Chapter 164

The last day of the Abu Dhabi International Defense Exhibition, three o'clock in the afternoon.

In a top-floor conference room of a hotel near the exhibition hall, a dozen people sat on both sides of a long table.

On the left was the Dragon Chant team: Feng Yan in the center, Li Yang and Chen Guang on his left, Wang Hao and Zhao Kaiyuan on his right.

Everyone was wearing formal business attire, except for Wang Hao, whose tie was crooked and whose posture was a bit slumped.

On the right were three groups of people.

The first group was the Russian delegation, still led by Ivanov, this time with two additional technical officers in military uniforms.

The second group was a procurement delegation from a Middle Eastern country, led by a Prince, followed by financial advisors, technical advisors, and translators.

The third group was representatives from a Western European defense alliance, dressed in sharp suits.

The three groups also maintained a subtle distance from each other.

Feng Yan checked his watch and said with a smile: "Thank you all for taking the time on the last day of the exhibition.

"According to our previous communications, today we will clarify technical details and discuss business terms regarding your procurement intentions."

He paused: "However, before that, I need to reiterate one point: all Dragon Chant Technology products are sold as finished goods; we do not transfer technology.

"All system interfaces are closed and do not support third-party modifications."

As soon as he finished speaking, the reactions of the three groups were all different.

The technical officers on the Russian side frowned but said nothing.

The technical advisor behind the Middle Eastern Prince spoke up immediately: "This does not conform to international practice."

"When we procure high-end equipment, we usually require technology transfer or at least open interfaces for subsequent maintenance and upgrades."

The Western European representative also nodded: "Especially the closed interface point; it will affect our integration with existing systems."

Feng Yan maintained his smile: "We understand your needs."

"But Dragon Chant's product design philosophy is different; we provide complete solutions, not components."

"The system is closed to ensure stability and security."

"Security?" The Middle Eastern technical advisor raised an eyebrow. "Do you mean our engineers are not qualified to maintain them?"

"No, I mean," Feng Yan said slowly.

"Some technologies, even if opened, your side might not be able to fully understand."

"It would be better to let our professional team provide lifetime maintenance services, which is worry-free for both sides."

This was said politely, but the subtext was blunt: you can't handle it.

The atmosphere in the conference room became subtly tense.

Ivanov spoke up at this moment, his English carrying a thick Russian accent: "Mr. Feng, we are very interested in the performance of the 'Chengshan' exoskeleton in extreme low-temperature environments."

"In the Siberian winter, minus fifty degrees is the norm."

"Your product manual states the lower limit of the operating temperature is minus forty degrees."

"So we need a customized version." Li Yang took over.

"We can provide a cold-region special version, with key components replaced by low-temperature special materials, lubrication systems switched to low-temperature grease, and self-heating modules added to the batteries."

"But the price for the customized version will increase by 30%, and the delivery cycle will be extended by three months."

"Can you provide the material list?" the Russian technical officer asked.

"We can provide some," Li Yang said.

"But the formulas and processes for core materials are confidential. We provide 'black box modules', ready-to-use and non-disassemblable."

"Non-disassemblable?" The technical officer's brow furrowed even tighter. "Then how do we repair it if it breaks down?"

"Send it back to us," Li Yang said calmly.

"Or, we can establish an authorized maintenance center in your country, operated by technicians trained by us."

"But the maintenance process must be conducted under our monitoring system, and the replacement of core components requires headquarters authorization."

The Russian delegation exchanged glances.

The Middle Eastern Prince said something in Arabic to the translator, and the translator relayed: "His Highness asks, can the robot dog's AI system be integrated into our city management system?"

"We need them to work in coordination with existing surveillance networks and traffic signal systems."

Chen Guang pushed up his glasses: "It can be integrated."

"But we provide dedicated data interfaces and communication protocols, which require your side's systems to adapt according to our standards."

"The adaptation work can be completed by our engineering team, with costs billed separately."

"Can you not provide the protocol documentation? We can adapt it ourselves."

"Sorry." Chen Guang shook his head. "The protocols are encrypted, and each client has an independent key. This is to prevent... technology leakage."

The words were very blunt.

The head of the Western European delegation, the silver-haired old man, cleared his throat: "Mr. Feng, we understand your concerns."

"But you must understand that if you insist on this closed strategy, many potential clients might choose other suppliers."

"For example, Boston Dynamics from Eagle Country, or our own European robotics companies. Their systems are more open."

Feng Yan smiled.

He leaned forward slightly, hands folded on the table:

"Mr. Hans, you are right. They are indeed more open. But three years from now, when our next-generation products hit the market."

"For example, integrated with more advanced sensors, stronger AI, and longer battery life."

"Will those 'open system' products still be able to integrate into our new ecosystem?"

He paused, letting the translator convey this sentence in full.

"What Dragon Chant is building is not a series of products, but a complete technical ecosystem," Feng Yan continued.

"Today you buy the 'Xiao Bai' robot dog, tomorrow you can buy matching drones, ground robots, or even mech platforms."

"They are all designed based on the same set of standards, working in seamless coordination."

"And if you choose the 'open systems' of other suppliers, three years from now, when the entire industry's technical standards move forward due to Dragon Chant's breakthroughs,"

"those devices of yours might become information islands."

The conference room was silent for a few seconds.

Wang Hao gave Feng Yan a thumbs-up in his heart: Brother Feng is playing this hand beautifully!

Not saying we won't sell, but saying if you buy someone else's now, you won't be able to connect to our new gadgets later!

The Western European representative Hans's expression changed.

Feng Yan struck while the iron was hot: "Of course, this is just a suggestion. The procurement decision lies in your hands. We are just providing a longer-term perspective."

The Middle Eastern Prince said a few more things, and the translator relayed: "His Highness asks, if we purchase one hundred robot dogs and fifty exoskeletons, can we obtain limited access to the interface protocols?"

"At least let us develop some simple customized functions."

Feng Yan looked at Chen Guang.

Chen Guang pulled up an interface on his tablet and showed it to everyone: "This is the 'Limited Development Kit' we provide to partners."

"It includes twelve API interfaces, which can realize basic status monitoring, task dispatching, and data return."

"But things involving core control algorithms, raw sensor data, and energy management remain closed."

"Twelve APIs..." the Middle Eastern technical advisor recorded quickly. "Can it realize autonomous path planning?"

"You can preset routes, but you cannot perform real-time dynamic re-planning," Chen Guang said. "Re-planning requires our cloud AI support, billed per request."

"Billed per request?"

"Yes." Chen Guang nodded. "Each re-planning request costs 0.1 USD. Or you can choose a monthly package for five thousand USD per month, with unlimited requests."

Wang Hao almost laughed out loud; Guangzi's business sense is something else! He even thought of pay-per-request!

The negotiation entered a tug-of-war phase.

The Russians were concerned about reliability in extreme environments and subsequent upgrade paths.

The Middle Easterners were concerned about system integration and the degree of customization.

The Western Europeans were concerned about long-term compatibility and costs.

On the Dragon Chant side, Li Yang was responsible for technical details, Chen Guang for system architecture, Zhao Kaiyuan occasionally supplemented explanations related to energy, and Feng Yan controlled the overall rhythm.

And Wang Hao... Wang Hao was responsible for making small talk when the atmosphere became too tense.

For example, when the Russian technical officer insisted on a material composition list, Wang Hao suddenly said:

"Hey, brother, let me use an analogy! You go to a restaurant and order braised pork; it's delicious, and you insist the chef give you the secret recipe—that's not appropriate, right?"

"The chef can say they used pork belly, soy sauce, and sugar, but how to control the heat and how to mix the spices—that's their livelihood; they can't give that away!"

He used Chinese, but the translator interpreted it in real-time.

The Russian officer was stunned for a moment, then actually nodded: "This analogy... makes some sense."

Or, for instance, when the Middle Eastern technical advisor complained that there were too few interfaces, Wang Hao said again:

"Too many interfaces lead to trouble! Think about it, if someone accidentally writes a bug and makes a hundred robot dogs go out to dance in the square in the middle of the night—that would be scary! We are being responsible to our clients!"

Several members of the Middle Eastern delegation couldn't help but laugh.

The negotiation lasted from three in the afternoon until seven in the evening.

The final preliminary intentions reached were:

The Russians to purchase 200 "Chengshan" cold-region customized exoskeletons and 300 "Xiao Bai" polar-version robot dogs, with a total value of 870 million USD, delivered over three years.

Dragon Chant to establish a maintenance center in Moscow, but core maintenance must be performed by technicians authorized by headquarters.

The Middle Easterners to purchase 150 exoskeletons, 500 robot dogs, and the matching "City Management AI System," with a total value of 1.23 billion USD.

They obtained the limited development kit, but all customized functions require Dragon Chant's approval.

The Western European defense alliance to purchase 100 exoskeletons and 200 robot dogs as an "experimental deployment," with a total value of 450 million USD.

Simultaneously signed a memorandum of technical cooperation, agreeing to priority procurement rights for Dragon Chant's new products over the next three years.

All contracts had a common clause: prohibition of disassembly, prohibition of reverse engineering, and prohibition of attempts to bypass system restrictions.

Breach of contract will result in remote locking of the equipment, with no refunds.

After the signing segment, the three groups left one after another.

Wang Hao slumped in his chair and loosened his tie: "Oh my god... this is more tiring than fighting a battle! My face is stiff from smiling!"

Li Yang organized the meeting minutes: "But the results are good. The total preliminary order amount is 2.55 billion USD, plus subsequent upgrade and maintenance revenue."

Chen Guang was checking if there were any loopholes in the technical terms promised during the negotiation:

"The battery heating module for the cold-region version needs to be redesigned; the existing one's efficiency will drop by 17% at minus fifty degrees."

Zhao Kaiyuan added: "And the heat dissipation problem for the polar version; in a low-temperature environment, heat dissipates too quickly, which might actually make the system too cold, so we need to add an insulation layer..."

Feng Yan listened to the team's discussion, the smile on his face slowly fading.

He walked to the window and looked at the night view of Abu Dhabi.

This luxurious city in the desert was brightly lit, and the sea surface of the Persian Gulf in the distance reflected the starlight.

"The orders are secured," he said softly, "but the trouble is coming too."

Wang Hao leaned over: "What trouble? We have the money, what trouble could there be?"

"These three parties today represent three different attitudes," Feng Yan said.

"The Russians are pragmatists: I know your technology is advanced, I buy it to use, I don't demand full control."

"The Middle Easterners are the 'nouveau riche' type: I want customization, but as long as you give me enough face (money), I can accept restrictions. The Western Europeans..."

He paused: "The Western Europeans are the wait-and-see type. They only bought the minimum quantity; they say it's an 'experiment' on the surface, but they actually want to buy it back to disassemble and study."

"That Hans, the way he looked at us just now—he wasn't looking at a partner, he was looking at a challenger."

Li Yang also walked over: "Does Brother Feng mean they will try to crack our system?"

"They definitely will," Feng Yan nodded.

"And not just them. Although there are clauses prohibiting reverse engineering in the contracts signed today, if it really gets cracked, can we really go across borders to file a lawsuit?"

Chen Guang pushed up his glasses: "But they won't be able to crack it."

His tone was calm but full of confidence.

"So sure?" Wang Hao asked.

"Sure." Chen Guang pulled up the system architecture diagram on his tablet.

"The control chip for the 'Chengshan' exoskeleton is our self-developed 'Dragon Core-2B' architecture; the instruction set is incompatible with any processor on the market. If they want to crack it, they have to design a new compiler first."

"The robot dog's main controller is the same architecture," Li Yang added.

"And key sensors, such as foot force feedback and joint position encoders, are all specially made by Zhao Gong's team, and the output signal format is custom-defined by us."

Zhao Kaiyuan smiled: "Not to mention the energy system. They haven't even figured out the principles of the 'Xuanming' pile's miniaturization technology, let alone replicate it."

Wang Hao chuckled: "Then what are they going to crack? Buy a bunch of iron lumps to worship?"

"Worship is unlikely," Feng Yan turned to face the team.

"They can use them, learn design ideas from them, and try to replicate products with similar functions but inferior performance. But even replication takes time."

He walked back to the conference table and marked several points on the tablet map: "And we must use this time difference to do three things."

"First, accelerate the R&D of the next-generation products. By the time they barely replicate this generation, our next generation will already be on the market."

"Second, establish a more perfect technical ecosystem. Once clients use our products, they will never be able to leave our system."

"Third," Feng Yan's gaze became sharp, "prepare to deal with those who don't want to pay and want to steal directly."

The conference room was silent for a few seconds.

Wang Hao was the first to break the silence: "Brother Feng, do you mean... someone will try to snatch them by force?"

"Not snatch by force," Feng Yan said.

"It's 'technology acquisition'. Through commercial espionage, cyberattacks, or even buying off internal personnel. Don't forget, we already caught a drone at the exhibition."

He checked his watch: "Pack up. Flight back home tomorrow morning. The next few months will be busy."

The team began to organize documents and shut down equipment.

Wang Hao muttered while packing: "Brother Hao just wanted to sell some goods peacefully; how did it turn into a spy thriller..."

Chen Guang walked past him and said softly: "From the moment you decided to turn the laser power to 3.5 millimeters deep, the spy thriller began."

Wang Hao was stunned, then chuckled.

"Then my acting was pretty good, right?"

"Very good, the Oscars owe you a golden statue."

Ten o'clock at night, the team returned to the hotel.

As soon as Feng Yan opened the encrypted communicator in his room, he received an intelligence summary sent from home.

The first item in the briefing: The Japanese have been frequently holding exercises in the East Sea recently, and the test flight frequency of the new "Shinshin" fighter (knock-off version) has increased by 300%.

Second item: The Indians have added two mountain divisions to the border, equipped with newly purchased Eagle Country "Mountain Hound" exoskeletons (improved version).

Third item: The Eagle Country "Carl Vinson" carrier strike group has finished its Middle East deployment and is moving toward the South Sea.

It has conducted multiple "joint communication tests" with the Japanese and Indians.

Fourth item: Domestic internet public opinion monitoring shows that the popularity of historical topics has risen sharply, and public sentiment is high.

Feng Yan finished reading them one by one and closed the briefing.

He walked to the window and looked at the unfamiliar city outside.

In the distance, the sea surface of the Persian Gulf shimmered with fine silver light under the moonlight.

And on the other side of that sea, certain forces were gathering, probing, and restless.

His phone vibrated; it was a message from Wang Hao:

"Brother Feng, asleep? I thought of a new idea! How about adding a barking function to the robot dog?"

"For deterrence! Think about it, in the middle of the night at the border, suddenly hearing a dog bark—how scary would that be!"

Feng Yan looked at the message and couldn't help but laugh.

He replied: "Go to sleep first. We'll talk when we get back."

Putting down his phone, he took one last look at the night sky.

Returning home tomorrow.

But what awaits them back home is likely not just a celebration banquet.