Deal

Augustus's unreliable father, Angus, may have been an outstanding politician and agitator, but he knew nothing about military affairs. He stubbornly believed that the tens of millions of people in Korhal and less than 250,000 conscripts could contend with the powerful Terran Confederacy, and that the weapons support from Umojan was simply insufficient to allow the Korhal army to turn the tide.

The Terran Confederacy has Fleets and Resocialized Soldier, while the Korhal IV lacks even the most basic Power Armor.

A year later, Korhal IV will inevitably become a brutal battlefield.

Naturally, the more Augustus realized that he and the Mengsk Family were as fragile as candles in the wind.

Now, Augustus has gradually begun to see himself as the leader of the rebels and to consider how he should deal with the grim situation and the complex and ever-changing political environment ahead.

Reality forced Augustus plan ahead for the future; he had to look far ahead and lay out his plans for more than a decade into the future. If Augustus was to be involved in a new war, then he had to achieve final victory and overthrow the Confederacy.

Regardless of hatred, faith, or the ideal of liberating the people of Korhal and Tyren, Augustus simply forced into it.

Augustus had to deal with anyone or any force that might be able to help him beforehand, knowing full well that Umojan's support was far from sufficient.

Currently, Augustus come into contact with Hill, the future mercenary leader, of this type, and this man is worth using. Tychus barely qualifies as half of this type, as he controls a black market trading network of unknown value.

In the near future, Augustus inevitably have to resell captured Confederacy military supplies. The Kel-Morian Combine and Umojan will be major customers, but Augustus cannot rely on them entirely.

After circling the town several times, Augustus finally led the buyers to an abandoned, unattended underground garage. Raynor, along with Amy Brandon and others, guarded two trucks loaded with weapons, armed with electromagnetic guns.

The pot-bellied man jogged over and lifted the tarpaulin on the truck. His face lit up with delight upon seeing the brand-new equipment. He turned to his men and said, "Quick, come over here and check the weapons. See if they're usable."

Then, he lovingly stroked a Power Armor, as if he were caressing his lover.

Although the Power Armor is all from the older CMC-200 model and the armor is worn, it can still fetch a high price. As for the two Goliath Combat Robot, which have been retired but are still well-maintained, they are priceless treasures. There are plenty of people willing to buy these powerful walking mechs, but Augustus still wants to keep them for his own people.

Both the Terran Confederacy and the Kel-Morian Combine prioritized the recovery of Power Armor after the war, even over treating the wounded and burying the dead. To prevent technology leaks, some Confederacy- specific high-tech weapons—such as airdrop pods in the research and development phase—were even equipped with automatic disintegration power supply, which would automatically disintegrate and decompose one minute after landing.

This resulted in very few standard-issue equipment being left out, and it would be more than a decade before retired Marines could be hired as entire companies.

In the current climate where class contradictions are prone to escalation in the Terran Confederacy, demonstrations in cities have gradually devolved into riots involving looting, vandalism, and arson. Meanwhile, the seemingly omnipresent and perpetually invincible Revolutionary Army is inciting workers' uprisings in the peripheral sectors and sabotaging the army's transportation and supply lines.

By this year, this had sometimes even forced local governments to mobilize Marines and expand police forces. Meanwhile, wealthy tycoons, business owners, bankers, and major shareholders of listed companies urgently needed a strong private army to stop thugs who dared to plunder their property and to deal with assassinations by the Revolutionary Army.

Therefore, arms reselling is not only profitable, but often extremely lucrative. Of course, this is on the premise that Augustus has the channels and connections.

"Excellent," he said. "Mr. Nicholas, you really didn't lie to us."

"The servo engine, fusion core, and armor frame are all intact, and the internal computer has been reprogrammed using a third-party system," Augustus.

"I am very satisfied." The pot-bellied man turned around and glanced at the heavily armed soldiers surrounding Augustus.

"Perhaps we can deepen our cooperation in the future." He extended a hand to shake hands with Augustus: "We are Cerberus Engineering, currently just an unknown small biotechnology company, but one day we will be world-famous and go public."

"This shouldn't be difficult." Augustus remembered the name. Cerberus was a secret project during the Terran Empire, whose main research projects were resocialization engineering, limb modification, and Zerg control. However, the relationship between this company and the Empire's Cerberus Project was still unclear, because the real Cerberus project was not rebuilt until after 2500. The possibility of a name coincidence was high, and in reality, there might not be much connection.

As the three-headed dog of Cerberus in Greek mythology, the word Cerberus is often associated with monsters. Both the Kel-Morian Combine and the Terran Confederacy possess weapons or special units named after this name.

"What does your company mainly research? Is it biological genetic modification? There's a huge market for that in Tarsonis and Korhal."

"Um," the man seemed somewhat hesitant to speak, "We're currently only researching how to control the Umojan cows, making them produce milk according to our needs. But the technology we're using is absolutely cutting-edge. Our scientists have already been able to implant a special organic substance that can continuously grow into the third temporal lobe of the Umojan cow's brain, thereby controlling its pregnancy response."

"This should have quite a market. Does it work on people too?" Augustus asked casually. "Of course, I don't want to get the girls pregnant."

"No, no, no!" the man quickly waved his hands. "We can't experiment on living people; it's unethical."

"I was just asking," Augustus. "We should each leave a fixed contact method that we won't easily change. My boss will definitely be interested in your project."

You can contact me anytime.

Regardless, Augustus remained quite interested in the company. If possible, Augustus mind taking the lead in the future Warhound Cerberus Project himself.

"With pleasure." The man made an awkward gesture, resembling the manner of an old nobleman from some main planetary world.

After the bodyguards had checked their equipment and reported to the pot-bellied man, Augustus had already exchanged contact information with him. Next, Augustus's men began inspecting the banknotes.

The price had been agreed upon beforehand; the total cost of this batch of equipment was approximately 12 million credits, with the majority being Power Armor. This was enough to buy a 60-square-meter house in Queen's District, Sterling Korhal IV.

The Cerberus Engineering quickly drove away in their trucks, and according to Rick's report, Augustus learned that at least ten armed men had gone to meet them.

"We need to get out of here quickly." Tychus said, looking at the two Raptor Armored Vehicle in the parking lot. "In this line of work, double-crossing is common."

"What are you afraid of?" Augustus told him not to be so nervous, "We're here on vacation, we should at least have one meal before we go back."

Augustus then led the Heaven's Devils out of the parking lot, and Tychus followed, showing no less audacity.

They turned into a less desolate commercial street and entered a Gothic-style spa hotel. From the outside, the towering Gothic building was extremely ornate, with rows of slender stone columns radiating from the arched windows that reflected deep yellow light, and Byzantine lions carved on the shell-colored railings outside the windows.

Everyone was carrying a gun, so no one dared to covet what was inside the box.