Feng Jun quickly dealt with the blind date situation. He still admired his parents' social skills, as they had arranged six blind dates for him, though Feng Jun only went along with his parents' arrangements.
After the blind dates, he stayed home until after the Lantern Festival. Only then did Feng Jun use the excuse of company matters to leave home.
As the company's required capital increased, Feng Jun did not return directly to the Doomsday. He planned to go abroad again to find Nikola, preparing for another gold transaction with him. After dialing Nikola's number, the call was quickly connected.
"My dear Mr. Feng Jun, you finally called me. Is there anything I can help you with?" Nikola's thick-tongued voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Of course there is. I have a batch of gold that needs your help to process," Feng Jun said directly.
Upon hearing it was related to gold, Nikola immediately said he had time and quickly arranged the time and place for the transaction with Feng Jun.
The transaction location was still Singapore. After booking his flight, Feng Jun immediately flew to Singapore in advance. Just like last time, Feng Jun rented a warehouse and placed the gold from his storage space inside, waiting for Nikola to come and inspect it. The original transaction time was set for the morning, but Nikola delayed until the afternoon before rushing to meet Feng Jun.
Upon meeting, Nikola said, "Sorry, Mr. Feng Jun, I was late due to some matters, so tonight, no matter what, you must let me buy you a drink."
Feng Jun was not accustomed to Southeast Asia food. He declined Nikola's invitation and directly took him to see the gold he had placed in the warehouse.
The quantity was similar to the last transaction; Feng Jun also prepared three tons of gold for the exchange. However, this time, most of the gold was in the form of gold bricks and bars, with fewer gold artifacts and sculptures compared to last time.
Nikola was in a great mood after seeing the gold. He picked up two gold bricks, kissed them repeatedly, and smiled so much that the wrinkles on his face deepened. In his eyes, this gold was dearer than his own parents. All the gold combined weighed 3.5 tons, which, according to the international gold price exchange rate, converted to 210 million US dollars, or over 1.44 billion RMB. Nikola directly transferred the money to the bank card he had given Feng Jun last time, instantly making Feng Jun a billionaire again.
After receiving the money, Feng Jun originally wanted to leave immediately and return to China, but Nikola, seeing Feng Jun about to leave, immediately ran over and stopped him.
"Mr. Feng Jun, you must know that you helped me greatly this time. All my money was tied up in Ukraine. If it weren't for this batch of gold, I might have gone bankrupt. So please, give me a chance tonight to express my gratitude," Nikola said.
Hearing Nikola mention the country of Ukraine, Feng Jun asked, "Didn't you already withdraw from the arms trade? How did you get involved with Ukraine again?"
"It's all because I made the wrong friends!" Nikola sighed and said.
Originally, after Nikola acquired a batch of gold from Feng Jun last time, he began contacting some of his old friends to help him sell the gold. This led to many people learning about his feigned death, and he actively re-entered the gold business, making some enemies and friends believe he was making a comeback. Additionally, Nikola, having narrowly escaped death, had been inquiring about the source of the mercenaries who attacked him last time. This led him to resume his old profession.
Nikola quickly found out that the person who tried to kill him at sea was another arms dealer with whom he had a long-standing grudge from years ago. They had repeatedly sent assassins after each other due to business competition, but somehow, the other party learned about Nikola's feigned death and dispatched a team of mercenaries to kill him directly. Nikola had also gathered a group of people to seek revenge on this person, but his enemy was incredibly unlucky; he got involved in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and died in a Russian airstrike before Nikola could find him for revenge, which saved Nikola the trouble of seeking retribution.
However, Nikola, having already re-embarked on the criminal path, naturally couldn't get off the ship easily. At the invitation of a group of friends, he began trading arms again, and once more, he took his business to Ukraine. It's well-known that Ukraine is in the midst of heated conflict, so the demand for arms is naturally very strong. But Nikola's business was not selling arms to Ukraine; instead, he was responsible for selling Ukrainian arms abroad.
"Ukraine is in such a state, and it still has the ability to export arms?" Feng Jun was somewhat disbelieving after hearing that Nikola was selling Ukrainian arms abroad.
Nikola picked up a piece of gold and chuckled, "Of course, it's because of this. Due to the war, Ukraine's national currency has become worthless. All transactions there have been replaced by US dollars and gold."
"The EU and the United States have approved a new round of aid agreements. The United States will provide Ukraine with 50 billion US dollars in war loans, as well as various war weapons, and the EU's equipment and aid are also on the way. But Ukrainians will not use all the equipment on the Battlefield. That country is corrupt to the core, thoroughly infiltrated by various Jewish and Anglo-Saxon capital. The advanced weapons from the EU and the United States mostly don't reach the front lines; they are all sold off at low prices to arms dealers, who then export them to other places that need weapons," Nikola said proudly. "And the gold I possess is the most popular currency for transactions there. Whether it's war aid in US dollars or various advanced weapons, I can acquire them at low prices with gold and then sell them to places that need them more."
Feng Jun began to understand Nikola's actions. He usually didn't pay attention to matters in Ukraine, thinking it was just a proxy war between Russia and the United States. He hadn't expected such enormous business opportunities hidden within. Nikola was exchanging gold for US dollars and various weapons in Ukraine, making huge profits from it.
However, Feng Jun still had one thing he didn't understand: "I can understand you exchanging gold for US dollars; Ukrainian officials are transferring assets, exchanging war aid dollars for gold before leaving Ukraine. But what's the point of acquiring weapons? Can those aid weapons be resold again?"
Nikola chuckled and said, "Mr. Feng Jun, you don't understand this point. If you have time, you must come visit me abroad often; that way, you'll have a clearer view of this world. Many of the arms aided by the EU and the United States are old stock. Even a small amount of elite equipment won't change the situation, because a large portion of Ukraine's elite forces defected to Russia at the beginning, and the remaining ones have mostly been depleted after several years of consumption. Lacking personnel, even the most elite equipment is given away for free, and the Ukrainian government and military high command are well aware of this. Rather than sending this equipment to the front lines to be destroyed by the Russians, it's better to sell it for US dollars or gold. The corrupt officials won't even wait for the war to end; they'll run away with the money. Moreover, this world is never short of wars; it's just that some conflicts don't receive much attention. In Africa, the Middle East, and even South America, there's a huge demand for this equipment."
Nikola then outlined a complete trade route to Feng Jun. Some of this equipment, transported from Europe and even the United States, wouldn't even reach the Ukrainian front lines. It would be re-boxed and re-packaged at the border between Poland and Ukraine, then shipped from the Baltic Sea or Romania's Harbor to Africa, South America, the Middle East, the Pacific Ocean, and other places.
"This world is never short of conflicts; it's just that some conflicts aren't hot spots," Nikola said.
After listening to Nikola's description, Feng Jun gained a new understanding of the current world's trajectory. Perhaps in the future, when he has time, Feng Jun should travel more in the current world to broaden his horizons.
Although Nikola repeatedly tried to persuade Feng Jun to stay, Feng Jun still declined Nikola's invitation. After hastily booking his return flight, he returned to Shangqing City. The trade agreement with Huaicheng District was also about to begin, and the task of transporting grain to both worlds still relied on Feng Jun.
Meanwhile, during Feng Jun's absence, several things happened in the Doomsday. The storm cloud that had been pressing down on the Shangqing City Wasteland for some time began to slowly rise a few days ago, and after ascending above the stratosphere, it flew towards the East China Sea.
After the storm cloud disappeared, Huaicheng District and Longmen Town both sent UAVs to scout the Wasteland, discovering that the previously dense numbers of Zombies and Mutants in the Wasteland had decreased to what could be described as a sparse level.
Originally, the number of Zombies around the Blood Nest had gathered to an extremely dense degree, to the point where the Zombies on the streets were literally packed together. However, after the storm cloud disappeared, some streets even became empty. Moreover, according to the data fed back by the UAVs, the number of Zombies in Shangqing City decreased by 40%, and the number of High-Level Mutants decreased by 60%.
When this news reached the human settlements, all humans breathed a sigh of relief. The decrease in Zombie numbers was absolutely a great thing for humanity. Furthermore, the significant reduction in the number of High-Level Mutants greatly reduced the threat faced by Bounty Hunter and scavenger teams when entering the Wasteland, and the chances of humans obtaining supplies from the Wasteland also increased significantly. For a time, many survivors formed various small teams, preparing to enter the Wasteland in groups to search for various supplies.
And it wasn't just those survivor teams with this idea; the five major forces of Huaicheng District, with their greater strength, had already formulated their action routes and even dispatched reconnaissance teams, preparing for a thorough scavenging of valuable buildings in the Wasteland.