King Of War: Starting with Arms Dealer

Ambassador Steven and the Iraqi Energy Minister, Ahmed, were hung out to dry at the airport for a whopping three hours.

Even Steven knew that he hadn't handled things perfectly, and he even thought Joe Ga was throwing a tantrum, expressing his dissatisfaction with the current situation in Iraq.

Fortunately, the Energy Minister was a staunch ally he had cultivated for exploiting Iraq, so he could maintain a grip on the situation for a while.

But soon, Steven and Ahmed realized something was amiss.

A bunch of P.B.'s Xiao Heis opened the gates of the air force base; a group of cooks set up shop on the open ground, lit the stoves, and began slaughtering sheep to cook.

Once the assembly line was up, it took only eight minutes for the cooks with knives to slaughter a sheep, which was then followed by the butchering process...

The meaty bones were thrown into several oversized pots to make the soup, while the marbled mutton was blanched for later use, and bunches of vegetables were laid out, roughly rinsed, and chopped for standby as well.

The big guy 'Potato' Tony had lost his silly demeanor and was now adeptly directing the Xiao Heis, forming a flatbread-making team, kneading the dough...

Some of the prepared dough was left to ferment and then steamed into buns, while the rest was mixed with salt, eggs, and green onions, then spread onto a griddle to make flatbreads with mutton fat.

Tony might be simple, but he had a touch of obsessive-compulsive grit when it came to work; to ensure the flatbreads were all about the same size, he used a personal tool, pouring three ounces of dough into the tool and pressing down to turn out a twenty-centimeter-wide flatbread.

Honestly, with his current skills, Tony could probably open a small restaurant back in America and live quite well.

But, unfortunately, this big dumpty found his life's purpose with P.B., even managing to make his mother's farming within the P.B. base's agricultural area something of note.

The woman, in her forties, handled all kinds of machinery on her own, even capable of fixing a tractor; even the highly-respectful-for-intellectuals old Karman would greet her respectfully.

The old Bullock was his own bundle of problems, but the Tony he taught was now truly soldier-like.

Loud, confident, generous, always smiling, and surprisingly a leader among the Xiao Heis.

From a distance, Steven could hear Tony loudly directing the Xiao Hei cooks; he didn't understand what was happening and was just about to call and ask when a shabby truck loaded with dozens of people slowly entered the air force base.

Soon after, a large number of Kurdish refugees began pouring into the base from all over Baghdad...

Steven was clueless about what pill Joe Ga was selling in his gourd and was even more perplexed by the sudden influx of Kurdish refugees in Baghdad; just as he planned to take the initiative to seek out Joe Ga, the control tower of the air base lit up, followed by the lights on the runway.

Then, a large cargo plane emblazoned with the 'Federal Express' logo descended from the sky, followed by a second plane, and then the third and fourth were 'Lufthansa' cargo planes...

After the oligarchs used Russian airlines to choke Joe Ga's neck, the 'Professor' decisively shifted the logistics channel, utilizing Joe's cooperative status with NATO to partner with several civilian aviation companies.

This was just the first batch and merely the beginning; more cargo planes would continue to arrive in succession.

The 'Professor,' meticulous in his work, was Joe Ga's real logistical support.

Joe Ga alone accounted for a third of Yuginebert Company's annual sales, demanding their largest production and labor-intensive basic weapons.

And now, he was breaking into high-end weaponry; the rocket artillery sent to Liberia hadn't yet been deployed, this time they went straight for propeller-driven fighter planes.

China's gift of 600 Blue Sword 7 missiles provided Joe with the confidence to take to the skies.

On the American side, Eric had secured several hundred Hellfire missiles, as well as some ordnance originally intended to be dropped over Mosul by NATO's fighters.

Once the fighter jets and Little Gazelles arrived, those so-called mercenary groups would have no choice but to bow and call them big brother.

In Joe's eyes, Steven and Eric's approach to the major companies was simply irrational — the money was in their hands; how to allocate it was their business. Those giants might have influence in Washington, but so what?

In Iraq, P.B.'s fist was now bigger than theirs!

If you're given business, you should be grateful; if not, you can't steal it!

Joe declared he would handle logistics, so he wouldn't compete with the giants for business; he was ready to earnestly ensure the logistics were sound.

You risk your lives on the frontlines for money, I'll make sure you're backed up; eating and drinking is just one aspect, but mercenaries don't usually get to call for air and artillery support while fighting, do they?

But Joe could provide that!

If you're willing to pay in the face of danger, you can be assured that no Black Hawk-down scenarios will happen.

As long as you're willing to pay, the mercenaries' creed of 'leave no man behind' can exist too!

Watching Tony loudly ushering people entering the base over to eat...

Handing flatbreads to the men, letting them wrap up freshly-fried mutton and vegetables, followed by a bowl of mutton soup.

Offering buns to the women, allowing them and their children to moisten their stomachs with some soup first.

Then, after carefully inquiring a few questions, he directed several Xiao Heis to start cooking with their spatulas swinging; carrots, onions, cabbage mixed with slices of mutton, stir-fried in a huge pot, attracted a crowd of happy children circling around.

At first, Steven thought the Kurds were just refugees; he even thought Hu Lang had another outburst of compassion.

But when the cargo from the planes was unloaded and hundreds of satiated Kurdish men stood up and began to help, he realized something was wrong.

These men had all undergone militia training; they were very disciplined.

They opened the containers unloaded from the cargo plane and, guided by the staff from P·B, received their equipment, neatly lined up and headed for the dormitory area to shower and change.

It was only after they came out did Steven suddenly realize that these were nearly 500 Kurdish Militia.

The Kurds once had to beg for weapons from various sponsors, but now Hu Lang had provided them with high-quality equipment.

Military uniform sets, tactical vests, personal defense pistols, automatic rifles, machine guns, bulletproof vests...

The most elite troops in Iraq had just that!

At this moment, Steven finally understood that Qiao, the boss, was even more prepared than he was...

All the worries and efforts he had made before, out of concern for the insufficiency of P·B's power, now seemed pointless, only serving to boost the morale of those military contracting companies and making them harder to control.

If you lack something, its price will rise!

This is the core logic in the mercenary business because they provide a scarce resource.

But if you don't lack, and regard them only as icing on the cake, it stands to reason that they would lower their prices in competition.

Watching Joe Ga walk into the Kurdish crowd, greeted by his girlfriend Devil Bird and the observer Owl, with his hands disabled, as if he were treating esteemed guests...

Steven suddenly shook his head and smiled, turning to look at the Iraqi Minister of Energy, Ahmed, and said, "My friend, it looks like Hu Lang is indeed busy right now. I'll take you down to meet him.

Rest assured, no matter what happens, my promise to you is always valid."

As he spoke, it seemed as if Steven suddenly thought of something. He pointed at Joe Ga in the distance and said with a smile, "That guy is someone who pursues win-win cooperation. He now owns an international bank, and all the money of you and your friends can be directly handed over to him...

Stop dealing with those Englishmen. The 'Armored Group' folks are just small fries on the fringe of the finance industry, while the bank in Hu Lang's hands is the best place for your money."

Hearing this, Ahmed's expression changed, and after a moment, he put aside his previous dissatisfaction and nodded slightly, saying, "I will relay this information to my friends; we might give it a try first. As long as it is successful, there will be significant business for him to follow..."

After hearing this, Steven shook his head with a wry smile and said, "My friend, you've made a mistake about one thing...

It's not that you provide business for him; it's that you need to seek his help!"

With that, Steven extended his hand in a welcoming gesture and began walking toward the stairs while saying, "I'll introduce you to Hu Lang, and you'll soon understand what kind of person he is.

He is the best friend to his friends, and the worst enemy to his enemies!"

As Ahmed nodded gently and followed, a middle-aged man behind him, wearing glasses, a neatly trimmed beard, an old shirt, and old leather shoes but otherwise impeccably groomed, suddenly spoke up, "Sir, are we really going to hand over the oil fields to this man?

I've reviewed his proposal many times, and the payment details are still unclear..."

Steven did not respond but instead patted Ahmed on the arm, signaling him not to stoop to his subordinate's level, then turned with a smile to the middle-aged man, saying, "Salim, there will be answers to everything, but what we first need is patience."

Having said that, Steven once again made a gesture of invitation and then briskly walked towards the direction of the staircase...

This Salim was a conservative from the Iraqi Ministry of Energy, or rather, an academic and patriot. He was one of the few genuinely capable people who earnest admitted that Iraq could change.

Such people were rare in Iraq because those holding such views could hardly rise to the top, but because the Ministry of Energy was involved in too many interests and required too much expertise.

Ahmed could not do without him; relying on himself alone for business could mean Iraq could be sold off without his knowing.

The questions raised by Salim proved that even someone like him believed the proposal provided by Hu Lang to be sincere; his only concern was that the final payment method might fail, preventing benefits from reaching the hands of the Iraqi Government and being intercepted upstream.

The corruption of the Iraqi Government had become overt; everyone with a bit of power was selling something.

Any person in control of resources wants to sell what they can within their power for a good price and then escape from this dreadful place.

Energy Minister Ahmed 'sold' Iraq's oil fields to Joe Ga for a mere two million US dollars.

And because Qiao, the boss's terms, would not encounter much resistance, this money would have to be shared by several people.

As long as the contract goes through, then the terms of payment become a key bargaining chip in Joe Ga's hands.

The greedy only want money!

While those with a vision may want materials, infrastructure, technical support, industrial recovery...

'Payment terms' are Joe Ga's key tool to keep them in line, even to lever the reform of the Iraqi Government.

So these 'payment terms' must be 'alive,' tailored to different power-holders, with the boss Qiao only guaranteeing fulfillment...

At that moment, Steven understood why Joe Ga had always hoped his collaborators would be 'patriots,' 'people with a heart.'"

Because when those people need external assistance but cannot find the means to do so, Joe Ga, with control of their funds, naturally becomes a sought-after helper.

He can help convert the oil field's revenues into materials or infrastructure construction...

Without Joe Ga's direct involvement, merely facilitating this is tremendous influence.