Song Heping's idea was utterly insane, enough to almost shake Ferrari's eyeballs out of their sockets.
Sell the goods to someone, and then turn around and take them out?!
He had seen arms dealing, but never like this.
"Song, do you honestly think you're not joking with me?"
Song Heping said very seriously, "I also had a brainwave just now. Everything has two sides, right? Selling arms to the Salafi Armed, that's an assignment from Peter's side. Taking out the leader of the Salafis is to avenge Dominic. There's no conflict."
Ferrari felt the corners of his mouth twitching.
But after thinking it through, these two things really didn't conflict.
"You're insane!"
Ferrari couldn't help but burst out laughing.
After laughing for a while, he regained his composure and said, "But how are you going to kill the leader of the Salafi Armed?"
Song Heping said, "With guns, of course. What else, bite him to death?"
Ferrari said, "I'm not joking with you, I'm serious. You do realize how much force it takes to take down the head of an armed organization in the Sahel Region? If our company's elite all went to Africa, it'd be too big of a move, never mind the CIA, even the military would notice our unusual activity. How do you plan to take out the head of the Salafi Armed without anyone noticing?"
Song Heping said, "This is a problem. So I suddenly thought of something, for the future of our company, we must start establishing secret divisions overseas gradually, as they say, a crafty rabbit has three burrows. Our relationship with the US Army is very good right now, but who knows, if something were to happen to us someday, these guys might liquidate us or throw us under the bus. So it's better to be prepared early, I'm entrusting this to you. You're a master at managing finances, and for the time being, the CIA's attention is all on our operations department. I bet they would never guess that you would be secretly managing business overseas."
"Where do you plan to set up the division?" Ferrari asked.
"How many places in the world can the Americans not fully control?" Song Heping asked.
Ferrari said with a wry smile, "Not many. Your homeland is one, Da Maozi's place is one, I can't think of any others. You're not considering Russia, right? I advise you not to go there, it'll be even harder to come out once you get in."
"Of course, I'm not going to Russia."
Song Heping suddenly remembered the cook.
The cook's defection was merely because he couldn't become the boss here.
If he went to Russia, wouldn't he be vying for territory with him?
Considering the cook's return, Song Heping felt that opening a restaurant was just a front, especially since the person who encouraged him to go back was an ex-KGB agent from the Federal Security Bureau.
Something about this didn't quite add up.
"Going to Russia would still mean becoming a tool, escaping the claws of the Americans only to fall into Da Mao's bear paws, and I'm not willing to do that. Going back to my homeland is also not possible; they wouldn't allow a company like ours to exist there."
Ferrari laughed, "There aren't many places in the world with real sovereignty, are you thinking of going to North Korea?"
Song Heping said, "Not necessarily. Africa isn't completely under American control either, and don't forget, there are places in South America even the Americans themselves can't control."
"Venezuela?" Ferrari thought of a country name, "Are you planning to use your connection with Ramas?"
Song Heping said, "Why not? I think that place is quite suitable, we can use it as one of the divisions to be set up. I'll contact Ramas to pave the way for you. Ramas also wants to expand into the arms trade in South America. We can't put all our eggs in the American basket; I don't trust them."
"Where in Africa do you plan to establish a division?" Ferrari asked.
"I haven't thought of a place yet," Song Heping said. "For now, I'm not familiar with that area. Keep an eye on that for me, if we really do start working in Africa, then we can gradually get to know the place. As for the Middle East…"
He remembered Avanti.
"If we really can't stay in Illiguo anymore, we'll go directly to Persia, if I believe Avanti will also provide us with a foothold."
"Alright."
Ferrari nodded as he spoke, "I'll ensure our funds are well-hidden and dispersed, and gradually establish financial channels in Africa and South America to facilitate the transfer of funds when the time comes. After all, setting up such divisions requires a lot of money to pave the way."
He paused and then asked, "By the way, how do you plan to take down the head of the Salafi Armed?"
"The old way, the art of disappearing from the human world," Song Heping said with a smile. "If we can't move a large force, can't we still move one or two people? I've played this disappearing act before."
Ferrari remembered that Song Heping had indeed disappeared before to go to the Lands of Turkeys, pretending to head to the oilfields and then using Avanti's helicopter provided there to cross the border, before heading to the Lands of Turkeys from Persia.
He eagerly asked, "Are you planning to use the passage through Persia?"
Song Heping said, "Exactly, Avanti would probably be more than willing to help with this."
Ferrari still found it unbelievable and couldn't help but remind Song Heping, "The Sahel Region is the most chaotic area in Africa, and you're planning to go there to kill the leader of an armed organization, with only one or two people at that. How is this not a wild fantasy?"
Song Heping said, "I might go alone; too many people make it easy to be detected."
Ferrari shook his head, wanting to say something but ended up saying nothing.
Song Heping's idea was just too crazy.
"You're going on a suicide mission."
In the end, that was the conclusion he could offer.
Song Heping said, "Going there alone would indeed be a suicide mission, but what if I could get help from the French military?"
"The French military?!"
Ferrari was stunned.
Theories and ideas flashed through his mind.
Eventually, as if understanding something, he suddenly slapped his forehead and gave Song Heping a thumbs up, "Brilliant! You're a damn genius!"
Song Heping said, "What I need now is to establish a channel of communication with the French military or their intelligence department. You help me with this, use your connections, and find someone for me. If it doesn't work out, I'll just ask Chris Chen for help."
"Forget about it!" Ferrari immediately objected, "Chen is a notorious vampire. Owing him a favor, you'll never know what price you'll have to pay."
"It shouldn't…"
Song Heping thought of Chen.
He always felt a strange sense of kinship towards the man.
Even he couldn't quite explain why.
Though Ferrari said so, he himself believed that Chen could be trusted.
The two talked in the room for over an hour before coming out to eat.
There were not many people left in the headquarters in the Green Zone.
Now everyone was busy. White Bear and his wife had gone to an oil town.
Grey Wolf and two Hunters were in charge of transport and escort services. The US Army in Iraq needed to transport a large volume of supplies every day, most of which were loaded from ports in the south and delivered to various US military camps in Illiguo. Some cargoes were loaded at Baghdad Airport and then distributed to various locations.
Even the supplies the US Army needed to transport back to their own country would sometimes be handled by "Musician" Defense's convoy, whether it was equipment needing repair, personal items, or even bodies to be sent back.
So only Dominic, Ferrari, Song Heping, and other local employees were left in the company, making it very quiet.
Song Heping planned to have a detailed talk with Dominic to discuss his plans and set his mind at ease.
However, he decided to speak after he had arranged everything.
At the moment, the most important thing was to figure out where to get three SA-9 surface-to-air missile systems. Of course, he thought of Yusuf first.
He hadn't seen Yusuf for a while.
So he bought a bunch of gifts in the Green Zone and had the company's local mercenaries deliver them to Yusuf's house.
After the driver went to deliver the gifts, Song Heping finally called Yusuf.
After exchanging pleasantries, Song Heping brought up the SA-9 missiles. It seemed Yusuf was not in a position to talk over the phone. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Tonight, at seven, I'll wait for you at my house. Come by yourself, and I'll take you to a place."
Come alone?
Go to a place?
Song Heping hesitated briefly, but still agreed.
Clearly, Yusuf did not want to discuss these matters over the phone.
Perhaps because it was too sensitive.
"Okay, see you at seven."
Song Heping readily agreed, and after hanging up, he felt his right eyelid suddenly twitch twice.
"Fuck..."
He couldn't help but curse.
At seven in the evening, after having dinner at the company, Song Heping informed Ferrari that he was going to meet Yusuf, then he drove a Lincoln bulletproof car out.
The bulletproof car had been purchased by the cook.
The cook had not taken it with him.
Of course, taking it would have been too much trouble.
Song Heping offered to pay the cook, but the cook scorned him, saying that he was insulting him.
Song Heping had no choice but to drop the matter, but he took note of it.
The cook was a righteous man, there was no doubt about that. Song Heping thought that a portion of the company's profits should be kept for the cook since he was a founder. If the cook truly ran into trouble in the future, it would be good to have this money available for an emergency.
The security situation in Illiguo had not changed much; the air was still filled with the scent of gunpowder.
In the few days since he had returned, there had been three bomb attacks in the city, two coalition soldiers had been killed by IEDs while on duty.
However, it was precisely because of this that business in the mercenary circle was booming.
It is said that mercenaries are WAR DOGS; without war, there is no ground for survival.
Luckily, Yusuf's home wasn't far from the Green Zone, and Song Heping arrived quickly.
After a brief greeting with Yusuf, Yusuf said, "We're going to a place tonight."
Without any delay, he got into the passenger seat eagerly.
Song Heping took the driver's seat, buckled his seatbelt, and asked, "Where are we going?"
"Drive towards Fallujah. When it's time to turn, I'll tell you where," Yusuf pointed forward and instructed.
"Habbaniyah? That's over a hundred kilometers."
Song Heping started the Lincoln, thinking to himself, Going to Fallujah this late?
"It's very dangerous for us to leave the city tonight."
"Can't do it in the daytime, too many prying eyes. At night, it's all my people," said Yusuf as he surveyed the car's interior. "This car is bulletproof, right? Got any weapons?"
Song Heping replied, "Got guns, bulletproof."
He gestured towards the back and then to the door beside him.
In the back, there was an RPG launcher and an MK11 sniper rifle, and an MK18 assault rifle was slotted next to the door.
"Ordinary rifle bullets won't penetrate this car; don't worry."
Hearing what Song Heping said, Yusuf felt somewhat relieved: "Then that's good. We don't have to drive over a hundred kilometers; it's not all the way to Habbaniyah. We have to turn east midway. The place we're going is on the banks of the Euphrates River, to the east of Fallujah, about eighty kilometers from here. Drive fast, and we'll surely get there in an hour and a half."
"Alright then."
Song Heping put the car in gear, pressed the gas pedal, and the Lincoln left Yusuf's house and quickly joined the main road, heading in the direction of Fallujah.
"What exactly are you taking me to see tonight?"
"Taking you to see something good, big stuff!"
Just as Song Heping and his companion left the intersection and joined the main road, heading towards Fallujah, under a streetlight not too far away, the driver of a Nissan SUV picked up the radio and pressed it twice, then said, "Nightingale calling Big Crow, the target has left the nest, heading in the direction of Fallujah."
"Big Crow received. Nightingale team, follow up. Be extremely cautious, the target is very tough. If there's a risk of exposure, request drone support immediately."
"Nightingale understands."
The driver quickly put the car in gear, merging onto the road and following the direction in which Song Heping had departed.
In the sky, the stars and moon slipped behind the clouds, and the land was plunged into darkness.