Chapter 850: Untitled
Vermilion Bird headed to Riyadh to settle some urgent matters in the Middle East, whereas Ye Ningyuan always remained in Mexico City. As Bai Ye and Su Man were in Riyadh for the past few years, Vermilion Bird could turn to Bai Ye for advice with regards to the matters in the Middle East. White Tiger, on the other hand, remained in Mexico City to sign the final agreement with Morales. The Mexican government, in this period, pushed out new regulations pertaining to munitions controls. Apart from strengthening legislation that mandated aircraft registration, there were even more restrictions on flight paths that were patrolled. Even though the Top Terrorist Organization had its own ports and ships, there were government officials amongst them and they had to act more conservatively, which in turn affected their spoils from arms smuggling in Mexico and North America. Ye Ningyuan was not too concerned about these small gains since his focus was on this deal with Morales despite him knowing that Morales would want to gain without risking his own.
“Boss, are we really leaving Morales alone? My gut feeling tells me that things are not as simple as him wanting to gain without pain.” White Tiger wisely pulled out Morales’s accounts. “These are the accounts that Vermilion Bird had analyzed and compared against Sophie Vasi’s accounts. Some simple calculation suggests that Morales is only able to foot ten percent of the costs. He, without financial support, will not be able to keep up the end of his deal.”
“Vermilion Bird has done a good job.” Ye Ningyuan smiled. “Get Morales to fork out thirty percent of the costs as advance payment.”
“But this isn’t in line with the rules,” White Tiger said.
Ye Ningyuan gently smiled. “Rules? I am the rules when it comes to the munitions market!”
“Understood,” White Tiger solemnly replied.
While he sounded absolutely domineering, he was not wrong. When it came to the world of munitions, the Top Terrorist Organization called the shots as they had a monopoly on the munitions business. Any arms dealers who wanted to eke out a living had to have that bit of awareness that Black J could walk the talk. He, in his many years of maintaining that balance in the munitions industry, never went wrong when sharing the spoils.
Competition was more immense in the munitions industry, but it was not so immense to the point of fragmentation. They, however, did not dare to take Ye Ningyuan on. Firstly, they were not as capable as Ye Ningyuan. Secondly, they would never have these levels of profits if they opted to strike it out on their own. The wiser of the lot hence knew better.
To perfectly balance the sharing of profits in a huge market, direct the flow of munitions, make illegal gains, and prevent chaos in the munitions industry that could lead to conflicts was not something any man could do.
Not even Chu Li, Black J, or Jason were able to properly ensure the stability of the munitions industry, and chaos happened from time to time when people fought for the market or disrupted the equilibrium price. These things happened on a frequent basis.
It was in Ye Ningyuan’s time that protocols for the munitions market were perfected and running very well. Everybody obeyed it and there was rarely chaos or fighting. That was what made Ye Ningyuan stand out.
In the firearms market, he was the top dog and everybody else had to obey him.
“White Tiger, please do not reveal that I am still in Mexico City,” Ye Ningyuan plainly said.
“Understood.”
Actually, he did not need to remain in Mexico City, but… He frowned as he thought of An Xunuo. It had been half a month since they met, and he knew that she was by Morales’s side. She had accepted a mission, and this was her final mission before she left the organization. An Xunuo was a person who saw things from start to end, and she still carried out the mission despite having left the organization. A Korean Mafia boss, Morales’s rival, wanted Morales to lose everything. A very deep feud seemed to run between the two. They were lovers a decade ago but turned against each other, one set up Sophie Vasi, whilst the other single-handedly set up the Korean Mafia. It was never easy to gain a foothold in the underworld. She was, however, charismatic enough to keep so many tough men under her in check. She had her exceptional points, and her goal was very simple, which was to utterly bankrupt Morales. She seemed to have waited for ten years before acting, but Morales was in the dark.
An Xunuo hence racked her brain for ways to sabotage their deal.
His lips curled into a smile. All the missions she accepted seemed to be intricately related to him. Hmm, one could say that most things happening in the underworld had much to do with him. The problem simply lay in how he did not directly appear.
He stood by the window and saw a bustling Mexico City in the night, but his heart was empty. He undoubtedly missed An Xunuo. She was bold, alluring, and staked her pride and dignity as though she were a gambler. While she had lost, he was unfazed… To say that he was unfazed was wrong. As he missed her so much in the past half month, he was clearly not unfazed.
An Xunuo took a liking to him, and that was something he did not expect.
For a lonely, arrogant, and cold woman to go that far was, if it weren’t a genuine liking, impeccable acting skills. He would rather believe that it was more likely she took a liking to him.
When he was on Paradise Island, he had long thought about it.
He was not bereft of EQ. He could feel whether a girl took a liking to him. He understood what An Xunuo meant when they were at the beach that night, and he simply did not want to overthink it.
She was trying to find out whether he could love another person.
That night was her last gamble, and Ye Ningyuan gently smiled. However, he had hurt her. Ever since they returned from Paradise Island, he distanced himself from her and made no effort to hold her back. As he saw her distancing silhouette, his heart slightly ached. When she was hurt that night, she forcefully smiled and he saw it. Given her pride, she would no longer keep it up since he turned her down.
That was good too!
He ought not to be emotionally entangled with other women.
But why did he have this lurking unwillingness? Was he lonely for too long and desired company? It had been a long time since Nuo Nuo left and this was the first time someone drew close to his heart. An Xunuo was not warm, gentle, or considerate, but instead arrogant and cold. What seemed like flaws to others were strengths to him. He felt this simple liking not only once but twice. Was he lonely for so long to the point he desperately wanted somebody to fill the darkness and void in his heart? Was he so desperate that he would tightly hold onto anybody who came close to him?
He clearly was not a lonely person.
Nuo Nuo always lived in his heart, and he had his beloved family along with very close friends. How could he be lonely?
Ye Ningyuan sighed. However much he tried to convince himself, he could not avoid one thing. He was afraid that he really took a liking to An Xunuo. It did not help… that he liked her way more than he thought.
If that wasn’t the case, how would one explain the half month he had remained in Mexico City? He had never spent more than half a month in places other than London, Paradise Island, and City A.
All it took to reminisce about a city was simply because the person he reminisced was in said city.