Fatal Strike: Paladins Mercenary Road

Chapter 908 Departure
8 PM...

Sangjia, dressed in jungle camouflage, led 15 soldiers who looked like farmers to find Blood Fox.

Blood Fox, who was sitting on a wooden bench in the camp, chatting with Colonel Tadic while drinking coffee, saw Sangjia and the others. He smiled at the lean-looking Colonel Tadic and said, "It seems Sangjia is getting impatient..."

Are you really sure you want Sangjia to come with us?
"She's the heir to the Tadic family; are you really comfortable sending her to risk her life in Kosovo?"

Colonel Tadic nodded slightly and said, "Everyone in the Tadic family has to go through these things. It's better to go with Arctic Fox than to let her lead people on her own adventures."

Blood Fox, please take care of Sangjia for me. She is a qualified soldier who has crossed the border many times to fight against the Kosovo Liberation Organization and has achieved very good results.

However, my experience has proven that simply being 'qualified' is not enough to inherit and expand the Northern Brigade.

Sangjia needs some strong friends, and she needs to learn what she needs from them...

Just like when I encountered an Arctic fox!

Blood Fox paused for a moment, sighed slightly, and said, "You paid back then, and we really didn't solve your problem. In the end, we didn't even find the right enemy!"
Mountain Eagle is the most outstanding young man I have ever met. Many problems that seem unsolvable to us are easily solved by him...

If Sangjia is willing, she can definitely learn what the Northern Brigade needs from the Mountain Eagle.

I can't guarantee anything else, but I can vouch for it with my life: Mountain Eagle is absolutely trustworthy!

Colonel Tadic looked at Sangia and the people behind her as they approached, and nodded slightly. He said, "You should remember Duchamp and Theodore. Back then, they joined the Northern Brigade right after retiring from the 'Falcon,' and they were extremely fascinated by the Arctic Fox..."

They are now my last elite troops; they will lead you deep into Kosovo.

Blood Fox glanced at the two middle-aged men following behind Sang Jia. They were slightly short, moved loosely, had thinning hair, looked somewhat numb, and had no remarkable features...

He nodded slightly and said, "'Musician' Duchamp, 'Raven' Theodore, they are both good lads!"
But I remember there were eight of them at the time..."

Colonel Tadic shook his head slightly with a helpless expression and said, "The others are either dead or gone!"
Now only the two of them are left. The others were all personally selected and trained by Duchamp and Theodore, and they are all excellent!

After listening, Blood Fox first nodded to the serious-looking Sang Jia, then walked over to the two numb middle-aged men, shook their hands, and then the old man carefully looked them over before finally sighing softly and saying, "Don't push yourself too hard, don't let yourself become numb..."

The musician Duchamp, with his large nose, exchanged a glance with Raven Theodore, then shook his head expressionlessly, looking into Blood Fox's eyes and saying, "You once said that when we feel nothing for killing, we will become the best soldiers!"

Looking at Duchamp's serious expression, Blood Fox sighed and nodded, saying, "If you were in an environment like yours, being a little numb would indeed be an advantage."

As she spoke, Blood Fox reached out and pinched Dushan's arm, then hesitated for a moment before saying, "In the past, I always thought that numbness and obedience were the fine qualities of soldiers, but as I grew older, I realized that it was actually those who wanted to use us who wanted us to become those kinds of people."

You are still young…

Upon hearing this, Duchamp's large nose twitched slightly, then he shook his head slightly and said, "Sir, we are just soldiers..."

Duchamp then changed the subject, looking around as he said, "Sangia said someone will bring us new weapons and equipment..."

I hope to have a night vision device, an infrared telescope, and preferably a few good radios.

There have been recent clashes near the Kosovo border, and members of the Kosovo Liberation Organization are arresting people everywhere. We are short-handed, so we need to expand our patrol area.

Blood Fox looked at Duchamp and Theodore, who were dressed in shabby clothes, and nodded, saying, "That's fine. Maybe we can take advantage of this operation to take down the main force of the Kosovo Liberation Organization."

Duchamp nodded and said, "Then I suggest you go and see their farms. Every year at this time, a large amount of opium paste arrives. The Kosovo Liberation Organization will temporarily abandon methamphetamine production and turn to heroin refining and distribution."

This is big business, so their main operations are usually concentrated around the farms.

Blood Fox frowned and said, "The drug trade?"

Just as Blood Fox was about to say something, three rubber boats floated lightly into the stream in the valley, and were not discovered until they were almost inside the camp area.

Mountain Eagle did not rashly enter the camp area. When he arrived near the camp in his rubber boat, he turned on the boat's lights and then revealed his identity...

When Mountain Eagle brought the rubber boat ashore under the watchful eyes of the soldiers in the camp, he saw Blood Fox and his group...

…………

"What? Drugs?"

Mountain Eagle carried several large ammunition crates ashore, opened them, greeted Sanjaya and Colonel Tadic, and then indicated that everyone could choose what they wanted...

Upon hearing Blood Fox point out what was happening in Kosovo, Mountain Eagle said incredulously, "So, 'White Whale's' meeting with the Kosovo Liberation Organization this time might be related to drugs?" Blood Fox patted Dushan and Theodore on the back, signaling the two gleaming-eyed guys to freely choose what they wanted. Then he looked at Mountain Eagle and nodded, saying, "From what I know of 'White Whale,' he only does business that makes big money."

In Kosovo, only drugs and human trafficking meet the criteria for 'making big money'!

Do you remember the bayonet gang we fought in Romania, and the Gypsy criminal organization behind them?
In reality, they were just one segment of the drug route from Afghanistan to Europe, while Kosovo was the transit hub of the entire route.

Drugs entering Europe from Kosovo account for about 40% of the entire drug market.

In the past, this 40% share was shared by many large criminal groups, but some unexpected events have occurred in recent years.

That P.B. jackal cut off the 'Ndrangheta's' drug routes in Africa, causing a sharp increase in drug transportation costs. To this day, the 'Ndrangheta has not been able to reopen the African routes, so they have begun to increase their efforts in Kosovo.

The Gypsy criminal group is part of the Ndrangheta, and I suspect the emergence of the 'White Whale' is because the Ndrangheta wants to launch a large-scale invasion of Kosovo.

The Şafak has a vast drug trafficking network in Afghanistan. In the past, because of their African routes, they didn't have to compete with European gangs for access, but things are different now.

Mountain Eagle handed a box containing binocular night vision goggles to Duchamp, whose eyes were gleaming, then looked at Blood Fox and said in a deep voice, "So, the 'White Whale' came here to negotiate on behalf of the 'Glorious Society'?"

Blood Fox shook his head and said, "I don't know, but as a middleman, 'White Whale' is basically doing the job of relaying messages and acting as a guarantor, and any business that can get him to personally appear must be quite large."

Such a lucrative business deal could easily provoke the anger of warlords and gangs around Kosovo, so…

Mountain Eagle nodded and said, "I understand, so the security around the 'White Whale' must be extremely tight!"

The Kosovo Liberation Organization was likely the collaborator chosen by the 'Moby-Dick' for the 'Ndrangheta,' and large quantities of opium paste were transported to their farms for refining; this was just their first attempt at cooperation.

This guy is a middleman who profits from both sides. He finds out the needs of both the 'Ndrangheta and the Kosovo Liberation Organization,' and then brings them together, so he can get money not only from the 'Ndrangheta' but also from the Kosovo Liberation Organization.

Mountain Eagle nodded and said, "That's good. Now that we've determined the nature of the Kosovo Liberation Organization, I can act more freely."

Looking at the mountain eagle, whose mental state seemed to have changed somewhat, Blood Fox smiled and said, "Then I can give you a little more motivation..."

The Kosovo Liberation Organization's funding comes not only from drug trafficking, but also largely from human trafficking.

They would kidnap or simply raid villages in border areas, capturing young women and children and then selling them as commodities on the international black market.

Kosovo is known as the most dangerous region in Europe because its authorities are also involved in drug trafficking and human trafficking, and many people disappear there every year, but NATO peacekeeping forces turn a blind eye to this.

They even tolerated the existence of these criminal networks because it helped them exert influence in the local area.

After listening, Mountain Eagle shook his head in disbelief and sighed, saying, "Sometimes I really don't understand the Europeans' thought process. They destroyed Yugoslavia just to open up a land route connecting Central Asia, so that oil pipelines could run from Iran to Turkey and then to Europe..."

Now that Serbia is in this state, they refuse to accept their accession to the EU, have destroyed their land route, and severed ties with Iran.

This practice of handing eggs to Americans is truly incomprehensible to me!

After listening, Blood Fox sneered and said, "If the EU is run by Europeans themselves, then what you said makes sense. If the EU is full of Americans, then their self-castration is normal."

Blood Fox seemed reluctant to discuss this topic. He walked over to an ammunition box, took out a fully equipped AK-105, and tested it. Then he picked up a 7.62mm AK-103 and tried it out...

Feeling the slightly heavy weight in his hand, Blood Fox tossed the gun to Duchamp and said, "Use this one. It's a bit heavy, but it has an automatic recoil balancing system, so it's perfect for you guys."

The 'Automatic Recoil Balancing System' (BARS) is essentially an anti-recoil counterweight installed inside the upper receiver. Every time a bullet is fired, this anti-recoil counterweight balances the recoil and effectively suppresses muzzle rise.

Aside from being half a kilogram heavier and having a smaller ammunition capacity, this AK-103 produced by the Sergeant Major System is impeccable.

Dushan tried out the AK-103, then picked up a pair of binocular night vision goggles and a clearly high-end military radio, and cautiously asked, "Are these also for us?"

Blood Fox patted Duchamp's arm and nodded, saying, "Of course, these are all for you after the mission is over!"

Blood Fox glanced at his watch and said seriously, "We have three hours left. You need to take your people to familiarize themselves with the equipment and plan our water route during this time."

We must reach the designated landing point before dawn tomorrow…

Duchamp nodded emphatically and said, "Yes, sir!"

(End of this chapter)