672: Chapter 664: The Level is Too High, Unattainable.
672: Chapter 664: The Level is Too High, Unattainable.
Desperate circumstances lead to desperate measures, Gao Yang dialed Justin’s number just to try his luck, but Justin’s single sentence made Gao Yang’s hair stand on end.
Justin knew too much; the information revealed by his words was overwhelming.
Apart from his omnipotence, Gao Yang couldn’t think of any other way to describe it, but the fact that Justin could track his whereabouts was somewhat terrifying.
“How do you know?”
Although his first words confirmed Justin’s suspicions, Gao Yang couldn’t care less.
He had to find out about Grand Ivan’s situation, and by the way, he also had to clarify how Justin knew he was in Cape Town.
With a slight chuckle, Justin said proudly, “There’s nothing surprising about it.
If I couldn’t even receive news of such a major event, then I don’t deserve to stay in this line of work.”
Gao Yang pressed, “Okay, let’s not beat around the bush.
Tell me all the intelligence you know, and we can negotiate the price.”
Justin paused for a moment before speaking solemnly, “No money, but I want an intelligence exchange.”
Gao Yang put his hand over the receiver, said a few words to an eager Uriyangko, and then said to Justin in a stern voice, “Intelligence exchange is possible, tell me what you know.”
After a moment of silence, Justin spoke softly, “To be honest, I don’t have very detailed intelligence, otherwise I’d have sold it to you instead of swapping.
As for Grand Ivan’s current situation, I don’t know what changes within the South African government led to the sudden incident with Grand Ivan’s associate in South Africa.
What I do know is that it likely has something to do with America.”
Gao Yang had set his phone to speaker mode so that Uriyangko could also hear.
Upon hearing Justin mention that Grand Ivan’s trouble was related to America, Uriyangko immediately whispered into the phone, which was already connected to Ivan’s line, “It’s related to America, send out all our men toward the American embassy, see if we can get any information.”
After Uriyangko finished speaking, Gao Yang asked Justin, “What reason do you have to reach this conclusion?
Do you have solid intelligence, or is it just your speculation?”
Justin spoke gravely, “This is the situation: because of certain matters, I am currently monitoring the CIA’s activities.
Four days ago, four CIA operatives arrived in South Africa, then the communication between the US Ambassador in South Africa and the South African Foreign Affairs suddenly intensified.
Two days ago, the President of South Africa secretly met with the American Ambassador, accompanied by a senior CIA official.
And today, news came of Grand Ivan’s estate being attacked.
Personally, I believe Grand Ivan’s trouble is definitely related to America.”
Justin had reached his conclusion by inference, not through detailed intelligence, which left Gao Yang somewhat disappointed.
He said gravely, “There’s no necessary connection here.”
“No, the connection is significant.
I know you have some dealings with Grand Ivan, but his influence is far greater than you imagine.
Don’t think of Grand Ivan as just an arms magnate.
Think about it, Grand Ivan’s presence in South Africa is no secret; many people even know he lives in Cape Town.
Interpol has been after Grand Ivan for twenty years, and the Americans consider him a great enemy.
There are no less than fifty countries in the world that would want Grand Ivan dead, if not a hundred.
Yet Grand Ivan has been living well in Cape Town—why?
Because the high levels of South Africa’s government are protecting him.”
Gao Yang understood what Justin was saying.
If Grand Ivan had no backers in South Africa, he would have been dead long ago.
Gao Yang said gravely, “I still don’t understand.
Why are you sure it was the Americans?
Why couldn’t it be the South African government that acted?”
Justin laughed, “Believe me, South Africa has no motivation to kill Grand Ivan.
There are too many high-ranking officials in South Africa willing to go to great lengths to protect him.
Unless the Americans offered a very generous deal or forced the South African government to act, they would never touch Grand Ivan.”
After pausing briefly, Justin continued, “Today, a minister was dismissed, and that minister was a loyal ally of Grand Ivan.
If it were an internal struggle within South Africa, the minister wouldn’t have stepped down so easily.
There must have been sufficient interest or pressure that forced the minister to resign.
My guess is that Grand Ivan is either dead or has been captured.
Those who were willing to protect Grand Ivan must have deemed it not worthwhile to continue the struggle against their president, or against the Americans, for his sake.
That’s why everything seems so quiet.
So, I believe that the Americans made the first move against Grand Ivan.
Then the South African side thought it wasn’t necessary to defend Grand Ivan anymore and thus sent troops to attack his estate.”
Although it was just speculation, Gao Yang felt that Justin’s words were quite reasonable.
But now, the key issue was to find out Grand Ivan’s whereabouts—whether he was dead or alive, they needed a clear answer.
Before Gao Yang could ask, Justin already had another shocking piece of news.
“Moreover, I believe that something happened to Grand Ivan because there must be an informant among his people.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been easy for something to happen to him.
He’s always been very careful, never leaving Cape Town, let alone his estate.
I’m not sure how many bodyguards are in Grand Ivan’s estate, but there must be quite a few.
When the South African military attacked the estate, there was no news of Grand Ivan.
I think that Grand Ivan must have encountered trouble outside his estate, and then the South African government, assuming he had no chance of turning the situation around, issued the military attack orders.”
Gao Yang paled and looked towards Uriyangko, who nodded with an ashen face and said in a low voice, “That’s right, that’s what Ivan and I believe too.”
Gao Yang asked with a trembling voice, “Why?”
Gao Yang was asking Uriyangko, but Justin thought he was being addressed, so Justin chuckled and said, “Do you even need to ask?
Who wouldn’t want to take over everything Grand Ivan has left behind?
Even if it’s just taking over the channels left by Grand Ivan, it would be enough to become the biggest underground tycoon in the world.
It’s just a pity that those under Grand Ivan don’t understand that if Grand Ivan falls, they can’t stand firm either.
So far, no one has been able to take over Grand Ivan’s underground empire.
Watch and see, if Grand Ivan is really dead, his vast underground empire will soon be completely destroyed.
Who knows how many people dream of taking Grand Ivan’s place, but those under Grand Ivan still can’t compete with other major arms dealers.”
Gao Yang said anxiously, “I don’t need you to analyze the consequences of Grand Ivan’s mishap for me.
What I want to know now is, what else do you know about Grand Ivan’s situation?”
Justin sighed and said, “Actually, I don’t know much either.
I’ve already sent more people to South Africa, but it may be too late.
South Africa wasn’t a focus area for me previously.
It was a coincidence that I had my eyes on the CIA personnel, and I was the first to get the news of Grand Ivan’s mishap.
However, to obtain definitive intelligence, I would have to wait until tomorrow at the earliest.
My people in South Africa can’t buy intelligence from informants; the sources they can access aren’t valuable enough.
Alright, I’ve told you everything I know.
Now, it’s your turn to tell me what you know.”
Justin only knew these details because of coincidence and conjecture.
Although he hadn’t received enough information, Gao Yang still felt a sense of relief, since if Justin had not made any deliberate arrangements and still knew everything, that would have been truly terrifying.
After exchanging views with Uriyangko and confirming what could be shared with Justin as a form of repayment, Gao Yang immediately said to Justin, “I’ll tell you everything I know, but can you tell me why you are so eager to collect information on Grand Ivan?”
Justin laughed heartily and said, “Buddy, as an intelligence dealer, we can’t just wait for clients to come knocking.
I need to actively market valuable intelligence, you know?
Do you have any idea how many people are keeping an eye on Grand Ivan?
Now I only need to tell those arms dealers that something happened to Grand Ivan, and a lot of money will be deposited into my account.
So of course, I need to get as much information as possible, as soon as possible; the more detailed, the better.
Buddy, tell me something valuable, and I won’t let you down, because I’ll repay you with more detailed intelligence.
So, if you have any news, call me as soon as possible.”
What Gao Yang could tell Justin was not particularly valuable, but Justin was also not in possession of very detailed intelligence.
Therefore, Justin was satisfied with the information provided by Gao Yang.
After hanging up on Justin’s call, Gao Yang looked at Uriyangko and asked, “What do we do now, do you have any ideas?”
Uriyangko sighed and said, “We’ve focused our greatest attention on the Americans, but as Justin said, neither Ivan nor I have the capability to take over Grand Ivan’s vast network.
Ivan has strong influence in South America, but in South Africa, his power can’t be exerted—we can only resort to getting some manpower for a fight.
As for me, well, I’m responsible for Africa, but don’t forget that Grand Ivan is also in Africa, so I only manage the arms dealing aspect of things.
In South Africa, I have no power to leverage.”
Grand Ivan controlled a vast underground empire, and his power over it was very strong.
However, because of his strong grip on power, his subordinates could only manage certain parts of the force.
Now that Grand Ivan was in trouble, there wasn’t a single person among his subordinates who could step forward and take control of the situation—it was a complete headless dragon scenario.
Gao Yang had no good solutions.
After all, what could he do?
He was just a small fry and an outsider.
He couldn’t be of much help in struggles at Grand Ivan’s level.
He was merely acting as an enforcer, helping Uriyangko and Ivan with their manpower shortages—a token gesture of goodwill at best.
(To be continued.
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