Mercenaries, I Will Be King Chapter 428 - 374: Return to Illiguo

Ramas wanted to express so objection.

After all, from a negotiating standpoint, both parties start with sky-high demands and then haggle towards the best possible price.

However, he found himself seemingly unable to refuse the terms.

Because the conditions set forth by Song Heping were simply too enticing.

Besides, the two were now part of a symbiotic relationship, collaborating in the arms trade, and just through working with Song Heping, Ramas's expected annual profits would be significant.

Not assisting in this matter, Ramas feared offending Song Heping, the god of wealth; should he refuse to cooperate even in the arms trade, the loss would be substantial.

"Alright, I will do my best to facilitate this, but I would like to know exactly how much land you want?" Ramas finally brought up the issue of the land area.

Song Heping raised a single finger.

Ramas asked, "1,000 hectares?"

"No," Song Heping shook his head, "10,000 hectares. 1,000 hectares wouldn't even be enough for a small airport."

"10,000 hectares?!"

Ramas's eyes bulged out.

Song Heping said, "That's correct, isn't it just 100 square kiloters? Is that a lot?"

Ramas said, "No way! That's too much!"

Song Heping said, "I'm not interested in buying it outright, I want to lease it, but I'm requesting a 99-year lease term."

"99 years?!"

Ramas nearly cried out in shock.

"What's the difference between this and buying?"

"The difference is significant," Song Heping replied. "For example, if I lease this piece of land from you, any mineral deposits discovered underground would be of no concern to . As long as you give a reasonable rental compensation, I would vacate willingly. I could even consider exchanging it for another plot of land, just compensate for my construction losses. It's different with outright purchase; the minerals underground would belong to . I know your country has plenty of oil, and I'm not looking to take advantage of you. Think about it, are my terms not reasonable? A 99-year lease demonstrates my confidence in you and makes it easier for you to persuade your superiors, General. I have your best interests at heart."

After this speech, Ramas felt himself fall silent, unable to respond yet again.

Song Heping, this man, always spoke in an even and unhurried tone.

But each sentence hit the nail on the head and left listeners utterly amazed.

The worst part was, you couldn't find fault with his reasoning.

Upon closer consideration, leasing land was indeed much simpler than buying or selling it, and more likely to persuade his own superiors and the president.

"Alright, leave this matter to ," Ramas finally nodded, and then asked, "But you must ensure that this training school is built within a year and put into use."

"No problem," Song Heping replied, "When can we sign the contract?"

"This isn't a small matter; you need to wait," Ramas said, "After all, it involves 100 square kiloters of land."

"It's wasteland, it's jungle," Song Heping pointed to the distance, "Can you see a single person within sight?"

Ramas sighed, "One month."

"No," Song Heping shook his head, "I only have half a month to give you, to be frank, this is related to our arms trade."

"Hmm?"

Ramas was sowhat surprised.

Song Heping explained, "Morins has contacted ; he needs a large amount of arms, a demand worth three million dollars. My ti is very tight; I promised to deliver within three months. If the land can be developed into a military training base within three months, of course, it would need an armory, and then you could help legitimately bring the arms in. Understand?"

"Under the guise of training!"

Ramas had a sudden realization.

That was the trick Song Heping had up his sleeve.

The collaboration between the two was aid at the South Arican arms market; having a storage warehouse would be very convenient, and bringing arms in under this guise was legitimate and safe, for both Song Heping's "Musician" defense and for Ramas as well.

As for whether the large quantities of arms reaching here would attract attention, there was no need to worry.

After all, with military backing for the base, customs would certainly not be difficult.

In this way, everything would operate under a very formal and legitimate guise.

Brilliant!

Ramas gritted his teeth, "Fine! For the sake of money! I will persuade my superiors within half a month."

Three million dollars' worth of arms, split fifty-fifty, would an quite a few hundred thousand dollars for himself.

Combined with securing the deal for the military school's land, he could count on nearly two million dollars in inco this year alone; how could Ramas not be tempted?!

"Fine, I'll leave this matter to you. I need to head back to Illiguo. I've been away for quite so ti; if I don't return soon, our partners might start getting suspicious."

Song Heping decided to fly back to Illiguo first.

He had both the military and the CIA to deal with there.

No one could guarantee that staying away for too long wouldn't raise suspicions, especially since a Green Berets squad had been wiped out in the Colombian jungle. The Aricans would definitely be infuriated, and given their conduct, they would surely deploy all their intelligence resources to track down the perpetrator.

If he stayed in South Arica too long, he was too easy a target.

There were too many matters awaiting him upon his return this ti.

Not only did he need to arrange for the three million dollars' worth of arms for the ELN, but there was an even more important task—to deliver the big surprise he had promised Morins.

After parting with Ramas, Song Heping had the hotel book a flight to Riyadh for the next day, and he rushed back to Illiguo early the following morning.

By the ti he got back to the Green Zone in Illiguo, it was already past midnight of the next day.

The situation in Illiguo was still unstable.

On the drive back from the airport, Ferrari updated Song Heping on the company's operations during his absence.

Overall, the casualty rate among the local rcenaries responsible for transportation had improved after unified training. Although the number of attacks had continued to increase during the half-month of Song Heping's absence, there had been only one death and four injuries.

After discussing the company's affairs, Ferrari suddenly ntioned, "By the way, General Peter looked for you the day before yesterday."

"He was looking for ?" Song Heping's gaze fell on his phone.

He imdiately sensed that sothing was amiss.

"He didn't call ..."

Suddenly, a terrifying thought crossed his mind.

Had Peter called him during his disappearance in the jungle?

If it was a routine call and he failed to answer, it would have been a minor matter.

But the issue was whether General Peter would connect the dots to him if the Green Berets' annihilation in the Ta Jungle was internally reported to the Arican forces stationed in Illiguo. With a cunning man like Peter, could he link it back to himself?

At the thought, a cold sweat broke out on Song Heping's back.

This was no trivial matter.

If Peter knew that he was behind the extermination of the Green Berets, what would the consequences be?

Seeing Song Heping fall silent,

Ferrari seed to sense sothing unusual: "Are you worried that Peter might guess you were behind the incident in Colombia?"

Song Heping said, "It's hard to say... That old fox isn't stupid."

His gaze fell on his hand.

Other wounds might be out of sight, but this hand...

The scene of killing Colonel Jas imdiately ca to mind.

Song Heping rembered that he had disposed of the body and taken the knife that had cut him with him at the scene, aning there would be no samples of his tissue left behind, and with the body thrown into the river to drift downstream, even if it were eventually discovered by the Colombian governnt army, they wouldn't be able to find the original scene.

However, one could never be absolutely sure.

The investigative thods and capabilities of the Aricans were formidable.

"So..." Ferrari said, "Should we run for it?"

Running away?

It might be the best solution.

Song Heping shook his head, "Don't panic, we need to remain calm. Here's the plan: I'll arrange a eting with Peter tomorrow morning, and you all need to be ready to run at a mont's notice. Our core mbers will head to Cook Oil Field first. If I don't call you within an hour, you should imdiately use the northern route to enter Persia. Once you are there, you'll be safe."

Ferrari said, "You want us to leave you behind?"

Song Heping said, "I would like you to do so reconnaissance, but the problem is, can you even speak in front of Peter?"

Ferrari was at a loss for words.

Song Heping was right.

Apart from himself, no one else would be able to gauge the true situation from Peter.

"That settles it then. You all move out tonight. Once we get to the company, take them to the oil field imdiately. I'll stay behind. Keep the phone lines open and wait for my instructions."