King Of War: Starting with Arms Dealer

Karman's tone was not very good, and Joe Garrit immediately signaled Ayu and Dorian to follow, the three found a large pit according to Karman's directions.

As they approached, Joe Ga noticed two bare-chested men kneeling on the edge of the pit...

They were supposed to be the mercenaries waiting to rendezvous; when Joe Ga found them, they were still alive, but in great agony.

Three sharp wooden stakes had been driven through their waists and abdomens, pinning them in place.

There were wounds under their armpits and behind their knees, clearly Karman had intentionally crippled their mobility.

The stakes weren't driven in too deeply, but the ends that were in the ground were firmly fixed, and the mercenaries, unable to exert force with their limbs, had no way to free themselves and could only whimper in pain where they were.

Joe Ga didn't know why Karman would do this; he walked over curiously for a look and then saw a ghastly scene.

Dozens of black bodies piled at the bottom of the pit, including men, women, and children; about a dozen children who were even without clothes had been shot in the back of the head, their bodies twisted and lying atop the pile of corpses, their features no longer discernible, most likely pushed in after being shot at the edge of the pit.

These people must have died less than 24 hours ago, for there weren't many insects on the bodies, nor was there a high degree of decay.

Joe Ga hadn't seen clearly before due to the line of sight, but as he stood at the edge of the pit, he realized the other side was a slope with a rudimentary wooden track laid on it.@@novelbin@@

Below the track was another stream, with gold panning equipment scattered along its banks, and on the opposite side of the stream was a jungle village, with a dead male elephant lying in a grove of fruit trees outside the village.

Now there were no signs of life in the village, and their whereabouts...

Joe Ga, being an owner of a gold mine himself, knew what the situation here meant.

This definitely wasn't a guarded gold vault; otherwise, there wouldn't be so many vulnerable people.

Warlords or guerrillas looking to mine would kidnap or recruit able-bodied men for the work, as it was not cost-effective to maintain the weak and old.

Originally, this was a jungle village at peace with the world, where they happened to discover a gold mine. Then the entire village joined in mining the gold, hoping to change their destiny, but fate did not favor them, and they ran into a passing group of mercenaries.

There's no point in discussing why the mercenaries killed...

Greed made them lose their senses, and the massacre delayed their progress, ultimately causing them to choose a poor extraction point.

In the end, Karman punished them, giving them an agony they could not escape.

Dorian looked at Ayu, who was clenching his fists; he went over to pat Ayu on the back, trying to say something, but all that came out was a sigh.

Dorian made the sign of the cross over his chest and, after mumbling a few words, looked at Joe Ga and said, "Boss, these guys didn't need to end up like this..."

Joe Ga knelt in front of one of the captives, watching his eyes brimming with pleas. Joe Ga slightly shifted his position so he could directly behold their "masterpiece"...

The captive knew his fate was sealed; closing his eyes to avoid looking at the corpses below, he spoke with difficulty, "The gold is all in the bag beside me, kill me and make it quick, all that gold is yours."

Joe Ga rummaged through the bag by the guy's side and indeed found two bags of gold sand.

He was too familiar with these items to be surprised, but what did surprise him was that the guy was carrying a GPS tracker that had recorded his movements over the past few days.

Joe Ga picked up his phone, sent the coordinates and track from the tracker to Tony, and then deliberately took out a fishing hook and line from his survival pack on his waist.

After stringing several hooks together, front to back, Joe Ga pushed the hooks through the captive's eyelids under his terrified gaze, hooking them onto the scalp as a reminder not to close his eyes.

After doing the same to both of the captive's eyes, Joe Ga stood up to check the restraints Karman had set up, confirming no vital organs had been damaged. He then said, satisfied, "Buddy, you could have just taken the gold. Those natives couldn't catch up with you, and even if they did, they couldn't beat you. But you made the most inhumane choice. Stay tuned to My Virtual Library Empire

Was it fun killing those old people and children?

You have to watch them while the jungle slowly consumes you.

I'll scatter repellent around you; no large animals will come to bother you, but soon the insects will start devouring you.

You might live for 3 days, maybe 4. You have a long time to hate me, or you could use this time to repent."

Seeing death was not coming for him, the captive, showing a bit of defiance, laughed dryly in the face of Joe Ga's accusation, "How are you any better than us? We are all bloody-handed."

Joe Ga shook his head slightly, retorting, "You're right, we are all bloody-handed, but we are warriors, lions, while you are just stray dogs.

We don't shoot unarmed civilians; we strive to protect the people in our territory.

We still possess a sense of honor that money cannot buy!

We can face the inquisition of our souls with clear eyes; what about you?"

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Joe Ga looked at the raging gaze of the captive and shook his head with a smile, "Why am I telling you this? You're just a soulless wild dog, only pain makes a lasting impression on you."

Having said that, Joe Ga grabbed the captive's hair, forcing him to turn his head toward the bottom of the pit. Just as he was about to say something, he felt the captive's scalp slip...

Joe Ga didn't think he had exerted much force, but a tear appeared at the corner of the captive's eye and, like removing a hat, the skin above the eyes, along with the entire scalp, came off.

Joe Ga felt it was similar to skinning a frog, disgustingly smooth.

But the scene was truly terrifying...

Dorian and Ayu hadn't spoken when another captive went mad!

"FUCK YOU, you sons of bitches, kill us, kill us, you demons, if you dare, kill us..."

Joe Ga was stunned for a moment, enduring the discomfort in his heart as he took a closer look.

The captive, whose scalp was peeled away, felt no pain; his pale skull and the tendons on his face were covered with a layer of mucus-like substance.

At that moment, Joe Ga finally understood why those jungle oddities skinned people so smoothly.

It mustn't be that these people were a particular breed; certainly, some magical potion or even venom was having an effect.

Staring at the still puzzled captive, Joe Ga maliciously pulled out a dagger and placed it in front of him, letting him see his current state.

The captive was stunned for a second, then his mouth gaped open, emitting a howling scream akin to a lone wolf.

The excessive movement of his mouth caused the skin at the corner of his lips to instantly split. Then, like a chain reaction, the skin below the cheekbones began to collapse, causing all the skin on his face to start peeling downward.

Such a scene could give anyone nightmares!

The fate of his comrade caused another mercenary to break down; he went from cursing to pleading and finally began to lurch forward, trying to drive the wooden spikes through his abdomen to kill himself sooner.

Dorian avoided the unlucky man's ghastly appearance, casually fanning the head of the captive who was desperate to die.

With that single gesture, the captive's entire face contorted, the dislocation of the skin blocking his eyes.

It seemed this person was not a human at all, but a monster wearing human skin.

While Dorian was in a daze, Ayu walked over with a dagger and made a cut on the guy's scalp, then watched him begin to 'peel'.

As the two captives howled, shedding the skin from their upper bodies, they writhed like Evil Ghosts from hell on earth.

Suddenly, Joe Ga felt it wasn't so terrifying after all. They even squatted in front of the captives again, staring directly into their extremely panicked eyes.

A moment later, Joe Ga nodded and said, "I'm beginning to understand why 'Ant Eater' liked to peel off human skin back in the day; because that might just be your true form, Evil Ghosts.

You people are Evil Ghosts walking on earth, and hell is where you belong."

As Joe Ga looked into the 'Evil Ghost's' eyes, he seriously asked, "If you were given a chance now, would you repent?"

The captive watched as the skin on his chest slid down like silk, exposing his crimson chest, and he frantically nodded, "I was wrong, I was wrong, I repent, I apologize, kill me, kill me, please..."

As the captive frantically apologized and repented, a hoarse voice beside them said, "If repentance were useful, what would be the point of punishment.

Don't be afraid, we will send you where you need to go."

Karman and the 'Leech' 'Spider' with white patterns on their faces appeared at the edge of the pit, each holding a captive.

The captives' clothes had already been removed, and Karman and his crew tied the three people to a nearby tree, making them watch the process of their companions transforming into Evil Ghosts.

Joe Ga watched 'Leech' and 'Spider' apply a strange-smelling liquid on the new guys, and then they started collecting a large amount of firewood with Karman.

Some people might be able to face others' cruelty, but they can't accept cruelty inflicted upon themselves.

The fear of flaying was enough to destroy a person's spirit, yet these guys were well-trained killers, who, with no sense of pain, maintained their consciousness.

The scene should have been horrifying, but Joe Ga read an odd meaning in the actions of Karman and the others, something that couldn't be explained by cruelty alone.

In the end, Karman and company ignited a huge bonfire...

When the fire soared into the sky, Karman untied all the 'Evil Ghosts'.

Then looking into their eyes, he said in a flat tone, "Step inside..."

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