Chapter 3700: Vanguard

"Second Elder..."

Du Heng furrowed his brow and said: "A few days ago, the Second Elder said he wanted to go to Mexico for a stroll, so I arranged for someone to take him there."

Wu Yongzhen let out a sigh of relief, nodded and said: "That's good. If he were in the United States, there might still be some trouble. If he discovers any clues and reports back to the Yingzhu, we'll be in trouble."

As he spoke, Wu Yongzhen waved his hand and said: "Alright, you may go. Everything proceeds according to plan."

"Yes, Grand Commander." Du Heng bowed respectfully, turned, and exited the door.

The current headquarters of the Left Army Commander-in-Chief's Office is located in the wealthy district of Miami, though for ease of access and retreat, the Left Army Commander-in-Chief's Office did not set up its base on the most valuable artificial island, but instead established a medium-sized yacht club directly on the bay. The club is situated by the dock, with numerous yachts coming and going daily, making it relatively inconspicuous to outsiders.

Moreover, both water and land routes are available for entry and exit, increasing safety somewhat.

The reason Wu Yongzhen chose to come to Miami for this garrison rotation is precisely because of the Gai Ti family's scholar-official connection, which happens to allow him to use the Gai Ti family to secretly sell those shale oil outputs outside the plan.

For the sake of convenient contact, Rachel's mother bought a yacht and registered it under this yacht club's name. Thus, she can explain to the Gai Ti family her relationship with the Left Army Commander-in-Chief's Office. Under her arrangement, Du Heng is merely a member she happened to meet at the yacht club. Coincidentally, Du Heng manages several shale oil production enterprises, while the Gai Ti family is deeply involved in the petroleum refining industry, so everyone can get what they need.

The Gai Ti family did not suspect this relationship, after all, people join similar yacht clubs, cigar clubs, or even certain special merchants' private island clubs precisely to network various connections. Encountering supply chain partners at a yacht club is altogether commonplace.

And it is precisely because of this yacht club's cover and protection that Du Heng's comings and goings to the Gai Ti family's artificial island appear natural and justified.

Thus, he directly drove his medium-sized yacht from the yacht club's dock, sailed out of the dock, and headed toward the Gai Ti family's artificial island.

Rachel's mother was already waiting at her private dock at this moment.

She had just spoken with her husband, informing him that Du Heng was about to pay a visit.

Rachel's father places great importance on Du Heng, because every time Du Heng comes to discuss cooperation with him, besides the normal contract, he also attaches a low-priced gray contract. Du Heng can provide him with large quantities of shale oil at least 20% below market price. Although the discount seems small, the sheer volume makes this price difference objectively significant.

Moreover, Du Heng will also bring him another layer of income: helping Du Heng launder this money into cash and equivalent value in gold.

Tax investigations in the United States are notoriously strict—so much so that in the U. S., murder and fleeing are easier than tax evasion.

The Left Army Commander-in-Chief's Office secretly increases shale oil production each year. The tax bureau does not monitor their actual output capacity, but it does monitor every fund flowing into the Left Army Commander-in-Chief's Office. Annual increases of over hundreds of millions of dollars in shale oil production cannot go through normal sales channels because they must conceal this from Wu Feiyan. Instead, they sell the oil privately to the Gai Ti family. The Gai Ti family must first find a way to launder this shale oil so it can enter their refineries. Then, by falsely inflating costs and adding so-called equipment and technology to reduce loss, they blend this batch of shale oil into their refinery's processing, produce it through normal refining, and sell it via regular channels.

These petroleum products, through the Gai Ti family's global dispersed sales, undergo round after round of laundering, ultimately becoming heavy, untraceable, unmarked, non-sequential cash and precious metals returned to Du Heng. Factoring in laundering costs, this round trip results in at least a 50% loss.

That is to say, the Left Army Commander-in-Chief's Office privately produces and sells shale oil worth one hundred million U. S. dollars, which ultimately returns to Wu Yongzhen as cash amounting to roughly fifty percent.

Even so, this is acceptable to Wu Yongzhen, after all, "selling grandfather's field to buy a son-in-law" causes no pain—he only sees that he has cleanly gained fifty million U. S. dollars. As for the losses, they are irrelevant to him, after all, all production costs are borne by the Poqing Hui.

Precisely because of this deep-seated gray-interest relationship binding them, Rachel's father also places great importance on Du Heng, their private rapport is quite good, and every time Du Heng visits the Gai Ti family, he receives him personally.

As Du Heng piloted his yacht to slowly dock at the Gai Ti family's pier, he did not know that a pair of eyes was secretly staring at him intently from the shadows.

Ye Chen had already noticed him before he even approached the dock, for no other reason than the cultivation level on this man's body.

Du Heng's cultivation is slightly higher than that of Song Ruoyu, though he appears older—at least around forty years old—so overall, his cultivation speed is not faster than Song Ruoyu's.

Rachel's mother, Shirley, was already waiting here at this time. When Du Heng disembarked and stepped onto the dock, she immediately stepped forward respectfully and said in a low voice: "Subordinate greets Envoy Du."

Du Heng smiled faintly and said calmly: "Lady, there's no need for formality. I've come this time bearing the Grand Commander's orders. First, I need to confirm with you: did your daughter Rachel receive any information from the Rothschild family tonight that you haven't told your husband about?"

Shirley replied without hesitation: "Envoy Du, rest assured, my husband knows nothing of this."

"Good." Du Heng nodded satisfactorily and said: "Tonight, the Grand Commander wishes to purchase some spot oil from your husband, using this rare insider information to make a small profit. Some details will require your cooperation later. Is your husband at home?"

Shirley nodded and said respectfully: "Replying to Envoy Du, my husband is already waiting at home."

"Good." Du Heng smiled and waved his hand: "Go see him."

Hidden in the shadows, Ye Chen did not follow Du Heng to the Gai Ti family's residence. He does not care about their private dealings; what he truly cares about is this Envoy Du, who is like the vanguard sent out by the Poqing Hui. As long as he can leave a mark on him, he will surely be able to find his lair.

Moreover, there is another very important matter: he needs to memorize the facial features of this Envoy Du. The Poqing Hui, aside from its headquarters being completely isolated from the world, its other five army commander-in-chief offices and various scholar-officials are all deeply hidden within society, just like Du Heng. As an aide of the Left Army Commander-in-Chief's Office and a confidant of the Grand Commander, he will inevitably have frequent contact with the outside world. When there are no clues at all, even if he were to brush shoulders face-to-face with a member of the Poqing Hui, it would be impossible to find any leads. But once he has memorized Du Heng's facial features, finding him later becomes much easier—the Earth Net system can then search for his whereabouts 24/7 without interruption across the entire world.

Now, Du Heng has surfaced; henceforth, nearly every step he takes will fall under the cover of my Earth Net system!