Fatal Strike: Mercenary Road of Gunfire Ranger
Chapter 200 The Ridiculous Weapon Bank

Chapter 200: Chapter 200 The Ridiculous Weapon Bank

Mountain Eagle told Butcher and the others to keep eating while he himself stepped out of the restaurant and walked toward the van, then signalled to the people from Weapon Bank who also drove over...

The man from Weapon Bank drove a panel van up next to the van, then opened the side door of the cargo area, revealing a middle-aged man with glasses, wearing trousers and a shirt, his face covered with a stubble, signaling Mountain Eagle with a gesture.

This guy deliberately covered the tattoos on his arm with his shirt, and the warm smile he wore allowed Mountain Eagle to fully realize the difference in treatment between ’withdrawers’ and ’depositors’.

In the afternoon, when the people from Weapon Bank delivered goods, they were all tattooed tough guys with an intimidating presence.

But the people who came to collect money at night were different; not only were they warm, but to cater to the clients’ emotions, the person in charge of reception dressed just like an office white-collar worker.

No matter what they actually did, having such an attitude showed their determination to serve the customer.

It was like going out to eat at a farm restaurant—two farm restaurants with the same regulations, layout, decor, and similar tasting dishes...

But in one of them, the tables and stools are shiny and clean, the cooking lady wears a spotless chef’s uniform, washes her hands and the vegetables right in front of you, even the oil seems to be freshly squeezed.

Anyone would choose this one!

Not because the food is really that delicious, but because you can feel the service in the details...

However...

"sir, convenient service has its price..."

Mountain Eagle looked at the middle-aged man with glasses. At this moment, in his eyes, the man’s smile felt distorted.

He felt this man seemed so enthusiastic because he saw Mountain Eagle as a fat sheep ready for slaughter!

Standing by the side door of the van, watching a few girls in underwear counting and wrapping the money he passed to them with a cash machine, Mountain Eagle said displeasedly to the glasses-wearing man: "I know you’re charging a 15% service fee, but nobody told me about the exchange rate for converting Rubles to US Dollars would end up being 1:50.

What’s the official exchange rate now? 1:30, or 1:35?

I’m freaking depositing money with you, doing absolutely nothing, and already losing half of it; do you think that’s fair?"

After hearing this, the glasses-wearing man, with an innocent face, spread his hands and said: "sir, you can’t calculate it based on the official rate. Currently, Russia is facing sanctions, and we have no way to exchange Rubles for US Dollars through official channels.

If you’re doubtful about this exchange rate, I suggest you convert these Rubles into weapons.

Compared to turning your Rubles into US Dollars and spending them at other branches of the Weapon Bank, this would definitely be more cost-effective.

Right now, inflation in Russia is severe, but Russian-made weapons are accordingly depreciating, exactly suitable to hedge against exchange rate losses."

Mountain Eagle, impressed, said: "You even know about ’hedging’?

Then who do you think I can sell almost ten million Rubles worth of AK rifles to?"

The glasses-wearing man shrugged his shoulders and said: "Weapon Bank doesn’t do arms trading, and our procurement channels also have certain restrictions.

But as far as I know, there should be some good buyers in Syria at the current stage; they have a very high demand for light weapons. If handled correctly, your ten million Rubles could perhaps appreciate in value."

Mountain Eagle was amused by this man...

Weapon Bank doesn’t do arms trading; they’re just the movers of military hardware.

Really just movers!

If you can find customers and manage to sell weapons at a high price, that’s your own skill.

Once the weapons leave their hands, they have nothing to do with them.

It sounds like with Weapon Bank’s channels, anyone could become an arms dealer, or at the very least, an Arms Salesman.

But the truth is, when you procure weapons from Weapon Bank, the largest slice of the profit margin has already been eaten up.

Because the weapons in Weapon Bank are marked up, that includes service fees and transportation costs.

Finding customers on your own is essentially the same as finding clients for them.

However, there’s a very contradictory aspect here...

Mountain Eagle, squinting at the glasses-wearing man trying hard to pretend to be refined, said irritably: "If I want to purchase 1 million Euros worth of military hardware, does that mean I can collect the goods from any Weapon Bank location around the world whenever I want?"

The man with glasses spread his hands and said: "In theory, that’s possible...

For weapon transfers over 500,000 Euros, we will charge an additional 20% service fee, and for every extra 100,000 Euros, the service fee will increase by 5%, with a cap at 500%. There might be some delay, but safety is absolutely guaranteed!

I believe everyone can understand that...

Currently, in parts of Central Asia and Afeika, we are capable of carrying out large-scale weapon transactions. If you can find suitable customers, this could be a good business opportunity."

While saying this, the glasses-wearing man looked at Mountain Eagle’s hesitant expression, and with a cheerful smile said: "You might be wondering what would happen if someone finds a loophole in the trade?

Actually, you should know, even the high-level VIP clients of Weapon Bank have limitations; frequent and high-volume distant withdrawals in a short period are also subject to additional service fees."

"You should ask the person who issued your card for specific regulations; he will give you a complete response."

That meant there were no loopholes to exploit...

Mountain Eagle glanced at the Mao Mei girls counting money. Since he had nothing better to do, he asked out of curiosity, "I’m curious, has anyone ever used the Weapon Bank’s channels to make money off currency exchange disparities across different regions?

After all, the price of weapons in Russia is completely different from those in conflict zones, and the purchasing power of different currencies also varies!

Even if you charged a 500% service fee, there should still be profit."

The Glasses man nodded and said, "Some mercenaries trade ammunition in their mission areas to cover their own consumption.

But there are hardly any who do big business, because the risks and the profits aren’t enticing enough to take the chance.

Actually, we would be happy if capable people could develop new markets or simply join us..."

Mountain Eagle suddenly realized where the cheap bullets used by Mi Lu’s Old Gun Club to attract customers each month came from.

It was a tactic used by the Weapon Bank to rope in clients!

They seemed to have incredible weapon channels, but in reality, they had many restrictions. For example, the PKP that Post Box previously wanted was unavailable.

That outrageously high service fee seemed to limit clients from exploiting loopholes at the Weapon Bank, but also highlighted their limitations...

This completely distinguished them from traditional arms dealers!

Thinking about his Ruble savings, which had yet to warm up, about to devalue, Mountain Eagle couldn’t help but shake his head resignedly. He took out the order he had previously placed and borrowed a pen from Glasses man to make some changes.

He changed the original order of 4 AK105s, two 9.3mm SVDK sniper rifles, and the matching ammunition to 15 modified AK-105s, 2 SVDKs, and 3 modified SVDS light sniper rifles, while increasing the ammunition order by twentyfold.

Despite the pain caused by inflation and exchange rates, Mountain Eagle knew that, as Glasses man had said, converting rapidly devaluating Rubles into weapons and ammunition was a bit more worthwhile than enduring the dreadful exchange rate.

Once the money entered the Weapon Bank, withdrawing it would incur significant losses; trading for weapons was the best value for money, so of course, he would choose to maximize his profits.

Glasses man was very pleased with Mountain Eagle’s choices since earning a commission on weapons sales was obviously a bit higher than receiving ’deposits’.

After the final tally, a total of 8.35 million Rubles was counted. Mountain Eagle kept 350,000 Rubles for operating expenses, and the remaining 8 million Rubles would equal only 160,000 US Dollars at an exchange rate of 1:50.

After deducting a 15% service fee, only 136,000 US Dollars remained.

Using this adjusted list and the US Dollars wouldn’t be sufficient to purchase the weapons, because when using US Dollars, they settled at the official exchange rate.

However, if purchasing with Rubles, not only was it sufficient, but there would even be some left over.

So, Mountain Eagle pulled Glasses man aside to do a detailed calculation, and in the end, they left only 10,000 US Dollars as a reserve on the account, converting the rest into ammunition, besides the unchanged guns.

After the transaction was completed, Mountain Eagle watched Glasses man swipe the Weapon Bank VIP card through a machine, then handed it over to him along with a small bag containing 350,000 Rubles, saying, "Thank you for your patronage!"

Hearing that usually meant that the other party had made money...

Mountain Eagle lamented the rapid shrinkage of his wealth and concurrently cursed Glasses man, who had just clinched a significant deal.

Glasses man seemed quite accustomed to this kind of situation...

He personally took care to deliver the previously ordered 4 AK-105s and 2 SVDK sniper rifles, along with twice the basic amount of ammunition, some plastic explosives, to the van, and then said...

"Welcome to visit us again."

As he was about to leave in the truck, Glasses man looked at Mountain Eagle with a smile and said, "Moscow is very lively these last two days. If you have further needs, please call me as soon as possible...

As long as it’s within the Moscow region, I can provide the highest quality service at the fastest speed."

Mountain Eagle was amused...

He looked at Glasses man and smiled, "How many people have you said that to in the past couple of days?"

Glasses man did not take the bait and merely spread his hands, saying, "Sir, that’s a commercial secret."

After saying that, Glasses man directed the truck out of the parking lot, joining the flow of traffic around Red Square.

Mountain Eagle’s smile faded as he glanced at the bustling restaurant nearby. He sat down on the side step and rummaged for a pack of cigarettes, lighting one for himself.

The news from Glasses man wasn’t good; for them, ’liveliness’ meant good business.

And good business for the Weapon Bank meant that Moscow would become unsafe!

At this stage, Baofeng’s core focus was on Snowden!

Given the significant power disparity between Mountain Eagle and their opponents, it’s no wonder Blood Fox chose to relocate with Snowden.

That was the safest approach!

As Mountain Eagle was lost in thought, Mi Lu came over with a bottle of Vodka and sat down next to him on the spacious side step...

"What are you thinking about?"