394: Chapter 392 This Person is Unreliable 394: Chapter 392 This Person is Unreliable After spending more than a dozen hours cooped up in the cargo plane’s cabin, Gao Yang and his team finally arrived in Colombia.
The cargo plane had taken off at night, and by the time it landed it was already daytime.
Stiff all over, Gao Yang emerged from the cabin and instantly felt a wave of hot, humid air hit him in the face.
As Gao Yang stepped out of the cabin, a white man dressed in a floral shirt, floral shorts, and wearing flip-flops opened his arms next to the plane and enthusiastically yelled, “Welcome, my friends.”
Gao Yang descended the aircraft and, after shaking hands with the white man who greeted him, smiled and said, “Hello, I’m Ram.
I presume you must be Ivan.”
“Correct, I’m Ivan.
Welcome to Pasto.”
Ivan looked quite young, hardly 30 years old, with a bright smile on his face and a healthy wheat-colored complexion.
He didn’t resemble an arms dealer, and certainly not Grand Ivan’s man in charge in South America.
Although Ivan was very polite and his smile very bright, upon hearing Ivan’s words, Gao Yang was taken aback and exclaimed, “What?
This is Pasto?
Weren’t we supposed to land in Bogota?”
With a smile, Ivan replied, “No, no, you were supposed to land here from the start, fellas.
Bogota is government territory.
I’d have no way to get you out of an airport right under the government army’s nose, so when I knew you guys were coming fully armed, I arranged for you to land in Pasto instead.”
A bit annoyed, Gao Yang kept a calm expression and said, “We were notified to land in Bogota, and therefore, we still have people in Bogota, and a lot of our equipment as well.”
Ivan nonchalantly said, “Ah, I see, you should have mentioned earlier that there were others.
No problem, just have your people come from Bogota, right?
Don’t worry, we’re not far from our destination now, and it’s okay to wait here for a bit.”
Watching the carefree Ivan, Gao Yang knitted his brows.
He felt that this man might not be as reliable as Uriyangko had described, but at this point, it was imperative to get in touch with Little Donnie first.
Gao Yang took out his phone with a serious tone said, “Where did you say this place was?
Please be more specific.
I’ll call my people over, but he’s carrying a lot of things that might be contraband.
It was already troublesome to find a way to Bogota, and I’m not sure if he can make it here smoothly.”
Ivan remained casual and said, “No worries, no problem at all.
If need be, he can hire a plane to come over.
I can find a plane to bring him here; it’s quite easy.
Tell your man we are in Nariño Province, Pasto, to see if he can make it over.
If not, I’ll sort out someone to bring him here.”
Gao Yang got through to Little Donnie on the phone, and upon learning they had landed in Pasto, Little Donnie reacted with surprise, “What?
Nariño Province?
That’s the southwesternmost part of Colombia.
Weren’t you supposed to go to the northwest?
How did you end up in the southwesternmost corner?”
Gao Yang hung up the phone and said sternly to Ivan, “New problem.
The notification I received was to head to the northwest of Colombia, so why are we in the southwest corner now?
And you said we’re not far from our destination.”
Ivan looked surprised and said, “What?
Did I say it’s the northwest corner of Colombia?
Oh, I might have misspoken, but it doesn’t matter, pal.
You’re already here, so what difference does it make if it’s southwest or northwest?
It’s all the same.
Let’s go, guys, I’ll take you to get some rest and grab a bite to eat before we head into the jungle.”
Gao Yang felt helpless.
He began to seriously consider whether to call off the mission immediately, since an obviously unreliable intermediary could introduce too many uncertainties into the operation.
Gao Yang did not ask Little Donnie to hurry over and join him, but after hanging up the phone, he took a few steps and called Uriyangko.
Once Uriyangko answered the phone, Gao Yang immediately whispered, “Buddy, how reliable is your colleague really?
You need to give me an honest answer.”
“What happened?”
“You said we were going to land in Bogota, but we landed in Pasto.
You told me we were going to operate in the northwestern part of Colombia, but here we are in the southwest, buddy.
This error is way too big, and right now, I have serious doubts about Ivan’s reliability.”
“Oh, God, damn Ivan, he’s muddled things up again.
But relax, pal, Ivan’s just been in South America for too long, you know.
People get sluggish and scatterbrained after living too long in that damn tropical hell.
I assure you, Ivan does not make mistakes about the big stuff.”
Uriyangko was still very trustworthy, and with his assurance, Gao Yang decided to trust Ivan once more.
Gao Yang called Little Donnie again, asking him to rush to Pasto to meet up.
Then Gao Yang walked up to Ivan, shaking his head and said, “Buddy, you told us we were heading to the northwest of Colombia, but we are actually going to fight in the southwest.
Now I want to understand if our weapons preparation is adequate.”
Ivan dismissed the concern, saying, “No need for that, there’s not much of a difference between the southwest and the northwest.
It’s all jungle anyway.
This is just a minor mishap.
Let’s go.
Let’s leave the airport and find a place to rest for a while, and once your friend arrives, we’ll set off.”
Gao Yang did not think it was a minor mishap.
After getting on the minibus arranged by Ivan, Gao Yang took out a map, and the group carefully studied the difference in terrain between the southwest and northwest of Colombia.
The terrain difference meant the equipment and weapons had to be chosen accordingly.
The Andes Mountains run through the whole western part of Colombia, and indeed, the difference between the northwest and southwest was not significant.
Both regions had terrain consisting of mountains and rainforests.
The only difference was that the northwest featured the rainforests of the Magdalena River basin, while the southwest had the rainforests of the Caqueta River.
The Caqueta River is a major tributary of the Amazon, so the southwestern rainforest is part of the Amazon rainforest, and also part of the Amazon plain.
Compared to the northwest, the southwestern rainforest is a bit denser, meaning the environment is harsher.
Fortunately, the weapons and equipment Gao Yang’s group had were still suitable, and there was no need to switch gear.
Despite the mishap, Ivan had still managed to put Little Donnie on a plane to Pasto, and so the major concern was avoided.
If it became impossible to receive the equipment Little Donnie was bringing, Gao Yang would have no choice but to pack up and leave.
(To be continued.
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