139: Subverted cognition

"Only a gantry crane this large can build a destroyer this large; it is the heart of the entire shipyard."

"Oh?" Xu Ning became interested. He had never thought before that building a destroyer would require such massive equipment.

Just as he was about to continue asking questions, Kadeyafu seemed drawn by something and walked directly towards the naval gun. Before everyone, he trembled, lightly stroking the gun barrel as if he had seen a long-lost relative.

"This, this, impossible, right? Mr. Makarov, did these naval guns come from Malyshev?"

Mr. Makarov was momentarily stunned, then looked at the Ms. Anna beside him. The Ms. Anna immediately replied, "I'm sorry, Mr., this batch of naval guns are products of Menskyuk Military Industry."

Hearing this answer, Kadeyafu's face instantly turned pale, his body swayed, and he almost fell. Xu Ning quickly supported him and asked in a low voice, "What happened?"

Kadeyafu seemed not to hear, only muttering to himself, "How could this be... This is clearly from our factory..."

He took a deep breath, trying to control his emotions, then asked the Ms. Anna again, "Excuse me, does this twin-barreled naval gun use 130mm shells, can its maximum rate of fire reach 80 rounds per minute, and does it have mechanical devices for loading and feeding?"

"Also, is an electro-optical sight installed in the turret with automatic aiming capability?"

The Ms. Anna looked surprised and only spoke after a moment, "It seems you are very familiar with the products of our partner, Menskyuk Military Industry. Indeed, we chose their products because of their excellent firepower performance."

Hearing this, Kadeyafu showed a bitter smile on his face, "Damned Menskyuk Military Industry, they completely plagiarized our design, without even changing the appearance. They are thieves."

Hearing this, the Ms. Anna's face sank, "I'm sorry, Mr., I cannot tolerate you slandering our partners like this. If you have evidence, please provide it; if not, please apologize immediately."

"I..." Kadeyafu felt his throat was blocked by something, his voice stuck and unable to come out.

He wanted to provide evidence, but that crucial design drawing had long vanished with Adrian's passing.

Xu Ning's expression was also not relaxed at this moment. From their conversation, he had already roughly deduced the whole story.

It seemed that Menskyuk Military Industry had used some method to steal the latest naval gun design developed by Kadeyafu's team and used it to win the contract with Tailayev Shipyard.

And Kadeyafu had been completely unaware of this before and was now unable to prove it.

Thinking of this, Xu Ning muttered to himself, "If it's really as I suspected, things will be troublesome."

The atmosphere on the scene suddenly became tense and cold.

Mr. Makarov quickly tried to ease the situation, "Miss Anna, please do not treat our guest this way, Mr. Kadeyafu, if the situation is indeed as you say, as long as you can prove it, we can terminate the agreement with Menskyuk Military Industry."

Kadeyafu's face turned red, "I... But, that is our naval gun!"

Mr. Makarov said with a smile, "Haha, since you cannot produce evidence, I think it's better not to mention this matter. How about just letting it go?"

Hearing this, Kadeyafu instantly felt despair, because that was the result of Adrian's tireless efforts.

He didn't expect that in the end, it still couldn't be saved.

"Who says we don't have evidence?"

Suddenly, Xu Ning spoke.

He walked towards the naval gun, gently touching the barrel.

"Although Menskyuk Military Industry stole our design, what they don't know is that what they got was only the first version."

"In fact, we already have an improved second version."

Mr. Makarov and Anna couldn't believe their ears, almost simultaneously exclaiming.

"What? This is impossible!"

You must know that this naval gun was selected through bidding, and they believed it was the most advanced weapon among all military factories.

If this was just the first generation, then how advanced would the second generation be?

As someone who had studied destroyers for many years, Xu Ning's words completely overturned their understanding.

Kadeyafu also looked at Xu Ning in surprise. He had originally wanted to say the same thing, but thinking about his position, he finally held back.

Xu Ning smiled and continued, "I know, this may be beyond your understanding. Perhaps you are not very familiar with our Malyshev Military Industry, which is also normal, after all, we are just a small military enterprise."

"Our goals are different. We insist on taking one step at a time, researching and using simultaneously, while also building up technical reserves for the future."

The corner of Anna's mouth twitched slightly. She suddenly realized that Xu Ning was being deliberately mysterious. She cursed her own gullibility inwardly, then said mockingly, "In that case, Mr. Xu should be able to show us your next-generation naval gun, right?"

"Bring it out and let everyone see the next-generation naval gun you mentioned."

Mr. Makarov remained silent beside them, seemingly thinking about something.

Xu Ning replied, "Of course I can show it, but... why should I do that?"

"You must know, this is our reserved technology. Currently, we are not in a cooperative relationship, so it is not appropriate to casually display our technical reserves."

Anna sneered, "If Mr. Xu really has a naval gun stronger than the AK-130, we can immediately terminate our cooperation with the Menshiqiuke Group and switch to using your products."

Xu Ning smiled, "If that's all, it seems it's not enough."

Anna asked curiously, "Then what other conditions do you have?"

Xu Ning said, "I hope your side will publicly declare that you will no longer have any business dealings with the Menshiqiuke Group in the future."

Anna was stunned. She turned to look at Mr. Makarov. She knew she didn't have such authority.

In fact, she had already overstepped her bounds a little before, simply because her dislike for Xu Ning had made her lose her reason.

At this moment, Mr. Makarov, who had been silent, spoke.

"This condition is acceptable. Mr. Xu has shown us the unscrupulous behavior of the Menshiqiuke Group and has also pointed us towards better partners."

Xu Ning continued, "What if we add one more condition? I hope to establish a cooperative relationship with Nikolaev Shipyard."

This time, not only Mr. Makarov, but Anna and Kadeyafu were also shocked.

Everyone present knew that Nikolaev Shipyard was a nationally important military enterprise with extremely high security clearance.

Even domestic personnel had to undergo strict review before they could cooperate with it, let alone a foreigner like Xu Ning. What was being built there was the nation's strategic-level weapon, the ulyanovsk nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

And the destroyers they were currently manufacturing were precisely for use in conjunction with this nuclear-powered aircraft carrier battle group.