Mercenaries, I Will Be King Chapter 132 - 127: The Fury of the Lackey

Just as the cook was about to go up to see what had happened, Song Heping held him back.

"Let's wait and see," he said.

The swimming pool banquet at the Republic Palace was a well-known gathering place for the elite in Baghdad, and although Yusuf was an official in charge of materials, his presence was not surprising, but a quarrel was indeed rare.

Most of those who played here were involved in power gas, whether they were Aricans or from Iligo Country, they wouldn't tear face and quarrel on the spot.

Song Heping did not recognize the person opposite Yusuf.

But he could tell at a glance that he was a local official from Iligo Country.

And judging from that pampered look and his clothing, he definitely held a high position.

This was an issue amongst the Iligo people themselves.

Without knowing the specifics, Song Heping didn't plan to intervene.

From a distance, he could see that Yusuf was extrely agitated, a helpless kind of agitation.

It was like a child begging for a toy from his parents, who do not agree, and he has no way to change their mind—that type of agitation.

Perhaps both individuals realized that their argunt had attracted the attention of passersby, the official from Iligo glanced around, warned in Arabic with a nasty tone, and then left, leaving behind a frustrated and helpless Yusuf.

The quarrel ended.

The onlookers dispersed as there was no more drama to watch.

Song Heping hurried over to greet Yusuf.

"Good evening, my brother!"

Seeing Song Heping, Yusuf's expression was sowhat dull, and almost as a reflex he perford a greeting, "Good evening, brother."

In Arabic culture, it's very common to call each other brothers.

Song Heping glanced at the departing official's back and asked Yusuf, "Who is that?"

Yusuf glared at the man's retreating figure and squeezed out a few words through clenched teeth, "From the Alliance Conference, Muaz."

"A big shot?"

Song Heping intentionally stoked the fire, "He seed very arrogant."

Yusuf snorted and said, "The deputy director of the United Security Council."

As the na suggests, the United Security Council was mainly responsible for maintaining internal security in Iligo Country in coordination with the allied forces, training, and rebuilding local military forces, such as governnt ard forces like the ICDC and the police force.

Yusuf belonged to the Temporary Managent Committee as an official, but his duties included the allocation and managent of materials, including the distribution of weapons.

Could it be a work-related issue that caused the quarrel?

Song Heping asked, "What were you arguing with him about?"

Yusuf glanced at the cook with a purposeful silence.

Sensing sothing, Song Heping gave the cook a look and said, "Cook, you go ahead inside, don't keep Mr. Turner waiting."

"The person he wants to see is you," the cook protested, "What business is it of mine?"

Song Heping replied, "You are better at socializing than I am, chat with him first, and tell Mr. Turner that I ran into an old brother at the door, and I want to catch up before going in."

He deliberately emphasized the words "old brother."

These words had a double aning.

The first was to make the cook quickly beat it, not to stick around and get in the way.

The second was for Yusuf to hear.

Turner was the general manager of the Wood Energy Illiggo Branch, a man of considerable status.

Song Heping, for his own sake, had decided to postpone his eting with Mr. Turner.

That showed he truly considered himself a brother!

With that thought, warmth flooded Yusuf's heart once again.

"Alright then."

The cook was no fool; Song Heping had been clear enough—if he still couldn't understand, then he might as well jump into the Tigris River to drown and quit being a rcenary leader.

"You two talk, I'll go and say hello to Mr. Turner," the cook said.

Once the cook left, Song Heping put his arm around Yusuf's shoulder and walked him outside before saying, "Tell about any grievances, see if I can help you out?"

Without ntioning it, it would have been fine.

Bringing up the recent event caused Yusuf's eyes to redden.

Song Heping hadn't expected this big fellow to be so emotional.

He quickly comforted him, "Brother, is it the arms trade that's troubling you?"

Yusuf shook his head.

"Song, my good brother, this matter has nothing to do with you. My uncle died today…"

"What?"

Song Heping was surprised and even more puzzled.

What did Yusuf's uncle's death have to do with a high-ranking official from the United Security Council?

All he could do was comfort, "Take it easy, the deceased cannot be brought back, and taking care of his family is more important than anything else."

Yusuf said, "He wasn't supposed to die."

With that, he choked up and raised his hand to wipe away a couple of tears.

Then he explained the entire situation from beginning to end.

Yusuf's uncle was a mid-level official in the Temporary Managent Committee, he was part of the faction against Sadam, hence after the allied invasion of Baghdad, local powers naturally pulled him into the Temporary Managent Committee to serve in an official capacity.

It was also with his uncle's help that Yusuf had landed a position in the materials departnt.

It wasn't wrong to say his uncle was his benefactor.

Though Yusuf was greedy for money, he was very good to his family.

Especially to relatives who had helped him.

As for soone like Samir who ridiculed and looked down on Yusuf upon seeing him, Yusuf would just retort but wouldn't cut ties.

That was the virtue of the stout Yusuf.

Yusuf's uncle had died that afternoon.

He was killed in an attack.

Right outside the Green Zone, in the middle of Baghdad City.

He went out to handle so business and on the way back, a car charged up from behind and went rat-tat-tat, firing several bursts at them.

Such assassinations of Temporary Managent Committee officials happened often; it wasn't anything new.

According to Yusuf, his uncle shouldn't have died.

The other side's shooting skills were terrible. After unloading two magazines, they only killed the driver.

His uncle was a tough guy; as soon as the car stopped, he kicked open the door, got out with his handgun, and started firing back at the attackers.

Naturally, he couldn't overpower them and ended up getting killed by the attackers.

The afternoon?

In the city?

On the way back to the Green Zone?

The more Song Heping listened, the worse it sounded.

He suddenly rembered the attack he had seen on the way back that afternoon.

He recalled the man around fifty years old, wearing a robe, riddled with bullets, lying dead in a pool of blood beside a car.

Shit!

Perhaps that was Yusuf's uncle.

He had even casually bet two hundred US dollars with the cook and the others and ended up winning...

This wasn't sothing he could talk about; Song Heping felt it was better to let the secret die inside him.

If he had known it was Yusuf's uncle, out of respect for their friendship, he really would have tried to save him.

Who would have thought...

"What does your uncle's incident have to do with the United Security Council?"

Song Heping inquired cautiously.

Yusuf replied, "Brother, you don't know the half of it. Those of us who work for the Temporary Managent Committee, the United Security Council, and the Reconstruction Committee are seen by many as traitors, as collaborators; so many people want to kill us."

"Logically, people working for the coalition are supposed to be protected. Officials with higher positions are usually assigned at least two bodyguards. If it's the committee mbers of the Temporary Managent Committee, they get even more bodyguards. But us? We mid-level officials are completely ignored, nobody provides us with bodyguards.

It was you, my brother, who helped out and assigned two bodyguards to !"

Song Heping asked, "But you could hire your own bodyguards, right? At just over two hundred dollars each, it's not like you can't afford it, can you?"

With his chubby face turning red, Yusuf explained, "It's not the sa. Our self-hired bodyguards, not to ntion their combat abilities not matching those of professional companies, even if we could hire ex-governnt army soldiers as our bodyguards, who would pay for their insurance? We are attacked so often, without insurance who would agree to protect us?

Is this sothing a few hundred dollars can solve? Besides, not everyone who holds a post in the temporary governnt can afford to spend several hundred dollars a month. That amount of money can feed a family."

Song Heping thought about it and realized it was true.

After all, his was a licensed company, and Ferrari purchased basic accidental insurance for all local rcenaries under the company's na.

Individual purchases were not impossible; it was just too expensive.

"Why doesn't the United Security Council just make a unified bid?" Song Heping said. "With their na, I bet so defense companies would be willing to take your contract."

With a despondent look, Yusuf shook his head, "We tried, but after doing the calculations, we found there was no profit to be made. No defense company was willing to take the contract."

Song Heping was stunned.

He was speechless for a while.

So it was a cost issue...

Yusuf suddenly beca indignant again, "They treat us like dogs! They think if a dog dies, just replace it with another! In their eyes, we're even worse than dogs!"

Song Heping also felt saddened for Yusuf.

To the locals, people like Yusuf were indeed seen as the lapdogs of Aricans, including Samir who cursed Yusuf as such.

Their security was not guaranteed, not by the United Security Council nor by the Temporary Managent Committee, as neither was willing to spend too much money on these minor officials.

After all, there were so many minor officials in Iligo; assigning two bodyguards to each would be more expensive than pocketing the money for themselves.

That's just how it is in a war-torn country.

None of the big shots in conferences like the Temporary Managent Committee genuinely wanted to rebuild their country. They only thought about using their power to its fullest before it expired, seizing whatever they could.

Who knows if they would be ousted tomorrow?

As a result, nobody cared about the survival of small officials like Yusuf.

Their deaths wouldn't even count as an ant's.

"By the way, brother!"

Yusuf's eyes suddenly sparkled with a glimr of light.

"What if you take on this business? Providing security services for us?"

Song Heping was taken aback.

"Ah? ?"

Yusuf nodded repeatedly, "Yes! Doesn't your company have hundreds of n?"

Song Heping thought to himself, not to ntion Iligo Country, just considering Baghdad, he wasn't sure how many mid-level officials like Yusuf existed, but there must be at least a couple of thousand.

A couple thousand people, each with two bodyguards; that would need more than ten thousand n! Plus, the United Security Council must have considered the costs since they didn't provide bodyguards; they wouldn't allocate too much funding.

This was clearly a losing deal.

Otherwise, why wouldn't big companies like Black Water take it? Not because they lacked the capability.

They had simply calculated the costs and decided it wasn't worth it.

But his relationship with Yusuf was still good, and an outright refusal might create a rift between them.

So his only option was to deflect, "I can't decide this on my own; I have to go back and discuss it with the other core shareholders."

Yusuf, however, appeared very excited at the mont.

As if he had discovered a new world, he seed to have grasped a lifeline: "You can definitely do it, brother. I trust you!"

Song Heping thought to himself, fuck, you trust , but I don't even know if I have the capacity to take on a security order for thousands of you.

"Give so ti to think about it."

"Okay, don't leave tomorrow. Co over to my place for dinner tomorrow night."

Yusuf clearly wanted to strike while the iron was hot; he was holding onto Song Heping now.