382: Chapter 380 Grand Ivan 382: Chapter 380 Grand Ivan Having left Catherine’s hospital room and reunited with Yelena, neither asked any questions nor did Gao Yang say anything.
Regarding matters of affection, both Gao Yang and Yelena had strong confidence in each other, and indeed, there was simply nothing to say.
Thus, all was glossed over in a vague confusion.
After spending a night in Punta Arenas, Gao Yang and Glolov departed.
They could not wait until Catherine returned to the US before leaving, as Gao Yang still needed to go to South Africa to pay the remaining ten million US Dollars to Grand Ivan.
Of course, the main reason was that Gao Yang truly dared not meet Catherine and Adele again.
As before, they first traveled to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and then caught a connecting flight to Cape Town in South Africa.
Once there, Glolov made his own way to Djibouti to return to the mothership, since Grand Ivan had not indicated he would meet anyone other than Gao Yang, so Gao Yang had to meet Grand Ivan alone.
While still in the Southern Ocean, Gao Yang had planned to transfer the money to Grand Ivan, but Uriyangko had stopped him, suggesting it was better to deliver the final payment in person upon meeting Grand Ivan.
When Gao Yang landed in Cape Town, Uriyangko, who had arrived just a short while before him, picked him up at the airport.
Then Gao Yang and Uriyangko returned to Grand Ivan’s estate in the outskirts of Cape Town.
In the same living room as before, Gao Yang saw Grand Ivan again.
When Grand Ivan noticed Gao Yang, he stood up from the sofa with a smile and stretched out his hand, saying, “I’m very happy to see you again, my friend.”
Gao Yang shook Grand Ivan’s hand, sincerely saying, “I’m also very pleased to see you again, Mr.
Grand Ivan.
I cannot thank you enough for the help you’ve provided.”
Grand Ivan waved his hand and, after sitting down again, said with a chuckle, “I suppose you are satisfied with the service I’ve provided?”
Gao Yang nodded repeatedly, saying, “Satisfied, so completely satisfied that I couldn’t ask for more, everything was impeccable.
You organized a perfect operation.
Frankly, I still can’t imagine how you managed to arrange all this in just five days—the Eastern European crew, the South American ship, torpedoes from who knows where.
I really can’t fathom how you did it.”
Grand Ivan laughed heartily, then said with a smug expression, “I don’t mean to brag, but in this world, apart from me, no one else can achieve all this in five days.
However, to get it done within five days cost me more.
Normally, a deal that would cost ten million needed more money due to the rush.
You know, when you are racing against time, you just have to accept the other party’s price.
I hope you’ve brought the final payment today; remember, I’m still fronting five million dollars, ha ha.”
Gao Yang immediately said, “Of course, I’ve brought the remaining ten million.
It’s just that, I’m sorry, I only have ten million dollars with me; I can’t make up for the loss in your profit.”
Grand Ivan waved his hand and stated, “A deal is a deal for how much money and how long.
Arms dealers are the most trustworthy people.
So give me another ten million dollars, and our business can be considered concluded.”
Gao Yang smiled and said, “Please give me a phone, I didn’t bring mine inside.
I will transfer the money to your account right now.
Also, Mr.
Grand Ivan, I know you gave me very favorable terms in this deal, and I owe you one.”
Grand Ivan sighed and said, “To be honest, if it were anybody else, this deal would have been impossible.
But because of Uriyangko, we were able to make this deal.
However, if it weren’t for the fact that you were doing this merely to give your girlfriend some satisfaction, I would never have pushed the preparations down to five days.
You must understand that if I had ten days to prepare, I would have saved a lot of money.
No, even if I had just seven days, I could have saved a significant amount.
Just two days short, and I lost at least five million in profit.”
Uriyangko chimed in, “Ram, as I told you, we had some issues with our own torpedoes, and torpedoes aren’t exactly hot commodities, so we weren’t prepared with many.
To save time, Grand Ivan dismantled six torpedoes from active military ships of three different countries.
Doing so meant the torpedoes cost many times more than Grand Ivan anticipated because, after all, without a hefty price to convince the decision-makers, no one would be willing to take the risk of selling us the torpedoes.”
Gao Yang understood Grand Ivan and Uriyangko’s explanation quite easily, as it was like needing something that if you’re not in a hurry, you could just fix up what you have or calmly compare prices among several sellers.
But when you urgently need something that isn’t easily purchasable, especially with time constraints, then price becomes less of a factor, and it’s all about getting it quickly.
Gao Yang said earnestly, “I’m very grateful for this, Mr.
Grand Ivan.
But I’m curious, why did you make such a great sacrifice when you found out I was doing this just to let off steam for my girlfriend?”
Grand Ivan pointed his finger at Gao Yang and said in a deep voice, “I admire you, I really do.
We’re cut from the same cloth.
If it were anyone else, I would never accept a deal with less than three hundred percent profit.
Because of Uriyangko, I can accept a hundred percent profit margin, but because I admire you, even if I don’t make money out of this deal, I’d still do it.”
After he finished speaking, an agitated Grand Ivan stood up, his face grave as he said, “In this world, most people vocally place familial love first, place friendship first, but when family conflicts with self-interest, how many do you think would still put family first?
Not many, believe me, not many.
Family must make way for money, let alone friendship!”
As he paced, Grand Ivan slowly continued, then abruptly turned to face Gao Yang, his face full of fervor as he said, “Uriyangko said that you are a true friend, and moreover, you are willing to risk your entire fortune just to give your girlfriend a taste of revenge.
That convinced me of Uriyangko’s words, so I believe that you and I are of the same breed.
Why do I say we are of the same breed?
Because when I first entered the arms dealing circle, I was just a greenhorn who didn’t know anything.
I wanted to become wealthy, I wanted my wife and children to live the life of the privileged, and for that, I was willing to do anything, I dared to do anything.
The Soviet Union had just collapsed, and there was gold everywhere.
I seized the market with low-priced weapons, used the money I earned to buy more weapons, sold them at even lower prices, used the money I gained to bribe more people, and then acquired even more low-priced weapons.
However, my methods hurt a lot of arms dealers’ interests.
They wanted to remain in the era of high profits, while I wanted to open markets through low prices.
When I started to make a name for myself in this field, I also made many enemies.
One of my enemies launched an attack on me; he targeted my car, but I wasn’t in the car.
My wife and son were in that car.”
A sorrowful Grand Ivan let out a sigh and said, “You can guess the outcome.
My wife and son both died, they were killed by stray bullets.
I never let my wife and son ride in my car, but that time, I was out of my senses.
You should understand how I felt, I completely lost my mind then.
After that, I began seeking revenge.
Because of low profits and my desire for a larger market, I didn’t have much money.
I spent all my money on revenge.
I was willing to risk everything.
I didn’t want to be an arms dealer anymore; I only wanted my enemies dead.
To be honest, I did not know who my enemies were, for I had too many.
But no matter, as I strove to identify the killer, I retaliated against those who might have been responsible.
They killed my wife and children, so I slaughtered their entire families.
No one could stop me, and I unleashed a storm of blood and violence.”
With a fierce expression, Grand Ivan abruptly stopped and asked Gao Yang, “Have you watched the movie ‘Lord of War’?”
Gao Yang was taken aback, then said, “I have.”
Grand Ivan gave a cold smile and said, “The movie portrays arms dealers too good-naturedly, too kindly.
However, one line from the film is very well said: war between arms dealers is a messy business, because we all have endless ammunition, and not one of us is a fool.
My revenge wasn’t progressing smoothly, but when a person directs all his energy towards revenge, he can unleash boundless potential.
My revenge went on for four years; I conducted business while seeking vengeance.
Every penny I earned went to waging war against my enemies.
I killed three very famous arms dealers—the adults, the children, the relatives, the close friends.
When a family is completely exterminated, only then are they removed from my list of revenge.
They grew afraid, they conceded, they submitted.
They told me who had planned and carried out the killing of my wife and children.”
At this point, Grand Ivan spoke with emotion, “You have to understand, one’s status isn’t handed to them for nothing.
Back then, I was just a small arms dealer playing outside the rules; I didn’t have sufficient intelligence channels to figure out who my enemy was.
But after confirming who my enemy was, it took me two years, and I finally completed my revenge.”
Gao Yang also let out a long sigh of relief, then said, “Congratulations.”
After a faint smile, Grand Ivan solemnly said, “Do you know why my nickname is ‘Grand Ivan’?
Because back then, I went to war with nine arms dealers at the same time.
I was like the Tsar Bomba manufactured in the Soviet era, the largest nuclear bomb, powerful and disregarding all rules.
I detonated over their heads like the Tsar Bomba, hence, they called me Grand Ivan!”
Gao Yang sincerely said, “Nicknames given by enemies are often the most fitting.
I originally thought your name was Ivan; I didn’t expect your nickname to be that of the largest nuclear bomb ever detonated by humanity.”
Grand Ivan shrugged and said, “I don’t have many friends, but I feel like we are friends now.
And I always invite friends to see my enemy when I tell them my sad past.
So, are you interested in seeing my enemy now?” (To be continued.
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