218: That's necessary.

September 4, 2025, Karachi, Pakistan.

The sun was blazing, and the air was thick with the saltiness of the sea and the hustle and bustle of the city.

Lu Fan sat in a private room of an executive lounge in a high-end hotel.

Although there was blue sea and sky outside the window, his gaze did not linger on the exotic scenery.

The tablet in front of him was playing a replay of the September 3rd military parade.

Uniform marching formations, powerful strides, and the resolute eyes of the soldiers.

When the scene switched to the equipment formation, Lu Fan's heart rate involuntarily quickened.

99A main battle tanks, Hongqi anti-aircraft missiles, drone swarms... especially the grand finale of the Julang submarine-launched missiles and the Dongfeng Express,

the appearance of the 61 and 5C intercontinental ballistic missiles, accompanied by the narrator's voice full of pride and power.

"Striking range covers the globe, full-time alert, effective deterrence, stopping war with force, and stabilizing the world."

This short sentence condensed historical tragedy and modern glory.

For Lu Fan, who had personally experienced the 1937 battlefield—a place of backwardness and a literal meat grinder—his emotions surged, and he found it hard to contain himself.

He couldn't even help but hit replay.

"Oh, Big Boss Lu, so patriotic? Watching it for the second time already?" a smiling female voice came.

Lu Fan looked up to see Wu Xue dressed in a sharp business suit skirt, standing by the table with a smile after swiping her card to enter.

"The great beauty Wu is here, please sit."

Lu Fan put down the tablet and greeted her with a smile, "Just feeling the power of the motherland! It gets the blood pumping."

Wu Xue sat down, poured a cup of coffee, and watched a segment of the tank formation passing by with Lu Fan.

She teased, "So, Boss Lu, which one caught your eye this time? The 99A? Or do you want to take a whole formation back just for show?"

Lu Fan laughed and joked along, "How about... according to the parade list, give me a whole set?"

Wu Xue was amused and rolled her eyes at him, "In your dreams! Those are Mother's most precious treasures, how could they be sold so easily?

Tell me, what do you want this time? Same old rules, bulk supply?"

The joking ended, and they got down to business.

Lu Fan's expression became more serious, "Seriously, time is tight and the task is heavy this time. I only want in-stock items. As for what to buy..."

He spread his hands and smiled helplessly, "Mother has too many good things and hides them too well; I don't even know what's available for purchase.

How about you just give me a list of items available for immediate pickup?"

"I like straightforward customers like you!" Wu Xue didn't waste words and tapped on her tablet a few times.

In the blink of an eye, an encrypted data package was sent to Lu Fan's dedicated tablet.

"Here, this is the list of in-stock items that can be quickly dispatched from the Karachi warehouse and nearby ports. Prices and parameters are all there."

Lu Fan opened the list, his eyes lighting up momentarily before he frowned slightly.

There were indeed many good things on the list, even the J-10C fighter jet.

The items were good, and the prices were equally 'beautiful'.

Based on his current net worth, he couldn't even afford two of them.

There were also various advanced air defense systems, Rocket Artillerys, radar vehicles... making his heart skip a beat.

But thinking about his account balance, he had to stay calm.

"Tsk, there really are a lot of good things." Lu Fan smacked his lips, suppressed his momentary impulse, and focused on cost-effectiveness and practicality.

He browsed quickly, soon selected a batch of equipment, and handed the list to Wu Xue:

50 type 80 main battle tanks, with ten times the basic ammunition load.

20 Type 63-1 130mm wheeled self-propelled Rocket Launchers.

20 Type 63 armored personnel carriers.

Thanks to his space doubling in size, Lu Fan's current space had reached 480 cubic meters.

So this purchase was handled with ease.

The only regret was that there were no anti-aircraft weapons on the list.

Otherwise, he would have grabbed a few sets to let the little Japs' planes taste the flavor of 'sky monkeys'.

The infantry weapons were the same as before.

10,000 type 85 submachine guns,

5,000 QJY-201 general-purpose machine guns,

500 JS 7.62mm sniper rifles,

and 80 million rounds of corresponding ammunition.

Heavy firepower: 1,000 Type 69 40mm RPGs and 8,000 rockets.

Protection: 5,000 sets of top-tier Level III bulletproof vests.

Although these equipments weren't the most cutting-edge, they were rugged, durable, had fierce firepower, and relatively simple logistics.

The infantry weapons had even been tested on the battlefields of the Shanghai area and were currently the most cost-effective weapons.

Wu Xue took a look and was slightly surprised by the quantity and scale of this purchase.

But her professionalism kept her from asking more, and she just did a quick calculation: "No problem, they're all in stock.

I'll give you a bundle discount on the total price. Same old rules?"

"Yeah, same old rules." Lu Fan nodded, lifted an unremarkable suitcase from beside his feet, and opened it on the table.

Inside were neatly stacked gold bars, shining brightly and dazzling the eyes.

"This is the deposit. I want to pick up the goods as quickly as possible."

Wu Xue just glanced at it and closed the case, "Straightforward! See you at the old place in one day."

With business concluded, the atmosphere relaxed.

The two chatted about the equipment from the military parade.

From tanks to missiles, and from missiles to planes.

Just as they were talking about the latest fighter jets, a system prompt sounded in Lu Fan's mind:

[Side Mission Triggered: Rising Career, make a breakthrough in your official career in the short term.]

Lu Fan was slightly stunned, but then he thought about it and felt relieved.

He possessed the red-top merchant system; it made sense for it to want him to make some noise in his official career.

That being said, he had taken time out of his busy schedule to come back and make purchases using the Cooling Gem.

Seeing that the little Japs were about to launch an occupation of the Shanghai over there, he didn't have any extra time to complete the mission.

But then he suddenly remembered the Aerospace Fighter Design Blueprints rewarded by the system, and his heart stirred.

"Beauty Wu, I'm not sure if I can ask you something." He looked at Wu Xue with a smile on his face.

"Ask away!" Lu Fan elegantly picked up his coffee.

Lu Fan said half-jokingly, "Do you think it's possible for me to get a title in your company? Like a technical consultant or something?"

Wu Xue was drinking coffee and almost choked upon hearing this. She laughed, "You? A technical consultant? What are you thinking?

Unless one day you can design planes and cannons more advanced than those in our parade. Otherwise, no way!"

The speaker was casual, but the listener was attentive.

Here was the opportunity; he didn't believe that the design blueprints rewarded by the system couldn't even get him a minor official post.

Lu Fan's eyes narrowed slightly, and the joking expression on his face completely vanished.

He leaned forward slightly, his tone becoming serious, "General Manager Wu, if... I mean if.

I really have something special in my hands, like... some advanced design blueprints or something.

Would it be possible for you to help introduce me?"

The smile on Wu Xue's face slowly froze, and for a moment, the atmosphere in the private room became extremely quiet.

She looked closely at Lu Fan's expression, trying to judge whether he was still joking or being serious.

The more she looked, the stronger the feeling that he was hiding something significant became.

Finally, she confirmed that the person in front of her must have obtained something extraordinary through secret channels.

Thinking of this, Wu Xue immediately entered work mode and replied solemnly, "Absolutely!"