Chapter 179: Buying Horses

The second recruitment target Li Mochen was determined to secure was named Zhang Wei.

This was a Level 13 magical energy hunter nearing forty-seven years of age. Although his potential in the magical energy profession was exhausted, he had many years of experience as a security director and had also served as a captain in the military.

Li Mochen planned to hire him as the deputy security manager of Sunrise Company, responsible for the security of the company's eleven stores and its headquarters.

——Being older was a disadvantage at the grassroots level, but when placed in higher positions, it often became an advantage.

According to the resume provided by the Red Sparrow Club, Zhang Wei's work style was extremely steady, meticulous, and very diligent.

This allowed Zhang Wei to resolve twelve crises that nearly brought his employers to ruin during his career. Unfortunately, his fate seemed unfavorable; all eight of his previous employers had ended up bankrupt or closed down.

Thus, in Atlanta City, although many admired and respected Zhang Wei's personal abilities, due to his reputation for 'bringing bad luck to employers,' various prestigious families and commercial institutions kept their distance.

Li Mochen's recruitment this time went very smoothly; after just over ten minutes of face-to-face discussion, Zhang Wei accepted Li Mochen's offer.

On one hand, Zhang Wei had no choice—he had been unemployed for nearly three months, and if he couldn't find an employer soon, he would have to join a hunting group in the dark world. On the other hand, the salary and position Li Mochen offered were very satisfactory and showed genuine sincerity.

Additionally, the Eastern blood in Li Mochen's veins was a factor; their conversation in Chinese made Zhang Wei feel a sense of closeness. The impending conflict with the Blood Hand Gang was concerning, but the risk for Sunrise Company's security department was actually not great.

In Atlanta City, the Blood Hand Gang absolutely did not dare to launch a large-scale attack. As for small-scale harassment, with the triple oversight of the local police, community insurance companies, and the Teutonic Cross Order, the security forces Sunrise Company recruited were sufficient to handle it.

And Samson Brut standing beside Li Mochen also gave Zhang Wei, a fellow retired officer, a bit more confidence.

However, Zhang Wei had a condition: he needed to bring five of his comrades into Sunrise Company for positions.

Li Mochen was happy to see this. The people he had recruited were a scattered mess, lacking even a basic organizational structure. A manager like Zhang Wei, without a few capable subordinates, would not be able to integrate these magical energy professionals in a short time.

"I've found out the reason through inquiries."

Shortly after Li Mochen finished recruiting Zhang Wei, Karl quietly leaned in and whispered, "Before Samson Brut was imprisoned, he was ordered to lead a cleanup operation against the Dragon Witch Cult. But during the operation, someone above leaked his home address, resulting in the Dragon Witch Cult killing his entire family of four. The problem was that afterward, the higher-ups shifted blame, and no one took responsibility. So Samson killed in anger, murdering the leaker in his office. We can now confirm that he and his comrades have a deep-seated hatred for the Dragon Witch Cult."

Li Mochen thought, so that's how it was, but he still had a doubt: "Killing a superior in a military camp? That's a very serious charge, isn't it?"

"The prosecution didn't use that charge. The official line was that the two had a conflict due to a quarrel, considered excessive self-defense. They exchanged a four-and-a-half-year sentence for Samson Brut's silence. He knew many military scandals. It's said someone paid money—I don't know the exact amount, but given his state of mind at the time, it shouldn't have been less than 4.2 million gold shields."

Li Mochen's lips twitched involuntarily, thinking that this Mr. Brut might be a wealthy man even richer than himself.

At that moment, Samson Brut cast a cold sidelong glance at Karl and Li Mochen, then calmly walked forward, as if he guessed what they were talking about.

A minute later, they entered the Red Sparrow Secondhand Equipment Shop on the second floor of the club, and under the guidance of the shop manager, arrived in front of the weapon warehouse.

As two staff members opened the heavy alloy steel door, rows of weapon racks appeared before their eyes.

On the left were firearms, on the right were armor, and deeper inside were melee weapons and various magical energy equipment such as jewelry and necklaces.

"Sunrise Company's budget is three hundred thousand, eighty thousand, and fifty thousand gold shields for three tiers, while the combat unit is five hundred thousand, one hundred twenty thousand, and seventy thousand gold shields for three tiers. You two are free to choose the specific equipment. Don't worry about saving money within the budget. You are both experienced commanders and should know what your subordinates will want."

Li Mochen had considerable respect for these two. Although he had completed the initial round of recruitment himself, he planned to fully delegate the subsequent equipment and final personnel composition to them.

"Even the lowest tier is fifty thousand? I have to say, Boss, you're really generous."

Zhang Wei unceremoniously walked in with Samson Brut: "I really hope you can keep this up, Boss. We might not find another boss like you."

In the end, Zhang Wei chose thirty semi-automatic magical energy rifles, seventy magical energy pistols, one hundred suits of armor, and one hundred magical energy wristbands that could increase strength and reaction speed.

Li Mochen noticed that these firearms were as good as possible, taking up a large portion of the budget. The armor, while ensuring defensive capability, was as cheap as possible. For example, the 'Miles' magical energy armor for Level 10 magical energy swordsmen had good defense, able to withstand automatic rifle fire from a hundred meters, but was very heavy, so it was very cheap, less than seven thousand gold shields.

Zhang Wei's reasoning was that as defenders, they would spend most of their time inside strongholds, relying on magical arrays to hold their ground, so mobility requirements were low.

Only the outlaw combat group he led and three other squads truly needed mobility, requiring some extra budget for equipment matching.

But in the city, a motorcycle was far more useful than their feet, even during a city-wide traffic jam, maintaining strong mobility.

Moreover, magical energy professionals with American citizenship generally weren't short of money; if they were dissatisfied, they could buy better armor themselves.

So Zhang Wei saved the money that would have been spent on armor and bought one hundred more practical magical energy wristbands, confident his subordinates would like them.

As for Samson Brut, his choice of equipment was very balanced, with both offense and defense, and emphasized mobility and practicality. However, overall, the total price of several pieces of equipment exceeded the budget by about 10%, showing no intention of saving Li Mochen's money.

What surprised Li Mochen was that although Samson Brut had chosen equipment for his subordinates, he did not choose any for himself or his comrades.

When Li Mochen looked at him with confusion, Samson responded calmly: "Neither I nor they need them, so this part of the funds can be saved, and I haven't exceeded the budget."