King Of War: Starting with Arms Dealer

The city of Yakoma on the Congo-Central Africa border…

This city, built at the junction of the Congo River and the Ale River, is the busiest one at the border between Congo and Central Africa.

All the mining resources from the northern part of Congo's Eastern Province pass through here, heading either south or west, but in the end, they all enter the Congo River.

Building roads in Central Afrika is just too expensive!

If people here were to rely on begging and alms to get the World Development Fund and the African Union Development Bank to invest in road construction, they would have starved to death long ago.

Waterways have become the hub for Central Africa to connect with the world; without the Congo River, many people in Central Africa wouldn't even be able to transport ripe bananas out in time.

Ordinary people simply cannot imagine that sending a land courier over 500 kilometers away in Congo could take a month to arrive.

The Capital City of Central Africa, Bangui, was built next to the Ubangi River, which also flows into the Congo River. In the end, it sells its resources cheaply at the mouth of the Atlantic.

As for Congo's capital, Kinshasa, being the last stop of the Congo River to the Atlantic, it naturally had the upper hand and has become one of the most prosperous cities in Afrika.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Joe Ga and his team handed over the burning Boykin Camp to the Congo Defense Forces and then secretly arrived in Yakoma.

As Joe Ga changed clothes and took a boat into Yakoma, he was surprised to find the place actually quite acceptable.

Apart from the strange smell emanating from the water channels alongside the road and the slightly dirty corrugated tin-roofed brick houses, everything else was relatively fine.

At least, although the roads here were muddy, there was scarcely any garbage. As long as it didn't rain, it was still somewhere fit for human habitation.

After disembarking the boat, Joe Ga and his team avoided a crowd of black taxi drivers touting for customers. After walking for about 20 minutes, they felt as if a new world had opened up before them.

They left the shantytown made up of iron-sheet houses and, just across a road, faced what some might consider a quaint European Commercial Town.

Afrika people like colors; the buildings in this town were painted in a vibrant mix of colors with a French flair, making the town seem enthusiastic.

If one could ignore the content on this side of the street, as well as the armed policemen standing there, and overlook the armed Congolese Defense Forces at the intersection, this place would be an excellent vacation spot.

Near the poorer district, the street turned into a bustling market, where a large crowd gathered.

For the first time in Afrika, Joe Ga saw so many white people, as well as Asians.

They didn't seem particularly tense, and women with shopping baskets strolled through the market as if they weren't very scared at all.

Joe Ga and his team split up and easily blended into the crowd, wandering around for a while before entering the European-style town, and individually checked into several hotels.

Joe Ga didn't rush into the town but curiously wandered around the market.

Aside from the shabbiness of the storefronts, the variety of goods for sale here was actually quite abundant.

Joe Ga spotted a 'luxurious' Tecno mobile phone store occupying four storefronts.

Along with the nearby OPPO store, they used giant billboards to squeeze Nokia and Samsung together, forcing them to fight back with their modest lightboxes.

Joe Ga had never seen such a domineering store back in SD, with armed policemen standing at the door and inside salespeople dressed in out-of-place suits. The hostesses, despite dressing like they worked a night shift, were clearly carefully chosen young ladies.

Joe Ga, carrying a wad of cash, curiously entered this mobile phone store, which had a great reputation in Afrika.

Perhaps because it was their first time seeing someone from China, the sales manager in the store was taken aback, then stretched a smile and excitedly greeted him.

"Ni hao, wo jiao Shi Deifu..."

Joe Ga was taken aback by his enthusiasm and then realized the man was actually greeting him in Chinese.

Looking at the crisply dressed Xiao Hei, Joe Ga smiled and nodded, "Hello."

Then, pointing to the mobile display that seemed a bit dazzling under the lights, Joe Ga said with a smile, "What models of phones do you have here? I'd like to buy some to give away."

Xiao Hei's eyes lit up upon hearing that. He happily led Joe Ga to a counter and even put on a pair of white gloves, signaling the beaming Xiao Hei girl behind the counter to unlock two padlocks before taking out a Tecno phone valued at 300,000 West African Francs—about 900 in China's currency…

Joe Ga had seen many shops selling Tecno phones in Afrika, but this place felt different; here, the phones seemed valuable, devoid of the cheapness typical of street-side little shops.

"The owner of this store is a talent."

Joe Ga turned to Nis, who seemed equally curious, and said with a smile, "See if you like anything. We can't use these at the base, but we might be able to if we go to Sangha Town later.

These phones are popular here for a reason; at the very least, their signal and volume are better than ordinary phones."

As Joe Ga looked at Nis's uninterested expression, he shook his head and said, "Even if it's not for personal use, it's good to give away as a gift. Ayu isn't with us, so buy a few for her. When we get back to Ad-Damazin, you can let her show off in front of those Kadin Clan kids."

"She missed the pay raise, and I can't just arbitrarily give her more money, so I can only help her out in this way."

Xiao Hei, who wouldn't stop talking, had a look of innate pride on his face, resembling someone who had spent half their life in a pyramid scheme. He spoke as if he were selling a magic artifact, occasionally mentioning several world-famous figures and emphasizing that they too were users of the voice-transmitting phone, to bolster the credibility of his sales pitch.

Joe Ga laughed, waved his hand to signal there was no need for the hard sell, and looked down at the display case. He pointed to a flagship model worth over 400,000 and said with a smile, "This one, I'll take 20 units, with SIM cards."

By now, Nis was pointing at a pink phone and said, "How about this one? I think Ayu would like it. Let's take 10 units."

Joe Ga glanced at it and imagined Ayu with a pink phone, and couldn't help but rub his arm from the goosebumps it gave him. He nodded and said, "It's your gift, so you decide."

Seeing Xiao Hei looking as if he had been frozen in place, Joe Ga frowned and said, "What are you dazed for? Go fetch the goods!"

Xiao Hei spoke English very well, with a slightly wronged expression, he said, "Sir, I'm not used to this kind of purchase.

"We don't have enough stock in the store. Could you wait a moment while I let someone fetch the goods? And may I finish my presentation?"

Joe Ga was amused by Xiao Hei's comical expression and laughed heartily. Then he triggered a pain in his ribs, 'ouch' he grimaced, holding onto his rib cage as he sat down on a chair.

Of course, Joe Ga knew the guy was joking, but this had indeed brought them closer together.

Waving off Xiao Hei's zealous helping hand, Joe Ga gestured for him to hurry up, then sat still in the chair.

Antar was confused about why Joe Ga was so delighted. She wandered around the store and then at the corner, she exclaimed in surprise, 'Huh?' She waved at a young black girl nearby and asked, "What is this?"

What Antar was pointing at was a drone displayed in the case, but it looked a bit odd...

The young girl approached Antar, pride written all over her face, and said in a mysterious tone, "This is a Sun God Drone model that our boss brought back from China. He said that in two more years, we'll be able to fly it back here, and then we'll have mobile signals wherever we go."

Antar, who was very familiar with electronic products, was completely baffled by the pitch from the young girl.

'Solar drones' she knew, but 'Sun God Drones' was something she had never heard of.

However, the scaled-down model was crafted very delicately. Antar took a careful look at it and then approached Joe Ga, saying, "Boss, can China now produce large solar-powered communication drones?"

Caught off guard by the question, Joe Ga spread his hands and said, "I really don't know about that. I don't follow drones much, except for those high-end consumer models.

"I've never heard of solar drones. What's the deal with that, they fly up and charge themselves?"

Joe Ga looked at Antar and said with a laugh, "Solar power is such a hassle. Burning oil is much cheaper in Afrika.

"If you're interested in larger drones, then give me a list of models. As long as they don't require satellite communication, I should be able to figure something out."

Antar, seeing Joe Ga's unconcerned demeanor, smiled and said, "Boss, you've got it wrong. I think you should pay attention to solar drones.

"These drones have strong endurance and are very easy to maintain. The best part is that they are equipped with communication relay and reconnaissance functions. It's not an exaggeration to call it a poor man's satellite.

"You've got a huge area of influence, and if these drones' performance standards are truly met, once you have three solar drones equipped with communication and reconnaissance capabilities alternating on watch, combined with a ground control system, you'll have a state-of-the-art all-weather ground communication command system.

"The control range might not be that extensive, but it will definitely be enough for your territory.

"If there's a combat operation, with the support of these drones, the team can leave behind the communication radios and just use small transceivers to communicate.

"Sometimes, you really don't have to be on the front lines yourself. The command center at the base is where you belong."

Joe Ga was momentarily stunned by the beautiful prospect described by Antar, but he found it hard to picture himself standing in the command room, watching his men charge into battle.

However, if this thing could really replace satellites, that would be amazing!

Imagining his domain under surveillance from such a drone, with no more communication blind spots, making a phone call or a video call to get messages across clearly...

Joe Ga fumbled around on his person, took out his phone he hadn't used for quite a while, snapped a picture of the so-called 'Sun God Drone,' connected to the store's WIFI, and sent it to his younger brother, Qiao Liang...

He was a student at the Capital City Electronic Information Engineering University, studying the popular field of computer science, but he must know a bit about drones too.

Sending it to him to find out more, if the drones were for sale and reasonably priced, it would really be worth bringing a few over.

What Joe Ga didn't expect was that as soon as he turned on his phone, messages began popping up endlessly.

The WeChat group of the Afrika mine bosses was in an uproar...