Chapter 181: Business Upgrade
As they watched Brando’s group leave the conference room, the eyes of Botu and Colmore turned cold.
“The sort of trash that used to bow and sc.r.a.pe at us is now bold enough to threaten us...”
Colmore’s mouth cracked open in a humorless smile.
“After all, since they have a new master, naturally, they must show their loyalty to him. The old masters have lost their influence, of course.”
Botu smoked his cigar and pondered aloud. “But now isn’t the time to get hung up over this. We’d best begin preparing our defense against their counterattack.”
“Why would we need to defend ourselves?”
At one side, Colmore snorted coldly. “How about we just kill them all tonight? We’ve already found out the hotel they’re staying at. We’ll just stir up an accidental fire, then we can flawlessly evade the public’s scrutiny...”
“But will they really counterattack?”
Papari, who had remained silent, now spoke with an icy smile, “This is our territory. Whether in terms of underground forces or official power, they can’t compete with us. So, how will they...”
“Boom!”
There was a sudden, loud noise beside Papari’s ear. They only saw a flash of fire before losing consciousness in the next second...
A thunderous sound tore through the city center.
The sound was earth-shattering. The pa.s.sersby all cried out in panic and the cars parked by the roadside also sounded their piercing alarms.
The pedestrians looked toward the source of the sound, only to see thick smoke billowing from the office building of Tara Private Security Company, located in the city center. The entire 25th floor was plunged into an ocean of flames...
The 25th floor was where the conference room was located.
At this time, Brando’s group, who had just exited the elevator and had not even left the Tara office building, only felt the entire building quake. Then, everyone hurried out of the building and looked toward the roof.
The 25th floor, where they had just come from, had been completely reduced to ashes. Only an endless fire was spreading and black smoke blossomed into a plume of smoke that was witnessed by everyone in the city center.
“What just happened...”
Anthony was still a little dazed. “Did the explosion happen on the floor we were on?”
“I guess it must be so.”
Brando inhaled sharply. Just then, he suddenly remembered asking Cheng Cao yesterday if he was going with them. Cheng Cao answered he had another job.
Now, he knew what Cheng Cao’s job was...
Just as Brando and Sara were reeling from the shock, they saw Cheng Cao walk out of the building with an indifferent expression. Meanwhile, a car stopped in front of Cheng Cao, blocking everyone’s view.
When the car had left, Cheng Cao had vanished.
“Let’s head back first.”
Brando got everyone’s attention. They all got into the cars and swiftly left the place.
Half an hour later, everyone had returned to the hotel where they were staying. As soon as they entered the door, they saw Cheng Cao who was already quietly watching the TV from the sofa. The TV station was broadcasting a report on the explosion that had occurred in the Tara Company building.
“Mr. Anthony, Ms. Jennifer, please head up and rest first. We’ll ask the company for further instructions,” Brando said.
“Alright, then we’ll rest for now.”
Anthony shot a long look at Cheng Cao who was sitting on the sofa, then led everyone out of the room.
When there was no one else in the room, Brando frowned and asked, “Cheng Cao, if we do this, won’t the authorities of the Rainbow Nation retaliate?”
“Retaliate?”
“Yes.”
Brando explained, “If we resolved it privately, whether by murdering the other party or using other means, the authorities won’t pay any attention. But if it’s carried out in the public eye in this manner, they’ll find it difficult to overlook.”
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
Cheng Cao waved his hand. “Several consortia from North America had already visited Cape Town’s City Hall. Not only that...”
Now, Cheng Cao pointed at the TV screen.
Brando looked at the TV, only to hear the current news anchor saying, “The cause of the incident has been ascertained. The explosion at Tara Company occurred due to a fire that was caused by a natural gas pipeline leak. A total of 12 people were killed and more than 30 were injured...”
“That was fast...”
When he saw this, Brando could not help but take in a deep breath.
Although he had ended the lives of more than a dozen people, when he saw how swiftly the TV station had concluded the matter, he was astounded by how cheap life was.
The influence of the Blackwatch Corporation had far exceeded his framework of understanding.
“I had wanted to get everyone in one strike, but I didn’t expect that one person wouldn’t show up at this meeting.”
Cheng Cao took out a sheet of information. “There’s a member of the National Congress who owns 6 percent of Tara Company’s shares — I’ll leave him to you. Whether by a.s.sa.s.sination or negotiation, just make him spit out his shares.”
“We got it.”
Brando nodded and gently took the sheet of information. He noticed that the information was extremely complete. From the target’s childhood to his present life, the man’s life experience and likings were all clearly stated.
The extent of this intelligence gathering once again floored Brando. One could say that even without him and Sara, Blackwatch could still easily eliminate these stumbling blocks. His and Sara’s roles had been reduced to the lowest level. They were practically just backup at this point.
The swift and resolute way of doing things, the power to do whatever they wanted, and the mind-boggling intelligence system...
What sort of company was this?
A deep chill pervaded Brando’s heart. At the same time, he silently resolved that, if possible, he would never face off against this company.
...
The next day, Cheng Cao returned to Namibia by plane and Brando also located the last shareholder who still owned shares in Tara.
Nonetheless, this time, things went much more smoothly. After learning about the fate that had befallen the rest, the last shareholder happily handed over his shares.
At this point, Tara Private Security Company was an enterprise owned wholly by Chen Chen.
Chen Chen had to take over Tara Private Security Company because this company had branches and offices in more than a dozen African countries. By acquiring Tara, Chen Chen had managed to save himself the time and effort needed to establish a foundation. Instead, he could extend his influence straight into the hearts of various African countries.
Presently, Tara Company’s most famous customers were Angola, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone.
After all this was achieved, the first thing Chen Chen did was to reorganize the company and renamed Tara Private Security Company as “Tara Strategic Resource Ltd.”. He vertically developed the company’s business from mercenary and security services to the three major services.
These were: mining, air transportation, and security.
To this end, Chen Chen channeled another three billion USD into Tara Company and placed an order in each of the four continents, Mainland China, North America, North Sea, and Europe, to purchase twenty-two transport aircraft and fifty-four transport helicopters. These would be used to run the transportation business in Africa.
The reason for this was to pave the way for the establishment of an industrial system in Africa. With an industrial system, whether in terms of the GS Combat Suits or producing the T-800, there would be more room for growth.