25: Chapter 25 Ace vs. Ace!

When Wang Tao handled matters, his signature style was the violent aesthetics brought by his "money power."

Forty-eight hours later.

A Gulfstream G650 with a low-key livery crossed the Mediterranean and landed at Cairo International Airport.

The cabin door opened.

Leading the way was a white-haired German old man, Hans, the former manufacturing director of Siemens Asia and a living fossil in the industrial world.

Behind him followed twelve men carrying carbon-fiber suitcases.

When this group got off the plane, the sound of their leather shoes hitting the tarmac was as synchronized as an army.

There were no pleasantries, no handshakes.

Escorted by the Egyptian Military, they directly sealed off the entire executive floor of the hotel where Lin Zhou was staying.

When this group appeared beside the negotiation table, the air seemed to be instantly sucked dry.

Deputy Minister Saleh subconsciously tugged at his tie.

Across from him was no longer Lin Zhou's "three-person workshop."

It was a row of walking industrial encyclopedias.

Lin Zhou leaned back in his chair, his fingertips tapping gently on the table.

"Mr. Saleh, my time is expensive, and their time is even more expensive."

"Now, we can talk about the 'details.'"

The conference room was violently split into two battlefields.

In the large room, smoke swirled, and Qin Yue and Zhang Zhe were meticulously going over legal clauses word by word.

In the small room, Hans directly projected a holographic topographical map covering the entire Sinai Peninsula.

Blue laser lines danced wildly on the walls.

"According to our meteorological satellite data modeling, the peak nighttime humidity in the Sinai Peninsula is over 85%."

Hans's voice was as cold as a Siemens machine tool.

"In the first phase, we are going to install ten thousand modular water collection towers here."

An Egyptian technical official pushed up his glasses, trying to find a loophole.

"What about the cost? Egypt's power grid cannot support this scale of electricity consumption."

Hans didn't even lift his head, his fingers moving so fast on the keyboard they left afterimages.

"Who told you we were going to use the power grid?"

"Each water collection tower comes with a graphene photovoltaic coating and is self-sufficient."

"This is the cost model; look closely, the comprehensive cost per cubic meter of fresh water is 0.18 USD."

"This includes mechanical wear and filter replacements for the next thirty years."

The official looked at the data popping up on the screen, his eyes nearly popping out onto the blueprints.

0.18 USD.

At this price, every seawater desalination plant in the world would go bankrupt.

"This... this is impossible..."

He muttered to himself, his pen drawing a chaotic ink stain on his notebook.

In the large room next door.

Listening to the exclamations from next door, Saleh's heart rate had already exceeded one hundred beats per minute.

The ashtray in front of him was stuffed with cigarette butts.

It felt like a person who had been starving for three days watching a burger feast being laid out next door.

While he was arguing endlessly with someone over the color of a napkin.

"Mr. Lin."

Saleh finally spoke, his voice hoarse.

"Regarding communication supervision... we can change our approach."

Lin Zhou raised an eyebrow but didn't respond.

"We can establish a 'Joint Security Committee.'"

Saleh said hurriedly, as if afraid Lin Zhou would go back on his word.

"The Cyber Freedom Republic will have absolute physical administrative rights, and we will only retain... nominal counter-terrorism cooperation rights."

Lin Zhou smiled.

He knew that the piece of fat meat called "fresh water" had completely shattered Saleh's rationality.

"What about religious issues?"

Lin Zhou pressed.

Saleh wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Shelved! Within ten years, we will not interfere with each other."

"The urgent priority now is to get that Sinai Peninsula project down on paper."

The next two weeks were a tug-of-war day and night.

Hundreds of legal advisors ran back and forth in the hallways, and the roar of printers never ceased.

On the night the final draft agreement was produced.

A rare rainstorm fell in Cairo.

In Lin Zhou's suite.

Hans pointed to page 42 of the agreement's appendix, his brows knotted together.

"Lin, are you crazy?"

"Giving 90% of global patent revenue to the Egyptian government?"

"Do you know what this means? That's trillions of US dollars!"

Qin Yue also stopped the pen in her hand, looking at Lin Zhou with concern.

This agreement was too generous.

So generous that it made people feel like Lin Zhou was doing charity.

Lin Zhou walked to the window, watching the Nile River shrouded in the curtain of rain outside.

"Hans, what do you think a patent is?"

Hans was stunned for a moment.

"It is a monopoly right protected by law."

Lin Zhou turned around, a faint trace of mockery on his lips.

"No, for the weak, a patent is just a piece of waste paper."

"Does the Cyber Freedom Republic have an aircraft carrier now? Does it have global enforcement power?"

"If not, on what grounds could we collect patent fees worldwide?"

He walked to the table and pressed his finger heavily on the agreement.

"Let the Egyptian government collect it."

"They have a Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sovereign state status, and the right to pound the table at the United Nations."

"Let them sue those multinational giants and fight for that 90% profit."

"We only need to sit in Bir Tawil and securely take away that 10% net profit."

"No legal costs, no promotional pressure, just lying back and counting money—isn't that good?"

The room fell into a deathly silence.

Hans's Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

He realized he had still underestimated this young man.

"One more important point."

Lin Zhou's voice echoed in the room.

"It is written clearly in the agreement: local use within the Cyber Freedom Republic is permanently free."

"My goal has never been to sell water to earn that little bit of hard-earned money."

"I want to use this technology to turn that barren land into the world's cheapest industrial base."

"When factories around the world are overwhelmed by water and electricity shortages, Bir Tawil will be the only safe haven."

"At that time, what we will be earning is the premium of the entire world."

Lin Zhou closed the folder, making a crisp sound.

"You have to open up your perspective."

Qin Yue looked at Lin Zhou's back, feeling her heartbeat so fast it was about to break through her chest.

She picked up her phone and dialed Saleh's number.

"Mr. Minister, get your gold pen ready."

"We are going to sign."

Hanging up the phone, her hand was still trembling slightly.

A week ago, this was just a "joke" mocked by netizens worldwide.

And tomorrow.

This joke will have its own national border.