America: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 315 The Martial World is About Human Relationships

It was getting late.

Zhang Ailun didn't plan to stay overnight or have dinner there. He told the mercenaries and Qibatu to stay on the island, and that more people would be sent over later.

With Boketu and the others, they left the private island in a Black Hawk helicopter and headed to a hangar in the suburbs.

After some time, we arrived at our destination and came to a smooth stop on the airport runway.

After getting off the plane, I walked to the hangar, entered the hangar code, pushed open the door, and went inside. I found that the Beggars' Sect disciples had already loaded the warthog with ammunition.

After greeting the group, Zhang Ailun took out his phone, logged onto the Opportunity Network, found Tijuana's official bidding department, and contacted them through the backend.

Thunderbolt Armed Nation: We have received some information and intelligence regarding the disappearance of the Tijuana mayor's wife and daughter.

Tijuana Bidding Department: Really? That's wonderful! Where did you get this lead? Are they doing well?

Thunderfire Armed Nation: According to our intelligence agents' secret investigation, we have learned that an organization called White Dove accepted a kidnapping order on the dark web and abducted a 14-year-old girl and a 34-year-old mature woman. The true identities of the mother and daughter are suspected to be Debbie, the daughter of Tijuana Mayor Reagan, and her wife, Mrs. Newman.

Tijuana Bidding Department: Yes, these are indeed the mayor's wife and daughter. Where are they now? Have your people been in contact with them? If possible, please ensure their personal safety.

Thunderbolt Armed Nation: We haven't actually had contact with either of them. We only had someone verify that they were kidnapped by terrorists and taken to a red container (SH585V) by the MS-5800 Mason Express via the Gulf of California to the port area. They should now be being transported away by a dark green Ford F-150 pickup truck with license plate LS-27B-49. That pickup truck will secretly transport them to an abandoned factory in the eastern suburbs of Los Angeles, where they will meet with a drug cartel for a transaction.

Tijuana Bidding Department: Those drug traffickers are in Los Angeles, California. Our people can't get there; it involves diplomatic issues. But we've contacted the DEA, and they're investigating. If the information is true, they'll definitely mobilize resources to crack down on the criminals! Thank you so much for the information!

Thunderfire Armed Nation: What we hate most in this life are drug dealers and human traffickers. If you need more weapons, you can also choose to place an order in our store.

Tijuana Bidding Department: We will!

I exited the chat window.

After waiting for a while, an anonymous call came in. When Zhang Ailun answered, the caller immediately introduced himself and explained his purpose.

"Hello, is this Mr. Jin? We are DEA agents stationed in Los Angeles, California. Officials from Tijuana, Mexico, contacted us, and after our investigation, we confirmed that a Matson Express cargo ship did indeed arrive at the port area, and a pickup truck was also captured on camera traveling to a suburban location. We are now ready to take action against those criminals."

"However, due to the urgency of the situation and to avoid alerting the perpetrators, we have cancelled our original plan to recruit local police officers to assist in the operation. Those officers may have already accepted bribes and would tip them off, allowing the drug traffickers and terrorists to escape. We've heard that your armed nation also engages in escort and security contracting, so we'd like to temporarily requisition or lease your weapons and personnel to deal with the drug cartel. Would you be willing to help us?"

The narcotics officers immediately asked to borrow guns and personnel.

Zhang Ailun feigned difficulty, saying, "Isn't arresting drug dealers and combating human trafficking your DEA and FBI's responsibility? We're just a small arms trading company. Our weapons and personnel are registered; we can only engage in buying and selling, not directly participate in combat. We only provided the relevant information to Tijuana officials because we have business dealings with them; we didn't intend to get directly involved. What if there's an accidental discharge or injuries, and someone holds us responsible?"

Upon hearing this, the narcotics officer immediately assured him, "Please rest assured, our narcotics bureau will take responsibility if anything goes wrong. We have already applied for operational approval from our superiors. Due to the urgency of the situation, we have to recruit additional help from the outsourced military company. As far as we know, your armed forces' employees are all veterans, and they have an obligation to cooperate with relevant departments in carrying out the task of combating criminals, which is also permitted under local law. The government will reimburse us for the firearms and personnel we requisition and lease from you."

"Okay, that puts my mind at ease." Zhang Ailun smiled. "What kind of weapons would you like to borrow temporarily? We currently have thirty people who can assist you in the case and rescue the hostages."

Thirty people is an understatement, but you don't need that many people just to crack down on drug trafficking gangs. The narcotics bureau can hold the line while they provide fire support from behind.

In any case, the Grand Master would never send his underlings to risk their lives; simply providing them with the corresponding weapons and equipment is already a great favor.

"Your Thunderfire Armed Nation is a three-star certified store that cooperates with the military, right? You should also have equipment with large-scale firepower. We want to requisition at least one Black Hawk helicopter, as well as explosive drones, sniper rifles, and other equipment from you," the narcotics bureau agent said.

"We can provide you with firepower support at any time." Zhang Ailun then asked doubtfully, "Why don't you contact PMC? They should be much more professional than ours, right?"

The narcotics bureau agent said helplessly, "Their people have already gone off duty and are not within working hours. If we directly submit a request to the military to conscript soldiers, it may be approved, but the approval process will take at least a day. During this time, it is very likely to attract the attention of the CIA. By then, those drug dealers will have long since disappeared. We can only rely on our own strength."

"..." Zhang Ailun was speechless.

The DEA has also suffered many losses at the hands of the CIA; almost every failed operation was due to betrayal by its own people.

After exchanging information and agreeing to meet at the suburban airport, Zhang Ailun hung up the phone and informed the Beggars' Sect disciples. He also notified the people in the Kilimanjaro Mountains to gather thirty strong soldiers.

Half an hour later, the Beggars' Sect disciples arrived in a van with their men. Each of them was fully armed and carried all sorts of sophisticated equipment, ready to set off and fight at any moment!

Another ten minutes or so later, the anti-drug bureau personnel arrived late, driving several inconspicuous Ford cars to the airport. A dozen or so people got out of the cars, all wearing anti-drug bureau badges.

The lead detective walked over and greeted the leader of the gang warmly, shaking hands. "Hello, Mr. Jin, I am a detective from the DEA stationed in Los Angeles, California. You can call me Raylo."

"Detective Lei Luo?"

Zhang Ailun felt a little uncomfortable with the name. But he still shook hands with him, looked at the dozen or so teammates in front of him, and glanced at their weapons and vehicles.

Not to mention the dilapidated secondhand Ford, how come even the equipment is so ordinary?

If you guys aren't all equipped with an M4, then at the very least you should have a submachine gun, right?

How come everyone had a set of body armor, a Glock 17 pistol, a few spare magazines, threw explosives, and came all this way without helmets?

The leader was puzzled and couldn't help but ask hesitantly, "Detective Lei Luo, is your narcotics bureau really that badly doing? How come you don't even have a decent weapon?"

"This brings us to those bastards from the CIA... cough cough. Actually, most of our operating funds are spent on the consulates stationed in Mexico and Colombia. The drug problem in Los Angeles isn't that serious, and since narcotics are legal, we don't need to do much of the work. The FBI and the local police are very attentive to this kind of thing, so we don't need to get involved at all. Because if we get involved, they might not make any money, and working for the DEA would easily make you offend people."

"Los Angeles is relatively safe, far less so than New York, Miami, and Chicago, where drug use is rampant, so we rarely receive funding."

Detective Lei Luo was also helpless, but still assured them, "But without exception, all the personnel mobilized this time are elites from our Narcotics Bureau!"

As he spoke, he looked at the well-equipped Beggars' Sect disciples, becoming more and more satisfied. And look at that Black Hawk helicopter that had been pulled out—how majestic and imposing it was!

Wait a minute, is there another Warthog here?

"Mr. Jin, where did you get this A10 Warthog? It can't just be a toy model for collection, right?" Lei Luo said, feigning surprise.

The Beggars' Sect disciple immediately replied, "Of course this is not a model. We just finished debugging and flight testing this afternoon, and it's ready to carry out the mission."

Inspector Lei Luo laughed even more heartily.

"..." It's obvious you're just trying to freeload off me!

The Grand Master took a deep breath. After all these years of freeloading off others, finally someone shameless enough to come and freeload off him?

There's no way around it; life goes on. The head of the organization is hoping the Tijuana officials will place a few more orders with him, so he can't be too stingy. This small amount of money can't be bothered with. If he gets a few more sales through Tijuana, that'll bring in millions more dollars!

The martial arts world is not just about fighting and killing; it's about human relationships and social interactions.

"We're just dealing with some drug dealers and human traffickers, we shouldn't need warthogs, right? Aren't we going to rescue hostages?" Zhang Ailun said.

"That's not quite right! This mission is a matter of the DEA's reputation! It's also a matter of foreign policy. A drug cartel has run from our country to Mexico and kidnapped the mayor's wife and daughters. We must crack down on the criminals severely! Otherwise, if the CIA gains the upper hand and then hands over the drug traffickers afterward, our capabilities and voice will be further questioned by the public."

"Inspector Lei Luo said seriously."

In my opinion, you guys don't seem to have much capability on your own soil. You have a tense relationship with the military region, you're adversaries with the FBI, and you're enemies with the CIA.

"Okay, I can provide you with A-10 air-to-ground fire support, but the cost of the ammunition will need to be reimbursed by the government," Zhang Ailun said.

"No problem," Inspector Lei Luo readily agreed. But the Grand Master still felt that this guy was a bit unreliable.

After communicating with each other and making relevant combat arrangements, everyone boarded the Black Hawk helicopter, while the Beggar Clan disciples' pilots took over the A-10 attack aircraft and flew off from the airport runway.

Boketu also took to the skies in his Black Hawk helicopter, while the other Beggars' Sect disciples traveled to the outskirts of the city by ground transportation.

It was late at night.

In the suburbs, a pickup truck carrying wooden crates turned onto a side road and stopped at the entrance of the factory under the cover of night.

Several armed men came out, communicated with them, confirmed their identities, and then waved them on.

The pickup truck entered the community without any hindrance and then parked in the park's parking garage.

The car door opened, and several masked terrorists got out. They had white dove tattoos and other designs on their arms. They opened the car door, unloaded the wooden crates, and placed them on a trolley.

The group pushed the cart to the factory, exchanged a few words with the people outside, and were then allowed to pass.

Upon entering the factory, one is immediately struck by stacks of US dollars, sealed in plastic film, amounting to at least tens of millions of dollars.

A one-eyed man wearing camouflage, smoking a cigarette, with a noticeable scar on his face, stood beside several drug cartel members armed with guns.

Seeing them bring the person over, the one-eyed man nodded, said a few words of praise in Spanish, and then waved.

The drug cartel member next to him turned around, took out several stacks of banknotes from the pile of money, and tossed them to the other person.

The armed men at White Dove took several stacks of US dollars, looked at the pile of bills for a long time, nodded, and then turned and left with their men.

After the White Doves left, the drug cartel members nearby immediately used crowbars to pry open the mortise and tenon structure of the wooden box, destroying it and revealing two women, one large and one small, who were bound hand and foot, their mouths and noses gagged, and unconscious.

"Boss, these are Mayor Reagan's wife and daughter? They're quite good-looking! Should we torture them a bit first, film a video and send it to the people in Tijuana, and then talk to them about a deal? If they don't agree to release our people and the drugs, and don't allow us to continue drug trafficking, we'll ravage them and then bury them alive," a member of the drug cartel suggested.

One-Eyed Dragon immediately refused, "The Tijuana resistance is no ordinary organization. They are very tough. If we really hurt these two people, they will definitely fight us to the death. They also cooperate with the DEA and have taken down many drug trafficking organizations. If things get too big and it becomes difficult to back down, we will definitely be abandoned by them."

"The DEA doesn't know where we are now. They'd never guess we'd kidnapped someone in California. The most dangerous place is the safest place! They're frantically searching the whole city like headless flies, probably thinking we're in Mexico! Hahahaha..." The drug cartel member laughed heartily.

The one-eyed dragon chuckled upon hearing this.