After leaving Colombia, everything seemed to go smoothly.
The KKM company, having received the lease payment, really did not continue to pursue the meaning of Dominica; they actually withdrew the case.
Of course, their excuse was simple: they found an error in the flight plan that caused the pilots to miss the plane.
After all, the compensation from Dominica not only didn't result in a loss for the KKM company but also earned them a small profit.
Money makes things happen.
This age-old truth applies in any country.
The next day, Song Heping was up at 5:30 in the morning.
The habits he had formed over the years in the military had not changed.
Some things are ingrained in the marrow.
After making a cup of coffee, Song Heping drank it while calling Ferrari, who was far away in Illigo.
After all, the company had been busy recently.
With all the core members of the company not in Illigo and only Ferrari remaining, he bore greater pressure from a management perspective.
"Song, have you settled your matters over there?"
Ferrari did not mask his emotions at all.
"If it were settled, I would have returned earlier. Do you really think you are a mercenary?"
There was a hint of gunpowder in these words.
Song Heping picked up on it.
Ferrari was a technical talent.
He was an expert in money laundering and handling administrative affairs.
In terms of vision, he was the person in the company who understood Song Heping the best.
The other was the cook.
The rest were more purely mercenaries.
For example, the White Bear couple and Grey Wolf, including Hunter and Disaster Star.
They had no interest in company development.
They were interested in salary and commissions.
Money was their sole reason for being in this industry.
For the cook and Song Heping, however, it was different.
Both were among the most important founders of the company.
They also possessed the highest vision and scope.
Both Song Heping and the cook were not content to merely be mercenaries or leaders of mercenaries.
On many occasions, many people regarded Song Heping as a mercenary leader, but internally, Song Heping was quite displeased.
A mercenary leader?
Ha.
He truly wasn't going to stop there.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have gotten involved in the arms trading business.
Ferrari was the most ambitious person in the company, aside from the cook.
He reminded Song Heping more than once not to constantly put himself in danger and that some things did not need his direct involvement.
But his ideas seemed impractical to Song Heping.
"Musician" Defense was just a small company.
Any company in its startup phase needs to be hands-on.
Even when you grow large, go public, most of the time you still need to be involved personally.
Everyone thinks you can let go and entrust the management to others once you're on track, but actually, that's a very foolish thing to do.
A company can let go because, as the head, they possess resources that no one else in the company does. Only then is it possible to let go.
To think of hiring a professional manager to operate everything comfortably from the start, while you live an easy life as a wealthy idler, will only make you a scapegoat in the end.
This is especially true in the PMC business.
Song Heping simulated the future development of his company countless times at night, buried under his covers.
Being a mercenary was just one of the business lines, not the entirety.
After coming into contact with Peter, he suddenly discovered that there was another set of operational rules beneath the surface of the world.
Take the Illigo war, for example.
On the surface, the United States dressed it up as a counterterrorism war, a war fought for justice.
In reality, it was nothing more than a money-making game for Peter and those tycoons and the forces behind them.
The more than one hundred billion in reconstruction funds, along with various military expenses invested in the war, the contracts given to Black Water or AAFES and other private contracting firms, were all just a facade.
The $240 million logistics contract, half of which was to be transferred to different accounts as Peter instructed.
Song Heping believed that behind those accounts was a well-established system already in operation, where the money would be laundered through various channels before flowing into the pockets of American Parliament members or the military-industrial complex.
If one says the United States is the world's foremost superpower, then those military-industrial complexes, and people like Peter and their backers, are like bloodsuckers attached to this superpower, no different from parasitic fish growing on whales.
Recently, Song Heping seemed to have touched the truths of war.
But vaguely, he always felt as if there was a veil separating him, and there were still some things he couldn't see through or understand.
Undeniably, Song Heping was extremely intelligent, capable of thinking far beyond the basics, at least not as naive as the other team members in the company.
He saw more, and he saw further.
His ambitions grew increasingly restless as he saw more.
"Things are going very smoothly. We have our plane tickets tonight, and we'll be back in the Green Zone the day after tomorrow." At this stage, Song Heping didn't want to discuss high-level issues with Ferrari, like company vision, levels, and patterns.
The "Musician" Defense had just gained a foothold, there were too many things to be done, and it was not time to talk about ideals.
Thus, he shifted the topic back to the company's specific matters: "How are things on your end? How is the recruitment going?"
Before leaving, Song Heping had talked with Ferrari. With the company expanding, there was a large-scale recruitment of staff. Besides local mercenaries, the official employees had to form at least two elite operation groups, establishing two teams, like mirrors in a computer system, when one is removed, the other can still function normally.
Ferrari was extremely sharp; he immediately sensed Song Heping's reluctance to continue discussing high-profile issues and steered the conversation back to recruitment.
"While you guys were away, there has been a long queue outside the company every day, I've been so busy, I need to tell you something, I hired two locals."
"No problem, you should hire some admin staff by now. I approve of this," Song Heping said.
Ferrari laughed, "They are both women."
Song Heping was momentarily taken aback, then said: "I've heard that stoning is a thing here in the Middle East... If you're not afraid, then go ahead as you see fit."
"No no no," Ferrari said, "The ones I hired are young local girls, but the salary isn't high, just 500 US Dollars per month. The problem is that I promised them, eventually, an American identity."
Ferrari's words left Song Heping speechless.
He greatly admired Ferrari's talents.
But nobody is perfect.
Including Ferrari.
For instance, Ferrari's combat ability was weak, his individual military quality was poor, and the biggest issue was that he was a romantic.
There are such people in this world.
If he weren't this type of person, he wouldn't have come to work at the "Musician" Defense Company.
If he had stayed at the managing committee, Ferrari would not need to suck up to anyone, just turn a blind eye to those messes, and he could live quite comfortably.
Illigo now did not resemble a battlefield but rather a haven for adventurers and embezzlers.
There were no rules here because the old government was overthrown and everything including the laws was being rebuilt.
It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.
The strong thrived here, while the weak suffered miserably.
Ferrari was the kind of person who would not bend for material wealth.
He was the kind that would give up a chance to make millions of US Dollars for a love affair.
So Song Heping was very clear that to keep this talent and enjoy the services and loyalty he brought, he also had to endure the trouble he might cause.
"Hahaha!" On the phone, Ferrari laughed loudly: "Of course not, Song, rest assured, I will handle this, they are all college students, I still have some connections to apply for an opportunity for them to study abroad."
Hearing this, Song Heping's heart fell.
Nowadays, in Illigo, any girl with some means would try everything possible to get out.
A turbulent country cannot hold onto its people.
"How many people have you recruited these past few days?"
"102, all drivers; still not enough," Ferrari said: "There are thirty-three resumes for combat personnel, I accepted them and told them to come in a few days for an interview when you are back to personally review them. These are all veterans, I wouldn't even have taken their resumes if they were not good, all having served in elite forces across various countries, many of them have been in the Illigo Mercenaries for a while, I'm not familiar with military stuff, so you review it when you return. As for local mercenaries, I'm planning to expand a battalion, the quality of these people doesn't need to be too high; just having previous military service in the former Illigo government army is sufficient,"
"Hmm, I will personally review the company's official employees when I return, discuss and decide the rest with Samir," Song Heping asked, "He's back in Illigo, right?"
"He just arrived at dawn today, still sleeping; I'll review the local hires with him," Ferrari said.
"Alright, you've done well. The bidding documents are now in your hands, do well, and there's a big prize for everyone, do poorly, and we all face tough times together."
"No problem."
The two ended the conversation, and Song Heping continued to think about the matters at hand.
Leaving today.
No time for delay.
Although it was still unknown in Colombia who had taken down their government army's two helicopters and eighteen scouts, it was only a matter of time before the truth came out. No one could predict whether the Colombian government would go through official channels to demand Ecuador arrest them.
The best strategy is to retreat.
He downed his coffee in one gulp, planning to wake everyone up to get moving.
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
Knock, knock, knock—
Song Heping looked toward the doorway with caution.
He tiptoed to the side of the wardrobe, then pulled out his pistol and loaded it.
Approaching the door and opening it from behind was a foolish act in such times.
As long as he was still within Ecuador, he remained highly vigilant.
"It's me."
The voice from outside caught Song Heping by surprise.
Why him?