Invasion of America

Chapter 89 Proud
Late at night, I was sleeping soundly.

A shrill ringing of a cell phone suddenly woke Dias up. He frowned, groped in the darkness, and finally grabbed the phone on the bedside.

The cold light of the screen illuminated his face, displaying an unfamiliar number.

He glanced at his wife beside him and muttered a few words in dissatisfaction, turned over and continued to sleep.

Dias threw back the quilt, got out of bed quietly, walked into the bathroom, closed the door, and then answered the phone. He said impatiently, "Hello, this is Steve Noam."

There was a strange sound coming from the other end of the phone, as if something was blocking the throat, making intermittent sobs and gasps.

The voice sounded painful and desperate, as if someone was struggling on the brink of death.

Dias frowned, realizing something was wrong. He lowered his voice and asked tentatively, "Who are you?"

A cheerful yet sarcastic voice came from the other end of the line: "Mr. Norm, who do you think would call you at three in the morning? It can't be an angel, right?"

Dias' pupils suddenly contracted, and the muscles on his face twitched slightly. He immediately recognized the voice - it was Victor.

He closed his eyes slightly and immediately thought of a response. After a long while, he finally squeezed out a sentence: "Congratulations, Victor. How many of my men are left?"

The caller was Zhou Qingfeng. He replied calmly, "Gone. All killed by me. It's not your men's fault; they tried their best."

At that moment, Zhou Qingfeng was standing next to a black SUV, its body riddled with bullet holes, its windows shattered into a spiderweb. The phone came from the "cleaner" in the driver's seat.

The last "cleaner" was originally controlling the drone and was more than a hundred meters away from the secluded villa.

The man thought he had enough time to retreat safely, but he didn't expect the target to come running out of the darkness along the road like a cheetah.

At that moment, Zhou Qingfeng's speed was astonishing, breaking the world record for sprinting. He closed the gap with the black SUV in just seven or eight seconds.

The SUV's reverse speed was too slow and its body was not bulletproof.

When the muzzle of the M4 spewed out flames from twenty or thirty meters away, bullets poured out like raindrops.

The car window glass was instantly pierced with seven or eight bullet holes, and the "cleaner" in the driver's seat was shot several times. The most fatal bullet tore his carotid artery.

Blood gushed out, staining the seat and steering wheel red.

The 'cleaner' tried to give himself first aid after being shot, but Death was standing next to him, staring at him coldly.

Zhou Qingfeng looked down at the lifeless face of the 'cleaner' and said in a cold tone, "Mr. Norm, your idea is good, but unfortunately the execution is not perfect."

Diaz was silent for a moment, then sighed again, "Victor, you win this round. I'll send someone to clean up the mess.

I have a question though, you were injected with the Project 'X' booster, correct?

I can understand your motivation for sending the project information to 'Todai', but I don't understand why you are so bold as to inject yourself?

Your chances of success are lower than winning at roulette."

Zhou Qingfeng chuckled. "This is my secret, I can't tell anyone about it. You should think about how to deal with Hammer and I's counterattack."

Diaz showed no sign of weakness verbally, saying in a deep voice, "Want to? No need. I already have a plan for your counterattack.

You are simply using Hammer's connections and the money you have to win over the wavering elements within the 'Tree of Justice' and cause trouble for me.

Just a reminder, I'm a senior intelligence analyst at the Department of Homeland Security. I can even control satellites in space. You can't defeat me with just these tricks."

Zhou Qingfeng was silent for a moment, then said, "A big move is about to happen. Even your satellites are useless."

After hanging up the phone, Diaz sat on the toilet in the bathroom, silent for a long time.

After a while, footsteps were heard outside the bathroom. His wife got up, opened the door, and asked in surprise, "Steve, is something wrong?"

Dias nodded slightly. "Yes, there's a little trouble. One of our targets escaped. But it's okay. I have ample manpower and resources to make up for it."

His wife felt a little relieved and advised him to continue sleeping until dawn.

Diaz shook his head, put on a coat casually, walked to his home office, sat behind the desk and fell into deep thought.

Losing six 'cleaners' was no small matter. Even if it was a trap, it showed that the opponent they encountered was too strong.

If Diaz wanted to deal with Zhou Qingfeng again, he would face a big dilemma in manpower allocation - he had to write a report and apply for it, and he couldn't just send someone out with just a phone call.

If he is just a foreign kid, it will not be difficult to deal with him as long as he is still in the United States.

But the threat posed by old man Hammer is a hundred times greater than that posed by Zhou Qingfeng. The two of them are in cahoots with each other - one has connections and relationships, the other has money and the ability to act, which gives Diaz a headache.

"Looks like we have to make some compromises and mobilize those monsters in the military to solve the problem as soon as possible."
-
Twenty or thirty days passed in a flash, and the world was still peaceful.

People quickly forgot the deaths of two Florida governors and the flight of the Holy Light CEO. However, electric flight continued to thrive in the low-altitude economy.

Marco, dressed in a traditional Chinese dress, walked out of the U.S. Capitol. Outside, a group of reporters, armed with cameras, pointed their guns at him, peppering him with questions.

"Mr. MAX, what are your thoughts on this congressional hearing?"

Will Electric Flight make adjustments to enter the US market?

"Who owns your company now? Can you give me a definite answer?"

Faced with a bunch of questions, Marco cursed in his heart - his life in the past month had been full of ups and downs, and every day was thrilling.

A month ago, he came to Miami from the University of the East, ready to partner with Congers to promote the "electric flight" business in the United States.

Unexpectedly, the governor of Florida directly listed Zhou Qingfeng as a wanted criminal on the grounds of "tax evasion" and "threatening national security."

The president ran away, and it was hard for the people under him.

Marcos was also called to the FBI in Miami to take a statement and was not allowed to leave the United States in the short term.

I thought my company's business in the United States was doomed, but in the past half month, there was a sudden turn of events. The US government seemed to be willing to give the green light to "electric flight".

The reason is simple - the United States has a very developed general aviation industry, so whether there are low-altitude aircraft or not actually has little impact.

However, there are many places in the world with backward infrastructure, and the "Warthog" that can ignore ground transportation has a market in large areas of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

After Kelly returned to 'Dongda', she began to integrate the supply chain. As long as the production of 'Warthog' increased, the corresponding accessories market would be cultivated.

For example, although carbon fiber is expensive, it has an immediate effect on improving the flying quality of the Warthog.

As long as "electric flight" can purchase large quantities of carbon fiber, domestic suppliers will be motivated to expand production and lower its price - just like lowering the price of photovoltaics, the same principle.

Watching the University of Tokyo eat meat is more painful than the United States itself being hungry.

Finding that "electric flight" could not be curbed, the U.S. Congress held a hearing in a pretense and brought Marcos, who was still in Miami and had not returned to the country, to Washington, D.C. for questioning.

Lao Ma was very angry, so he let himself go and showed off in front of a bunch of media at the hearing.

When a congressman asked, "Is 'Electric Flight' a spy tool of 'Todai'?" Marcos said with certainty, "If it were in the past, I would have only one answer to this question: 'No'.

But in today's world, pagers can become deadly bombs, so it's not impossible for our company's "Warthog" to become a spy tool.

It depends on whether the user is friendly or hostile.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the media at the hearing site collectively celebrated - when others come to the US Congress to be questioned, they all try their best to make their words more smooth and avoid any loopholes.

Unexpectedly, the vice president of "Electric Flight" was like a hedgehog and told the truth bluntly!
Seeing the surprised expression on the US congressman's face, Marco felt incredibly happy. He had anticipated this, and a strong emotion was already brewing inside him: "Today, I'm going to lose my manners!"
Previously, "Electric Flight" had only a few dozen employees, and Lao Ma was the vice president. It sounded like a prestigious position, but in fact, he had to run around to take orders every day. It was a humble and lowly job, and he had to force himself to smile.

Now that "electric flight" has developed, the number of employees is almost over a thousand, and there is no need for Lao Ma to visit customers in person anymore.

So, when the company was small, I was forced to bow down; now that the company is big, it still forces me to bow down. Isn't this company's development in vain?

Marco, I have been struggling for half my life. Today I want to live for myself. I must show off my power and ambition in the U.S. Congress!

The questioning congressman felt that the Asian manager in front of him did not understand the situation, so he asked a second question.

"Mr. MAX, can you guarantee that if Electric Flight operates in the United States, flight data will not be transmitted back to Dongda?"

Marco's neck stiffened. "Dear Congressman, where the flight data is located depends on where the server storing the data is.

If the server is at 'Todai', it will naturally be transmitted back."

As soon as this answer came out, the media at the scene finally understood that the vice president of "Electric Flight" was not going to speak nicely today - he was here specifically to confront people.

Good, good rebuttal!
That’s how news works.

It is boring to have a person being questioned who is timid, compromises and plays word games.

However, the parliamentarians present were all stunned, as if they had just realized that the person who came today was not going to give in.

One of the members of parliament couldn't help but ask, "Mr. MAX, what country are you from?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm definitely not American." Marco spread his hands and thought, do I even need to ask this?

There was a burst of laughter at the scene, and even the congressman who asked the question was amused.

Marcos continued, "Members of the Congress, we all know that 'electric flight' cannot enter the US market.

Why not say something honestly?

Our company produced more than 100 Warthogs last week, all of which were provided to Chinese customers in Africa on a lease basis.

By using these convenient aircraft, customers no longer have to endure the bumpy, muddy and dangerous local roads, and can easily expand their local business scope in Africa.

This is not only about making economic benefits, but also huge political benefits.

Electric Flight has received over a billion RMB in government loans and will build an automated factory with an annual production capacity of 10,000 aircraft within eight months.

We can find suppliers for all our spare parts locally, you can’t stop us.”

It would have been better if this hadn't been said. After it was said, several high-ranking congressmen seemed to have their assholes poked and their faces turned pale.

This questioning session ended very quickly and there was no need to ask any more questions afterwards.

"Electric flight" does not consider the US market, and its funds and technology are also independent. It is not subject to US sanctions. Marco does not care even if the congressmen question it thousands of times.
-
The moment he walked out of the U.S. Capitol, Marcos seemed to have become a hero under the spotlight, surrounded by the media.

Even if some people regard him as a villain, they have to admit that he is a tough villain full of unique charm.

On the way back to the hotel, his cell phone kept ringing.

Familiar friends and colleagues called one after another, some congratulated him, some joked, and said that he had made a big splash in the enemy's home court, which was truly "boosting the country's prestige."

The news on the Internet is overwhelming. Domestic self-media has begun to portray him as a "national hero" and has also praised "electric flight" to the sky.

While scrolling through his phone, Marco couldn't help but smile, feeling secretly proud.

Arriving at the hotel suite, he was about to take a good shower and relax, but when he opened the door, he was stunned - there was someone in the room.

"President?!" Marco stared at Zhou Qingfeng, who was sitting on the sofa, as if he had seen a ghost. "Why are you here with me?"

The president disappeared for nearly a month and almost evaporated from the face of the earth.

At this moment, Zhou Qingfeng was leaning leisurely on the sofa, holding a mobile phone. The video playing on the screen was Marco's argument at a congressional hearing, and he was watching it with great interest.

"Old Ma, I thought you would act like a humble wife when you went to the American territory."

Zhou Qingfeng raised his head and teased, "I didn't expect you to be so brave. You're like a thorn in the flesh, not giving others any face at all."

Hearing this, Marco immediately breathed a sigh of relief and felt even more proud.

After all, he was only the vice president of Electric Flight. If Zhou Qingfeng was not there, it would never have been his turn to be in the limelight.

His biggest worry was that the company's top management would come out and beg for mercy later in an attempt to change public opinion. If that happened, he would really be made a clown.

At this moment, Zhou Qingfeng has completely recovered from the mental influence of the "X" enhancer, and his emotions and memory are back on track.

However, he even dared to kill the governor of the United States, so naturally he would not care about Marco's "confrontational performance" in Congress.

"Mr. Zhou, what are you like now..." Marco asked cautiously, feeling a little nervous.

Strangely enough, although Electric Flight is a subsidiary of Holy Light and now has considerable influence in the world, it seems to be the same whether the company has this president or not.

It can even be said that without him, the company runs more smoothly, employees have more freedom, and there are almost no taboos.

Zhou Qingfeng didn't explain where he had been for the past month. He just said calmly, "I want you to help me meet a few people privately."

"Who?" Marco was stunned.

"The same people who questioned you at the congressional hearing today."

"Those congressmen?" Marco was a little confused.

"Yes, it's them." Zhou Qingfeng nodded.

"What do you want to see them for?" Marco was even more confused.

"Send them money. I still have two or three hundred million dollars in my Holy Light Foundation. It would be a waste if I don't spend it."

Marco's eyes widened. "President, wasn't your foundation account sealed?"

Zhou Qingfeng smiled and said, "If we can seal it, we can lift the ban."

(End of this chapter)