Chapter 1 The Beginning

That night, the "business negotiation" organized by Yu Mingyuan and Su Tianyu concluded in a relatively harmonious atmosphere. A tempting political order also made the navy and garrison, who had previously had some friction, forget their previous unpleasantness.

The next morning, a little after eight o'clock.

Yu Mingyuan, Su Tianyu, and Su Tianbei finished breakfast, washed up, and immediately drove out of Dragon City. They found the guard company commander under Wen Zhanbo in the city's outer garrison area, the same person who had met with them about You Yifan the day before.

This man, in his thirties, surnamed Zhou, was a captain and the guard company commander. Although his rank wasn't high, he was a favorite of Wen Zhanbo and considered a notable figure in their brigade.

When they met, Yu Mingyuan politely asked Company Commander Zhou, "Are we leaving now?"

"Ah? Let's go, a day trip." Company Commander Zhou said with a smile, "Today is just to meet Old Zhao and sound him out. If we can negotiate further, this will be the groundwork."

"Okay," Yu Mingyuan immediately nodded. "Then we'll get in your car."

"Let's go."

After a brief exchange, the group got into two military SUVs and headed straight for the Sinaloa region.

On the way, Yu Mingyuan and Company Commander Zhou exchanged ideas about the future "border trade business," while Su Tianyu sat in the passenger seat, turning his head to survey the scenery along the border. He noticed that since Order No. 1 was issued, many areas south of Haiyan Pit and south of Dragon City had a greater presence of garrison troops. Some areas even had cordons set up. This showed that the First District's sanctions against the old Mexicans weren't just talk; they seemed to be serious.

Closing the trade lines also meant that the border would no longer be as peaceful as before. Frequent, small-scale military frictions would definitely occur. This suspicion made Su Tianyu feel even more that they'd better not touch the future border trade business.

In the games between major districts, small fries could be wiped out in minutes if they got involved.

Due to the continued tension in the diplomatic relations between the old Mexican region and the First District, as well as Dragon City, Company Commander Zhou couldn't blatantly travel through Sinaloa as he had in the past; he had to avoid suspicion.

The two SUVs took a small road, passing through four border posts of Wen Zhanbo's brigade before entering the Sinaloa region from the side of the mountain range.

For some unknown reason, the Chi Army hadn't participated in any battles recently, but had retreated to the rear of the Mexican Federal Army, garrisoning an area called Xiaofeng Mountain (Little Peak Mountain).

A little after four o'clock in the afternoon, the group finally arrived at the foot of Xiaofeng Mountain and met the Chi Army's garrison troops. After Company Commander Zhou exchanged a few words with the opposing officer, they were allowed to pass.

As the car followed the mountain road toward the summit, Su Tianyu carefully examined the Chi Army's garrison camp and curiously asked Company Commander Zhou, "Commander, how many people are in this Chi Army?"

"They claim to have more than ten thousand, but in reality, it's only about six or seven thousand, and some of them are logistics support units accompanying the army," Company Commander Zhou explained softly. "Strictly speaking, the Chi Army can't even be considered a real army. At most, it's a large mercenary group, or a bandit army."

"Commander Zhao is quite capable."

"He definitely has ability, otherwise he wouldn't have grown so big," Company Commander Zhou agreed.

Su Tianyu's idea of ability was probably different from Company Commander Zhou's, because he wasn't just referring to Zhao Wei Hu's ability to build a team and handle diplomacy, but also felt that the other party's military skills were quite outstanding.

Although the road up the mountain was entirely a dirt road that had been flattened by hand, it was rare to see the kind of impassable potholes. The road was relatively smooth. The cut trees on both sides of the road were all cut to roughly the same height. Although the surrounding sentry posts implemented the common four-in-three, in-two model, the soldiers on duty were full of energy and spirit. None of them were slacking off, nor were they wandering around chatting. They just stood straight with their guns in their positions, guarding according to orders.

The spirit of a troop comes from its highest military officer. And for a mercenary group or private armed force that earns money by fighting and has ambiguous beliefs, it was actually quite rare for the soldiers to have this quality and for the camp details to be done so well. Su Tianyu had participated in the Independence War. He had been in close contact with many rebel armies in the First District. To put it bluntly, even the miscellaneous troops within the regular army weren't necessarily as well-managed as the Chi Army.

"No wonder they're called the Chi Army; they can charge fees based on the length of an attack or the depth of a defense," Su Tianyu said with emotion. "It's pretty well done."

Su Tianbei heard this and asked in a low voice, "The family spent so much money to support you. If you were asked to lead a troop like the Chi Army now, could you do it?"

"Lead my ass," Su Tianyu shook his head. "Learning and practice are two different things, you understand?"

"Waste," Su Tianbei objectively evaluated. "It was a waste of money supporting you."

Su Tianyu didn't bother arguing with him.

…

About half an hour later, the group arrived at the Chi Army headquarters base. After passing through security, they were taken directly to the conference room by Zhao Wei Hu's personal adjutant.

As soon as they entered the room, they saw Zhao Wei Hu sitting next to a folding portable dining table, cooking hot pot.

"Commander Zhao, hello!" A scene that shocked Su Tianyu was that Company Commander Zhou, a First District officer, actually gave a military salute and a respectful title to the commander of a private armed force that was currently in a hostile relationship.

This era was too damn absurd. The higher-ups were implementing border blockade policies, while the lower-downs were eating hot pot and talking business.

Zhao Wei Hu obviously recognized Old Zhou, and nodded with a smile to greet him, "Sit wherever you like. Have some spicy food."

Hearing this, everyone sat down on the wooden chairs next to the dining table.

"You guys drink. I have to go out later, so I can't drink," Zhao Wei Hu said, eating a large piece of mutton, without any airs.

Everyone was there to talk business, so they couldn't really gorge themselves. Company Commander Zhou only moved his chopsticks symbolically before immediately getting to the point, "It's still about the matter I mentioned to your adjutant on the phone…"

"I know," Zhao Wei Hu interrupted, "Business can be done, but there's one thing I must state in advance."

"What is it?"

"I may be formally incorporated into the Mexican Federal Army. The Mexican brothers gave us a table of organization and equipment, a designation, and bags of money," Zhao Wei Hu said very directly. "I really want to be a dignified rogue, but damn it, they gave too much. I really can't refuse."

Company Commander Zhou was stunned.

"Cooperation is possible, but you have to think it over. After I'm incorporated, I'll be a unit under the Mexican government. That's a hostile relationship with your First District and Dragon City," Zhao Wei Hu said with a smile. "If you sell me military supplies, that's considered colluding with the enemy."

"You're not going to be a carefree king anymore, and you insist on joining the Mexican government. This… is this…?"

"I told you, they gave too much. I can't refuse," Zhao Wei Hu said jokingly. "Otherwise, you can report to your superiors and tell them to give me a division in Dragon City, and I can defect immediately."

"Don't joke around, we only have a brigade," Company Commander Zhou said speechlessly.

"Then forget it. If Dragon City really incorporates me, I'm not sure I'd even give my life for them. The leaders of this term are all spineless. I can't stand that kind of anger," Zhao Wei Hu said, taking a sip of mutton soup, succinctly. "Enough said, our garrison and the Chi Army are old acquaintances. I can receive goods here, and there's no limit, but there's one thing: you have to let me delay the payment for a few rounds, because if the quantity is large, my financial pressure will be quite high."

Su Tianyu hadn't had a face-to-face exchange with Zhao Wei Hu last time, so his impression of this person wasn't strong, but today, at their second meeting, he instantly formed a preliminary label for this person in his mind.

This person didn't waste words. Every word he said accurately expressed his thoughts, and he didn't act slyly. He could even inform them in advance about things like his impending incorporation into the Mexican government. From this, one could see this person's style.

…

On the way to the association in Dragon City, Su Tiannan casually dialed Wang Daolin's phone number. "Hey, Uncle Wang, are you busy? Hehe, I have something to ask you. It's like this, a friend of mine is a laborer who came back from Sinaloa. He wants to apply for citizenship. Is it easy to do now?"

"Does he have any special experience in Sinaloa?" Wang Daolin immediately asked back.

Su Tiannan felt that these words were a little strange, so he was somewhat stunned.