I manufacture weapons in the Middle East and am wanted globally?

Feed, feed, feed!

Can you please stop looking at me like that?

Li Yang and the others standing nearby were all somewhat uneasy.

Chen Zheng remained quite calm...

What's there to be ashamed of in doing business?

Have you ever seen a person who is thin-skinned make money?

These days, which tech company CEO isn't a master of boasting?

Today they're building elevators in the Himalayas, tomorrow they're laying tiles on the Pamir Plateau; a businessman's bottom line determines the extent of his profits.

"Friend, look here."

Chen Zheng squatted down, picked up a mosquito, and exposed his abdomen.

"We have specially reserved a hanging space that can hold a 60-gram TNT bomb."

"Judging from your attire, you must be a hero who risked your life on the front lines."

Boss Chen gave a small compliment.

"You surely know how dangerous the battlefield is."

The Middle Eastern man nodded upon hearing this. He looked up at Chen Zheng and thought, "Hey, this Asian seems to be quite the local."

Chen Zheng stood the drone upright and made a forward pushing motion in the air.

"Think about it, the street fighting in Delaware, the dilapidated residential areas, the buildings standing side by side, windows facing each other."

"The enemy machine gunner is hiding behind a fourth-floor window, with half his face showing and his gun pointed at the street below. If you peek out, he'll fire a burst of bullets."

He paused, flicked off his cigarette ash, and looked into the Middle Eastern man's eyes. "What did we do before? Call in mortars? Call in tanks? Neither worked. We either had to overwhelm them with heavy weapons, or use suppressive fire and then have our personnel storm in for a CBQ, right?"

The middle-aged man nodded.

"Now that we have this thing, you can crouch behind a wall, launch the drone, and then crash right into their window!"

Chen Zheng pushed the drone forward, made a gesture as if it were going to go inside, then pressed his finger in the air and made a "bang" sound.

The Middle Easterner's eyelid twitched.

"$600 for your safety on the battlefield, for the lives of your men—don't you think it's worth it?"

Don't say that mercenaries are all cannon fodder...

While it's undeniable that some mercenaries exist, most of them are driven by religious or political motives. Mercenary groups solely motivated by money would be extremely reluctant to suffer heavy casualties.

A pension should be given!

Large US-based PMC companies, such as Blackwater: US employees: approximately $40–$60 (including life insurance + company compensation + workers’ compensation under the Defense Bases Act).

Foreign nationals can also earn between $5 and $15, depending on the contract.

If too many people die, the company will go bankrupt!

Chen Zheng placed the drone on the blanket, squatted down, took out a cigarette case from his pocket, and handed it over.

The man reached out and took the cigarette.

Chen Zheng took out his lighter again, and lit it with a "click." The flame danced a few times in the morning breeze. He cupped his hand over it and lit the Middle Eastern man's lighter first.

Blue smoke billowed from the man's nose and drifted in the sunlight.

"What's your name?" Chen Zheng asked with a smile, lighting up a cigarette for himself.

The man took a drag of his cigarette, letting the smoke swirl in his lungs before exhaling. His expression relaxed a little, but his eyes remained deep.

"Abdullah."

It's a very common name; you can find this kind of name all the time in the Middle East, second only to Zhang Wei in China.

Chen Zheng smiled and nodded. "Good name. My name is Bruce."

He held the cigarette between his fingers, pointed to the drone on the blanket with his other hand, and continued, "This thing is very easy to operate. I'll explain it to you and you'll understand."

He pulled out the matching remote control from under the blanket. It had a white plastic casing, two joysticks, and several toggle switches, looking almost identical to other model airplane remote controls on the market. The only difference was that it had a few Arabic numerals marked on it with a red marker.

Hey, you should pay more attention to your customers.

If the client is from Ningbo, Chen Zheng would have to negotiate: Zong Sang!

Caring for customers starts with Mr. Chen.

"Look, the left joystick controls the height and direction, and the right hand controls forward, backward, left, and right. You can learn it in twenty minutes."

"When you see an enemy, you don't need to shoot him, you don't need to rush into his line of fire, you just need to know where he is and then fly over there."

Chen Zheng raised his hand, made a slow pushing motion on the joystick, made a "humming" sound, and then laughed.

"Let him understand how ridiculous his bunker is."

Abdullah finally nodded.

He squatted there, holding the half-finished cigarette in his mouth, and picked up the drone with his free hand. He carefully examined the mounting point under the fuselage, and then used his fingernail to scratch the piece of foam to feel its hardness.

"Sixty grams of TNT," he said, frowning, his voice a little rough. "That's a bit small, about the amount of a hand grenade."

"Besides, it seems like we need to fly really close, right?"

Chen Zheng's eyes lit up.

Big client!

Being picky is a good thing; being picky means you have your own ideas.

"You're amazing. I knew a combat hero like you would be able to spot some problems." Chen Zheng gave a thumbs up and then flicked it across his face.

"If you want a long-range system, then you'll have to customize it. The display screen, GPS, range extender antenna, and the suspension housing will all need to be enlarged. The price for the whole set won't be $600 anymore; it will start at $1500, and you'll have to wait."

"Our company's production capacity is currently too tight, and we have a backlog of orders."

"But I'm saying that the extra features aren't necessary for you. This $600 option is just right! You have to trust me."

Chen Zheng waved his hand, his expression serious. "I don't know how others do business, but for me, it all boils down to one word: integrity!"

"The chief of this tribe is also a good friend of mine."

As he was speaking, he suddenly lowered his voice and leaned forward, as if he wanted to say something that was inconvenient for the people next to him to hear.

Abdullah instinctively moved forward as well, reducing the distance between them to less than half a meter.

"You know Fatah, right?"

Chen Zheng's voice was very low, so low that only Abdullah and Gao Fei next to him could barely hear it.

Abdullah nodded.

Fatah, who doesn't know it?

The Palestinian National Liberation Movement, the core force of the PLO, carries the same weight in the Middle East as Hezbollah in Lebanon—everyone knows it.

Chen Zheng laughed: "The Fatah people contacted us and asked for 300 aircraft at once."

That's utter nonsense.

The most outrageous thing I've ever heard is from an underwear seller who said it was a special supply from Zhongnan X... Hey, guess what?

The underwear has faded!

People who don't know me might think I'm a guy on my period.

Abdullah's body visibly stiffened for a moment.

Chen Zheng noticed this detail and smiled to himself.

Give the other person some room to imagine.

What does Fatah need this thing for?

That must mean they're targeting Israel. Are they robbing a bank?

The morning breeze blew in from the east, lifting a corner of the blanket and then putting it down again.

Abdullah stared into Chen Zheng's eyes without moving for several seconds.

Then he lowered his head, finished the last puff of his cigarette, stubbed it out on the sandy ground at his feet, and rubbed it with the sole of his shoe.

"Fatah," he repeated softly.

Chen Zheng didn't respond. Some things are better left unsaid; saying too much would only make him seem guilty. He picked up the remote control from the blanket, casually flicked the joystick, and it made a soft "click-click" sound.

Abdullah raised his head and glanced again at the white drones on the blanket.

"Six hundred dollars, is there any way to negotiate this price?" he said slowly.

Upon hearing his words, Chen Zheng's face showed a mixture of confusion, hesitation, and struggle.

Abdullah looked at the other person's expression and then spoke.

"Bruce, if it's cheaper, I'll buy one. And to be frank, I have a small mercenary group, not many people, but a few dozen. If it works well, we can cooperate."

Mercenary group boss?

Chen Zheng looked up and glanced at it, but he wasn't surprised.

In the Middle East, three to five people can form a band of robbers, and a hundred people can become warlords. What's impossible?

He didn't agree immediately, then looked at Khalid and suddenly asked, "What did you just say?"

Khalid was taken aback, then saw Abdullah looking at him and immediately understood. "Boss, I just said we should sell it to him. After all, we're Syrians too, and he's helping us oppose the tyrant!"

"Okay, okay, take it for $550. Any lower and I'll really lose money. Don't let its ugly appearance fool you, there's a lot of professional stuff inside."

That's true...

DIY is not friendly to those who are not good at hands.

"good!"

Abdullah stood up, took out his money, and handed over $600.

Chen Zheng patted his pocket, looking embarrassed. "I don't have $50. How about this, you take two of these AKM magazines!"

……

Abdullah was still dazed when he left, staring blankly at the things in his hands.

He had no idea...

Why did I just take those two magazines with me?

"Come again next time!" Chen Zheng waved and shouted with a smile.

Abdullah turned around and said thank you.

Chen Zheng watched Abdullah's retreating figure, a smile still playing on his lips: "See? He even has to thank us!"

"If people buy it, it proves that there is a market for it. Nobody is stupid. If someone can discover its advantages, it will be very popular, especially since our stuff is cheap."

He said, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, "Cheap is king."

It's like many people going on a pilgrimage to Japan, hoping to see the stunning beauty of some teachers in person, but they charge 50 yen, so they think it's better to just look at them online for free.

It's just a matter of a split second.

Cheap…

Cheap things really can beat a lot of other things!

No matter how good your product is, if it's too expensive, you'll only have regular customers.

Khalid stood to the side, still processing what had happened in the last few minutes.

A remote-controlled airplane made of KT board was sold for $550.

He had been doing business in Delaware for so many years, and had seen people selling guns, ammunition, and bulletproof vests, but this was the first time he had ever seen someone sell a remote-controlled airplane for the price of a rifle.

Li Yang scratched the back of his head and said, "Brother Chen, this thing doesn't seem to be anything special. What if someone comes in and tries to take our market share?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Zheng's eyes lit up, and he turned around to look at Li Yang.

"very good."

He patted Li Yang on the shoulder, "The fact that you thought of this shows you've used your brain. Presuming defeat before even winning is what a businessman should be thinking."

Li Yang was a little embarrassed by the praise and chuckled twice.

Gao Fei and the others nearby hadn't expected this.

Chen Zheng sighed inwardly... You can't cultivate a discerning eye.

If another billionaire were to emerge from my team, I would be more inclined to believe it would be Li Yang.

"So the exhibition in Zahle in a couple of days is very important to us."

Chen Zheng: "We'll all go then. If we sell a lot, everyone will get a big red envelope!"

"We also need to find a way to build our own offline direct sales team."

"They'll sell to both the government forces and the opposition!"

"Once we've established a foothold in the market, and others enter, we'll wage a price war. I refuse to believe anyone can beat me in a price war."

That was said with absolute confidence!

With a cost of $30, who can compete?

Even if someone imports goods from China, what about labor? Don't you pay for your labor?

I don't want labor!

$30...the price of a magazine of bullets.

If we have the ability, we can just call it GG and buy a plane for $30!

It doesn't matter what kind of plane it is.

Chen Zheng's throat was dry from talking. He stood up, dusted off his pants, and waved his hand, "Let's go, pack up."

Chen Zheng looked at Li Yang, tilting his chin towards the depths of the tribe: "A-Yang, go buy a sheep. We'll roast a whole sheep tonight and get some wine."

"Alright!" Li Yang's steps were as light as if he were on a spring, and he disappeared into the alley between the tents in a flash.

……

Abdullah stopped in front of a gray-green canvas tent, carrying the white "mosquito" drone.

He wiped the mud off his shoes with the corner of the curtain, then bent down and crawled inside.

Five people were sitting around a low table in the tent, playing cards.

A Black man sat cross-legged at the very back, wearing Multicam camouflage tactical pants with the legs tucked into high-top military boots. He wore a black quick-drying T-shirt, his chest bulging, his muscles stretching the fabric taut.

He was holding three cards in his right hand and a cup of black tea in his left, about to bring it to his lips, when he looked up and saw what Abdullah was holding.

"puff--"

The tea was sprayed out.

The Middle Eastern man with a long beard across from them didn't have time to dodge and got sprayed in the face, water droplets dripping down his beard.

"You fucking—"

"Commander," the Black man said in English, putting down his teacup, a wide grin spreading across his face, "you bought a toy?"

He stretched out his large, dark hand, his fingers as thick as sausages, and took the drone from Abdullah's hand, examining it over and over twice.

The fuselage made of KT board felt light and flimsy. The blue stripes on the wingtips were drawn with a marker. The sealing tape on the equipment bay was applied crookedly, and there were white lines left by hot melt glue on the edges.

"This is so ugly."

The black man held it up to the kerosene lamp and examined the hand-drawn green fanged monster closely. The monster's eyes were drawn differently sizes, and its fangs protruded from its lower lip, crooked and twisted, as if it were drunk.

"What is this thing? A kindergarten craft project?"

Abdullah placed the mosquito on the table and explained its purpose to the experienced mercenaries present.

The expressions on the faces of the group were clearly surprised.

"It seems like it might actually work," a Middle Eastern man nodded.

"Aren't we going into Dera tomorrow? Let's see then! If it works well, we'll buy more!" Abdullah squinted, paused, and said:

"I have a feeling this thing will change the nature of warfare!"

……