The fridge was stocked with plenty of beef and lamb, even two expensive Iberian Hams; the liquor cabinet was filled with high-class whiskey, brandy, red wine...

Apart from coffee, almost everything else in the café had been brought down from the cruise ship – delightful items indeed.

Exquisite porcelain, silver tea sets and candle holders, gold-plated knives, forks and spoons, and even a complete set of unopened kitchenware.

These items didn't quite match the ecological style of the coffee shop, but they were valuable, and this characteristic alone compensated for all other inconsistencies.

Mountain Eagle immediately knew that when Mr. Poincaré and his crew moved, they didn't forget to pick the good stuff from the spoils of the cruise ship.

He pulled out a set of tools, chose a saw to cut the frozen hard rack of lamb open, then set it aside to thaw.

As Mountain Eagle was busy, Jon and Zorn, who had just finished work upstairs, came down.

The duo, delighted to see their big boss return, cheerily greeted him, but before they could even organize their words to report recent developments, they were completely distracted by Anna.

Anna, who had studied and worked in the UK and US for years, knew all too well how to grab the attention of white folks...

Warmth, sexiness, health, extrovert, and a hint of fanaticism were sufficient to easily stir up their desire.

Watching the duo fuss over Anna, Mountain Eagle shook his head with a smile. He didn't mind their behavior, nor did he care if they would leak secrets to Anna...

Because since he dared to have Daria and Yuliy by his side, he wasn't worried about Anna knowing his secrets.

On the contrary, if these two couldn't keep their professional ethics, Anna would in effect help Mountain Eagle test and filter them out, and after wrapping up tasks here in Thailand, it'd be time for them to get lost.

Sofia helped Butcher and his team finalize the location and size of the building, then she avoided the area where Anna was and entered the back kitchen of the café...

Seeing Mountain Eagle rubbing spices and butter on a thawing leg of lamb, Sofia approached and said, "Need any help?"

Mountain Eagle glanced at Sofia, pointed to a bag of onions beside him, and said, "Help me chop a few onions. I can hardly believe you all are surrounded by such great ingredients and still complain about the food daily."

Sofia bent down to pick up a few onions, took a small knife, and started juggling the onions awkwardly. In less than a minute, tears were streaming down her face as she said, "Mr. Poincaré is English, he thinks everything tastes good...

Jon and Zorn can't even properly cook a steak."

Curious, Mountain Eagle glanced over at Sofia and asked, "And you?"

Sofia wiped her eyes, tears flowing uncontrollably as she said, "I can only cook with butter. After one meal, they banned me from the kitchen."

Mountain Eagle recalled the 'prisoner calorie bomb' he'd experienced in Moscow, a trap that those who knew how to cook could set, offering a delicious taste initially...

But seeing Sofia chop onions like she was stabbing her tear ducts, Mountain Eagle shook his head, smiling, and expressed, "They lack vision. I believe everyone has potential; if you're willing to try, you can make it happen."

He glanced at the now butchered onions, gently took the knife from Sofia's hands, and said, "I saw a grill outside...

Murder and arson come as package skills; I believe you'd have no problem making a fire."

Sofia looked at Mountain Eagle, her eyes red, and said, "We've had enough of 25 gas stations, one-third of which are currently undergoing façade and infrastructure renovations.

Over sixty boats have accepted our conditions and passed maritime inspections to go to sea.

Currently, our fuel business is doing well, but honestly, the profits aren't very high.

I understand your plan, but I want to tell you that being too lenient won't control the smugglers; to get them to comply with your management, you need to employ some stronger measures."

Mountain Eagle looked at the tearful Sofia as she spoke menacingly, and he waved his hand saying, "You're mistaken, I don't intend to control the smugglers, at least not all of them.

Using fuel as a limited intervention tool, and then elongating the time for screening, gradually establishing a set of rules everyone would be willing to follow."

Sofia listened, frowning, and asked, "What if someone's unwilling?"

Mountain Eagle shrugged his shoulders, saying, "I'm a police officer, it's my duty to fight crime!"

He looked at Sofia, smiling, and said, "You're Russian; actually, you should be very aware that the police must maintain flexibility between legal limits and enforcement scopes to really wield power.

Sometimes, a couple of chickens need to be killed to keep the monkey troop quiet!

But if we are the monkey king, then we become the target...

So, I'm a police officer, now and probably in the future too!"

Sofia rubbed her reddened eyes instinctively, saying, "If you don't want to control them and don't want them to pay fees, what's the point of all your effort, maintaining such a network costs a lot."

Mountain Eagle shook his head with a smile, saying, "Controlling smugglers doesn't mean they acknowledge me as the boss, and we can't control that many people.

Since I don't aim to fully control them, how costly could it possibly be?"

Sofia frowned looking at Mountain Eagle, asking, "Then how do you make money?"

Mountain Eagle grinned and said, "I consider them as truck drivers, and I'm a trading company. By understanding the surrounding regional countries' tariff lists, sanctioned items, and embargo lists, it's easy to make big money.

And do you know what smuggling is the most profitable?"

"Arms? Drugs?"

Sofia frowned at Mountain Eagle, who responded, "No, you know I wouldn't do that. What am I really aiming for?"

Mountain Eagle laughed, placing the massaged lamb leg onto a large piece of tin foil, sprinkling the chopped onions around it, then added a large block of butter...

After wrapping it up, he set the lamb leg aside, then picked up the instruction manual for a fancy oven, pondering with a smile, "I indeed won't do such things since what I aim to create is a 'passageway'...

Even without discussing moral issues, working with arms dealers and drug smugglers would multiply the risks.

If your capabilities aren't sufficient, those ruthless bastards will exploit you; if your abilities are, they'd demand you to do even more outrageous tasks.

"The better you perform, the greater the risks you face, and the higher the costs.

The best way to maintain an underground trade route for a long time is to limit the categories of goods traded and find a balance between cost, profit, and risk.

Trust me, it's entirely possible!"

Mountain Eagle said as he placed a wrapped leg of lamb into the oven, setting the temperature and time for roasting, and while blanching the thawed lamb chops, he said, "Stop staring at me; go make a fire…"

Sofia, a formidable young woman who had created a network of prison assassins before she was even twenty, said unwillingly, "You haven't told me yet, what makes more money than arms and drugs?"

Mountain Eagle sighed slightly and replied, "I haven't figured it out yet, but cigarettes, alcohol, and luxury goods are definitely profitable commodities within Southeast Asia and they won't affect the overall market.

You saw Anna outside, her boss has immense influence in Cyprus and he still owes me a final payment of 5 million US Dollars, which I need to retrieve myself from Cyprus.

Cyprus is a European Union country, where I can legally source enough goods through a trading company and then transport them to the international waters of Southeast Asia using cargo ships.

Trust me, there are plenty of cargo ships willing to do this job!

Then these smugglers can pay me enough fees, and retrieve the goods in international waters, making money no matter where they ship it.

As long as they gradually get used to this model, we virtually control the source of the goods."

Sofia frowned and said, "You're putting so much effort into this?

I know that cigarettes, alcohol, and luxury goods have decent profits, but they surely don't reach the balance of cost, profit, and risk you mentioned..."

Mountain Eagle hesitated and replied, "The profit in the initial phase is definitely sufficient, I haven't figured out the solutions for later problems yet..."

Then, looking at Sofia, Mountain Eagle asked, "Sofia, do you know what the best commodity is?"

After thinking for a moment, Sofia replied with a frown, "Forbidden items are always high-profit commodities..."

Facing Sofia's accurate trivial response, Mountain Eagle glanced at Mr. Poincaré standing at the kitchen doorway and said with a smile, "You could ask Mr. Poincaré, he has the answer!"

Mr. Poincaré handed Sofia a handkerchief, smiling, "Money is the best commodity!

US Dollars, British Pounds, Euros…

The Asian region alone has countless businesses and individuals holding massive amounts of cash!

This money is either for tax evasion or outright illegal gains.

Their only thought is to get the money out of their home countries to a place where they can freely spend it.

Not everyone has immense power to use domestic legal loopholes to transfer these illegal funds, hence the business of cash smuggling exists."

Mountain Eagle looked at Sofia's shocked expression and laughed, "Almost all economic activities are regulated by laws, but do you know how to evade legal oversight without any cost?"

Seeing Sofia's curious expression, he continued with a smile, "The best way is to go somewhere where you can tailor the laws!

The British overseas territories like the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Jersey...

Europe's Malta, Luxembourg, Cyprus...

Asia's Singapore...

Latin America's Panama...

Middle East's Bahrain...

Africa's Mauritius...

You transfer the money to these places, or into a place that integrates smoothly into the banking system, then use the local legal means to transfer the funds legally into these offshore accounts."

Sofia frowned and looked at Mountain Eagle, "You're talking about money laundering as your big business?"

Mountain Eagle shook his head, "I haven't decided yet, as this is different from selling cigarettes and alcohol; it involves dealing with many people and issues I prefer not to engage with, and I would face immense competition.

So, without guaranteeing safety, I'd rather wait for the right clients, sometimes it's safer than rashly entering an industry."

As he spoke, Mountain Eagle looked at Sofia, who seemed to understand, and said with a smile, "I'm not in a rush, so you shouldn't be either...

Before you finish the list you have, don't think about other things.

Building a career is like constructing a building, without a solid foundation, no matter how beautiful it looks, it's hollow!"

While Mountain Eagle was speaking, Anna, who had been eavesdropping near the doorway suddenly interjected, "So you have plans for Cyprus, right?"

Mountain Eagle looked disdainfully at the very blood-circulated Anna, "Your boss owes me 5 million US Dollars, and I have to go to Cyprus to settle it...

I don't think I'll receive the cash directly, if it involves a combination of cash and assets, then I definitely need to establish a company there to handle these assets.

Besides, engaging in some trade activities there would be the logical course, right?"

Anna smiled mischievously at Mountain Eagle, "But if you want to launder money, you can't avoid my boss in Cyprus.

Don't forget, he's now a major shareholder in the Cyprus National Bank!

From now on, you'd better be nice to me..."

Mountain Eagle looked at Anna as if she were a fool, waving his hand, "You're too naïve, which is why you always misunderstand our positions.

I can't explain some things clearly to you, just have a couple of drinks, and I'll have someone take you to a hotel to sleep it off. Tomorrow you better leave..."

Anna was stunned for a moment and said unhappily, "I'm not leaving, I'm here to negotiate with Germany Capital and Ansheng Group...

More importantly, I need to ensure Blood Fox doesn't lose his life..."

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