"Want some?"
In the living area's warehouse, Song Heping placed a bottle of mineral water in front of Naxin.
Naxin glanced at it, then looked at Song Heping.
Song Heping said, "Don't worry, there's no poison in the water. If I wanted to kill you, it wouldn't take a minute, right?"
Naxin still didn't say a word, nor did he reach for the water.
"What's with the attitude!"
White Bear couldn't stand it anymore.
"Let me blow his brains out with one shot!"
As he spoke, he drew his pistol and disengaged the safety.
"White Bear, what are you doing?" Cook exclaimed in surprise.
White Bear looked at Naxin with disdain and said, "Only a fool would still be arguing with him. Look at him, acting all high and mighty!"
Song Heping turned to glance at White Bear, stood up decisively, stepped aside, pointed at Naxin, and said to White Bear, "Go ahead and kill him! I'm letting you! Do it!"
White Bear was petrified.
He had thought that Song Heping would stop him.
Instead, Song Heping had directly told him to kill Naxin.
This...
This isn't right...
Isn't he supposed to stop me?
Cook knew that Song Heping was not a weak man.
The reason he hadn't killed Naxin was that he was still giving the Persians some face.
After all, the Persians' influence at the Northern Border was still very strong.
During the era of Sadam, they fought Illiguo for eight years and had early on fostered an opposition there. Now that Sadam was overthrown, more people joined them, currently making them one of the three major forces along with Illiguo's native nationals and the Kurd Armed Forces.
Song Heping had discussed this with him before.
What he worried most about was not whether they could withstand one or two attacks from the Madheh Army but how to ensure long-term peace for the oil field afterward.
As a defense company, relying on stubborn resistance wasn't enough to ensure peace for the oil fields.
If even the US Army had found it difficult, how could it be any different now?
The armed organizations at the border adopted a squad raid strategy. "Musician" Defense could achieve tactical victories.
But they couldn't achieve it without losses.
If these armed groups at the border became smarter and stopped clashing head-on, opting instead to stealthily blow up an oil pipeline or drag a few rocket launchers ten miles away to fire rockets toward the oil field and then flee, there really wouldn't be anything they could do.
The oil field area simply couldn't withstand such torment.
If ordinary equipment were hit, that would be one thing, but if an oil storage tank were struck and ignited a massive fire, Wood Energy Group would suffer significant losses.
Then, the company would still lose the security contract.
This is why Song Heping wanted to win over the Persians.
White Bear was embarrassed.
He had just lost his temper momentarily.
He also knew that Persians were not easy to kill.
In the two attacks, it had been Madheh Army soldiers who died, not Persians.
If it had been Persians...
This matter probably wouldn't end well.
"I just lost my temper for a moment..."
White Bear was looking for a way to save face.
Song Heping provided him an out, "So, have you calmed down now?"
"Yes."
What was good about White Bear's temper was that it came quickly and left quickly.
Song Heping gave him a way out, and he immediately took the hint.
Song Heping sighed and said to White Bear, "Andre, as we Chinese say, the underworld isn't just about fighting and killing; there's also human relationships and worldly wisdom. Don't always try to kill people. Killing should also be beneficial, right?"
"You're the boss, you decide."
White Bear grinned, safed his pistol, tucked it into his waistband, and turned to leave.
Song Heping turned back to Naxin and said, "Now, before I regret it, take your men and get out of here, and after you go back ..."
He took a cellphone out of his pocket and placed it in front of Naxin.
"This has my number. Tell your boss, and I mean the boss of the Revolutionary Guard, that Song Heping wants to talk with him and doesn't want to be enemies. You promised me last time that if you lost again, you would put me in touch with your boss. Since you are an officer, please honor your promise."
With a wave of his hand, he concluded, "Go now!"
Naxin sat there like a statue for a long while.
Finally, he stood up.
He walked a few steps toward the door and then stopped.
He returned to the table, reached out, and took the cellphone.
After doing all this, he left without saying a word and headed straight for the main door.
Grey Wolf watched Naxin leave and couldn't help asking Song Heping, "Really letting him go? Aren't you afraid he'll come back to cause trouble?"
Song Heping said, "If he really wants to fight us to the death, killing or not killing Naxin makes no difference. If their superiors aren't idiots, making friends with us would also be to their advantage. These two battles proved our strength; strength gives us leverage in negotiations."
The cook expressed doubts, "Sad, are you sure his superior will meet with us?"
Song Heping said, "I can't be 100 percent sure, but I'm at least 80 percent confident. Otherwise, why would he have taken the cellphone? After tonight, I estimate that the Madheh Army won't bother us for a while."
While he was speaking, Samir came in.
Song Heping asked him, "Have Naxin's men left?"
"They've left." Samir was puzzled by Song Heping's actions. Normally, he wouldn't dare ask, but he finally couldn't help saying, "Boss, aren't you afraid he'll come back for revenge?"
"Revenge?"
Song Heping laughed.
"Hasn't he been here twice already?"
Samir was stunned for a moment, then laughed as well.
Then he added, "Boss, can I discuss something with you?"
Song Heping nodded, "Of course."
Samir glanced around hesitantly.
"It's just us here, go ahead," Song Heping understood his concerns.
Only then did Samir speak, "There's news from the Cook Oil Field. Lars and his team returned to the place where they met with the Kurd people that night."
Upon hearing this, Song Heping's expression became serious.
He turned to Hunter and said, "You see, I was right, wasn't I?"
Hunter nodded, "Boss, your intuition is divine."
Song Heping said, "It's not intuition, it's judgment."
Then sighed.
The cook asked, "Is he really going back for the warhead?"
Song Heping said, "What else could it be? He needs to clear himself of responsibility, which means finding out who double-crossed him."
The cook said, "If he actually finds the warhead ... Black Water will definitely take action, and I guess that will alarm Simon."
"Simon?" Song Heping said, "You mean the CIA's station chief in Baghdad?"
The cook said, "Supporting the Kurdish people has always been a CIA operation, so the CIA won't ignore this. Moreover, Black Water and the CIA are closely linked; their investigation would be justified."
Song Heping pondered for a moment, his mind racing.
"This situation is really messed up here. It looks like Lars wants to escalate the problem so we need to figure out a way to get rid of him sooner rather than later."
The cook asked, "Have you thought of a way?"
Song Heping shook his head, "Not yet. But let me think… However, there's one thing we must do now, and we must do it immediately!"