King Of War: Starting with Arms Dealer

Joe Ga's goodwill had allowed those pitiful laborers to breathe a slight sigh of relief, but it didn't make them feel completely safe.

A mine boss and a group of miners are naturally opposed in status, especially in this lawless jungle.

The boisterous black guy had calmed down after Joe Ga offered to provide medical care and food. He didn't believe it, but he had no choice. Since it's tough to get out of the jungle alone, he decided to stay and see if fate really favored the pitiful.

Joe Ga didn't have time to comfort these pitiful laborers. He waved at Dorian and said, "That guy's speech is hard for me to understand. Go and have a chat with him. Find out about the previous situation here.

It's obvious this guy hasn't been here long. Get the details clear, he might be useful to us."

Dorian was the most eager in the team to interact with people. He had received the order and approached the black guy, taking him aside to start a conversation with lots of talking and gesturing.

Karman's estimate of the camp supply time was still just speculation. Dorian needed to get the exact answers from this man's mouth.

The boss clearly wanted to continue the operation of the gold mine seamlessly. This guy was the only laborer with some thinking and spirit of resistance left, and he seemed to have the trust of the laborers.

Such a person was indeed worth the effort to win over, making it more convenient to relay the boss's thoughts to the laborers. Language barriers were truly a pain in the ass.

Joe Ga, seeing that most laborers were dressed, pressed his communicator and said, "Snipers can come over now, Owl recall the drones for charging, and let the drones check upstream before dawn.

Team C, establish a post near the riverbank. Team B, have a few people clean up the corpses inside the barracks, then we regroup here. We'll deal with anything else after dawn."

When Joe Ga said to regroup, everyone just took turns catching an hour of sleep or so.

By the time Sanderson and Team B had dealt with the bodies, the sky was almost bright.

Antar, with the help of the drone, had scouted upstream and confirmed there were no enemies before dawn, and then he and Nis cooperated to make breakfast.

When Nis set off, she had looted several buckets of dried pasta from Lao Niu's stock and brought them into the jungle — now was her chance to shine.

Fill the lunchbox with salt, chicken essence, soy sauce, then boil the pasta, scoop it out, and mix it in with the soup in the lunchbox to get a decent jungle delicacy.

Honestly speaking, Joe Ga thought the taste was just okay. Eating pasta without pork fat and green onion lost a lot of the flavor, but faced with Nis's thoughtfulness, he just couldn't say anything negative.

Xi Li slurped down a big bowl. When he watched Nis happily walk away with a bowl cleaner than a dog's lick, Joe Ga felt as though he had lost something and then gained something in return. The feeling was strange but oddly joyful.

Sitting on a tree stump, Joe Ga nudged Dorian beside him and said, "Have you noticed anything odd about Nis?"

Dorian, holding his lunchbox, glanced back and forth between the boss and Nis and then nodded seriously, "I think so too. Devil Bird must have been distracted when she was preparing your noodles. Look, our noodles are all mushy, but yours are perfectly individual strands.

Boss, I think Devil Bird has a bias against you…"

The joke-like reminder from Dorian made Joe Ga pause for a moment before he shook his head with a chuckle, "You'd better watch your mouth or one of these days you'll be in trouble."

Dorian saw that the boss didn't directly address the issue, so he smacked his lips and didn't continue to comment on the matter.

It was the boss's private life, and from Dorian's observations, it was only a matter of time before the boss would fall head over heels into Nis's arms.

Keeping it in the family was best for everyone. After all, if the boss brought in a woman from outside to be the lady boss, it would feel awkward for the whole team.

Plus, Nis was MSL from Liberia. They seemed not to mind men having multiple women, which was a treatment men worldwide could only dream of.

Of course, the precondition was that you could afford it and could treat them all fairly.

But that wasn't Dorian's concern. As long as Nis was the Queen, the boss having other women didn't matter to the team at all, as Karman had hinted. Being the lowest-ranked member of the team, Dorian naturally followed suit.

Joe Ga hadn't noticed Dorian's expression. Only when Dorian had voraciously devoured the mushy noodles did Joe Ga speak up, "What did you find out from that guy last night?"

After listening, Dorian put down his lunchbox and thought for a moment before saying, "The guy's name is Salah, from Congo. His hometown is in 'Yakoma'. Three months ago, he transported a batch of second-hand mining machinery to 'Yakoma' from a city called 'Bondo', but they were robbed on the way.

The machinery was lost, and he was sent here to work as a laborer.

He said that people die here almost every day. When he arrived, there were nearly 300 people, but now only over 230 remain.

That rebel leader named Boykin, every month, sends a new group of laborers. This cycle has been going on for nearly a year."

As he spoke, Dorian noticed that the boss's face had turned a bit grim. He smiled and said, "Actually, I don't think it's a big problem…

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Saleh himself was just a peddler of second-hand mining machinery. He said that the place had just entered a high production period because the machinery had arrived not long ago when he came, and some of it was his.

It was after he helped to calibrate them that all the machines started working, making the laborers' workload a bit lighter and allowing him to eat a little more,"

After Dorian finished speaking, he saw a smile appear on Joe Ga's face. He organized his thoughts a little and continued, "Dragon Gecko was right—supplies are delivered here every ten days, sometimes one or two days late but never exceeding twelve days. The day after tomorrow should be when the supply delivery people arrive.

Each time they come, they bring a large group; forty of them are to rotate with the local security guards, and the rest are laborers they've captured from outside.

The security guards on rotation take the gold and then supervise those captured people, making them carry the fuel and food needed for the generators and go back and forth through the jungle several times to complete the supply delivery for the camp and then strip off their clothes to serve as slaves."

After listening, Joe Ga pondered for a moment and then said, "Why do I feel like that Saleh got tricked?"

Dorian shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I think so too. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that someone approached him to order a batch of second-hand mining machinery, and he was intercepted right when he was about to deliver?

He felt the same way...

Belgium United Mining Group's branch in 'Yakoma' ordered the second-hand machines from him.

Because the company was quite large, he only took a 10% deposit after signing the contract. But on his way to deliver, he ran into that rebel leader named Boykin, and then both the man and his machines were brought here."

Joe Ga nodded after listening and muttered the name 'Belgium United Mining Company' to himself, then said with a smile, "Finally, a major player with real clout has emerged; otherwise, I was worried I wouldn't be able to get enough compensation from that Boykin."

Dorian nodded and said, "Their business is gold mining too, and I've heard it's not on a small scale either. Otherwise, even if Saleh were dumb, he wouldn't have only taken a 10% deposit to help them acquire the second-hand machinery.

If it's proven indeed that this situation is related to them, then demanding compensation is only natural."

Joe Ga looked at the vast mine pit in the distance and said with a smile, "They have been mining my gold for a year now. Asking for 10 million in compensation isn't too much, right?"

Dorian choked a bit, but thinking of the miserable state of the laborers, he resolutely nodded and said, "Not too much at all. As long as it's confirmed that they're behind it, even asking for double isn't too much. We should let them experience what it's like to live as a laborer!"

Joe Ga was about to nod in agreement when he suddenly heard the roar of a helicopter in the distance.

Then the people in the camp saw three large Mi-8 Hip helicopters flying nearby.

Dorian ran to his backpack, took out a yellow smoke grenade, and tossed it onto the ground. Then the Mi-8s, which were searching for positions, quickly approached and landed one by one on the open ground around the mine pit.

The first Mi-8 was carrying Jemma Alexander and her medical team; Father Gamo even brought along a middle-aged nurse, and with them came a large supply of medicines and medical equipment.

In the second Mi-8 were the kitchen crew trained by Old Bull; six agile Xiao Heis began unloading things from within as soon as the helicopter landed, with huge shovels and iron pots as standard equipment.

The third Mi-8 was loaded with fuel necessary for the helicopters and had rocket pods hung on both sides, with two machine guns installed in the cabin.

Watching the three old men from the base deplane, Joe Ga smiled and went up to embrace them, then looked at the oldest 'Cobra' and said, "I don't know if it's just my imagination, but why do I feel like you fly steadier than 'Fat Goose'?"

As Joe Ga said this, a smile appeared on 'Cobra's' face, and he mischievously added, "Just don't tell 'Fat Goose,' because he keeps telling me that he's the real Ace."

'Cobra' laughed heartily after hearing this and, in a good mood, tossed his helmet to Joe Ga saying, "Fat Goose always likes to brag, but it's alright, all old men are like that.

I heard you're planning to fight the rebel forces in Congo. As the boss, you shouldn't always treat yourself like a soldier. This time, you're with me—I'll let you experience what real air combat feels like."

Joe Ga firmly shook his head after hearing this. He was fine flying by himself, but he couldn't handle getting into combat while piloting; flying during a fight made him feel insecure.

The most dangerous job in the world in terms of threat level is a pilot's because if something goes wrong, even self-rescue is problematic.

Moreover, on a helicopter, Joe Ga couldn't utilize his strengths. It was not only awkward for him, but it also reduced the time he had for coordination with his companions.

He decisively refused 'Cobra's' offer and looked at the weapons racks attached to the sides of the Mi-8 'Cobra' had flown in, which each had two B-8 rocket pods.

With four such rocket pods, there were 80 80mm rockets.

This firepower was already one of Africa's premier forces, not to mention the 12.7mm machine guns beneath the helicopter, along with the outermost anti-tank missile racks on each side, with four anti-tank missiles on each side. It was unclear if that Boykin had any tanks to challenge them.

These weapons weren't just for fighting; even if you turned them into coins and threw them at the enemy's camp, you'd drown them.

Seeing the highly excited 'Cobra,' Joe Ga rubbed his nose and said, "Actually, there's no need to be so extravagant. Let's first go have a look. Maybe the guy will surrender just because he thinks I'm handsome. We should avoid using such heavy weaponry if we can... it's not in harmony with the heavens..."