Chapter 614 - 557: Profit Above All

"...Last night at eight o'clock, there were six gang shootout incidents in Casas City, resulting in 40 deaths, 79 injuries, and the firefight led to eight cars and three residential buildings being burned down. Insiders claim that the attackers were members of the Los Zetas Organization, and those attacked were members of the local Gulf Group gang..."

"...At one o'clock last night, a warehouse on the outskirts of Lakevilla City was set on fire. According to eyewitnesses, a group of masked thugs arrived at the warehouse entrance by car and carried out indiscriminate shooting, killing the other twelve gang members at the scene before setting the warehouse ablaze..."

Song Heping was brushing his teeth in the bathroom, with the news broadcast continuously coming from the radio.

Four days had passed.

Just as he had predicted.

The response from the government was all bark and no bite. The President's speech, the police headquarters' statement - they were all impassioned, vowing to engage in a life-or-death struggle with the drug trafficking groups, but in reality, they took no actual action after speaking, letting gang vendettas erupt everywhere.

In just four days, the daily death toll in shootouts was in the hundreds.

Compared to the great gang shootout two years ago, Mexico seemed to have returned to its bloody and violent past.

"Heh—spit—"

Song Heping spat out the mouthwash, and at that moment, Barrett came knocking on the door.

"The door's unlocked, come in. I'm in the bathroom."

Soon after, Barrett appeared at the door.

Song Heping glanced at Barrett in the mirror, wiped his mouth with a towel, and then turned to walk out of the bathroom.

"Just got back?"

"Yeah, just got back."

"How did things go in Texas?"

"Very smooth. The cargo for FARC and the Gulf Gang has been safely transferred, and the transportation fees have been deposited into the offshore account you specified."

"Mhm."

Song Heping nodded appreciatively: "Well done."

He picked up his phone from the nightstand and put it in his pocket, suddenly turning back to ask Barrett, "Tell me, you used to be an undercover agent for the DEA, and now you're smuggling drugs for traffickers, does it feel awkward?"

Barrett was stunned.

He hadn't anticipated Song Heping would ask such a question out of the blue.

"Boss, I don't understand what you mean..."

Song Heping said, "I worry whether you'll feel morally condemned."

Barrett felt his face getting slightly hot.

It wasn't that he actually felt morally condemned.

He had nothing to do with drug enforcement in the first place; he was still an undercover agent.

"Morality..."

Barrett recovered quickly.

"In our line of work, morality isn't worth much..."

"That's good to hear."

Song Heping smiled and walked towards the exit of the room.

"You did well on this assignment. I will arrange for the Ferrari to transfer the commission you are due to your account as soon as possible. A whole million US dollars."

"No rush, no rush..."

Barrett said he wasn't in a hurry, but he was somewhat excited on the inside.

Earning the money was stress-free.

With the CIA and DEA providing cover in Texas, they were currently targeting all drug trafficking except for the Sinoloa and the Balot Organization.

So all he did was fly back to the country and then fly back here, just like a business trip.

Just one round trip, and a million US dollars were in his account.

If he continued like this, wouldn't he be a multimillionaire by the end of the year?

Money is a good thing.

Nobody dislikes it.

Barrett's mind was suddenly in turmoil.

He thought, if he eventually completes his mission and manages to get Song Heping into jail, will all this money be seized as drug proceeds?

However, he quickly repressed his desires and reminded himself to stay in his place.

"Boss, why is the commission so high?"

"You deserve it," Song Heping said lightly, but inwardly he chuckled.

The more he gave, the more interesting things would be later on.

"Don't worry, this money has been laundered through our offshore accounts, it's clean, you can spend it however you like."

"Alright..."

Barrett's recently quelled desires were once again stirred to the surface.

A million US dollars could indeed buy a lot of things.

As they chatted, they went downstairs to the first floor hall where everyone gathered in the dining room for breakfast.

"It's a complete mess!"

Jiang Feng pointed to the TV.

"I saw," Song Heping found a spot to sit down, and Jiang Feng quickly got up to bring him breakfast.

Song Heping started gobbling down his food, but before he could take a few bites, his phone started vibrating.

He pulled it out and saw it was Shorty's number.

He had recently told Shorty to lay low, take security seriously, and hide.

The guy was quite obedient indeed, having disappeared for several days. This was the first phone call from him in days.

"Hello?"

Song Heping didn't avoid anyone, he just picked up the call and started listening beside the dining table.

"Shorty? Is it urgent?"

"Song! Great news!"

Shorty was ecstatic on the phone.

"Guess who called me this morning?!"

"If I'm not mistaken, it's one of the four big families."

"Not just one! Two!"

Shorty was very happy, laughing heartily on the other end.

"Rubio and Omar, both of them called me, saying they're willing to cooperate with us and would like to meet you."

Song Heping calmly said, "A union? What's up? Can't take it anymore?"

Shorty said, "Probably. Recently, Lascano, like a mad dog, has been biting them non-stop, and your agreement with Colombia is taking effect too. Their supply there has been greatly affected, less than twenty percent of what it used to be. And I've heard that the Templar Knights and the Sita Group have lost a huge amount of goods in North America, all swept up by the DEA, resulting in a sharp decline in revenue. They are all sustaining on old reserves, probably not for long."

Song Heping smirked inwardly.

All these circumstances were within his expectations.

Mexican large-scale Cartel sub-groups and underlings were numerous.

Especially like the big five families.

Don't be fooled by how rich their bosses are, with fortunes worth tens of billions at a minute's notice.

But their spending is just as frightening, very flamboyant, if they fancy a woman it's not just throwing gold in thousands, but tens of thousands, with so much money they don't know where to spend, they buy gold, even guns are made of gold, and some drug traffickers are too lazy to use a lighter to light a cigarette, going straight for a US dollar.

And each organization has tens of thousands of lackeys who follow them for a living, Shorty's Sinoloa has more, around a hundred thousand, which is the most.

The Templar Knights and Sita also have seventy or eighty thousand, Sita even more, rumored to be ninety thousand.

These tens of thousands sound awe-inspiring, but they're all mouths to feed.

Take Colombia's Morins, for example, after AUC disbanded he took over tens of thousands of troops, and then had to get involved in the drug business, the world's most profitable businesses being arms, drugs, and gambling.

Arms rely on bulk transactions to make enough profit, often done by companies backed by governments, but drugs are different, criminal organizations with territory, supply, guns, and people can deal.

Rubio or Omar, if without an income for half a year, will soon be eating through their reserves and disperse like monkeys when the tree falls.

Therefore, they have no choice but to bow down to me; it's only a matter of time.

Can't handle Lascano, and even less willing to bow down to a madman like Lascano, cooperating with me is a far better option.

"What about Big Leva? Has he contacted you?"

"No, he hasn't called."

"Looks like he hasn't given up yet."

"He has a new idea, I heard that after the Gulf Group's leader died, Big Leva used the time when their group was headless to pressure them into giving up a lot of territory and business. I can see that this kid's ambitions aren't small, he seems to want to swallow up the Gulf Group himself."

"That's a big appetite."

Song Heping couldn't help but feel that Mexican drug lords don't have any loyalties, it's all about interest.

Like a pack of hyenas, when one of their own falls, they swarm over and won't even spare the corpse of their kind, hesitating not even a moment goes against their "conscience".

"Since that's the case, let Big Leva make his own moves first. I believe Lascano will take good care of him. Let's just focus on our business, you arrange for Omar and Rubio to meet me, you pick the place and inform me when it's ready. I will decide."

"No problem, everything is up to you."

If someone dared to talk to Shorty like this in the past, they would've been hanged on a streetlight by now.

But now, Shorty in front of Song Heping seemed very humble.

He's been raking in profits recently while the other families have taken hits, his supply is smuggling and selling through the Balot Organization controlled by Song Heping, basically immune to impacts, with North American gangs flocking to him for goods, making Shorty laugh all the way to the bank.

Song Heping deliberately let him taste some sweets, trying to give him as much supply as possible.

With money in hand, people become obedient.

Although a money-based alliance is not absolutely solid, can you talk about feelings with drug lords?

Isn't that even more of a joke?

After putting down the phone, Song Heping announced at the dining table.

"The Templar Knights and Sita have thrown us an olive branch, wanting to cooperate with us."

"They're finally bowing down?!" Jiang Feng laughed: "Why didn't they do it sooner? Would have saved them from this predicament. Initially, the coalition of the four big families intended to face us down, but what happened? ... They started infighting first!"

Barrett said, "Boss, Lascano also wanted Omar and Rubio to bow down and ally with him. By doing this, we should be careful that Lascano, humiliated, might take action against us."

"You're right," Song Heping said. "Just because they are people Lascano wooed, do we reject them outright? I'm not in the habit of turning away those who surrender. As for your talk of him making a move, hasn't he already tried? If he dares, he can try again, I might catch him and make him suffer this time, not letting him off as easily as last time."

"Boss, it's better to be careful," Hunter reminded.

"It's fine, the location this time is arranged by Shorty, we'll meet on our own turf. I doubt Lascano would dare to make trouble deep inside Sinoloa territory."

Unintentionally spoken, those listening might be deeply affected, while everyone else was concerned about the safety of the meeting, Barrett suddenly had a new idea.

"What's up? Got something on your mind?" Song Heping suddenly turned his head and asked Barrett: "Why aren't you speaking?"

"Ah..." Barrett quickly covered up his fluster: "I was just thinking about how to ensure safety when the time comes, whether I should bring some capable people from the Balot Organization for security."

Song Heping shook his head and laughed: "No need for that, rest assured, Lascano won't dare come, he's not that bold!"