Chapter 69: Setting Out for the Hassan Oilfield Region

It is nearly a 400-kilometer drive from Baghdad to the northern oilfield region.

Aside from the "Musicians" and the "Mad Dogs" mercenary groups, over 500 employees of the Wood Corporation were also heading there today.

This batch comprised the first wave of personnel sent by the Wood Corporation to take over the oilfields and resume production. Among them were 100 engineers dispatched by Wood to Iraq, along with 400 local employees.

During the assembly, Song Heping spotted "Mad Dog" Rice.

The latter rolled his eyes at Song Heping, wearing a look of utter contempt.

Song Heping paid him no mind.

After all, when a victor faces a failure, magnanimity is the ultimate form of disdain.

The reason Rice was boiling with rage was not because of the minor conflict that had occurred earlier at the Blackwater building, but rather because of the Wood Corporation's contract.

Initially, Wood had awarded the security contracts for both major oilfields entirely to Rice's mercenary group.

From Wood's perspective, a small-time mercenary outfit like the "Musicians" simply lacked the strength to shoulder such heavy security responsibilities. They had originally planned to throw them a small oilfield near the Mishan oilfield region close to Baghdad just to appease Nancy and save face.

Little did they expect that Chef's smooth maneuver during the banquet would cause the old hag Nancy to change her mind and suggest that Wood alter his decision, granting the "Musicians" a much more lucrative contract.

Who was Nancy?

Without her, Wood knew very well that he would never be able to claim a slice of the lucrative pie that was Iraq's reconstruction project.

To curry favor with Nancy, he changed his mind and assigned the security mission of the Hassan oilfield to the "Musicians."

Of course, Mr. Wood could not have become an energy tycoon by being a soft touch.

No one would ever joke with the security of a major oilfield region—these were wells that churned out cash every single day.

Take the Hassan oilfield's daily output of 500,000 barrels as an example. With crude oil currently priced at 28 to 30 US dollars per barrel, calculating purely on gross revenue without deducting costs, this single oilfield generated 15 million US dollars in gross profit for him every day. Furthermore, the Hassan oilfield possessed rich associated natural gas reserves, which brought in an additional gross daily income of over 5 million US dollars for the Wood Corporation.

It was quite literally the embodiment of a printing press!

Therefore, nothing must go wrong with the oilfield.

Wood handing the Hassan oilfield security contract over to the "Musicians" did not mean he recognized the capabilities of Song Heping and his men.

In fact, he believed they were utterly incapable of handling such a critical mission.

Wood had his own agenda.

He deduced that once the Hassan oilfield came under attack, the "Musicians" would undoubtedly fail to withstand the assault and suffer a disastrous defeat, resulting in damage to the oilfield facilities.

Once the facilities were damaged, he could invoke the breach-of-contract clauses, kick Song Heping and his crew out on their ears, and then re-sign a contract with Rice and his Blackwater affiliates.

That way, he would have saved face for Nancy and avoided offending his political backer, while ensuring his oilfield wasn't left in the hands of a bunch of underqualified ragtag mercenaries.

After all, the combined security fees of 1.8 million US dollars per month for both oilfields were a very substantial sum of revenue.

After deducting equipment wear and tear, personnel casualty compensation, salaries, and commissions, at least a fifty-percent profit margin could be maintained.

Never did he expect that at the very last minute, half of this lucrative business would be snatched away by Chef and his band of misfits.

How could anyone swallow that?!

If he didn't spew out a few insults, Rice would feel suffocated with frustration.

"Chef! Are you planning to lead your old, weak, sick, and disabled men to their deaths at the Hassan oilfield?!"

In the end, Rice could no longer hold back and took the initiative to mock Chef.

"Look, everyone, who is that?!"

"The jinx himself!"

"The legendary Umarov!"

"Hahaha!"

"Looks like Chef really has a death wish!"

Rice's subordinates all burst into hysterical laughter.

Most of the mercenaries in the "Mad Dog" group were veterans from various British elite units—a small minority being officers, the vast majority being non-commissioned officers, and some core members even being SAS alumni.

Everyone knew Umarov.

And therefore, everyone knew about the infamous "Umarov Curse": whoever hired the jinx Umarov was destined to die.

Chef could not refute the claim, because it was the truth.

So, he pointed at Song Heping and smiled, "Now, Zang is our boss."

The subtext was: the curse won't rub off on me!

Rice's expression turned even more disdainful as he glanced at Song Heping and said, "Kid, Chef is trying to get you killed. Do you know about Umarov's curse? Not a single person who has ever hired him has lived past a month!"

Song Heping actually found people like Rice quite annoying.

In his view, only incompetent people talked big, whereas capable individuals let their actions do the talking.

So, he simply chose to remain silent.

Instead, "Hunter" Guy could no longer hold his tongue and snapped back, "Rice, have you forgotten who ate shit last time? Who fished you out of a cesspool?"

At Guy's words, Rice's complexion changed instantly, and he immediately clamped his mouth shut.

Song Heping glanced at Guy, sensing there was a story behind those words.

At that moment, the Wood Corporation representative in charge of the oilfield deployment mission appeared.

"Who is in charge of security for the two oilfields?"

Rice stepped forward. "I am the security commander for the Cooke oilfield region."

Chef gave Song Heping a shove.

Only then did Song Heping remember that he was now the boss of the "Musicians" mercenary group.

"I am the security commander for the Hassan oilfield region."

"Come over here, everyone. Let's coordinate and get moving immediately."

The three of them met by the hood of a vehicle.

The Wood Corporation executive was named Turner, an American with a prominent nose, blond hair, and blue eyes.

"You're all already aware of the specific details, and our company has reviewed your security plans. Now, let me outline some temporary adjustments: the Hassan oilfield region will take in 10 engineers and 40 workers this time, while the Cooke oilfield region will take in 350 people. Understood?"

This head count caught Song Heping off guard.

It had previously been agreed upon as 200 people; how did it suddenly drop to 50?

Over on Rice's side, objections were raised as well. "Why has our oilfield region's personnel increased by 150?"

Turner replied, "Aren't 50 people and 350 people essentially the same? Will adding 150 people somehow make your oilfield region larger?"

Rice was left speechless.

He thought to himself that seemed to make sense...

Oilfield security missions focused on building complexes, facilities, and territorial area.

It didn't seem to have much to do with the number of people present.

As for Song Heping, with his meticulous mind, he faintly guessed the underlying intention behind this arrangement. Naturally, he had no objections. While a smaller headcount didn't necessarily reduce the difficulty of security, having fewer people certainly carried no disadvantages either.

"I agree."

"OK!" Turner waved a hand. "If you agree, let's move out! According to the established plan, the 'Musicians' convoy goes first, and the 'Mad Dogs' convoy brings up the rear. Move out! We need to reach the oilfield region before nightfall—it's not safe out here at night."