King Of War: Starting with Arms Dealer

Joe Ga was very interested in Zheng Chuli, a Chinese national, with a background outside the law, a history with gangs, and particularly good at fighting—natural mercenary material.

Having a few more people from China at P·B wouldn't be too bad...

Old Niu mentioned several times that he wanted to hire some retired cooks from the army, but there had been no follow-up so far. After asking around, he found out that those retired cooks weren't doing too poorly.

A cook at Old Niu's level could either contract the canteen of a local enterprise back in their hometown if they had connections, or make a fortune selling boxed lunches if they didn't—there was no need for them to muck about in Africa.

Joe Ga hadn't come across any other suitable ex-military folks either...

But that was just a passing thought for now—Zheng Chuli had his own business to attend to.

Straightening out the chaos in Sangha Town didn't take much effort for Joe Ga, but meeting several compatriots who were making their way in the world reminded him of Uncle Qing whom he hadn't contacted in a long time.

Back when Joe Ga was just starting, he had subcontracted part of the Kenyan military base project to Uncle Qing without saying it was his own business, for fear of his worry-prone Uncle Qing overthinking it.

Lately, he had been too busy and had forgotten about it; he wondered how Uncle Qing was doing now?

Thinking of this, Joe Ga couldn't help but pick up his phone. He hesitated for a moment before dialing Uncle Qing's number, wanting to inquire about his current situation.

Now that he was quite well-off himself and Sangha Town had settled down,

there was plenty Joe Ga could offer in terms of infrastructure projects in Sangha Town.

Setting other things aside, the 'Juggernaut Construction Company' overseen by Old Zhu has a 60% share owned by Joe Ga—it would be too easy to find some safe business for Uncle Qing.

As soon as the call connected, Joe Ga instantly heard the familiar accent of his hometown...

"Xiao Jia, what made you think of calling your old uncle?"

Joe Ga could hear that it sounded very lively on the other end of the line. He chuckled and said, "Just missed you, Uncle Qing. How have you been? Is everything okay at home?"

Uncle Qing replied loudly over the phone, "Alright my ass, my stupid son and his wife started some homestay business and haven't made a dime in over half a year, instead they've sunk tens of thousands into it.

If it weren't for my grandson, I'd have beaten him to death already. His mother and I haven't spent this much money combined in our entire lives!

If it wasn't for him, I would have retired half a year ago. Why would I have needed to come to Liberia to pick up gigs?"

Joe Ga was startled, then laughed and said, "Starting a business, you know, you win some, you lose some—it's normal. He'll learn from this loss for next time."

While speaking, Joe Ga suddenly thought of something and asked, "Uncle Qing, where did you just say you were?"

Uncle Qing chuckled and said, "Liberia!

Remember Uncle Chen?

His plump daughter is still thinking of you. I saw her last month; she has slimmed down quite a bit and looks pretty good now!"

How could Joe Ga forget that plump girl, always having something broken in her house?

But he had no time for banter with Uncle Qing at the moment, frowning, he said, "What are you doing in Liberia? Didn't you go back after the Kenyan project ended?"

After listening, Uncle Qing responded helplessly, "Your cousin started that stupid homestay and racked up a ton of debt. I filled his holes and didn't have much left myself.

Now his family's expenses are high too; so I thought I'd endure a few more years to lighten your cousin's burden.

That's why I looked up Uncle Chen. He's a senior manager at the Oil and Gas Group now, and there's this energy project in Liberia that is part of a debt settlement deal. I followed him here.

Don't talk about it; Uncle Chen is sentimental. We're earning much more here than at North SD."

Joe Ga sighed after listening and didn't know quite what to say…

Libya's civil war wasn't entirely over; the international community recognized the opposition faction in power at the time, but they were ineffectual.

France and Italy, just across the sea from Libya, were the first to grab a big bite of the spoils after the opposition came to power.

But soon enough, Colonel Ka's legacy factions also formed a government, and the northern and southern sides started both verbal sparring and actual fighting.

NATO took out Colonel Ka, and America lost interest in what happened here after that.

The decision-makers from France didn't want to solve the conflict, they just wanted Libya to quiet down quickly, to reliably sell rocks and secure Europa's oil supply. So they appeased with arms at both ends, but in the end, they pleased neither side. Meanwhile, quietly, Italy got the most benefit.

Uncle Qing's so-called 'debt-settling energy project' was understandable to Joe Ga. Around 2011, China invested over US$20 billion in Libya, mostly in infrastructure and water projects.

Speaking of contracts, but with the assertiveness of Chinese enterprises, those projects were all done with advanced funding.

A few years ago, when the fighting started, all those investments went down the drain. Now, with the situation slightly more stable, they naturally had to come over to collect debts.

With the Libyan opposition in a precarious state, they probably didn't dare to shirk responsibility.

The energy project Uncle Qing was involved in was probably a product of such circumstances.

By Joe Ga's standards, Libya wasn't necessarily all that dangerous nowadays, but that was for him as a mercenary boss. For corporate workers, there were still dangers, especially with Benghazi about to erupt into chaos.

Aaron had confirmed that the Frenchman was planning to kill Eric and the American ambassador.

They certainly couldn't initiate a conflict openly, so the best method was to have someone stir up trouble, which would lead to war chaos, and then they could fish in troubled waters.

Joe Ga wasn't sure if his guess was correct, but he knew that for some time to come, Liberia, especially near Benghazi, would be in chaos.

As Joe Ga hesitated after hearing the anxious voices of his co-workers on the phone, he said, "Uncle Qing, listen to me, evacuate immediately; it's not safe there...

If you can't find a way out, I'll arrange for a plane to come pick you up. There are plenty of places where you can work."

Uncle Qing fell silent for a moment before responding, "I can't do that, young Joe. The project is nearly complete, and if we withdraw before delivering, not only will I not get my money, but Uncle Chen will be in big trouble.

He wanted to give me a hand; I can't betray him. Besides, there are brothers here relying on their wages to feed their families!"

Uncle Qing then added with some uncertainty, "Is it really that dangerous?"

Joe Ga clicked his tongue and replied, "I'm not sure.

I don't know your exact position or how much security you have, so I can't make speculative comments.

But I'm pretty sure that Benghazi is definitely going to be in turmoil. Why don't you discuss it with Uncle Chen and consider staying in Italy across the sea for a while?

Alternatively, you could come straight to me. It's a bit poor over here, but there's a lot of work, and the pay is good.

I don't understand why you're going to Liberia to mess with the oil fields right now?"

Uncle Qing explained, "It's not oil fields, it's gas fields, natural gas. We're not about to develop it; just doing some ground hardening with about twenty brothers and then building a few buildings to plant a flag.

It's said that Uncle Chen is planning to partner with the Italians in the future and sell the gas to them...

Our work should finish within two more months at most; it couldn't be that close, could it?"

Joe Ga didn't understand the operations of such giant corporations, but that 'Uncle Chen' was definitely a powerful figure. Coming to Liberia and securing a gas field was truly impressive!

Natural gas was certainly a hot commodity; not exploiting it for the time being but planting a flag was indeed a rightful claim.

Thinking that his unsolicited advice to evacuate was unlikely to be heeded, Joe Ga reluctantly said, "Uncle Qing, send me your location, and for the upcoming period, try not to go out or anything.

How many security guards do you have? Who are they and what equipment do they have? Can they be relied on?

I have a team in Benghazi. If there's a real problem, I can have them support you."

Uncle Qing was confused by Joe Ga's barrage of questions and after a pause said 'wait a moment'. After a short while, a deep male voice came over the phone...

"Little Joe, it's been more than a year since we've seen each other, how have you been recently?"

Joe Ga immediately recognized the voice; he used to enjoy the hospitality of the man's household quite frequently during his time at SD...

"Uncle Chen, I'm fine, just working on a small project in Central Africa."

Uncle Chen chuckled upon hearing this, "Yours is not a small project at all. If you hadn't made it onto the news recently, I wouldn't have known that the 'Hu Lang' my old friend from China Construction in Central Africa was talking about is you.

Thank you for going out of your way to give me a call. I'm 80 kilometers away from Benghazi, so there should be no problem."

As he spoke, Uncle Chen swiftly changed the subject and jokingly asked, "How is it? Is having the Princess of Qatar at home putting you under a lot of pressure?"

Joe Ga realized that Uncle Chen wasn't aware of the full story, just speculating based on media coverage.

Joe Ga now didn't mind his identity being exposed; P·B wasn't something shameful.

And when he had made up his mind to face the media, this situation had been inevitable.

Joe Ga chuckled, not taking the bait from Uncle Chen's remark, but rather said with seriousness, "Uncle Chen, Uncle Qing has watched me grow up, there are some things I must remind him of.

Since you know what I do, I'll be straightforward...@@novelbin@@

Benghazi is not safe, don't go near there for the time being.

Are your security guards up to standard? If you can't rely on them, I can take on some contracts over here."

Uncle Chen, understanding the gravity of Joe Ga's words more than Uncle Qing, contemplated for a while before responding, "Right now, the security on the construction site is provided by the Liberian government army, 20 people. Do you think they are unreliable?"

Upon hearing this, Joe Ga decisively said, "They can't be relied on at all!

Do you have any extra budget? If you offer a daily salary of 500 US dollars, I can send you 20 professional security guards who will be effective when needed."

Uncle Chen considered this and after a moment replied, "Technically, I shouldn't be making this decision, and the cost of six hundred thousand US dollars for two months is definitely steep. But with the situation as serious as you describe, I'm feeling uncertain too.

Little Joe, what do you think is the best way for me to pay you?"

Understanding Uncle Chen's predicament, Joe Ga knew that Chinese corporations generally enjoyed protection from local government military when operating abroad, which meant security budgets were low.

Despite a gas field being worth billions, it would still be challenging for Uncle Chen to come up with six hundred thousand dollars without going through alternative channels; waiting for approval up the chain would be too late.

Thinking about the issues his call had caused and wanting to be at peace, Joe Ga considered and then said, "Uncle Chen, don't you have friends at China Construction in Central Africa?

They have projects in Bangui too. Why not have them assign some projects to 'Giant Construction Corporation', and we'll call it even?"

Uncle Chen was astonished, "Your company is Giant Construction Corporation? Continue your journey on My Virtual Library Empire

No wonder that Zhu Shaoshan in Central Africa is so aggressive, even the people at the Presidential Palace give him way..."