Chapter 77: Vampire

Translated by: kevin1782

Edited by: Isalee

Gao Yang wasn't stingy, but he still felt pain in his heart while paying because Ulyanko was really 'slaughtering' Gao Yang like a black market dealer. His weapons and equipment were indeed good, but the cost? Totally overpriced.

For the stuff the rest of them bought, the normal price of a Russian-made AK-47 was about five hundred bucks, and this price was already very high considering the intensified wartime in Libya. Ulyanko sold it for two thousand. An RPD light machine gun’s usual price should be four to five hundred bucks, and the wartime price soared all the way to a thousand bucks in Libya; however, Ulyanko sold it for four thousand dollars here, and that was only a ‘friendly’ price on the behalf of Grolev.

The four of them were now penniless. A total of sixteen grand USD, most of them Tribo's, fell into Ulyanko's pocket just like that; Gao Yang now finally understood what Grolev meant: they really couldn’t afford Ulyanko’s services.

After getting down from the carriage, they waited for Ulyanko and his cargo truck to leave. Gao Yang exhaled a long, long breath and said, "Grolev, I think if we stayed a little longer with your hometown friend, my clothes would have also been ripped off by him."

Grolev grinned bitterly and said, "His nickname is Vampire. You should understand something from that nickname when you hear it. Although his goods are expensive, only he can buy everything we need right now, so we got little choice." 

Gao Yang also smiled bitterly, “No matter what, it’s good to be able to buy what we want, we’re gonna earn big bucks soon anyways. I’m just curious, can Ulyanko really execute the standard of whatever he promoted? I’ve been feeling that it’s a little too fantastical and groundless.”

Grolev solemnly said, "I don't know what you mean. If you're referring to the arms, Big Ivanov's his boss, a big arms dealer who sells everything you can think of. If not for the sluggish market, Ulyanko wouldn’t be doing these small businesses, he wants to do big businesses between nations. If you're referring to his services, let me put it this way. Previously, in a battle at Sierra Leone, a very renowned small mercenary group was surrounded, and they called Ulyanko for battle reinforcements, guess what happened next?”

Gao Yang asked with intense interest. “How did it go? Ulyanko did it?”

Grolev laughed and said, "The mercenary group had sixteen people left alive, and Ulyanko personally led four Mil Mi-24[1] armed helicopters directly into the battlefield. And he brought all sixteen mercenaries out of the battlefield without leaving a single one behind."

Gao Yang was dumbfounded upon hearing all that; he didn’t think Ulyanko would really be so ferocious and fearsome. Yet Gao Yang recalled Ulyanko’s black-heartedness. He couldn’t help but ask curiously, "Then?"

Grolev shrugged, “There’s no ‘then’, Ulyanko saved them at the cost of five hundred thousand per person. Those poor b*stards shouldn’t have let Ulyanko rescue them without negotiating a price first. In the end those b*stards took out all their money, including their savings and everything worthy to give to Ulyanko, but only a few managed to clear the debt to Ulyanko after selling everything to Ulyanko. So, those guys could only work for him to return the debt, and according to what I know, until the last dude died in battle, they still couldn’t clear up the debt to Ulyanko. Do you now know why his nickname is Vampire?”

Gao Yang nodded and frightenedly said, “Got it, seems like we really can’t deal with him in the future.”

Grolev asked him incredulously, “Why not? Ulyanko is a very credible and upright businessman. As long as an agreement is made, he’ll strictly follow to the deal. So as long as you have the money and don’t want to cross or double cross people, Ulyanko’s the best businessman.

"Well, it seems that this guy is indeed a good business partner, but we gotta be careful. I’d rather die than accept any other services except for arms transactions anyways, at least not until the price is confirmed."

They reboarded Abdullah's car, chatting and bantering all the way as they directly went to the Azizia Army Camp.

The Azizia Camp was the most elite part of Libya's 32nd Brigade, led by Gaddafi's son, Khamis. It was also considered Libya's most elite unit, and Khamis was also responsible for the majority of the mercenaries; the 32nd Brigade hadn't even reached ten thousand people. But unlike the 32nd Brigade that was located in the Azizia Camp, all the mercenaries in Libya numbered more than ten thousand altogether.

Not all mercenaries were stationed at Camp Azizia, but all the elite ones were here. Gao Yang and the rest wanted to be recruited as elites, and thus they would naturally choose to come to Camp Azizia.

There was a man outside the camp who was responsible for selecting and recruiting mercenaries. Gao Yang and the rest alighted two hundred meters away from the camp's main gate and bid farewell to Abdullah, who had helped them a lot. These few men walked towards the main gate.

There were at least two hundred or more soldiers outside the gate. In front of these armed-to-the-teeth soldiers were five long tables; some people were dressed in commander uniforms and some in civilian wear sat right behind the table. They consisted of the staff responsible for recruiting of mercenaries.

The area where the long, recruiting tables were was very crowded and bustling with activity — forty to fifty people wearing all kinds of clothes, all ethnically black along with mercenaries that were there to get recruited. However, most of them were empty-handed, even those with guns were equipped with the typical AK-47. Thus, Gao Yang and his group who were fully armed and well-equipped immediately attracted attention as they walked forward.

Grolev was an old mercenary. He walked in front and led the group directly to the table instead of queueing up behind those blacks who were very noisy. He loudly said, "We are going to join the war, what's the price?"

An officer waved, and after letting the black man standing in front of his desk to p*ss off, he stumbled in English, "Only you four, you can only partic.i.p.ate as free mercenaries."

Grolev frowned, "What's the difference?"

The officer said, "Looking at your equipment, a thousand bucks a day."

Grolev grimaced, "I heard that it isn't so, isn't it sixteen hundred?"

The officer's att.i.tude was pretty decent, with no impatience at all. He only nodded. "If you were a mercenary corp, squad, or group, that would be sixteen hundred. We will give the money to the mercenary group leader, so that there is no need to follow up with every mercenary trooper. And we gotta move tomorrow. There’s no time to examine your capabilities, so we can only recruit with the lowest price before reporting the budget. Of course, if your performance's good enough later, there'll certainly be a chance to increase the prices."

Grolev didn't need to discuss with Gao Yang. He solemnly said, "We're joining as a mercenary squad. Our strength will definitely give you a surprise too."

After Grolev finished, the officer shook his head and said, "No, the smallest mercenary squad we accept is at least twenty people. There's too few of you, unless you're a very famous mercenary corp. What's the name of your mercenary corp?"

Grolev was about to reply but he heard somebody shouting behind him, "Wow, isn't this Big Dog Grolev? Hi, Big Dog, you ain't dead yet?" 

Translator’s note(s):