Song Heping reached for his phone, paused, then turned it off and set it aside.
Jiang Feng glanced back, but remained silent.
Song Heping said, "Stop looking. Right now, the best strategy is to let those who want dead keep guessing."
Jiang Feng couldn't help but crack a smile.
Whoever it was, the person who planned today's events would be guessing and feeling uneasy.
The convoy quickly arrived in Carillo City without a hitch.
At the ranch, Song Heping t with Rubio and Omar who had co seeking peace.
The two n looked sowhat awkward upon seeing Song Heping.
After all, they had been enemies and had openly declared their intention to finish him off. Now, ironically, they were the ones asking for peace.
The group sat down in the ranch's dining room, and soon, soone brought over food and drinks.
Rubio and Omar didn't know where to start, and Song Heping, too, was in no hurry. He calmly watched the two n, waiting for them to react.
After a while, Rubio could no longer stand the silence and picked up his glass.
"Mr. Song, any previous issues were all misunderstandings. We're here to seek peace, hoping that we can collaborate happily in the future."
Song Heping smiled as he glanced at Rubio, then turned his gaze towards Omar without saying a word.
Rubio nudged Omar under the table with his foot, prompting him to finally stand up with his drink.
"Yes, yes, yes, that's exactly it. We're here for peace. After all, fights are bad for both sides..."
Seeing the two drug lords offering the olive branch, Song Heping didn't want to push things too far.
So he also picked up his glass and stood up.
"I'm quite willing to reach peace with you both, but don't you two have a pact with Leva? If you make peace with , aren't you afraid that Leva will co after you?"
His words were tinged with provocation, causing them to feel awkward again.
Rubio reacted the quickest, quickly chiming in: "Leva is an idiot, to begin with, we never wanted to oppose you, Mr. Song. He stirred us up, claiming the prison break was your doing...your killing our guys. But then I thought about it, and sothing was off. If you wanted to kill, Mr. Song, there would have been no need to save us. That's a contradiction, isn't it?"
"Exactly, that's my view too!"
Omar imdiately chid in, "I too was swayed by him in a mont of foolishness, and I made a hasty decision without careful thought. I regret it deeply and I apologize."
The two drug lords being so humble isn't hard to understand.
Song Heping was well aware of their situation.
Especially their financial condition.
Money!
How it makes many a heroic figure bow.
Even drug lords are no exception.
They can fight you, kill you, even face death unflinchingly.
But cut off their money flow, dry out their organization's funds, and suffering that pain is even worse than being shot dead.
And to make matters worse, there's Lascano, the mad dog, providing divine assistance?
Outside the restaurant window, White Bear, who was on guard, caught sight of the scene inside and couldn't help joking quietly to Hunter beside him: "Heh, look at these drug lords, all polite and talking peace with the boss, eh?"
Hunter glanced inside and asked, "If you were in charge, could you handle it?"
White Bear shook his head, "I don't like using my brain if I can help it. I prefer action over thought."
He paused, then asked, "Who do you think shot down the helicopter today?"
Hunter replied, "It's very likely Lascano's n."
White Bear comnted, "They used a man-portable air-defense system—those things aren't easy to get. They're strictly controlled in any country."
"He has connections from the Special Forces; maybe that helped him get it," Hunter suggested. "Right now, he's biting anyone, and I bet the boss will definitely not let him off in the end."
White Bear recalled, "But didn't we let him off last ti?"
"You dumb or what? Why else would he let him take out Sanchez? It's killing with a borrowed knife."
White Bear laughed, "If we team up with Setas and the Templar Knights, I guess Leva will also be coming over to seek peace soon."
Hunter said, "Not just him, I reckon the first to crumble upon hearing this news will be the folks from the Gulf Group. They're in disarray without their boss now, and I've heard the group is even tearing itself apart over who's going to be the big boss next. If this goes on, they'll disband sooner or later."
While the two chatted leisurely, Song Heping in the restaurant had already clinked glasses with Rubio and the others, drank, and everyone had sat down to start discussing cooperation.
"I have no objections to your request for cooperation, but let's be frank—I didn't care how you used to operate or who was in charge; that's all in the past. Now that I'm involved and you're willing to co and talk to , I have one condition: from now on, you'll have to listen to ."
At this point, Song Heping paused, eyeing Rubio and Omar to gauge their reaction.
The two exchanged glances, neither erupting in anger nor voicing opposition.
Negotiation is the art of compromise.
If the proposed condition doesn't trigger a strong rejection from the other party, it ans they've accepted it.
The reason Omar and Rubio didn't agree on the spot is because they too had their own "demands."
"It looks like you have sothing to say."
Song Heping made a welcoming gesture.
"Go ahead, we are here to negotiate, everything is up for discussion."
Rubio took a sip of his drink, organized his thoughts, and then said, "If we agree, can the supply from Colombia resu normally?"
Song Heping smiled, "Of course, that's too easy, just a phone call away."
Rubio's face lit up with joy, he glanced at Omar.
Omar hurriedly asked, "Will our goods be safe once they're in North Arica?"
Song Heping replied, "You're not new to this business. I know you've been incurring losses with your dealings in North Arica recently, but from now on, I assure you can return to the old ways. Of course, you also know the rules: the quantity for each region is limited, you can't exceed that."
After hearing this, Omar and Rubio exchanged glances again, seemingly quite content with the answer.
Rubio said, "As long as we can maintain the profits and share of business we had before, we have no objections. But right now, the biggest problem is Lascano. Lately, he's been like a mad dog, our territory has been attacked several tis, and we've lost a lot of money."
Song Heping asked, "What do you an?"
Rubio said, "I know you, Mr. Song, can handle Lascano. He's fallen into your hands before, so I'd like to ask you to take action, help us kill Lascano. Only with him dead can everyone have peace of mind, or it will be chaos."
"This request makes sense."
Song Heping nodded.
"I can kill Lascano. The reason I didn't before was simply that the right mont hadn't co yet. You want to do it now, it's not impossible, but in return, you have to give sothing."
"What is it?"
Rubio hastily asked, "As long as it's sothing we can provide, we'll agree."
"Convince the Gulf Group to surrender. I've heard they've been a ss lately and are almost at the point of internal conflict. Go find their spokespeople using the nas of Sinoloa, Balot Organization, and myself. If they don't submit to , I won't make a move; I'll wait until Lascano has torn them apart sowhat before I step in to deal with them."
He paused and then said, "Of course, if he agrees to surrender, I can promise to eliminate Lascano imdiately for you."
Rubio asked, "How long will it take you to kill Lascano?"
Song Heping raised a finger, "At most a month, as little as a week."
Surprise showed in the eyes of Omar and Rubio, both feeling that Song Heping was boasting.
Although Song Heping did indeed have Lascano in check before, that was because the latter had willingly walked into a trap, and now Lascano was well-prepared, with the entire core of the Los Zetas Organization going underground.
To talk about a fight, neither Rubio nor Omar lacked the manpower or firepower, but they just couldn't locate the enemy.
"You seem to doubt my words?"
Song Heping, scrutinizing the two hesitating n, teased, "Is it because you can't do it, you think I can't either?"
"No, no, not at all, that's not what I ant," Rubio said, "It's just…"
Song Heping interrupted him, "There's no 'just' about it. I've said that as long as you persuade the Gulf Group to surrender, I will handle Lascano within a month at most."
"Alright then…"
Finally, the two drug lords conceded.
"We'll persuade the Gulf Group to collaborate again with Mr. Song."
Song Heping instructed, "Rember, I don't care how you do it, just achieve this as quickly as possible. Otherwise, Lascano might soon not only target your warehouses. I had planned on coming here in a helicopter today, but that helicopter has now crashed, likely Lascano's doing. If you wish to be safe sooner, you'd better quickly convince the Gulf Group to stop infighting and choose a spokesperson imdiately, or I can't guarantee your safety."
"Please rest assured, we'll get right on it when we return. There are three factions within the Gulf Group competing for the position of the boss. Our stance is also very important to them. If we support the most powerful faction, the other two can only bow their heads, or we'll send people to help crush the other two."
Rubio guaranteed to Song Heping.
Song Heping extended his hand, "That's good, I like people who are tough and decisive like you."
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