Spy-x-War Showdown
Chapter 903 - 908: Favorable Market Outlook

Chapter 903: Chapter 908: Favorable Market Outlook

Jethro had arrived, with the oppressively imposing Tuya Rio in tow.

Upon seeing Steve, Jethro didn’t make any particular expression. He simply shook hands with Steve, and then he turned to Yang Yi and said, "What does it mean for you to call me over this early and also to meet with Steve? Didn’t you say that you would start considering the arms trade only after you had acquired those companies?"

Yang Yi smiled and said, "No, the plan has changed. Now our goal is to first deal with Nicholas, or at least let you have a share of Deyo’s arms trading channels."

Jethro was currently without manpower, money, or strength. Anything he wanted to do would have to rely on the power of the Organization of Water.

After a moment of silence, Jethro suddenly laughed and said, "Okay, what do we do?"

"First, we find Barbosa. You must be familiar with this person, right?"

Jethro nodded and said, "Yes, I’m certainly familiar with him."

Yang Yi spoke in a serious tone, "We’re going to the Middle East to see Barbosa and have him support you."

Jethro shook his head and said, "That will be difficult. Maybe we could start with someone else, secure those who are easier to handle first, what do you think?"

Yang Yi immediately shook his head and said, "No, if Barbosa sides with Nicholas, it would be too late for us to make a move by then. We need to deal with Barbosa first. Once you have the Middle East market in your hands, only then will you have the position to negotiate terms with the United States."

Steve immediately said, "What if Barbosa doesn’t agree?"

"The attitude of Barbosa is not important. What matters is that we need to take action."

Jethro spoke with a heavy tone, "We have too few people, lacking the power to make Barbosa comply."

Yang Yi smiled and said, "We have money now. We will not lack manpower. Steve, how much did Deyo prepare to fight Big Ivan?"

"Six billion US dollars."

"How much was spent?"

"Not even four hundred million US dollars, so there’s still over five point six billion left."

Yang Yi spread his hands and said, "Deyo prepared six billion just for Big Ivan. Do we need that much to deal with Nicholas? No, we don’t. So now, the most important thing is to give Nicholas another competitor, to give Barbosa another option for allegiance."

Jethro clenched his fists and said with a grave voice, "Then we must hurry. Nicholas is not a man who drags his feet."

"Right, so we’re going to find Barbosa immediately. Where is he?"

"Iraq."

After Jethro had finished speaking, Steve also immediately said, "Baghdad’s Green Zone, but he’s not always there. Right now, the demand for arms in the Middle East is very strong. Uh, may I explain the current situation?"

Yang Yi smiled and said, "Of course, please."

Steve said in a serious voice, "In recent times, the war with Big Ivan has caused a severe shortage in the arms market. The supply has decreased by at least half, the Middle Eastern battlefield is now most in need of bullets, and we have an order for two hundred million rounds of M43 intermediate cartridges, but how much can we supply? Only forty million rounds."

Jethro immediately said, "What about Big Ivan?"

"Big Ivan? Big Ivan’s situation is worse. Petrov has disappeared, and Big Ivan’s market in the Middle East has almost completely come to a halt. Combined, our supply capacity is less than half, all due to the outbreak of the war. Do you know how much the price of bullets in the Middle East market has risen to? Orders from the United States are sixty cents a round, bullets via smuggling channels have gone up to thirty-five cents a round, while we were selling them at twenty cents a round."

Jethro said in surprise, "They’ve gone up that much?"

Steve nodded and said, "Yes, the stock is about to be exhausted, and the price is still rising. I think the wholesale price could reach thirty cents!"

Yang Yi didn’t understand the arms market conditions, so he could only look back and forth between Steve and Jethro.

However, Zhang Yong said, "Wholesale is that expensive? Doesn’t that mean we have to pay a dollar a round when we buy them? That’s terrifying, isn’t it?"

Steve shrugged and said, "The Americans will supply, but the problem is that Big Ivan almost has a monopoly on the supply of M43 intermediate cartridges, and the Americans will not buy bullets from Russia or Huaxia. Guys, the war between Deyo and Big Ivan has driven up arms prices, and this has become an unchangeable fact."

Jethro said with a serious voice, "But Big Ivan sent people to take out Deyo; Big Ivan wants to make a comeback."

Steve waved his hand and said, "You, or Nicholas, or Big Ivan, would any of you be willing to lower the price of arms?"

"Of course not."

"There you go."

After speaking, Steve said in a grave tone, "So now the Middle East market is the hottest, and even if Big Ivan comes back, he won’t reduce the prices. Naturally, Nicholas must also immediately take hold of this market. Therefore, the best thing is to win over Barbosa to our side as soon as possible. Oh, and now that Deyo is dead, the war with Big Ivan can end. We need to contact Big Ivan as soon as possible to purchase the urgently needed arms. Each day we wait means a loss of at least several hundred thousand dollars."

Jethro nodded and said, "Yes, it’s time to contact Big Ivan. I can try to get in touch right now."

Yang Yi immediately raised his hand and said, "Wait a minute. You’re talking about contacting Big Ivan and buying arms from him?"

Jethro smiled and said, "Yes, of course we sell arms to both sides of a conflict. The wars in the Middle East are AK rifle wars, and Big Ivan has a monopoly on this market. If we want to have enough bullets and rifles to sell, we have to wholesale from Big Ivan. Uh, in fact, Deyo and Big Ivan have always cooperated. We buy from Big Ivan at ten cents a round and then sell at fifteen cents because that’s also Big Ivan’s price. This is how we have been cooperating."

Yang Yi laughed, then he said loudly, "Alright, I’ve always thought Deyo and Big Ivan were completely competitors, even archenemies. I truly didn’t expect that they also cooperated."

Jethro said, "The market is good. So, should I contact the original connections and continue to buy arms from Big Ivan? But at least we should talk about ending the conflict with Big Ivan first, right?"

Yang Yi smiled and said, "Haven’t you thought about another problem? Guys, you can negotiate a truce with Big Ivan. You represent the remnants of Deyo’s forces and can continue to trade with Big Ivan. But Nicholas can’t do that. That’s our advantage!"

"Right! If we leak that Nicholas is planning to take out Ivan, then Nicholas is finished! With just that, there’s no way Barbosa could be swayed by Nicholas."

Jethro was excited. He stood up and said loudly, "So shall we depart for Iraq tomorrow? Or should we first contact Barbosa to feel him out over the phone?"

Yang Yi smiled and said, "We can leave for Iraq right away, but before that, we have other matters to deal with."