Chapter 150 The Deal is Settled

Inside the Zhongnanhai conference room, Elder Lin could only manage a wry smile when Elder Xie included him in the lecture directed at Lin Feng; in such a setting, he dared not voice any protest.

Seeing that both the Chairman and Elder Xie had returned—and with the Premier surrounded by others—Lin Feng remained silent in the face of Elder Xie's admonitions, listening quietly.

The conference room was filled solely with Elder Xie's lecture to Lin Feng, while the Chairman and Premier looked on. Elder Lin and Lin Chuanming naturally did not dare to speak much in such an environment.

Having lectured alone for a while without getting any reaction, Elder Xie gradually lost interest. When his throat became dry, he finally stopped talking.

With Elder Xie's words trailing off, the conference room fell into silence, broken only by the faint clinking sound of a teacup lid against the cup as Elder Xie sipped his tea alone.

Fortunately, this awkward atmosphere did not last long. The weapons expert, whom the Chairman had instructed his secretary to summon, soon arrived in the conference room, breaking the temporary tension.

"Lin Feng, this is our nation's premier national-treasure-level weapons expert. I hope you can let him examine the research and development data for that weapon on your computer to verify whether it is truly feasible, so that we can proceed with our discussion," the Chairman said, looking up at Lin Feng seated across from him as the expert entered.

Even though the newcomer was an expert in this field, Lin Feng had no fear that the other party could steal the data for the laser energy gun. Without the supporting R&D data stored on Lin Feng's computer, he simply did not believe that anyone could conjure up this weapon just by glancing at his screen.

"No problem, go ahead and look," Lin Feng said generously to the Chairman.

The Chairman, quite satisfied with Lin Feng's attitude, nodded slightly, then turned to the expert, who still looked somewhat bewildered, and said, "Please take a look at the weapon data on his computer and confirm whether our nation's scientific research capabilities are sufficient to develop this kind of weapon."

Realizing why the Chairman had summoned him, the expert walked straight to the seat Lin Feng had just vacated. Lin Feng had already stood aside to make room, and the expert sat down unceremoniously, straightening his posture to examine the data displayed on the computer screen.

From the moment the expert began staring at the screen, the Chairman, Premier, and their entourage closely watched his facial expression. At first, he remained quite calm, but gradually his breathing grew shallow and rapid, culminating in an expression of sheer madness. From this, the leaders had already guessed the answer.

Just as they expected, after looking at the data for a few minutes, the expert leaped to his feet in a frenzy. Completely disregarding the highest-ranking figures of China standing right before him, he blurted out in profound excitement, "Magnificent! Brilliant! How could we have failed to think of this? I never imagined I would live to see such a weapon appear. With a weapon like this, how could our nation ever fail to prosper?"

"Ha-ha, don't get too excited just yet. Tell us, can our current scientific research capabilities bring this weapon to life?" Eager to know the answer, the Chairman interrupted the expert, who was still lost in his own ecstatic mutterings.

Only then did the expert snap back to reality. Realizing that this was not his familiar laboratory, but rather the most solemn political sanctum in the nation, even this sixty-plus-year-old veteran scientist felt thoroughly embarrassed. He stammered awkwardly for a long time, not daring to answer the Chairman immediately.

"It doesn't matter. We understand the attitude of scientists toward research. Please feel free to speak your mind openly," the Premier offered encouragingly, stepping in to comfort the expert.

"It is entirely achievable! Chairman, Premier, Minister, I never imagined such a weapon could actually exist in reality. I always thought it only belonged in science fiction. To think that we researchers had simply gone down the wrong path—the underlying principles are actually so simple! Once you give me these R&D data sets, and with sufficient funding, I am confident we can produce a finished prototype within three years." Comforted by the Premier, the expert visibly relaxed and immediately provided a highly professional explanation.

Having received confirmation from the scientific expert, the Premier, Chairman, and Minister exchanged meaningful glances, silently communicating their thoughts. The Chairman then instructed his secretary to escort the expert back, specifically reminding him to maintain strict confidentiality before he left.

To the Chairman's amusement, while he was busy admonishing the scientist to keep the matter secret, the expert kept chattering away, urging the Chairman to secure these R&D blueprints by any means necessary.

Once the research expert left the conference room, the remaining people fell silent once more. This time, however, the silence felt like the calm before a storm; a fierce round of bargaining was undoubtedly about to begin.

"Lin Feng, this item belongs to you. What do you want in exchange?" Impatient by nature, Elder Xie immediately fired off the question as soon as the weapon's authenticity was confirmed.

Minister Xie had spoken, while the Chairman and Premier looked on. Meanwhile, Elder Lin and Lin Chuanming, seated beside Lin Feng, anxiously awaited his answer as well.

"Fifty thousand assault rifles and submachine guns, with matching ammunition, plus five thousand individual rocket launchers, along with a quantity of landmines and hand grenades. I will compile a list for you. These are all relatively conventional types of equipment and will not involve heavy armored weaponry!" Lin Feng had already figured out what he needed before coming here. Hearing Minister Xie bring it up, he blurted it out immediately.

Minister Xie had just finished asking and had instinctively taken a sip of water from his cup. The answer Lin Feng gave startled him so badly that the unswallowed tea in his mouth sprayed out entirely. Fortunately, no one was sitting opposite him, and he merely soaked the tabletop.

Elder Xie simply wiped the water from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, slammed his cup heavily onto the conference table, and shouted angrily at Lin Feng, "You brat, are you trying to start a world war? What do you need so many weapons for?"

"Precisely, Lin Feng, why on earth do you need so many weapons? Fifty thousand weapons are enough to equip several army corps!" the Premier added, looking at Lin Feng speechlessly.

Lin Feng naturally had his own plans. If Zhao Ze and his men wanted to secure a long-term foothold in Iraq, they had to expand their personnel. With personnel came the need for equipment. Although it sounded like a massive quantity, these weapons were consumable items; in active combat zones, a rifle would wear out and require replacement before long. Even fifty thousand weapons would barely be enough once Zhao Ze expanded his forces to tens of thousands of men.

"This is my affair, and I have the right not to explain. Do you not think the laser energy gun you just saw is worth these weapons?" Lin Feng certainly had no intention of revealing his true motives in detail. If the state leadership found out, they would inevitably be on their guard against him. Since Lin Feng had already set his sights overseas, it meant he would sooner or later step out onto the global stage.

Minister Xie certainly wouldn't dare claim it wasn't worth it. If this weapon could truly be developed, Elder Xie, the Premier, and the Chairman would all consider it a bargain—even if the price were multiplied tenfold.

"But we cannot provide you with so many ready-made weapons all at once!" Seeing Lin Feng's resolute attitude, Elder Xie did not dare to haggle too fiercely with him, fearing that pushing Lin Feng too hard might drive him to cooperate with foreign nations instead, which would be disastrous.

"Don't worry, you can supply them to me in installments. However, I need some ready stock right now—at least thirty thousand firearms, one hundred rocket launchers, along with grenades and landmines!" Seeing that Elder Xie and the other national leaders had not flatly refused, Lin Feng understood their difficulties and agreed to installment deliveries, provided they could give him an emergency batch first. After all, Zhao Ze's side was pressing him urgently.

At this point, Elder Xie fell silent and simply cast his gaze toward the Chairman and the Premier. At this juncture, the ultimate decision lay with them. Lin Feng followed Minister Xie's gaze and looked across at the Chairman and Premier.

The Chairman, still charismatic as ever, agreed to Lin Feng's request without further haggling, attaching only one strict condition: Lin Feng must keep the matter entirely confidential. If the news leaked or if this batch of weapons and equipment appeared within China's borders, the state would cut off all subsequent weapon supplies, and the laser energy gun would become the exclusive property of the state.

Faced with such terms, Lin Feng readily agreed. After all, these weapons were destined for use in Iraq, so he had nothing to fear.

With the conditions agreed upon, Lin Feng handed the entire laptop directly over to the Chairman, specifically assuring him, "Rest assured, my personal integrity is reliable. This weapon exists only on this computer and nowhere else!"

Knowing Lin Feng's character well, the Premier and Minister Xie still trusted him. Consequently, the laptop was once again heavily guarded and escorted to its proper destination. Although the Chairman and the others made quite a stir, the only people aware of the matter were those in the conference room and the designated expert. Since the weapon was ultimately going to be handed over to that expert for development anyway, his knowing about it was only a matter of time.

As for Elder Lin and Lin Chuanming—one a former high-ranking state cadre and the other a currently serving national official—the Chairman and the others were completely at ease with them knowing.

With the matter resolved, Lin Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to leave the Zhongnanhai administrative area with his grandfather and uncle, knowing full well how precious the time of the Chairman and Premier was each day. Before leaving, however, Lin Feng specifically instructed Elder Xie, "Grandpa Xie, please trouble yourself to have the goods prepared within the next two days and shipped to Zhanghai City. I will handle them from there!"

With Elder Xie's affirmative response, Lin Feng left Zhongnanhai with the rest of the Lin family and returned to the Lin family courtyard.

Once the Lin family entourage had departed, the Chairman specifically asked the Premier and Minister Xie to stay behind.

"Tell me, what on earth does Lin Feng want with so many weapons all at once? Could he possibly be planning to back a coup d'état in some foreign country?" the Chairman asked the other two, leaning back in his chair with a speculative look.

"Ah, that's impossible! Although I haven't deliberately tracked Lin Feng's every move, the boy is a public figure; we don't even need to assign anyone to follow him to know what he's up to. He spends every day idling around in Zhanghai City. The only time he went abroad was to stir up trouble in Japan—we know all of that. We've never heard of Lin Feng having any connections with overseas hostile forces!" Minister Xie, who was very familiar with Lin Feng, replied with a puzzled expression upon hearing the Chairman's words.