Mercenary I am the king

Chapter 1059 Collapse
Unlike the tense atmosphere outside, the air inside was heavy.

Whether it was Afanti or Zahdi, they both knew the ending.

Someone who wants an answer.

Another is waiting for an opportunity to vent.

After a full minute of suffocating silence, Zahdi finally put down the teapot and let out a long, heavy sigh.

That sigh contained exhaustion, despair, and a hint of resigned relief.

"Uncle." He raised his head, his gaze fixed on Afanti, his voice hoarse, "You're here to arrest me, aren't you? For that damned Song Heping?"

Afanti picked up the scalding hot tea in front of him, but didn't drink it; he simply felt the heat emanating from the cup.

His voice was low and suppressed, like the muffled rumble of thunder before a storm: "Zahdi. Tell me, why?"

He paused, each word like a hammer blow to the carpet, "This isn't just about Song Heping. It's about why you betrayed your blood? Betrayed your oath? Betrayed this land to become a CIA lackey? Became a shameful traitor?!"

"traitor?"

Zahdi, who had been thoroughly berated, wore a mocking smile, but his eyes grew even colder.

"Betray whom? Betray what? Betray those 'masters' who treat us as tools while they themselves indulge in debauchery?"

His voice suddenly rose, filled with a long-suppressed rage and despair.

"Uncle! My dear uncle! Open your eyes and look! Look at this country, what does it look like now?!"

He leaned forward abruptly, his eyes fixed on Afanti, burning with a mad and painful light.

"You're just a pathetic idealist. Haha! Just a poor wretch kept in the dark, used as a pawn by everyone! How many people in all of Persia are truly on your side? Your high-ranking friends, they shout 'XX is supreme,' 'Down with American imperialism,' but all they're thinking about is how to make money! How to climb up the ladder by stepping on other people's corpses!"

"shut up!"

Afanti couldn't help but roar, "This is not a reason for your depravity! Nor is it an excuse for you to betray your country!"

"Excuse?"

Zahdi burst into laughter, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.

"Is this my excuse? Then let me tell you—why I'd rather be a traitor."

He took a deep breath, as if to unleash years of pent-up resentment and the truth, speaking rapidly like a machine gun, each word piercing the heart:

"The Nei family! The great Supreme Leader! His second son, Moj, the 'uncrowned king,' controls a ghost on 100,000 intelligence lines, turning the world upside down with a flick of his wrist! His eldest son, Muhsin, is known among the people as the 'Crown Prince'! How prestigious! But do you know what his granddaughter, Hafizha, is doing? She's spending money like water on the sunny beaches of Florida! A single bottle of wine can cost the equivalent of half a year's food for an ordinary family in the South City! And President Ahmed, who was imprisoned right after stepping down... Hmph, he's nothing more than a pawn on their chessboard, used and discarded!"

"As for the Revolutionary Guard?"

Zahdi continued with a sneer: "Look at those generals who speak so passionately on stage during the day. Look at their companies! They monopolize 57% of the country's exports! And where's the money? It all flows into their private vaults in Dubai, London, and Switzerland! They throw parties in their heavily guarded villas at night, spending three hundred thousand dollars on a single bottle of liquor! Three hundred thousand! Frontline soldiers' pay is embezzled, their equipment is outdated like scrap metal, and their air defense systems are practically useless. Why? Because all that money has turned into their mansions and yachts in Europe!"

"The Sunny family! They control the biggest money bag, the 'Reza Foundation,' and are practically richer than a country! Which municipal engineering project in every city isn't monopolized by their family? Under every brick in every city, there's oil flowing from the national treasury that they stole! Muhsin, that municipal chairman, is the biggest parasite clinging to the city's veins! And Mahan Air, which they control, has been exposed countless times for smuggling special cargo? Why have hoopoes been able to successfully attack our important facilities all these years? Why are our air defense deployment maps always mysteriously leaked before air raids? The source is with them!"

He became more and more agitated as he spoke, his voice growing hoarse with excitement, and his eyes burning with utter disillusionment and madness.

Zahdi slammed his fist on the carpet, making a dull thud.

"These are the people you've pledged allegiance to, Uncle! The four great families appear harmonious on the surface, but what about behind the scenes? They're ruthless and vicious! They stab each other in the back, using their enemies to kill their own people! Internal strife! Endless internal strife! National security? The interests of the nation? In their eyes, they're nothing more than pawns and sacrifices in a power game! Worthless even more than a rag!"

His words were like a poisoned dagger, piercing the core of Afanti's lifelong faith:

"Look at what this place looks like now! Right here in the north of the city! The daughters of high-ranking officials are partying in private pools in backless dresses, with bulletproof Land Rovers parked outside! And what about the south? The ordinary people you swore to protect are lining up for bread that's tripled in price! A plate of pilaf in a restaurant costs $15! That's 5% of an average worker's monthly income! And nightclubs in the north charge $30 or more just for an entrance fee!"

"Irony, isn't it? The most ironic thing is you so-called idealist fighters!"

Zahdi's voice was filled with extreme mockery as he stared intently into Afanti's eyes, as if trying to nail this absurdity into the depths of his soul.

"And my hypocritical high-ranking colleagues in the guard, shouting themselves hoarse on stage 'Eliminate the hoopoe,' and what about their sons? Holding passports from small Eastern European countries, they're living a carefree life in Europe, buying luxurious seaside mansions with the money they've invested! A way out? They've already paved a glittering escape route for themselves! Only you, Uncle, only a fool like you, are still thinking of going down with this land destined to sink! Is it worth it?!"

"I saw through it all long ago!"

At this point, Zahdi stood up, waving his arms and saying excitedly:

"Theocracy? It has long since collapsed! War? It has long since become a filthy game of spoils! But what about those powerful people? They control $950 billion in assets through that damned foundation! If they can be so greedy and make a fortune, why can't I? If they can do it, why can't I?!" Zahdi suddenly revealed a twisted smile that was a mixture of madness, pity, and ultimate relief.

"This is no excuse for betraying your country!"

Finally, Afanti couldn't help but stand up as well.

"There are bad people in this world, so you become a bad person? You see others betraying their country, so you follow suit? Dogs eat shit, why don't you eat it? Because you're human! Do you understand? Don't you understand such a simple principle?! After bringing up so many grand principles, what are you trying to prove? What are you trying to demonstrate? Are you trying to tell me that your betrayal is justified? That selling out your country is glorious?!"

"Don't you know how your parents died?! Come here! I'll take you to their graves right now, and in front of their tombs, you'll repeat those same words you just spoke so confidently and righteously! Tell them you're a traitor! A sellout! A lackey! Let's see if your voice is still so loud! Don't blame your selfishness, greed, cowardice, and ugliness on the environment, using the ugliness of those despicable people as a banner to cover up your incompetence, filth, and baseness. If despicable people are traitors, can you be one? If despicable people are greedy, can you be greedy?! Despicable people are executed, why don't you go die?!"

Afanti's words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Zahdi's head, leaving him feeling utterly disheartened.

He stood frozen in place, like a wooden sculpture, unresponsive and motionless, his expression shifting from frantic anger to astonishment.

He stared intently at Afanti's pupils, which were constricting violently due to pain.

A moment later, tears suddenly welled up in my eyes.

"Uncle, I am not you... not everyone is like you... and you can't expect everyone to be like you..."

The moment the last word fell, Zahdi's crazed and desperate expression froze.

His right hand reached out like lightning to the thick embroidered cushion beside him—there, a loaded Glock 26 pistol was lying under it!

"Do not--!"

Afanti instinctively lunged forward to stop him, letting out a horrified roar from his throat!
Hearing Afanti's exclamation, the people outside burst in with Kafwan and his men, who smashed the door open.

But it's too late.

Zahdi's actions were extremely decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

The cold muzzle of the gun drew a deadly arc in the dim light, precisely pressed against his right temple.

His gaze finally settled on Afanti's face, contorted with extreme shock and pain, and a strange, desolate, yet liberating smile appeared on his lips.

boom--!
Gunshots rang out!

The sound was deafening in the closed and quiet living room.

Scalding hot blood and grayish-white brain tissue gushed out from the horrifying gash that suddenly appeared on the right side of Zahdi's head.

A few drops of scalding crimson instantly splattered onto Afanti's face, which was inches away from his.

Zahdi's body seemed to have all its bones removed; he suddenly tilted to the right and crashed heavily onto the carpet with a dull thud.

Blood flowed like a stream from his shattered temples and mouth and nose, quickly pooling on the carpet into a small but ever-expanding pool of blood.

Time seemed to freeze completely at that moment.

The intense, suffocating smell of blood and the pungent odor of gunpowder instantly filled the entire space, overpowering the lingering aroma of incense and tea.

"General!!!"

Outside the door, Kafwan rushed up and stood in front of Afanti.

Song Heping stood by the door and glanced inside.

He saw Zahdi's body.

Zahdi committed suicide.

Perhaps suicide would have been better.

That's the best fate for a traitor.

　Asking for a monthly ticket! Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)