Chapter 70 - Chapter 70: An Order Worth 88 Million USD
Chapter 70: An Order Worth 88 Million USD
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Everyone returned to their own booths and then turned their gaze towards the entrance of the exhibition hall.
A few minutes later, a group of people entered the exhibition hall. Among them, several men with white robes and long beards stood out.
Tang Rui also spotted Liu Yu in the crowd, who was talking to a middle-aged man in a white robe.
After entering, the group headed straight to the booth of the CETC.
This exhibition was hosted by them. Those who came to bask in its glory had to wait for now.
Tang Rui waited bored at the booth.
“By the way, Lin, could you ask about the price of CETC’s 8×8 field command vehicle for me later? No downgrades, please.”
“A field command vehicle? Why do you want to know about that?” Lin Chao was curious.
“I want to buy one.”
“What?”
Lin Chao looked at Tang Rui as if he wanted to check if he had a fever.
“I really want to buy one, no joking.”
“Why do you want to buy it?”
“As a mobile home.”
“Why don’t you just buy a regular mobile home then?”
“Can they compare? This vehicle has a military-grade blast-resistant chassis, plus triple protection. The body has 65mm bulletproof armor, and it can integrate with the military’s unified information platform. Not to mention the data link is fully operational. Can regular mobile homes offer all of that?”
Tang Rui casually listed a few features, leaving Lin Chao speechless.
“Alright, 1’11 ask about it for you later.”
Lin Chao didn’t have much choice but to help. Don’t ask whether such a vehicle could be purchased privately. Tang Rui hadn’t mentioned buying it under his name as a private individual; he could use the company’s name, right? Moreover, after buying it, they planned to upgrade its configuration and maybe even make some profit.
Over forty minutes later, the representatives of the middle east delegation left CETC’s booth. The contracts for the equipment they intended to purchase had already been signed.
That was their main purpose for coming here; the rest of their visit was casual. “What is that red thing?”
After leaving the CETC’s booth, a middle east delegation member pointed to where Tang Rui and the others were and asked curiously.
“That’s a comprehensive vehicle-mounted firefighting drone platform produced by a domestic manufacturer.”
Liu Yu took a glance and immediately answered.
Firefighting drones?
Hearing the word “firefighting,” the middle east delegation members became immediately interested. In their minds, combining weapons with firefighting equipment implied sensitive devices, embargoed devices, or equipment that couldn’t be exported through regular channels. Generally speaking, such things were valuable. For example, the firefighting extinguishing grenades they had purchased earlier were quite impressive.
“We’d like to take a look.”
“Sure.”
With countless eyes watching, the middle east delegation, led by their leader, approached the booth of DeepRed Corporation.
“Mr. Foreign Minister, Prince Salim, this is ATr. Tang Rui, the head of DeepRed Corporation and the designer of this weapon. If you have any questions, you can ask him directly.”
After Liu Yu’s introduction, Tang Rui greeted the two in fluent Arabic.
They had been speaking English earlier, but Tang Rui’s ability to converse in Arabic impressed them.
“Mr. Tang, your Arabic is excellent. I’m truly amazed,” Prince Salim praised.
“Thank you for your kind words, Your Highness. I’ve always wanted to visit your country, so I spent some time learning the language,” Tang Rui replied. “Mr. Tang, you’re truly remarkable. Learning foreign languages can be quite challenging,” the prince said.
“Can’t be that hard. I heard Your Highness’s English earlier, and it was rather impeccable.”
Tang Rui engaged in a bit of mutual flattery with Prince Salim, and there was no need for Liu Yu to translate. He then proceeded to explain the product.
“The price for a set isn’t high, but why must it be a trade-in? Can’t you sell us the drones directly?” Prince Salim asked, furrowing his brows.
“Your Highness, please don’t misunderstand. This isn’t intentional complexity. It’s mainly to prevent the system from being hacked. Currently, I can guarantee that this equipment won’t be exploited by the enemy through technical means or electronically interfered with. However, if I open the system, can Your Highness guarantee that the system’s data won’t be stolen when the drones are integrated? Moreover, the core of these firefighting drones relies on artificial intelligence algorithms, including multi-drone coordination programs. Your Highness should understand the value of these core programs. If we don’t take these precautions, this combat platform, which surpasses the Spring Dagger several times in performance, wouldn’t be exportable.”
Tang Rui explained seriously.
Prince Salim understood the need for high-tech products to undergo extensive security measures.
“Mr. Tang, according to your description, can this system truly destroy a special tactical team?”
“Absolutely. If Your Highness doubts it, we can test it. You can choose the location and send your bodyguards. You can personally launch the drones, and we can observe the results together.”
“Mr. Tang, please don’t misunderstand. We have complete trust in your product’s performance. You have more credibility than the Western manufacturers. I can promise that we’ll purchase ten sets no matter what. If it truly achieves the effects you described, we will order 40 sets. By the way, the expenses for this demonstration will be covered by us.”
“No need. Demonstrating the product’s performance for our clients is our responsibility. There’s no need to discuss it further. I am confident we will secure Your Highness’s order.”
Tang Rui wasn’t worried at all about the real-world performance; it had been thoroughly tested.
“Mr. Tang, you have gained my trust.”
Prince Salim readily signed an letter of intent for 4.0 sets, worth 88 million dollars.
After the prince and foreign minister left, Lin Chao approached Tang Rui, looking surprised.
“You can speak Arabic too?”
“I can also speak Russian and Japanese if you want to hear.”
“When did you learn all this?”
“While sleeping.”
Lin Chao rolled his eyes and couldn’t be bothered with him.
After lunch, Tang Rui received a message asking him to bring the equipment to a military test site outside the city.
CETC had also brought their radar vehicle.
Tang Rui found out that the middle east delegation wanted to test the radar’s performance against drones.
Tang Rui shook his head upon hearing this. It seemed that the middle east had picked up some bad habits. However, both Tang Rui and the CETC didn’t mind. Even though the export version of the radar vehicle was lower-end, it would have no problem scanning firefighting drones.
Arriving at the test site, with the help of military personnel, all 36 firefighting drones were equipped with paintball-like explosive packs.
Soon, Prince Salim came over, saying that his people were ready.
Twenty-eight bodyguards had entered the testing building.
That’s it? Twenty-eight people hiding in a building would be sitting ducks if the drones attacked. If they had hidden in the woods or trenches, it would have been more troublesome.
But, upon reflection, their military operations didn’t involve jungle warfare or trench warfare, mostly urban guerrilla warfare. Tang Rui had overestimated them.
“Your Highness, please press the launch button.”
“Alright, thank you.”
Prince Salim pressed the launch button.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…
The 36 firefighting drones quickly launched into the air.
“Your Highness, all you need to do now is select a target and choose the attack mode. You don’t need to worry about the rest.”
“Is it that simple?”
“It’s that simple.”
Following Tang Rui’s instructions, Prince Salim clicked on the screen twice and then stopped operating.
Next, he raised his head and saw the 36 drones rapidly approaching the building.
Five minutes later, the exercise was over. All 28 of Prince Salim’s bodyguards were “killed,” and 19 drones remained.
“Mr. Tang, you must come visit us at our domain. 1 want to entertain you properly. This is the most suitable weapon for us middle east, and it’s exactly what we need.”
Prince Salim was stunned by the impressive performance of the firefighting drones. This simple, game-like method of warfare was most suitable for their style of combat. After all, their soldiers… Well, it’s best not to say..