King Of War: Starting with Arms Dealer

Albert II suddenly disrupted the schedule by landing in Sangha Town, throwing off Central Africa's protocol for receiving him.

This guy is quite interesting—he changed into a white T-shirt printed with "Wife, I Love You" after getting off the plane, shaking hands with the Central African bigwigs while constantly showing the text on his shirt to the media.

His wife was just a dozen meters away, but he didn't dare go over to talk to her.

The main issue was the intimidating bodyguards beside The Great Warlord Princess—Monaco's royal security didn't seem to be any match for them.

Qiao Ga wasn't concerned about this guy since he wouldn't leave the airport area at all.

After greeting the Central African officials here, he would board another plane and head straight to the safer Ndele to truly begin his Central African visit.

Albert II was handed over to the Central African officials, and his aircraft loaned to them for the journey to Ndele, ensuring close surveillance of this wealthy king.

This matter won't end unless he forks out a seven-figure sum!

After that, Qiao Boss strolled around the base to check on the situation in the southern parts, then took Nis and the others with him to Sangha Town to visit it briefly before heading home.

While returning home by car, Qiao Boss had a close look at Sangha Town's transformation.

The old Sangha Town filled with corrugated iron shacks was gone; the new Sangha Town had been relocated several kilometers northward.

Thanks to detailed preliminary planning, over a dozen large-scale zones had been completed in advance, awaiting the gradual connection of public facilities and commercial areas, filling in gaps to form a complete city.

The slum area near the Ubangi River was preserved but reimagined externally, now serving as Sangha Town's commercial center.

The mobile phone seller, Auntie Zhao, transformed from a small business owner into a retail tycoon.

Auntie Zhao acquired over a hundred shacks, hardened the ground, renovated interiors, and harnessed the Ubangi River's transportation capacity to establish a thriving wholesale market with distinct African local features.

Qiao Boss didn't dare step into the wholesale market—it was filled with overly enthusiastic people, and he feared he might not be able to leave!

However, driving past the docks, Qiao Ga made a special stop to observe Sangha Town's booming waterways business, only to be surprised by the sight of cement boats docked there, with more shuttling along the river...

He had seen such boats used for cargo transport on inland rivers back home during his childhood—he never expected to find these ancient vessels in use again in Central Africa.

Noticing Qiao Boss's interest, Karman, the driver, parked the car by the docks, sending the women and children back first so that Qiao Boss could inspect the docks thoroughly.

Qiao Ga stepped out and walked over to the water's edge...

The entire dock was divided into two zones...

One section was for goods—surplus agricultural products from Bangassou and Sangha Town flowed here to be transported by water to the Central African capital, Bangui, while light industrial products were shipped back from Bangui to be distributed into Congo via riverways.

Another section was equipped with small gantry cranes specifically for loading and unloading coal and steel products from Sangha Town.

Coal came from Congo, while Sangha Town steel was shipped out, forming a bustling cycle.

The entire dock operated like a clockwork machine running at full speed.

About a dozen dispatchers, equipped with radios and megaphones, directed traffic on the docks and the river. If anyone failed to comply, a few fierce men would step in to sort things out.

Qiao Ga could tell the dock had been meticulously tidied, but clutter and mess still lingered in the nooks and crannies.

Dock workers' uniforms were perpetually stained no matter how much they were washed, but their morale seemed notably high.

This wasn't much of a problem—manual laborers couldn't keep perfectly clean—but the visibly polluted river water made Qiao Boss worry somewhat.

Sangha Town's population, per statistics, had exceeded 600,000...

Of course, they were spread across several thousand square kilometers of land. About half of the 60,000 residents lived in factories and communities located at the ends of those tentacle-like extensions.

Larger areas encircled by those tentacles, suitable for farming, had been designated as agricultural zones, accommodating roughly 100,000 farmers.

The rest, unsuitable for farming, retained its original landscape for eventual park development after some idle elderly volunteers brainstorm ideas.

This was a concession made by Giant Zhu, enabling those parks to be named after the elderly in exchange for their compromise on Sangha Town's overall design plan.

The retired gentlemen and ladies from the planning bureau were notoriously difficult to please—they didn't want money but demanded meticulous detail in construction planning.

Giant Zhu, an unrivaled on-site construction giant, was exasperated enough to resort to divide-and-rule strategies, even dragging elderly men to brothels to stir up conflict among them before eventually agreeing on the park proposal.

The planning could align with their blueprints—even sewer and drainage systems could be slightly upgraded...

But the building structures within the planned zones simply couldn't adhere to their designs.

The now-established Sangha Town main urban area housed nearly 200,000 people; pollution from their daily activities and the upstream coke-fired power plants was showing signs of spread.

The retired planners knew their trade—they had pushed high-pollution steelworks kilometers away to elevated terrain reserved explicitly for sewage treatment plants.

They were only waiting on funding from France to build large-scale sewage treatment plants, leveraging natural waterways for pollution management.

With France dragging its feet, the first sewage plant had to be funded and built locally in Sangha Town.

But Sangha Town's development was simply too fast!

Locals didn't mind much; to them, earning money and feeding their families mattered more than environmental losses.

Who cared that rivers were now devoid of fish—better this than starving despite having fish back then.

Grains couldn't grow near the sewage channels they helped design, but plant buffers ensured farming could continue away from polluted zones.

Reliable food supplies and financial gains made life in Central Africa previously unimaginable.

Who would bother about minor pollution?

Locals might not be concerned, but someone like Qiao Boss, planning to settle here for the long term, couldn't overlook it.

He had experienced his home country's period of painful transition—developing at the expense of the environment was inevitable for impoverished nations.

But when conditions allowed, Qiao Ga felt keeping clear skies, green hills, and clean waters intact was imperative.

Nature possessed impressive regenerative capabilities, and Central Africa's environment was particularly remarkable.

With deliberate human intervention, pollution spread could be controlled.

The "water purifier" granted by Qiao Ga's system upgrade became the best solution he could think of!

There wasn't a "super battery" available to power miniaturized purifiers, but large-scale equipment perfectly suited Sangha Town's needs.

Nowadays, small steel plants had their own coke-fired power generators—not only meeting their needs but also powering factory communities.

Local residents didn't consume much electricity; a lit bulb at home left them overwhelmingly satisfied.

Installing water purifiers at factory sewage outlets could resolve most of the water pollution.

Initially, these could rely on the coke-fired power plants, but once northern gas and oil resources were tapped, natural gas-powered generators could support the construction of large-scale sewage treatment plants.

That way, Sangha Town's 100,000 residents could share a single sewage plant—three to five plants could handle all residential wastewater.

After addressing water issues, Central Africa's climate and plant life could offset some air pollution, buying Qiao Boss time to persuade locals to upgrade their equipment.

Investors had recently sunk tens of millions of dollars into seeing returns—it wasn't feasible to demand they redo everything.

Only when natural gas utilization was understood and embraced could he persuade them to upgrade their facilities, phasing out coal and coke in favor of natural gas as the primary energy source.

Squatting by the dock, Qiao Ga stared at the visibly polluted water and garbage floating by. He stood, gesturing to Sangha Town mayor Lenore...

"The situation here is better than I expected, but there are still some issues that require attention.

City waste, sewage, and oil pollution all need solutions.

Paving roads and constructing buildings doesn't suffice—a city this large requires its own operational system.

Call Old Zhu and contact those retired planners—they're all professionals who had visions for urban functionality from the start.

They don't charge fees, so if there's something to learn, learn from them.

Bring them some local specialties—their influence is immense, and showing respect will make everything easier."

Seeing Lenore jot down everything and assure him that people would soon be sent to China for training...

Qiao Boss turned to find Qiao Liang, put an arm around his shoulder, and pointed at the cement boats, laughing: "Was this your idea, or North Industries'?"

Qiao Liang grinned and replied: "Congo is in chaos right now—when people from North Industries went there, they hit a snag and got stuck.

They couldn't communicate with you, so they reached out to me instead.

You were busy in the Middle East then, and I couldn't resolve the issue either, so I simply arranged a ship to bring the North Industries crew over to Central Africa's capital, Bangui.

I had them survey the waterways along the way, marking potential dock sites on the map.

Surveying is a massive undertaking, and given our limited understanding of African climates, gathering sufficient data might take years.

But I think dock construction can proceed gradually; shipbuilding should come first.

So, I coordinated with Central Africa's President Francois to collaborate with North Industries, investing in a shipyard in Bangui.

Initially, they produce 200-ton cement boats, and engines and components are airlifted from back home.

Going forward, I plan to talk to Sangha Town businesses—they can already produce ship-grade steel sheets. By upgrading their equipment, they could supply the shipyard with raw materials.

Then, the shipyard could manufacture 500 to 800-ton river cargo vessels and even armed patrol boats for you.

With boats in place, docks would finally have significance!"

Qiao Liang then looked admiringly at his elder brother and said: "Bro, I've been following Sangha Town's development journey. Instead of approaching the Congolese proactively, we should let the growth in river transport scale bring them to negotiate with us."