Mercenary Black Mamba

"Huh, well, this is embarrassing. They didn't have go this far, either."

Samdi's lips were as thick as the slabs of steak handed out in the American army base. He spread them open in a wide grin. It was as Ombuti had said - if you wanted to enter a shade, it was always better to choose a large shade.

Like master, like servant - if the master was great, the servant would also be great.

Samdi had became a blank slate after losing his ego. He then received teachings from Monk Dae-woo and Mu Ssang. His reset ego was regrown with mercy and righteous retribution as the foundation. As such, he couldn't help but have this rather typical 'young hero' mentality.

In Samdi's eyes, the people of the Pygmy tribe were like toddlers that had just learned how to walk. In a way, they were frail, pitiful and adorable. Of course he had to help them and protect them.

That's why he went out of his way looking rather terrible while beating up the bad guys and monsters. He didn't do it for praises, but seeing the "toddlers" being genuinely happy made him also feel good about it.

The transcendental being taking pity on the weak and wanting to protect them, and humans that extolled such a being and relied on him... It might be that this was the true face of religion, or rather, the practical and realistic version of it, at any rate.

'Hold on. This isn't something to be happy about, is it? If that old man Ombuti finds out, wouldn't it result in some kinda heavy injury for me, at least?'

Samdi's heart tumbled down to the pit of his stomach.

Before Samdi and his master left Novatopia, master's lackey arrived in Jipoon Dari. But, after reporting the aftermaths of the Samaria farm's riot to Aklan crew's Ombuti, the lackey ended up getting punished with something called 'Eol-cha-ryuh-ra' for one hour straight. This punishment involved one planting their head in hot sand, raise their arse in the air, then lock their hands behind their back.

The reason for the punishment was that the lackey forgot about his status as a servant and had stepped into the light, ultimately causing his master great inconvenience.

The lackey made a deeply crumpled face and planted his head after being coldly told to leave if he didn't like it. Samdi recalled everything that old man Ombuti said while rebuking the lackey back then.

'A servant's place is in the shadow. A servant is meant to protect the master's spotlight from the shadow, that's his role. However, when a servant strives to stand in the light, he will inevitably destroy himself and inconvenience his master. A servant lives off on the light reflected from the master. If a punk wants to 'balgwang' (illuminate/shine), then I shall make him go 'balgwang' (go insane/deranged). Got that?'

In Samdi's head, his figure being showered by the Pygmy people's adulation overlapped that of the lackey planting his head in the sand.

The old man Ombuti's hollow eyes seemed to be stabbing Samdi's skull from behind. Samdi sneaked a glance at Black Mamba as he cautiously backed away.

"What are you doing, Mister Guardian Deity of the Pygmy tribe? It's time to bask in the worship of your followers?" Black Mamba gently pushed Samdi back to the forefront.

'Aigoo! Master, you will really make me lose my mind at this rate!'

Samdi's expression crumpled deeply, but he forced himself to raise his hand and smile at the Pygmy tribe's cheering.

"Umar Ssamdi mahada! (Praise our guardian deity, Samdi!)" Olonge raised both his arms up high and shouted loudly.

"Waksan la mahadiyo! (We all praise him!)"

The hundreds of Pygmies surrounding the group began singing and cheering at the same time.

Bang, bang, bang-

"Hee-ho, Ssamdi!"

Knock, knock, knock-

"Hee-ho, Umar Ssamdi!"

Drumbeats and the sounds of small gongs rang out as the Pygmy tribe people began shaking their chest back and forth, and their hips left to right.

'Huh. Looks like I might fall into a trance if this atmosphere keeps up. Well, that's not a bad thing in its own way.'

Black Mamba rummaged through his backpack, then pulled out the bag of chocolate he was enjoying earlier. It contained between 200 to 300 pieces of chocolate, each the size of a person's fingernail.

"Oh, Sect Leader Samdi? Here's some Holy Communion for you. You must be pleased about having so many devoted followers."

"Euh-euk!" Samdi's expression crumpled even more.

He became resentful of his master's hand steadily forcing him deeper into the pits of hell.

'...Eii, I don't care anymore. I'm sure it'll work out somehow!'

Even Samdi had grown addicted to 'It'll work out somehow' syndrome. And he began handing the chocolate pieces every time a Pygmy cheered him on.

"This is my flesh and blood."

"Umar long ku nul majulka ah! (Oh our guardian deity, you will be eternal!)"

The Pygmy men receiving the chocolate jumped up and down to express their joy.

"Hee-ho, Ssamdi Umar il la hal la! (Whoa, Guardian Deity Samdi is now with me!)"

The roaring of the Pygmy tribe seemed to rock the Ituri jungle. Black Mamba's strategy was quite effective. The members of the Pygmy tribe ate the chocolate and acquired the courage to protect their families and their people.

The master plagiarized the Catholic Church's Holy Communion while the servant just committed a fraud. Both the master and servant seemed to be cut from the same cloth when it came to causing an incident.

The "Holy Communion" procession needed an entire hour to finish. The expressions of the Samdi religion believers brightened so much after accepting their guardian deity. Sergeant First Class Leon and Airman Bresson were already long stupefied by this bizarre event.

The Pygmy tribe didn't pay Black Mamba any attention whatsoever. Even though he was being treated as an invisible man, his face was still filled with a generous smile.

The Pygmy tribe worshiped the king of Bodoon, Samdi as their guardian deity. Both the Pygmy and the Bantu tribe cultivating the land on the outskirts of the Ituri jungle worshiped the great spirit, Mahaduraka. Mahaduraka's authority manifested to this world through Bodoon.

But if a human came in contact with Mahaduraka, they would fail to deal with the god's power. They either died or suffered from grave illnesses. Not knowing it happened wasn't a crime, however.

That's why the Pygmy tribe was pretending to not notice Mahaduraka that had descended among them. Black Mamba wasn't foolish enough to blame the innocence befitting the Pygmy tribe.

The raucous event finally came to an end. Olonge slung the AK47 that was gifted to him, and began marching back and forth in front of Black Mamba. He was obviously asking to be seen, yet his gaze was looking somewhere else.

Black Mamba chuckled at that funny ostrich-head-in-sand behavior.

Besides Olonge, twelve other Pygmy men also wielded guns, which indicated that they had voluntarily rummaged through the corpses of the Damballah believers to collect the firearms and ammunition. This was a surprising change of attitude by the previously meek and passive Pygmy tribe. Winds of change began blowing within the Pygmy society, it seemed.

"Olonge, have you decided to face up against the enemy forces?"

"Ssi ah koskeiga wa. (I will protect my family.)" Olonge replied while looking at Samdi.

It was as if he didn't hear Mahaduraka but Umar's voice, instead. Even without Ulumbo interpreting for them, the meaning behind Black Mamba's words still got through to him. Olonge certainly did not betray his expectations.

"Very good!"

Black Mamba patted Olonge's small shoulder. The Pygmy man's face was soon filled with wrinkles then. He called out to one of the young men wielding the rifles.

"Bambo! Sso kuda waksaraha rabani. (Bambo! Bring me the deity's items.)"

"Tusal, Adonga!"

This young Pygmy man called Olonge 'Adonga'. That word meant Mahaduraka's slave.

Olonge, now 'walking' with Black Mamba, would be revered as saint among the Pygmy community. Black Mamba's entrance had caused a massive culture shock to the Pygmy society as a whole.

The Pygmy warriors heeded Adonga Olonge's command and brought out the Sarcosuchus hide as well as the cage holding the Dinofelis.

Krrrr-

The Dinofelis bared its fangs that were about a handspan long.

"Uwak?! What the hell is that?" Sergeant Leon jumped up in surprise.

It was a monster that he had never heard of, let alone seen before, was was baring its lengthy fangs and emitting a bloodthirsty aura.

"Not sure, sir. It's not a tiger, nor a panther. And it's definitely not a lion, either..." Bresson replied, but obviously he wouldn't know about a creature from millions of years ago that should've been a fossil by now.

Grrr-

The creature's heavy growling rumbled out from its throat.

"Hey, you! Can't you be quiet?!" Black Mamba suddenly yelled out.

Kiiiing-

The Dinofelis received the full brunt of Black Mamba's glare and hurriedly rolled on its back to reveal its tummy. A creature as big as a Siberian tiger was acting like a little chihuahua.

"Heh, that thing will get to enjoy a long life, it seems," Samdi chuckled in admiration.

After all, a creature of the wild that could recognize its stronger counterparts would always live for longer.

Doong, doong-

"Ho-ee!"

Doong, doong-

"Ho-ee!"

A group of warriors carried the hide of a massive crocodile while matching the rhythm of the drumbeat. The sight of small humans crowding beneath a 14m Sarcosuchus hide and then marching forward in perfect unison was too reminiscent of a toy centipede.

"Kekeke!"

Leon and Bresson couldn't hold back their laughter. Even if an item was shocking and horrifying, its image would go a 180 depending on the manner of its entrance.

Later on, after returning to the main base in Djibouti, both Leon and Bresson would go on to say that the most shocking thing they saw in this world was a crocodile hide. But the funniest thing they saw would be said crocodile hide and the Pygmy tribe. And the most absurd thing they saw was a certain man tossing said crocodile hide inside the helicopter cabin.

No one could understand what these two were on about, but the two men still got a kick out of the reactions of their colleagues failing to understand them. As a matter of fact, the two derived much satisfaction from it.

Besides, helping out in the special military advisor's operation was a honor of a lifetime for them. A proud moment in their lives, but also a military secret they had to take to their graves.

Tutututu-

The Gazelle began flying up.

"Mahaduraka, akbaru! (The Great Spirit is the mightiest!)"

"Umar Ssamdi mahada!"

The members of the Pygmy tribe raised their arms and shouted out at the top of their lungs until the helicopter disappeared from their sights.

And so, this was how the legend of the mighty Great Spirit Mahaduraka and the King of Bodoon, Umar was created. Later in the future, all the visitors to the Pygmy village would end up kissing the foot of a statue of a certain muscular black man with a big mouth grinning brightly away.

Black Mamba landed on Brina and as soon as the Gazelle was finished refueling, he headed to the Northeastern Resources Development Center.

"Holland, has the think I asked for arrive yet?"

"Yes, sir. Everything's been prepared in the hospital's basement."

"Let's go!"

Samdi followed them while carrying Ocelot on his shoulder.

A milky-white rectangular metal box was resting on top of the basement morgue's steel table. The surface of this sleek box had no discernible decorations other than grab handles and a lock, plus some breathing holes.

It was a coffin made out of 5mm-thick titanium that Black Mamba had urgently ordered.

"Fella, you should step outside for a bit."

Black Mamba had Holland leave the morgue. He then stabbed the metal box using the Billion's Water Armour.

Bang-

The metal box was shoved back. It was slightly dented, but it wasn't punctured.

"Very good!"

He pulled out the cantarella marble tightly bound by the resonance wave from the emergency pouch.

It was no bigger than a digit of a pinky finger, but that was still more than enough quantity to poison thousands of people to death.

Black Mamba wordlessly stared at Ocelot while holding the cantarella marble. He was about to feed this unspeakable poison to a human-like bastard. It seemed that he too, was much of a villain as anyone else.

"It's time to face your retribution for all the evil acts you've committed so far."

Samdi tapped on Ocelot's jawbone to open the latter's mouth.

Black Mamba tossed the lump of candarella in the open mouth. Samdi hit the chin to close the mouth next.

The candarella poison incapacitated the neuron network's neural transmission ionic receptors, resulting in a massive overload in the person's nerve tissues.

Black Mamba's expression tensed up a little. He couldn't help but get curious to see if the Epidium could win against the deadly venom.

"...Kkeuh-uuuuh!"

Ocelot was in a near-death state but he suddenly began shivering uncontrollably. His eyes rolled back to show the whites, while his limbs began curling up. It seemed like he would stop breathing at any second now.

"This guy is weaker than I thought. Should I thank the combined repetitive expelling theory for my condition?" Black Mamba's head tilted to the side.

Back in Caparuza, Black Mamba had been poisoned by the Botulinum toxin, which was hundreds of times stronger than the candarella. Every muscle on his body was paralyzed, but he only needed five minutes to detoxify himself.

In terms of physical specs, Ocelot was stronger than Black Mamba, yet his poison resistance did not live up to the expectations.

The combined repetitive expelling theory's effects did play a role in Black Mamba's stronger ability to neutralize toxins. But most of it was all thanks to Monk Dae-woo performing the Interrogative Blood Pacer by spending his own Life Source Energy on his disciple without telling the latter.

No matter how steadfast and earnest a disciple was, it was only natural that he'd never get to fully understand the depth of his master's affection.

Ocelot continued to shiver just as his entire body went limp. His condition reminded one of a giant octopus emerging out of the ocean only for someone to smack its head, causing the creature to sag lifelessly.

Samdi felt for Ocelot's pulse.

"He hasn't lost his marbles yet. His pulse is slow."

"Is he breathing?"

"He's still breathing, but about 10% the rate of a regular human."

"This is just what I expected. His ability to think is broken, leaving behind only the life-sustaining ability. Alright, throw him in!"

Samdi easily lifted Ocelot up and dumped him inside the metal box before locking the lid.

"Nice work. You saved us from a lot of trouble there."

"It's all thanks to Wakil."

Samdi's mouth went slack from a grin.

The Hercules plane that was carrying Black Mamba, Samdi and Paul kicked off the shoddy runaway and flew up into the air. Soon after the takeoff, though, the plane heading west-southwest swiveled greatly and changed its course to northeast instead.

"Special adviser, sir! You must not do this. Don't you know that the newly-appointed General Director is waiting anxiously for you?"

Holland's expression was crumpling unsightly. Did Black Mamba just say he wanted to go to Djibouti for a spot of sun tanning? What Holland heard just now rang around in his ear canals like some kind of auditory hallucination.

Black Mamba asked Holland. "You're saying that Bonipas is the new General Director?"

"Yes, sir. The day after 14 Areva hostages and three bodies reached Paris, Mister President appointed him as the General Director."

"Tell him that I'm happy for him," Black Mamba replied disinterestedly.

Bonipas's promotion was an inevitable thing. It was just a matter of time, that was all.

"Aigooo, sir! That's not the important thing here. Please, I beg of you to give us the permission to change the flight route!"

Holland was getting very anxious right now. If the special military adviser suddenly went to Djibouti without making any prior report, Holland knew that he'd end up as Serpent food in no time at all.

"Holland, I'd like to have some fun with this guy first." Black Mamba replied while pointing at the Dinofelis.

Krrr-

When Black Mamba mentioned it, the Dinofelis lying flat on its stomach raised its head up and began glaring at Holland. Its fangs were as long as a person's hand and they gleamed sharply as they reflected the cabin's overhead light.

"Heop!"

Holland sucked in deep air.

The bloodlust circling within the creature's amber eyes almost made Holland wet his pants. He began fearing that if he uttered one more word, then his throat might get ripped apart.

Seriously now, when a monstrous predator was captured, shouldn't the logical thing be to keep it inside a cage or least put a leash around its neck? What should other people do when such a beast was not tied down at all?

"Holland, stop whining, will you? Manager Mekisi has already left for Paris with my report in tow. What's important is my report, not my face. And I need a break. I need Djibouti's sun for that purpose."

"Special adviser, sir. If you're insisting on that, then how about giving the General Director a call? If you just fly off to Djibouti, I'll end up as Serpent snack, sir!" Holland implored Black Mamba once more.

Holland could already imagine himself manning a post in some remote and lonely island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean or a frozen base in Greenland.

"Hey, man. What's Miterang or Bonipas got to do with my life when I live it how I want and deal with my problems my way?"

"Kekeke! Living how he wants, is it?"

Paul hurriedly turned his head away and suppressed his laughter threatening to spill out. Black Mamba was someone who could sometimes be narrow-minded and resentful.

Holland was in for it now.