Selling oil across Libya

Chapter 15 15 Degrees East Longitude

"Now for an urgent update: last night, the French National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GENERAL) launched a raid on the port of Zawiya in Libya."

The operation ended in failure; of the 24 special agents involved, 9 were killed, 14 were captured, led by Major Frederick Gallois, the commander, and one remained missing.

The news comes from Gillian Donovan, a special correspondent for Thurn.

This morning, a video about the French National Gendarmerie Intervention Group went viral online.

Reporters called the Louvre Museum in Paris, but the calls went unanswered, and the French government has yet to respond.

Bobo reports.

"The Numidian Brigade, which controls the port of Zawiya in Libya, claimed this morning that if they do not receive an explanation from the French government, they will execute one hostage every two hours starting 24 hours after the video is released."

It is reported that the Numidian Brigade is engaged in fierce fighting with forces loyal to the Transitional Council in Tripoli. Please see the detailed report from our correspondent on the front lines...

Numidian Travel became an overnight sensation as the video went viral online.

At the Louvre, Sarkozy was furious.

"Can anyone tell me where this damned Numidian brigade came from?"

Guyot, along with Prime Minister François Fillon, Foreign Minister Alain Juppé, and Defense Minister Gérard Longuet, exchanged bewildered glances, speechless.

"Didn't I tell you to ignore Zavier and take out that damn bastard first? Did you do as I said?"

Sarkozy questioned Guijo.

"Sir, this is an order from the overall command headquarters, and I cannot refuse."

Giyo shifted the blame to the U.S. Africa Command in Stuttgart.

That's not an excuse!

Why don't the Americans deploy Delta Force?

Why not deploy the seals?

"You're the French Chief of the General Staff, why are you taking orders from those damned Americans!"

Sarkozy slammed his fist on the table and roared.

It took Sarkozy a while to calm down, loosen his tie, and slump down.

"What do we do now?"

"The other side demanded an explanation within 24 hours, or they would execute one hostage every two hours."

Longgai was at a loss.

"I have sent people to try to contact them, but there has been no news yet."

Jupe had no choice but to clean up Gijo's mess.

The release of the video has caused the French government to lose face.

If Sarkozy allows the other side to execute prisoners, his approval rating will plummet.

The video appeared online at 10 a.m.

It's 6 PM now.

Multiple media surveys indicate that Sarkozy's approval rating has dropped by 3 percentage points in just 8 hours.

Given the speed at which videos spread, the decline in approval ratings is happening much faster than any media survey could have predicted.

The phone indicator, which represents an internal call, suddenly started flashing.

"You'd better be busy!"

Sarkozy pressed the call button, his tone very impatient.

"Sir, we have received a fax from the Nubian Brigade."

The secretary has a sweet voice.

"What are we waiting for? Bring that damn fax in right now!"

Sarkozy was annoyed.

The fax contained information about the food and medical expenses for the captured personnel.

The Nubian Brigade made exorbitant demands, asking for €100 million for food and €100 million for medical expenses for each prisoner.

Furthermore, payment was required to be made in the form of goods.

The Nubian Brigade demanded supplies including food, medicine, daily necessities, and weapons and ammunition, including Stinger missiles.

Sarkozy glanced at the fax, threw it on the table in front of him, slumped into his chair, closed his eyes, and began rubbing his forehead.

Fillon picked up the fax, glanced at it, raised an eyebrow, and handed it to Longuet beside him.

"Resolve this matter as quickly as possible, while ensuring the safety of the survivors. Now! Immediately! Right now!"

Sarkozy was exhausted.

Since the safety of the survivors must be ensured, the "food expenses" and "medical expenses" requested by the other party must be delivered immediately as requested.

Qin Rui was also surprised that after the video was exposed online, the Transitional Council immediately announced its withdrawal from Tripoli.

Furthermore, the head of the Transitional Council, Jalil, publicly appealed on the radio, hoping to begin negotiations with the Nubidia Brigade.

"Boss, we've received a fax from Constantinople."

The fake document brother sent the fax to Yuri.

Yuri glanced at it casually, smiled, and placed it on top of a stack of faxes.

Starting at noon, faxes began arriving in droves from Paris, London, Doha, Khartoum, Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Riyadh, and other places.

"How do we negotiate?"

Yuri asked Qin Rui.

"Let's talk slowly and stall for time. It's 3600 million euros a day, and our supplies depend entirely on these people's food expenses."

Qin Rui was fearless and emboldened.

"The other party wants to ransom these bodies."

"Ten million per body, or we'll film it as a dog-feeding video."

Qin Rui is ruthless; he'll even make money off the dead.

"Oh!"

Yuri laughed out loud.

Musa remained silent, but gave Qin Rui a thumbs-up, a gesture of approval.

How will the Transitional Council negotiate?

"The Transitional Council's troops must not cross the 15th parallel east."

Qin Rui had already made plans.

The 15°E longitude line, near Misrata, divides Libya in two, roughly two-thirds to the east and one-third to the west.

The distribution of oil resources is roughly the same as this proportion.

"This is meaningless. The Transitional Council is not unified, and many organizations do not recognize it at all."

Yuri studies the situation in Libya every day in his office and has made great progress.

"After reaching an agreement with the Transitional Council, organizations west of 15 degrees east longitude must either lay down their weapons and return to normal life."

Either leave;

Otherwise, kill without mercy.

Without further ado, Qin Rui acted swiftly and decisively.

"What should we do with these?"

Yuri picked up a thick stack of faxes and gestured to Qin Rui.

"Cold salad!"

Qin Rui had no interest in these so-called "international relations".

Bring it on if you dare!

Qin Rui needs neither resources nor talent from other countries.

As long as he maintains good relations with the world's largest industrial nation, Qin Rui can get everything he wants.

Before the outbreak of the Libyan civil war, the country had a total population of only 600 million.

After the outbreak of war, nearly a third of Libyans fled abroad. Tripoli, the city with the largest population of 100 million, was almost deserted, with fewer than 10 residents remaining.

Qin Rui had previously wanted to save the Libyans.

But after Misha and the others left, Qin Rui realized the necessity of respecting the fate of others.

Once his [evolution value] is exhausted, Qin Rui won't even be able to save himself.

"That's not a good idea!"

Yuri worried that he would have no use for his skills.

"Yuri, your next task is to sell our oil for a good price."

Qin Rui assigned work to Yuri.

"And me?"

Musa was worried that there would be no war to fight.

"My lord, I hope that one day you will not grow weary of war."

Qin Rui reminded Musa that wherever there are people, there will be conflicts.