The Wolf of Los Angeles.

Four Seasons Hotel, Beverly Hills.

An ordinary-looking, unremarkable Latino man took the elevator down from the upper floor, entered the restaurant on the second floor, and went straight to the table of a Latino woman, sitting down opposite her.

"Long time no see, Angel." The woman pushed the menu towards him.

Angel casually complimented, "Sophie, it's been a few years. You're still so young and beautiful."

He beckoned to the waiter and casually ordered a few dishes.

After the waiter left, Sophie asked, "Is everything going well on your end?"

Angel nodded slightly and said softly, "The Argentine market is vast, but it lacks the corresponding industrial production capacity. There is no reason for them to refuse, since the profits are predictable."

He paused briefly, then added, "Lopez proposed a collaboration on drones and single-person transport vehicles, which Hawke Osment did not reject. Lopez is now in preliminary talks with Henderson on the West Coast about the collaboration, but the other party is being very cautious and will organize a delegation to conduct an on-site investigation in Argentina."

Sophie, who came from Washington and believed she knew her target well, said, "Hawk Osment always considers the worst-case scenario when he does things."

Angel laughed: "Even if he sends an expedition there, it won't be of much use. That's Argentina, not America, and certainly not Los Angeles. Everything we've prepared is true and credible."

Sophie was well aware that everyone was preparing for next year's election. The higher-ups believed that the biggest competitor was the incumbent president, Tom Emmanuel, but the most threatening and aggressive force on Tom Emmanuel's side was Hawke Osment's Twitter network.

To this end, the authorities went so far as to secretly plan and promote technological cooperation between Argentina and the West Coast.

She then asked, "What about other aspects?"

Angel laughed: "South America has never lacked those things. While we reach an industrial product import agreement with West Coast Technology, we will also launch an agricultural product export plan."

Sophie's expression turned unusually serious: "That's not enough. The cooperation plan must be finalized this year, and then we need to invite Hawke Osment to Argentina so we can prepare a generous gift for him."

Angel was silent for a moment, then said, "I will relay your request to the higher-ups, but how they react is not up to me."

“You just need to give it a push.” Sophie smiled brightly, like a flower in bloom: “Once my boss is elected, the benefits you can get… You can tell Lopez directly that he wants to run for president of Argentina, and without the support of the United States, there is absolutely no chance.”

Her smile grew even brighter: "My boss has made it clear that he will fully support Lopez as long as he gets into the Oval Office."

“You guys have real guts,” Angel remarked. “And quite a few tricks up your sleeves.”

Sophie said, "Politics is never in the open; it's always full of bloodshed, framing, wiretapping, assassination, and media attacks. All sorts of methods are constantly emerging. If you are too bound by the so-called rules, you will only lose in the fierce struggle. I advise you not to participate in the Argentine election; you will be swallowed whole."

Angel stated, "Our goals have always been clear, and we are never afraid of competition."

Having worked for López for several years and handled his behind-the-scenes affairs, Angel was well aware that López had been plotting for the presidency of Argentina and had eliminated many people and forces in advance.

And then there's Lopez's wife, a woman who idolizes Eva Perón.

American support was a key factor in the election of the Argentine president.

Lopez absolutely cannot refuse.

Angel said, "I will push it as far as I can."

The waiters then brought in the food, and the two stopped discussing those topics and instead started reminiscing about the past, acting like true friends.

As the dinner was drawing to a close, Sophie cautioned, "You need to be careful in Los Angeles; the city is full of Hawke Osment's informants."

“I am aware of that.” Angel was prepared: “I did not come with Mr. Lopez, but entered the country as a tourist alone, and I will not have any contact with Mr. Lopez’s people during my stay in Los Angeles.”

Sophie raised her glass and clinked it against his: "A very wise choice."

After dinner, Angel paid the bill and saw Sophie out of the hotel.

Not too far away at the Beverly Business Club, the reception dinner hosted by Hearst and Henderson had already ended.

The two men helped Lopez into the car and watched the Maybach drive away.

Henderson asked, "Has he done a very successful business in Argentina?"

“Livestock and crop farming can be considered one of the leading industries.” Hearst thought for a moment and said, “When I met him, he was a senator in Congress. Once, I went on a trip to Argentina and encountered some trouble. Lopez helped me. In a way, he saved my youngest son’s life, so we have kept in touch over the years.”

Henderson nodded in understanding. Hearst was a decent person, and among the bunch of jerks in Congress, he had a good reputation.

"Why did he suddenly contact you?" Henderson asked.

In Hawke's eyes, this was at most a small business deal, and he was only meeting with Lopez because of Hearst.

Hearst stated truthfully, "The United States is the world's largest agricultural country. Lopez comes to the United States every two to three years to inspect American technology and seeds, as well as to explore the American market. Some of the processed products from Lopez's company are sold to us. In the past, I would entertain him every time he came to the United States."

He recalled carefully: "The last time Lopez came was the year Tom Emer took office. This time when he came, I went back to California to receive him. During our conversation, we talked about drones, which led to the West Coast. Then I introduced him to Hawke."

Henderson laughed and said, "That sounds great."

Hearst wouldn't let personal relationships sway company business, and reminded him, "I haven't been to Argentina in over a decade. When you send a delegation there, make sure they take a close look."

“I know.” Henderson had already been informed by Edward that, in addition to the overt inspection team, Hawke had also sent people secretly to investigate Lopez and the Argentine market situation.

Hearst patted his younger brother's arm and said, "Do business as it comes. Don't worry about me. I get Hawke's high salary, so I have to stand on the company's side first."

Henderson said, "Don't worry about that."

Meanwhile, instead of returning to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Maybach, at Lopez's request, went to Griffith Observatory to enjoy the Los Angeles night view.

Accompanied by bodyguards and assistants, Lopez walked onto the observation deck.

Coming here was a spur-of-the-moment decision, so I can speak without any reservations.

Looking up at the starry sky and then down at the lights of Los Angeles, Lopez asked softly, "Have you made contact?" "Yes," the assistant replied quickly. "I called Angel, and he met with the people from Delaware. He brought their promise that if we do as they ask, he will definitely support our campaign in Argentina if he succeeds."

Another person chimed in, "Without the support of the United States, it would be very difficult to get into that position, and even if you did, there would be problems."

López's mood suddenly sombered, filled with sorrow. He said slowly, "Argentina is a major country, yet it cannot be completely autonomous in presidential elections and has to act according to the wishes of other countries."

The person who spoke next had once served as Argentina's representative at the United Nations and was very knowledgeable about the international situation. He comforted them, saying, "In this world, you can count the number of truly independent and autonomous countries on one hand. Let alone Argentina, how many of the old powers in Europe are truly autonomous? Don't they all have to do things according to the whims of the United States?"

Hearing this made Lopez feel much better.

In a world where everyone is trying to outdo each other in terms of how bad things are, Great Britain is just as awful as Argentina, though it's not the worst.

The assistant then added, "The other party supports our terms, just like we discussed last time."

Lopez's mood was like a rollercoaster, fluctuating wildly for a moment, but he quickly made a decision, saying, "Without affecting the group's cash flow, allocate as much funds as possible to purchase West Coast Technologies' drones and single-person transport vehicles, so that they can feel our sincerity."

He paused for a moment, then added, "Also, regarding cooperation between the two sides to open up the market for drones and single-person transport vehicles in Argentina, we can appropriately reduce the revenue sharing ratio within a reasonable range... Um, we will fully assist other Twitter products that want to enter the Argentine market."

The assistant wrote it all down, adding, "Twitter is now the largest social media platform in Argentina."

Lopez nodded slightly. Before coming to Los Angeles, he had learned about Hawke and his Twitter network.

Take drones, for example. Other brands have a hard time competing with West Coast technology because West Coast drones are not only high-quality and inexpensive, but also offer satellite remote sensing control.

West Coast Technologies' Starlink satellite system has created a huge product advantage.

Lopez looked at the other person and asked, "What do you think?"

The man thought for a moment and said, "Temporarily giving up some benefits is also for the sake of longer-term development."

He had a long-planned proposal, and now was the perfect time to voice it: "If you are elected President of Argentina, you can push forward the privatization process, privatizing those giant state-owned enterprises. The problems exposed by these enterprises, such as high costs, low profits, and rampant corruption, are the perfect excuses. In the process, we can buy these high-quality assets at low prices..."

Lopez couldn't help but laugh: "This alone could multiply my assets several times over."

“No, it’s dozens of times!” the man said with a laugh. “We can have someone talk to that old guy in Delaware and get the Squid Corporation backing him.”

Lopez nodded: "Very good, very good, I'm taking this presidency."

After discussing their plan, the group left Griffith Observatory together.

Lopez looked down at the city of angels' night view and felt inexplicably relaxed.

…………

Limon, a coastal city in Costa Rica.

Boske stood on the control tower of the training base, watching as a new batch of security trainees left in groups by car.

These individuals are about to travel to several cities in Costa Rica to bolster the local police force.

Costa Rica disbanded its army decades ago and now suffers from a severe shortage of police officers, with some local police departments outsourcing their operations to Hurricane Security.

Even tasks such as coastal patrols are handled by Hurricane Security.

Based on this, Hurricane Company recruited a large number of personnel and equipped itself with drone squads and armed helicopter support teams. Its military strength is already among the top in the private defense companies in Latin America.

After the entire convoy left the training base, Bosque came down from the control tower and returned to the office building area.

Garcia, the vice president transferred from Butterfly Company, came over and said, "Everyone is here."

Bosque nodded slightly and entered the conference room with Garcia.

Six fair-skinned Latinos were sitting in the meeting room.

Bosque asked directly, "How many of you are Argentinians?"

“Yes, that’s me.” Alvarez, with his gaunt face, stood up and said, “I served in the Eagle Special Operations Team of the Buenos Aires Police Department.”

Bosque asked, "Why did you leave?"

Alvarez said, "After retiring, I joined the police force, working on anti-drug and anti-organized crime efforts. Later, I discovered a group of professional footballers were colluding with drug trafficking organizations, using football matches to transport drugs around the world. I wanted to investigate..."

His expression darkened: "Behind these professional players is a very powerful agent organization. Football brokerage in Argentina is an industry that relies heavily on connections. They framed me, I lost my job, I was disheartened, and left Argentina."

Aimar, who was leading the team, nodded to Vicente del Bosque; he was also from Argentina.

"Your mission this time is to return to Argentina and secretly investigate and collect information about a person and his companies." Bosque picked up the remote control and turned on the projector, displaying information about Lopez and his main companies on the alloy screen.

Aimar glanced at it and said, "Boss, I know this man. He's a famous rich man in Argentina."

Alvarez continued, "A super giant in Argentina's livestock and crop industries."

Of the other four, none were Argentinians, but all were from South America and had seen reports about Lopez in the media.

Bosque looked at Garcia, who was sitting to one side.

The latter said, "We may have business dealings with Lopez's company in the future, but all indications suggest that he is not a simple man, so we need to understand and grasp everything behind him before cooperating."

Bosque glanced at everyone and said, “You all have prior experience in police work or related investigative work, and you are very familiar with how to collect information. But I must remind you that once you arrive in Argentina, everything must be done discreetly.”

This team was well-funded, experienced, and even had Argentinians acting as guides. (End of Chapter)