King Of War: Starting with Arms Dealer

Joe Ga gazed at the sprawling refugee camp not far away, rubbed his cheeks in pain, then turned and went back down the stairs, but even after drinking two cups of espresso, he still hadn't recovered his energy.

This time none of the main forces from P·B had taken action, and boss Joe had mobilized his entire circle of friends to create the current situation.

This was a new attempt, and the most important thing was that boss Joe's original intention was not to make money from Liberia.

If he really wanted to earn money, he should have rushed to Congo, where they had urged him many times already.

Because of this, the President of Congo and the Minister of Defense had been cursing the terrorist organizations through the media these days, warning them to surrender promptly.

Of course, Joe Ga also wanted to go back quickly, but the tantalum mine wasn't going anywhere, and the French were not yet done with their crackdown on mercenaries in Central Africa, so he was not in a hurry — the longer it dragged on, the more embarrassing it was for the French...

The most important thing was that boss Joe noticed Nis was genuinely happy, the way she looked at those refugees no longer numb and cold; the Devil Bird with light in her eyes was especially moving.

For just this reason, boss Joe felt everything was worth it!

However, there is a saying, "Accidentally planting willows, willows grow into shade..."

From the day Joe made his promise, every subsequent action was perfectly timed.

Then a business deal that was supposed to lose money in the short term ended up, after some calculations, being probably, perhaps, most likely to make a profit.

The artillery support from the 'Professor' along with the automatic cannons, plus 200 temporarily retired paratroopers, were already frightening enough.

Then Central Africa sent over all 200 Wagner mercenaries who protected the capital.

Add China's "humanitarian aid", France's stingy support, and Italy's generous backing.

Taking over Tubruq no longer seemed like a pipe dream!

Then Old Chen led a negotiation team across the border to find boss Joe, wanting to contract the project of restarting the Tubruq refinery.

To show sincerity, the oil and natural gas group was ready to give boss Joe a hundred million US dollars in goodwill money upfront, and cover all the costs of restarting the refinery.

This goodwill money was not a deposit but more like a signing bonus, or more bluntly, a bribe!

Their only requirement was that 30% of the crude oil exports had to go to them and, apart from the shares destined for Greece and Italy, they would handle the rest of the refined oil produced by the refinery.

Of course, the money would still belong to boss Joe; they would only symbolically collect 30% of the refinery's management fees annually.

The first phase of the contract was for three years, after which the oil and natural gas group would decide on any subsequent contracts depending on how P·B began to gradually withdraw.

Joe Ga had been negotiating this deal with Old Chen's team for the past two days.

The actual decision-making had taken only five minutes, followed by two days of drinking!

According to Old Chen, wrapping up such a huge contract in one day seemed too insincere; it was a must to take a bit more time and expense.

Boss Joe had seen it all, but this two-day drinking binge had really done him in.

Now his room still reeked of Maotai, not because the liquor was spilled, but because boss Joe had thrown up from drinking too much.

After chugging a bellyful of coffee first thing in the morning, and then dealing with the hangover's dizziness, he escorted Old Chen's group back across the border.

As he watched a bunch of happy drinkers climb onto the bus, boss Joe went into the Egyptian border officer's office and hugged his wastebasket, vomiting into it until it was half full.

The Egyptian border officer named Ramzi was now thoroughly subdued.

Having his office smelling of strange odors from Joe's vomiting, Ramzi remained unbothered and called loudly for his soldiers to help air out the room and then handed boss Joe a bottle of purified water, saying with a smile, "Sir, drinking too much isn't good for your health!"

After rinsing his mouth with the purified water, Joe Ga squinted at Ramzi and said, "I've been drinking for two days and made a hundred million, would you do it if you were me?"

Ramzi stared at Joe Ga, dumbfounded, then slapped his thigh forcefully and said, "Hell yeah, with a hundred million dollars, who cares about health?

I've seen so many people lose all their hair by 35 and end up without even a house of their own.

What's two days of drinking? I'd be willing to drink piss!"

Ramzi's disgusting words caused Joe Ga to raise his middle finger in displeasure and say, "Can't you talk like a normal person?"

Joe Ga rubbed his temples vigorously, then pointed at the duty roster on the desk and went on, "Tell your guys I'm hiring them to maintain order, not to run faster to eat than damn refugees at mealtime.

If they keep this up, I'll dock their pay!

And warn them, if they bully the refugees, I'll send King Kong to have a word with them."

Ramzi looked at Joe Ga, seeing that he was not very serious, and curiously said, "Sir, are you serious?

Those are refugees; you can't treat them like animals in need of care, being too gentle can lead to many problems."

Joe Ga waved his hand and said, "I damn well know that, but the United Nations volunteers complain to me every day; surely I have to do something, right?

Have your guys lay low for the next couple of days, just give those overly compassionate fools a bit of a hard time, that ought to do it."

Joe Ga patted his head and added, "And, tell your guys they're not allowed to carry guns from now on, get some batons or something instead.

That place is a refugee camp, not a concentration camp; don't create a tense atmosphere on purpose."

Joe Ga talked about minor issues, and Ramzi nodded again and again to show he understood...

Ever since he'd agreed to let Egyptian border troops go to the other side for temporary work after their shifts, his prestige among the border troops had gained an unprecedented boost.

A daily salary of a hundred bucks, and after two full months, many could go home and build a house.

Taking notes on Joe's requests, Ramzi curiously leaned in close to Joe Ga and cautiously said, "Sir, when do you plan to attack Byrdi?

"How long can this refugee camp last?"

Joe Ga shook his head and replied, "I'm not sure about that yet, been too busy these days. I'll go back and listen to what the others have to say."

As he spoke, Joe Ga walked towards the door, saying, "Have your people come over for lunch at my place, and remember to send a few truckloads of oil my way, we're almost out of fuel in the camp."

With a smile, Ramzi said, "No problem. The aviation guys will be here this afternoon. I'll have them follow the fuel truck over."

Upon hearing this, Joe Ga shook his head helplessly and said, "Your aviation guys are all bastards. I've given them so much business, asked them to send a few helicopters to show presence for me, and three of them ended up grounded on arrival.

"Have them hurry over. I'll have your own pilots supervise their repairs. Once fixed, let a maintenance chief follow the chopper on missions, and if they crash because of their own repairs, they've only themselves to blame."

With a schadenfreude 'cackle,' Ramzi then diligently escorted Boss Joe across the border, watching through the border fence as Joe, accompanied by a female giant, reluctantly headed to the refugee camp...

Boss Joe actually didn't like visiting the refugee camp; his original motive was for Nis, now it was for money.

Besides, what was the point of a bunch of refugees' gratitude?

Such thanks, repeated tens of thousands of times, would turn into an intangible pressure.

Anyway, Nis was feeling the pressure now, recently becoming the most thanked distributor of materials, her smile growing, but so too, mysteriously, had her workload.

No one assigned her tasks; she just bizarrely started doing a lot more on her own.

This was initiative; whether it was good or bad didn't matter. It wasn't strenuous work, and all Boss Joe wanted was for Nis to be happy.

And now, Boss Joe was like a human-shaped smiling puppet, walking through the refugee camp and ceaselessly handing out candies to the smiling children and warmly checking in on the elderly. Whenever he came across someone sick, he paid them a visit...

In the end, a 'refugee' would block his path and bitterly complain, leading to Boss Joe furiously punishing a 'misbehaving' soldier. After a few hard smacks and sending him off to a few days of solitary confinement, Joe would leave.

This was a rotten idea suggested by old Chen and his group; not only did people in China love the image of an upright official coming to the rescue, but probably so did the downtrodden people worldwide.

After 'punishing' Xiao Hei for the third time, akin to a play act, the atmosphere in the refugee camp actually improved a lot, because people began to feel reassured.

Under Ayu's protection and surrounded by the refugees, Boss Joe loudly scolded Xiao Hei, expressing deep anger at him for stealing dates from an old lady's house.

A heavily laid King Kong Palm sent Xiao Hei spinning a full 360 degrees, screaming as he hit the ground. Boss Joe authoritatively compensated the old lady ten bucks and declared Xiao Hei would be locked up in solitary confinement for three days, only then 'fleeing' amidst applause.

Crossing paths with Kitten, who was laughing so hard she seemed on the verge of passing out, Boss Joe slapped her on the butt without amusement and asked, "What the hell are you laughing at?"

Kitten glanced at the old men and women kneeling on the ground, praying to the heavens, thanking God for sending someone to save them. Hooking her arm around Boss Joe's, she said playfully, "Can you hit someone else next time?

"Ahtu's already stolen from three families, and by rights, he should still be in solitary.

"Some people have already noticed..."

Joe Ga said indifferently, "So what if they've noticed? Do you think those who enjoy the spectacle are fools?

"We're not putting on a show here, we're making a statement.

"We want to tell them, if they face trouble, not to become trouble themselves, but to come to us for a solution."

Saying this, Joe Ga pointed to Ambassador Steven in the distance, who was also making small talk and had the media and bodyguards with him, and said with disdain, "If I were really acting, I'd do it like him.

"Damn, that guy is even more active in showboating than I am, but it's all worthless.

"To think he dares call himself an ambassador?

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"Aside from bringing a few bodyguards and a SEALs team, he hasn't brought over a damn dollar.

"Tell 'Sugar' tonight, we'll cut off their meat supply. It's a damn disgrace for an ambassador to compete with refugees over food!"

Kitten snorted with laughter, squeezing herself into Boss Joe's embrace. She knew Boss Joe was joking, but she especially loved it when he blabbered nonsense, because it was truly relaxing and joyful.

As for war?

This time, we won't need P·B's people...

Following along with Joe Ga to the materials management warehouse, Kitten noticed Nis in the distance directing the distribution of supplies. She straightened up feeling glum and then looked at Joe Ga, saying, "My sister called, saying she's already arrived in China.

"When will we take down Byrdi and Tubruq?

"If we don't drive out the terrorists, Monica won't know how to coordinate material procurement."

Joe Ga tilted his head and kissed Kitten on the forehead before saying in a relaxed manner, "Tell Monica to keep a low profile; that's enough. She doesn't need to worry about warfare; we have dedicated people handling that.

"She's just a representative, a human stamp. Once my brother's foreign trade company is set up, she can go to America."

As he spoke, Joe Ga looked at a group of Wagner mercenaries in the distance training and said with a smile, "As for warfare, folks are always willing to risk their lives for the right price..."