Chapter 441 The Blackwater Legion

Two days later, around six o'clock in the evening.

Six luxurious business vans stopped at the Seaside Holiday Hotel. A dozen security personnel in suits stood on either side, flanking the hotel entrance.

This was the security team of the Commander-in-Chief of Bana, serving the Bernardo family.

Before long, Jiang Zhou led Su Tianyu and the others out to greet them, nodding to the leader of the Bernardo butler team.

"Gentlemen, please!" The butler team personally opened the car doors for everyone.

"Thank you." Su Tianyu and Jiang Zhou sat in the middle vehicle, while Hou Guoyu, Da Bai, and the others sat in the back.

Soon the motorcade set off, heading to the Commander-in-Chief's residence on the Bana Peninsula.

In the car, Su Tianyu straightened his clothes and whispered to Jiang Zhou, "Whether it works or not depends on tonight."

"Relax." Jiang Zhou brought his face close to Su Tianyu's ear and said casually, "Don't think of him as some Commander-in-Chief or Governor! Just think of him as a mayor or district chief managing a small area of over 70,000 square kilometers."

Su Tianyu grinned. "Is that okay?"

"What's wrong with that? Over 70,000 square kilometers, and that's according to the total land area." Jiang Zhou covered his mouth with his hand and said, "If you exclude the mountains and grasslands, the urban area is only about 30,000 square kilometers at most. Frankly, it might not even be as big as a residential area in the Hua District. Does that make you feel better?"

Su Tianyu nodded. "It really does feel a lot better."

"Our quote isn't low," Jiang Zhou said, crossing his legs. "And we have plenty of experience in providing assistance. The Old Triangle is the best example. They know what kind of effort we put in when we cooperate."

"Mm."

For the past two days, Su Tianyu and Jiang Zhou had done almost nothing but brainstorm pricing in the hotel.

The general idea of cooperation was that Bana would open its canal passage to the Old Triangle and sign a strategic cooperation agreement. In return, the Old Triangle would guarantee a certain annual volume of goods exported, contributing at least three billion to Bana's treasury in customs fees alone.

Of course, these customs fees would include more than just arms deals. They would also cover other coastal trade, from medical supplies to daily necessities, building materials, scarce resources, and so on. Basically, as long as ships passed through, they would have to pay.

From the perspective of the larger region, this amount of money might not seem like much, but! Although Bana was a sovereign and independent area to be developed, its land area and population base were far smaller than those of a regional-level administrative area! As Jiang Zhou said, if you think of it as a city, then this amount of money was considerable.

This was three billion in the New Era, far from comparable to the constantly inflating currency of the pre-Era economy.

In addition, the Old Triangle would also sign certain commercial investment agreements with Bana City on behalf of the Hua District, which, in plain terms, meant infrastructure assistance and attracting investment.

The price was not low, and Jiang Zhou's personal presence indicated that the goal was not only to open up a new shipping channel for arms deals, but also to raise the level of dialogue between the two sides to regional cooperation.

...

The motorcade moved slowly forward. Before long, it entered the Bana Peninsula area. Su Tianyu turned his head to look at the beautiful scenery outside the car and suddenly noticed that there were many soldiers in black combat uniforms along the road. However, their weapons and equipment were different from those of regular troops, resembling those of special forces or police special operations units.

In short, these soldiers were armed to the teeth, and each of them wore a face mask or head covering, looking like character models from CS.

Su Tianyu was a little curious. "Are these the special forces of Bana City?"

Jiang Zhou grinned. "You graduated from the Army University. Don't you recognize this uniform?"

Su Tianyu shook his head. "I don't recognize it!"

"Haha, and you call yourself a top student with that level of knowledge?" Jiang Zhou replied in a low voice, "They are...ordinary soldiers of the Blackwater Legion, not special forces. Didn't your coursework mention this unit?"

"Oh, so they're from the Blackwater Legion?" Hearing this, Su Tianyu took a closer look at the soldiers along the way. "Our coursework did mention them! But back then, their uniforms weren't pure black, they were yellow and green."

"That's right, that's right, they changed to new uniforms." Jiang Zhou also remembered. "This multi-ethnic mixed legion is not to be trifled with! They consume 15% of Bana City's fiscal revenue every year! Although their numbers aren't large, they are truly the elite of the elite."

"I know. The Bana City unification war. The Blackwater Legion, with 18,000 men, swept through the warlords here and fought many battles with outnumbered forces." Su Tianyu said softly, "The most classic one was during the urban defense war, when 400 of them made a 14-hour mountain raid, blew up the mountain defense line, and all sacrificed themselves! The main assault force advanced diagonally, lightning-fast, and took control of the administrative hall, ending the war!"

"I didn't read such detailed information," Jiang Zhou said with a smile. "Could it be bragging?"

"No, no, there are video and audio materials." Su Tianyu waved his hand. "It's really impressive! The Bernardo family's ability to firmly control the regime here is largely due to their possession of this unit! Their thinking is very clear: this place is small, with few people, so the troops must follow an elite route! To put it bluntly, if a major region were to act like a rogue with them, even if you had hundreds of thousands of troops, it wouldn't be of much use; you'd still lose. So, they rely on diplomacy. And when they encounter those warlords and scattered soldiers, an elite force is enough to stabilize the situation."

"That's true!" Jiang Zhou nodded.

"Ah, Long City should actually do the same." Su Tianyu looked at the Blackwater Legion outside the car, feeling slightly envious. "We should also take the elite route."

"You can decide when you become the Commander of the Three Armies," Jiang Zhou said, subtly flattering him.

"Hehe, I don't know if I'll ever have that chance." Su Tianyu also smiled.

As the two chatted, the motorcade stopped at the entrance of the Bernardo Manor. This was a super manor located in the middle of the peninsula. It was said that the butler and servant team alone numbered in the dozens!

What is a powerful family?

This is it!

Everyone got out of the car. Jiang Zhou looked up and saw Bruna. He walked over with a smile and pursed his lips: "You look really beautiful tonight!!"

Behind him, Da Bai had unconsciously stood in front of Su Tianyu, ready to line up for a face-to-face kiss!!

Too vulgar, too shameless!

Just as everyone met, a row of military vehicles slowly approached the manor. Inside one of the vehicles, a burly man said with a gloomy expression, "That idiot Bruna! Has she already made contact with the Orientals?!"

"Yes, look, they've arrived!" The adjutant pointed to the gate and said.