Arlan noticed Dickoy's sincerity, but it was still too early to trust the man.
"Mr. Roa, I've already called my friend. He said that he will wait for you at Tim Hortons coffee shop in Dela Rosa Makati."
"He wants to see me in such a populated street? Mr. Tuazon, it seems like your friend is quite bold. He even dares to smuggle restricted firearms in that kind of place." Arlan muttered jokingly. He couldn't help but recall a certain person as he said this.
Dickoy also chuckled in amusement. He was also surprised by the address sent by his friend. "Mr. Roa, he is quite a peculiar person, but you can rest assured. He is a very trustworthy man. This is his contact number."
"Alright. I make a move first. Please tell him that I'll be on my way there." Arlan muttered as he waved his hand at Dickoy. It was a few hours of travel for them to reach the location and they might even need more time because of the heavy traffic problem in Manila.
"I'll see you off, Mr. Roa." Dickoy sent him off at the entrance of the company.
Arlan stationed Karl and ten of his subordinates in the factory. He also gave them some weapons and equipment which he recently got from Ben Hidalgo. He then left the company with the rest of his men.
With Karl and the rest protecting the researchers, he felt more at ease.
"Boss, where are we headed next?" Asked Cedrick who was driving the Mazda CX-90 in place of Karl.
"Tim Hortons Dela Rosa." Arlan replied.
"Alright." Cedrick stepped on the gas. The others followed behind the Mazda CX-90.
The pedestrians were stunned when they saw the convoy of cars following the Mazda CX-90. Although those cars looked shabby, it still gave them quite the shock.
When they were about to arrive in the coffee shop, Arlan dialed the number given by Dickoy.
When the call went through, a stern voice answered him. "Hello, who is this?"
"I am the person referred by Mr. Tuazon. We are about to arrive at the coffee shop." Arlan muttered calmly.
"Oh? I have already arranged everything. You just need to take these items from me. They are packaged neatly so you don't have to be worried about the public's scrutiny." The person replied.
"Alright. I'll be there soon." Arlan disconnected the call. For some reason, he felt that the voice was very familiar.
Soon, they arrived at the agreed location. When he alighted the vehicle, he immediately went inside the coffee shop with Khalon. He looked around the shop and saw an acquaintance. "Mr. Hidalgo?" He called out in surprise. It was actually Ben Hidalgo!
"Mr. Roa? Don't tell me the client referred by Dickoy is you?" Ben had a constipated look as he stared at Arlan. He was already planning to extort a huge sum of money from this new client, but all his plans went down the drain when he realized that it was Arlan. Heck! He didn't want to antagonize this person.
"Haha! What a coincidence! I never thought that it was actually you, but this makes things a lot easier for the both of us. We are friends so don't hesitate to quote me a price." Arlan grinned at Ben.
"I wouldn't dare cheat you, Mr. Roa. How about 30,000,000 pesos for everything? I've already added a discount on account of our friendship." Ben forced out a smile.
"Give me your bank details, I'll send the money to you." Arlan knew the prices of the equipment and Ben was indeed losing out on this deal.
Ben gave him his bank information while sighing deeply in his heart. He noticed his phone vibrating and when he saw the notification from his bank, he was stunned. "Mr. Roa, I think you sent the wrong amount of money." He showed Arlan the recent transfer history which displayed that 40,000,000 pesos was transferred into his account.
"Nope. That's the right amount. It's a pleasure to do business with you, Mr. Hidalgo." Arlan smiled at the stunned Ben and extended his hand.
Ben laughed heartily and grabbed his hand. "The pleasure is mine, Mr. Roa! Please take care of me in the future! Hahaha!" He earned a lot this time and his friendship with Arlan was also cemented. Although neither of them spoke about it, they already knew it in their hearts.
Ben eagerly told his men to help Arlan's people in carrying the boxes. After everything was done, both parties parted satisfied.
Arlan and the others went back to the territory.
Arlan felt a bit nervous when he heard the barking of the German Shepherds at the entrance.
"Mr. Roa, can you tell us what's inside those boxes?" Marco asked him politely. Their dogs were acting aggressively and they only act like this when they smell something dangerous.
"It's for my men. I think you already know what they are, Marco." Arlan replied.
Marco hesitated to let them enter, but when he recalled Arlan's identity, he told his buddies to open the gates for them. "I'm sorry, Mr. Roa. I've overstepped my bounds."
Arlan shook his head and muttered. "I owe you guys one. Don't worry. I'll inform Fredrinn about this."
Marco nodded his head.
Arlan heaved a sigh of relief. Luckily, Marco's group didn't make things difficult for them.
When they returned to the villa, Arlan distributed the weapons and equipment to everyone.
It was already late in the evening after the distribution was done so he ate dinner with them before sending them off.
"I should check on Winter first." Arlan headed to the study and found Winter working on the laptop.
Winter raised her head and looked at him. "What is it?"
"I want you to investigate these people for me." Arlan handed the list of researchers to her. He already have their basic information which he got from Fabian, but it wasn't enough to know them thoroughly.
Winter nodded her head. "Leave it there. I'll give the information to you tomorrow." She muttered emotionlessly.
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