under Asahi Heavy Industries or Japan's rigid corporate system.
"Is that so?" Minister Kageyama withdrew his gaze. "Then suit yourself."
"Fujiwara, drive."
"Yes." Fujiwara nodded and closed the car door.
As the sedan disappeared from view, Rock looked away, let out a long sigh of relief, and turned to return to Dutch's side.
Just as he was about to say something, another car stopped beside them.
"Rock, was it? I'm sorry, this got you involved." The window rolled down, and Balalaika spoke softly, "But perhaps it's better this way. Being far from those stiff Japanese people will make your life more colorful…"
At this point, Balalaika glanced at the three members of the Lagoon Company and at Aiden, who was staring at the military insignia on her uniform, then continued, "If you ever run into trouble again, come find me. Consider it compensation for this."
Rock didn't say anything, because what he needed wasn't compensation.
But Revy suddenly remembered something. She pushed Rock aside and shouted at Balalaika, "Shouldn't we talk about our compensation now? Aside from the commission, there's the cost of fixing the boat. Oh, and the Yellow Flag bar bill was pinned on us too."
"Don't worry, Revy. I'll take care of it." Balalaika smiled, "But right now, I'm a bit short on cash. It'll take a while."
She then looked deeply at Aiden before continuing, "Don't worry, it won't be long. But if you're really short on money, you can always ask this gentleman here."
"Him?"
The three members of the Lagoon Company looked at Aiden together, confused.
"Me?"
Aiden was a bit confused. Judging by the look, Balalaika seemed to know him?
Could it be because of a plot crossover?
Suddenly, he remembered what Dutch had said earlier about knowing Raccoon City.
Then everything made sense. But even so, there was still something he didn't understand, how exactly did Balalaika know about him? Even if it was a crossover plot, he was just a small survivor character in the Raccoon City incident.
"Seems like you're not too clear on your situation?" Seeing Aiden's confused expression, Balalaika seemed to guess his doubts and asked.
"Yeah, because I'm just a small-time guy." Aiden said helplessly, "I didn't know someone here would recognize me."
"Small-time guy? Not necessarily." Balalaika stared at Aiden, then somehow pulled out a laptop and showed him the screen.
Revy, being the most impatient, squeezed next to Aiden and took one look at the screen, then exclaimed in awe.
"Aiden, you're worth so much! Let me count… tsk, so many zeroes."
Aiden scratched his head. He saw that the screen showed his wanted notice, and the bounty was over 3 million U.S. dollars.
"In fact, that's the total from multiple wanted notices combined." Balalaika said, "A lot of organizations have taken the bounty. After all, over 3 million U.S. dollars is no small amount."
"So you're saying, you guys took it too?" Dutch asked. He was so tall that he didn't even need to tiptoe to see behind Aiden and Revy.
"Of course not." Balalaika shook her head. "The forces who issued the bounties are all Western pharmaceutical giants. You know me, Dutch. I don't like them."
As a former SL military officer, most of her subordinates were also ex-soldiers. Though they'd turned to the underworld to make a living, they didn't like Western powers, even hated them. So it made sense that she didn't accept the bounty.
Dutch nodded. The Lagoon Company had a good relationship with Hotel Moscow, and he knew some inside details.
"Of course, while I'm not interested, the other forces in Roanapur might not be the same. Many gangs, mercenaries, hmm, and some assassin organizations are all preparing to take this job." Balalaika continued.
"Just preparing?" Revy asked. "So, they haven't decided whether to accept it yet?"
"Yeah. After all, you guys made a big scene at the Yellow Flag bar yesterday. And the wanted notice also says that this person is extremely dangerous. It advises against trying casually." Balalaika pointed to the text below the bounty notice and said to Aiden, "For now, you're safe."
"That's good." Revy actually let out a breath of relief. She had a good impression of Aiden, and patted his shoulder, "I could tell last night you weren't ordinary. No wonder you're a wanted man."
"Don't joke around." Aiden could only respond with a wry smile.
At that moment, Balalaika's laptop suddenly gave a ding. She glanced at it and went, "Oh?"
"I have to take back what I just said."
"What happened?" Aiden asked.
"The bounty just went up again. Hmm, and it increased by two million directly." Balalaika looked at Aiden with a smile, "Honestly, I'm a bit tempted. That's five million U.S. dollars…" She even smacked her lips.
"Five million?" Revy shouted exaggeratedly again, wrapping her arm around Aiden's neck. But due to her height, she had to tiptoe, looking a bit funny.
"How about this, Aiden? Let me catch you for the bounty, and then I'll rescue you later. How's that sound?"
"Not happening." Aiden said grumpily.
"Don't be so stingy. Once we get the money, we'll split it with you. Half."
Aiden raised a middle finger at her.
"Alright, Revy. Aiden helped us earlier." Dutch couldn't stand it anymore and pulled her off Aiden.
At this time, Balalaika spoke again, "Okay, I should get going too. I still have to meet with Minister Kageyama to discuss the payment. So, let's meet again next time."
Then she squinted and smiled at Aiden, "I don't know why you're being hunted by so many Western powers, but if you need help, come to Hotel Moscow. I'd be happy to help." With that, she rolled up the car window.
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