298: Chapter Two Hundred Ninety-Six T.I.A 298: Chapter Two Hundred Ninety-Six T.I.A Gao Yang and his group, while acting as escorts, boarded a merchant ship to the Sicilian Prince.
Since Antoncel needed someone with military knowledge to assist him, Li Jinfang didn’t accompany Gao Yang to South Sudan but stayed on the transfer ship instead.
When they arrived in Djibouti, Gao Yang and his party went their separate ways: Gao Yang boarded a plane to Juba in South Sudan, Frey took a flight to Johannesburg in South Africa, while Cui Bo, Glolov, and Bruce took a flight to Egypt.
From Egypt, there were routes to the United States.
After arriving in Juba, Gao Yang took another plane to Malakal.
After much traveling, and over a year since his last visit to Malakal airport, Gao Yang’s journey was far from over.
When he reached Malakal airport at eleven in the morning and walked out of the simple passage, Gao Yang saw a white man holding a sign with just the letter G.
The white man holding the sign approached Gao Yang as he emerged from among a group of black people and said loudly, “Hello, are you Mr.
Gao?”
Gao Yang extended his hand, and while shaking hands with the man with the sign, he smiled and said, “Yes, that’s me, thank you for coming to pick me up.”
The white man smiled and said, “Hello Mr.
Gao, I’m Kolm Mini.
Mr.
Reeves sent me to pick you up.
We’ve prepared everything you requested.
The car is outside.
You can rest in Malakal for a day, and tomorrow there will be a plane to take you to your designated location.”
After following Kolm out of the airport and getting into a rather new-looking SUV, Gao Yang was taken to a hotel where he had stayed for one night before.
Getting off the car, Kolm took a long gun case out of the trunk, brought Gao Yang into the room that had been arranged for him, and then opened the gun case to hand Gao Yang an over-and-under double-barreled hunting shotgun.
Since he had to take a commercial airliner, Gao Yang couldn’t carry any weapons with him.
He only brought a GPS, a satellite phone, and a hundred thousand US dollars in cash.
Yet, on the plains of South Sudan, he couldn’t go without weapons, and since he was planning to search for the Akuri tribe alone, he had to get his guns only after arriving in Malakal.
“Mr.
Gao, a Beretta 12-gauge over-and-under double-barreled hunting shotgun, brand new, with forty rounds of ammunition, all selected according to your specifications,” Kolm said.
After repeatedly aiming and lowering the double-barreled shotgun and performing the shouldering motion several times, Gao Yang nodded in satisfaction and said, “Thank you, it’s exactly what I need.”
Kolm then produced a Smith & Wesson M686 revolver, along with a leather gun holster hanging from a belt full of bullets, and said, “Smith & Wesson M686 with a six-inch barrel, almost new, three speedloaders, and also seventy rounds of ammunition on the belt.
I must say, this is my spare gun.
I really couldn’t find a good enough M686 around here, so I had to give up my backup.
I always carry it when I go out into the field, so please take good care of my baby and ideally, return it to me when you leave.”
Gao Yang smiled apologetically and said, “Sorry, it seems I’ve caused you some trouble.
I promise to take good care of your handgun.
However, might seventy rounds be too many?
I probably won’t have much use for a handgun, just having three speedloaders should be enough, right?”
Kolm shook his head, “Buddy, T.I.A!”
Gao Yang was momentarily stunned, then asked, “T.I.A?
What does that mean?”
Kolm shrugged, “This is Africa, buddy.
You never know what you’re going to encounter, so carrying some extra bullets can’t hurt.”
Gao Yang also shrugged, “Alright, T.I.A, you’re right, I should definitely bring more bullets.”
Kolm sighed, “If my boss wasn’t Mr.
Reeves, and if it wasn’t for the high salary, believe me, I would never stay in this damned place.”
After speaking with a face full of helplessness, Kolm took out a knife from his bag and said in a serious tone, “It’s hard to find a good knife around here, so I got this one from a friend.
He’s a knife enthusiast.
He brought three spare knives, and the hunting knife is a work of J.
Neilson of the American ABS Association, a full sixteen-inch Bowie.
Well, to be honest, I don’t understand much about this knife, but I’m required to tell you this—my friend had a hard time picking one from his collection to give to you.”
Gao Yang accepted the Bowie knife with delight, then smiled, “J.
Neilson?
I know this knife maker, and I really like his work.
Comparatively speaking, J.
Neilson is a young knife maker with many more creations to come, which I think is the reason your friend was willing to part with this knife.”
Kolm shrugged, “Who knows?
My friend uses knives that cost fourteen thousand US dollars each but refuses to buy a decent defensive handgun.
Anyway, he doesn’t make mistakes when choosing knives.
Okay, now for the most important thing, this, the hunting license.”
Kolm took out a piece of stiff paper that looked quite rough, stamped with several seals, and after handing it to Gao Yang, he said solemnly, “You entered the country under the pretext of hunting.
This is a foreigner’s hunting permit for South Sudan.
With this, whatever game you kill is not illegal.
Just, if you kill a lion or an elephant and plan to make a specimen or the police find out, you’ll have to pay extra.
Otherwise, as long as no one finds out, you won’t have to spend another cent.”
Gao Yang examined the so-called hunting license, shrugged, and said, “Not illegal for shooting anything, sounds good to me.”
Kolm nodded, “Of course, South Sudan is desperately in need of foreign currency, and this card costs ten thousand US dollars.
It’s the highest-grade hunting license.
With it, you can strut anywhere with a gun on your back.”
Gao Yang nodded, “Thanks.
Although I don’t intend to hunt lions or elephants, having this will definitely be convenient.
So how much do I owe you for all this?”
Everything Kolm did was instructed by Morgan, just to give Gao Yang a hand, but he had no intention of paying for Gao Yang, so without a beat, Kolm said, “All these things together will cost eighteen thousand US dollars.
Oh, my pistol is not included; you need to return it to me.
Also, this fee includes plane transport for tomorrow.
At eight in the morning, you’ll be taking a small plane to your destination.
The plane and pilot have all been arranged.”
Gao Yang opened his bag, took out eighteen thousand US dollars, and gave it to Kolm.
He didn’t give extra because Kolm made quite a bit of money.
Now it was purely a favor.
If he offered money, it would ruin the gesture.
After Kolm put away the cash, Gao Yang smiled, “Thanks for your help.
If you’re free, how about we go for a drink?
It’s on me.”
(To be continued.
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