America: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 186 Vehicle Delivery

Soon, the sound of brakes came from outside the door. The boss of Armed Nation had returned and greeted Sieg. Zhang Ailun also came to the lobby upon hearing the sound. He hadn't had a chance to see him last time, but this time he saw that he was also a tall and thin middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses, and there was a lawyer with a briefcase next to him.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. I had some personal matters to attend to, and now I finally have time to help my friend with the gun shop transaction. First of all, I want to thank you for what you did for me last time, successfully transporting that batch of weapons to Wells Fargo Bank. You did me a great favor, and of course I will grant your request."

The owner of Armed Nation smiled and said, "It just so happens that my friend has quit his job and left me with the weapons shop. I've already told you the details. If you don't mind, come with me to that gun shop and take a look."

"A field visit is certainly necessary." Sieg nodded, not refusing.

After leaving the gun shop, the owner of Armed Nation got into a Cadillac and led the way, while Zhang Ailun, Sieg, and the other two got into a Wrangler and followed behind.

Not long after, after driving through a few streets, I saw the Armed Nation storefront in the construction area near West Street. The storefront was locked, and the exterior looked very imposing. The signboard had the gun shop's logo and the letters "Thunderbolt" on it. The windows were sealed with steel plates and bars. There was also a car wash and a convenience store next door.

After getting out of the car, the owner of Armed Nation went to the backyard, connected the electrical box to the power supply, took out the remote key, entered the password, unlocked with his face, recorded his voice, and the door to the gun shop room was unlocked and opened, along with the bulletproof steel plates on the windows being removed.

"This uses the same anti-theft door lock system as the security company and the bank. Our business is a bit special; security measures must be in place. Otherwise, if a serial numbered firearm is lost and there's no transaction record, and it ends up on the market causing a death, we won't be able to escape responsibility. Come on in and have a look!"

The owner first introduced the shop to the group, then led them into the gun shop. The interior was no less spacious than his own gun shop, with targets, swordfish ornaments, and a fish tank hanging on the walls. However, the glass and wooden cabinets were empty, making the environment seem a bit deserted.

"Of course, what you're buying is just the gun shop's license and a permit to transport and trade weapons. If you want heavy weapons, you'll need to find your own channels to source them," the shopkeeper said with a smile. "As long as you decide to buy this shop, I can introduce you to some professional PMC companies, arms dealers, connections in the military region, or even street gun dealers. With a little effort, you can definitely make a lot of money from here!"

He then led the group on a tour of the sales hall on the first floor, the lounge, the offices on the second floor, and the backyard. The basic indoor facilities were all there; the offices even included computers and surveillance camera equipment. An armed escort vehicle was parked in the backyard.

The boss of Armed Nation turned on his computer, clicked on a link to a bidding website, and demonstrated it to the group. "This is the arms bidding website we use internally. We also prefer to call it Opportunity Network. Here you can find a lot of reports about the military region and arms transactions, from small things like transporting security equipment, bullets, and gun oil to the police, to large things like cooperating with PMC and the government to airlift some heavy weapons to other states or even other countries."

"The qualifications of this armed nation can also be found online; it's a two-star qualification. Most gun shops on the market only have ordinary qualifications, which only allow the purchase and sale of ordinary small-caliber civilian firearms, such as pistols and submachine guns, excluding military equipment. People with connections can apply for advanced qualifications, which allow them to sell assault rifles, machine guns, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, and large-caliber firearms. Gun laws and qualifications vary from state to state."

"A one-star gun shop is considered an armed nation, where you can trade a lot of heavy firepower and large-caliber military equipment. A two-star qualification allows you to escort and transport heavy firepower weapons, purchase armored armored vehicles, modify private cars with bulletproof glass, enter and exit police stations, participate in bidding, and enter special local military districts."

Zhang Ailun glanced at the trading interface on the official website. It was unremarkable, no different from browsing a regular opportunity website. It featured weapon pictures, descriptions, and prices. Buyers could contact the shops to trade and sell their weapons. There were also gun shop escort missions and events.

After learning about the escort job, I found that it involves accepting a client's commission or cooperating with other gun shops and companies to escort a batch of smuggled weapons to a designated location. It's essentially renting a car and people to smuggle them out of the blue, and each operation can generate at least $2 in profit.

People in this line of work inevitably do these kinds of jobs. For example, one of the tasks is to transport a batch of security equipment, including Tasers and grenades, to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which seems fine on the surface. But there's another detail: it requires transporting some paper documents to the private residence of a county council member.

As for what exactly the document is, that's a matter of opinion.

It's all a transaction anyway. If the client is willing to pay and there's money to be made, the armed nation's transport vehicles will likely turn a blind eye. On the surface, they're transporting weapons, but who knows what's actually on the truck? The profit from selling guns alone isn't that high.

The last time the owner of the armed nation smuggled in some illicit goods among those ordinary weapons, he certainly made far more than $2.

Anyway, hiring security personnel doesn't cost them much; they sign contracts with PMC companies and the hourly wage is around $85. Hiring a small, independent team earns them $60 an hour. If there's an accident, they'll get a few thousand dollars in compensation; otherwise, it's all profit.

Mercenaries and security personnel are essentially risking their lives for money. Even for Blackwater employees, top mercenaries can only earn tens of thousands of dollars a month.

Most mercenaries and security personnel earn more than $10,000 a month on the battlefield. They work more than 8 hours a day, more than 200 hours a month, which is equivalent to an hourly wage of only $45-60. They are constantly under heavy bombardment, with bullets grazing their scalps. The key is that they may not even receive the money. What they do receive is basically all compensation.

Just look at the prices Da Mao and Er Mao pay for recruiting mercenaries; this line of work is really not profitable. People with the means would never become mercenaries.

$10000 is a lot.

The second-level page is for heavy weaponry. Only nations with special star-level weaponry can open the trade page; otherwise, it will be grayed out and can only be viewed, not traded.

The weapons look rather violent, such as armed off-road vehicles with tires replaced by tank tracks, bulletproof steel plates covering the entire vehicle, and covered in spikes and gun muzzles; and buggies modified into armed vehicles. Weapons that can be modified include the Dune FAV 40mm grenade launcher and a 7.62 caliber Vulcan Gatling gun.

There is also a military region that is selling an F-16 fighter jet, as well as parts and fire control equipment for various fighter jets. However, their qualifications are shown in gray, indicating that they are not qualified to purchase the aircraft.

Damn, this can be sold?

It has to be you guys!

However, those qualified to purchase fighter jets are stable partners with long-term transactions with the military region. With official backing, what can't they buy if they have money? If they can't buy them, it just means they don't have enough money or connections.

They then took out two black boxes. Inside were classic lever rifles and a revolver. The owner of Armed Nation examined them for a few moments and said, "This thing is a bit old, but it's still pretty good for hunting. I'll give it to you."

Then, he pressed open a hidden door in the office wall. There was nothing inside; it was clearly a place where the boss's personal weapons and cash were stored.

"You can store some everyday items here. The password is 000000. It uses the same equipment as the safes in Las Vegas VIP lounges. You can have someone recompile the password yourself, or find professionals to strengthen the firewall."

The boss explained everything he could, and said with a smile, "The initial investment required to open an ordinary gun shop is not exaggerated. In some small rural areas, you only need tens of thousands of US dollars to open a shop. In Los Angeles, you only need to rent a store and pass the qualification review to start operating. But the most important thing is the transaction qualification."

"Although this two-star armed nation has a rather ordinary geographical location, its actual profit conditions are still quite good. Two-star qualification also requires reaching a transaction volume of more than 500,000 US dollars with the regional authorities every year, otherwise it will be downgraded. This is the minimum requirement, not the highest standard, so it is relatively lenient."

"If you want to buy it, you only need to pay me $46 to sign a license transfer agreement. In addition to the armored armored vehicle, I can also give you a small hangar in the suburbs."

Considering the location of the javelin shop, this price is undoubtedly outrageous. However, if you're buying a high-level license that includes a suburban hangar, it's clearly a very reasonable price!

Just like the boss of Armed Nation said, as long as you work hard, you can break even quickly.

Zhang Ailun and Sieg went to the side to discuss it.

"Boss, what do you think?"

"I think it's pretty good. As long as you work hard and close a few more deals every day, you can make money while lying down," Zhang Ailun said. "You already have $170,000, right? Keep $20,000 for your daily expenses, you take out $150,000, and I can cover the remaining $310,000 for you. I can also invest in the purchase of guns and ammunition. You'll hold 30% of the shares, and I'll hold 70%, with the gun shop registered in your name."

After all, Sig was a pure-blooded old Angsa of the Plain White Banner, and a retired captain from the army.

The leader is a yellow-skinned, black-eyed, fifth-class citizen, and the Asian sanctions bill is a huge negative influence! Even if you asked him to sign it, he wouldn't.

"Okay." Sig had no objection to this. He certainly couldn't buy the gun shop on his own; he would have to rely on the headquarters to intervene.

He immediately told the owner of the armed nation, "No problem. We can sign the contract now."

Seeing how readily they agreed, the boss had the lawyer next to him bring out two copies of the prepared documents for them to review.

Zhang Ailun looked at the transfer agreement and smiled, "Mind if I ask someone else to take a look?"

"certainly."

The owner of the armed nation also realized that this was the real financial backer who could decide who would pay.

Zhang Ailun immediately took a few photos and sent them to Dave, asking him to help him take a look.

A few minutes later, Dave quickly sent a message: There's no problem. The transfer agreement is very detailed and there are no traps. It's just that the price of 46 is too outrageous. Where did you get so much money? Did you take out a loan?

Zhang Ailun: It's all hard-earned money!

With the endorsement of top lawyer Dave, Zhang Ailun felt relieved and had Sieg sign the contract directly, putting his own name on it.

Zhang Ailun went out and retrieved $28 in cash from the Wrangler, then transferred another $3 to the other party. Both parties signed the agreement and reached a satisfactory transaction.

"I won't participate in the rest of the activities. My lawyer will take you to visit the hangar in the suburbs and give you the keys and passwords. You can contact me again if needed."

Seeing that the matter was settled, the owner of the armed nation took out his business card, handed over the shop keys, and added a new ID account to the gun shop's online account. He said with a smile, "If you do a good job, I'll recommend you for work in the future!"

"Thank you so much, buddy."

Zhang Ailun glanced at the newly added contact, Mr. Red Tea. Why not call it Big Chicken Ridge Tea Bags?

I glanced again at the gun shop's account on Opportunity Network: Thunderfire Armed Nation.

It's a good name, meaning prosperous and thriving.

The Grand Master has no intention of changing it.

After seeing off the owner of the armed nation, Zhang Ailun handed the keys to the Wrangler to Sieg, letting him drive while he sat in the passenger seat. Guided by the lawyer's navigation, they drove to the airport in the suburbs.

Before long, we arrived at a small airport in the suburbs and found that many private planes were parked in the hangars there.

Low-altitude flights are within open airspace, making travel very convenient. No flight route application is required. For long-haul flights, you only need to call the aviation authority of the area you are traveling through and inform them before departure.

Apart from special private parking lots, you don't need to pay any extra takeoff and landing fees; you only need to pay for fuel and aircraft maintenance yourself.

Owning a private jet is similar to owning a private car; it's very convenient.

They parked the Wrangler by the roadside, walked across the helipad, and the lawyer led the three to the small hangar of B-266. They entered a password to unlock the door, then handed the key to Zhang Ailun.

"Let's go inside and take a look. This hangar hasn't been used for a long time. It can hold up to four small planes and two medium-sized passenger planes," the lawyer said.

Zhang Ailun went in and took a look, only to find it was an empty warehouse.

There were some maintenance equipment, a roller ladder for logging into the aircraft, and some wooden crates piled up, but nothing else particularly remarkable.

Sieg also found some police equipment in the adjacent prefabricated house, as well as two sets of aircraft pilot helmets and night vision goggles, and parachute backpacks. They were clearly unused in a long time, covered in dust, but two sets of professional flight equipment would cost at least three thousand dollars!

Bailey, on the other hand, discovered a mountain tricycle. He was somewhat surprised to find that it could still start.

There's not much fuel left in the tank, but there's a gas station right next to the airport, so there's no need to worry about running out of fuel.

"These are all gifts from our boss, we don't need them anyway," the lawyer said.

"Please thank your boss for me," Zhang Ailun said with a smile.

This three-wheeled motorcycle is worth at least two thousand dollars. The airport in this hangar is quite large, so it would be a good choice as a mode of transportation.

The hangar also needs to be cleaned and prepared before it can be used.

After handing over the hangar and having the lawyer sign the papers, the transfer agreement was happily finalized. I then took a taxi back to the city.

Zhang Ailun carried the broom and trash can to the doorway and gave orders to Sieg and Bailey, directing, "Start cleaning. Don't worry, this is all your work, no one's going to take it from you! Take your time!"

"Okay." Sig glanced at the hangar, then simply rolled up his sleeves without saying anything more.

The Grand Master suffered a huge loss today, spending hundreds of thousands, so he has no right to let the other party take action.

I picked up a broom and started sweeping the dust and trash in the warehouse.

While waiting, Blitz sent a message to the Grand Master, which Zhang Ailun opened and glanced at.

Blitz: The Bitcoin has already been sold. The other party is interested in buying the $100,000 USD worth of USDT. They have already sent me the wallet link and need you to transfer the funds.

Zhang Ailun glanced at the long list of links, opened the app, and transferred the operation. He then saw that the virtual currency in his wallet had instantly been wiped out.

(End of this chapter)