Chapter 116: Chapter 110: Andre: Even If You Had 20 Years, You Couldn’t Master the Arresting Gear!
Dragon Country Embassy.
In a room on the third floor near the corridor, everyone wore a worried expression.
They had been in Yingjiang for almost a week, yet they still hadn’t found a compatible aircraft carrier arresting gear.
Sitting at the head of the table was a square-faced middle-aged man.
Slightly overweight, he held a stack of data papers in his left hand, quickly flipping through them, while his right hand moved the mouse, lacking in grace and full of frustration.
"This won’t do, the tension isn’t enough..."
"This one’s no good either, the break strength is too low..."
"This one... was it made from Jing Country’s toilets!"
Deputy Ambassador Wang He, seeing Ambassador Zhang Wanyun’s distress, couldn’t help but offer advice: "Old Zhang, no need to get too worked up."
"I’ve reviewed all of these, none of them meet our requirements."
"Even for the known Yingjiang Navy’s aircraft carrier arresting gear, the tension is only 2 million newtons, but they definitely won’t sell it to us."
At the end of the wooden table, Zhang Wanyun was somewhat annoyed, placing the data report on the table with a sigh:
"How can I not be upset?"
"Our new fighter jet development and acceptance tests have clearly been completed, yet we don’t have a compatible aircraft carrier arresting gear."
"Less than one week remains before the Shanbei ship aircraft carrier is to be launched, and at this critical junction, without aircraft carrier arresting gear paired with fighter jets..."
"The new aircraft carrier would just be a larger fishing boat!"
Deputy Ambassador Li Jianye felt a deep sense of helplessness at this moment:
"What kind of situation is this?"
"We can produce the most advanced aircraft carriers and fighter jets, but are being held back by a small aircraft carrier arresting gear, isn’t it ridiculous?"
Draining a glass of water in one go, Li Jianye stood up: "You all keep looking, I’ll go out for a search again, perhaps there will be a chance."
Just outside the embassy door, Li Jianye reached to summon a driver when he heard someone speaking broken Chinese:
"Dear Li, my old friend, is it you?"
Li Jianye turned to see the military-dressed Caucasian before him, pondering for a few seconds before a look of disgust appeared in his eyes.
Edwards, thirty-four years old, an Army member, currently serving in the Yingjiang Ministry of Defense.
Don’t ask why he remembers so clearly.
While Dragon Country’s mission was engaging Yingjiang businesses, this guy often played dirty tricks behind the scenes.
Facing Edwards, Li Jianye looked indifferent: "Lieutenant General Walker, what advice do you have for me?"
"Old friend, you are too polite." Ignoring Li Jianye’s hidden meaning, Edwards continued to smile broadly:
"Haven’t you been looking for aircraft carrier arresting gear these days?"
Li Jianye nodded, unsurprised.
After all, on someone else’s territory, and causing such a stir, the official visit was bound to happen sooner or later.
What he was more curious about was the attitude Yingjiang’s official would bring.
"The aircraft carrier arresting gear you require, with such high standards, is unlikely to be found anywhere." Edwards retrieved a data form from his pocket, handing it to Li Jianye with a smile:
"However, we in Yingjiang have recently acquired a batch of aircraft carrier arresting gears that might meet your needs."
Li Jianye remained skeptical, shaking his head. How could this be possible?
The past few days, they had almost contacted all Yingjiang manufacturers capable of producing aircraft carrier arresting gear, and none fit the bill.
But out of courtesy, Li Jianye picked up the data report to look over it.
Edwards pursed his lips, his smile thick, yet there was more than a hint of mocking in his tone:
"We didn’t have this parameter level of arresting gear before, but we have plenty of tech companies."
"On-site, they can quickly design materials that meet customer needs, which might be a concept ungraspable for countries with less advanced technology for twenty years."
"All these are data approved by authoritative institutions; if you’re interested, come talk to Officer Andre at the Ministry of Defense."
Li Jianye exclaimed just after scanning the first page of the report:
"Stress level, 3 million newtons!!!"
The aircraft carrier arresting gear needed by Dragon Country actually only required 2 million newtons.
You must know, as material parameters increase, the difficulty level increases geometrically.
Previously, the global mainstream aircraft carrier arresting gear stress level was only 1.2 million newtons, and the 2 million newtons requirement was already top-notch globally.
But unexpectedly, Yingjiang directly offered a trump card, and just this data alone was already overwhelming.
Unwilling to accept, Li Jianye viewed several pieces of data, yet the discrepancies among the testing institutions’ data were minor, instantly blocking him mentally.
He stiffly raised his head and spoke solemnly: "To my knowledge, even your Navy’s best aircraft carrier arresting gear stress level is only 2 million newtons."
"My dear friend, that I’m unsure of, perhaps it’s true."
Edwards kept smiling as if engaged in a clownish jest:
"I’m merely conveying the officer’s intentions; if you are interested, you can talk face-to-face with our officer."
Without a moment of hesitation, Li Jianye agreed immediately and boarded the car headed for the Ministry of Defense.
Two hours later, Li Jianye returned to the Dragon Country Embassy with a dark expression.
Upon entering, he furiously loosened his tie, seemingly unsatisfied, and also removed his watch in one motion.
Several people in the room exchanged puzzled glances, Zhang Wanyun speaking in confusion: "Old Li, did you receive some trouble?"
"Didn’t you previously message us saying you found suitable arresting gear?"
"Could it be the conditions are too unreasonable?"
Li Jianye drank a few gulps of water, his voice sharp: "Those conditions, beyond unreasonable."
"It’s like cutting flesh with a blunt knife, absolutely disgusting!"
"Let’s set that aside for now, Old Zhang, immediately contact the homeland; this matter needs higher-level decision-making."
Verifying identity, the call instantly went secret upon dialing out, and Li Jianye quietly coughed, trying to calm his mood.
A few seconds later, the call connected.
"Secretary Wang, yes yes yes, it’s Li Jianye, please pass the phone to Director Wang."
The other party confirmed and responded, followed by familiar coughing sounds,
"Jianye, how’s the search for the aircraft carrier arresting gear over there?"
Li Jianye respectfully replied: "Old Leader, there was no progress initially, but today the Yingjiang Ministry of Defense approached us, giving us a data report for an aircraft carrier arresting gear."
"It shows that this arresting gear’s stress reaches 3 million newtons, and even that isn’t its limit..."
"What?" The voice on the other end turned noticeably stern: "3 million newtons? This hyena has indeed learned that War Deception Bureau trick of transparency yet concealment."
"But since they presented it, surely there’s intent for a transaction."
Li Jianye immediately felt somewhat awkward, scratching his head, bitterly saying:
"They are willing to sell, but presented some excessive demands."
Upon hearing this, Director Wang smiled knowingly, casually saying: "If they didn’t present demands, then we’d have to worry about possible trickery."
"Having dealt with them for nearly half a lifetime, their habits are well understood; now tell me, what conditions did they propose?"
Li Jianye said solemnly: "They said one arresting gear costs 20 million US Dollars."
Director Wang shook his head with a smile: "Still the same boundless greed, never changed."
"Though the price is negotiable, bargaining isn’t shameful."
Li Jianye reminded: "Teacher, it’s more than just about money this time."
"They proposed that for every aircraft carrier arresting gear we buy, we have to sell one ton of rare earths, and it must be at cost price."
Director Wang’s playful demeanor instantly vanished, replaced by seriousness.
After a moment of silence, Director Wang stated flatly: "Are there any other conditions?"
Li Jianye gritted his teeth, saying: "There’s one more."
Director Wang sneered, saying: "These with their wild ambition, what else do they want?"
Li Jianye chuckled bitterly, yet still reported truthfully: "They want to participate in the Beidou system’s development and..."
"They demand that the earlier parameters must be shared."
