It really had been a day of emotional roller-coaster for the employees.While they felt the loss from losing three years of freeloading, they were still hitting sales figures that would have taken months otherwise, and the commission would be plenty impressive.Moreover, there were still queues and crowds eager to buy or just take photos, which were congesting every door and window of every outlet. They were all just that eager to leech off Bernard's individual success.Even Bernard himself was stunned when he received the updates on sales figures from regional executives. He was himself a pioneer of hype marketing and naturally expected the numbers to shoot up, he didn't expect it to shoot up this far!When news broke that their global inventory was facing shortages, he promptly called Alex. "Send orders to all factories that they are to work overtime, and they will be paid accordingly with the highest overtime rates allowed by their local regulations. We need to move quickly an

Bernard was therefore grateful to Charlie as well, and he soon fulfilled his promise.That meant he didn't just donate two billion to the Ten Thousand Armies, but also spent hundreds of millions to lease an island for a 99-year term from the Sri Lankan government, and then transfer the ownership to the Ten Thousand Armies.The island happened to be situated strategically near the Indian Ocean international shipping route, a crucial transit point connecting East Asia to the western hemisphere. With the Ten Thousand Armies having other bases in the Maldives, having one more would improve efficiency and save time for most of their escort missions.Bernard even called Charlie to elaborate on that further, before apologizing, "I'm sorry, Mr. Wade, but I've once again acted on my own initiative again without consulting you…"While the island would cost about 200 to 300 million USD, Charlie now had a keen insight into Bernard's mind.If anything, he read the man like a book long ago—whil

Charlie explained, "It's basically how the modern federal governing system works. Warlords like you would each claim a territory, protected with your own weapons and fortifications, while assigned a reasonable degree of autonomy during peacetime. But when there's a foreign invasion or civil war, it's the federal government that takes charge and leads the fight."Hamed was hesitant and soon argued, "I think the warlords are more worried about facing the same crap after seeing Randheli, and think that they won't be as lucky as I was. They are all busy looking at their bags… And autonomy might be most ideal, but the top brass might not be keen on the idea…""That's true," Charlie replied calmly. "However, they might give in if there's sufficient pressure inside out. They would keep oppressing those under them if they faced no pressure, but are forced to make knee-jerk decisions if they are pushed too hard."With external threats and infighting looming over them, you can take the time to u

Charlie did the math, and told Hamed, "Five, six thousand barrels a day… That's two million barrels a year, equivalent to 300,000 tons, worth just over 100 million USD. Even after discounting the costs of operations, you'd still be netting dozens of millions in profits."Pausing, he then suggested, "Why don't you talk with the top brass? Have a heart-to-heart and insist they need to compensate you for the Randheli Raid. When they ask what you want, you ask for the oil field closest to your base."If they hand it over, then it's peace all around—you're once again their comrade, with whom you will fight against foreign enemies."If they refuse, don't bother arguing. Send out your troops and raid over every oil field within a hundred clicks from your base!""Wait, what?!" Hamed cried out in shock. "Send my troops? For real?""Yes!" Charlie replied bluntly. "Your troops, fully armed, hit them hard. Since it's just a hundred clicks from your base, you'd reach the oil fields far earlier

Charlie asked, "Where are the top brass' forces concentrated at the moment?""The border near Damascus," Hamed replied. "They just managed to seize power recently, after all—they really don't have time to think about governance as a legitimate institution or military strategy. "All they can think about is guarding the borders to maintain their power. Even the oil fields within my reach weren't guarded by any standard military force, just a few hundred militants." Charlie then asked, "How's morale in your camp?"Hamed chuckled, "Well, they've been mostly resting after intensive training. And with the money you sent for equipment and everything else, they are way more combat effective than any government forces—who are still maintaining the run and gun AK doctrine, I might add. I'll say we can take three of them for every one of ours!""Forget three," Charlie told him. "If you can catch them off guard, even losing one for ten of them would be considered sub-par. Always ensure that