Chapter 521: American Soldier
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After clearing up unit 10, Li Du brought Big Quinn and Godzilla over to clear the unit filled with Counter-Strike cosplay equipment.
After opening the entrance of the unit, a grinning Hans put on a camouflage uniform, a helmet, and picked up a gun. "Buddies, call me Captain Fox, okay?"
Li Du took a gun and pulled the trigger, but there was no reaction. These props were powered by electricity, and there was no more energy left in them.
Big Quinn opened a wooden chest and a brand-new set of equipment appeared before him.
When he saw the equipment, he stared at it wide-eyed and gasped, "Are these really props? Such sophisticated props?"
Godzilla opened another wooden chest and took a rifle out of it. He frowned and said, "M16A4—this is not a prop."
Hans was shocked at the weapons they found. He wanted to shout as he normally did, but Li Du acted fast and stuffed a cookie into his mouth. "Tone it down."
There was various equipment: assault rifles, bulletproof vests, multi-functional knives, gas masks, night vision devices, first-aid kits, grenade launchers, as well as some sets of protection and survival supplies.
Hans stared at the equipment with both hands on his head and murmured, "D*mn—this is not a storage unit. This is an armory! We've entered an armory!"
"Obviously this is the case," said Li Du. "Is this a violation of the law?"
He was impressed by American collectors. There were shotgun collectors, pistol collectors and machine gun collectors; such collectors were commonly seen.
After being in the industry for less than a year, he'd found a heavy machine gun from World War II, the trench mortar from World War I, and most recently, the giant custom-made shotgun. He had now found a complete set of US military equipment, and it could even be the standard equipment made for the military forces.
He thought that maybe one day he could become a firearms dealer.
Having calmed down from the excitement, Hans now wore a cautious expression. "We have to register and check the condition of all the equipment."
"What for?"
"Well, if they've fallen into civilian hands via the proper channels, they will become our property. But if they were stolen from the military, they'll have to be returned to the military."
As he spoke, Hans removed his top and put on a bulletproof vest, a helmet, the night vision goggles hanging around his neck, and picked up a rifle.
After changing into the military gear and putting on a pair of shades, Hans immediately transformed into an American soldier.
Li Du took a few pictures of him. Hans looked good in the soldier uniform, just like one of the tough-looking soldiers from Hollywood movies.
There were a total of eight chests. Each chest was a set of complete equipment for a Marine.
Hans was overjoyed. He had Godzilla guard the entrance to prevent anyone from seeing what was inside. He also personally checked the items inside the eight chests.
"Marine Corps Lightweight Helmet, Flame Resistant Organizational Gear balaclava, FROG combat suit, Combat Desert Jacket, OKC-3S bayonet, Improved Load Bearing Equipment rucksack...
"Sh*t, there's also the AN/PRC-152 Multiband Handheld Radio! We're rich, buddy!"
Hans could not help but cry for joy as he went through the equipment.
"This is military combat equipment for the Marine Corps, right?" Li Du asked. "You're completely sure? It's all very valuable?"
"Yes, I'm sure about it," replied an exuberant Hans. "It's worth a lot. A complete set like this is worth 80,000 dollars. There are eight complete sets here, which mean the total value is more than 600,000 dollars!"
"So much money?!" Li Du exclaimed.
"Of course," Hans said with a nod. "Look at this, the Marine's Lightweight Helmet. This thing alone is worth 1,500 dollars!"
Li Du took the helmet and examined it. It felt light—not at all like it was made of metal. "What's special about this helmet? One thousand five hundred dollars for a helmet—American soldiers are rich."
"Of course," Hans said. This is the replacement of the Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops helmet. This is now one of the most advanced protective helmets out there. And these night vision goggles cost more than 200 dollars. This FROG balaclava and combat suit cost more than 500 dollars combined.
"This is the most valuable item: a complete set of Modular Tactical Vests costs more than 5,000 dollars. This is the Enhanced Small Arms Protective Insert. A big one costs 700 dollars while the smaller one costs 500 dollars. And this M16A4 automatic rifle and TA31 riflescope—all these are treasures!"
"Even so, it doesn't add up to 80,000 dollars," a skeptical Li Du said. "Spending 80,000 dollars to fully equip a soldier sounds a bit exaggerated, right?"
Hans patted the handheld radio beside him and said, "You're right. If it's only the weapons and the protective equipment, it's not that expensive. But, we still have this handheld radio. Buddy, this is expensive. One radio like this costs 50,000 dollars!"
Big Quinn was examining a gun and concurred, "Boss, Big Fox's right. Furthermore, this handheld radio is not for every Marine. It's only given to the elite unit of the Marines."
"Yes," Hans said excitedly, "that's right!"
With the real weapons and military equipment being uncovered, the cosplay props were still useful as well. These props were definitely a good cover so that they could take away all this equipment smoothly.
Li Du was puzzled. Since Tucson was evidently an aviation city and there was an air base there, it was strange that they had found Marine equipment.
Hans was unable to make any conjecture either. "I will go to the police and contact the military to check the NSN code in the weapons. After that we'll know how to deal with all this."
All the weapons and equipment came with a numeric code—the NSN code, or the "National Stock Number." In order to "standardize material items of supply," NATO countries had developed a NATO codification system to address and unify the material codes used across different countries and greatly increase the efficiency of replenishing supplies.
The NSN codes were also equivalent to the identification number of the weapons and equipment. One would simply input the code and the relevant information was retrieved: where the item was produced all the way to the current status of the item was recorded in the system.
Hans took charge of all these matters as Li Du did not know about this stuff.
However, Li Du was somehow certain that they would be unable to keep the weapons. Although the United States allowed civilians to own guns and allowed a private collection of certain heavy weapons, the laws did not allow civilian possession of military-grade weapons.
Even the police were not allowed to take possession of that.
But Hans was rather positive about it, saying that this was not a problem as there were plenty of collectors who had a lot of military weapons in their collection. There were even some people who collected tanks and artillery.
Li Du then searched the internet and found heavy weapons listed for sale online. He saw a collector showing off his latest collection of a tank; it was not an old tank from World War I or World War II but a Soviet tank captured by the US forces during the Iraq war!
Hans came along with Li Du to the police station. His responsibility was to make a report of the weapons and the equipment they'd found. The police immediately contacted the military and they began their investigation into the history of the weapons and equipment.