Invasion of America

Chapter 47 Hopeless

Early in the morning, Marco slowly opened his eyes, and what came into view was an unfamiliar ceiling and a slightly old chandelier.

Yesterday, he took a transoceanic flight of more than ten hours, changed flights two or three times, and finally arrived in Miami.

His brain had just woken up and his tired body was still protesting, but his mind had already begun to work at a rapid pace - the meeting with the young president of "Holy Light" still made him feel excited.

He was impressed by President Zhou's honesty and directness, as the other party made no secret of his intention to use money to break open the door to "electric flight."

Marco even once suspected that he had met a scammer?

But thinking back carefully, the other party's words and deeds, company background, and even the confidence to spend a lot of money, all seemed impeccable.

At least for now, everything seems to be on track.

He turned over and got out of bed, and the touch of the cold floor with his feet instantly dispelled some of his sleepiness.

The furniture in the room was simple and practical, but it was obvious that no one had lived there for a long time. When I lightly ran my fingertips across the table, I could feel a thin layer of dust.

This townhouse located in the suburbs of Miami is one of the spoils that Zhou Qingfeng "picked up" from the Chris family.

Although it is not luxurious, it is sufficient as a temporary place to stay.

Marco walked slowly towards the living room in his slippers.

The living room was decorated so simply that it was almost empty - an old leather sofa, a glass coffee table, and an LCD TV.

His laptop was placed on the coffee table, the screen was still on, and a "new message" alert was flashing on the instant messaging software.

He sat down and clicked on the message, which was a dozen unread messages from the technical director of "Electric Flight".

The last one read: "Salaries are directly converted from RMB to USD. Are you kidding me?"

Marco chuckled twice, sliding his fingers across the touchpad, carefully browsing the previous content.

Last night, he was so excited that he barely fell asleep until late at night. Considering the time difference between China and the United States, the technical director must have been awake all night.

The low-altitude electric aircraft market is still in the exploratory stage, and the quotations offered by various companies are relatively high.

"Electric Flight" is no exception, and the price of its main product is set at RMB 2.4 million per unit.

However, when Marco relayed Zhou Qingfeng's doubled offer, the entire company was shocked - this kind of customer is the real god!
But this is not all.

In a private chat, Marco also revealed even more shocking news - in order to poach talent, Zhou Qingfeng was willing to offer a million-dollar annual salary to technical backbones.

Marco recalled the scene when he walked out of Zhou Qingfeng's office. His steps were soft, as if he was walking on clouds, and his head was still a little dizzy.

For the technical backbone of "electric flight", this is undoubtedly an irresistible temptation.

Think more divergently.

The aircraft order worth RMB 5 million per unit is a huge opportunity for Electric Flight, and the salary conversion is a direct benefit to the company's core personnel.

Everyone has a scale in their heart to judge what is more important.

Marco knew very well that once this news spread, people in the company would be in turmoil and it would cause quite a stir.

The technical director of "Electric Flight" is a doctoral student in mechanical and electrical engineering who graduated from a prestigious university and returned from studying abroad. He earns a million dollars a year.

In order to poach him, Zhou Qingfeng kept the salary amount unchanged, but directly changed the currency unit from "RMB" to "USD".

If you are willing to move to Miami, you can also get an additional property.

Judging from the messages, the technical director was actually quite puzzled by the product specifications submitted by Zhou Qingfeng - other companies were pursuing unmanned aircraft, but Zhou Qingfeng emphasized manned aircraft.

If intelligence is not required, the difficulty of flight control design will be reduced by one or two orders of magnitude.

In the end times, there is no reliable satellite navigation and the ground environment is very complex, so human driving is needed to ensure safety.

"If only human drivers are required, the company's current products can meet customer needs, and the cost can be reduced to 500,000 yuan.

A vehicle costing 500,000 RMB can be considered a 'quasi-luxury car' and can be equipped with lidar, millimeter-wave radar, high-definition cameras and high-computing power main control chips.

We can stack all of these features and absolutely satisfy our customers. At worst, we can add more batteries and redundant power, and the cost will never exceed a million.”

The technical director's idea was still a bit simple, but these words gave Marco a glimmer of understanding - perhaps five million per unit was just a gimmick to attract attention.

Zhou Qingfeng's real purpose is to recruit people with high salaries, lower product costs, distribute products on a large scale, and quickly enter the profit cycle.

"Couldn't President Zhou be a MAGA guy, making America great again? Poaching people from mainland China to build a beautiful city on a hill?

I have to say, if he is really willing to spend money like this and has the courage and financial resources to develop the real economy, he can really accomplish a lot."

Marco didn't reply immediately, but habitually pressed the remote control to check the news.

The LCD screen in the living room lights up and the ABC News logo appears on the screen. The host is reporting
"Yesterday, the FBI arrested a member of the 'Tree of Justice' organization. He was targeted for boasting about his 'feats' online."

This case is known all over the world, and Marco was curious about any new information. He sat on the sofa and stared at the screen intently.

"The suspect publicly claimed online that he was participating in a 'justice operation' against corrupt officials and described in detail the use of a flamethrower to burn a senior official.

The police had not previously disclosed details of the terrorist attack, so they quickly confirmed the suspect's involvement and immediately launched an investigation into him."

The host's tone suddenly changed, and he said in an incredulous tone: "What is shocking is that the suspect is still a student.

He was recruited by the Tree of Justice through the internet and within two weeks he learned how to operate a mechanical dog equipped with a flamethrower.

The host sighed, "He has never had direct contact with the core members of the 'Tree of Justice'. All operational instructions were issued through the Internet."

When the TV screen switched to the commentary section, an expert said seriously: "With the popularization of smart devices, the operating mode of terrorist organizations is undergoing fundamental changes.

They no longer need a large organizational structure, but only a few core members and sufficient funds to cause huge damage through remote control.

To be precise, funding is the most important factor. For terrorist organizations like this, only by cutting off their funding sources can they be completely eliminated.

Whoever pays is the leader of the terrorist organization."

Marco leaned back on the sofa, feeling both amused and annoyed. "How could the United States... become like this? A powerful governor was killed by a remote-controlled robot dog.

In the past, the US spent money to disrupt the lives of other people, but now I wonder which fool is secretly paying the Americans to create such a farce?
-
As the one who was "spent money in secret", Zhou Qingfeng was staring at his account balance and worrying about it - he still didn't spend enough money.

The countdown to the apocalypse hangs like the sword of Damocles. Mountains of gold and silver are worth less than a compressed biscuit in the wasteland. He must transform his assets into tangible survival supplies before civilization collapses. Just as he was contemplating what else to buy, a mysterious phone call interrupted his thoughts.

A strange voice calling itself Lula rustled through the receiver, promising to "work together again." This left Zhou Qingfeng baffled. He didn't even know anyone named "Lula."

When the meeting time arrived, the person who pushed open the oak door of the office was a familiar face - it was the rookie lieutenant of the National Guard who had been involved in the siege of Chris's family.

Lula, without his military uniform, felt like a fish out of water, feeling uncomfortable as if he were lacking oxygen. His well-tailored suit couldn't hide the awkwardness in his bones.

Zhou Qingfeng asked him to sit on the sofa, asked the maid to make coffee, and asked him with a smile how he was doing.

The lieutenant didn't react. He took out a military-grade encrypted tablet from his briefcase and tapped on the privacy screen with his fingertips, making a crisp sound.

"Victor, I have a friend who wants to establish long-term cooperation with you." A line of words has been written on the screen with a cold light.

Two normal people who can obviously speak insist on playing the role of mutes.

Zhou Qingfeng glanced at the sentence and felt that the other party was being too cautious, like he was farting with his pants down. However, he could only type: "What kind of cooperation? The kind that can't be seen in public? I am a law-abiding businessman."

Lieutenant Lula was initially nervous, but Zhou Qingfeng's words infuriated him. "You? Law-abiding? How dare someone who breaks the law every day say that? Do you think I'm a fool?"
He kept typing with a sullen face: "Don't worry, I'm not testing you, nor am I trying to fish for you. My superior."

Two words: rollback.

"I have a friend who will soon be participating in military exercises in Southeast Asia. The exercise fleet will dock in Bangkok next month, and there will be plenty of space.

If you have any goods, we can help you transport them. You can specify the delivery location and recipient. We only charge a reasonable fee.

After Zhou Qingfeng finished reading it, Lula deleted the text without leaving any trace, which was equivalent to burning it after reading.

Zhou Qingfeng stared at the two lines of words that disappeared automatically, and suddenly laughed out loud in his heart, "Oh my, you are actually engaging in military smuggling, this is a serious crime!
How could such business come to me?"

The two of us stared at each other for a long time.

The lieutenant remained silent, his face flushed and beads of sweat formed on his neck. However, he had orders and couldn't leave, so he could only stare blankly at Zhou Qingfeng.

This person is clearly a puppet following orders, yet he pretends to be an experienced broker.

"I don't have any goods to ship to Southeast Asia in the near future." Zhou Qingfeng spread his hands regretfully.

The lieutenant thought for a moment and continued typing on the tablet, "It's OK to ship it to Hong Kong. We have a channel that can deliver it there, but it will be more expensive.

As for specific goods, think carefully. The US has a long list of banned products. If you can't buy them, you can ask your friends behind you to buy them."

Good man, are you going to teach me how to smuggle?
Zhou Qingfeng couldn't figure out the other party's background for a while, so he could only euphemistically say that he needed time to think about it.

Lieutenant Lula was obviously relieved. He was just a messenger and his mission was completed.

As soon as the lieutenant left, the office door was suddenly kicked open with a loud "bang".

Monica rushed in carelessly, her high heels making crisp sounds on the floor. She walked up to Zhou Qingfeng with her arms folded across her chest and asked arrogantly:
"What did that idiot want with you just now?"

Zhou Qingfeng glanced at the shoe prints on the door, frowned slightly, and then turned coldly to his secretary Jennifer who was sorting documents:
"Have someone replace the door, and the cost will be deducted from Monica's salary. In addition, fine her $50,000."

Monica's eyes widened, her face flushed instantly, and she blurted out, "Fuck you, Victor! You're humiliating me!"

Zhou Qingfeng raised his head expressionlessly, "I'm the boss, I pay you, and I'm teaching you some rules."

His tone was cold, with no intention of giving in. "Now, get out of here and knock on the door before you come in."

Monica gnashed her teeth in anger and turned to look at Luxor and Jaeger who were standing outside the door.

Two bodyguards, one black and one white, stood outside watching with cold eyes, showing no intention of intervening, and even seeming to gloat over the misfortune. Only then did she realize that she was isolated from this group of people.

Helplessly, she could only glare at Zhou Qingfeng fiercely, turned around and walked out of the office, slamming the door shut.

Standing outside the door, she took a deep breath, tried to suppress the anger in her heart, raised her hand and knocked on the door.

"Boom boom boom——"

The office was quiet.

She knocked a few more times, her knuckles aching, before she heard Zhou Qingfeng's cold voice coming from inside: "Come in."

Monica walked to Zhou Qingfeng's desk again, placed her hands on the table, leaned forward slightly, suppressed her inner anger, and asked, "That guy just now was from the army, wasn't he?"

"Yes." Zhou Qingfeng casually flipped through the documents in his hand without even raising his head.

Monica sneered, "Recently, the government's Efficiency Department has raided a lot of the military's coffers. They're looking for new ways to make money, so they found you."

Zhou Qingfeng was a little puzzled: "If they really want to make money, they have the power and means to do so. Why would they come to me?"

Monica shook her head and laughed at Zhou Qingfeng's naivety: "Because you don't understand. There are many factions within the government and the military now, and the situation is more complicated than outsiders imagine.

Factions? No, there weren't any factions, just a bunch of people at odds with each other, each trying to eliminate their rivals.

What is being competed for now is not who has more power, but who has more money, who can provide more benefits, and who can buy off more people.

Even the yellow-haired guy in the White House is desperately trying to make money and win people's hearts. If he doesn't make money now, he won't even have the right to live in the future.

Zhou Qingfeng frowned slightly and continued to ask: "So?"

Monica's tone was also a little anxious: "So we have to make money too. Your billions of dollars are not enough. We need tens of billions, hundreds of billions of dollars.

After Prohibition, alcohol production became profitable, and with trade bans, smuggling became extremely profitable.

You pay, I'll find the source of goods, and the people behind the lieutenant will be responsible for transportation. As long as we find the right buyer, we can make hundreds of millions of dollars in a single transaction, enough for everyone to share."

Zhou Qingfeng finally raised his head and asked in surprise, "You guys went from 'Dragon Slayer' to 'Evil Dragon' so quickly?"

Monica was stunned for a moment, then scoffed loudly, "Slay the dragon? Who will slay the dragon? We have always been the evil dragon lurking deep within this country.

Now it's just some self-important fools who think they are heroes and are trying to overthrow us. But they are too weak to even pierce our scales."

Zhou Qingfeng was silent.

Monica continued, "After so many years of conflict and struggle, American politics has lost all its rules and has become a naked jungle society.

This world has always been a world of the jungle. You either become the hunter or the prey. You have no choice."

(End of this chapter)