Chapter 103: List
Translated by: kevin1782
Edited by: Isalee
Gao Yang was not a money-lunatic. Neither was he someone who would go and screw around or gamble excessively the moment he accumulated some money. His perspective was that whenever he could use the very best, he would never settle for anything worse. No matter if it was his or his brothers' lives, they were more important than anything else. This rule would never be changed as long as he was still Satan's head.
Some of the top military nations still held the most advanced military gadgets and equipment of course. These strictly-confidential items were not available for purchase to mercenaries. Gao Yang did not expect to be able to acquire them either. It was not about whether one was willing to spend money or not. ;
It did not take too long; the three went to Gao Yang one after another with their lists after Gao Yang had organized and summarized his own things.
Grolev's list was the shortest. There were only a few items written on it. On the other hand, Tribo's was the longest. Bits and pieces almost filled the entire piece of paper.
Gao Yang looked at Grolev’s list and said nothing. He first put it to the side. He picked up Jin’s list and said, “Jin, are you intending on changing to a small-caliber gun? You didn't specify which."
Jin nodded and said, "The AK-47's recoil is too great. I found that 5.56mm bullets were quite easy to find in Misurata. So I wanted to change my gun, but I haven't used any small-caliber rifles from other countries. I used the FAMAS, but after firing two magazines, she was jammed. The AUG was pretty flexible and portable but I’m still not familiar with using her. Keypoint is that I don't like bullpup guns."
Gao Yang nodded and said, “You've rejected all the small calibers we have on hand. You aren't familiar with foreign guns either. If there are non-bullpup rifles, what about you use the M4? Or a Type-97? You can at least use her well, and Ulyanko should be able to find it."
Jin Fang nodded and said, "97, I've gotten used to the 95. If I try the 97 and she isn't comfortable enough, then I'll change back to the AK. No need to change the pistol, I'm very comfortable with the M92."
After solving Jin's problem, Gao Yang said to Grolev, "Aren’t your requests too simple? A thousand rounds of Russian-made bullets, a bullet-proof vest, and that's all? You still intending to trek with those rotten boots and wear this full Russian-made camo-suit on the battlefield?"
Grolev smiled and said, "It became a habit to be thrifty when I was a freelance merc, so I didn't think to change them. In fact, my threshold for equipment isn't that high."
Gao Yang shook his head and said, "This won’t do, no matter how much money you have, as long as you can afford it you gotta use the best. Forget it, you don't have to worry about it. I'll give a unified accessory list that all of us need to Ulyanko. Since you don't have any needs, I'll buy things according to my agenda. It's decided then."
Tribo hurriedly said, "Brother Yang, look at my list! Can you quickly check if my items can be bought?"
Gao Yang slammed Tribo's list onto the bed and angrily said, “You're really an idiot. Look at the items you want: Steyr HS .50 [1]. The accuracy is high, but only one hand loaded round at a time. Do you think there's a big army behind your back acting as reinforcement? The firing rate is so slow! When we need reinforcements, do you want us to perish?
“Also, look at what you want — a Marathon Military Watch [2], a 3D bag, a 1D bag, a Blackhawk Waist Belt [3], and a SureFire MasterFire rapid deployment holster [4]. I Ci-Ao, forget about those. I can bear with the spectacles, boots, and clothes alongside all their respective brands and sizes. But you dare to even specify the colors? Why don't you write the brand you want for your briefs too?”
Tribo meekly said, “I wrote it down. Didn't you see it? I want Arcteryx-ian[5] underwear. No particular brand required for the socks. As long as it's Merino[6]. Help me out, Bro Yang. I calculated it all — these things will be roughly affordable with the amount I have.”
Gao Yang was at the end of his wits. "Do you really think that Ulyanko is your personal butler? These bits and scraps are available at Johannesburg shopping malls, don't ask arms dealers to buy them, scram!"
After chasing Tribo away with his scoldings, Gao Yang helplessly listed a set of things as he saw fit. As for the list that Tribo handed in, he tore it up straightaway.
Tribo's choice was not bad: Gao Yang taught him these brands and things when he brought Tribo outdoors to play. Gao Yang had not gotten to the point where he had to ask firearm trader to buy everything from head to toe, inside to outside, including undergarments and socks. Even if he was thick-skinned enough and really handed the list to Ulyanko, Ulyanko would most likely stick that list right back on his face.
There was the China-made Type-97 rifle, the AS50 or Barrett M82A1 sniper rifle with fifty armor-penetration rounds and a hundred ordinary rounds, three hundred high-precision 7.62 mm sniper rifle rounds, four bulletproof vests identical to the specimens provided, four Oakley bulletproof spectacles, four Kevlar helmets, three 3D bags from Mystery Ranch [7], one 60-liter[a][b][c][d][e][f][g][h][i] ;water bag, four all-terrain camouflage figures from the American CP company [8] and last but not least: four Danner [9] military boots.
The list above was what Gao Yang wanted to send to Ulyanko. There were still many things but Ulyanko always had them and hence there was no need to prepare them specially. Those listed needed preparation in advance. After Gao Yang thought carefully and meticulously, he added one more: two Steiner 8x30 binoculars [10].
Gao Yang and Tribo frequently used binoculars. They constantly shared one pair of binoculars on the war grounds. Gao Yang felt that the binoculars in hand were an antique from Fedor. Hence, he felt that it should be kept as a proper collection and he might as well buy two new binoculars.
After listing everything, he estimated the price in his mind and felt that buying everything would probably cost them a hundred thousand dollars. It might not even be enough because a 12.7mm large-caliber sniper rifle with her respective rounds would perhaps already cost a hundred thousand dollars. ;
Gao Yang did not know the exact price of a large-caliber sniper rifle. He only knew that a Barrett M82A1 required at least several tens of thousands of dollars and the bullets were also very expensive. One ordinary round cost ten or more US dollars already. An armor-penetration round would even be in the hundreds. As for the AS50 and her bullets, they could be even more expensive than the Barrett.
Large-caliber sniper rifles were too expensive, such that even a lot of other things piled together would only be a cherry on top in comparison to the sniper rifle. But the prices to everything had to be clarified and known beforehand. Perhaps when Ulyanko only sold them at cost prices, the prices might be lower than Gao Yang’s estimates.
Gao Yang felt that their team needed a large-caliber anti-material and anti-personnel sniper rifle. Despite the high cost, it was still better than not being able to deploy it when it was necessary.
Although Gao Yang was not sure if Tribo could currently manage a large-caliber sniper rifle, Gao Yang also did not know if he himself could skillfully use a large-caliber sniper rifle. However, Gao Yang felt that he would never know the specific characteristics of a large-caliber sniper rifle without interacting with it. Hence, while biting his teeth, Gao Yang decided that he would rather chip in with several people and buy a large-caliber sniper rifle first.
The Satan Mercenary Corporation now had thirty-four thousand dollars in its public assets. It certainly was not enough to purchase the equipment, but Gao Yang had over ninety thousand dollars and the other three had six thousand each. Should they chip in and buy together, Grolev wouldn't have to pay a single cent and they could easily purchase the all the items.