Chapter 1772 - 1455: Sudden Incident
At dawn the next day, Joe Ga entered Zaranj in a truck transporting wedding supplies.
As a small city at the border between Aqionghan and Iran, the prosperity Zaranj exhibited was somewhat beyond Boss Joe's expectations.
This was a 'lawless land' in the heart of the Balochistan region, yet beneath it, an unusual prosperity was spawned by the economy.
Joe Ga sat in the van, looking at the street scenes through the mesh…
The roads in Zaranj were very worn, but some of the commercial buildings along the streets looked relatively new.
Various vendors set up stalls along the streets, with people loudly haggling back and forth. It wasn't exactly a bustling crowd, but it had a tangible sense of prosperity.
Theoretically, Zaranj belonged to Aqionghan, but at this stage, the Taliban clearly didn't have the ability to take over here, hence it became a no man's land.
And this no man's land actually developed a peculiar scene of prosperity.
Focusing on the economic benefits generated by drug trade, vendors traveling between Iran and Pakistan provided ample material trade channels for various organizations and tribes.
Joe Ga had seen a lot, but Zaranj still left a deep impression on him.
Any prosperity born from a drug-based economy is false and unsustainable in this world.
Theoretically, money is just money, as long as one is willing to invest, a city will naturally change for the better.
But in fact, none of those people related to Zaranj—farmers living off poppy cultivation, tribes purchasing raw opium, warlords refining and wholesaling heroin, or smugglers—ever thought of changing Zaranj's appearance...
Infrastructure!
This is the greatest difference between a legitimate government organization and a ragtag bunch.
Perhaps they also realized internally that their 'enterprise' couldn't last long, so they paid no attention to infrastructure, fearing that if they invested in it, it might go to waste for others.
The prosperity in Zaranj formed naturally due to demand and would naturally decline as demand changes.
What Joe Ga saw along the way seemed to indicate that Zaranj wasn't much affected by the westward war, but the people chatting around those street-side hookah bars always appeared anxious.
The whole of Zaranj had a sense of the Republic of China era in movies, with people busy all day and having no time to concern themselves with the outside world. Stray children and beggars filled the streets, with dilapidated public infrastructure starkly contrasting the luxury of private buildings.
In contrast to the ignorance of the common folk, those in the upper echelons of society were exchanging information and seeking the next step.
In an environment with an apparent class divide, violence replaced order as the key to preventing the broader environment from slipping into chaos.
Everywhere in the streets and alleys were informants and armed young men, and only the locals could discern to which organization or tribe these people belonged.
These armed forces divided Zaranj into many parts while forming a mutually restraining social system.
People generally wouldn't act recklessly in this system, because once chaos ensued, no one could control it.
Joe Ga squeezed into the van's rear compartment with Dorian and Ayu, wearing a cloak like a sack as disguise.
Through the burlap on the car window, Joe Ga pointed at a man dragging a flatbed cart, saying, "How the hell can this be any good…"
Dorian followed Joe Ga's finger to see a middle-aged man dragging a cart loaded with raw opium, on which sat three children—two boys and a girl—the oldest no more than 10 years old, and the youngest estimated at only 3 or 4 years old.
This situation was common in Zaranj. More commonly, a few armed men would follow behind this man…
Dorian understood why Boss Joe was a bit angry. He spread his hands and said, "Boss, until the western war in Aqionghan is completely over, the social ecology here cannot change.
However, not all is bad; the price of raw opium is increasing. These armed organizations not only offer high prices but also provide some services…"
Joe Ga looked at the armed men trailing the middle-aged man, occasionally urging him, and shook his head, saying, "Like this?
In the past, they only needed to sit at home waiting for these farmers to deliver the 'harvest'. Now they have to send people to the villages, house by house, to keep an eye and collect the goods…"
Dorian nonchalantly said, "Boss, this benefits your plan. You should know that to meet Musa Suleiman's demands, the price of raw opium has risen by twofold.
We've delayed for long enough; farmers in Balochistan have basically sold all their raw opium.
Now they have money. As long as we can guarantee the food supply in the market, we can stabilize those farmers.
Isn't that what you wanted?"
Joe Ga slightly nodded after hearing this and said, "I didn't expect the western war to elevate these drug lords' service quality; this is a good thing.
Let these people spend all their money before they die, so we can spend a little less later…"
In truth, Dorian never quite understood Boss Joe's 'generosity', but he had long become accustomed to the 'miracles of the boss' through time…
Because, every time he thought the boss was wasting money, the boss would reap a huge reward.
When this kind of thing happens more often, everyone became accustomed to indulging the boss's 'wastefulness'.
Just as the vehicle overtook the middle-aged man with the flatbed cart and turned into a side road, the leading van suddenly stopped and began rapidly reversing.
Before Joe Ga and the others could realize what had happened, they heard a burst of gunfire from the side road…
"Bang bang bang bang…"
As the sound of AK fire rang out, Ronnie, Dr. Bird, and Rhino in the van dashed out and began to retaliate…
The three were quite experienced. They didn't stay in the vehicle to be passively shot at but got out, using nearby cover to suppress the enemy and buy time for the van to retreat.
Just when the van was pulling out of the enemy's firing range and starting to turn around, another wave of enemies appeared from their right rear…
Meanwhile, another group of people appeared at the left rear of Joe Ga and his team's vehicle…
The moment the group closer to Boss Joe opened fire, Joe Ga realized what was happening…
The bullets weren't aimed at the van; 7.62mm bullets hit the three children on the flatbed cart, then extended backward, scattering the armed escorts running alongside.
Watching the three bewildered children instantly become a bloody mess and fall onto the cart, Joe Ga was stunned for a moment—
He realized he might have unwittingly been caught in a raw opium turf war, so he decisively pulled up the hood of his cloak, yanked open the car door forcefully…
"Get out, take them down, all of them…"