"To ensure the safety of Friday's escort mission, they had to get a bulletproof vehicle. Leave alone the fact that there was only one car left now; even if the Opel travel car hadn't been damaged, these two vehicles without any bulletproof capability were simply wishful thinking to get Angel through the 200 kilometers of western highway to Krasa Town.
This time, an ISF security squad with a platoon and four Humvee armored vehicles was responsible for assisting. The ISF is an elite force of the Illigo Interim Government, armed and trained personally by the US Army, different from the ICDC's tribal armed rabble.
The ISF is composed of former regular army personnel who defected from Sadam's government to join the coalition, and therefore, comparatively stronger in combat.
Their equipment is better than ICDC's; the US Army has allocated a large number of second-hand Humvees for their transportation.
Song Heping thought the cook was going to borrow a Humvee from ISF, but he had other plans.
"Song, come with me."
"Where to?"
"To borrow a vehicle."
"Borrow a vehicle?"
Song Heping was completely confused.
The cook said, "Don't ask, just follow me."
Since the team leader said so, Song Heping could only follow.
By the time they arrived at the destination, Song Heping found they were at the Blackwater International office building.
He thought the cook was going to ask Black Water Company for a bulletproof vehicle.
Although 'Musician' was a freelance mercenary group, the contract was signed between Angel and Blackwater International, and it was reasonable for the company to provide some equipment. Applying for a bulletproof vehicle also seemed entirely proper.
But he soon realized he had guessed wrong.
The cook went straight to Thomas at the GRS division located here.
When he pushed the door open, Song Heping saw Thomas sitting at the desk and roughly guessed the cook's intention.
He didn't plan to ask the company, nor did he intend to borrow from ISF, but wanted to borrow directly from Thomas, trying to play the personal relationship card.
Thomas and Song Heping were not strangers.
Upon seeing Song Heping, the former opened his arms for a warm hug, vigorously patting his back as if greeting a long-lost friend.
"Buddy, what wind blew you in today?"
Thomas glanced at Song Heping and then at the cook.
"I heard you guys ousted 'Mad Dog' Lars and got yourselves a nice PSD task. Congratulations on landing this cushy job!"
The cook said, "Cushy it is, but our team is too small. Wanting to take on this order is like a little snake wanting to swallow a big elephant; no matter how big the appetite, you need the capability. We still need your help, old pal."
Thomas asked, "You need my help again? GRS doesn't deal with Black Water issues."
The cook said, "No, you can definitely help with this."
Then, he shot a glance towards Song Heping, signaling with his eyes.
Song Heping got the hint straight away.
The reason the cook had brought him here was because Thomas had once shared a life-and-death moment with him, amounting to a pretty good relationship.
He was able to join 'Musician' Mercenary Group thanks to Thomas's recommendation.
Bringing him along, Thomas might just give them a break.
What a clever strategy!
Although he didn't understand why the cook didn't ask Black Water for a vehicle or borrow one from ISF but came here instead, now was not the time to look for reasons.
"Right, we're here to borrow a vehicle."
Now that the ball was at his feet, he had no choice but to play along.
"One of our vehicles was damaged during a mission yesterday, and we have a task this Friday. With only one vehicle at hand, it's quite inconvenient, so we're here to borrow one from you."
Actually, Song Heping wasn't confident when saying this.
Although he had been through life and death with Thomas, it was, after all, a brief encounter.
Besides, Blackwater and GRS belonged to different departments, hardly having anything to do with each other.
For Thomas to lend them the vehicle would be a favor, but not lending it would be entirely reasonable.
Never did he expect that Thomas would immediately give an easy reply in less than three seconds, "No problem! What kind of vehicle do you want?"
The cook's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly said, "The best would be a B7-level bulletproof vehicle, preferably two of them...""
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Perhaps feeling that his request was a bit excessive, his tone lowered a few notches on the last half of the sentence.
B7 level armored vehicles are not ordinary bulletproof cars; they are the highest grade among all security bulletproof vehicles.
The requirements for reaching this level are extremely strict. The vehicle must not only withstand the shooting of 7.62 caliber steel core bullets but also protect against various types of hand grenades, small TNT explosive charges, or C4 blasts.
Upon hearing this, Thomas furrowed his brows indeed.
"B7-level armored vehicles... do you know how in demand these vehicles are right now? Everyone's after them. We got ten last month, aside from the six that some of our special departments received, the other four were all sent to the interim management committee for use by local dignitaries. Even the CIA, having been here for several months, has only managed to get six."
The Cook smiled awkwardly.
He too thought the request seemed a bit excessive.
Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly heard Thomas say, "However, for the sake of the life-and-death friendship I share with Song He, I can allocate the two from my department for your use. But it's just a loan, these things are expensive. You need to be careful with them, try not to turn them into scrap metal for me."
With that said, it was the Cook who was taken aback.
He hadn't expected Thomas to agree so readily!
Two B7 level armored vehicles, no less!
The price of just one exceeded a million US dollars.
And he agreed?!
The Cook felt incredulous.
"You guys wait here for a bit. I need to go find my superior to move these two vehicles; after all, I'm just a minor department head, and such matters still require clearance from operations before they can be used. But for Song He's sake, I'll do my best to help you."
After finishing, he asked the Cook and Song Heping to wait there while he went out.
Once he had left, the Cook's expression immediately became animated.
"Oh! God!"
If he weren't in the office of the GRS department, he might have already resorted to his Russian expletives to express his excitement.
"He actually agreed to lend us two vehicles?"
Then, lowering his voice to Song Heping, he said, "Actually, I thought it would be like winning the lottery just to get one B6 level armored vehicle. But two B7s, he actually agreed to lend them!"
Song Heping was also taken by surprise.
But he also felt something was slightly off.
He hadn't felt that he was close enough to Thomas to warrant such generosity.
The man had agreed to lend them two armored vehicles from his own department.
Thinking this, he couldn't help reaching up to touch his own face.
Was his face that influential?
Thomas was indeed a man of action; calling him decisive was an understatement.
In less than five minutes, he had returned.
"It's settled," he said.
"Two vehicles, B7 level. However, our guys need to clear out some stuff from inside the vehicles..."
As he spoke, he turned to the Cook.
"Cook, you should understand that there are some things in our vehicles that have to be removed before they can be lent out, so you guys come back in two hours to pick up the vehicles. After all, you're not departing until Friday, so it won't delay your mission."
"All right!"
Seeing Thomas had offered to this extent, what more could the Cook say?
It was a huge favor he was being shown.
"We'll come back in two hours to pick up the vehicles."
With that, the conversation ended, and the parties said their goodbyes.
As they parted, Thomas gave Song Heping the same warm embrace he had upon arrival.
"Good luck, buddy!"
```