Chapter 555: Entering the Land of Mercenary (Part One)
Lin Chuxue had to go back to school. This trip she just had didn’t entail many pleasant surprises, instead it had, more or so, turned into some kind of horror movie, and that left Haber feeling a bit guilty. He originally invited them over to have fun.
Of course, to Lin Chuxue, this trip wasn’t without gain. At least she was able to meet Haber’s wife as Xu Cheng’s wife, and then get to know the other madams of the upper cla.s.s. Also, she felt one step closer to Xu Cheng, and it was the biggest reason for her being happy. She was now even more determined to be with Xu Cheng until the end.
Xu Cheng originally wanted to keep her there to stay for a bit longer, but Lin Chuxue was determined to go back, citing the reason that she wanted to hurry back to finish her studies so she could come out and help Xu Cheng.
Xu Cheng didn’t insist since he would be going to the Land of Mercenaries soon anyways to take Haber’s construction team to his territory to build the underground base.
He personally sent Lin Chuxue to the States and dropped her off at school. Then, he went to see Stenson and Lin Dong.
Saar and the others treated him to a very fancy meal. It was mainly because they were so happy to receive a hundred million bonus for lending him their money.
Stenson would be staying to take care of the casino operations for the time being, and he would also be trying to find a professional manager for the casinos in the meantime. There would also be the four gangs helping.
As for Lin Dong, Xu Cheng intended to take him to the Land of Mercenaries to train him.
The construction team Haber invited was 100 people in size, all of whom were the pretty brave type. Although they weren’t at the top of the game in terms of techniques and professionalism, Xu Cheng was already satisfied enough. After all, what more could you ask for when they already agreed to come to a h.e.l.lish place like this?
Luo Yi knew Xu Cheng was coming, and he led a fleet of 10 big and small pickup trucks to the border to welcome him.
The Land of Mercenaries was very desolate, and it was normal for you to not even find a single person down the long sandy road.
There were some dirt houses on the side of the road, which all belonged to villages that were destroyed by war and were now uninhabited. The entire land was pretty dry and hot. For those outlaws, if it weren’t for that they were out of options, who would want to root down in such a place?
The fleet of trucks stopped by a resting station to get refueled, and Luo Yi led Xu Cheng to a nearby hotel to settle down for a break and report to him the current situation.
Xu Cheng curiously asked, “There were gunshots along the way, why is it so quiet in this area?”
Luo Yi said, “We drove through some war zones along the way, so the gunfire was endless. The resting station is a truce zone, so crossfires are prohibited, and it’s expressly stipulated.”
Xu Cheng lifted his eyebrows. “There’s someone behind this area?”
Luo Yi nodded. “The local government is corrupt and incompetent, it doesn’t have the capacity to build nor funds to provide aid. So, it’s pretty much other countries that are in charge of the transportation channels, and they are jointly responsible for the management and construction of these small cities. To put it bluntly, there’s no gunfire allowed in these kinds of cities, because actually, besides the crude oil here that makes mad bank, the profit from running the cities is also pretty significant.”
Xu Cheng nodded. “That’s for sure. No soldier can live without essentials like food and water, and the cost of transportation is obviously high, so the price is even higher, and so is the profit. That’s one way to profit from war.”
Luo Yi smiled and said, “In fact, if our mercenary group gets big enough to be able to handle managing a city, we can also start our own. That way, we can avoid going to other cities to fuel up and buy necessities, and not be scammed on the prices. Kush has 5 cities under his name, and I’ve done some digging; each of the four former behemoth families of Huaxia all had a city each too, and the scale ain’t small either.”
Xu Cheng asked, “How many members are in the Deviant Corp now?”
Chapter 555: Entering the Land of Mercenary (Part Two)
Luo Yi awkwardly smiled. “About 80 people. Although it’s not many, they are all pretty reliable, and they are all pretty good fighters.”
Hearing this number, Xu Cheng was a bit speechless. “After so long, just 80? Doesn’t that mean that if I do my round of filtering, it will be even less?”
Luo Yi said, “The thing is, we haven’t won any battles yet, nor have we partic.i.p.ated in any of them, so not many people have heard of us. If we can fight a few battles first and get some victories under our belt, then more people would come and join us. Big Brother Cheng, you were never here, so Li Wei and I could only focus on gathering intel. We are barely S level, so we didn’t want to risk anything, so we went the route of ‘pssying out and gathering info and resources first’. Big Brother Cheng, you don’t know this, but even if we expand our group to beyond 80, we don’t have sufficient management in place. Then, there’s the dilemma: we don’t have enough people to win battles, and without any battles won, we can’t attract any people.”
At this time, the drivers of the other 9 pickups which were the new recruits of Deviant Corp all used the break time to come over and say h.e.l.lo.
Luo Yi pointed at Xu Cheng and introduced to the others, “This is the founder of our Deviant Mercenary Corp, Li Wei’s and my boss!”
Xu Cheng shook hands with nine people of different nationalities. These guys then saluted Xu Cheng and said, “We’ve always heard Luo Yi talking about you, we finally got to meet you today. Now our Deviant Corp finally has a head, right?”
“Chris, Italian.” Luo Yi was about to introduce them all to Xu Cheng.
Chris interrupted him and said, “After entering the Land of Mercenaries, nationality is no longer important. Here, it doesn’t matter which country you are from, but it matters which camp you are from. Strictly speaking, when I made the choice to come here, my nationality was already canceled. Now, I’m one without nationality.”
Xu Cheng: “Very good. Chris, right? My surname is Xu.”
Chris reached out and shook hands with him. “h.e.l.lo, Boss Xu.”
Luo Yi then introduced the others, “Kurt, Vala, Dusener, Chekosov, Zhang Xiu…”
Upon hearing the name Zhang Xiu and seeing his Asian face, Xu Cheng curiously asked, “Why did you come here?”
Zhang Xiu directly replied, “I killed someone, and was sentenced to life imprisonment! So I came here.”
Looking at these guys, Xu Cheng asked, “Who’s been here the longest?”
Chris raised his hand. “Me. Been here 9 years now.”
Xu Cheng asked, “Why didn’t you join the other mercenary camps but chose ours?”
Chris: “I would rather be the chicken head than a phoenix’s tail. I’m very experienced, but I don’t have money to make my own team, nor do I want to join any camps that are affiliated with a country’s government and become their tool. Over the years of roaming around, I was waiting for an opportunity. If a camp is willing to accept me into their management, with my experience, I can help lead the camp to a higher place.”
Xu Cheng smiled. Then, he looked at Zhang Xiu and the others and asked, “How about you guys? Why are you joining us?”
Zhang Xiu laughed. “Can I say it’s for the Deviant Corp’s logo?”
Someone else answered, “I’m just doing it for survival.”
Chekosov: “I’m here for money. Once I make enough, I can go back home.”
Vala from Thailand said, “I’m not going back. My family wants to sell me to a crime syndicate that makes men into s.h.e.m.a.l.es and enslaves them to make money. I’d rather die like a man than accept that life.”