Chapter 51: Ambush and Counter-Ambush (Part One)

  The next morning, Gao Yang got up early, feeling refreshed and energized. After washing up and having a simple breakfast, he boarded a camouflage Hummer, accompanied by over a dozen mercenaries, and headed towards the oilfield area.

  Three Hummers sped by on the newly repaired cement road, kicking up large clouds of dust. Those carrying baskets on their heads and driving cattle carts all hastily moved to the side, afraid of being splattered or grazed.

  This road was built by Gao Yang with his own money, originally to conceal the destination of the large quantities of cement and construction equipment purchased from within the country. The road was constructed all the way from the mining area to a place several dozen kilometers away from Lubumbashi and connected to the main highway of the country. Of course, a road of over 200 kilometers would not require such a large amount of cement, but no one would bother to investigate where the cement went.

  Gaoyang negotiated with the local government to renovate the original dirt road into a wide cement road, Gaoyang has 10 years of operating rights, and after 10 years, the government will take back the operating right of this road. This road has become the main traffic artery in the area.

  It was stipulated by both parties that the country's civilians and government would not be charged when using this highway. Generally, under such conditions, only state-to-state aid will go to build it, but Gaoyang doesn't care about this little money, he just wants to find an excuse. Moreover, if Gaoyang still has to worry about such a small thing after 10 years, then the original point fell into his hands is really blind.

  This road was built very wide, according to the standard of two-way four-lane construction. During the construction, an interesting thing happened. Before in the country, I had heard that African brothers were always on time for work and never worked a minute longer than necessary. Gaoyang didn't expect to see it with his own eyes.

  At that time, Gao Yang had just finished dinner and thought of going to the construction site to take a look. When he arrived, he found that there was no one there, and the tools and materials were all piled up together with no one in charge. Gao Yang wiped his eyes at the time but didn't say anything. That night, he called all the people in charge and management personnel together for a meeting.

  The road was built in a segmented package, divided into several tens of kilometers of small sections undertaken by local construction companies. Gaoyang said at the meeting that the first completed section would be paid three times the engineering fee after passing the acceptance test, and the second and third places would be paid twice the engineering fee. The rest would be paid according to the contract, which greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of the construction companies!

  That night, the entire construction site was filled with the roar of machines and the flow of people. The fastest building company finished nearly a month and a half ahead of schedule! It seems that it's not that our African brothers are too lazy, but rather that the temptation is not enough yet.

  Sitting in the Hummer, looking at the dense forest on both sides of the highway rapidly receding into the distance, the wind carrying a thick forest scent came rushing towards him, and from time to time, the sound of unknown wild beasts could be heard coming from the forest, Gao Yang felt a great sense of accomplishment.

  The convoy soon arrived at the riverbank ferry terminal, which was already very congested. Because Gaoyang refused to allow other companies to use this highway, other companies could only transport goods by water. This made the small ferry terminal extremely busy, with all kinds of vehicles, personnel and materials crowded together, litter everywhere, and the noise was deafening, like an Indian market.

  The fleet arrived at the dock of their own company, and the mercenaries in charge of the ferry had already prepared the ship. The Hummer drove directly onto the ferry and headed to the opposite bank. The person responsible for driving Gao Yang was James, the leader of the mercenary team who had come to Africa for the first time. He had already taken three turns of rest. Recently, because Gao Yang adopted the tactic of blocking roads against other companies in the mining area, and he discovered an oil field on the opposite bank of the river, these companies in the mining area all hated Gao Yang deeply. This time, when Gao Yang went to inspect the oil mine, James was personally responsible for his safety.

  The river is not very wide here, and the ferry took less than 10 minutes to reach the other side. There is a pumping oil dock built by the Goyang company, with a tens of kilometers long pipeline from the oil field area that comes here to load small shallow water oil tankers, which then take these small oil tankers downstream along the river all the way to Libreville and pump them onto giant ocean-going oil tankers under the Goyang company. Of course, the quantity is very small, no more than 90,000 barrels per month, playing a decorative role like the highway. The rest mainly relies on Goyang's storage space to fill up the oil tankers.

  Leaving the dock, they headed to the mining area along a special road built for the oil field. The road was narrow and deserted, with only oil pipelines along the side. Gaoyang, leaning back in his seat, could feel James's tension growing as he drove.

  He smiled, took off his sunglasses and put them in his pocket, then turned to James and said, "My captain, what are you so tense about?" James' eyes were fixed on the road ahead, and he replied seriously, "Boss, you cut off those companies' routes in the mining area, and now you have an oil field that's making people jealous. As we Chinese say, cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing their parents. It's clear they'll take action against you. As your bodyguard, I'm responsible for your safety."

  "Haha." Gao Yang leaned back in his chair and laughed, "James, your Chinese is pretty good. Where did you learn it?"

  "I used to do a few jobs with a guy from China, learned a thing or two from him. He was an interesting guy, but after he made some money, he went back home." James shrugged and said "But boss, why are you going out to the oil fields at this time? It's gonna put you in danger."

  "Yes, it's very dangerous. But if someone really wants to deal with me, I can't just hide at home and not come out, right?" Gao Yang leaned his right hand on the car door, supporting his chin, his eyes drifting slightly "Just focus all your firepower on me, don't hurt my loved ones, otherwise I don't know what I'll do." A hint of unknown meaning flowed from his words.

  Turning his head to James, he smiled and said, "Don't be so tense, our trip to the oil field this time was a temporary decision. Even if someone really wanted to harm me, it's impossible for them to ambush us on the way. What you need to worry about is the road back."

  James didn't say anything else, composed himself and turned on the car stereo. The melodious music echoed through the quiet forest road. Gaoyang turned his head to gaze quietly at the forest by the roadside, where the dense foliage in the dark woods blocked out most of the sunlight, like a monster waiting for its chance to pounce, sending shivers down one's spine.

  Gao Yang's mouth curled up, and when he was washing his face in the morning, Yuandian told him that many armed men with hostile intentions towards him had appeared in the mining town.

  After a thorough investigation, it was found that they were all professional personnel invited by the mining companies to deal with Gao Yang. Gao Yang thought for a moment and decided to lure them out of their lair, creating an opportunity to catch them off guard and take care of the remaining companies in the mining area at the same time.

  "This time, I must do it cleanly." Gao Yang muttered to himself. He was afraid that if he didn't finish the job cleanly, it would bring danger to his loved ones. Gao Yang wasn't afraid of anything, but what he worried about most was his family.

  It was just as Gao Yang had said, the road to the oil field was calm and peaceful, with nothing out of the ordinary happening. But this was only the calm before the storm, as news from the androids indicated that those professionals had already crossed the river.

  In the oil field, and Dr. Will learned about the latest situation in the mining area. Dr. Will's face, which was red and dark from being sunburned, had a proud smile on it. "Boss, this place is really great! The recent exploration has shown that the oil reserves here are absolutely not just a little bit on the surface, this must be a large oil mine! Boss, I need your financial support, I want to continue to move forward into the valley and drill more exploratory wells. I will bring you more oil reserves, more dollars!"

  Gao Yang smiled and handed a bottle of mineral water to Dr. Will, saying with a smile: "Money is not a problem, I have seen your work results, at the end of the year I will give you a generous bonus. Now tell me, what is the monthly output of the mine now?"

  Dr. Will downed half a bottle of mineral water in one gulp and poured the rest over his head "This damned weather, it's always so hot! Boss, currently there are 27 commercial oil wells producing oil in the mining area, with a monthly output of over 90,000 barrels! Recently we discovered another relatively shallow petroleum belt inside the valley. I've calculated that if we drill around 20 more commercial wells, we can increase production to over 200,000 barrels per month!"

  "Well done, you've done a great job." Gaoyang patted Dr. Will's shoulder and gestured for him to walk with him.

  "Oh, boss, there's something else I want to mention. Lately, there have been some strange guys lurking around the mining area, and some employees have reported that people often come to ask them about the situation in the mining area." Dr. Will turned his head to look at Gao Yang seriously.

  Gao Yang, walking slowly with his hands behind his back, lowered his head slightly and said in a low voice, "Don't worry about other things, I'll handle them well. Tell all employees that I don't care about money, and I won't treat anyone who helps me unfairly. Let everyone take care of their own mouths, and don't lose important things because of saying something they shouldn't!"

  Losing something important, Gao Yang didn't say, but Dr. Will was no longer a rookie just out of school, he already understood in his heart. He nodded seriously and said "I will formally notify all employees."

  Gao Yang strolled around the mining area, occasionally asking Dr. Will a few questions. The morning passed quickly, and after lunch in the mining area, Gao Yang led the mercenaries back along the original route.

  Three Hummers stopped after driving less than 10 kilometers. Gao Yang gathered all the mercenaries around him, "Brothers, I received a message that someone has set up an ambush on the road ahead to deal with me." Gao Yang's eyes swept across the faces of the mercenaries and said in a low voice.

  The experienced mercenaries showed no obvious changes on their faces, but they all tightened the weapons in their hands. James walked to Gao Yang's side with a serious face and said, "Boss, is the news reliable?" "Absolutely reliable."

  "Boss, what's your idea? Is it safe to send you away or take them down?" James said quietly, looking at Gao Yang.

  He lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and then smiled at the mercenaries in front of him, saying "I'm a person who hates trouble the most, so my idea is..." Gao Yang paused for a moment, his eyes scanning the mercenaries before continuing with a slight curl of his lips, "To prevent them from ambushing me again, I'll just take them all out!"

  After hearing Gao Yang's words, there was no obvious change on the faces of the mercenaries. Dealing with ambush killers was just self-defense, and the mercenaries were doing just that - they didn't have any psychological pressure!