King Of War: Starting with Arms Dealer

The terrorists' final counterattack seemed impressive, but in reality, it was just a scare tactic.

Joe Ga swore to ring the death knell for the terrorists by twelve o'clock today. The "death knell" did sound, but it was the terrorists themselves who had rung it.

There was not much chance for a suicide bomber, lacking the advantage of cover, to make it across a few hundred meters to fully armed soldiers on two legs and detonate.

Once Joe Ga confirmed none of his men were hurt, he was unfazed, but the newly arrived Rangers were noticeably downcast.

Because it was these terrorists they had mainly been fighting against!

Enemies from places like Iraq and Afghanistan had cost many of their comrades their lives and even their sense of honor.

Joe Ga, of course, couldn't concern himself with that. Once the gun smoke had cleared slightly and the Super Albatross finally secured the new "Hellfire" missiles, he announced the start of the cleanup operation on the battlefield.

It was quite clear what had happened: the special forces among the terrorists in town knew they couldn't escape and that their organizational strategic goals had already been achieved, so they simply went for a shocking self-detonation to end it all swiftly.

There weren't many terrorists left. There was no need for P·B's men to join in; the Nigerien Defence Forces and United States Army's Humvee convoy managed to take care of the remaining sporadic fire points.

In line with seeing the job through to the end, Joe Ga led P·B's men to escort the civilians and hostages in the mosque to the outskirts of the town.

After which, he met with the Nigerien Defence Minister who had arrived in an armored vehicle and handed over the operation, declaring P·B's military action in Niger officially over.

While taking stock of the proceeds, Joe Ga found that waging war was truly profitable.

The two Super Albatrosses bagged 20 "Hellfire" missiles. After United States Army helicopters took over the aerial cover mission, they turned tail and left, pocketing the 1.4 million US dollars.

The Nigerien Defence Ministry generously acquired six cannons and 300 cannon shells, offsetting the cost of Joe Ga's military operation, while placing an additional order for 1000 shells, netting Joe Ga a cool 2 million US dollars.

Furthermore, since France was in chaos and unlikely to provide the promised military support, Minister Leonel raised Joe Ga's 15 million dollar arms deal to 30 million, requesting high-consumption ammunition.

Bullets of various calibers, mortar, RPG ammo…

Since there was an urgent need, everything had to be shipped by air, meaning the prices were naturally 'better.'

After deducting kickbacks for Leonel, Joe Ga could still make a clean profit of about 12 million dollars.

Plus the 1 million dollars for fulfilling the military contract, this trip to Niger netted Joe Ga a total of 15 million US dollars.

This was pure profit. And as the situation in Niger dragged on, as long as France didn't recover, Joe Ga would remain the biggest arms supplier to the Nigerien government forces.

Only then did Joe Ga start to feel like the King of War!

As long as you were powerful enough, profiting from war was indeed too easy!

However, Joe Ga was becoming aware of the risks of the battlefield. Not to mention he had been shot, most of his men were injured as well.

It was truly blood money, excessive profit justifiable by the risks!

What pleased Joe Ga most was the recognition his actions in the town received from various parties.

P·B's good reputation in Africa would continue to be maintained.

This intangible gain was the real wealth. As long as their image wasn't completely shattered, P·B's reputation would bring them many riches.

For instance, the Mali Defence Ministry, still awaiting delivery, called to express their desire to increase their 8 million dollar arms deal to 15 million.

Because the French were going mad, chaos was expected in West Africa and North Africa for a long time.

Joe Ga certainly couldn't get involved in this divine struggle, and Mali and Niger, swept by this typhoon, were doomed to suffer greatly.

But Joe Ga didn't care about that; he had been involved in the whole affair, and his stance was clear.

It could be said that without P·B, the French SAS and Rangers would have definitely been finished, and those West Asians would have certainly escaped.

No one could blame him. Anyone who had seen the action report, if they had any conscience at all, should give a thumbs up and say, 'Well done!'

This situation was too advantageous for P·B!

Had Joe Ga not been largely preoccupied with Central Africa, and if he had contacted the French at this moment, expressing his willingness to cooperate with them in the fight against Boko Haram, he could have secured a military order of 30 to 50 million euros with ease.

However, looking at the situation from different angles, there were benefits to not getting involved, and there were other ways to make big money.

......

Alilit City, Niger

In a hotel at the center of Alilit City, Joe Ga met with Aaron.

This was the largest city in northern Niger, surrounded by oil and mineral-related industries, making it home to many foreigners and quite affluent ones at that.

Of course, the civilian districts were still so poor it was heart-wrenching, but the affluent areas were much better.

Joe Ga had thought Aaron would arrange to meet him in the desert region. To his surprise, the man had the audacity to book a presidential suite at the central hotel in Alilit City.

Joe Ga couldn't fathom what was going through the guy's mind. Why was he so bold?

However, Joe Ga naturally wouldn't show any weakness. With the presidential suite unavailable, he booked the floors above and below the suite instead, placing his B Team and E Team there, sandwiching Aaron in the middle.

Once Joe Ga set this aggressive stance, Aaron didn't react at all. On the other hand, it startled another group of people on the floor of the presidential suite.

It was only when several agents from the French security came knocking that Joe Ga marvelled at Aaron's guts. Turned out, his neighbor was none other than the deputy minister of the French Security Department.

The French, upon learning that the visitors were from the increasingly mentioned P.B. military contracting company, Jean-Pierre, the security chief, actually extended an invitation to Joe Ga.

Honestly, Joe Ga was a bit stunned for a moment!n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

It wouldn't be accurate to call Aaron the unlucky perpetrator behind France's misfortune, but he was certainly the backstage arms dealer.

If the French mistook his visit to Aaron, that would really be asking for trouble.

In the face of an invitation from a towering agent, Joe Ga gestured to Karman and Ayu to stay put, straightened his fatigues, and naturally followed the agent downstairs.

He was grateful that he had adopted an adversarial attitude from the start to suppress Aaron's morale, giving him leeway no matter the situation.

The security detail for the deputy minister of the French Security Department was far less rigorous than Joe Ga had expected. A team of 12 special agents, including soldiers stationed in the hotel's parking lot, was all the force at Minister Pierre's disposal.

After descending a floor, Joe Ga made an unexpected discovery…

Since there were only two presidential suites on the entire floor, at the security exits next to the central elevator and near the suite doors, some people were actually confronting the French special agents.

When Joe Ga stepped out of the elevator, he saw two muscular men in desert camo leaning against the wall across from him, their eyes mocking as they watched the French agents beside the elevator.

Joe Ga immediately recognized one of them due to the terrifying scar on his neck.

This guy. Joe Ga had seen him in Italy. Moreover, they had clashed on the highway where a few of their people were killed.

The man didn't recognize Joe Ga because their main goal during the highway encounter was to escape, and their main opponent was Leather Head.

Yet, he did not show a hint of friendliness; instead, he revealed a sneering smile after seeing Joe Ga and whispered a 'curse' to his buddy.

This was unacceptable. Joe Ga stopped at the elevator entrance, glanced at the French agent who didn't look too pleased, and said, "Everybody's got bodyguards, am I too low-end because I don't have one?"

Ignoring the French agents' puzzled looks, Joe Ga activated his radio and said, "King Kong, Elephant, Vanguard, Iron Man, Loom, Chainsaw, Crowbar, Torch, Shock, all come down to the 14th floor elevator entrance."

Joe Ga was a bit angry now, not because of the scarred man's foul language, but because of the provocative stance Aaron was taking.

When the French Security Department had no way to handle him, what could P.B. possibly do to him?

Negotiation is a skill, after all, "courtesy first, soldiers later" is an attitude only the strong can afford to display.

If the weak try that approach, it's practically like parading with a banner saying 'welcome to take advantage of me' on their head.

Joe Ga was confident, but he didn't consider himself among the strong yet, so he straightforwardly called over the most imposing individuals from Teams A, B, and E.

You want a standoff? Then bring it on. It's reasonable for the boss of a mercenary company to handle things roughly and straightforwardly, everyone should understand.

When Ayu and Dorian were the first to burst through the security doors into the elevator area, the French agents and the two mercenaries on the other side were taken aback.

Feeling secure with dreadlocked Ayu standing behind him, Joe Ga felt a sense of safety that was hard to describe.

Compared to the early years when he had to fend for himself, now Joe Ga truly felt like a boss.

He patted the arm of a French agent, who seemed to enjoy the spectacle, and walked up to the scarred man, staring into his ferocious eyes, then swung a solid slap across his cheek.

The scarred man's back was against the wall. As he tried to dodge to the side, Ayu grabbed his shoulder and pinned him to the wall. After a muffled grunt, Joe Ga's slap landed squarely on his face.

His bearded face swelled visibly in an instant.

The scarred man's buddy tried to rush over to help but was harshly pinned by Dorian with an elbow against the wall.

The two collided in the blink of an eye, but Dorian, who had recognized the scarred man, was more ferocious. Enduring a heavy blow to the stomach, he jabbed his elbow into the man's neck, lifting him off his feet.

The desperate feeling provoked the man's aggression. As he attempted to draw his weapon, Sanderson rushed over and delivered a heavy punch to his ribs, eliciting a pained groan and robbing him of his ability to counterattack.

The scarred man was a bit unluckier. As he tried to draw his gun, Ayu grabbed his shoulder and pulled him into an embrace, then squeezed with force...

"Crack, crack, crack…"

Joe Ga heard several suspicious snaps, and then saw the scarred man, held by the back of his neck by Ayu, unable to move his arms, his eyes almost instantly bloodshot from either pressure or rage.

The commotion in the elevator soon alerted others. When more mercenaries in desert camo came shouting to the rescue, they were met by off-angle strikes from the French agents and Sanderson's crew, scattering their efforts...

Seeing his men getting the situation under control, Joe Ga moved closer to the scarred man, examined him, slapped him again, then gestured in front of him and said, "Look at me, what was it you said just now?"