81: Holy crap, this face is amazing!

Now, this ghost has reappeared?

Jackson stared intently at his subordinate.

"You are now fully in charge of this mission."

His voice was cold, devoid of any emotion.

"I'm giving you half a month."

"In half a month, I want to know who this mysterious arms dealer is and what his relationship with the Free Army is. If you can't find the answer..."

Jackson's lips curled into a cruel arc.

"Then you can explain it to Congress yourself."

In the southern suburbs, on what was once barren land, brand-new factory buildings rose one after another, filled with the stark beauty of modern industry.

This is the headquarters of "Galaxy Electronics Company" and a key part of David's commercial empire.

It is a crucial chess piece poised to ignite the global consumer electronics market.

David's motorcade stopped in front of the main factory building.

Santiago, the tech guru David had poached from Silicon Valley, was already waiting at the entrance with his team.

He was wearing an anti-static work suit, his hair a bit disheveled.

His eyes were deeply sunken and bloodshot, but they gleamed with an almost fanatical excitement unique to technical professionals.

"Boss!"

Seeing David get out of the car, Santiago quickly came forward to greet him.

"Where is it?" David asked directly; he didn't like to waste time.

"In the testing room, please follow me," Santiago said, rubbing his hands excitedly as he led the way.

Passing through several strict security doors, the group entered a precision testing room with constant temperature and humidity.

In the center of the room, a minimalist black metal box sat quietly on a table.

This was the culmination of their months of hard work—the DVD prototype.

"Holy crap, this design looks great!" David examined the prototype.

The body was made entirely of matte black metal, with smooth lines.

It had distinct edges, and only a disc tray and a few touch-sensitive buttons on the front, exuding a strong sense of technology.

Compared to the bulky, crude VCRs and LD players of this era, the industrial design of this DVD was simply a dimensionality reduction strike.

"We referenced the design drawings you provided and made some optimizations."

Santiago's tone was proud, "It absolutely meets your requirements for high-end, atmospheric, and classy."

"Connect it and let's see," David said, pointing to a brand-new Sony Trinitron Television nearby.

This was, without a doubt, the king of CRT displays in this era.

The Death Sworn subordinates skillfully connected the cables, and Santiago carefully placed a burned disc into the player.

Soon, the TV screen lit up.

A high-definition landscape film began to play.

The azure ocean, golden beaches, swaying coconut groves... the picture was stable, colors were saturated, and the clarity far surpassed the mainstream VCDs and videotapes of the time.

"Currently, limited by the television's CRT technology, the highest picture quality can only reach 720P," Santiago explained.

"But in reality, our decoding chip and the data stored on the disc support 1080P Full HD."

David stared at the screen and nodded with satisfaction.

This was enough.

In an era where VCDs were still considered high-end goods,

and videotapes were prevalent, 720P picture quality, paired with a Trinitron TV, was an absolute killer combination.

"What about the cost?" David asked, getting to his most pressing concern.

"If we go into large-scale mass production, the comprehensive cost can be controlled to within 80 US dollars per unit."

Santiago reported a figure, "And the larger the output, the lower the procurement cost, so this number can go down further."

80 US dollars!

David instantly felt confident.

It's important to know that a single-function LD laserdisc player on the market now, with inferior picture quality,

often sells for five or six hundred US dollars, with high-end models even exceeding a thousand.

And DVD not only completely crushes it in picture quality but also comprehensively surpasses it in volume, storage capacity, and convenience.

A small DVD disc can hold an entire movie, while a bulky LD disc requires flipping it multiple times to watch one movie.

"The market potential is huge," David concluded, "However, there's a core issue that must be resolved."

He looked at Santiago, his gaze sharpening.

"The decoding chip."

Santiago's expression became serious, immediately understanding his boss's meaning.

The core technology of a DVD player lies in that small decoding chip.

Currently, their prototype uses chips purchased from the market.

If they were to mass-produce in the future, the supply of chips would be a vital lifeline held by others.

Supply cutoffs, price increases, technology leaks... if any part of the chain went wrong, the entire Galaxy Electronics Company could collapse instantly.

David would never allow such a thing to happen.

Every part of his business empire must, and can only, be in his own hands.

"Boss, do you mean... we make them ourselves?" Santiago's voice was a little dry.

Build a chip factory?

That wasn't just burning money; that was pouring money from armored trucks into an incinerator!

Even the most outdated production line required an investment measured in billions of US dollars.

"That's right," David replied casually, "We'll build our own factory and produce them ourselves."

He completely ignored Santiago's dumbfounded expression and directly issued an instruction to the system in his mind.

"System, exchange for a 193-nanometer immersion lithography machine."

【193-nanometer immersion lithography machine, capable of producing 12-inch wafers.】

【Supports up to 28-nanometer process, exchange price: 20 million US dollars.】

【Confirm exchange?】

"Confirm."

What seemed like an astronomical investment to Santiago was just a string of numbers in the system for David.

"I've already solved the equipment problem."

David patted Santiago's shoulder, his tone as light as if he were discussing what to eat for dinner.

Santiago was stunned.

Solved?

That's a lithography machine! Cutting-edge equipment that's globally embargoed! And you say it's solved just like that?

"We won't go for the most advanced; that would be too ostentatious," David continued, "We'll just use the 64-nanometer process."

This process is sufficient to produce DVD decoding chips, and even computer CPUs and mobile phone chips for the next few years.

Most importantly, it's not top-tier.

At this point in time, Intel and AMD were fiercely competing over 90-nanometer technology.

David's 64-nanometer technology was technically superior.

But it wasn't so far ahead that it would make US uneasy and determined to destroy him at all costs.

Develop stealthily, don't show off.

He understood the proverb about the early bird getting shot.

"Additionally, I'll assign you three hundred Death Sworn technicians for the chip production line, and three hundred Death Sworn for security."

David added, "Remember, factory security is the highest priority."

"Yes, Boss!" Santiago stood at attention, his face flushed with excitement.

Building their own chip factory!

This was the most insane and most dream-like stage a technical professional could ever encounter!

Just then, the special ringtone of David's encrypted satellite phone in his pocket rang.

Middle East branch, highest priority call.

David walked aside and answered the phone.

"Boss, Prince Sultan... is a bit anxious," the branch head's urgent report came from the other end of the line.

"He's called several times, asking when the goods will arrive."

"Oh?" David's lips curved slightly, "Let him be anxious; anxiety is good."

This arms deal, totaling hundreds of billions of US dollars, was a massive investment made by the The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to counter threats from neighboring countries.

David deliberately delayed delivery to keep them on edge.

No one cherishes things that are too easily obtained.