Chapter 162: Reciprocal Courtesy

Du Qiu had a hurried meeting with the current ruler of South Sudan and then left.

Lai Sool excitedly looked at Peck and declared, “Peck, the time has finally come for us to unite the entire country!”

“Yes, with Mr. Li’s support, my troops will surely be able to sweep through all opposing armed factions and tribal militias within our borders.”

“Then let’s begin the arrangements immediately. Operation ‘Defend Peace’ is now in motion!” Lai Sool said, confidently gesturing with his hand.

Peck nodded, fully understanding, “Exactly. We’re the ones who will defend the hard-won peace of our nation!”

Near Zhuba, the forward command post had been established, similar to the one previously built near Bor.

The command post was situated near a clump of short trees, camouflaged as a woodland with the perimeter secured at a distance of five kilometers.

Since this location was close to the capital of South Sudan, the population was relatively denser here.

Should anyone accidentally cross the security line, they would be stopped or detained by robot soldiers.

Anyone who was detained would be handed over to the South Sudan government forces the following day.

Inside the command center, Du Qiu looked at the holographic images around the command post and noted, “Star Ocean, the terrain in this area is quite favorable, situated higher than other places, making it suitable for our base.

I’ve already spoken with Lai Sool; we’ll purchase this area and develop an industrial park to provide Zhuba with some essential industrial products.

Moreover, we can provide Zhuba with the necessary electricity and communication support.

You should prepare a plan as soon as possible and deploy a batch of construction robots to start work here. Of course, there must be secret underground bases and factories.

Also, have the forces of our First Regiment been deployed? This will be our first real combat, and we need to collect all the data we can.”

As he spoke, Du Qiu had Command Unit No. 1 project a holographic map of South Sudan’s terrain, showing all the known strongholds of the Asa armed forces in the entire territory of Qionglai State already marked.

At that moment, Star Ocean responded, “The First Regiment of the Iron Guard is already in position, lightly equipped. Tomorrow at dawn, they will commence a sweeping operation to ensure the Asa armed forces are completely eradicated.

The First Construction Battalion has finished loading and is about to take off, following the same route we’ve previously used.

We’ve tested it and confirmed that, when passing by the TanKen border, the American base in Kenya can’t detect our fleet.”

“And the information search on the Arab man, how’s that going?”

Star Ocean relayed, “The first phase of the search has just been completed, and we’ve already acquired some information. This medical team hijacking incident might not be simple.

I’m activating a few sleepers to gather further details.”

Du Qiu, surprised, asked, “What do you mean? Was this incident not a random act?”

“That’s correct. The Arab is actually a minority ethnic from Xinjiang with Tang Countryality, named Ikar Khan, who smuggled himself out of the country five years ago.”

“Oh, so he’s a traitor. Then indeed, he deserves to die.”

Star Ocean further explained, “Preliminary information indicates he may have had some interaction with Miss Ning, although I can’t access Miss Ning’s file.

But it’s roughly known that the year Ikar Khan fled Tang Country, Miss Ning was in Xinjiang.”

Du Qiu frowned, combining this with Ikar Khan’s final, desperate act of throwing a dagger to kill Zheng Hailan. Perhaps it really was an act of revenge against Ning Shuangshuang?

“Sir, additional information just came in: Ikar Khan had been working for Mossad of Israel for the past year or more.”

“Hmm, is there a plot by Israel here? Israel doesn’t have much interest in South Sudan to justify offending Tang Country by hijacking a Tang medical team, does it?”

“Our sleeper has sent word that Lagia, who has been marginalized by GIA and was previously the most active in pursuing sir, has suddenly left the United States and is now on a plane to Israel.”

“Lagia? Is that guy stirring up trouble again?” Du Qiu asked while stroking his chin.

“He’s very careful. After being marginalized, he hasn’t made contact with anyone, though a sleeper just sent a photo of his dwelling place.”

“Any clues?”

“On a whiteboard, there are some basic details about Li Shennan.”

“What?!” Du Qiu was taken aback. How did Lagia get wind of Li Shennan?

After all, apart from some high officials of the Tanga Federation, hardly anyone knew about Li Shennan.

Besides the construction period when Du Qiu had appeared as Li Shennan, afterwards, names were switched to executives from Dream Technology.

As for Dream Technology’s dealings with the Tanga Federation, some were handled by Rein Leinar alone, while others were overseen by a Rein Leinar-appointed African regional CEO named Mateus.

So even if Lagia started his investigation from Dream Technology, linking it to Li Shennan wouldn’t be an easy task.

It seemed he had underestimated this veteran agent.

From Ikar Khan to Mossad of Israel, and now to GIA’s Lagia, it looked like there was a new angle to the whole affair.

“Star Ocean, prepare an assassin. Send to Israel’s capital, the Holy City.”

“Understood, I’ll dispatch them immediately.”

Du Qiu looked calmly at the whiteboard photo in Lagia’s home through the holographic projection and stated, “Since you insist on relentless pursuit and causing trouble, then it’s only fitting to respond in kind.

Star Ocean, once the assassin is ready and it’s confirmed Lagia is indeed involved in the incident, launch an operation at the first opportunity.”

“Understood, the order has been issued.”

“Clear, sir.”

Lagia, had you simply retired quietly, we could’ve let bygones be bygones. But instead, you choose not to leave well enough alone.

In such a chaotic world, it’s much better to stay safely in your own country than to wander aimlessly.

At dawn, the capital of South Sudan, Zhuba, was awakened by intense gunfire.

Everyone realized that another civil war had begun.

However, to everyone’s surprise, the conflict in Zhuba lasted less than half an hour before peace returned.

When people finally dared to step onto the streets in the morning, they discovered that the roadblocks previously erected had been cleared away.

Although military vehicles occasionally drove by, they seemed to be heading north.

After Star Ocean reported to Du Qiu that Zhang Mingliu was out of danger, the First and Second Airborne Divisions had launched a full-scale air strike against the Asa armed forces at dawn.

The First Regiment of the Iron Guard paratroopers landed north of Qionglai State, implementing a ‘close the door and beat the dog’ strategy, quickly advancing from north to south, sweeping away encountered Asa armed force members.

By this time, the South Sudan government forces, which had dealt with the vice-president’s militias in the capital, also pushed north with all their might.

To those interested in the situation in South Sudan, it seemed the government forces had executed a minor blitzkrieg.

Within just one day, they advanced 200 kilometers north and recaptured the Qionglai State region, which had been under Asa armed control for years.

In reality, under the airstrikes by Du Qiu and ground clearances, the South Sudan government forces had merely undertaken an armed forced march.

During this peaceful march, government forces still lost several dozen vehicles and hundreds of soldiers to vehicle accidents.

By seven in the evening, with various parties paying attention, the South Sudan government released a battle report.

They announced the success of the first phase of “Defend Peace,” with government forces retaking Qionglai State.

For the nationwide peace of South Sudan, the government army would continue to advance, giving all local militias a deadline to surrender their weapons.

Otherwise, the armed resistance would be considered rebels and completely eradicated.

At that moment, at Zhuba Airport, two Antonov-8 aircraft from the Tanga Federation Defense Force landed peacefully, unloading a batch of military supplies.

Minister of Defense Peck signed with a smiling face.

He knew this was just the first batch; under the resource exchange support plan signed with Mr. Li the night before, more military support supplies would follow.

Dream Technology would invest in mining in South Sudan, with the new mining company having the South Sudan government possessing an appropriate share ratio.

This plan was even more beneficial to the South Sudan government than the oil company operating with Tang Country, which is no wonder Lai Sool was so confident to become the first president in South Sudan’s history to truly unite the entire nation.