This was indeed a life-threatening proposition.
If Major General Peter did indeed hold some information, and Song He concealed it during their face-to-face interaction, he feared it might affect future collaboration.
But what exactly did he know?
Gold?
Or arms dealing?
The most critical issue here was the gold.
Only then came the arms dealing.
Song Heping's mind began to race.
Soon, he arrived at an answer.
It couldn't be gold.
If it were about the gold, Peter wouldn't be sitting here with him, enjoying a leisurely breakfast face to face, and babbling so much about wanting to rope him in.
If it wasn't about the gold, then it had to be about arms dealing.
You could say that arms dealing was against the rules, and it would be considered a violation, but to say it was serious, heh, it wasn't all too severe.
Many of the AAFES company's arms were purchased from the Illigo Government and resold to local defense companies and mercenaries.
The only difference was that theirs was a formal trade, while his was a clandestine one.
Arms dealing in a war zone, what was that but a trivial matter!
"General, I am very willing to be candid, if you ask, I will definitely provide a response, with a no-quibble guarantee."
Song Heping felt confident now.
If Peter truly asked about the arms, then he would just admit it.
After all, he had long devised excuses.
"You previously sold a batch of arms to South America, didn't you?" Peter had a smug control over the situation; Song Heping's answer clearly pleased him.
"General, you are indeed well-informed." Song Heping's heart had actually settled, but he still feigned a somewhat shocked appearance as he replied, "Indeed... I once sold a batch of second-hand arms to Colombia."
Peter laughed and said, "You really dare to make money from anything, huh? You sold them to a drug trafficking group—don't tell me you didn't know?"
Song Heping responded calmly, "You can't talk about morals when doing arms dealing."
Peter suddenly began clapping, "Good, good, good! Well said! I have the least regard for hypocrites."
Then his tone shifted, "Do you know why your arms were intercepted by the AUC Armed Organization?"
"There was a leak." Song Heping said, "To date, that batch of arms still hasn't been recovered; it can only be considered a loss."
Peter said, "Don't you want to know who leaked the information?"
Song Heping paused.
This old fox...
Could it be that he knew?
He indeed had always been unclear about where the AUC's intelligence came from.
Arms transactions were very secretive matters.
Even if Ivan was in charge of them, he wasn't ignorant of the rules.
Initially, Song Heping thought it might be because the AUC Armed Organization's local informers had picked up some information, which led to the heist.
Now, listening to Peter, it seemed there was more to it.
"Of course, I want to know, but my capacity is limited, so I can't investigate it," Song Heping pretended to be modest, because if he approached Chris Chen, he should be able to get his hands on such intelligence.
But doing so was pointless.
How the goods were robbed was no longer the key issue; at that time, the priority was to rescue people.
Peter leisurely sipped his coffee, deliberately withholding speech as if to tease.
Song Heping knew he was being tantalized.
But he wasn't afraid of being tantalized.
Ultimately, Peter had to provide an answer, or else the buildup would be utterly meaningless.
"It was the CIA."
Sure enough, Peter quickly gave the answer.
"You thought that obtaining proper exit procedures for your arms meant safety? The CIA had their sights set on you long ago, and perhaps you're unaware that the arms market in South America is being controlled by the CIA, aren't you?"
"I learned of this during my trip to South America," Song Heping said, "General, I'm grateful for you sharing the truth with me, otherwise I would still be wondering why I was targeted, but if it's the CIA, then it's not surprising. The CIA station chief in Illiguo, Simon, and I have a bit of a feud, naturally, he wants to see me dead."
"It's because of the big news about Mr. J, right?" Peter said: "At that time, the young lady you were protecting was Nancy's niece; you got involved in political disputes all the way in Washington—don't even mention the CIA. We were somewhat displeased with you at the time, and if it weren't for later cooperation, we might still be looking to kill you."
Song Heping said, "I certainly don't wish to become an enemy of the General."
Peter said, "If you wish to deal in arms in the future, you'd better let me know in advance. There are rules in this circle. If you barged in with no regard for the rules, you could become the target of public criticism."