After hearing Celia and others call Simon "boss," Krim Derevyanko also adopted this term without realizing it.
Simon took the file, flipping through it as he joked, "No problem, Krim. A general who doesn't want to be a soldier isn't a good general. I'll have Viktor take over your position, and you can lead the team."
Viktor Kostalev was another senior executive at UFMS, holding the title of vice president. He also participated in the Rwanda war in April and was currently responsible for the daily training of UFMS soldiers.
Krim laughed and quickly declined, "No, I think I'll pass. Better not be too ambitious."
After a few jokes, Krim stopped teasing and patiently waited for Simon to review the list of names.
Simon had no intention of letting the recent incident slide.
Earlier in the year, Simon used certain events to warn the traditional American powers and the political and business elite. This time, he intended to deter the world's underground forces.
In addition to the Westeros family's intelligence team already operating in Italy, the team listed in the document would serve as an execution force.
Compared to the $500 monthly salary during their stationing in Rwanda, Simon offered a reward of $30,000 per person for this mission, with death compensation increased to $150,000. Moreover, as a special operation not recorded in UFMS business, the rewards for this mission would not be taxed or deducted, with all income going directly to the participants.
Many movies portray professional killers earning millions of dollars, but that is mostly nonsense.
Professional killers do exist, and in large numbers.
However, in reality, human life is not as valuable as ordinary people imagine. In chaotic regions like Latin America or Africa, a few hundred dollars can hire a professional killer, and even in developed Western countries, the price rarely exceeds $100,000.
As for high-profile assassinations of celebrities or billionaires, which could have significant repercussions, they are rarely carried out by outsiders and almost never as lone-wolf actions.
Like the operations earlier this year.
They were entirely orchestrated by the Westeros family's intelligence team.
At that time, due to the lack of reliable executors, Simon had to secretly hire a team from Latin America and then eliminate them to prevent any loose ends from compromising the operation in the future.
This time was different.
After the Rwanda war and the recent months of integration with the Westeros system, the UFMS soldiers could be considered part of the core Westeros forces.
With deep interests involved, even if captured, the chances of these individuals betraying the organization were significantly reduced.
Moreover, inspired by the operations earlier this year, Simon planned a "split execution" strategy to ensure that very few people knew the entire scope of the operation. For example, the UFMS execution team would only be informed of a mission commissioned by a mysterious client in Italy, with their rewards paid entirely in untraceable cash.
Additionally, the Westeros family's intelligence team, now over 300 people strong in Italy, was divided into distinct roles, with no one overseeing the entire operation.
Even if some were to betray, they would only know part of the plan and could not directly implicate Simon.
Thus, even though everyone knew that Simon Westeros was the mastermind, without a complete chain of evidence, nothing could be proved.
Many Western mafia bosses can openly live freely because of this strategy.
Their subordinates do the dirty work, while the bosses remain "civilized" people.
After reviewing the file, Simon was very satisfied with the team of 18 battle-hardened soldiers. The psychological evaluations indicated that these 'cold-blooded killers' were fully capable of executing the upcoming missions.
Without explaining much to Derevyanko, Simon gave a simple instruction that someone would contact him later and then moved on to discuss other UFMS matters.
Leaving the UFMS base at around 6 PM, Simon and his team returned to Rivne, the capital of Rivne Oblast, 60 kilometers away.
They would stay there for the night.
Rivne Oblast was already economically backward, and after the national economic collapse, Rivne city appeared very dilapidated. By the time they returned to the city, it was already dark. Due to inadequate power supply, many districts were dimly lit. The wide roads built during the Soviet era were sparsely trafficked, and only a few key intersections had working streetlights.
Sergei Komorov had prepared a dinner for Simon at his private residence in downtown Rivne.
The governor of Rivne Oblast, Yuri Miloslav, and several other high-ranking provincial officials attended.
Since the decision was made to establish Rivne Oblast as the Westeros system's base in Ukraine, the first task was to secure the support of the local authorities. Simon was not naive enough to believe that his status as a super-rich man would guarantee everyone's favor. The key was always interests.
Although Ukraine had initiated an election system by then, it was limited to the president and parliament members. Provincial leaders were still appointed by Kyiv, providing the Westeros system with ample room to operate.
The Westeros system had already reached an understanding with Yuri Miloslav: they would support him in retaining his governorship in the upcoming high-level reshuffle, and in return, Miloslav would fully support the Westeros system.
Of course, there were other intertwined interests.
Yuri Miloslav, 59, had three sons and two daughters.
The Westeros system had agreed to help Miloslav's eldest son secure a position within the Kyiv administration. Although not a high rank, it offered significant room for advancement and a potential return to Rivne to succeed his father as governor.
Additionally, the Westeros system funded Miloslav's second son to establish an international trading company. In resource-poor Ukraine, such a company, with the right connections, could be highly profitable.
This suggestion came from Simon, as he recalled the popularity of similar trading companies in China around the time of its economic reforms.
Furthermore, Miloslav's youngest son, 17, and daughter, 16, had recently been sent to study in the UK. Even Miloslav's eldest married daughter was given a well-paid, nominal position in Komorov's company.
The entire Miloslav family was well taken care of.
This also ensured their complete alignment of interests.
In addition to the governor, the Derevyanko family had significant influence over the military and police systems in Rivne Oblast. In the coming years, they would aim for complete control, with the Westeros system also planning to support their representatives in vying for seats in the provincial and national parliaments.
In Simon's memory, Ukrainian oligarchs wielded power comparable to warlords.
For example, Ukraine's richest man, Rinat Akhmetov, essentially treated Donetsk Oblast as his private domain. He not only had private armed forces but also controlled the local police and military, and had over 50 parliamentary seats in the Ukrainian national parliament. These parliamentarians included his bodyguards, drivers, dentists, and family lawyers.
In 2014, Akhmetov even orchestrated the 'independence referendum' in eastern Ukraine, establishing the Donetsk Republic and launching a civil war with Russian support.
Simon's operations in Ukraine had similar goals.
He did not intend to encourage his representatives to establish fiefdoms, but he would not allow Ukraine's future political instability to affect the interests of the Westeros system.
To achieve this, Rivne Oblast was just the beginning. Several northwestern Ukrainian provinces were in Simon's sights.
Of course, this was not something that could be accomplished overnight.
However, compared to the newly empowered 'Dnipropetrovsk Clan' and other forces, Simon's plans were already far ahead.
While Rivne Oblast was one of the poorest and most remote regions in Ukraine, becoming governor was no easy task.
Securing the Kyiv authorities' approval involved various interests.
The Westeros system's support for Kuchma before and after the presidential election was one factor. Continued economic support for the not-so-stable 'Dnipropetrovsk Clan' was another.
Finally, the most direct benefit: arms trade.
After the Rwanda war, the Westeros system successfully established a foothold in Africa and had recently established connections with several southern African countries, making Rwanda a long-term base for the Westeros system.
Through an international trading company set up by the Westeros system, Ukrainian weapons would be continuously sent to Africa.
The Ukrainian end of this trade route was controlled by President Leon Kuchma, from the renowned 'Southern Machine Factory' military-industrial system, and currently managed by his son-in-law, Viktor Pinchuk, who was also a Ukrainian oligarch in Simon's memory.
Preliminary estimates suggested that this arms trade alone could bring Ukraine $200-300 million in annual foreign exchange income, more than half of which would go directly to the Kuchma family.
A $200-300 million arms trade might be insignificant to Western military giants and could draw public criticism for sending weapons to Africa. But Ukraine had no such concerns. This collapsing country saw arms exports as its only viable foreign trade business.
Why did Ukraine need to use the Westeros system's trading company as an intermediary for arms exports to African countries instead of doing it themselves?
The reason was simple.
Africa was too poor to afford sufficient cash or foreign exchange for weapon purchases, only able to trade resources. Ukraine lacked the capacity to monetize these resources, which the Westeros system needed.
Thus, African countries got weapons, the Westeros system acquired mines, and Ukraine earned dollars.
Everyone was happy.
Rwanda, as the Westeros system's transit point in Africa, also benefited from these trades through taxes and other interests.
After easily seizing power with the Westeros mercenaries' help, the Tutsi government had initially considered expelling the Westeros mercenaries. It's never comfortable having a tiger at your bedside. The EO company from South Africa
often faced expulsion after helping African governments win wars for this reason.
However, due to intertwined interests and the Westeros system's other support, the Rwandan government had abandoned such thoughts.
The Westeros system had even promised to help resource-poor Rwanda become the 'Singapore of Africa,' a vision that was warmly received.
After the dinner, Simon drove to an estate in southern Rivne.
Not in the suburbs, but still near the city center.
Former Soviet countries lacked the suburban wealthy district layout of the West.
The estate, about two hectares in size, was located by an artificial lake in southern Rivne. The main villa was a rare castle-style building in the city, with three floors covering over 1,500 square meters. It was grand, surrounded by tall trees, with only the castle's spire visible from the outside.
The estate was once a retirement home for a retired Soviet general.
During the Soviet era, it was common for high-ranking officials to build vacation villas everywhere. Gorbachev, intent on reform, even used 2,000 soldiers over three years to build a mountain villa for himself, funded by the national defense budget.
Naturally, this trend spread downward, though the general public knew little about it.
The Soviet Union had collapsed, and the general was gone.
Many had coveted the estate, but too many interested parties led to years of impasse, with the property remaining state-owned. Until Simon decided to establish a foothold in Rivne and needed a base in the city, the estate was finally privatized at a very low price, less than $300,000.
Of course, this amount was trivial for Simon but unaffordable for Rivne locals.
This was also why the estate had not changed hands.
Many wanted it for free, so naturally, no one agreed.
It was already 11 PM, but the villa was brightly lit, unlike the rest of the dim city.
Rivne had no airport.
Simon had set off from Kyiv early in the morning, heading straight to the UFMS base in northern Rivne, making this his first visit here.
Everything was arranged by Celia.
Entering the villa, Simon first saw six young girls standing respectfully in the hall. Calling them girls was accurate, as they appeared no older than 16.
The girls had typical Slavic features, around 1.7 meters tall, with light blonde hair, pale green eyes, delicate faces, and the distinctive Slavic cherry lips.
In Ukraine, unlike the West, many girls married at 14, and 16 was already considered adulthood.
Emily Joplin, Celia's assistant who had arrived earlier, signaled the girls to greet Simon before taking his coat and giving Celia a nod. She then turned to Simon and asked softly, "Mr. Westeros, would you like to rest now?"
Simon, admiring the six beautiful vases, shook his head, "Brew a pot of coffee first. Also, is there a smaller living room here?"
Emily replied, "There are rooms both upstairs and downstairs."
Simon said, "Let's go upstairs."
He started walking towards the stairs, with Emily leading the way and Celia following on the other side.
The girls, standing in a row, remained where they were without instructions, understanding the importance of their roles.
Selected from over a thousand candidates, they knew how precious their positions were.
Since being chosen, they had lived in this villa, beginning a completely different life.
While materially satisfied, the girls underwent rigorous training in behavior and speech, with all contact with their families deliberately cut off.
Nearly like a buyout.
Their families had no objections.
Because securing these positions also meant their families were well taken care of.
In such a turbulent era, exchanging a girl for a family's well-being was seen as a worthy trade. Some capable family members were even placed in government positions, making it entirely worthwhile.
Arriving at a small upstairs living room, Simon sat on the sofa while Emily asked a few more questions before leaving.
Once Emily was gone, Celia, sitting in a single chair nearby, opened a document box she had brought, glanced at Simon's expression, and smiled teasingly, "Komorov and his people arranged this. Knowing you like young girls, they selected them carefully. I even used the selection standards from Dume Point. So, if you're satisfied, you can sample them tonight."
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