My Wife is Actually a top-tier Soldier King?!
Chapter 996 - 996 967 Thunderbolt Operation!

996: Chapter 967: Thunderbolt Operation!

A Hefty Price!

996: Chapter 967: Thunderbolt Operation!

A Hefty Price!

Such a big case stunned many people.

After all, how had so much merchandise cleared customs, who was responsible for the transportation, whose goods were they, and what had previously been smuggled…

Especially this route, how long had it been in operation?

What had successfully been smuggled before?

And who were the buyers and sellers?

The bigger the case, the more complicated the details became, involving more stakeholders and characters.

Throughout the night, several departments joined forces for an emergency action, listing this case as a priority supervision case.

With great speed, they arrested a large number of suspects throughout the night, shut down several ports and airports, and searched a plethora of warehouses and material stations…

Better to wrongfully kill three thousand than to let one go free!

Regardless of whether there was evidence or conclusive proof, anyone under suspicion was to be arrested first to prevent any slip through the net, thus threatening social stability and safety.

Thus, while Wu Jie was sound asleep, already thousands had been arrested.

In the message left by Zheng, there was a particular mention that the Xu Family from Liuli City, by providing timely and significant intelligence, had also made a contribution to society and deserved recognition and encouragement.

Implicitly, this was, of course, to encourage Wu Jie to make more contact with Xu Feng and gather more intelligence.

The once renowned and domineering family, which had dominated the underworld for many years, had networks and relationships that were not to be underestimated.

Bastard!

It sounded good, making contact with Xu Feng?

The Xu Family from Liuli City was damn near going crazy from poverty—with the premise of contact being a need to cooperate, and cooperation meant spending money.

Doesn’t buying intelligence cost money?

Just last night, he had given Xu Feng a real ten million!

“Don’t expect the horse to run fast without feeding it some grass!

If you don’t allocate a budget, how am I supposed to make contact and communicate?”

After retorting a couple of sentences, Wu Jie got up to wash up and prepare to leave.

Today, he had an appointment to go to the Science Academy, then to the War Statistics Institute to select various materials for constructing the nuclear fusion power plant.

Just before heading out, Zheng messaged back.

“You’re so poor you only have money left, ten or twenty million for you is nothing, right?

Consider it charity!”

Seeing this message left Wu Jie momentarily speechless.

“You’re not faux leather; you’re the real hide!”

After replying, Wu Jie didn’t want to waste more time on idle chatter and quickly left to take care of important matters.

The Science Academy was located in the old city, with red bricks and white tiles.

But while the exterior of the buildings looked old, their interiors were exceptionally modern.

The academic research and exchange center looked like an antiquated auditorium but was incredibly advanced inside.

Numerous academicians arrived punctually, each bringing their research treasures.

Behind the birth of every more advanced, more powerful material was an indescribable amount of hard work, cost, and the burning of brain cells—not to mention luck factors and sometimes even learning (plagiarizing) from others’ research achievements.

Wu Jie’s visit this time, of course, wasn’t to ‘pick up wool without putting in work.’

These were materials that everyone had worked hard to develop; no one was a fool, so how could they be expected to just give them away for free?

One should be decent in their dealings.

Wu Jie wasn’t short of money; it was energy points he needed.

As long as money could solve it, there wasn’t a problem.

Moreover, allowing them to earn money was, in fact, indirectly providing them with research funding, enabling them to have more resources to conduct more research and thereby continuously promote the progress of material science and technology.

Isn’t it just money?

As long as it didn’t cost energy points, spending a few hundred million or even a billion wasn’t an issue.

Technology transfer for compensation, paid licensing, cooperative production, exclusive customization…

Any form of cooperation was possible for the materials he wanted.

In any case, there was no stealing or robbing, no coercion.

This time, it was just about setting up a nuclear fusion power plant for their use in Technology City.

Though there were many types of special materials needed, the total amount wasn’t enormous—the most of any single type of alloy material required didn’t exceed ten tons.

After discussing purchases, of course, came talks about cooperation.

Wu Jie’s investment of several hundred billion in building Technology City was common knowledge.

And everyone knew that Tanglong Industrial Group wasn’t short of money.

If scientific research collaboration was possible, with Wu Jie providing facilities, equipment, locations, and various generous conditions, the financially strapped Science Academy just needed to offer personnel.

Joint efforts and shared technologies would surely be wonderful.

Moreover, life in Technology City wasn’t to be feared as arduous; in fact, it had schools, hospitals, canteens, shopping malls, and even its own airport and transport fleet, located next to a highway, making travel extremely convenient.

In an era where online shopping was highly developed, was there that much difference between living in the city or the countryside?

Furthermore, being away from the big cities allowed one to conduct research in a serene natural environment, enjoying better natural surroundings.

The scientific staff involved in the collaboration would also enjoy the same treatment as official employees of the group, receiving three Detox Pills each month…

These various generous conditions immediately tempted many of the research academicians.

Of course.

When it came to business matters, Tang Xiao was the most knowledgeable.

Wu Jie was just testing the waters, reaching a preliminary intention with the Science Academy.

As for the specific details and methods of cooperation, naturally, Tang Xiao would be the one to make overall arrangements.

In the afternoon.

Wu Jie headed to the War Statistics Institute.

The headquarters of Du was even more low-key than that of the Security Bureau.

Incredibly, it was located in an extremely old industrial district.

Dilapidated factories, towering chimneys, desolate streets…

it was utterly desolate.

Yet, inside the War Statistics Institute, it was quite upscale.

The tireless Du, who had been busy all through the previous night, still energetically welcomed Wu Jie and led him, with laughter and jokes, to the confidential archive.

The confidential archive was not a warehouse; it referred to a place where secret data and important materials were stored.

Over a dozen developed nations had been plunged into turmoil and chaos for more than a month.

Such a heaven-sent opportunity naturally called for fishing in troubled waters, taking advantage of the chaos to reap benefits.

All along,

the country had been lagging behind the international advanced level in the field of cutting-edge technologies for many years.

For instance, the domestically manufactured aviation engines, which were claimed to be the crown jewels of industry, could be designed and made, but when it came to thrust-to-weight ratio, fuel efficiency, and reliability, the performance was really not on par—ultimately, the materials technology and design processing were not up to standard.

Seizing the chaos to “reap benefits,” they acquired a lot of valuable data and equipment.

Since it could be provided to other industrial departments and enterprises, why not to Wu Jie?

The generous Du allowed Wu Jie to pick and choose freely, taking whatever he fancied.

However, it wasn’t a handout for nothing.

Although Xu Feng had already taken the order and was helping to collect intelligence related to the theft of nuclear warheads, it wasn’t certain whether he could succeed.

One couldn’t pin all their hopes on him.

Therefore, Du’s implication was self-evident.

The Security Bureau already had the Skynet System, comprehensive information networking, and big data analysis, maintaining domestic peace and stability with truly enviable efficiency.

The War Statistics Institute also hoped that Wu Jie could create an advanced intelligence analysis system, capable of integrating various intelligence materials and conducting highly intelligent analysis and processing, thus greatly improving efficiency.

Getting a favor comes with an obligation; grabbing someone’s hand leaves you open to their influence.

This principle Wu Jie understood well.

Helping the War Statistics Institute become more powerful was also a great thing for the country and the people; Wu Jie was naturally happy to help.

But the sources of intelligence for the War Statistics Institute were really too numerous.

Just in space alone, there were high-resolution optical imaging satellites, synthetic aperture radar satellites, electronic intelligence satellites, and remote sensing satellites, among others, which could obtain vast amounts of optical features, electromagnetic signals, and more through various means.

On land, there were many electronic listening stations, at sea were spy ships disguised as commercial and fishing vessels, in the air regular patrol reconnaissance aircraft, plus spies infiltrated in various industries…

The sources of intelligence were indeed too many, but the problem that arose was the sheer volume and complexity of the information.

Hence, the War Statistics Institute had a specialized intelligence analysis department with a large number of analysts.

Some were experts in optical recognition, others electronic signal analysts, and still others experts in cryptography, minor languages, and other fields—all very professional and powerful.

But human time and energy are ultimately limited—no one can have twenty-five hours in a day, nor can they work non-stop day and night without rest.

Creating an intelligence analysis system wasn’t about replacing human analysis but supplementing it, taking on the “preliminary processing” of all intelligence messages—sorting, automatic analysis, extracting core data, etc.

This would allow the valuable human resources to focus on the big picture instead of getting bogged down in minor, messy details, leading to inefficient and error-prone intelligence analysis.

The perks of working part-time at the well-funded War Statistics Institute were indeed different.

Wu Jie remembered clearly to this day that the little black room at Zheng’s place had no tea.

But here at the War Statistics Institute, there were coffee, beverages, tea—whatever you wanted, they had plenty of it all.

When tired, there were rooms to sleep and rest, not inferior to hotel standard.

Comparing people can be infuriating!

And the reason behind this difference was the different “combat objectives”.

The Security Bureau was only about maintaining domestic peace and stability, dealing with various criminals whose power was not particularly strong.

But the War Statistics Institute was another story; it was tasked with defending national sovereignty and international interests, up against international powers, neighboring and global superpowers.

Just in terms of annual death quotas, the War Statistics Institute had several times more than the Security Bureau.

It was imaginable that the rate of sacrifice and disappearance of heroes who died for the country and the people was very high.

Greater danger brings better treatment.

Especially given that the current international situation seemed stable but was fraught with hidden dangers, it meant risking one’s life, working as if one had their head hung by their belt.

If the treatment wasn’t good, how could it be justified?

…

Time flew by, and the next morning arrived.

Xu Feng sent a message to arrange a meeting.

Whether or not there was news about the nuclear warheads, this meeting was, of course, a must-go!

Learning from the lesson of the underground parking lot the other night, Du arranged for additional manpower this time and prepared two extra cars.

If they encountered those violent debt collectors who didn’t know better, they would deal with as many as came.

At ten o’clock in the morning,

they arrived at a designated suburban scrap car dismantling factory.

This time, those selling information turned out to be Xu Feng and his father.

And the location chosen was excellent; any tails would be easily spotted.

Upon getting into the car and settling down, Xu Kuishan got straight to the point.

“The nuclear warheads can be sold as a package, but they’re asking for a high price, Jie.

Are you really planning to buy?”

…