After the eting with Zayed, Song Heping politely declined the heavily arranged "deep retreat" plan full of White Elephant Country charm.
Despite Zayed's chest-pounding assurance that his estate was safer than a North Atlantic Treaty Organization airbase and that his maidservants knew better than Persian princesses how to make people relax, Song Heping simply replied, "My battlefield is not here."
Actually, he didn't want to tell Zayed.
If he stayed here, and the news leaked even slightly letting the CIA know, it was not just his own life that would be at risk; Zayed would likely be dood as well.
The reason for coming was to facilitate cooperation between the two sides, to show so sincerity.
Song Heping's current identity is too special and too sensitive.
The White Elephant Country is absolutely not a place to stay for long.
The gains from this trip to the White Elephant Country far exceeded expectations.
Not only did he initially connect with Zayed, the "smuggling big shark" of the White Elephant Country ocean, but he also exchanged a life-saving favor for a commission promise of nearly a loss-making ten percent, which ans potentially tens of millions of US Dollar in extra profit in the future.
More importantly, he could open a channel for his own underground sales route, which is the hardest to co by.
After all, the international underground crude oil market has always been more than just business; it's a battlefield mixed with geopolitics, blood feuds, and conspiracies. All the major players have long occupied all the channels and resources. As a newcor entering the ga, being able to develop his own route was already a heavenly start.
Two days later, he silently left the White Elephant Country subcontinent like a ghost through fake identities, traveling back to a secret camp deep in the desolate mountains of eastern Persia.
When the roaring of the helicopter rotors was swallowed by the silence of the valley, and the dry air with a hint of sand replaced the humidity and luxury of Goa, only then did Song Heping feel the nerve that had been tense all along relax slightly.
The camp was in perfect order.
The cooperation between Jiang Feng, Samir, and Naxin seed to have no issues.
In the camp, the low reinforced bunkers blended with the mountain rocks. Under the camouflage netting, the team mbers were conducting group tactical coordination training. The crisp sounds of gun disassembly and maintenance mixed with the sporadic bursts from the distant shooting range created an aura of a regularized military camp.
The observer in the watchtower held a pair of high-power binoculars and a thermal imager, scanning every inch of the desolate territory that entered his view with vigil like a stone sculpture.
The atmosphere here was completely different from the flashy clamor of the White Elephant Country, suffused with a sense of coldness, efficiency, and an oppressive feeling of always being ready to throw into a at grinder.
Returning to his cave room, which had only a camp bed, a weapon rack, and a simple table piled with maps, the first thing Song Heping did was not to rest.
He carefully checked the status of the encrypted communication equipnt, listened to the duty captain's latest briefing on camp security, supply inventory, and periter reconnaissance, and only after confirming that there were no signs of infiltration or suspicious activities, did he allow himself to exhale that breath he had been holding.
Continuous high-intensity lurking, assassination prevention, and negotiation gas, even with his iron physique and ntal willpower, made him feel a trace of fatigue from the inside out, not the soreness of muscles, but a weariness of constant calculation and vigilance deep in the soul.
Being a leader is indeed not as enjoyable as outsiders imagine.
Placed at the center of the geopolitical swirl, circumstances force him to never allow prolonged rest.
Less than 24 hours after returning for rest, an unexpected yet reasonable visitor broke the camp's brief tranquility.
Avanti's arrival still maintained his usual low profile and mystery.
There was no caravan heralding his presence, just two dusty, unremarkable Toyota off-roaders.
He himself was still in that seemingly simple yet excellently crafted linen robe, with a faint smile on his face that seed to see through people's hearts yet always let you guess what he was thinking, as if this were not arriving at an ard organization's mountain lair, but attending an old friend's tea party.
"Song, it seems that the holy water of the Ganges hasn't washed away the sll of gunpowder on you, but rather, it seems you've pried away a jewel from the White Elephant king's treasury."
The aning in his words was as clear as a reef exposed after the tide recedes.
That the East University man, Song, was able to open up the situation in such a short ti, even Avanti had to ntally note a word of admiration.
Avanti unceremoniously sat on the only decent chair in the room, took the strong tea handed over by Song Heping, gently blew away the floating leaves, and got straight to the point with a tone carrying a subtle teasing.
His pervasive intelligence network had obviously already captured Song Heping's thrilling experiences in Goa and the most critical outcos.
Song Heping sat on the edge of the hard bed, his body slightly leaning forward, maintaining a respectful yet vigilant posture, and said:
"Initially established a channel."
He was concise and did not ntion the astonishing ten percent commission detail, which was a secret bargaining chip between him and Zayed, needing to be temporarily withheld from many forces behind him.
"Whether the specific route can be smooth and whether the goods can arrive safely still requires ti and luck."
"Zayed..."
Avanti slowly sipped a mouthful of hot tea, savoring the na.
"A giant shark grown in the black trade waves of the White Elephant Country ocean, greedy, cunning, and sharp-toothed, but precisely because of this, he could survive until now, and his appetite grows larger. To get him to take the bait is not easy. This is crucial to alleviating the current 'Liberation Forces' financial difficulties."
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