Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 303 - 289: Sublimation

Chapter 303: Chapter 289: Sublimation

It was hard to explain to Lucy why such things happened to Lin Xianghua.

Luca understood, since he knew the ins and outs, but Lucy, who had grown up in the Monastery as Consumables, naturally didn’t understand those historical grudges.

"I noticed you just had a moment when you really wanted to kill Lin, what’s wrong? Is there a problem?"

Lucy looked very serious, then she whispered, "If needed, I can do it for you."

"No need, no need, all’s well now, just a little misunderstanding. Lin Xianghua is still a good comrade."

He hurriedly explained the entanglement to Lucy so that she roughly understood what was going on.

Lucy was like a blank sheet of paper, only unfortunately there was a bottle next to it, spilt ink all over, the areas soaked by the ink became as black as could be, while the areas untouched by the ink remained very white.

There was no writing, no grey areas, just a piece of paper that was clearly black and white.

To turn Lucy into a normal person was a long and arduous journey.

There wasn’t a single normal person in the entire Garden; Lucy came from a Consumables background, Luca was an Iron Rooster, Lin Xianghua was the most hidden, turned out to be a ghost, Feng Biao was a bootlicker also particularly good at running away.

After some thought, could it be that only himself and Li Jie were normal?

Looking at Li Jie, Gao Yi wanted to say something to encourage him, as the two of them, the only normal people in this little team, should communicate more and maintain good and normal values.

But when Gao Yi wanted to speak, he found Li Jie seemed a little absent-minded.

Li Jie was deep in thought.

Finally, Gao Yi said, "Xianyu, what are you thinking?"

Li Jie lifted his head and looked at Gao Yi, then he said very seriously, "Don’t you think Ah Gui’s ideal is particularly challenging? After hearing what Ah Gui said today, I felt like I was elevated. A person needs to have some ideals, right? What’s the point in always being involved in petty fights? If you want to do something, do something big."

Gao Yi knew he was wrong.

On second thought, Li Jie was the most warlike one.

Yes, warlike, the kind that was excited by the smell of battle.

Ready to fight at any issue, if not, he would create his own issues to fight. Not for money, not for fame, but simply because it pleased him.

He graduated from a prestigious school but didn’t pursue a good job, became a famous gunsmith but didn’t focus on making money. Instead, he went to Aleppo to risk his life and didn’t even repent after nearly being buried there, happily following Gao Yi to continue risking life without caring about money or even death.

Compared to him, the others seemed normal.

Lin Xianghua at least had great ambitions, but what about Li Jie? He was purely a war maniac!

Could it be that in the vast Garden, he was the only normal person?

Gao Yi couldn’t help but sigh.

Better not talk too much with Li Jie—his topics were too sensitive. For safety’s sake, it was better to talk to Khalid.

Gao Yi looked towards Khalid, and Khalid immediately said with a tone as if he’d finally got the chance, "Big brother, what are we going to do next?"

Gao Yi frowned.

Yes, Lin Xianghua had exposed his secret identity, but the most pressing issue was how to deal with the CIA’s counterattack.

"Is this place safe?"

Hurt by Gao Yi’s question, Khalid pondered for a moment and then whispered, "It was very safe. There are absolutely no cameras around, and if there were any, we’ve taken care of them. Plus, the local residents would definitely not betray us. But after the US Army helicopter delivered stuff here, I can’t guarantee safety anymore."

Yes, the place that was heavily guarded now had a very precise set of coordinates, and to make matters worse, they had just received a delivery. If they were to be purged later on, it would be far too convenient.

Gao Yi knew what Khalid was worried about and reassured him, "Don’t worry. Your enemies are only the CIA now; at least until you pose a real threat to the United States, the US Army is unlikely to do anything."

Khalid was gambling alongside Gao Yi; of course, hearing these words, he felt quite relieved, as his chances of survival increased significantly.

"Then this place is very safe."

Khalid was confident, and whispered, "The CIA can’t have too many people here. Any action they take would rely on the cooperation of the US Army and the Libyan National Army. Even if they launch a big manhunt throughout Tripoli, they won’t find us."

Gao Yi felt it was necessary to understand the situation properly, because up to now, he still didn’t know exactly what the Libyan National Army was all about.

"Explain to me, what exactly is the Libyan National Army? Is it the name of the Libyan Government Army?"

"No, the Libyan National Army was previously the anti-government armed forces opposing Feikaza. They control Tripoli and the whole western part of Libya. Of course, the Libyan National Army is supported by the Americans, but the Americans don’t like them as much now. They prefer the Libyan Unity Government, which is another faction, completely controlled by the Americans, mainly in the eastern part of Libya."

History is a cycle.

Gao Yi nodded and said, "So the Libyan National Army won’t really cooperate with the CIA, right?"

"I’m not quite sure, but I think so."

Gao Yi was still thinking, but at this point, Li Jie, who had overheard their conversation, suddenly said, "What are you talking about? The next thing we have to do is very simple."

Gao Yi and Khalid both turned to look at Li Jie.

Li Jie usually didn’t talk much, but today, after being provoked by Lin Xianghua, he seemed a bit different.

"What’s the most important for an armed organization? First is manpower, second is money, third is territory."

Li Jie glanced sidelong at Khalid and continued, "Regarding manpower, you don’t have enough people. Although your people are extremely loyal, a small number means inefficiency – one dies, one less. Fight a few more battles and your men will all be gone.

Regarding money, you think five million is a huge sum, which reveals your nature as a pauper. Without money, how can you recruit soldiers or maintain combat effectiveness?

Regarding territory, do you even have any? You’re like a bandit, a carpet factory or such scattered strongholds don’t count as territory. Being exposed means loss, so you have no territory.

Moreover, as an armed organization, there is a fourth point that encompasses the previous three, which can be said to be the most important or the least important one – your supporters."

Khalid immediately said, "Supporters?"

"Those are the ones who give you money, men, and help you fight for territory. The US supported the National Army and now has abandoned them to support the Libyan Unity Government. If you had a nation’s support, you would certainly feel different."

Li Jie briefly analyzed the situation and then said with ease, "So what you need to consider is how to get money, how to recruit people, how to fight for territory. If you ask me, start by resolving the source of funds."

Khalid’s voice trembled, "How do we solve the funding issue?"

Li Jie responded without hesitation, "I’m only responsible for setting the strategy. Tactical matters are for you to figure out. I’ve pointed out the direction, can’t you walk the rest of the way?"

Khalid looked disappointed and said, "So you don’t actually know what to do..."

Of course, Khalid would be disappointed because he understood everything Li Jie was saying but he didn’t have a solution. Now Li Jie was just repeating the unsolved problems, and in the end, there was still no solution – so what was the point of saying it at all.

However, at this moment, Gao Yi had an idea.

What kind of person was Gao Yi? He wasn’t scholarly, but he had a sharp mind.

To explain, due to limited insight and knowledge, Gao Yi didn’t possess the ability to command from a great height, to control the overall situation from the start and to devise a perfect plan. He couldn’t do that.

He was unable to foresee problems in advance; he could only tackle them as they arose. Gao Yi liked to bulldoze through issues because that’s all he knew.

But if someone else gave him a starting point, a hint, a framework, then Gao Yi could quickly think of how to perfect this framework, how to turn the direction pointed out by others into a path, and then to keep moving forward, expanding and smoothing it out. This was Gao Yi’s ability.

In short, not great with strategy, but a master of tactics.

Gao Yi smiled at Khalid.

Khalid had a bad premonition and frowned, "What are you trying to say?"

Gao Yi said indifferently, "Can you differentiate between strategy and tactic?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"Unwavering in strategy, flexible and adaptable in tactics. Do you understand that? Or in other words, for the sake of strategic objectives, sometimes you need to turn an enemy into a friend tactically. You get that, right?"

Khalid hesitated for a moment – he didn’t quite understand, but he nodded anyway.

Gao Yi smiled and said, "Good. Then things will be easy to handle. First, we must solve the issue of funding. Giving you a fish to satiate your hunger is not as good as giving you a net to fish every day. So, I’ll give you a net, a net of interests."

After having to complicate the saying of teaching someone to fish rather than giving them a fish to Khalid, Gao Yi said seriously, "First step, arms dealing. The goods will come from France, but the Americans will transport them. You’re the buyer. Prepare ten million for the first phase, but we’ll only buy three million worth of goods and pay six million for them, plus four million in transportation fees."

Khalid’s eyes widened, stunned, "Why? Why do this?"

Gao Yi hadn’t explained yet when Li Jie suddenly said, "Gao, if there’s no market, create one. Once a complete supply chain is established, the market can be expanded, right?"

Khalid seemed utterly baffled.

Gao Yi laughed and said, "Don’t understand? It means getting France and the United States involved. Supplying a small Anti-American Armed Force with goods, no one will refuse, and there’s not much risk."

Khalid still didn’t get it.

Gao Yi continued, "There can’t be two tigers on one mountain. The National Army and the Unity Government are bound to fight. When the time comes and the Unity Government gets US support, won’t the National Army need weapons? Well, if they do, we’ll supply them."

Khalid started to grasp a bit, so he nodded vaguely, but then said, "What if the National Army doesn’t need to buy weapons?"

"Then we sell to someone else. When you become the end link of a chain of interests, naturally others will help you create a market. That’s how suppliers, transporters, and retailers collaborate to corner a market."

Khalid was silent for a moment before saying, "But what about the arms dealers who already have the market?"

"Are we newcomers?"

"Yes, so it’s going to be hard."

"Then we’ll knock the old ones out."

Gao Yi spread his hands and said, "It’s all up to us. Once you have money, you can recruit people; with enough people, you can take territory. One day you’ll find you control enough territory, have enough men, and the rest will fall into place. Also, arms dealing is just one example, one way to illustrate a point. There are many other lucrative trades, such as medicines, electronics..."

Khalid said in a daze, "Smuggling?"

"No, not smuggling. Official smuggling."

Gao Yi smiled, "France supplies, the US transports, who would dare accuse you of smuggling? They’d be asking for trouble."

Li Jie clapped his hands in admiration, "Exactly, ah, I feel like having been inspired by Ah Gui has really opened up my thinking, broadened my perspective."

Gao Yi nodded, "Petty fights are pointless. If we’re going to make a move, we go big. Be bold in ambition and broad in vision. That’s what you call elevation."