Barbed wire fences formed the walls, concrete towers and buildings, it looked like a small military base.
"How's the construction?" Robert turned around and smiled proudly.
"Not bad." Jiang Chen also had a satisfied expression on his face.
Or rather, very good.
Three Humvees stopped at the checkpoint in front of the gate. Soldiers wearing sunglasses walked to the side of the vehicles. After checking Robert's identity information, he gave a simple military salute and opened the checkpoint to let him pass.
The soldiers patrolling the area were mercenaries hired by Robert from a security company in South Africa. Following Jiang Chen's arrival, the 20 mercenaries in desert combat uniforms with M-series automatic rifles quickly gathered in the center of the base and formed a neat square formation.
These people were paid to do their jobs without asking any questions. The price depended on the danger level of the mission. Robert agreed on a price of 70,000 USD.
Because of the escalation of the regional situation, after discussing with Robert, Jiang Chen made some adjustments to the refugee recruitment plan. The original plan was to hijack a refugee boat and forcibly transfer the refugees to the military base. Instead, they would head directly to the Syrian border and pretend to be UA troops escorting the refugees. They would then kidnap the refugees heading to Europe.
As to how to kidnap them, it was simple.
It was a leaflet and a poster.
When they heard that they could bring their spouses and would be given work, and they all wore UA equipment, the registration rate could only be described as explosive.
But when the people who received the quota got on the bus, it didn't take long for them to feel something was wrong.
After confirming that the car was heading in the wrong direction, the refugees began to panic and wanted to get out of the car. However, the mercenaries who were only focused on carrying out their mission did not care about them at all. Without saying a word, they pulled all of them to the car.
After the "escort" ended, their mission immediately changed to guarding the refugees and preventing possible attacks from extremist groups or other unexpected situations.
Based on the contract, when Jiang Chen and the others arrived, they immediately handed over control of the base and began to leave. For them, this was probably the easiest task they had ever carried out, even though they didn't get a lot of money.
Seeing that the mercenaries had left, Jiang Chen signaled the ten Kane veterans to stand in a line behind him. He then instructed Robert to open the broadcast and gather the refugees at the square.
In fact, the refugees had already started to gather here.
As they watched the mercenaries hand over control of the base to Jiang Chen and the others, then leave by car, they gathered around with mixed feelings and confusion.
They originally thought that those people were US soldiers and that those people would take them to a safe place, or at least a refugee camp on the border of a European country. They did not expect to be taken in the opposite direction, deep into the desert.
At first, they thought that this was the base of some extremist organization, but it didn't look like it. Apart from not allowing them to leave, the soldiers did not make too many forceful demands. They even numbered them and arranged rooms that were much more spacious than those in the refugee camps.
However, even if he didn't stop them from leaving, they wouldn't be able to go anywhere.
This was the middle of the Sahara Desert. Without any means of transportation or sufficient supplies, how far could they travel on foot? If they encountered a sandstorm, they would die. If they got lost, they would also die.
After the initial restless period, they chose to take it one step at a time. At least these people didn't mistreat them, whether it was food or water, they weren't too harsh. Or rather, the life here was better than in the refugee camps?
Perhaps this was a refugee camp newly planned by the United Nations. After all, the Europeans didn't want them to go to their country, so they funded the construction of this facility deep in the desert … There were a lot of people with this naive idea.
However, Jiang Chen was destined to disappoint them.
Any gain must come with a price.
…
Looking at the refugees standing crookedly, Jiang Chen slightly tilted his head and asked Ivan, "What do you think of these people? Do you have the confidence to train them to be like that?"
A proud look flashed across Ivan's face when he heard this.
Once upon a time, he thought he could only work for the president who didn't deserve his loyalty at all and sacrifice for an ideal that wasn't worth sacrificing. But when he stood here, looked at the advanced training facilities, received the promised high salary, and the boss asked him "do you have the confidence" …
There was no hesitation in his answer.
"That depends on what you mean by 'to be like that'." As if he regained his pride as a soldier, Ivan raised his head and said with determination.
Jiang Chen raised his eyebrows, raised his chin in the direction of the door, and smiled. "Just like the group of people who just left."
"Yes! Boss! "Ivan roared with vigor," But boss, I have a question. "
"Oh? Speak. "Jiang Chen looked at his vigor with satisfaction and nodded.
"I may exceed the quota." In the eyes of the veteran, the flame of fighting spirit burned.
Hearing this, Jiang Chen paused for a moment before he burst out laughing.
"If you exceed the quota, I'll overpay you."
Jiang Chen patted him on the shoulder, walked up to the podium with a smile, and stood in front of the refugees.
Seeing that someone who seemed to be able to speak up for them, the refugees mustered up their courage and voiced out the doubts in their hearts.
"Who are you?"
"Why did you bring me here, we're going to England!"
"I heard that Frankberg seems to have provided a refuge, why don't you send us there?"
"…"
Jiang Chen ignored the questions and just fiddled with the microphone before he turned on the switch.
Buzz-!
The ear-piercing noise came from the speakers in the four corners. Other than the ten instructors and Jiang Chen, almost everyone had to cover their ears.
"Ahem, looks like the microphone is working. You all understand English, right? Then, I'll start speaking. "
Jiang Chen ignored the pairs of fear, anger, confusion, or helplessness. He paused for a moment and found the feeling he had on the wasteland.
"You may think you were tricked, why didn't you get off the ship in Greece, but were taken to Central Africa." Jiang Chen scanned the crowd, smiled, and continued, "That's right, I tricked you."
As soon as he said this, the crowd instantly exploded.
"What you're doing is illegal!"
"Are you not afraid of being sued by the International Court of Justice? This is against … "
"Send us back …"
"Send us back? I'm very sorry, I don't have that obligation. But if any of you want to leave, you can do it now. The door is open. "Jiang Chen spread his hands and smiled.
No one said anything. Everyone knew that crossing the desert on foot was a stupid thing to do.
"Warm huts, rich food, and clean drinking water. In fact, you can't deny that the life here is much better than in the refugee camps on the Syrian border."
"But at least we had freedom," someone whispered in the crowd.
"Yes, freedom. You were so poor that you only had freedom, that's why you got on the ship, right? If you had money, you would certainly be able to afford a ticket, right? "Jiang Chen smiled and looked at the young man who interrupted.
He didn't expect to be stared at by the person on the stage. The man gulped and shrank back. However, Jiang Chen didn't look like he was going to cause trouble for him. Instead, he raised his hand and continued.
"If you go to Europe, then what? Curling up in the shelter and watching other people's happy life? Don't be delusional. That doesn't belong to you. You are just a refugee to them. Perhaps you'll say that you will work hard. Hehe, do you think you have the ability to compete when people in your own country are unemployed? "
Hearing this, a lot of people lowered their heads. Although they had considered this problem before, they never dared to think too much in that direction. If they always thought about despair, not to mention a beautiful future, even the courage to continue on would become uncertain.
"Taking other people's donations, eating relief food, and becoming something that people hate wherever they go. I'm very responsible to tell you that of course you can live, but you can only stay in the shelter for the rest of your life. When one day your child wants to go to an amusement park, but because you don't have money, you have to rack your brain to convince your child that it's not fun. I don't know how you'll feel. "
"After hearing what I said, do you still want to go to Europe so badly?" Jiang Chen looked at the pairs of eyes below the stage that were gradually losing their momentum, and a proud smile appeared on his face.
"But if we don't go to Europe, where else can we go?" A young man couldn't help but say.
"Although I lied to you, it wasn't completely a lie." Jiang Chen ignored his question, opened his arms, and said with a smile, "I've already arranged a job for you. Work for me, and I'll provide you with a stable living environment and pay you a salary of 200 USD per month. Based on your performance, this monthly salary will gradually increase. "
"The contract period is three years. After three years, you can decide whether to stay or leave. Take your savings and go to any country in the world. But believe me, perhaps in less than a year, you won't even think about leaving your job. "
"You didn't even tell us the job content, how can we trust you?" Another discordant question came from below the stage.
"Job content? Isn't it obvious enough? "
Jiang Chen pretended to be surprised as he looked around and continued.
"This is a military base. Other than soldiers, what else does this place need?"
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