Chapter 107 Liu Jianguo's Relentless Pursuit! Frustration! A rope worth ten million US dollars!

Imperial Capital, a certain confidential compound not open to the public.

On a midsummer afternoon, the sun was scorching, and the asphalt road was baked soft and oily. The cicadas on the trees screamed with all their might, adding a bit more irritability to the already sweltering air.

A black Hongqi sedan with military plates sped into the courtyard, its tires screeching against the hot concrete as it came to a steady stop in front of a small building.

As soon as the car door opened, a heatwave hit him square in the face. Liu Jianguo climbed out, his shirt soaked with sweat and sticking clammily to his back; he looked quite disheveled.

His eyes were puffy, clearly having just rushed back from the southwest border thousands of kilometers away without even having time for a sip of water.

After dealing with the Punk Elder who wanted to drive an elderly joy into the Golden Triangle to fight, and then arranging the technical sealing of the black tortoise batch, he felt like his old bones were about to fall apart.

'When will these days ever end?'

He thought to himself, wanting nothing more than to rush home, take a cold shower, and then sleep like the dead in an air-conditioned room.

But reality wouldn't allow it. An encrypted call from the Old General had dragged him directly from the airport to this place.

There was only one sentence in the call: "The sky is falling, come quickly."

Liu Jianguo wiped the sweat from his forehead, took a deep breath, and pushed open the heavy doors of the meeting room.

The air conditioning inside was strong, but the coolness could not dispel the oppressive atmosphere in the air. The room was thick with the smell of smoke, enough to make one's throat itch.

The long conference table was filled with generals with gold stars on their shoulders and white-haired Experts. Everyone's face was filled with gravity, even a sense of despair.

The Old General sitting in the main seat had a face as grim as water. The cigarette in his hand had burned down to the butt, and he only abruptly stubbed it out when it scorched his finger.

"Jianguo is here, sit down," the Old General's voice was hoarse.

Liu Jianguo didn't dare say much. He found a corner to sit in and scanned the report in the center of the conference table.

A line of bold text was printed on the cover of the report: "Emergency Report on the Failure of Key Material Research for the Project 003 Arresting System."

...

Seeing this line of text, Liu Jianguo's heart sank.

Project 003 was the latest generation of aircraft carrier built with the entire strength of the Eastern Country, the key to the Eastern Country's Navy heading into the deep blue. And the Arresting System was the "lifeline" on the carrier that could pull a carrier-based aircraft weighing over twenty tons and traveling at over two hundred kilometers per hour to a stop in just a few seconds.

Without this rope, the aircraft carrier would be a floating target at sea; planes could fly out but wouldn't be able to land back.

"The situation... is very bad."

Academician Zhang, who was in charge of technical research at the Aeronautical Materials Institute, spoke up. This usually energetic Old Expert seemed to have aged ten years at this moment. He didn't even bother to wipe the sweat trickling down his white hair at his temples, and his voice carried a sob.

"We collaborated with the three major domestic Special Steel Plants, trial-produced over four hundred formulas, and conducted thousands of ultimate tensile experiments..."

At this point, Academician Zhang took off his glasses and covered his face in pain, his fingers trembling.

"...All failed. The latest data just sent back shows that the sample with the best strength snapped during the fiftieth ultimate impact. The toughness and fatigue resistance are still at least a generation behind combat standards."

The meeting room fell silent.

There was only the hum of the projector fan and the annoying chirping of cicadas outside the window.

Liu Jianguo looked at Academician Zhang's white hair, and he felt terrible as well. He knew how hard these Old Experts worked, but this was like a natural chasm blocking the path of the Eastern Country's industry.

"What about the previous stock?" a Navy Vice Admiral asked anxiously. "Didn't we manage to get a few through special channels?"

"They're all used up," the head of the Logistics Department shook his head bitterly. "This thing is a consumable. Training and testing cause immense wear. Now there isn't even a single complete Spare Cable in the warehouse."

In other words, the giant ship of the Eastern Country that was about to be launched was now facing the embarrassing situation of "having a ship but no cable."

This would be an international joke, and even more so, a disgrace to national defense.

"Is there really no other way?" The Old General tapped the table, his tone severe.

"There is... but..."

Director Wang, who was in charge of external liaison, stood up with a grim expression. He hesitated for a long time before taking a faxed document out of his briefcase and placing it gently on the table.

"Through a third-country intermediary, we contacted an Arms Dealer in the Ugly Country. This company is called 'Titan Heavy Industry,' and they are the core supplier of Arresting Cables for the Ugly Country's Navy. They... expressed a willingness to sell."

Upon hearing this, the eyes of everyone present lit up instantly.

Problems that can be solved with money are not problems at all.

"But," Director Wang's tone shifted, becoming resentful, "they know we are in desperate need, so they set conditions."

"What conditions?" Liu Jianguo asked subconsciously.

Director Wang held up a finger and said through gritted teeth, "Ten million US dollars."

"Ten million US dollars for a batch?" Liu Jianguo frowned. Although expensive, for the sake of the aircraft carrier, they would accept it.

"No." Director Wang shook his head and looked at Liu Jianguo, saying word for word, "Per cable."

These words were like a bomb, shattering the tiny bit of hope that had just risen in the meeting room.

"What?!"

"Ten million US dollars for one?! Why don't they just go and rob us!"

"Is this a damn rope? Even if it were made of gold, it wouldn't be worth this price!"

A hot-tempered Major General slammed the table and stood up, his face turning the color of pig liver and the veins on his neck bulging.

Ten million US dollars converted to RMB was seventy or eighty million. It was just a steel cable; the cost at most would be a few hundred thousand. This wasn't doing business; this was clearly extortion.

"And..." Director Wang wasn't finished. He glanced at the furious crowd and braced himself to continue, "They also demand that we must publicly admit that the Eastern Country's material technology is twenty years behind the Ugly Country and sign and seal the purchase contract. Otherwise, no deal."

The meeting room fell silent.

If everyone was angry just now, now it was pure humiliation.

Liu Jianguo felt his temples throbbing and his mouth twitched uncontrollably. He had handled so many crises in his life, but he had never felt as frustrated as he did today.

He was speechless, even wanting to laugh a little out of sheer anger.

'These foreigners are truly treating us like suckers to be slaughtered.'

Everyone's gaze was focused on the Old General.

The Old General remained seated there, motionless. No expression could be seen on his weather-beaten face, only a fire of rage burning in his cloudy eyes.

The chirping of the cicadas outside seemed to grow louder, making everyone feel even more annoyed.

After an unknown amount of time, the Old General slowly raised his head.

His gaze swept across everyone's face, from Academician Zhang's guilt to Director Wang's helplessness, and finally to Liu Jianguo's frustration.

Eventually, he closed his eyes and squeezed out a single word through his teeth; it wasn't loud, but it carried the weight of a thousand pounds.

"Buy."

That one word seemed to drain all the strength from his body.

"Chief!" several generals shouted unwillingly.

"I said buy!" The Old General snapped his eyes open and slammed his palm heavily onto the table with a loud "bang."

He stood up, his body trembling slightly, and pointed at the dazzling sun outside the window, his voice hoarse and stern:

"The aircraft carrier must be launched! The carrier-based aircraft must take off! This is the national strategy, the bottom line! In the face of this big picture, our pride and personal honor don't mean a damn thing!"

"If your skills are inferior, you will be beaten! You will be extorted! We've understood this truth for a hundred years, and understanding it once more today isn't too much!"

The Old General's words were like a whip lashing against everyone's heart.

Academician Zhang lowered his head, tears wetting his collar.

Liu Jianguo clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his flesh. He felt an unprecedented sense of powerlessness. Even in the air-conditioned room, he still felt a wave of heat; it was a fire suppressed in his heart.

If only... if only there was a factory in the country...

The unreliable figure of Li Jiajun suddenly flashed through his mind—that unorthodox genius who could make drones do tricks and make an elderly joy climb a cliff.

'Sigh, what am I thinking?'

Liu Jianguo shook his head in self-mockery.

'That kid might be eccentric, but he's just a toy maker. This kind of top-tier national special materials science problem involves the foundation of basic industry; how could it be something an amateur like him could solve?'

'This time, our Eastern Country has really hit a hurdle.'

The meeting room was filled with a tragic and heroic atmosphere.

"Carry it out." The Old General turned his back, unable to bear looking at that document any longer.

With tears in his eyes, Director Wang picked up the letter of intent that could be called "humiliating to the nation." He knew that once this signature was down and this huge sum was sent out, the backbones of the Eastern Country's military industry workers would be poked for years.

But he had no choice.

Under the oppressive gaze of the entire room, Director Wang's hand trembled as he signed his name on the document and then picked up the confidential phone on the table.

He took a deep breath, trying his best to calm his emotions, and dialed that overseas number. He was already prepared to face the mockery and arrogance of the Ugly Country's Arms Dealer on the other side.

Ring... ring... ring...

The call connected.

"Hello, this is the Eastern Country..."

Before Director Wang could finish, a furious roar suddenly came from the other end of the line, so loud that even Liu Jianguo next to him could hear it.

"Fuck! Don't call again! The deal is cancelled! There are no cables! Not a single one!"

Beep, beep, beep...

The phone was rudely hung up, leaving only the busy tone echoing in the meeting room.

Director Wang held the receiver in a daze, frozen in place, his mind a complete blank.

This? What's going on?