Chapter Fifteen: Stowaway??

  After passing through Bossaso Airport, the convoy is already within the range of Bossasso.

  Leave three trucks behind and concentrate the "goods" on these three trucks onto another truck. Then, four armed off-road vehicles and one military truck headed straight into Bossaso city.

  When entering the city, no one stopped them, and the convoy entered Bossaso very smoothly.

  After entering Bossaso, Li Ran also truly realized the extent of the proliferation of firearms in Bossaso. Although there were no real people with an AK-47 in hand, at least more than a third of pedestrians had guns in their hands.

  The convoy became a focus of attention for everyone after entering Bossaso, and the gaze of pedestrians was basically concentrated on the convoy.

  It's actually quite normal, although Bossaso is an important city in Puntland, the government forces can't find many professional armed off-road vehicles, but rather those old pickup trucks with a heavy machine gun mounted on the back, serving as so-called mobile assault forces.

  After a journey of more than four hours, Li Lan refused the suggestion to find a place to rest first, and they came directly to a small building in the center of Bossaso city that looked decent.

  To avoid unnecessary trouble, Li Lan had all the other soldiers except Ahmad wait outside in secret vigilance. Only Li Lan, Muhanmudi and Ahmad entered the small building with the majestic general.

  To avoid unnecessary trouble, the soldiers accompanying him removed the Somali national flag from their uniforms and only kept the Somali national emblem. Because in Puntland, there is a new national flag of its own, although it will not have an excessive reaction to the Somali national flag, but always try to avoid armed provocation.

  The appearance of a Chinese person brought no small disturbance to the originally quiet building, and the Bosaso soldiers guarding the door became vigilant.

  "Hey, don't be nervous, I brought this Chinese friend over, we have some business to discuss with Minister." Muhanmudi hastily said.

  Li Ran also smiled and pulled at her clothes, indicating that she was unarmed.

  "Wait a minute." These vigilant soldiers were also relatively understanding, and they were very cautious when dealing with foreigners. To avoid any diplomatic trouble, they were generally careful, although their tone was not very polite, but there was no malicious intent.

  The soldier who had gone in to report soon ran out, stopped in front of Li Lan and the others, and said politely: "The Minister asks you to go in, follow me."

  "Thank you!" Li Lan thanked him and followed the Bosaso soldier into the small three-story building.

  "Follow me closely, don't look around and don't stray." The leading soldier reminded as he walked.

  The office, though not luxurious, was tidy and well-arranged. On the desk in the center of the room, Li Lan unexpectedly saw a laptop computer.

  On the office chair, a slightly fat black man was writing something on the computer, looking very dedicated. However, with Li Ran and others coming in, this minister quickly stopped, looked up at Li Ran and his party.

  The minister in front of her was the first somewhat stout Somali that Li Ran had seen since arriving in Somalia.

  "Minister, my name is Li Lan, I come from China. Today, I'm here to ask for your help with some matters."

  "My name is Ahmed Awil, I am the Minister of Defense for Bosaso. I am in charge of military and political affairs within the territory of Bosaso." Awil also introduced himself in English, then pointed to a somewhat worn-out sofa beside him and said: "Please sit down, honored guest from afar. I'm curious, Mr. Li, how did you enter our country? I've already spoken with the Somali ambassador to China on the phone, and he didn't sign any entry application for you."

  "Please forgive me, Minister, because I didn't come to Somalia through normal channels, and also I'm not here for tourism or filming." Li Lan replied.

  "So, Mr. Li, what brings you to Somalia? If it's a business trip, there's no need for such secrecy! Now I'm even more curious, what do you need my help with?" Awil didn't mind how Li Lan had entered Somalia; perhaps in other countries, such illegal entry would be immediately detained by the local government, but this was Somalia, not exactly an ideal country. Whether or not he had snuck in wasn't the issue. His previous question was just a lead-in to the current one; he could ignore how Li Lan got here, but he needed to know his purpose.

  "I swear to God that I believe in, my intention will not harm the Somali people," said Li Lianhe.

  "Since Mr. Li doesn't want to say anything, I have no way of forcing him. In that case, according to Somalian law, we will immediately inform the Chinese government about your situation through our embassy in China and ask Mr. Li not to leave Bossaso. We will dispatch our most elite guards to protect your safety. Please don't mind this, after all, the security situation in Bossasso is still quite poor and we also don't want to get into any diplomatic trouble, so please cooperate." said Awil.

  "Thank you, Minister, for your kind intentions. I also have some friends in Somalia who can ensure my safety. Besides, as an illegal immigrant, even if something happens to me in Somalia, it's unlikely to cause any diplomatic trouble, right? So, there's no need to bother notifying my country's government."

  The atmosphere seemed to have cooled down a bit, but Li Lian had expected the Bosaso Defense Minister's words and didn't get angry. He continued: "By the way, Minister, you just asked me what I came to Somalia for. Before we talk about that, I have a gift for you. I believe when you see it, you'll understand my purpose here. Trust me, it's just a small favor for you."

  Li Lan still didn't give a direct answer to himself, and Aweil didn't mind either. After all, he was the host, no matter what, he would be the winner. "I'm looking forward to your gift."

  "You will absolutely not be disappointed." After finishing speaking, Li Lan gave a glance to Ahmad. The latter nodded and turned around to walk out.

  "Mr. Li, before I saw the gifts, I was curious about your friends in Somalia, because apart from government-organized armed forces, it's impossible to take out four trucks and four armed off-road vehicles." After Ahmed left, Awil thought for a moment and asked. Since Li Lan and others started passing through the armed checkpoints, the situation had been reported to him, and he was originally guessing which faction of armed forces they were from. Now that he saw the people involved, whether it was out of safety or other considerations, he needed to understand a bit more.

  "Mr. Minister, you just need to know that they are all carrying the Somali national flag and emblem, and they are absolutely not armed personnel of Somaliland. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to Bossaso, I would have gone directly to Berbera or Hargeisa." Li Lan explained. On this trip, he had made quite a few preparations, although Puntland and Somaliland were not on good terms, but the attitude towards the formal government of Somalia was still okay, supporting the proposal to form a joint government. Therefore, he stated that these soldiers were carrying the Somali national flag and emblem, rather than those of Somaliland or Puntland.

  "That's best." Ah Wei nodded, seeming to believe Li Ran's explanation.

  "Mr. Minister, my visit does not come with any political conditions, nor will I ask you to do anything that is detrimental to the Somali people. So, there's no need for you to be on guard against me. Moreover, as a Chinese person, even if I have some ideas, they won't stir up any waves in Somalia." Li Lan further explained.

  As soon as Li Lan's voice fell, Ahmad came back, followed by seven or eight Bosaso soldiers carrying four large iron boxes. After the Bosaso soldiers put down the large iron boxes, they walked out and closed the office door under Aweil's command.

  "Mr. Li, what is this?" Ah Wei was very curious, originally he thought the Chinese man would bring Chinese tea or cigarettes, but unexpectedly it was four large boxes.

  "Open everything!" Li Ran said to Ahmed, without directly answering Aweil's question.

  When the boxes were all opened, Ah Wei also saw the neatly arranged things inside. Although they were wrapped in oilcloth on the outside, he still saw at a glance that there were AK-47s lying inside.

  "What's this?" Ah Wei started looking at Li Ran with different eyes.

  "There are four crates of brand new AK-47s, each with a thirty-round magazine, twenty rifles per crate, and every single one is brand new and unused. With just a bit of tuning, the quality of these eighty AK-47s will be absolutely no worse than any others in the world, including those produced by Soviet military factories back in the day." Li Lan explained, then continued: "And now, these four crates of weapons are all your personal property, Minister."

  "Are all these for me?" Ah Wei exclaimed in surprise.

  "Not bad, from the moment they came in, they were your personal belongings." Li Lan nodded and said with certainty.

  "Alright! Mr. Li, your gift has really moved me, now you can say what brings you here." Ah Wei didn't refuse, being an official in Somalia wasn't a good job, he needed these weapons.

  Half an hour later, under Awier's personal escort, Li Lan and his party walked out of the small building. After a few smiling goodbyes, they left another batch of weapons behind and departed from here.

  Watching the convoy disappear into the distance, Aweil was a bit distracted and thought to himself: "I hope you're just an ordinary arms dealer and won't bring any trouble to Somalia. But what would an arms dealer want with cement? Is it another land grab? I sincerely hope I'm overthinking this."