Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 385 - 367 Good Deal

Chapter 385: Chapter 367 Good Deal

Why was Gao Yi so sure that a body disguised with makeup was Burning Wind? The reason was quite simple: if Burning Wind had any other way out, he wouldn’t have involved seven helicopters in his funeral.

From another perspective, Burning Wind wasn’t entitled to involve six British helicopters in his funeral.

Disguise is a daily routine for a secret agent, and it was normal for Burning Wind to maintain his disguise for a long time to hide his true identity.

"Hello, come for the body check."

"Understood, I’m on it. Clean up the scene a bit and put on a show, don’t make it too difficult for our allies."

"Got it."

Gao Yi ended the call with Joelson and called Grasse.

"It’s done, do you want to send someone to drive us away?"

"I know, just wait a bit. The embassy’s people are on their way. You guys pretend to exchange fire at a distance, and, get those French to leave quickly—they’re really annoying when celebrating. Also, drive your vehicle away, leaving a truckload of missiles for us to deal with is problematic."

"You saw all that?"

"Of course, it was a live broadcast. I have the full video here; you could send a copy to your old French lover to cheer her up, and it would be helpful to her."

Grasse had thought a lot, but he had to admit, he really cared.

Gao Yi smiled and said, "Okay, send it to me later."

After hanging up the phone, Gao Yi waved to everyone and shouted, "Everyone, start evacuating through the pre-planned route. Don’t stray; you’ll be intercepted."

The Pentagon watched everything, but the Pentagon also needed to save face, so the next step was to actively deploy fighters and helicopters to put on a grand show.

Someone had to take the blame.

Now ISIS had become precious, too bad ISIS was also gone, but it didn’t matter, as long as a few people previously connected to ISIS could be caught. It was like mining out a rich mine and refining it, even if only some slag was left, it was still possible to extract something.

What Gao Yi needed to clean up now was just that truckload of missiles.

Gao Yi made a call to Shaman.

"Thanks, Big Brother, those items were crucial."

"Are they useful? I mean, are those items useful?"

"Extremely useful!"

Gao Yi was more than happy to praise his own military hardware and promote it.

"They didn’t miss, all hits were spot-on, fantastic efficacy, not at all inferior to any Stinger or anything from the Northwest, even better. Big Brother, how should we handle the leftovers?"

Shaman quickly responded, "Handle it yourself, just don’t send them back to me or let those items get linked to me."

"Alright then, I’ll just sell them."

"Up to you, our bulk purchase price was 50,000 USD per set, handle it as you see fit."

One hundred and twenty missiles, just a mere six million dollars in total, to Shaman, this six million made wasting a few more words, thoughts, and energy a waste.

As for the hidden costs of purchasing these missiles, did Shaman care?

Gao Yi gestured to Big Beard who had expressed interest in buying the missiles.

Big Beard approached Gao Yi silently, just quietly watching him.

Gao Yi spoke softly, "Didn’t you want to buy missiles just now? How many do you want?"

"We’ll take twenty sets."

Big Beard was ashamed.

Twenty sets were his limit; thinking about his earlier boast of taking all of Gao Yi’s remaining missiles made him somewhat regretful.

But seriously, who the hell would prepare over a hundred missiles for seven helicopters?

Were the missiles to be used as fireworks for fun? Even those with money to burn wouldn’t do that.

"Just twenty sets, I’m a bit disappointed, I thought I would see a big return, but it looks like I’ll just get some small change."

"Twenty sets... okay, what’s the market rate?"

Big Beard tentatively asked, "How about 150,000 USD per set? That’s the black market price for Stingers, do you think it’s okay?"

Portable anti-air missiles were quite special.

Most of the time, portable anti-air missiles were provided free as military aid, not something to be casually circulated on the arms black market.

Back in the day, the Stinger anti-air missiles provided by the Americans to Afghanistan gave the Soviets a lot of trouble, as most of the Soviet planes downed in Afghanistan were done so by Stingers.

Then, the Russians provided pin-style portable anti-air missiles to Iraq, which also caused a lot of problems for American planes.

The sole purpose of an anti-air missile was to target aircraft, and clearly, guerrilla forces neither have nor can afford planes, so the real daily users of portable anti-air missiles were definitely not those from large, powerful countries, nor would they be from an occupying force with air dominance.

Thus, the price of portable anti-air missiles on the black market was very high, and the more needed, the higher the price—unlike other types of military hardware.

Now, the batch of anti-air missiles given to Gao Yi by Shaman was absolutely the biggest batch in recent years, and being able to get twenty sets at once meant that some airport somewhere was about to have a very bad day.

Selling arms meant considering the political aftermath. If Sherkin had Russia backing him, he clearly wouldn’t need to spend money on anti-air missiles, as Russia would have provided them.

If it were unrelated to Russia, where else would there be a need for anti-air missiles and which force could consume this batch?

Quite intriguing, hard to guess.

Selling to Big Beard was essentially selling to Sherkin. What did Sherkin intend to do with the missiles?

If he had more than a hundred sets of missiles, it wouldn’t be an issue—he could resell them. But wanting only twenty sets and at a price of 150,000 USD each, flipping them wouldn’t be profitable. Thus, they could only be intended for use in Iraq. And in Iraq, they would be used against American planes. Then, the question arose.

Now, Gao Yi and Grasse were in the same boat. If within Grasse’s jurisdiction, the sudden appearance of twenty sets of missiles resulted in downing a few American planes, Gao Yi might not care, but Grasse couldn’t handle it.

One must consider their partners extensively.

Gao Yi sighed regretfully and said, "Twenty sets, too few. Let’s forget it."

Big Beard also looked regretful; with insufficient funds, he lacked the capability to buy out Gao Yi’s inventory.

Both parties felt regret, but Big Beard wanted to make one last attempt, so he reluctantly asked, "Won’t you consider retail?"

"Retail is too problematic. You know, after-sales for anti-air missiles are troublesome, and 150,000 USD each isn’t worth the after-sales risks."

Gao Yi wasn’t familiar with the arms market, especially the market for anti-air missiles, but that wouldn’t stop him from bluffing a little with a few jargon phrases.

His casual deflections had some effect. Big Beard murmured, "Actually, we’re just reselling to make a bit of money... What if the customer doesn’t request after-sales?"

"What do you mean?"

"We need to maintain long-term customers. The client entrusted us to purchase a batch of anti-air missiles, but this item isn’t easy to obtain. However, they only want to buy twenty sets; they can’t afford more."

Big Beard didn’t seem to mind keeping the client confidential; he just wanted to close the deal. So after hesitating, he decided to attempt one final push.

"The client won’t have the chance to request after-sales service."

It seemed like Big Beard had made up his mind. He knew what mattered most in an arms deal and understood the implications of a deal potent enough to alter regional dynamics.

Thus, Big Beard still wanted to finalize this transaction.

"The client is Hamas; they are willing to spend five million dollars to purchase twenty sets of portable anti-air missiles. We make no profit—the five million dollars is all yours. We’re merely facilitating. What do you think?"

Gao Yi looked at Big Beard in surprise and asked, "Why wouldn’t Russia sell?"

Big Beard only chuckled dryly, without replying.

Gao Yi exhaled and said, "100,000 USD each, I’ll give them all to you. No handling delivery, no after-sales. If you want them, go and drive to haul the missiles away now. If not, forget it. I’ll have Sherkin pay later."

Big Beard paused, then murmured, "May I ask?"

"Go ahead."

Big Beard stepped aside to likely phone Sherkin about the transaction.

Big Beard spoke briefly, then returned to Gao Yi’s side and handed him the phone.

Gao Yi took the phone and said, "Hello."

"If you want 100,000 USD each, that means you just want to offload these missiles and don’t care about the price, right? In that case, I can help you out. Ten million dollars in total—I’ll pay later if you agree."

Ten million dollars for one hundred and ten missile sets. The change didn’t count.

Gao Yi hesitated and said, "Eleven million."

"Buddy, I’m helping you get rid of a problem. Ten million..."

"Twelve million."

"You’re making this..."

"Thirteen..."

"Twelve million!"

Gao Yi didn’t respond, and Sherkin sighed, saying, "Let my people haul them away. I’ll give you the money right now. Twelve million, just ensure you get them out of Iraq; that’s reasonable."

"Deal!"

Who knew how much Shaman had spent? It could have been 50,000 USD each, but the transportation costs would run into millions. This was quite possible.

Gao Yi quickly resold them for twelve million dollars, but at that price, it didn’t matter. Offloading these missiles was truly shedding a headache.

Why did Gao Yi sell? Simple, because any weapons sold to Hamas came without after-sales or shipping concerns.

How to transport the missiles was Hamas’ own skill in a completely occupied city. Acquiring any arms was an achievement for Hamas.

Big Beard took the phone back to listen for a few moments, then quickly plastered a smile on his face and said to Gao Yi, "Then I’ll go and drive off."

"Go ahead, the missiles are yours now. But don’t use them in Iraq. If something goes wrong there, it’s your problem."

Big Beard nodded, his face breaking into a grin as he turned to leave.

From his demeanor, it was clear Big Beard felt he had made a good deal.

Gao Yi also felt he had made a good deal.