Chapter Thirty-Fifth: The Company, BOOS

  At the entrance of the airport's waiting hall, the black sedan that picked us up last time was parked. As soon as we walked out of the airport, the driver immediately got out of the car and welcomed us to the side of the vehicle, opening the door and taking our luggage from our hands. Sitting in the warm car with the heater on full blast, we both let out a long sigh of relief. Rubbing our faces that had been stung by the cold wind, we burst into laughter and exclaimed: "Damn it's really cold!"

  The driver got on the bus, turned around and smiled at us: "Welcome to Los Angeles, would you like something to drink?"

  "No need, thank you. Please take us directly to the company." I said with a smile.

  "Alright, here you are." The driver handed us a box and said, "This is your defensive weapon, please check it. Next time when you board the plane, just put it in the airport's storage cabinet No. 2375, we will send someone to pick it up."

  Kim Jee-joon took the box and opened it, revealing two Glock 17 pistols and several boxes of ammunition. Kim Jee-joon and I exchanged a knowing glance and smiled at each other, apparently having had similar experiences before. We each took out one pistol, checked it briefly, and holstered it along with the ammunition at our waists, nodding to the driver in gratitude.

  The driver saw no problem and started the car towards the company.

  After the driver parked the car in the underground parking lot, Kim Ji-hoon and I took the elevator directly to the floor where the trading company was located last time.

  At the company gate, I habitually looked around but suddenly froze there. Kim Ji-hoon walked ahead and saw me stop, so he curiously came back and asked: "What's wrong?"

  I pointed to a piece of glass in front of me without saying a word, and Kim Ji-joon looked at it too, furrowing his brow in confusion. We didn't see anything surprising, just our own reflections staring back at us from the glass. It had been half a year since we last saw ourselves in a mirror, and we hadn't even noticed until now - how did I get so dark?

  Although the thick down jacket can't see our muscles that have also become very solid, but the dark face doesn't look like it's been in the US for half a year at all. The African sun is really not to be underestimated, just based on our current skin tone, if we say we're mixing in the US, others will directly suspect whether we're in the US or Africa. Damn! Even our eyes occasionally reveal a hint of ferocity, how are we going to explain this when we get home?

  Kim Ji-joon shook his head against the glass and sighed, "My poor skin, how did it end up like this! I won't be able to go home..." He then let out a heavy sigh again, patted me on the back and said, "Forget it, let's think of something later. We can't just go back like this, let's go see our boss first." Helplessly, I nodded my head, took another look at myself in the mirror, and followed Kim Ji-joon to the company.

  Upon arriving at Mr. Tolstoy's office door, the secretary outside smiled and nodded to us, saying: "Welcome, both of you, Mr. Tolstoy has been waiting for a long time, please follow me."

  After knocking on the door, he led us into the office. Tors, our "honorary boss", was reviewing some documents at his desk. Seeing us come in, he immediately put down his pen, stood up and said with a smile: "Two of you, nice to see you again, please sit down!"

  Sit down in the chair in front of the desk, the secretary brought two cups of coffee and placed them in front of us before exiting the office and closing the door. Torisu then walked to the window and pulled up all the curtains before returning to his seat. He made a welcoming gesture with his hand and said: "It's been over half a year since we last met, and both of you have changed quite a bit. Moreover, you've managed to submit such satisfactory graduation papers, it's truly surprising! I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate both of you on your successful graduation."

  "Perhaps we are closer to death!"

  I took a somewhat unexpected glance at Kim Ji-joon, but Torles didn't mind and chuckled twice. He opened the drawer of his work desk, pulled out two satellite phones and two data packets, and placed them in front of us. "These are the satellite phones assigned to you two," he said. "Don't be fooled by their ordinary appearance - they're incredibly powerful, rivaling a supercomputer. They were specially developed for members of the Wolf Mercenary Corps. Here's the manual; take a look."

  The shape of the phone is the latest style of BlackBerry, similar to Nokia N95, with a handheld computer-like design, nothing special. I and Kim Joon opened the data bag on the table and took a look at the manual, looking at each other in surprise. Torles leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the armrest, watching us.

  GPS satellite positioning, communication systems, video telescopes, file transfer systems, password cracking software... Super strong confidentiality system and astonishing storage capacity, external interfaces and so on, seen or unseen, heard of or unheard of things left us speechless.

  My goodness! This is not just a mobile phone, it's like carrying a computer with you. It turns out that the most advanced technology is always used in the military first, just like the legend says.

  Tolstoy chuckled twice, interrupting our thoughts, and continued: "Also, the plane tickets I booked for both of you are for tomorrow. You can arrive at your country by early morning the day after tomorrow. Both of you can go to the hotel to rest well and take a stroll around this city. It would be a pity if you came twice and didn't take a look around. Tomorrow, someone will pick you up from the airport. After the holiday ends, you can come directly here, and the base will send someone to take you to the Wolf Mercenary Corps headquarters base. At that time, you will definitely be surprised again!"

  "Oh, right."

  Tolst didn't wait for us to speak, and took out two bank cards from the drawer and put them in front of us: "These are accounts opened at a Swiss bank under your names. The password is your soldier ID number. Of course, only your signatures can be used to withdraw money. From now on, these bank cards will be your salary cards. In addition, each card has already been deposited with $50,000, which is the bonus for completing your graduation mission."

  "$50,000?"

  "Bonus?"

  I and Kim Ji-hoon were shocked again.

  "Right, this is the commission you deserve for completing the task, no exception even if it's a graduation task. But the US military is really stingy, only $50,000."

  I've grown quite fond of being a mercenary!

  I was so excited that I grabbed the bank card on the table, and unexpectedly, one task made me earn a net profit of $50,000 without paying taxes. Even if it's converted to RMB, it's still 300,000 to 400,000! Although this money is not even a fraction of the seized drug assets, at least we can be considered small rich men now! This is the first pot of gold in my life!

  "Mr. Tols, I need a favor from you." Kim Ji-joon put away his bank card and said to Tols: "Please have someone use the computer to make some photos of me and Xu studying on our trip to Africa, and give them to me before boarding."

  Tolstoy was taken aback: "Why?"

  "Can you believe that after half a year in America, our skin would become like this?"

  How clever!

  I nodded in agreement, Comrade Xiaojin was indeed clever to create a fake image of going to Africa for study and tourism, with sufficient reason, so we don't have to worry about the skin problem anymore. Torles also showed an expression of sudden realization: "So that's it, our mistake, sorry! The photos will be handed over to us, this is what we are good at. Do you two have any other requests?"

  I exchanged a glance with Kim Ji-joon: "That's all, thank you."

  "No need to be polite, you two just have a good time in Los Angeles for the day. By the way, do you want me to introduce you to a famous red-light district? I guarantee you'll be satisfied!" Torles turned his serious face and smiled slyly.

  Damn! The two of us simultaneously gave a middle finger salute to the age-disrespecting Tolstoy.