War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1661: A Dutiful Arms Dealer
When the morning sun dyed the horizon of Kharkov golden, several cars drove anxiously into the sanatorium hidden in the birch forest in the northwest suburbs of the city.

Before the car stopped, the door was pushed open by a group of men and women with guns. They ran towards the two villas on the left and right of the fountain garden and the Stalin-style auditorium, wary of each other.

However, just as these people either broke down the door or climbed through the window to enter the building, the traps set up in advance were triggered one after another.

Amid a series of exclamations and faint but dense explosions, the villa and the auditorium were set on fire almost at the same time.

After being extracted from the car's fuel tank, the fuel stored everywhere was scattered into dangerous oil mist in the explosion. Together with various dangerous combustion aids, and even the exploded gas pipelines and heating boiler fuel pipelines, a series of loud explosions and deflagrations occurred.

In just less than five minutes, the three buildings turned into candles on a death anniversary cake, and also randomly took with them a few unlucky people who rushed too far forward.

When the fire trucks urgently dispatched from the aircraft manufacturing plant one kilometer away finally arrived and finally put out the fire that almost set the forest on fire, the three historic buildings had been burned down to bare houses, and the corpses scattered everywhere were filled with a strong burnt smell mixed with a strange meaty aroma.

Just as the people at the fire scene were hesitating about who to report what happened here, and whether to report it at all.

Wei Ran, Tima, the Kajianka sisters and the only prisoner had already boarded a Chinese-made off-road vehicle driven by Daria, avoiding all interceptions and inspections, quietly left the St. Petersburg airport, rushed to the island in the middle of the Neva River, and finally stopped in the parking lot next to the exhibition hall that had not yet opened.

Even the Hela girls led by Asma and Yulia have already boarded a busy transport plane and flew towards Kazan.

"Ivan's family is back in the village today. I'll take you to take a bath first."

Aunt Daria said this as she led the four of them and the female prisoner they were carrying into a two-story wooden house some distance away from the exhibition hall.

"Is this house newly built?" Wei Ran asked curiously. He remembered that this house did not exist when he came here last time.

“Built this summer”

Dahlia explained with a smile, "There are bathrooms upstairs and downstairs, you can use them among yourselves."

"I'll go upstairs."

Without waiting for the others to speak, Ji Ma threw the backpack containing gold bars and cash he brought back to the door and ran upstairs first, making it clear that he didn't want to know too much and also showing his trust.

"Come with me"

As Daria spoke, she opened the door of the storage room and brought Wei Ran, the Kajianka sisters and the captives to the basement of the wooden house.

This basement is not very big, with concrete walls. There are many homemade canned foods on the surrounding shelves, and there are many potatoes and onions piled in the corners.

Fortunately, there was a wooden table and four chairs in the middle, and a not-so-bright light above.

"Are you in any trouble?"

Daria, who had been silent all the way, first signaled the Kajianka sisters to tie the captives to a load-bearing pillar in the basement, and then asked the three of them to sit down.

“I don’t know if this is a problem or an opportunity.”

Wei Ran winked at the Kajianka sisters and said, "Take them all out."

Hearing this, the two sisters each took out a pair of rubber gloves and put them on, opened their backpacks, took out the USB drive they found and the mobile phone carefully wrapped in a lead blanket, and placed them on the table.

At the same time, Wei Ran, wearing gloves, opened his backpack, placed the seized documents on the table, and described in detail the people who were accidentally discovered and how they were dealt with.

After a brief silence, Dahlia snapped her fingers and said, "Girls, go upstairs and take a shower."

Hearing this, the Kajianka sisters stood up and walked away as if they had springs on their buttocks, almost jogging out of the basement.

It was not until the sound of a door closing upstairs did Daria speak, "The USB drive is what my brother needs, and he may also need this phone. Those delivery notes are a hassle for you, but for him, they may be converted into cash.

So if you're willing to give him the USB drive and the phone and those delivery notes, he'll give you some nice holiday gifts at the end of the year as a thank you."

Before Wei Ran could speak, she continued, "If you don't plan to give these things to him, then it's best to destroy them in front of me. The USB flash drive and mobile phone are related to my brother's life safety. Those delivery notes are just waste paper to you."

"These were originally promised to Uncle Chabu"

Without any hesitation, Wei Ran handed the USB flash drive, the mobile phone wrapped in a lead blanket, and the thick stack of delivery notes to the other party.

“Let’s talk about these things next.”

Dahlia pointed to the remaining documents and the captives tied to the supporting pillars not far away and asked, "What are you going to do with these?"

“Some of these things should be made public, some are hot potatoes for me, and some are credits to some people, but the premise is that they will not cause trouble for me.

Secondly, the research results of biological weapons must either be shared by the Chinese and Russian governments or destroyed by me.”

As he spoke, Wei Ran raised his hand and pointed at the bound captive, "She is the scapegoat I prepared. No matter who gets these things in the end, they will be bought from her hands, but I will hide her myself."

"no problem"

Dahlia seemed particularly satisfied with Wei Ran's caution and sobriety, as well as the way he handled the things on the table. "Victor, stay cautious. It will keep you alive and not live as painfully as we do."

“I will keep your advice in mind.”

Wei Ran answered seriously. He also didn't think he was making a fuss because he knew very well, better than anyone else, that his potential opponent had no moral bottom line at all.

"In that case, let's discuss it in detail." Dahlia ignored the captive who was shaking his head. "What do you plan to do with this information first?"

"I want to know the identity of the prisoner first, or at least know who her agent is." Wei Ran said first.

"Someone will recognize her," Dahlia said, standing up. "Wait here."

"it is good"

Wei Ran nodded, watched the other party walk out of the basement, and then turned his attention to the prisoner.

Standing up and walking to her side, Wei Ran pulled off the hood on her head and asked with a smile, "Do you know me?"

After a brief moment of stunned silence, the woman nodded in shock and tried to say something.

It was a pity that a glove was stuffed in her mouth and it was tied tightly with a rope, so she couldn't make any meaningful sound.

Gently patting the other person's cheek, Wei Ran sat back at the table and waited patiently.

In just 5 minutes, accompanied by hearty laughter, the fat Uncle Chabu came down carrying a small basket in his left hand and a bottle of vodka in his right hand.

"Young man, we meet again!" Uncle Chabu greeted Wei Ran warmly.

"Long time no see, Uncle Chabu." Wei Ran stood up politely and greeted the other party. After the other party put down what he was holding, he gave him a manly hug.

"please wait for a moment"

As Uncle Chabu spoke, he took out a plate of sliced ​​ham, a plate of fried fish, and an ice bucket full of ice cubes from the small wicker basket.

After placing these things on the table one by one, Uncle Chabu walked to the corner of the basement, picked up a bottle of homemade pickles from the shelf, wiped the dust off it with his sleeve, unscrewed it and placed it on the table.

At the same time, Wei Ran had tactfully opened the bottle of vodka that the other party had brought, and took out the three glass cups frozen in the ice bucket and filled them with wine.

He had just finished his work when Daria came down with a plate of steaming pies.

"Would you like to hear the news this morning?" Uncle Chabu raised his glass and said, "The morning news from Harkov."

"Don't keep us in suspense," Dahlia urged, picking up her glass.

"Just before I was invited to the basement, people who had discovered something was not right with the buyer or seller had already arrived at the nursing home."

Uncle Chabu laughed and said, “Then there was a serious fire there, and it almost set the forest on fire.

But you would never have imagined what happened next. The authorities blew up all the buildings in the sanatorium and chose to pour concrete, just like what happened in Chernobyl."

Seeing Wei Ran's surprise, Uncle Chabu didn't even give him a chance to speak before he took the initiative to say, "Before meeting you, I guessed that the clown must be trying to cover up some incredible secret."

"The secrets he wanted to hide were right there on the table"

Dahlia clinked her cup with Wei Ran and her brother, drank it all, and said, "But before we talk about these secrets, take a look at the captive that Wei Ran brought back. Can you recognize her?"

Putting down the cup, Uncle Chabu took the opportunity while Wei Ran was pouring the wine to walk up to the prisoner, pinched her chin with his big fat hand, looked at her carefully, and then said with certainty, "She is German."

"German?" Wei Ran looked up at Uncle Chabu in surprise.

"She is a minor editor at Deutsche Welle"

Uncle Chabu looked at the female captive again after he finished speaking, "Am I right, Ms. Naile Wolfgang?"

Before Wei Ran or Dalia could say anything, and before the recognized female prisoner could say anything, Uncle Chabu continued to speak amid the increasingly horrified expression of the female prisoner, "But this is only her public identity. She is also secretly employed by the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory.

Simply put, she is both a scientific research broker and a scientific research spy."

Before anyone in the basement could speak, Uncle Chabu looked at Wei Ran and asked him a question that he had not expected, "Since the end of World War II, the country on this planet that has been most active in biological and chemical weapons research and most interested in Northeast Asia is the United States. So guess who is behind the United States?"

"Germany?" Wei Ran asked the prisoner.

"Snapped!"

Uncle Chabu snapped his fingers in response, "As far as I know, the Deutsche Welle news agency where Ms. Naile officially works has been providing long-term funding to NGOs in Kazakhstan and Mongolia.

If I remember correctly, Ms. Naile, you seem to be a long-term sponsor of Beautiful Heart?"

"What is the beautiful heart?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"A non-profit organization in Mongolia that spreads ideological ideas and guides national movements by funding universal education.

The Mongolian people's psychedelic hatred towards the Chinese and Russians is basically instigated by them. And they are inciting students. If nothing unexpected happens, these hatred trends will become more and more serious like a snowball in the future. "

Uncle Chabu gave a brief explanation, and then continued to ask Ms. Naile who kept shaking her head, "It seems that you don't want to mention your insignificant work and identity in public. Then let's talk about your secret identity. How far has your research project on the transmission of the virus from camels to humans progressed?

And what is the progress of the experiments in the American-led Insect Allies Project that you are participating in at the Central Reference Laboratory in Almaty?"

Just a few questions, and the female captive brought back by Wei Ran turned pale and heartbroken. These things were almost as deadly as the information that Wei Ran had taken away!
After beating the prisoner enough, Uncle Chabu finally sat back in his chair, raised his glass again and clinked it with Wei Ran and Daria, and after drinking it all, he picked up a pickle and put it into his mouth.

"Uncle Chub, I don't know if I should be curious."

Wei Ran glanced at Teacher Dalia and asked carefully, "You seem to know them well?"

"certainly"

Uncle Chabu said nonchalantly, "I am an honest arms dealer. I have been an arms dealer since before the collapse of the Soviet Union."

As if seeing Wei Ran's confusion, Uncle Chabu continued to explain, "But these bastards are researching biological weapons. Compared with thermal weapons that use gunpowder to take lives, the cost of biological weapons is too cheap.

If even the African natives use biological weapons to fight for territory and wage war in the future, who will I sell my weapons to? Am I going to keep the hundreds of tons of AK rifles in my warehouse to grow mushrooms? "

"I thought you would say that biological weapons are too inhumane," Dahlia joked with a helpless smile.

"War has never had anything to do with the word humanity"

Uncle Chabu said as he picked up a piece of pie and took a big bite. While chewing, he said, "These scientific terrorists want to destroy my business. This is inhumane. I have wanted to take action against them for a long time. According to my investigation, they are already researching viruses targeting Slavic peoples."

"Victor, let's continue our previous topic."

Dahlia spoke up at the right time, "I don't mean to change the subject, but my brother is a chatterbox and we don't have the time to listen to him talk all the time."

"no problem"

Wei Ran smiled and handed the USB flash drive, the cell phone wrapped in the lead blanket, and the weapons delivery orders to the fat man sitting opposite him. "Uncle Chabu, this is a gift I brought back for you."

"What a polite child!" Uncle Chabu laughed and accepted the gift.

"I hope you bought those delivery notes from Ms. Naile." Wei Ran made his small request.

"certainly"

Uncle Chabu said simply, "Let's do it in Belgorod. Ms. Naile and I completed the transaction in my friend's sanatorium in Belgorod. I will prepare a few witnesses."

"I'm going to take her away and deal with her myself," Wei Ran pointed at the prisoner tied to the pillar.

"No problem, I'm not interested in her."

Uncle Chabu waved his hands, "I even have evidence that she seduced several researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory into bed. She has no secrets from me."

Hearing this, Wei Ran smiled, showed the rest of the documents he brought back, and reiterated the idea he had just mentioned to Teacher Dalia.

After listening to Wei Ran's explanation, Uncle Chabu just thought for a moment and then simply classified the documents on the table.

"The human body parts business is no secret, but this information with specific identity information will be a huge blow to the Ukrainian people, especially the Jewish actor.

So these materials can be made public, and I believe the Russian authorities will be very happy to do this.”

"Through whom should this be done?" Dahlia asked. "Victor can't be involved in this. He has caused enough trouble already."

"My friend"

Uncle Chabu said as he flipped through the documents, "I will ask my friend to buy everything from Ms. Naile except the biological research materials, and pretend that Naile is escaping with these transactions.

These disgusting evidences of transactions, as well as funding for NGOs and my sister, how come there are plans for your production studio here? "

When he said this, Uncle Chabu's tone, which was originally nonchalant, was already filled with murderous intent.

“That’s the retirement guarantee for me and my friends.”

Dalia gave Wei Ran an explanation that he had not expected, "If it weren't for these, Karp, Ivan and I wouldn't have had to take these young people to kill those people last night."

"My friend will deliver these materials for guiding the public opinion war to the hands of the Russian Federation and the Chinese people respectively."

Chabu made a promise with a gloomy face, "You will be able to see relevant reports in the official media of the Russian Federation and China tonight."

"Through your psychopathic white bandit friend?" Daria asked with a slight headache.

"His dreamy mind is much more normal now"

Uncle Chabu said with a rather playful smile, "How about it? Let my friend bear the corresponding risks and honors?"

"no problem"

Wei Ran nodded happily after Dalia looked at him, and then tapped the most important category of the information with his fingers, "What do you think should be done with these biological weapons research materials?"

"Hide"

Uncle Chabu gave an unexpected answer, "Young man, hide it yourself, hide it with Ms. Naile and wait patiently for a few months, so that those who have lost the information can find the missing Ms. Naile."

"What about a few months later?" asked Wei Ran, who had already guessed the answer.

"Let some of the information and Naraku's body appear in a place no one expected."

Uncle Chabu said quite expertly, "Then the information will appear on the black market."

"Although I am not an arms dealer, I also don't want these things to spread." Wei Ran said seriously.

"So you want to exchange a few amulets?" Chabu asked with a smile.

“A talisman that won’t draw extra attention”

"Amulets in Russia?"

“I am a Chinese”

"A few months later, some insignificant but sensational footage and Naraku's body were revealed.

Then wait a few months and send the complete information to the Chinese Embassy in Russia. Remember to make a copy for yourself in advance."

Uncle Chabu emphasized, "Remember it is the Chinese Embassy in Russia, and remember to make a copy and hide it. These two points are very important."

"And then?" Wei Ran asked calmly, "Only give it to China?"

"Of course, this is enough. Out of considerations of diplomatic etiquette and international relations, China and Russia will definitely choose to cooperate on that information."

Uncle Chabu said, looking at Daria, "Does sister have any different opinions?"

“That’s good advice”

Dahlia nodded. "Besides, everything that happened last night was done by me, Karp, my daughter's adoptive father Ivan, Ninel, and that little star named Dima. Do you understand?"

"You really have a preference for this Chinese boy," Uncle Chabu smiled.

"If it weren't for the fact that he already has a girlfriend, I would even want to marry my daughter to him." Daria said jokingly and half seriously in a rather regretful tone.

"He may be a good young man, but he is definitely not a good son-in-law."

Chabu laughed and joked, "I often see news about him on the Internet. He has more girlfriends than I have fingers."

"In this respect, he is not even as good as that loyal bastard Ji Ma," Daria cursed with a smile.

"I hope you won't make mistakes with women"

Chabu’s tone was less teasing and more warning, “Victor, keep an eye on Naile, if she runs away, we will all die.

If my sister and her daughter get into trouble because of your mistake, no matter how many girlfriends you have, I will make them die with you."

"I will hide her in a place where no one can find her. I also hope that you and your friends will not make any irreparable mistakes."

Wei Ran made assurances and implicit threats with a smile, and also helped the brother and sister refill their wine glasses.

After clinking glasses again and drinking the wine, Uncle Chabu piled up his belongings, then stood up and hugged Teacher Dalia. "I'm leaving now. You'll see these things on the news tonight."

"You should also be careful," Daria warned worriedly.

"I will be careful"

Uncle Chabu looked at Wei Ran and said, "In a few months, I will give you a special gift."

"Please accept my sincere thanks," Wei Ran said with a smile.

"Goodbye"

After Uncle Chabu finished speaking, he took the things that belonged to him and left the basement alone.

"Don't let her live too long. She knows too much." Daria handed the refilled wine glass to Wei Ran.

"I will take her away on the next transport plane," Wei Ran said, clinking his wine glass with the other person's.

"Go and have a rest. I'll help you look after her." Dahlia said, "Go to the room on the far right upstairs. That guest room has a separate bathroom."

Hearing this, Wei Ran nodded, took the documents related to biological weapons and the corresponding mobile hard drive, left the basement, and went upstairs to meet up with the Kajianka sisters who had been waiting on the first floor.