For Song Heping, the intelligence about the trade of three SA-9 missile systems to the Sahel Region wasn't that important to him personally.
His relationship with the US Army was rely a transactional cooperation. What the US Army intended to do in the Sahel was probably known to many intelligence agencies, including the French.
Therefore, using it to exchange for concrete evidence of JK's true identity to deal with Simon in the future was the matter that involved his own fortune and life.
As the boss of a PMC company, Song Heping didn't want to go against the CIA.
But now, the CIA's station chief Simon, stationed at the Illigo Intelligence Station, was like a mad dog relentlessly chasing after him and biting wildly. If he didn't find a way to deal with Simon, who knew when he might fall into his hands one day and risk his life.
Seven days later, near the port of Casablanca, the cruise ship Tulip docked.
Walking off the ship grandly, Song Heping passed through the customs channel to leave the wharf, stood on the side of the road, and glanced around. He noticed a middle-aged man holding a sign with his na on it, wearing a white robe, looking in his direction.
When the man in the white robe saw Song Heping looking his way, he hurried over and asked very politely, "Dr. Li Zunni?"
"Hmm. Are you Sanji?"
"Yes, yes, yes, I'm Sanji, the local guide for your research expedition."
Sanji nodded repeatedly.
The reason he was so polite was that Song Heping had paid generously.
Sanji ran a small travel agency in Morocco. To call it a travel agency was a bit of a stretch as it was just him and his wife.
He was in charge of the outside work, and she managed the dostic affairs.
Sanji had originally worked as a junior manager in a large tour company. Later, he struck out on his own, opening a small guesthouse in Morocco with the first floor serving as the office space for his small travel agency, mainly responsible for local hosting of foreign travel groups. In plain terms, he was a tour guide.
About nine days earlier, he had received a big business deal. A company from the Cayman Islands contacted him asking if he would host a wildlife research expert from the United States, Dr. Li and his entourage. Their destination was the Ahaggar National Park in neighboring Algeria for a month-long research project, supposedly studying so buffalo migration routes during the dry season…
Anyway, the project's na sounded very impressive.
They even faxed him the entire survey route, totaling dozens of pages, which looked very professional.
What Sanji needed to do was to escort them to the southern part of the Ahaggar National Park and handle all customs and transportation matters for the research team, as Dr. Li had three cargo containers of precious equipnt to be transported along. As long as he delivered them to their destination, he could return to Morocco to attend to his own matters, and then go back to the southern part of the national park after a month to pick up the research team.
What swayed Sanji wasn't the job itself, but the reward offered at the end of the trip—8,000 US dollars. This was pure inco for him as a tour guide, with all other expenses along the way covered by the research group.
Aricans are indeed generous!
You should know, Sanji had never received such a big contract before.
For his recently established travel agency, 8,000 US dollars exceeded his total inco for a quarter.
And this trip, all calculated, would only take less than five days, just requiring the crossing of the border between Morocco and Algeria.
Too easy!
Back when he worked for the international travel agency, Sanji had taken on similar jobs, but they paid only 4,000 dollars, taking groups to Algeria's national parks to see giraffes, buffaloes, and elephants.
So, without a second thought, he imdiately replied and accepted the job.
Now, seeing the God of Wealth standing right in front of him, how could Sanji not be excited?
If he knew that the person standing in front of him was not so animal research expert, but a bona fide rcenary leader and arms dealer, and that those containers didn't contain any research equipnt but three sets of SA-9 surface-to-air missile systems, one wonders if Sanji would wet his pants right there.
"Where's your car?"
"Over there! Dr. Li, please follow !"
Sanji put down the na sign and respectfully led his generous patron to the off-road vehicle.
This Toyota LC76 off-road vehicle was extrely well-performing, with two rows of modified face-to-face seats at the back, which could comfortably seat eight people.
Song Heping made himself at ho in the front passenger seat without any hesitation.
Sanji asked, "Shall we go back to the guesthouse to rest for a bit?"
This ti, not only was he earning the guide fee, but Sanji certainly wouldn't miss out on the lodging fee for Dr. Li who reportedly had four in his party, including three assistants, requiring at least two rooms.
Don't let the family water flow into outsiders' fields.
They must be arranged to stay at his guesthouse, and he could also make so money from the als.
Thinking of this, Sanji was feeling very pleased with himself.
"No, let's first head to the dock. My colleagues are waiting for there. We'll pick them up and then go to the hotel."
"No problem!"
Without further ado, Sanji turned the vehicle around and headed towards the dock.
On the way to the dock, Song Heping made a phone call to Jiang Feng, telling him to wait for him at the dock and that he would arrive in half an hour.
Then suddenly, he asked Sanji, "Do you speak Chinese?"
"Chinese?" Sanji shook his head: "Why do you ask, Dr. Li?"
Song Heping said, "One of my assistants is of Chinese descent and two are Arabic. The one of Chinese descent might not be very good at English, so it would be more convenient if you knew Chinese."
Sanji apologized, "I really don't understand."
Song Heping smiled and said, "No problem, just communicate with then."
After that, he picked up his phone and gave Ferrari another call, this ti speaking in Chinese.
"How are things at the dock?" he asked.
"Everything is taken care of," Ferrari replied confidently, "All declared as scientific research equipnt for customs. I've greased the wheels both inside and out; there won't be anyone targeting us."
"Hmph!" Song Heping scoffed, "We were targeted before because of a leak. I'll take care of it when I finish the transaction here and make a side trip to North Africa to resolve this issue."
"Do you know who did it, have you found out?" Ferrari asked.
"I've found out," Song Heping said, "Buy plane tickets for Disaster Star and Hunter tomorrow. Have them co to Casablanca, find a hotel to stay in, and wait for to contact them after I've finished my business in a few days. By the way, get new phones for them, and send the numbers to ; I suspect their old numbers have been monitored."
"Who the hell is so bold?!" Ferrari exclaid angrily, "Was it Simon and his guys?"
Song Heping said, "Who else would dare to go head-to-head with the military... I'll discuss so matters with you when I get back. We can't delay this any longer."
"Um…" Realizing that what Song Heping wanted to discuss must be serious yet not appropriate to talk about on the phone, Ferrari replied, "We'll talk when you're back."
"Doctor, looking at your na, you're Chinese too, right?" Sanji, having heard Song Heping speaking in Chinese, couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
"Yes, Chinese-Arican," Song Heping switched back to English to converse with Sanji, "I was born in the United States."
"Oh! No wonder your English is so good!" Sanji flattered, "You Chinese are so smart; many scientists are Chinese."
Song Heping listened to Sanji's bootlicking with a silent chuckle.
His English was good, but when it ca to the accent, he probably still had so, far from the most authentic, and this was sothing he was still working on overcoming.
Sanji was purely trying to ingratiate himself.
The car soon arrived at the local freight dock, where Song Heping saw Jiang Feng and the two engineers, Mohamd and Hazi.
They exchanged greetings, got in the car without much conversation, and once back at Sanji's hotel and settled into their rooms, Song Heping confird it was safe before asking Jiang Feng, "Everything was smooth on the way, right?"
"No issues, very smooth!" Jiang Feng replied, "What about you?"
"!?" Song Heping gave a bitter smile, "It was thrilling. I was surrounded by the military as soon as I disembarked in Eritrea. All three containers were opened and inspected. I had just made contact with the Salafi people when assassins ca after . The contact was killed, and I escaped on my own."
Jiang Feng's eyes widened, "You really called it!"
Song Heping sighed, "In our line of work, there's high risk and high reward."
"The old squad leader has a vision," Jiang Feng said, "otherwise, we'd have no place to be buried!"
In fact, since the pirate attack incident, Song Heping had already started to think and had made new arrangents.
When the "Tulip" unloaded in Yen, Song Heping switched the containers, offloading the three containers of SA-9 missile launch systems onto the docks in Yen, then replaced them with three containers of dates. He arranged for Ferrari to use his ans to send the three containers to Morocco under the guise of a hidden company in the Cayman Islands, still carried by the sa smuggling group as before.
After all, such tasks should be left to the professionals.
The smuggling group's boss was more than happy to do so.
If the cargo destined for Eritrea had mishaps, he too wouldn't be able to get away with it. Now, by unloading mid-journey in Yen and then forwarding it to Morocco, it was like getting paid twice for the sa job—why wouldn't he be happy?
Thus, the three SA-9 missile launch systems were switched under the guise of three containers of dates, leaving the Eritrean military and France's DGSE departnt baffled, while the real cargo sailed through the Red Sea into the diterranean, passed through the Gibraltar Strait, and arrived directly in West Africa via Morocco.
This move not only shortened the land journey but also avoided more risks on the way.
More importantly, it diverted the attention of the CIA and the DGSE to himself, while the three real missile systems quietly made their way into Casablanca.
Song Heping had indeed skillfully utilized the Thirty-Six Stratagems.
"Mohamd."
Song Heping turned to look at one of his engineers.
"Did you finish the task I gave you?"
"It's done, boss. Rest assured, we made so minor modifications to the SA-9 system as you instructed," Mohamd replied with a clear affirmation.
"You sure there's no problem?"
"Absolutely no problem, boss. You can trust our skills," Mohamd assured him.
"Good. If this works out, when we return to Illigo, I'll have Ferrari give you both an extra bonus," Song Heping promised.
He was never stingy when it ca to business.
Being tight-fisted was never his style.
If you want a horse to run, you have to let it graze.
Of course, you can't let the horse eat too much either; an overfed horse won't run as well.
Fairness was key.
"Old squad leader, why did you have them modify the system?" Jiang Feng didn't quite understand the reason.
Song Heping said, "Don't ask; you'll understand in ti."
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