161: negotiation

"Hey, you know, that's actually a good idea!" Nangong Yan's eyes lit up.

Li Xiao struck while the iron was hot: "When the time comes, we provide the technology, and you provide the factories and raw materials. We'll sell a watered-down version to the Black Hawk Empire, split the profits 50/50, and how about you sell the normal version to me at cost price?"

"Well, about that..." When it came to profits, Nangong Yan started to waver.

"There's no 'this or that' about it. Once Nangong Technology announces to the world that you've mastered ink crystal technology, you'll instantly become the hottest commodity in global military procurement. You won't even need to chase the market; plenty of buyers will catch the scent of ink crystal and come begging you to sell them some on the side."

After Li Xiao's smooth talking, Nangong Yan was clearly tempted.

"This is indeed a promising venture, but the risks are a bit high. One wrong move and everything could be lost."

"Risk, put simply, is just a matter of interests. The fact that the Black Hawk Empire has been able to invade the entire globe proves that their leadership has brains; they wouldn't fail to understand this logic."

After agonizing over it for a while, Li Xiao finally heard Nangong Yan speak: "Fine. I will negotiate with the Black Hawk Empire as soon as possible. If this really works out, it might just be the opportunity for the Nangong Group to take off!"

Before leaving Nangong Technology, Li Xiao traded all 200 million durability points from the post-war period with Nangong Yan.

He increased the durability limit for a total of 400 infantry fighting vehicles and 400 main battle tanks, earning 110 million Star Coins.

Considering that the units currently around him that might attack were primarily using military off-road vehicles—let alone infantry fighting vehicles, they probably didn't even have many Armored Personnel Carriers—he used all these Star Coins to purchase Ranger infantry fighting vehicles.

Although the Ranger infantry fighting vehicles were not equipped with anti-tank missiles, their 30mm automatic cannons and smoke screen devices could effectively help the troops quickly destroy enemy light armored vehicles.

He spent 100 million Star Coins to purchase 300 Rangers at once, along with 20 basic loads of ammunition per unit. These combat vehicles would be shipped to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Regiments successively within a week.

As for the 4th and 5th Regiments, since they were newly formed, Li Xiao did not trust them yet; it would be a significant headache if they were to turn against him.

Of course, to show some consolation, Li Xiao had Tang Wu and the three regiments share a dozen or so Armored Personnel Carriers with the 4th and 5th Regiments.

After returning to Xi City, Li Xiao went to see Wang Si that very night to upgrade the health points of the thousands of soldiers who had been waiting for a long time.

By the time he returned to the base, he had 25 million Star Coins remaining in his inventory.

"Sigh, the bigger the operation, the more expensive it gets."

In order to boost the overall combat power of his army, Li Xiao had to invest massive amounts of funds into equipment. Hundreds of millions of Star Coins might be an amount many players couldn't earn in a lifetime, yet he spent it without batting an eye.

Arriving at the Mo Jing Laboratory, Li Xiao went to find Mavis first.

The matter discussed with Nangong Yan was a decision Li Xiao had made on his own, and he hadn't spoken to Mavis about it.

Therefore, he had to reach an agreement with Mavis and come up with a castrated version of the ink crystal product to provide to the Black Hawk Empire.

Entering the Mo Jing Laboratory, a blade ifv was undergoing ink crystal system modification, a process that would take six hours.

Mavis was holding a handheld computer, controlling mechanical arms to install a modified twin-linked autocannon. Seeing Li Xiao enter, he said without turning his head: "Mr. Li Xiao, what brings you here today?"

"Naturally, I have something to discuss with you."

Walking over to a chair and sitting down, Li Xiao said: "Dr. Ma, our ink crystal raw materials are about to run out. I have found a channel to obtain ink crystals, but it requires your approval."

"You have a channel to get ink crystals? That's quite a surprise. What kind of method is it?"

"It's like this: I have a strategic partnership with Nangong Technology. I want to outsource the production of ink crystal weapons and ammunition to them. Once they have an ink crystal weapons and ammunition production line, they can announce that they have successfully mastered ink crystal technology. By doing so, they can negotiate with the Black Hawk Empire and obtain the right to purchase ink crystals."

"Ah! In that case, wouldn't the Black Hawk Empire indirectly be able to get ink crystal weapons and ammunition from Nangong Technology?!"

Dr. Ma became nervous; how did things circle back to the Black Hawk Empire after all this?

"Yes, if Nangong doesn't exchange ink crystal weapons and equipment with the Black Hawk Empire, the Black Hawk Empire certainly won't agree to it."

Li Xiao turned to look at the smart mechanical arms and said: "But we can tamper with the weapons and ammunition, for example, by reducing their power by half, lowering production volume, and so on."

Mavis caught on immediately and hurriedly said: "You mean I should prepare two production plans—a watered-down one for the Black Hawk Empire, and we use the normal one?"

"Yes. Furthermore, in terms of weapon diversity, we should try to ensure the Black Hawk Empire only has access to relatively singular ink crystal weapons. This way, even if the Black Hawk Empire obtains ink crystal weapons, their power will be far inferior to ours, and we will be able to obtain a steady stream of ink crystal raw materials."

"Not bad. This approach could be called the optimal solution. However, I'm afraid Nangong won't be able to withstand the pressure and might end up exposing you instead."

Mavis said, not without concern.

Li Xiao smiled faintly: "We have already prepared a few trump cards, just in case!"

"Alright then, I will come up with a plan as soon as possible. If Nangong Technology really does the production, with their factories, production volume will increase significantly."

Mavis was easier to talk to than Li Xiao had imagined. He had thought Mavis would worry about his technology being leaked, but now it seemed he had full confidence in his technological superiority.

Over the next week, the 400 Rangers arrived one after another. When he and Tang Wu took 200 Ranger infantry fighting vehicles for a few laps around the outskirts of Weixing City, the players who had been clamoring in various channels about destroying the Xiao Yao Army suddenly quieted down.

Perhaps stimulated by them, news kept coming in over the past few days of people in various countries and regions capturing second-tier cities. These teams also successively formed armies, and the global situation gradually showed a trend of shifting from scattered teams to armies.

The Xiao Yao Army was not idle either. Xuan Yu continuously negotiated with teams in the small third-tier cities around Weixing City, successfully bringing in over 20,000 players from six cities into the army.

These teams were all several thousand people strong, but because the Xiao Yao Army was nearby, they basically had no room for development.

Therefore, they had no choice but to give up their ambitions of hegemony and join up, at least to enjoy the attack bonuses brought by the title and the protection of the army sooner.

As for some of the more distant cities, they probably felt that the Xiao Yao Army didn't have the energy to waste on them for the time being, so one by one, they didn't buy it.

There were even teams from over a dozen cities in the southern region gathering together, planning to play hardball with the Xiao Yao Army.

Capturing Weixing City had granted the army the ability to produce infantry fighting vehicles, which made Li Xiao start to imagine: what kind of equipment would the military factories in first-tier cities provide? Would it be main battle tanks or armed helicopters?