Chapter 3: A Billion-Dollar Arms Deal

However, he soon received a message from someone claiming to be a "Syrian" militant.

The two had been communicating for over three months.

Most of the time, this "Jihadist Organization" sent him messages asking about professional knowledge.

Lin Yi, in turn, patched together answers from various sources on the internet to provide them.

For instance, a while ago, the other party wanted to create a cheap type of missile.

So, Lin Yi provided them with designs using seamless steel pipes, fertilizer, and sugar.

Of course, this was only because he was on the foreign internet.

Otherwise, he would never have dared to do such a thing.

Operating under the principle that anything said on the foreign internet incurred no domestic liability, Lin Yi naturally had no qualms.

Moreover, he didn't believe the other party was actually a "Syrian" militant.

He assumed they were just military enthusiasts like himself, all merely fooling around out of interest.

However, this time when he logged on, the "Jihadist Organization" actually intended to order weapons from him, which truly surprised Lin Yi.

So, he replied:

"What weapons do you need?"

Unexpectedly, the other party was online at that moment and replied shortly after:

"AK-47s, 250 units, with 1 million rounds of matching ammunition... We trust in your country's military industrial capabilities..."

Thanks to the soaring economy and surging overall strength of Dragon Country in recent years,

the nation had increasingly involved itself in international affairs.

This generated tremendous influence across countries worldwide.

Accompanying this was an increase in Dragon Country's military exports.

More and more nations, after using Dragon Country's weapons, were conquered by their reliable performance and attractive prices.

Dragon Country gradually became a major power in the international weapons export market.

The volume of arms trade rose year by year, encroaching upon markets originally belonging to Beautiful Country and Mao Xiong's weapon exports.

Thus, the "Jihadist Organization" replied:

"We trust in your country's military industrial products and hope to receive your quotation!"

Even at this point, Lin Yi still did not believe the other party was genuine, thinking to himself:

"You're acting quite convincingly; let's see who can act better!"

So, he replied:

"AK-47s are $200 per unit, and each bullet is $0.25. Let me state clearly in advance: if your side accepts this quote, you must transfer payment to our designated account first...!"

After saying this, he thoughtfully drafted a quotation sheet on his phone.

For example, the steel used for the firearms:

using high-alloy chromium-molybdenum steel versus stainless steel would naturally result in different quotes, with an increase of $50 to $100.

At the same time, whether the stock was made of walnut or the most ordinary plywood also mattered.

As for the bullets, copper-core bullets versus steel-core bullets would double the price.

At this moment, somewhere within an underground cave in Syria.

A group of armed militants in camouflage uniforms stared at this quotation sheet that looked extremely professional.

Among them, a bearded man said:

"Very professional; it shouldn't be fake!"

Another person then said:

"But... the other party requires us to pay first... if they take the money and don't deliver the goods..."

"...!"

Although these people were armed militants with complex backers,

their money did not flow out like water.

Naturally, they needed to calculate carefully.

The reason they wanted to strike a deal with this non-official figure from the Dragon Country

was, on one hand, the hope for a stable weapon supply channel.

On the other hand, the other party's prices were indeed much cheaper than those of international arms dealers.

Taking the ubiquitous AK-47 as an example, as one of the world's most classic firearms,

its international quoted price generally ranged between 300 and 500 US dollars.

Being able to secure it for 200 US dollars made this deal profitable by any calculation.

Moreover, if they could truly establish this connection with the other party, they might obtain even more advanced weapons in the future.

Had they not seen how the Camel Country bought a few 'Dongfeng Express' missiles back in the day, deterring the Middle East for decades?

It was absolutely value for money!

After several months of investigation, these armed militants were fully convinced that the person on the other end of the network

must be a representative of a Dragon Country weapons company operating abroad.

Otherwise, how could the other party understand weapons so well and provide them with such a professional order quotation?

After thinking it over, the bearded man, who was the leader of the armed militants, said:

"Based on this first cooperation, let's trust the other party once!"

"But what if they don't deliver the goods..." another person said.

After all, given their status, it was impossible for them to go to the Dragon Country to accuse the other party of fraud,

and even more impossible to make a huge fuss by traveling to the Dragon Country for revenge over a mere few hundred thousand US dollars,

since doing so would cost far more than a few hundred thousand US dollars.

"I recall the Dragon Country has 110, right? If they don't deliver, we'll call their 110 and accuse them..."

the bearded man said.

Thus, Lin Yi, located in Modu, Dragon Country, soon received a reply.

The other party claimed they wanted to place an order worth 3 billion US dollars.

It involved tanks, rocket launchers, armored vehicles, fighter jets, missiles, and so on.

They stated that this current order was merely to establish trust for the initial transaction between both sides;

as long as Lin Yi could deliver, all future orders from their organization would go to him.

Furthermore, the other party promised to introduce even more orders.

A deal worth ten billion US dollars was not a dream!

"Tsk tsk, ten billion US dollars!"

Lin Yi lay on his bed with a mocking smile, then replied:

"The goods will depart from Jingang Port, pass through Tu'erqi, and arrive in Xuliyaa... however, before that, your side must pay first!"

Then, he also provided them with a Bitcoin account.

After all, if one was going to do it, one had to make it look real; the best use of Bitcoin was actually money laundering.

He had played with Bitcoin back in 2014 and still possessed an international registered account with Zhimakaimen.

In any case, Lin Yi completely disbelieved that the other party were Xuliyaa armed militants.

When the Xuliyaa armed militants saw the account, they became even more convinced of the other party's authenticity.

Then, the next moment, Lin Yi received a screenshot of the other party's Bitcoin transaction slip.

"Photoshopped quite convincingly!"

Lin Yi casually opened his international Zhimakaimen account, and instantly he was stunned by the scene before his eyes.

Originally, the account should have contained only 0.10 Bitcoin.

Now it had actually turned into 1,178.

Based on Bitcoin's value of 255 US dollars in September 2015, these Bitcoins were worth exactly 300,000 US dollars, equivalent to 1.8 million Huabi.

"Order placed, please deliver the goods as soon as possible!"

the other party replied on the social platform.

Hearing this, Lin Yi froze for a moment, then immediately turned off his VPN proxy,

taking himself offline.

Yet, looking at those 1,178 Bitcoins in the account,

his eyes filled with some terror.

"Could they really be Xuliyaa armed militants!"

The moment he thought of this, his mood soured.

(PS: New book seeking flowers, tips, and review tickets; your support is the author's motivation!)