America: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 299 - 178: Escorting the Fire

After splitting the money, Sieg also sent a message to the General Sect Leader informing Allen Zhang that he had successfully applied and taken up the job of armed transport, asking him to gather in Armed Nation.

Allen Zhang left the bridge tunnel camp and drove to Armed Nation on West Street. Upon arrival, he immediately noticed several transport vehicles parked outside the gun shop, with Sieg and Bailey wearing bullet-proof vests, helmets, holding assault rifles, and equipped with pistols and fragmentation hand grenades on their waist, fully armed.

Parking the car by the roadside, Allen Zhang walked over to inquire, "Four vehicles? What’s the situation? Don’t we only need to transport gun oil and regular security equipment? Why use so many people? Are they carrying intercontinental missiles or what?"

"Things are not that simple."

Sieg took Allen Zhang aside and whispered, "This mission is actually initiated by a friend of the boss of Armed Nation, together with the gun shop owner. Of course, there wouldn’t be much profit from just ordinary firearms, so he’s also smuggling some private goods in the trucks, but we are not privileged to ask about the specifics. Officially, we are transporting gun oil, security equipment, and the Sieg Short Assault Rifles, but in reality, in addition to some private items, there are also some CD-ROMs that we need to safely transport to the Wells Fargo Bank in Palm Valley."

Allen Zhang immediately understood, realizing that even in this clean-hands meeting there were interests being exchanged.

"What’s recorded on those CDs? Bank Vault codes? Or some shady transaction list? It must be data-related anyway."

Nothing new under the sun; it seems the bank itself probably has quite a few corruption issues, maybe it will soon need people to sort its accounts.

"I don’t know what it is," Sieg said uninterestedly, merely introducing some personnel responsible for the transport mission to the General Sect Leader.

Pointing to a group of Black people sitting on the transport vehicles, he said, "They are former members of the Los Angeles Police Department who served at the Eastern Los Angeles Police Department before forming their own security team called Fire Cannon after leaving. They have a pretty solid reputation in the circle."

Then pointing to several white people, "They are from Lightning, a security firm under a Los Angeles PMC company. They are also responsible for this transport mission."

"It’s like us casual personnel then, PMC company people getting paid $85 an hour, Fire Cannon team gets $80, and we only get $60-70."

Sieg finished with a bit of discontent. Always getting the lowest hourly rate wherever he goes, who can stand that?

Even though they too were skilled, everyone was equally matched; if it really came down to a fight, he, a former Marine Corps Captain, might not be any worse off than these people, right?

It mainly boils down to not being well-known in the industry, no flashy advertisements, no backing from PMC companies, nor involving any sensational events.

"That Fire Cannon squad, because they maintained security at a celebrity concert and successfully protected their client, brought the risk down and suddenly gained fame, previously their average rate was only $55 per hour."

Bailey couldn’t help but quip, "It’s not like they are fighting on the front lines, and that counts as experience?"

"So many people? Looks like this mission isn’t going to be so peaceful," Allen Zhang was somewhat surprised, "If it was just a normal transport, there wouldn’t be a need for so many people, right?"

"The employer arranged it this way; we just need to do our jobs well."

Sieg then took the General Sect Leader to change into their gear and got into a bullet-proof armored transport vehicle. Allen Zhang looked at the various big and small boxes in the van’s cargo area, which were filled with firearms, gun oil, and common security equipment.

Plus the private goods in the black boxes and the CDs in the silver safe.

Allen Zhang also took out his phone to report the situation to Blitz, asking him to look into the relationship between Armed Nation and Wells Fargo Bank, as well as potential risks during the mission.

Quickly, Blitz sent a message: Wells Fargo Bank and the boss of Armed Nation have some private connections. The person who issued this mission also has some shady dealings with bank people, involving manipulating stock market trends, making money from real estate speculation, engaging in gang-related and contemptible activities, stoking public panic to offload junk stocks aggressively, low buying and high selling, various financial illegal operations.

Blitz: The Securities and Exchange Commission got wind of their acts and froze their accounts, with the FBI responsible for initiating an investigation, but in just a few days, the accounts were unfrozen again.

Blitz: I couldn’t find out what those CDs are about, but a week ago, they met with the head of the MC Biker Gang, and even invited the Vice Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The specifics are unknown; perhaps the CDs contain recordings and truths, or maybe just some data packages and white transaction lists. Among the items in the black box might be some illegal goods.

Allen Zhang: Can you crack the codes on the safe and the CD? They’re in our van.

Blitz: I don’t recommend you delve into the inside story here; the water is deep in this industry; you just need to straightforwardly deliver the goods, there shouldn’t be too high a risk.

Allen Zhang: ok.

The General Sect Leader was also just curious about what shady affairs were on the CD. If this transport mission goes smoothly, it means the CDs are just ordinary data packages.

If something goes awry midway, it signifies that at least the CDs have touched upon some people’s interests, needing special care or even destruction. Inside are all the shady PY trades.