King Of War: Starting with Arms Dealer

Salenko was the boss of the Wagner Mercenaries in Central Africa. Before joining Wagner, he had been a lieutenant in the Russian Army.

Salenko had no idea how he ended up in Liberia.

When the President of Central Africa heard that P·B was up to something big in Liberia, he got as excited as if he had taken a stimulant and gathered a batch of supplies in Capital Bangui, then under the guise of escorting these supplies, dispatched the Wagner Mercenaries stationed in Bangui along with all their baggage straight to Liberia.

Salenko found it strange, as if in the blink of an eye, he seemed, perhaps, likely sold out to P·B.

The security contract that Wagner had with the Central African Government got sold off to P·B for a low price.

Two hundred tough Wagner Mercenaries, like players traded mid-season in the NBA, still had jobs, but their workplace and boss had changed.

Salenko felt deeply insulted; in fact, he wanted to leave as soon as he got off the plane.

But a hefty penalty for breach of contract and orders from headquarters made him stay with his guys.

What he didn't expect was that, in just half a month's time, a shabby refugee camp had undergone an earth-shattering transformation.

A large amount of supplies flooded into the camp through Egypt...

Doctors had no borders, medicines were sponsored by the Red Cross, the tents bore brand names, the sleeping bags were filled with down, and even the drinking water was European bottled.

A guy called 'Sugar' led a bunch of refugee laborers in building an enormous open-air cafeteria that actually managed to take care of the meals of over five thousand people, better than the regular meals of the Russian Army.

Salenko could swear on his heart that their treatment in this refugee camp was actually no worse than at the headquarters in Central Africa.

This group of guys, who were paid a monthly salary of 2,000 US Dollars to guard the Capital City, fell over themselves for the daily combat allowance of 300 US Dollars at an astonishing speed.

In the past week, Salenko had been leading his comrades in adjusting their physical condition, preparing for the daily 300 bucks to go head-to-head with the terrorists at the base.

Today, Salenko felt his men were almost ready, so when he saw Boss Qiao appear, he was the first to follow him with his people.

"Sir, we're ready. When do you plan to retake Byrdi?"

As Joe Ga was embracing Nis, trying to persuade her not to be so busy, he turned around in displeasure at the sight of Salenko's yelling and looked at a bunch of Wagner soldiers with buzz cuts, saying, "Are you in a hurry?"

Salenko glanced at Ayu with a hostile look and subconsciously straightened up, facing forward, and called out loudly, "Sir, our duty is to fight, not to rot in the camp."

Boss Qiao, with Nis in his arms, looked helplessly at the tactless guy in front of him. It's no wonder he got assigned security duty in Central Africa.

This guy seriously lacked social skills; he was practically begging Boss Qiao by the ankles to hand out a mission so they could earn that 300 dollars a day of war allowance.

Perhaps sensing the domineering aura emanating from Boss Qiao's frame, Nis worried he might order Ayu to beat the guy, so the thoughtful girl patted her boss's chest soothingly to calm him, then said, "If they're so eager, just give them the stuff and let them warm up first."

With that, Nis pushed Boss Qiao and said, "You go and have fun with Kitten; I'm still busy. A batch of medicine has arrived, and I need to check the quantities before helping Jemma distribute them."

Getting handed off to his girlfriend by his lover gave Joe Ga the impression he was some sort of fed buffoon.

Boss Qiao 'aggrievedly' bit Nis's cheek and then, with a beaming Kitten in his arms, flicked his finger toward Salenko and said, "Follow me..."

Upon hearing this, an excited Salenko nodded and followed Boss Qiao with a few of his guys.

As they made their way through the refugee camp to a field tent near the Liberian guardroom, Salenko was astonished to find that it was a temporary equipment depot, and next to it was a busy temporary command post.

All sorts of light and heavy weapons, along with high-tech accessories, were stacked on platforms made out of weapon crates.

Seeing Salenko, who was usually so destitute, drooling over the VVS sniper rifles, Boss Qiao shook his head in disdain and said, "What kind of life have you been living in Wagner?"

And then, pointing to the backpacks in the corner of the equipment depot, Boss Qiao said, "Those are prepared for you: one night vision device, one radio, a pair of bulletproof panels, and one helmet.

You should already have guns, but if you need other accessories like laser pointers, holographic sights, and the like, you can come here and register to get them..."

Upon hearing this, Salenko raced over and eagerly examined a military backpack, then exclaimed in surprise, "Sir, are these all for us?"

Joe Ga looked at Salenko like he was an idiot and said, "What are you thinking? These are just lent to you, give them back to me after the fight is over."

Salenko felt a little disappointed, but he quickly cheered up again.

He'd never fought in such lavish wars before; the night vision devices provided by P·B were more advanced than those of the special security forces, and rumors had it that P·B's bulletproof vests came with a luck enhancement—that was some really good stuff.

After checking all the equipment and feeling as if his combat capability had instantly increased by 100%, Salenko stood at attention, saluted solemnly, and said, "Sir, thank you for the equipment provided; the Wagner Central African Division will not let you down.

"We can set out for Byrdi tomorrow, and we'll be able to take it within a week."

Joe Ga was taken aback by Salenko's demeanor. In all honesty, boss Qiao quite admired Salenko's spirit, but his current attitude made Qiao feel underestimated.

I'm not some amateur haphazard in battle; you have to have some method to it. What good is charging into Byrdi with a blindfold on?

Salenko's foolish look was making it seem as if old Qiao didn't know how to fight.

With that thought, boss Qiao waved dismissively and said, "Put your stuff down, and come back with your men this afternoon to collect it.

"Come with me to the next room for now. If you want to fight, you need to know what we've got and who we're targeting," he added.

Looking at Salenko, who was over 40 but still seemed like a greenhorn, he shook his head disapprovingly and said, "Buddy, three hundred bucks a day sure sounds sweet, but you can't go around like a headless fly. It's great to make money, but it's most important to have a life to spend it.

"I'm paying you to risk your lives for me, not to buy your lives—do you get the difference?"

Salenko looked blankly at boss Qiao, nodded seriously, and said, "I understand, we'll fight valiantly!"

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Upon hearing this, Joe Ga realized the guy hadn't understood a thing—it was probably an accent issue, but he could roughly guess how the man made it to the rank of a junior officer.

Incomprehensible situations call for focusing only on the last few words when the leader is giving a speech.

Then, engrave those few glossy phrases on your heart and repeatedly shout them; naturally, you'll gain the favor of the leadership in the army.

For example, when the leader asks, "Do you understand?" or "Any questions?" it doesn't matter what he said before; always answer "Understood," "No problems," and it's best to add "Guaranteed to complete the mission."

As long as you can fight, are brutal enough, keep your word, and are loyal, just cling to some bigwig in the army, and you'll move up.

Salenko now showed he mastered this essence, and although his answers didn't match the questions, Joe Ga just didn't have the heart to call him a dumbass idiot.

While saying this, Joe Ga suddenly realized something. Staring into Salenko's eyes, he commanded, "Repeat after me, 'Once you're done with the stuff, you return it!'"

Salenko held the military backpack tightly, his expression struggling for a moment, then plastered a naive smile on his face and said, "Understood, guaranteed to complete the mission!"

At this point, Joe Ga couldn't help but laugh at the man's antics. He was clearly preparing to weasel out of his debts...

Joe Ga flipped off the guilelessly cunning junior officer and shook his head, saying, "Every P.B. grunt gets these, but you're not one of us now, so I can't give them to you.

"However, if you're willing to sign a three-year contract with me, then consider these a gift."

As he spoke, Joe Ga looked at Salenko, whose expression suddenly turned to one of difficulty, and laughing, slapped him on the shoulder, saying, "Don't worry, you are still Wagner's people. If you don't know how to work this out, just call your superior.

"The Chinese commonly call this kind of thing 'labor outsourcing.' Your ties are still with Wagner, but you'll be serving me.

"I can wire the salary directly to Wagner Group's account, or I can give it straight to you, and you guys can pay your own share to the group."

Salenko sensed the malice in the proposal put forth by boss Qiao, but after exchanging glances with his comrades, he decisively said, "Give it directly to us, we'll negotiate with the company ourselves."

Joe Ga laughed at Salenko's naive mischief, laughing heartily as he said, "You could get sued for that, but I like your money-hungry attitude.

"Here's what you'll do: I'll send a contract to your company and tell you the amount. Then you can decide for yourselves if the sharing ratio is fair.

"Actually, considering how much you love money, you might as well resign and work with me.

"You've been in Bangui for so many years; you're practically a local snake in Central Africa, so you should know what P.B.'s reputation is like."

Salenko was oblivious to boss Qiao gradually luring him in, instead thinking that Hu Lang of P.B. was indeed welldeserving of his reputation, being able to accommodate others' shortcomings and always considering others.

Honestly, Salenko was deeply touched. He exchanged glances with his subordinates and then, looking earnestly at Joe Ga, he said, "Sir, our contract with Wagner Group won't end for another three months.

"During this time, you'll see that we are worth better treatment!"

Salenko surrendered before boss Qiao even got to wield a third of his headhunting prowess.

Seeing his earnest face, Joe Ga patted his shoulder with a smile and said, "Then, I'll be waiting for your good news. But before that, come with me and take a look.

"P.B. isn't like other companies; we generally don't need to throw lives into a pit to achieve our goals...

"Being eager to fight is fine, but being foolish is not!"