The Wolf of Los Angeles.

Damakin, located in the underground electronic command center.

The drone team led by Gonzalez is making final preparations before the exercise.

Hawke and Andrei sat in front of the large screen, watching the switchblade drone hovering on the roof of the company building.

West Coast Technologies has marketed an improved version of the switchblade to the U.S. Army and other military units.

Andrei asked, "Has the US military confirmed large-scale procurement?"

Hawke said, "The talks are almost over."

West Coast Technologies has already conducted relevant research, and the US military is preparing to procure a large number of small and medium-sized attack drones, mainly for use in the Middle East battlefield.

Congress approved the budget, and even if the West Coast doesn't fight for it, other companies will win the bid.

West Coast Technologies' drones dominate the majority of the US civilian drone market, and with some maneuvering, securing this order wasn't difficult.

Hawke added, "The procurement agreement will be formally signed early next year."

Andrei asked, "How do we use it here?"

“It’s alright,” Hawke said simply. “Although they all use catapult launch, the ones provided to the Pentagon will differ in appearance and internal programs.”

Edward came in from outside and quickly walked over to Hawke. He said in a low voice, "I just received news that the business delegation sent by President Dong to Mumbai has reached an agreement with the Loda Group in Mumbai. The two parties will jointly invest in building World One Tower in Mumbai. The tower is initially designed to be over 650 meters tall, with an expected investment of US$25 billion."

Hawke specifically asked someone to keep an eye on news from President Dong's side, and inquired, "How much did the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, cost?"

Andrei replied, "It seems to be $15 billion, but that was when construction started seven years ago."

Hawke nodded slowly and said, "Mr. Dong and the Indians are really generous."

Edward grinned, revealing two rows of bright white teeth: "Once this news is announced, President Dong will definitely become the focus of public opinion, and the Dong Building's popularity will skyrocket."

Hawke said, "This is also the effect that President Dong wanted."

Whether Mr. Dong will profit from this transaction or fall into a bitter dispute with the Indians remains to be seen.

Hawke's personal feeling is that if Indians dared to cheat even him, let alone the current Chairman Dong.

Thinking of Mr. Dong, the stock market guru who was once revered even by God, he asked, "Have you been following Mr. Dong's latest asset statistics?"

Edward said, "According to the latest Forbes statistics, Mr. Dong's net worth is close to $30 billion."

Andrei, who has had considerable dealings with Indians in the past two years, interjected, "With the capabilities and skill level of Indians, could they possibly build such a tall building?"

Hawke considered it for a moment and decided to give it a subtle push: "Here's what we'll do: find a way to publish some inspirational articles in the Indian media, proclaiming that the Indian-owned World Tower should be designed and built by Indians."

Unexpectedly, Edward took out his phone, found a news article, and showed it to Hawke: "This is the latest news. President Dong hired I.M. Pei's firm to do the design, but due to the strong request from the Indians, the designers chose an all-Indian design team."

Hawke said, "It seems that our efforts to promote India for several years in a row have had an effect."

Edward said, "Indian talent is highly sought after throughout the United States."

Prolonged media coverage can influence public opinion, which in turn directly impacts social reality.

Not to mention Mr. Dong, even someone as shrewd as Steve Jobs highly admired India.

Hawke did not overlook this, after all, there are truly talented people among the Indian diaspora.

Although there's a significant possibility that an entire Indian team might have some incompetent members, he still made preparations: "The coverage in the Indian media will continue, and we must ensure that the Indian construction team can actually participate in the construction of the building."

Edward agreed.

Before coming to Africa, Hawke had just contacted Juan in Mumbai.

On the West Coast Technology factory construction project, due to the lack of rigor of the Indian design team, multiple factory buildings and office buildings need to be reworked, and the foundations that the construction company originally funded to excavate also need to be rebuilt.

A conflict arose between the construction company and the design company, forcing the work to be suspended.

The interest-free loans the project obtained from Indian banks were gradually transferred overseas with the cooperation of some Indian regulators.

At the current pace, the factory won't complete its infrastructure construction for at least two or three years.

If new problems arise later, the construction period could easily exceed five years.

The World One Tower, a collaboration between Dong Zong and Indians, would likely have been completed in any other major country in the world.

But in India, Hawke had serious doubts that it could be completed on time and to the design specifications.

Before the exercise began, Hawke searched for related news and found something even more interesting.

Dong Zong and the Indian representative stated that reservations will be open to the world once the building design is completed.

Gonzalez then came over and said, "Boss, leader, everything's ready."

Hawke said directly, "We can begin."

The main screen on the other side switched to the launch site.

Two switchblade drones were ready, and at Gonzalez's command, they took off one after the other and soared into the sky.

Andrei explained to Hawke, "These two suicide drones are remotely controlled by the latest drone communication satellites, enabling them to attack from 300 kilometers away. Their explosive power is enough to destroy the most advanced main battle tanks available today."

The earliest Tarantula and Swallow drones have been completely phased out and resold to secondhand dealers.

He continued, "The Merkava main battle tank, equipped with a scaled-down warhead, once destroyed squid in the West Bank. Iraqi opposition militias also used it to open cans for Abrams."

Hawke asked, "You haven't run into any trouble, have you?"

“No,” Andrei explained, “those products didn’t originate from our side.”

Hawke immediately understood; it must be one of the Big Five, sold off to make money.

There's no way to avoid civilian products being sold and then repurposed for military use.

In the first half of the year, West Coast Technologies launched several special-purpose communication satellites using SpaceX's Falcon rockets, including a drone communication satellite specifically designed for Africa and the Middle East.

This significantly enhances the drone's control capabilities and attack accuracy.

After a period of waiting, the two drones flew to the northern desert region and launched a suicide attack on two pre-selected abandoned vehicles.

The drone's satellite signal was automatically disconnected.

The main screen immediately switched to the view of a nearby observer. The explosion had occurred, and two abandoned cars were completely destroyed.

Gonzalez, who was in charge of directing the exercise, breathed a sigh of relief. Although the drone team was well-trained and had launched many live-fire attacks, it had never personally demonstrated it in front of the big boss.

Hawke clapped his hands, offering encouragement when it was time to do so: "Well done, a very precise attack."

A round of applause erupted in the electronic command center.

González appeared modest, saying, "At such a long distance, the signal control remains undisturbed, and all systems operate precisely; the role of the new communication satellite is crucial."

Hawke's acquisition of the satellite company to build the Starlink system is not only to ensure unrestricted communication for Twitter and LinkedIn, but also to comprehensively enhance his own capabilities.

As the number of Starlink satellites in orbit increases, a vast communication and surveying network is gradually being established.

It's too early to say that it covers the entire globe, but in densely populated areas and hotspots, Hawke can monitor a lot of things on the ground if he wants to.

In this regard, we should also "thank" the federal government for its special science and technology subsidies.

The Starlink project is a key high-tech support project of the Tom Emmer administration.

After leaving the electronic command room, Andrei whispered something to Hawke, seeking Hawke's opinion.

Hawke nodded slightly: "Let's meet them."

Edward immediately turned on his work phone, found the information on the two people, and showed it to Hawke.

The group went upstairs and entered a small conference room, where two people of Arab descent were already waiting.

Hawke stepped forward and shook hands with the middle-aged man, saying, "You are Walid. I remember you. Your daughter is in fourth grade at Englewood International School, and your wife is a whiteboard security guard at the West Coast Exhibition Hall."

Walid was quite moved when he heard this: "Boss, you have given my family the best life."

Without this job, his wife and daughter would never have been able to go to the Lighthouse, let alone receive a top-notch private school education in America.

Hawke smiled and said, "You've done an excellent job, and the company should take care of your worries."

Walid was truly moved; his current life was something he never dared to dream of before.

Hawke turned to the rather young face and shook hands with him: "Dabach, an excellent soldier, skilled in individual military skills. His younger brother was admitted to UCLA this year with a full scholarship."

Overwhelmed with emotion, Dabach was speechless for a moment, finally managing to stammer incoherently, "Thank you, boss, I... thank you..."

Hawke patted his arm and encouraged him, "Do a good job and train your replacements well."

Walid quickly replied, "This is our job, and we will do it well."

These two men had infiltrated the Shamddu militia in Jurani, and Walid even became one of the core commanders of Shamddu.

After the Silarie incident, the two faked their deaths to escape, and Julani was heartbroken over Walid's death.

Now that Hurricane Corporation is preparing to use similar methods against Julani's new organization, Andre has specifically recalled these two experienced individuals to provide targeted training for those about to carry out the mission.

Walid, who had completely gained Jurani's trust, knew all too well how to climb the social ladder by Jurani's side.

Hawke chatted with the two men briefly before quickly ending the meeting.

Walid and Dabach moved to a secret training base where a group of elite Arab soldiers specially selected by Andrei were waiting for them.

When these Arabs truly need to unite in large-scale battles, they are often a disorganized mess, and internal conflicts are easily stirred up to dismantle their alliance.

However, when it comes to individuals, there are quite a few who are willing to die for their cause.

There are far too many who are particularly hostile to the United States and the US, and are willing to fight to the death.

The people Andre selected not only possessed these qualities, but their families also lived well in Los Angeles.

…………

Mosul, near the Riverside Club on the right bank of the Tigris River.

Adley, sporting a beard, entered the quiet, sparsely populated hall. His eyes darted around quickly, and he spotted a man wearing a grey coat with the national flower, a red rose, embroidered on the sleeve.

The other person is looking at an old copy of the magazine "Babel".

Adley strode over, pulled out a chair and sat down opposite him, took out a jar of Tiger Balm, turned the label up, and asked, "Would you like a Mecca Coke?"

Upon hearing this, Malmush carefully examined the Chinese characters on the red mentholatum and said, "Thank you, one cup, no ice."

Adley beckoned to the waiter and ordered two Mecca Cokes without ice.

When the drinks arrived, Malmush said, "The last person I met wasn't you."

Adley picked up his glass and smiled slightly: "You just need to understand that I am the one who truly makes the decisions."

Marmush glanced at him briefly and said, "The promised payment from last time."

Adley put down his cup, took out an envelope, and pushed it across the table: "Money is never a problem. As long as you can help us complete this task, there will be five times that amount later."

Marmush opened the envelope, his fingers quickly running over a stack of US dollars before slipping them into his coat pocket. He said, “I have two organizations that recommend me. They are both extremely hostile to those who invade this land and are exceptionally determined.”

Adley gestured for them to speak: "Go ahead."

“One is the Gaim Revenge Alliance.” Malmush said very seriously, “In the last anti-terrorism military operation, the most important military target of the US military was Gaim. This small town was first bombed by the air and then cleared by ground troops. Too many people’s families died in the war.”

He stroked the glass with his palm, the dark red cola inside resembling the blood of Iraqis: "Revenge became the mission of that city. The surviving men acquired some weapons from the Sharm d'Urban Rebellion and formed this new militia."

Without any paper documents, Adley could only memorize everything the other person said and asked, "Can you contact them?"

Marmush said, "Of course."

Adley continued, "And the other one?"

Malmush quickly said, "Julani's underground command post was destroyed by American bunker buster bombs. There is evidence that he himself died in the airstrike, but his trusted confidant, a colonel named Walid, who had been sent out on a mission, survived. This man took the property left by Julani and vowed to avenge Julani and his comrades who died at the hands of the American forces."

He paused briefly and took a sip of his cola: "It is said that he is hiding in Syria and has formed an armed organization called the Al-Aqsa Militia."

Adli immediately made the connection: "The Great Revolt of Aksa?"

“Indeed, this great uprising has stirred people’s hearts and awakened the Arabs’ will to resist,” Marmosh continued. “He sent many people across the border to the area where the last war on terror broke out to secretly recruit men. I have reliable sources that these men are determined and extremely anti-American.” (End of Chapter)