Taxes are only within machine gun range!

Chapter 240 Car Theft Tutorial
After obtaining the useful information, all relevant personnel under Milton's command were mobilized with maximum efficiency.

What would have been a major issue for the Arsu government, requiring days or even months of wrangling, has already entered the implementation stage in Milton's case.

Not long after, Flora, having had her fill of touching the barrels of the self-propelled howitzers at the port, also took a helicopter to a hidden command post near the "borderline".

After "receiving" the VIPs at the bank, Milton arrived at this place.

At that moment, Brandon was looking at the map and voiced his biggest concern: "Boss, I think if we're fast enough, we can definitely catch them off guard... But how do we get all these printing presses and materials out of there?"

Milton said, "There are two options. One is helicopter hoisting. The advantage is that it is efficient and fast. It is very likely that we will successfully complete the mission before even Arsu receives the news. The disadvantage is also obvious. The helicopter has limited carrying capacity and can only take away core machines such as the gravure printing machine at most."

“Another option… We can take the sea route since we’re close to the coastline. The advantage is that we can pack up and take the whole small printing workshop with us. The disadvantage is that it’s simpler, slower, and riskier.”

Flora wholeheartedly agreed: "So, it's time to choose again... A or B?"

Milton glanced at the people in the room. Judging from their expressions when they heard the two options, everyone thought option A was better.

Even Milton himself thought so.

Once we acquire the core technology, we can figure out the rest ourselves without taking too much risk.

“But… to be honest, without bringing the entire factory over, it will take a long time to get the printing plant up and running.” Brandon, while also believing that Plan A was more realistic, raised his concerns: “I recently looked into printing money, and it’s completely different from printing books.”

Milton tapped the table, glanced at the door, and said, "Since we still have to wait for the photos taken by the drones from the scene, let's assume that if we want to use Plan B, which is to find a way to ship this batch of equipment by sea, how would we proceed?"

Flora frowned and thought for a while: "Actually, given the Alsu government's half-paralyzed reaction speed, even if we ran a distance on land, he might not be able to catch up... The biggest problem is that we don't have any fast transportation over there."

"We can't exactly move the equipment to the beach by manpower, can we?"

"If we steal a car nearby and then go there, we might alert the enemy."

“Even if we were to arrange for spies to prepare trucks for us, they couldn’t possibly drive them near the printing plant—it’s too remote, and doing so would definitely raise suspicion.”

"In the end, the biggest problem with Plan B is that it's too slow."

Brandon thought for a moment and asked, "What if it's nighttime? The enemy's reaction speed should be slower, which might slightly compensate for our disadvantage."

"The theory is feasible, but there are also many problems, such as..."

Tactics were discussed on the spot.

Everyone tried their best to see if they could bring back the equipment and technology as much as possible.

But no matter what tactics are used, the final conclusion is the same—it is feasible, but only theoretically feasible. The risks are very high, and a single mistake could lead to the annihilation of the entire army.

Ten minutes later, Milton's radio station received an encrypted message.

"Reporting to 'The Godfather,' the drone is about to arrive at the target location!"

“Very good.” Milton immediately raised his hand, interrupting everyone’s discussion. “Let’s go take a look… All plans must be based on on-site investigation.”

The others nodded and got up to follow Milton to the equally concealed temporary "airport" for drones.

There is a heavily obscured runway, a signal tower disguised as a large tree in the woods, and a half-buried underground command post.

Remotely controlling drones from here not only allows them to fly farther, but it's also very safe.

"Sigh, I have to say, things costing millions of dollars are really good." Flora walked into the command post and exclaimed, "With drones, our reconnaissance efficiency and accuracy have increased by more than one level."

"Drug cartels can sometimes really be quite helpful in times of need."

A drone worth millions of dollars... and it's a second-hand product from more than ten years ago.

Milton shook his head slightly, said nothing, and went to the operator's side.

The footage captured by the drone can be viewed quite clearly on the screen.

“Those people didn’t collude, and the location they provided is correct.” The driver reported, slightly nervously, when he saw Milton coming over in person. “Their printing plant is nearby, but the terrain of this valley is indeed very good. There are only two roads that can be entered and exited by cars, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.”

Milton stared at the screen... This factory has security, but not much. It seems that most of the security personnel are only there to drive away unrelated people who might accidentally wander into the area, without considering the possibility of an attack from behind.

My assessment remains the same: taking it down isn't difficult; the challenge lies in transportation...

"Hey boss, look at that shed!" Brandon shouted. "That shed doesn't look like it's in the factory area. It looks like... like a parking lot?"

Where to park?
Milton paused for a moment, stared at the shed area for several seconds, and then instructed the operator beside him to fly the drone over there to see what was going on.

The plane moved a little further away, changed its angle, and flew a bit lower, and Milton finally got a clear view of the scene inside.

It is indeed a parking area inside...

And what's more... there are even trucks parked inside!

"Holy crap!" Flora almost jumped up. "These people actually parked the truck right here? Don't they have any discipline at all?!"

This is supposed to be a counterfeit money printing factory, but if you look at it from a broader perspective, it's essentially a strategic blow by the Arsu government against the Pan Madre Group!
Poor defensive capabilities are one thing...

How can they be so undisciplined?
Milton immediately spoke up, "Didn't you just say that the biggest problem with Plan B was that it wasn't fast enough?"

"If there are trucks on site, we can take advantage of the darkness to load the equipment directly onto the trucks, drive straight to the coast, load the equipment onto a boat, and leave. How feasible is that? Are there any speed issues?"

Flora shook her head vigorously: "There's no problem...theoretically, there's plenty of time."

Brandon, a former policeman, quickly added, "Uh, boss... don't forget, this isn't our car. Remember to find some people who know how to steal cars, uh, talented people, otherwise we won't be able to start it."

They could certainly search for the keys on the spot, or interrogate them about the whereabouts of the car keys... but in any case, they should still avoid any unexpected situations.

Milton blurted out, "What kind of advanced skills do you need to steal a car like this? A screwdriver and a few wires are all you need." Brandon, Flora, and the others all looked on in astonishment: "Huh?!"

“Short-start!” Milton sighed. “In many cars, including trucks, the starter relay is located in the fuse box in the engine compartment, while the starter motor is mounted on the side of the engine and connected to the battery via wires.”

As Milton spoke, he grabbed a screwdriver, put on gloves, walked to a camouflage jeep outside the command post, and opened the hood.

"See these two core terminals on the starter relay? This one is the constant power supply, and that one is the control signal. By shorting these two terminals, it's equivalent to simulating the closed circuit state when the key is turned, which can force the starter motor to start."

As he spoke, Milton short-circuited the car.

The Jeep immediately emitted the familiar sound of starting up.

Boom... Beep beep beep...

It's as simple as starting a fire with a key!
Short-circuit starting refers to directly connecting the starting circuit, allowing the car to start without a key. Traditional car starting systems are almost entirely mechanical, consisting of a battery, ignition switch, starter relay, and starter motor. When the key is inserted and turned, current flows through the ignition switch, triggering the starter relay, which in turn drives the starter motor to start the engine.

It wasn't until near the 21st century that German brands like Volkswagen began to incorporate chip remote control functionality into their car keys to enhance anti-theft capabilities.

Decades later, when cars had evolved from mechanical products to semi-electronic products, and the logic of starting cars was fundamentally changed through electronic encryption and complex authorization models, short-circuit starting was finally completely eliminated.

Now?

To put it bluntly, as long as you understand the principles, know basic lock picking, and take proper safety precautions, even a child could steal a car.

Even if you really can't pick the lock, you can solve the problem by using force.

"Fuck!"

"The car started right away?! From start to finish, it only took a dozen seconds?"

Flora looked at the starting car, pondered for a long time, and then turned to Brandon: "Thank goodness... you didn't arrest him when you were a policeman, otherwise we wouldn't be living like this today."

“Don’t talk nonsense, I’m not a car thief,” Milton explained. “As long as you know how a car starts, you can figure out how to bypass the key. You just need to read books, you don’t need to actually steal a few cars.”

"Boss, you can do all of this?"

How come the "Hell Tax Collector" always has these strange and wonderful skills?

"Sigh, never mind, I can't count on you guys. To ensure efficiency... get a few car thieves from the nearby prison." Milton looked at the admiring yet strange gazes around him, feeling a bit weary. "Remember, make sure to verify their abilities first before transferring them, understand? Hurry up!"

"We're going to take action tonight."

Brandon nodded and asked, "Boss, if those, uh, car thieves help us, is that considered meritorious service and can we get a reduced sentence?"

“Of course…provided that the person is just a thief and has no criminal record for murder or serious assault,” Milton said. “If he’s just a thief, a reduced sentence won’t be a problem.”

"it is good!"

"..."

Time passed quickly, and the drone returned and flew over to investigate again, confirming that the trucks would not leave anytime soon and were not temporarily loading or unloading goods.

Three skilled car thieves were also quickly selected and brought over.

Upon seeing Milton, a car thief who was limp and could only walk with the support of two soldiers almost burst into tears.

Because of the secrecy measures, they didn't know what they were going to do at this time. They only knew that they were going to meet the legendary, terrifying "Hell Tax Collector" who, just mentioning him would scare even adults, let alone children, into sleepless nights!
The group felt as if the sky had fallen.

The criminal is going to see Milton... the chances of survival are practically zero.

However, after thinking for a long time, the car thieves couldn't come up with anything too heinous or unforgivable.

“‘Hell Tax Collector’ sir!” The car thief burst into tears. “I only stole two cars, I don’t deserve to die… I, I don’t want to go to a museum, I don’t want to be a mound of corpses, I have a wife and children, please don’t kill me, I’ll do anything, please!”

"Waaaaah... I don't want my wife and children to see my head in Beijing..."

"..."

"What exactly did you instill in them?" Milton, being a respectable man and concerned about his image, frowned deeply. "What kind of garbage are you sending to a museum? Everyone there is a heavyweight; ordinary murderers don't even qualify for that place. You think a few petty thieves are worthy?"

"Stop talking nonsense... I'm going to take you somewhere with some trucks. Your job is to start the trucks as fast as you can in your lives. If you do it well, it'll be considered meritorious service and you can get a reduced sentence, understand?"

The car thieves, who were waiting to lose their heads, cautiously looked up to make sure their heads were still on their necks.

"do you understand?!"

"I understand! I understand everything!"

Milton nodded: "I will prepare all the tools for you. When you are on the move, you must obey orders. This is a military operation! Now eat and rest. We will move out in four hours."

After saying this, Milton turned and left, beginning to check his equipment—night vision goggles, thermal imager, rifle, heavy body armor, and so on—while once again checking with the naval soldiers in Champelliport to ensure that the operation at sea would not be disrupted.

The gunboat "Tax Scorpion" had turned off all its lights, closely followed a civilian transport ship, and left the dock under cover of darkness, sailing along the designated route...

Even if Arsu had radar, on the radar it would just be an ordinary civilian merchant ship on its way!
……

The sky gradually darkened.

As soon as the time came, Milton, who was already fully armed, immediately got up and led the others onto the helicopter.

"Operation 'Printer' officially begins!"

P.S.: My alarm clock broke (I was out of my mind and set it for 9:30 am), and I woke up suddenly at 10 pm, so I can't write 6000 words. I owe it to me!
(End of this chapter)