The Anointed Ones (11)
My satisfactory performance in my role must have pleased Gao Xusen, for he led me to a makeshift pier near the field command post. It was a different spot from the dock where the Becklux was moored. Here, a RO-RO ship that looked to displace around 20,000 tons was steadily unloading a stream of armored vehicles. It was a sight of manpower and equipment support pouring in all at once—something that had been so hard to come by until now.
Gao Xusen spoke up.
"Orders have come down from the Central Committee. They've temporarily granted me command even over the armed police. So hold out against the pressure from the Black Sea Party coming at us from both Foshan and Dongguan somehow. The Foshan Public Security Bureau and Dongguan Public Security Bureau have agreed to follow my command for a while too. It's like a special task force has been formed."
The armed police were a paramilitary organization institutionally separate from public security. They were called police, but they were essentially an army. Handing over command of them on top of public security was proof of how much the Central Committee was banking on Gao Xusen.
"Why show me this specifically?"
I pulled my eyes from the pier and asked. Gao Xusen flashed a tense smile.
"I thought I'd offer Vice President a little gift."
"A gift? One of those vehicles?"
"Precisely. Though we're focused on hunting down the rebel scum right now, your core business with Nameless Company is arms smuggling, isn't it? First, we'll tamper with the supply lines to divert ammo. Once the city stabilizes more, we'll handle the equipment itself as scrap losses. How's that for a proposal?"
"Not bad."
It was calculated goodwill. Since he was using the nation's assets to play benefactor, he bore virtually no burden himself. By the time actual delivery became feasible, any surviving Gao Xusen would have the power to brush aside minor troubles. Purging the Guangdong Triad leadership and installing his own people was one basis for that confidence. The Triad's smuggling lines had fallen into his hands.
I asked again.
"So, what exactly are you offering from that lot?"
"Those. The three over there."
"......Russian-made."
"Indeed."
What Gao Xusen proposed to give me were three Russian self-propelled mortars (Nona-S). Mortars they might be, but they could fire direct, and special AP rounds existed that could punch through 600mm of rolled steel. Their weak armor was a flaw, but that lightness made them highly versatile.
I couldn't help but smirk inwardly.
They've kept those around without scrapping them till now.
No field was immune, but China had a notorious reputation in weapons development for tech theft. And the country that suffered most from it was the Soviet Union and its successor, Russia. They'd buy tiny quantities of weapons, disassemble them meticulously, and reverse-engineer. Every nation did some reverse-engineering, but China was brazenly excessive.
After repeated incidents, a fed-up Russia notified China they wouldn't sell in small lots anymore. Yet China somehow acquired Russian gear and churned out copies. The self-propelled mortars we were discussing had originally been imported for just that purpose.
When China first inquired about buying them, Russia—already burned multiple times—demanded they take at least a hundred if they wanted any. But loath to spend the cash, China sourced a few through Ukraine anyway. A famous anecdote in our line of work.
Deploying such blatant evidence of tech theft in actual combat was thriftiness without shame, but these fake communists—imperialists at heart—had long since discarded any conscience. In a way, it showed how cornered they were to dig these out.
They were probably originally stockpiled for overseas ops.
Which means spare parts for repairs would be hard to source if they break down.
To Gao Xusen, they were one-use disposables he was showing off. No guarantee they'd even stay intact until handover. And beneath this communist noble's gift-giving lurked a selfish calculus: profiting from the smuggling lines he'd acquired. Like a new market entrant sending courtesy to a major distributor.
The guy was desperate to get money out of the country...
I pointed elsewhere and made my demand.
"While you're at it, throw in one of those too."
"Eh?"
Gao Xusen followed my finger, then wore a troubled look.
"That... no, that's not possible. You're asking for far too much."
What I'd requested was one of the few cutting-edge armored vehicles. A new weapon China had developed for future warfare—detailed data alone would make intel agencies drool. Back in the day, Kyung-tae had sized it up like this upon first intel:
"It's like they threw in everything they thought you might like!"
A single vehicle crammed with autocannon, machine gun, anti-tank/anti-air missiles, multipurpose guided rockets, recon drones and small cruise missiles, remote grenade launcher—the works.
"I'll pay generously."
Gao Xusen waved it off again.
"It's not about the price! I could smooth over the Russians getting caught on export somehow, but those are items the higher-ups explicitly ordered us to use sparingly and carefully. The systems themselves are tied to China's pride..."
"Then don't get caught."
"Where's a hundred percent safe smuggling in this world?"
"Hang it under the ship."
"What?"
"I'll chain it and tow it underwater."
"......?"
Deep confusion crossed the communist noble's face.
"You mean dunk that high-tech gear in seawater and drag it? Even normal cars get scrapped after saltwater flooding."
"No worries. There's precedent. Not a hundred percent safe, but no standard search will find it. How would they spot rings welded underwater to the hull, chained up?"
"......"
The pioneer of this trick was surprisingly Korea. During Vietnam, they smuggled U.S.-issued APCs meant for local use by hanging them under ships back home. Coat in anti-corrosion paint, slather high-viscosity grease in every crevice, tarp it, chain it down. Weld exhausts shut if needed.
Underwater cargo hauling had deep history, but submerged armor was a Columbus egg moment. It works? Still whispered about in the trade, even from before I started.
"Impossible anyway!"
The communist noble shook his head like a petulant child.
"Those were rerouted here from the border. They're not exactly plentiful army-wide, so I can't get greedy. One slip, and I'd lose everything I've built!"
"Pity. If it's such a hassle for you, Director, I'll drop it."
I didn't press. No point risking spy suspicions, and I hadn't expected much anyway. Withdrawing the big ask opened the door for realistic ones. Showing retreat would make him more amenable to what followed.
After some haggling, I secured the three Russian self-propelled mortars plus a satisfying haul of heavy weapons. Payment: modest cash to an anonymous overseas account.
Now the real game begins.
With a guy desperate to stash cash abroad for his kid living large on a million bucks a year, I could stockpile inventory at bargain rates for a while. If luck held, maybe even data on that rejected armored vehicle. Such intel was gold for unlocking picky supply lines.
After the tug-of-war, a quiet Gao Xusen spoke up slyly.
"I have a few questions."
"Ask away."
"First, about Madam Park."
Miju.
"I let her interrogate Black Sea Party thugs directly since she had your permission, but it felt like her real aim was revenge for deceased Brother Seo rather than wiping them out. Not that the interrogations were biased, just the vibe... Anyway, did she really have your go-ahead? Just confirming it wasn't rogue action."
"She did."
The right to pursue revenge within limits that didn't botch the job. That was the heavier debt Miju had pledged to me before. I'd promised to aid it as much as possible. No separate permission needed.
"Does that bother you?"
He'd hidden faint disappointment at my counter, but denied it quickly.
"No, no. My honest thought is, if we kill every last Black Sea Party scum, no need to hunt personal foes. But washing grudges in vengeance is only natural."
Classic Chinese: face-conscious, viewing revenge as virtue.
Ahem.
Gao Xusen cleared his throat awkwardly and hesitated before the next question.
"What do you think of me... getting together with Madam Park?"
What bullshit was this?
"You want me to order her to entertain you?"
My frosty frown made him deny vehemently.
"Of course not! I respect Madam Park. Disrespecting her is like disrespecting Brother Seo."
"Then?"
"What I seek is a serious relationship. Winning her heart is my own task. I'm just asking permission upfront in case it irks you."
"Why her? Log on, and college girls dreaming of being mistresses or beauties angling to be the favored sidepiece are a dime a dozen."
Er'nai were basic concubines; xiaosan, the ones loved more than the wife. A public security bigshot could snag beauties anytime.
Gao Xusen flushed.
"Madam Park isn't some vulgar tramp littering the streets. When Brother Seo threw himself over the grenade, she spread her slender arms to shield me. Not a single shard hit me thanks to her. I've never gotten that devotion from a wife."
"......"
"I didn't feel her feminine charms much back then... But watching her personally grill those black bandits this time, ah, my heart raced like it hasn't in ages. Felt like my youth returned."
Black bandits: a scornful term for the Black Sea Party.
"I used to think women over thirty lost feminine value, no matter how pretty. But Madam Park in leather gloves, pounding reactionaries till they rang like gongs... It was a beauty I'd never seen. Sweat-matted hair clinging to her cheek, blood splattering over, and every punch made my legs tingle—"
"Stop. That's enough. I get it's sincere."
Revolting sincerity was still sincerity. Like pedos confessing love to kids. I cut off his heating reminiscence; hearing more was torture.