Alben's confidence had crumbled.
He had to admit that his skills were far inferior to Song Heping's.
Only the captain remained unconvinced.
It wasn't until the target was brought before him, and he saw the five bullet holes clustered within the size of a fist, that he stood dumbfounded for a long time, unable to utter a word.
"I told you that you couldn't win against him."
Kael threw a somewhat mocking comment at the captain before coming over to bid goodbye to Song Heping.
"Song, come to our range sometime, let's exchange notes."
Song Heping didn't dislike these Seals. He looked around and asked, "Isn't Mist with you guys?"
"Him?"
Kael let out a mysterious smile and said, "He stayed in Afghan, working for ISA."
Song Heping picked up on the ambiguity in his tone but understood there were some things they couldn't discuss, involving secrets, so he didn't press further.
After saying their goodbyes, Kael took his Seal team and left the scene.
The on-duty US Army Deputy Battalion Commander shouted to everyone like herding ducks, "Disperse, disperse! What's there to gawk at! You don't need training anymore, huh?! Watch it, or I'll kick your asses!"
The American soldiers discussed among themselves as they left, leaving only the British captain and his men behind.
After a while, the captain came over to Song Heping and said, "I lost. The range is yours to use."
Song Heping said, "It was ours to begin with."
The captain turned to leave but was stopped by Song Heping calling out to him.
"Wait!"
"What is it now?!" The captain looked back in surprise.
Song Heping said, "Don't forget about the bet. Tell me, who is the ragtag team?"
The captain stood still, his face turning a shade of blue, while his British soldiers looked as if they had been lit on fire, their eyes ablaze.
The on-duty US Army Deputy Battalion Commander watched the two sides closely.
He wasn't sure which side he preferred, but he did enjoy watching the excitement.
Seeing the proud Brits brought low was something even he wanted to witness.
"Well?!" Song Heping asked coldly, "Where is the spirit of the British gentlemen's contract?"
The captain's lips trembled slightly before he gritted his teeth and said, "We are the ragtag team..."
"That's more like it," Song Heping said. "Now that's what I like to hear."
After speaking, he turned to his men and said, "All of you, get back to gun training. The company conducts regular assessments, and those who don't meet the training standards won't have their contracts renewed."
These local mercenaries were all on short-term contracts.
One year at a time.
When they joined, the contract stipulated that they would undergo a professional assessment once a year, and those who didn't qualify wouldn't be offered an extension.
The minor incident over the range had nonetheless made Song Heping more cautious.
That evening, when he returned to the company, the Hunters had all come back.
This was the first time the whole company had gathered for a meal since the new recruits joined.
Song Heping first asked about the transportation business and the security situation at the two oil fields in the north.
Hunter, Grey Wolf, and Disaster Star, with 400 local Illigo mercenaries making up three companies, were now specifically responsible for the company's transportation of materials.
Since the US Army had essentially taken control of the entire Illigo, most supplies were now imported through the southern ports of Illigo and Baghdad Airport; however, some materials were still transported from Kuwait Port into Illigo, so a number of trucks had to run between Illigo and Kuwait, a massive and grueling task.
But this wasn't the crux of the business, the key issue was that security within Illigo itself remained a major problem.
After a month of operations, there were 14 attacks, of which seven Illigo mercenaries perished.
Song Heping had reviewed the reports submitted by Grey Wolf and others; the majority of the deaths from these attacks were caused by roadside bombs.
There were two other attacks that resulted in casualties due to improper coordination. When the mercenaries disembarked to return fire during the attacks, they failed to cover each other, resulting in them being ambushed from behind and shot, which led to fatalities.
The northern oilfield business, managed by the couple White Bear, was, on the other hand, quite comfortable.
Recently, the top-tier of the Kurd Armed had entered the Illigo Interim Government and were taking part in preparing the new assembly.
The Illigo government structure completely abandoned Sadam's previous system, basically starting from scratch, and the assembly would be the future battleground for power struggles.
Every armed faction wanted to insert more of their own people into the assembly—the more seats they had, the stronger their voice would be within the assembly.
Song Heping wasn't particularly interested in these matters, but he had heard they were quarrelling happily over it, and neither the Temporary Management Committee nor the Americans had reached any agreement after several discussions.
Therefore, the Kurd Armed temporarily had no time or reason to meddle with the two large oilfields, especially now that they had joined the interim government and were essentially brought under control, attacking oil wells managed by an American company simply wouldn't make sense.
In the past, the Kurd people attacked the oil fields, wanting to take control of them during the golden window before the dust settled, creating a fait accompli to force the interim government to hand over control of the oil fields to them.
However, due to the involvement of "Musician" Defense, even the cooks and Song Heping leading people to directly annihilate "Freedom Force," the proxy of the Kurd Armed, and Avanti's supported proxy "Madheh Army" took the opportunity to occupy the territory originally belonging to "Freedom Force." This caused the Kurd people to hesitate, returning to a dormant state, not daring to take rash action.
Apart from this couple, Samir was also leading a rather comfortable existence within the company.
Song Heping had assigned him to manage the security of the water stations.
The construction of the water stations was still ongoing and would take about two more months to complete.
This task was a minor business for the current "Musician" Defense in terms of revenue.
Song Heping had his own reasons for entrusting this task to Samir.
Firstly, Samir was a local; long-term construction work at the water station would require interaction with locals, which made him the best candidate.
Secondly, there were actually no problems at all in that area, not because there were no other armed organizations causing trouble, but the surrounding area belonged to the Yijibai Family, and Song Heping had a solid relationship with their clan leader Haymour, built on gold. Thus, attacking the US Army but not the water supply station, especially when the water station benefited the locals, was out of the question.
Beyond these two reasons, Song Heping had other considerations as well.
After all, Samir was a local and also a nationalist, which is why he resigned from the ISF and joined Song Heping.
For someone like Samir, it wasn't a matter of distrust, but Song Heping always had the feeling that if Samir had to choose between the interests of Illigo or Song Heping, he would likely opt for the former.
This wasn't a question of right or wrong, nor was it about ingratitude, but rather a matter of stance.
Therefore, Song Heping preferred not to involve Samir in too much of the company's core business, so as to avoid future troubles.
If this water station job went well, it was expected that more related business would follow, as it was one of the United States' policies to win hearts and minds in Illigo—building roads, water stations, and other infrastructure, most of which were targeted by insurgents. Hence, if the water station succeeded, the military would again look to contract related jobs to the company.
Having Samir in that position was also a way to provide him with a stable source of commission, and he could be called upon when needed in the future.
The division of work among the newly joined core members of the company was also very clear.
Henry was under Ferrari's supervision, responsible for the company's intelligence analysis and collection.
Klein Moretti was a young recruit with blond hair and handsome features. At just over twenty years old, he listed himself as an interrogation master proficient in psychology on his recruitment resume, so Song Heping also let him follow Ferrari and start off by performing some minor tasks in the company.
Jiang Feng and Collins Wang were personally brought along by Song Heping because the next step was to start the arms business, which meant he would likely have to travel between Africa and America. Collins, an expert in demolitions and skilled in combat, would definitely be of help.
After hearing everyone's reports, only Dominic remained, visibly bored.
"Boss, what about my job?"
After looking around at everyone, he asked awkwardly.