America: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 190 From Beginner to End of Life as an Arms Dealer

Midway through, Zhang Ailun switched places with Melvin and dropped the man off at Sanji's Bar. Instead of going in to supervise Mary and Geese's work, he drove directly to Armed Nation on West Street.

When they arrived, they saw that Sieg had already driven the armored truck to the gun shop entrance, loaded the equipment from Firefox PMC Security Company, and was ready to go.

Zhang Ailun parked the car in the backyard of the gun shop, got out and called Sieg over to help unload all the equipment, then put it on the shelf and marked the price for sale.

Sig came over, opened the arms case, glanced at the weapon serial numbers, and checked the paper lists. Somewhat surprised, he said, "Boss, where did you get this weaponry? The serial numbers are still on, and they're all legal. You really didn't spend a single cent? There must be at least $200,000 worth of weapons here!"

Zhang Ailun smiled and said, "They were all left to me by my good friend whom I had never met before."

He immediately told Sieg what had happened at the suburban ranch.

Sieg was utterly astonished upon hearing this, his face filled with shock. "What kind of arms dealer could come to retaliate and end up with their entire army wiped out? And kill so many animals? They're truly something else!"

The key is that the mastermind always manages to snag the best deals; your life must be on steroids!

Zhang Ailun told him to stop talking and get to work quickly. He also lent a hand, helping to hang the guns on the wall and in the cabinet, and drafting the prices.

Sig took the list of firearms serial numbers upstairs, logged onto the official website, and listed each of the legal firearms one by one, registering them with serial numbers.

This way, buyers can choose and order guns online, or they can choose to come to the nearest store to view and buy guns.

"Boss, we have the shop and the guns, but I feel like we're still short-handed. Should we go out and recruit a few female shop assistants?"

Sieg went downstairs to consult the head of the guild, wondering if they should imitate the setup of another armed nation's boss, with the best staff being fair-skinned, beautiful, long-legged, and having pleasant voices.

"No need for that trouble, aren't there plenty of beautiful women among our own people?"

Zhang Ailun immediately took out his phone and sent a message to Jennifer.

Zhang Ailun: Would you take a decent job? No physical labor required, no need to run around, you can earn a respectable income just by sitting all day.

Jennifer: You want me to go to prostitutes? You're disgusted with me?

Zhang Ailun: Stop messing around. Sig and I own a gun shop and we're short-staffed. I'd like to invite you to help out. I can offer you $35 an hour, plus extra sales commission.

I also took some photos of the gun shop's interior and the firearms hanging on the wall.

Jennifer: This is so cool! I love this job, but I don't know much about firearms. Should I learn more about them?

Zhang Ailun: You only need to remember the gun model and price. The process isn't complicated. All you need to do is introduce the gun model and its advantages to the customer and find someone to sell it. Offline sales require qualifications; you can't sell guns to unqualified people.

Jennifer: Don't worry, honey, I'm a professional at this! I'll sell all these weapons like I'm selling myself!

Zhang Ailun: ...

Oh no, I almost forgot Jennifer's specialty: conning and scamming people.

Zhang Ailun: You'd better not try too many tricks. Who knows what those gun buyers might do?

Jennifer: I understand! Can I go to work now? I can't wait!

Zhang Ailun: [Location coordinates] Come on.

After settling things with the sales staff, Zhang Ailun sent a message to Bailey, asking him to come over and help out at the store. They waited at the store for a while before arriving.

Zhang Ailun, already dressed in security gear, explained to the two, "We're going out to run some business. You two familiarize yourselves with the store environment first, then we'll open for business. If someone places an order online, first check whether it's from an individual or a store, verify its authenticity, and only sell to those who are legal and compliant. If it's within the Los Angeles city area, we offer free delivery. If it's outside Los Angeles, for small quantities, we can mail it through the post office. For large-caliber weapons worth over $10,000, we'll personally escort them, but there will be an additional escort and delivery fee based on the distance and risk."

Pele, having learned about the requirements of this line of work, gave an OK sign, indicating that there were no problems.

Jennifer also started reading an employee handbook seriously. Zhang Ailun glanced at the book's cover: "Learning to be an Arms Dealer from Scratch, From Beginner to End."

No, I asked you to sell guns from home, and you've started doing international trade?

Zhang Ailun felt a little numb.

He suppressed his thoughts, thinking that Jennifer was probably just having a passing fancy and would calm down in a couple of days.

I also gave them some instructions on how to run a gun shop. They didn't need to be too enthusiastic towards ordinary customers. Gun enthusiasts would definitely have already done their research. They just needed to do their job: introduce the guns, investigate their backgrounds, and complete the transaction.

Jennifer also assured customers that they would feel right at home. Bailey felt that with him, this incredibly strong man, there was no one who would dare to cause trouble.

Only then did Zhang Ailun feel relieved enough to leave and sit in the escort vehicle.

He glanced at the goods behind him—large and small bags of green military boxes—but didn't find the sealed paper document. He asked, "Where's the document worth thirty thousand dollars?"

"The security company only allowed me to pick up the weapons and equipment; the encrypted documents need to be retrieved from someone at the street cafe near the post office," Sieg replied.

"OK".

After the leader fastened his seatbelt, Sieg started the vehicle, turned the steering wheel, and stepped on the gas, driving towards the post office on North Street.

They soon arrived at the post office on North Street and stopped beside the intersection. Sieg took out his phone and sent a message to his contact. Half a minute later, a mysterious-looking person wearing a hoodie, sweatshirt, and sneakers walked out of the coffee shop across the street.

Arriving at the armored transport vehicle, he knocked on the window, took the document from his pocket, and handed it to Sig in the driver's seat, instructing, "This document needs to be escorted to Palm Valley and delivered to Harry, the manager of Interstellar Insurance Company. Do not attempt to open it during the journey, otherwise it will be invalid, and the employer will not pay you. You will also need to pay an additional hefty penalty fee!"

Sieg took the document and casually said, "Don't worry, we're professionals."

He rolled up the window again, stepped on the gas, and drove away.

Zhang Ailun glanced at the man on the street through the rearview mirror. The man handed over the envelope and then turned and left, acting all mysterious. If he hadn't known the contents of the document beforehand, he would have really thought it contained some kind of classified military documents or F-35 design blueprints.

Sieg drove the armored escort vehicle smoothly to Palm Valley. Having had a similar experience a few days ago, he was quite familiar with the route this time.

Zhang Ailun picked up the paper document and glanced at it. It showed signs of being sealed once. If the rules and agreements were not followed and it was opened, the escort mission would fail.

You might get your fill of visual enjoyment, but not only will your employer not pay you, you'll also find yourself in a mess, getting into a lot of trouble. You'll also offend several business partners, pay hefty breach-of-contract penalties, and your reputation will be completely ruined.

Seeing that the Grand Master was very curious about the document, Sieg advised, "Boss, you'd better not be too interested in the contents of this. It will only bring endless trouble to our work. Our mission is to escort the munitions and deliver the envelope to the employer. There's no need to cause any more trouble."

"Don't worry, do you think I'm the kind of person who would lose sight of the bigger picture for a small gain? I'm a very rule-abiding person! I already knew what this document contained." Zhang Ailun said without changing his expression, stuffing the document into the safe.

Sig remained skeptical of the Grand Master's words. "You've only just received it and you already know what it is? Do you think you have X-ray vision?"

"Drive carefully. Nothing should happen along the way. I need to take a break."

Zhang Ailun put on his goggles, sat in the passenger seat, and began to close his eyes to rest.

Sieg focused intently on driving, avoiding any convoys and having planned a safe route in advance, specifically choosing main roads. This time, there were no traffic jams on the highway, and he traveled at a speed of over 100 miles per hour, making the journey very fast.

More than an hour later, the navigation system also issued a warning: "Estimated arrival time at Palm Valley is 10 minutes. Congested traffic is approaching, please slow down."

In the suburbs of Sig Dian, I saw state troopers checking cars ahead. After waiting for a few minutes without seeing them, I simply turned around and took another highway, which took an extra ten minutes before I finally got back on my original route.

"We are about to enter Palm Valley city. The area ahead is a traffic light intersection and a frequent accident zone. Please slow down and drive carefully."

Sieg's expression softened, and he smiled. He also woke up Zhang Ailun, who was resting with his eyes closed, "Boss, wake up, we're almost there."

Zhang Ailun slept the whole way. He stretched and glanced around at his surroundings, but didn't remember much of it. It wasn't the same road he had taken with the state police last time.

I took out my phone and searched the map. We were already close to the city center, on a highway in the suburbs of Palm Valley, with not many cars around.

Seeing the warning about accident-prone areas, Zhang Ailun became alert. "Are there frequent traffic accidents on this road? Don't be too happy yet. As long as the goods haven't been delivered to the employer, this mission isn't considered a success."

"I understand, I just wanted to wake you up to help keep an eye on the surroundings," Sieg explained.

As the two were talking, a black Buick pulled up behind them and drove side by side. From the outside, the tinted windows were so dark that it was impossible to tell who was inside.

Zhang Ailun found the person in the car a bit strange. He took out his weapon, held it in his hand, and released the safety, signaling Sieg to also pay attention to the other party's movements.

"See this car? If the driver does anything unusual, roll down the window and ram it without hesitation." Zhang Ailun decided to strike first; if the other party dared to pull out a gun, he would open fire!

"Okay." Sig also noticed the car. He drove seriously, but after driving together for a few minutes, he didn't see anything unusual about the other driver. When they passed a repair shop, the other driver turned around and drove straight in.

"This guy might just have happened to be traveling with us," Sig said in surprise.

But his intuition told him that things weren't that simple. There aren't that many coincidences in the world.

He glanced at the black Buick sedan parked in the repair shop. "Didn't catch up? Then just speed up. It'll be much better once we get into the city."

Sieg stepped on the gas and sped up, quickly leaving the other car behind. The black Buick disappeared from sight. He smiled and said, "Boss, I told you there wasn't a chance of so many dangerous accidents happening."

Zhang Ailun also felt confused, but it was good that nothing unexpected happened. He nodded and said, "They were lucky to escape with their lives. I had the safety on my gun."

Still not entirely reassured, he simply took out his phone and sent the license plate number to Blitz.

Zhang Ailun: Help me check the information about this car.

Blitz: OK.

A car repair shop.

A black Buick was parked on the side of the road. Three or four white men got out, their waist bags bulging. They watched the armored truck drive away, feeling resentful. They glanced down at their punctured tire and couldn't help but curse, "Fxxk! Which bastard scattered nails on the road? My damn tire got punctured!"

"Hey guys, are you getting your car fixed?" The black mechanic at the repair shop came out, glanced at their punctured tire, and couldn't help but laugh, saying, "Oh, you guys have really bad luck. On such a wide road, you still managed to run over a nail."

"How much does it cost to change the tire? We have other things to do!" the Buick owner said.

"What's up? Are you going to rob that armored truck that just passed by?" the black clerk said half-jokingly. "Tire and rim replacement, $400."

"What?! Why don't you just rob someone?!" The bearded man wearing a knitted hat couldn't help but curse, "I only bought this car for $1400. The four wheels combined aren't even worth that much."

"I meant changing all four tires! I only offer package deals here. If you don't want to change them, fine, but drive another ten minutes to the city center, where it's more expensive."

Seeing that they were reluctant to pay, the Black clerk said with a stern face, "If the police see your flat tire, they might just call a tow truck for you and take you to a designated repair shop. Then it will cost much more than $400."

"You're right! Hurry up and change it for us. Here's $400!" The other person didn't want to argue any further and simply pulled out $400 in cash.

The black man glanced at his wallet in surprise. So much money?

"Okay, I'll go and solve the problem for you."

As soon as Old Black entered the house, he picked up the phone and started calling his buddy, "Hey bro, I've got a job. A few scrawny guys with at least $2000 on them got their tires punctured by our nails. Okay, you guys get over here!"

The people waiting outside were getting impatient; several minutes had passed and the tire still hadn't been changed.

That black guy is so slow and inefficient! I really want to whip him!

"In ten minutes, the armored truck would be in the city, or even a plane would be flying to San Francisco," one member of the gang complained. "This deal is definitely not going to happen."

"As long as they haven't delivered the documents to the insurance company's employer, our deal isn't a failure!" said the bearded man in the knitted hat. "We still have a chance! Let's do it right here in the city!"

"Dude, ten thousand dollars isn't enough, is it? If the police catch us, we're definitely dead." The other man was a little reluctant.

"If the police find out about your actions, you'll also have to serve fifty years in prison!"

The bearded man said irritably, "We're in this business to get paid to do things for our clients. If we can't get things done, how are we supposed to make money in the future?"

"Okay, you're the boss, you make the decisions."

After waiting a few minutes, the black man finally came out, and the group couldn't help but urge him to hurry up and fix the car. But the old man seemed to be dragging his feet, making all sorts of excuses to stall for time, which thoroughly angered the group.

"Fxxk you! Are you trying to rob us? Do you think we're easy to bully?" The bearded man, unable to contain himself any longer, pulled out his weapon and shoved it into the black man's forehead. "Now! Right now! Fix my car!!"

Hey! What are you doing?

Two pickup trucks drove up and stopped on the side of the road. Several black men jumped out, each carrying a black box, and shouted, "Put down all your weapons!"

"Fxxk you!" the bearded man cursed and fired, shooting the black man dead with a bang.

The local Black men were also terrified, never expecting the other side to dare to fire directly! Where did this lunatic come from? They immediately crouched behind cover and returned fire.

The two sides exchanged blows, and then they started firing shots!

They celebrated the Lunar New Year early on the side of a road in the suburbs.

(End of this chapter)