In the depths of the jungle in Arauca Province, Colombia, an off-road vehicle was navigating the muddy trails towards the south.
Although it was already six o'clock in the morning, the sky remained pitch black like the bottom of a pot, raining down as if the heavens had been punctured.
In the primordial rainforests of northeastern Colombia, such weather typically deterred people from venturing out, and even though there had been several fierce firefights between the ELN ard forces and the governnt army recently, everyone preferred to stay in their camps that day, reluctant to step outside.
The driver gripped the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the path ahead, not daring to relax his vigilance for a mont.
In the rainforest during wet weather, a single misstep by the driver could spell doom for everyone in the vehicle.
Sitting in the passenger seat was a soldier in camouflage, with a green bandana wrapped around his head, holding an M16 automatic rifle.
The M16 seed sowhat awkward in the cramped space, which caused the soldier discomfort as he constantly shifted the gun, raising concerns that it might accidentally discharge.
On the back seat, Lieutenant Rash sneaked a glance at Song Heping, who was resting with his eyes closed.
This Chinese man seed not at all worried about his safety.
After all, the ard group he was with was infamous in Colombia for kidnappings, and the very ntion of the ELN could send shivers down anyone's spine.
Yet, this man had managed to fall asleep as soon as he got into the car.
Interesting...
The off-road vehicle skidded slightly as it negotiated a bend, and the driver beca extrely tense.
The front wheels controlled the direction of the vehicle, and if they slipped, it could an a loss of control, with a steep drop of several dozen ters right beside the bend.
If they slid down, the entire vehicle would be totaled.
He quickly shifted down a gear, letting the vehicle slow down, then gripped the steering wheel tightly, trying to steer in the opposite direction.
Finally, after a brief loss of control, the vehicle returned to normal.
The driver exhaled in relief, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
At that mont, Rash noticed that the guest sitting beside him had finally opened his eyes.
"How much farther?"
Song Heping stretched and asked Rash casually.
Rash looked outside and said, "We'll arrive after passing two more villages."
"Call when we get there."
After saying that, Song Heping closed his eyes again to rest.
Two days earlier, Song Heping had flown into Venezuela and t with Major General Rama.
The two had held a secret eting in a hotel.
Song Heping agreed to cooperate with Rama to jointly venture into the arms business in South Arica; in return, Rama would provide him with all necessary connections and routes in Colombia.
Now, this journey was arranged by Rama, leading to the ELN-controlled area in Colombia to et their leader, Morins.
According to Rama, he had originally planned to sell a batch of weapons to the ELN forces, but unexpectedly, the AUC ard forces intercepted the deal, hence the reason he saw his son at their camp.
Following that incident, Rama contacted Morins to propose another partnership, but the latter seed disinterested.
He believed Morins's lack of interest stemd from doubting Rama's capabilities, questioning how he could talk about cooperation if he couldn't even ensure the safety of his own goods.
This ti Song Heping was heading to Colombia, and Rama's goal was for him to figure out Morins's intentions and see if he could persuade Morins to buy weapons from him.
Collins and Dominic did not accompany him; this was a requirent from ELN's side, as they didn't want too many people entering their operational area and visiting their leader at the camp, especially since the camp was of a secretive nature and the Colombian Military had been searching for their location, aiming to take out Morins.
Thus, only particularly important individuals could et Morins.
The courtesy extended this ti was probably due to the face of Major General Rama's status, and also because the ELN's territory bordered Venezuela; maintaining good cross-border relations with the Venezuelan military was crucial. If they were cornered inside Colombian territory, key ELN figures could still sneak into Venezuela and use the border to ensure their safety.
If it had not been for this connection, it is likely that Song Heping would have had no chance of eting Morins.
Song Heping, who was resting with his eyes closed, had been calculating in his heart how to convince the leader of the ard organization once they t.
Before coming here, he had done his howork.
From the perspective of an arms dealer, Colombia is undoubtedly a huge market.
It's not only ho to a large number of drug trafficking groups, which require a vast array of military hardware to defend their territories and protect their drug trafficking activities, but more importantly, it's a place of significant ard territorial fragntation.
In short, there are three major anti-governnt ard forces in Colombia: the FACR, the ELN, and the AUC.
Among them, the FACR has the greatest power and the largest territory, with nearly twenty thousand mbers.
Then cos the AUC, a pro-governnt ard organization, with a strength of seven to eight thousand, just under ten thousand.
The ELN, on the other hand, has the smallest number of mbers among the three, but not a small territory, occupying the northeastern jungles near the Venezuelan border.
The ELN, officially known as the National Liberation Front, originated in the sixties. They are a left-wing ard group that believes in Marxism-Leninism and great leaders, which Song Heping found very interesting.
For this reason, many of the ELN's early recruits received training in Cuba and were also strongly influenced by Catholicism.
This organization has a great animosity towards imperialism and opposes all foreign influence and interference in Colombia's internal affairs. Because of this, although they are small in number, the group is very resilient. In the 1970s, they nearly faced complete eradication twice, but managed to recover and grow.
The ELN's controlled territories are crossed by nurous oil pipelines, so most of their funding cos from extorting foreign oil companies. Coupled with their moral repulsion rooted in Catholic beliefs, their involvent in drug trafficking is minimal.
Both ELN and the stronger FACR are left-wing ard groups and have a closer relationship, unlike the naturally right-wing AUC, which is more aligned with the governnt. The AUC is a local anti-ard group tacitly permitted by the governnt, so their relationship with the AUC is quite hostile.
Ramas sending Song Heping to et with Morins in ELN territory played right into Song Heping's hands.
In Song Heping's view, retaliating against the AUC was inevitable, but to take down an organized ard group of thousands with his small PMC company was difficult, even if an entire ho-grown battalion from Illiguo were deployed here.
Assassinating the opponent's leaders was also superfluous.
With organizations like the AUC, even if their leaders were killed, they would quickly elect another, rendering it pointless.
To eradicate the opponent, one must borrow strength.
Whose strength to borrow?
Of course, that of their enemies.
And the ELN and FACR were precisely the forces Song Heping intended to leverage.
If he could reach an agreent with the ELN, there was a good chance of establishing a connection with the FACR in the future.
Once an arms supply agreent was reached with these two organizations, Song Heping would have a firm foothold in South Arica.
He could then expand north towards xico and south towards Brazil.
An hour later, the off-road vehicle finally left the muddy track and turned into a jungle.
The road narrowed more and more, and the vehicle seed to enter a different society isolated from the rest of the world, with a secretive camp hidden deep within the jungle.
The dense vegetation acted as a natural barrier, isolating the camp from the outside world, accessible only by a few who knew the secretive path.
At the entrance to the camp, a crude gate made from intersecting thick tree trunks wrapped with green vines almost blended into the surrounding natural environnt.
Behind the gate, sentries stood vigil, wearing Bunny hats, with the distinctive dark, bronze skin of South Aricans and looks in their eyes that conveyed alertness and lethality.
After a simple checks to confirm identities, Rash gestured to the camp sentries, and the off-road vehicle entered the mysterious camp.
The inside of the camp was much like the AUC camp Song Heping had previously raided, with crude wooden huts and tents arranged haphazardly, each structure cleverly concealed under the shade of trees to minimize the likelihood of detection.
However, this camp was significantly larger than the AUC camp he had attacked. Song Heping even noticed so training facilities around the camp.
An open space was used as a training and assembly area, where mbers of the anti-governnt forces clad in camouflage were conducting tactical training.
The off-road vehicle stopped outside a wooden hut, and Rash turned his head to Song Heping and said, "We've arrived, Mr. Song."
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