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american comcis _ tales of caltiveter _chapter_0309_part_02
Chapter 728
chapter 0309 part 2
For its defensive capability, this mech body needs to be manufactured using extremely expensive high-purity rare metal. This includes Adamantium Alloy, and even requires Vibranium coating. The manufacturing cost of one unit alone is several hundred million!"
As Gene listened to Yuri's introduction, his gaze wandered. The armor was indeed excellent, but unfortunately, if the cost was truly as Yuri described, the manufacturing cost of one unit would be several hundred million.
He pondered for a moment, then frowned and looked at Yuri, "How much does one unit of Behemoth God Armor sell for??"
"Five million!" Yuri's answer made Gene's face show an expression of disbelief. "That cheap?"
"Don't misunderstand, General Gene, this is a contract reached between the White House and our Tang Group. Please take a look!"
Yuri handed a secret contract to Gene. Gene took it, and after reading a few lines, his complexion suddenly changed drastically.
"Rental fee?"
This secret contract stated that the Tang Group would lease ten units of Behemoth God Armor to the Department of Defense for fifty million per year to assist in Federation national defense security.
"Mr. Kane, what does this mean?" Gene questioned, holding the contract in his hand.
Kane was holding a six-barreled autocannon that had just been used to test the armor, wiping the ammunition belt on it. Hearing Gene's question, he looked up and frowned. "Didn't the people from your Department of Defense tell you before you came? The Behemoth God Armor is currently only a first generation model, and it has extremely high requirements for the Pilot's physical quality."
"Training a qualified Pilot takes at least two years. The current crisis brought by the Wormhole won't give your Department of Defense that much time. Therefore, we have reached an agreement with the White House to lease the mechs and personnel to you for fifty million per year!"
Fifty million, rental fee, why did no one tell me? Gene's complexion instantly turned ashen.
No wonder this procurement inspection trip to Tang's Arms Company, according to procedure, should have required at least three people, but the secretary only notified him.
That old man was clearly calculating against him.
This was obviously because the high-level officials within the White House and Department of Defense wanted to keep this secret contract a secret, so the fewer people who knew, the better.
"Fifty million, and it's only the rental fee for one year, isn't that too expensive!"
Gene vaguely understood that he had been calculated against. If the news that the Federal Department of Defense needed to lease weapons to fight alien races got out, the Federal Government would likely face a wave of criticism immediately.
The Federal military expenditure is several hundred billion every year, and now they actually need to lease? Where did all that defense spending go?
Incompetence, corruption, with these labels attached, the Federal Department of Defense, and even the White House, would definitely need to find a suitable scapegoat to take the blame.
He, who was responsible for procurement and acceptance, was clearly the designated scapegoat. If this contract could be kept secret, it would be fine, but once it leaked out, he would face a military court-martial, or even die by suicide after being shot eight times in the back.
What Gene couldn't understand was, didn't they consider his old father, who had once served as a Congressman?
Although his cheap old father was paralyzed in bed, he still had a certain influence in the Federation political scene!
Gene clutched the secret rental contract in his hand, tempted to tear it up and leave, but reason told him that if he really did that, he wouldn't have to wait for the secret contract to leak.
He would die on the helicopter ride home.
The Federal Government had done this kind of thing before. Not long ago, a congressional corruption case involved several high-level officials from the White House, and was even vaguely related to that Black Person.
At the time the court session began, a witness, a lawyer, a Congressman, and a State Legislator, while traveling by helicopter to the court, died in a plane crash due to mechanical failure. The two government officials, along with the witness, turned into fireballs, and this corruption case involving the White House government ultimately came to nothing.
Just because he was in it, Gene understood this country better than anyone.
His expression changed, and finally, he squeezed out a dry sentence: "Fifty million US Dollars, isn't that too much!"
Kane and Ivan Vanko had walked to the side after introducing the Behemoth God Armor.
Yuri stood beside Gene, his full attention on Gene.
When he saw Gene's changing facial expression, he knew the deal was settled. He remembered something Boss Tang had said when they were chatting.
"In this world, no one is beyond being bought, it just depends on the price you offer! If you can afford the price, you can even buy God!"
He enthusiastically extended his hand to Gene.
Gene was startled for a moment, then shook Yuri's hand.
"Talking about money is so vulgar, isn't it?!" Yuri's eyes narrowed into slits as he smiled:
"Look, General Gene, you and our Tang Group have dealt with each other more than once or twice. How about this, for each set of Behemoth God Individual Power Armor, we'll take a bit of a loss. The price for leasing them to your Department of Defense, how about ten million US Dollars per set?"
Good heavens, the annual rental fee increased from fifty million to one hundred million.
Gene didn't question Yuri about the price increase. He understood the unspoken rules here. Five million was for the Tang Group, and the remaining five million was for the Department of Defense.
He was silent for a moment, calculating this deal and the risks it brought him. Gene's heart hardened. "Since that's the case..."
"Let's order twenty sets for the first phase of the lease procurement! Ten sets are too few. Our Federal Army has too many Overseas Bases, and many overseas allies also need our protection—I'll handle the procurement side!"
Twenty sets. Yuri's eyes narrowed into a smile. As an arms dealer, he liked this kind of Partner who had guts and was greedy enough.
On the other side, Ivan Vanko leaned towards Kane, chatting with him cheerfully. "Boss Kane, does Boss have a mission for you bringing you back from the Underworld this time? Do you need my help?"
A heavy killing intent appeared on Kane's face. "It's about Beyond the Wormhole. Boss suspects it's some old acquaintances. Prepare thirty sets of Behemoth God Armor for me, I'll take some people to go take a look!"
(end of chapter)
For its defensive capability, this mech body needs to be manufactured using extremely expensive high-purity rare metal. This includes Adamantium Alloy, and even requires Vibranium coating. The manufacturing cost of one unit alone is several hundred million!"
As Gene listened to Yuri's introduction, his gaze wandered. The armor was indeed excellent, but unfortunately, if the cost was truly as Yuri described, the manufacturing cost of one unit would be several hundred million.
He pondered for a moment, then frowned and looked at Yuri, "How much does one unit of Behemoth God Armor sell for??"
"Five million!" Yuri's answer made Gene's face show an expression of disbelief. "That cheap?"
"Don't misunderstand, General Gene, this is a contract reached between the White House and our Tang Group. Please take a look!"
Yuri handed a secret contract to Gene. Gene took it, and after reading a few lines, his complexion suddenly changed drastically.
"Rental fee?"
This secret contract stated that the Tang Group would lease ten units of Behemoth God Armor to the Department of Defense for fifty million per year to assist in Federation national defense security.
"Mr. Kane, what does this mean?" Gene questioned, holding the contract in his hand.
Kane was holding a six-barreled autocannon that had just been used to test the armor, wiping the ammunition belt on it. Hearing Gene's question, he looked up and frowned. "Didn't the people from your Department of Defense tell you before you came? The Behemoth God Armor is currently only a first generation model, and it has extremely high requirements for the Pilot's physical quality."
"Training a qualified Pilot takes at least two years. The current crisis brought by the Wormhole won't give your Department of Defense that much time. Therefore, we have reached an agreement with the White House to lease the mechs and personnel to you for fifty million per year!"
Fifty million, rental fee, why did no one tell me? Gene's complexion instantly turned ashen.
No wonder this procurement inspection trip to Tang's Arms Company, according to procedure, should have required at least three people, but the secretary only notified him.
That old man was clearly calculating against him.
This was obviously because the high-level officials within the White House and Department of Defense wanted to keep this secret contract a secret, so the fewer people who knew, the better.
"Fifty million, and it's only the rental fee for one year, isn't that too expensive!"
Gene vaguely understood that he had been calculated against. If the news that the Federal Department of Defense needed to lease weapons to fight alien races got out, the Federal Government would likely face a wave of criticism immediately.
The Federal military expenditure is several hundred billion every year, and now they actually need to lease? Where did all that defense spending go?
Incompetence, corruption, with these labels attached, the Federal Department of Defense, and even the White House, would definitely need to find a suitable scapegoat to take the blame.
He, who was responsible for procurement and acceptance, was clearly the designated scapegoat. If this contract could be kept secret, it would be fine, but once it leaked out, he would face a military court-martial, or even die by suicide after being shot eight times in the back.
What Gene couldn't understand was, didn't they consider his old father, who had once served as a Congressman?
Although his cheap old father was paralyzed in bed, he still had a certain influence in the Federation political scene!
Gene clutched the secret rental contract in his hand, tempted to tear it up and leave, but reason told him that if he really did that, he wouldn't have to wait for the secret contract to leak.
He would die on the helicopter ride home.
The Federal Government had done this kind of thing before. Not long ago, a congressional corruption case involved several high-level officials from the White House, and was even vaguely related to that Black Person.
At the time the court session began, a witness, a lawyer, a Congressman, and a State Legislator, while traveling by helicopter to the court, died in a plane crash due to mechanical failure. The two government officials, along with the witness, turned into fireballs, and this corruption case involving the White House government ultimately came to nothing.
Just because he was in it, Gene understood this country better than anyone.
His expression changed, and finally, he squeezed out a dry sentence: "Fifty million US Dollars, isn't that too much!"
Kane and Ivan Vanko had walked to the side after introducing the Behemoth God Armor.
Yuri stood beside Gene, his full attention on Gene.
When he saw Gene's changing facial expression, he knew the deal was settled. He remembered something Boss Tang had said when they were chatting.
"In this world, no one is beyond being bought, it just depends on the price you offer! If you can afford the price, you can even buy God!"
He enthusiastically extended his hand to Gene.
Gene was startled for a moment, then shook Yuri's hand.
"Talking about money is so vulgar, isn't it?!" Yuri's eyes narrowed into slits as he smiled:
"Look, General Gene, you and our Tang Group have dealt with each other more than once or twice. How about this, for each set of Behemoth God Individual Power Armor, we'll take a bit of a loss. The price for leasing them to your Department of Defense, how about ten million US Dollars per set?"
Good heavens, the annual rental fee increased from fifty million to one hundred million.
Gene didn't question Yuri about the price increase. He understood the unspoken rules here. Five million was for the Tang Group, and the remaining five million was for the Department of Defense.
He was silent for a moment, calculating this deal and the risks it brought him. Gene's heart hardened. "Since that's the case..."
"Let's order twenty sets for the first phase of the lease procurement! Ten sets are too few. Our Federal Army has too many Overseas Bases, and many overseas allies also need our protection—I'll handle the procurement side!"
Twenty sets. Yuri's eyes narrowed into a smile. As an arms dealer, he liked this kind of Partner who had guts and was greedy enough.
On the other side, Ivan Vanko leaned towards Kane, chatting with him cheerfully. "Boss Kane, does Boss have a mission for you bringing you back from the Underworld this time? Do you need my help?"
A heavy killing intent appeared on Kane's face. "It's about Beyond the Wormhole. Boss suspects it's some old acquaintances. Prepare thirty sets of Behemoth God Armor for me, I'll take some people to go take a look!"
(end of chapter)
