America: My Time

Chapter 1485 Concerns from All Sides

Chapter 1475 Concerns from All Sides
John's words struck the Middle Eastern prince like a thunderbolt. Their worst fears had come true. John's purpose was clear: Gulfstream Aerospace no longer trusted the Middle Eastern tycoons and was severing all ties with previous collaborations, prioritizing a complete system upgrade. As for DreamWorld, their former partner, it had been abandoned. John had decided to forgo DreamWorld and Nvidia, and Bell Labs would handle the missing components.

John wasn't just representing Gulfstream Aerospace; he was representing all the companies that partnered with Middle Eastern tycoons. John's words practically severed everything for the Middle Eastern tycoons, a result they couldn't accept. The Middle Eastern tycoons had speculated about why John reacted so strongly, but ultimately it came down to their own actions. After all, they had a minor disagreement with John, and they hadn't fully trusted him, having also collaborated with Europeans before.

"Mr. John, I can assure you that we have not sold Gulfstream Aerospace's technology, nor have we allowed any outsiders to access it!" Faced with the worst-case scenario, the Middle Eastern prince could only offer this assurance. Although his royal family had considered this issue before meeting John, they realized that things were not so simple when they actually faced it!
"Guarantee? Your guarantee is meaningless. I don't doubt you, but those traitors. I can trust your royal family's credibility, but you can't guarantee the integrity of everyone in the Middle East. Since they made this decision at this time to seek peace, they have naturally betrayed us completely. So we need to pay a huge price to eliminate all hidden dangers. This is necessary."

John paused slightly, took a deep breath, and continued, "Prince, although I am reluctant to doubt you, I must remind you of one thing: if anyone harms my interests or crosses my bottom line, don't blame me for being ruthless. I don't care whether those people are yours or not, but they had better not infringe upon my interests!"

Upon hearing John's words, the Middle Eastern prince's expression changed drastically. He naturally knew who John was referring to. Since John had said such a thing, it meant that the trust between them had truly been compromised. His so-called guarantees were a joke in John's eyes, after all, the royal family could not control everyone's thoughts!

"Don't worry, I understand!" At this point, there's no use saying anything. Saying that the other party has no connection with Riyadh is not convincing at all. Everyone is not stupid. Moreover, the other party's family is not without influence in Riyadh. They even have a certain influence in their military. So John's suspicion is not without reason!

"I don't want you to understand, nor do I want you all to understand. I only want the result. As long as he touches my interests, it's not just about him alone, but about his family and even your Middle East. Don't you think this betrayal came too suddenly and the timing is too coincidental? Don't you think there are other issues behind this?"

John's words caused the Middle Eastern prince's expression to change repeatedly. He wasn't stupid; he knew that John must have some information to dare to say such things, and that was what made him most uneasy. He didn't know what information John had, or if that guy was up to some kind of conspiracy.

"Is there a conspiracy behind all this?" The Middle Eastern prince was also pondering this question, but he couldn't get lost in thought, since he had come to see John to persuade him not to affect their cooperation!
“Mr. John, I understand your concerns, but that’s no reason to stop our cooperation. Besides, you know how much our cooperation has come at!”

"You think this isn't a reasonable excuse, but to me, it's the best excuse. Our cooperation has come at a great cost for you, and I've also been under immense pressure and burden. You know the situation in the US; I bore all the pressure during our cooperation back then, and what was your response? Betrayal. And at this crucial moment, how am I supposed to feel? To be honest, without a satisfactory outcome, I have no choice but to abandon our cooperation. You think you've suffered a loss, but I've paid an even greater price, especially on the new project—two drone carriers, and the most advanced technology at that. Do you think I can trust you now? Also, you haven't forgotten the immense pressure I faced back then, enduring pressure from the military to ensure your communications remained unaffected. And how did those guys repay me?"

John's barrage of questions made the Middle Eastern prince's face turn grim, because these were all true. Although there were some unequal agreements in John's cooperation with them, he had generally treated them the best. But now, such betrayal had occurred, and it was understandable that John doubted their integrity.

"This is not something we can decide; we just found out about it ourselves!"

Unfortunately, John didn't believe the Middle Eastern prince's words at all. That was the Middle East, and they had connections with each other. How could John not know about those people's decisions? Besides, they had promised John that they wouldn't initiate a ceasefire. But how long had it been? These guys had betrayed their promise and directly put John's steel mill in trouble. Who would bear such a huge loss? Did these guys think an apology would be enough to settle things?

"Alright, we don't need to discuss this further. The betrayal has already happened, and no amount of reasoning will help. I won't give you any guarantees. I need to wait for Jaguar Security's assessment before I can decide whether to continue the cooperation. And this is all contingent on the US not making any moves. Otherwise, I'll need to be cautious!"

Even if the Middle Eastern prince was unwilling, he could only leave in disappointment. He had not received any promises from his conversation with John. He understood that Gulfstream Aerospace would react quickly, and even Bentley Group would make rapid changes. Everything was developing in a direction unfavorable to them.

Although they wanted to contact the Middle East by phone, such an important matter was unsafe over the phone, even with satellite phones. After concluding his conversation with John, the Middle Eastern prince immediately took his private plane back to the Middle East to discuss countermeasures. After all, John's reaction this time had been rather extreme, exceeding their expectations. Given the Middle Eastern prince's appearance and the changes in the Middle East, were those old men unaware? Did the White House not know? Or was the military unaware? Therefore, they were all waiting to see what John would do next.

"The worst has happened. I told you long ago not to pay attention to those guys, but you insisted on doing it, and now it's directly affecting us. If Gulfstream Space abandons all cooperation and takes back the access to the GPS system, it will be a disaster for us. Most of our trump cards will lose their effectiveness, and we can't afford that price, not to mention other cooperation." The royal family is very nervous now, after all, their most reliable weapons are provided by Gulfstream Space and Bentley Group, and their communications system was also built for them by John.

"It's useless to talk about this now. What we need is a solution. Those guys betrayed their promise to Mr. John for their own peace, and now we have to bear all the consequences. The price is too high for us to pay. Moreover, if we don't handle this properly, our relationship with Mr. John will fundamentally change, and it will be impossible to get his support again. And Mr. John mentioned that person, which is also a huge pressure!"

"Has the military made an assessment of how much we would lose if we lost Gulfstream Aerospace's cooperation, and how much pressure and danger we would face?" At this moment, some people thought of the security issue, because everything happened so fast, catching them off guard!
"The military's assessment is out. If we abandon our cooperation with Gulfstream Aerospace, our combat effectiveness will be reduced by half, or even more. After all, without access to the global satellite positioning system, many of our trump cards will be difficult to use, not to mention the maintenance of those high-tech weapons!"

In the partnership between Middle Eastern tycoons and Jaguar Security, Jaguar Security handles the maintenance of their weapons, communications, and other systems. If this partnership were to break down, the blow would be devastating! The Middle Eastern tycoons cannot afford such an impact. Without Jaguar Security's support, they would lose too much power! Even their own safety would be at risk if their enemies found out. After all, without Gulfstream Aerospace's cooperation, they would lose all their high-tech capabilities. Would they remain unaffected then?
“We can show some sincerity. We will bear Mr. John’s losses and accept the previous orders. As for the communication system and other aspects of cooperation, we can make appropriate adjustments and changes, but termination is not an option. If we lose this support, our own safety will be affected. I don’t believe the promises of those oil tyrants.”

“I have no problem with money, but cooperation is not a decision we can make. I’m worried that Gulfstream Aerospace will take this opportunity to kick us out of the cooperation. Once trust is broken, the impact will be too great and too bad.”

While Middle Eastern royal families discussed countermeasures, some rejoiced while others wept. Those in Israel were celebrating; this was exactly the outcome they wanted. Why should they pay such a high price for 'peace'? The 'peace' they sought was far from simple. This kind of 'peace' would directly impact John's relationship with the Middle Eastern tycoons, potentially even turning them into bitter enemies, given Gulfstream Aerospace's possession of numerous high-tech weapons!

"Gentlemen, our plan is half successful. Those guys have agreed to our 'peace proposal,' which has affected their relationship with John, and even their cooperation. If we can break their relationship with John in one fell swoop, it will be a good thing for us. I think we should step up our efforts and strive to complete the plan as soon as possible."

"No, I don't think this is a good suggestion. The more this is the case, the more calm and careful we need to be. We can't afford to be careless in the slightest. If we continue to increase our efforts now, do you think those Middle Eastern tycoons are fools who can't see through all this? They were just caught off guard. Once they recover, everything will be different. After all, they have been cooperating with John for a long time, and they still have credibility!"

“Well said. We can’t act rashly at this time. The more this situation arises, the more we need to be patient. After all, this is not a trivial matter. If we make even a slight mistake, the impact on ourselves will be huge. Gulfstream Aerospace has not yet truly severed its cooperation with the Middle Eastern tycoons, so it’s better to remain still than to act rashly. We just need to observe from the sidelines instead of rushing out to cause trouble!”

In Seville, those guys were also discussing countermeasures. They all hoped to see John's relationship with the Middle Eastern tycoon break down, or even become enemies. However, this was not an easy thing to do. They needed to wait patiently rather than try to interfere with the development process at this time.

The quieter they are at this time, the more the conflict between the Middle Eastern tycoon and John will be highlighted, and the worse their relationship will become. Even the best relationship will eventually run out, so the Japanese guys naturally don't want to take the blame when problems arise!
“That’s true, but if we do nothing, it will give those guys the opportunity to negotiate with John. And if they offer a huge enough benefit, or even compensate John for his losses, it will be a disaster for us. After all, those guys already have a plan. We can fool those fools, but we can’t fool John! He must be watching our every move in the dark, looking for an opportunity to target us. We must be careful in dealing with all of this!”

Being cautious is easier said than done. These guys want to kill two birds with one stone, and their calculations are too shrewd. The more they do this, the more likely their plans are to go wrong. The biggest problem and the most dangerous problem is that such a big plan can't afford even the slightest mistake. If something goes wrong, the consequences will be too severe. All their previous gains could be wiped out in a moment of carelessness, a consequence they cannot afford.

(End of this chapter)