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

Chapter 61 Growing Bigger and Stronger~

"Around 2007, the domestic model aircraft community copied a lot of mature solutions from Russian and American forums. Westerners open-sourced their good stuff, and we hitched a ride on their coattails," said Four-Eyes.

Chen Zheng hurriedly took out a notebook and handed it to him, indicating that he should write it down.

Four-Eyes pushed up his glasses, snapped the pen cap shut, and then began to write rapidly.

Mr. Chen stood behind, barely daring to breathe, for fear of disturbing the "master chef's" thoughts.

By lowering the price by one dollar, you earn one dollar more!

The list compiled by Four-Eyes is roughly divided into five main parts:

Choosing a used, salvaged SirfIII GPS module offers the best value for money.

Nonsense, how could something from 2000 not be cheap?

For flight controllers, KK5.5 was chosen. In early 2011, the competition among domestic open-source systems was fierce, and the price of imitation boards dropped to 4.50 yuan each. They were easy to debug and were nicknamed "quadcopter idiot board".

It also uses an ATmega8A microcontroller, which costs only a few dollars, to provide the mixed control logic for the flight controller, and then overlay the converted GPS coordinates onto the image transmission screen.

The image transmission system uses a Sony 420-line CCD camera, which costs 50 yuan per unit. The image transmission module is a 5.8G 400mW module, costing 25 yuan for the transmitter and 35 yuan for the receiver. An external 7-inch integrated monitoring screen is also included. With some modifications, the entire screen and casing cost less than 200 yuan, which is, of course, in US dollars.

In terms of the power system, the motor is a Huisheng 22121000KV, formerly known as XXD, which costs 20 to 25 yuan on Taobao. The ESC is a Hobbywing 20A, which cost no more than 25 yuan in wholesale in 2011. The propeller is equipped with two pairs of 1045 positive and negative propellers, which cost less than 4 yuan per pair.

The rack section is the most cost-effective.

The fuselage is made of a mix of thin-layer boards, and the cost of one unit is less than five yuan. The servo motor requires two Huisheng SG90, which sold for nine yuan each on Taobao back then.

Finally, there's battery life.

A 2200mAh lithium battery for the 3S can be had for just over 100 yuan. As for the charger?

What kind of charger?

Do you plan to fly your drone back after it flies out?

Mr. Chen couldn't understand many of the technical terms at all. After all, everyone has their own expertise, and it was giving him a headache.

"Is it finished writing?"

Chen Zheng asked, "Approximately how much will it cost to fix everything here?"

"Around $95!"

Four-Eyes nodded: "All of the above materials can be easily found on domestic e-commerce platforms. I suggest the boss order 10000 sets at once. If you choose second-hand items, it will be even cheaper. You can get them from places like Huaqiangbei, Taojie, and Feiyang Times Building. If the quantity is large, the price can be further reduced!"

"$95 is already the absolute minimum. We still have to gamble that the merchants in Huaqiangbei won't send counterfeit goods, and that the logistics won't break the screen in half, otherwise we'll lose money."

Chen Zheng took the list, glanced at it, and said, "Don't worry, I'll charter a plane and fly there directly in a few days!"

Boss Chen actually had an idea too.

For example—set up a trading company in the country to source raw materials for him while he's working in the Middle East—

Many people are doing this, such as the famous "drug king" Ye Zhenli, who used ephedrine that was transported from China.

Extremely low cost!

A round trip by plane costs only around $25, and if the cost is calculated based on four eyes, it will not exceed $10!

The rest is all earned by myself!

I can't rely on Lao Zhou for everything. What if that guy gets arrested?

"Are there any other requirements?"

"There aren't enough people!" Four-Eyes said.

"There are eight monsters in the factory now, six manual laborers and two precision engineers. We can still handle the $30 Mosquito Type 1, but the Mosquito Type 2 requires GPS, image transmission and display screen. The process has more than doubled, and the existing production capacity simply cannot keep up."

"I'll handle the personnel issues."

Chen Zheng put a cigarette in his mouth, took out his phone from his pocket, and opened the Monster Factory app.

Against a dark background, the fanged monster stares wide-eyed as it scrolls to the [Monster Workers] page. [Monster Workers: 8/20]

Level 1 Monster Peasants: 6 (Processing Accuracy +15%, Processing Speed ​​+16%)

Level 2 Monster Mastery: 2 Summoning Slots: 12 [Current Gold: 0]

Chen Zheng immediately threw the money in!

[Scan complete! Top-up successful!]

Current Gold Coins: 26000

Exit the recharge interface and navigate to the [Monster Shop].

[Summon 1 Tier 2 Monster, Masterwork]

[Summon 12 Level 1 Monster Peons]

After entering the numbers, he glanced at the total price: 5000 + 12000 = 17000 gold coins. He had 6000 gold coins left for emergencies.

"confirm."

A loading circle popped up on the screen and spun for two seconds.

[Summoning in progress—]

Chen Zheng put down his phone and took a step back.

Thick fog slowly rose around us, and we could vaguely see figures inside. After about three or four minutes, the fog dissipated.

The monster laborer had two big, blinking eyes on its round head.

They were dressed in uniform gray overalls, with the green fanged monster embroidered on their chests.

They stood in three neat rows.

"Coo coo~" Someone made the first sound, and then a group of people behind them started making sounds. The entire cave was filled with the "coo" sound.

And on the far right is a monster craftsman.

He looks just like the brother of Four-Eyes and Frog, except he has a tuft of hair sticking up in front of his head.

"From today onwards, you're a bastard—"

Chen Zhenggang was about to choose a name when he felt this one was inappropriate and indecent, so he changed the subject and said, "Dog Egg!"

The monster craftsman hurriedly put his feet together in salute.

"From now on, Four-Eyes will be the leader of the drone assembly team, Frog will be in charge of AKM production, and Dog Egg will assist them!"

"Yes, boss!"

After giving Four-Eyes his instructions on the trivial matters, Chen Zheng walked out of the cave.

They drove back to the tribe.

It was already late at night, but the tribe was far from quiet.

:

Several militiamen carrying AKMs patrolled the perimeter of the tent area.

The tribal militiamen standing guard at the entrance were relieved to see that it was Boss Chen.

"You've worked hard~" Boss Chen pulled out a pack of Marlboro cigarettes and tossed it over, "To give the brothers a boost."

"Thank you, Mr. Bruce!"

Boss Chen likes these kinds of casual little favors.

Chen Zheng parked the pickup truck outside the company's rented tent, jumped out of the car, walked over, and lifted the curtain.

A kerosene lamp was lit inside the tent, its wick set low, casting a dim, yellowish glow that illuminated only a small area.

Assam sat cross-legged on the carpet, with an open book in front of him. The pages were yellowed and the edges were curled. The book was covered with dense Arabic script.

He heard a noise, looked up, saw it was Chen Zheng, and was about to stand up.

Chen Zheng waved his hand, bent down and crawled inside, then plopped down opposite him.

"Still not asleep?"

Assam took the cigarette, put it in his mouth, and Chen Zheng lit it for him.

"I can't sleep."

He took a drag, exhaled the smoke, glanced at the book on the table, and said, "Reading scriptures can calm my mind."

Chen Zheng chuckled, lit one for himself, took a drag, leaned back against the cushion, and stared at the flame of the kerosene lamp for a while.

Assam reached out and closed the scriptures on the table, pushed them aside, and then looked at Chen Zheng.

"What's wrong? Why are you here so late at night instead of sleeping? Something must be wrong."

"I plan to open a trading company in the country."

Assam's eyebrows twitched.

"and then?"

"Then we'll rent a plane and transport the raw materials from China to Beirut."

Assam frowned upon hearing this: "Isn't the cost too high?"

"To rent a plane from Beirut to China, you have to fly over the airspace of several countries, obtain flight permits, buy insurance, pay fuel costs, and then clear customs and grease palms after landing."

He counted on his fingers, "Even if your plane is packed full, how much would the shipping cost be per kilogram? Have you calculated it?"

Chen Zheng put the cigarette back in his mouth. "It's not cheap, but some things can't be judged by just the numbers."

"We cannot allow others to cut off our source of raw materials."

He flicked his cigarette ash, his tone becoming serious. "The motors, ESCs, flight control boards, and batteries we use now—aren't they all bought from China? Can you get large quantities from the Middle East?"

"It's obvious to anyone with a brain that our mosquitoes can monopolize the market in a short time. We need to seize the market before other products come out."

After all, our competitors are idiots!

Chen Zheng put the cigarette back in his mouth. "Our lifeline is in other people's hands right now, but if there are problems with domestic trade routes, our production lines will have to stop."

"If the production line stops, the losses will be even greater!"

Chen Zheng tapped the ash from his cigarette against the edge of the ashtray, his voice deepening, "After all—we are a legitimate company."

.

He paused for a moment after saying this.

I guess it counts?

Assam's lips twitched slightly.

Chen Zheng continued, "Right now, we need to solve the raw material problem first, and then the global transportation problem. After a while, we will all have our own R&D teams."

Assam's brow began to twitch.

The more he listened to Chen Zheng say these things, the more he felt something was wrong.

This is no longer a matter of opening a factory, making some weapons, and selling them for money.

This is about developing it into a system.

Hey bro, what are you up to?

He sat up abruptly, waved his hand in front of Chen Zheng, as if to scatter those words.

"Bruce, Bruce, stop for a second."

Chen Zheng stopped and looked at him.

"You're describing something grand."

Assam spoke quickly and urgently, "But have you considered this? Right now, your company is small, and nobody's paying attention to you. But once the company grows, and you truly achieve what you've described—having your own raw material channels, your own transportation system, and your own R&D team—won't you be besieged then?"

"Do you really think all other arms dealers are good people?"

Eagle: Baka, open the door, offer warmth, raise your hands in surrender, and then suffer acute iron poisoning.

If you don't get recruited, you'll be gang-raped.

They were recruited into the army—

They'll get gang-raped too~

Chen Zheng looked into Assam's eyes, which shone brightly in the light of the kerosene lamp.

"That's why I need your help now."

Assam paused for a moment.

"I?"

He pointed to himself, "What can I do to help you? I can only withstand two bullets at most, no more than that!"

"Don't get agitated—"

"How could I not be excited? You—you—"

Chen Zheng retorted, "What's the difference between selling 50 grams of drugs and selling 1 ton of drugs? Aren't they both drug trafficking?"

"What's the difference between selling a handgun and selling missiles?"

"Essentially, it's all about their own greed!"

"But if humanity abandons greed, then all that remains is insignificance."

Chen Zheng took the cigarette out of his mouth. "A person with desires may not necessarily succeed, but a person without desires will definitely not succeed."

"If merchants give up greed, then why do business at all? They might as well just wait to die, since everyone will die eventually anyway."

"If it cannot become world-famous"

Chen Zheng raised his head and looked at Assam. "Being infamous for eternity is also a good method."

Assam looked at Chen Zheng's eyes, which were calm yet mad.

It was just like when I was young and looked at my father who was about to be martyred; he looked at me with the same eyes back then.

His father stood in the doorway, wearing the faded gray robe with an old Tokarev pistol tucked into his waistband, and glanced back at him.

He remembered that look in his eyes for twenty years.

calm.

Determined.

After a long pause, Assam sighed, put the cigarette back in his mouth, and took a drag.

He nodded. "What do you need my help with?"

Chen Zheng grabbed his hand and shook it hard; both hands were clenched tightly.

"I knew you'd help me!"

His eyes lit up. "Help me contact an airline in Lebanon and ask how much it would cost to rent a cargo plane for at least a month. Also, how much it would cost to get the flight permits, for a round trip from Beirut to a certain city in China, including which countries' airspace it would pass through and what procedures are required. Ask me all of that."

He spoke quickly and urgently, as if afraid Assam would change his mind.

"Get this done quickly, otherwise the Libyan order will fall through!"

"180 million US dollars. We can't let it become a burden because of a shortage of raw materials. I made a promise to Saif that we would deliver the goods within a month. If we can't deliver, my name Bruce will become a joke in the Middle East."

Assam nodded, took out a small notebook from his pocket, uncapped the pen, and wrote down Chen Zheng's key points one by one.

"Rent a plane, get flight permits, round trip from Beirut to China, the sooner the better."

As he spoke, he suddenly looked up at Chen Zheng.

"Oh, right."

"I think if we could get Hong Kong ID cards and foreign trade companies..."

Chen Zheng's eyebrows twitched, and he leaned forward slightly.

"How so?"

"If we purchase in large quantities and ship it, the seller will pay 17% VAT, but if we ship it to Hong Kong, we can get a tax refund then."

Assam adjusted his glasses. "You're not in foreign trade, so you might not understand the ins and outs here. In China, export tax rebates are for input tax. If you buy motors, ESCs, and flight control boards from reputable manufacturers, they'll issue you a 17% VAT invoice. When you export these items to Lebanon, once you declare them to customs, the tax bureau will refund that 17% tax to you."

"With this round trip, your costs will be reduced by at least 10%."

Chen Zheng's eyes lit up.

"You mean, use a HK company as a shell and go through the proper export process?"

"right."

Assam nodded. "The HK company receives the payment, the domestic factory issues the invoice, and the Lebanese side receives the goods. On the surface, you are a legitimate international trader doing general trade, and no one can find fault with it."

He paused, then added, "Moreover, in Hong Kong, the people in Huaqiangbei are more willing to cooperate."

"Registering a Hong Kong company, opening a bank account, annual review, and auditing reports—all these things can be handled by an agency, and it won't cost much."

"Then why do you need a Hong Kong account?"

Assam looked at him meaningfully.

This sight sent chills down Mr. Chen's spine, and he felt the hairs on his neck stand on end.

I feel like I'm going to lose my head.

.