"Target confirmed." MacLaine pointed to a blurry figure in the photo, which was taken secretly at the Glasgow docks. "Diego ’Ghost’ Ramirez, former mid-level leader of the Mexican Zetas group, skilled in interrogation, explosives, and infiltration. Disappeared four years ago during the purge in Mexico, rumored to have fled to Central America. Last month, he entered the United Kingdom under the guise of a fake Spanish businessman identity, currently ’running’ an import-export company in Glasgow, a shell."

"Is he connected to the ’Black Pearl’?" a subordinate asked.

"No direct link has been caught yet." MacLaine brought up another file. "But his company recently ’imported’ a few batches of ’special art pieces’ from Colombia. Customs records show it’s pottery, but the weight and volume don’t match. We’ve monitored his warehouse; vehicles come and go at night, moving very heavy items. Also..." he paused, "he’s met with local small gang leaders, in very secluded spots. After meeting, the ’Black Pearl’ started appearing on those gangs’ territories."

"Why not just arrest him?" another subordinate asked. "We have evidence."

"Capturing one Ramirez is easy." MacLaine shook his head, "But he’s just the tip of the iceberg. I want to know who his bosses are, how the drugs are brought in, where the raw materials come from, and where the money is laundered. More importantly, are they really just in Glasgow to sell drugs?"

He walked to the map, pointing at the location of the Rebirth District smart city construction site. "The theft cases at the site only involve specific chemicals. Ramirez’s men, or local thugs he controls, are involved in at least two of them. Why do they want those chemicals? To make drugs themselves? Possibly. But there’s another possibility..."

He looked at his subordinates, "They’re testing our security response, figuring out the logistics flow of a large construction site, preparing for a larger-scale operation."

"What kind of operation?" 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"I don’t know," MacLaine spoke truthfully. "Could be sabotage, could be kidnapping important engineers, or maybe... planting some kind of ’backdoor’ or ’gift’ in the new smart city infrastructure. Mexicans help us with construction, but if another group with a Mexican background wants to create chaos, then it’s very interesting."

The room fell silent. The situation was more complicated than they had imagined.

"Boss, we don’t have enough manpower," a subordinate said. "We have to monitor Ramirez, investigate the drug network, keep an eye on site safety, and handle any trouble that might come from London (meaning official investigations)."

"London can’t focus on us right now."

MacLaine sneered, "Their own streets are in turmoil. As for manpower... I’ll apply for more resources from Chairman McTavish. But before that, we need to figure things out ourselves. Split into two teams, one continues to tail Ramirez, checking his communications and funding chain. The other, infiltrate the local underworld, especially those gangs that have recently started dealing with the ’Black Pearl’, figure out their supply chain. Remember, we’re not the police, we don’t have to follow all the procedures. If necessary, you can use some ’unorthodox methods’ to obtain information, but don’t cause any deaths, at least none obviously linked to us."

"Understood."

MacLaine added finally: "And be careful. We’re not dealing with ordinary criminals. Characters like Ramirez have crawled out from the hell of the Mexican drug war. They kill as naturally as they breathe."

The subordinates nodded silently and started to prepare separately. MacLaine remained alone in the warehouse, looking at those photos.

He had experienced the dirtiest street battles in Northern Ireland, witnessed the brutality of terrorists, but this felt different. This wasn’t like a political struggle, nor like ordinary crime. It felt like a systemic corrosion with clear, malevolent intent from afar. And their new nation, just born, had already become a target.

He remembered McTavish’s words: Independence is not just about gaining power; it’s about inheriting all the troubles. Now it seemed, the troubles came quickly and fiercely.

...

West Africa, Mamadou’s "territory."

Three days later, Mamadou gave Hendrick a definitive answer.

He hadn’t simply waited for three days. During that time, he consolidated his most capable and loyal men, several dozen in total, and armed them with the first batch of weapons Hendrick had provided, beginning basic training according to the "manuals"—how to set up checkpoints, how to interrogate prisoners, how to manage "tax collection."

He also secretly contacted several minor leaders from neighboring areas dissatisfied with the current government, promising them with "Black Pearl" and cash, preliminarily forming a loose alliance.

He painted them a picture: drive out the vampire officials from the capital, manage their own lands, grow "cash crops," make big money, buy more guns and cars, and possibly even "establish a nation" in the future.

For these long-neglected, poor, and violent fringe people, this prospect was highly enticing. Rather than live in poverty and occasional pillaging, it seemed better to take a chance and follow Mamadou, who looked like he had connections.

Hendrick returned as scheduled, bringing the second shipment: four 82mm mortars, ten RPG-29 rocket launchers capable of penetrating most light armored vehicles, and two modified, armor-plated Toyota pickups equipped with machine gun mounts.

Also joining were three people: a Colombia with a blank expression, said to be an "agriculturalist"; a former Russian Signal Flag Special Forces member, responsible for tactical training; and a Dutch finance expert, tasked with teaching them how to launder money and set up offshore accounts.