Rheinmetall AG from Germany was already a large entity to Xia Lei, but if one compared Rheinmetall AG and Lockheed Martin, the former was more of a military trainee while the latter was a professional Special Forces soldier. Lockheed Martin was several times more capable than Rheinmetall AG. About a third of America’s arms purchase orders were completed by Lockheed Martin, and this alone was evident enough of its overwhelming capability.
The German Rheinmetall AG was already an insurmountable mountain to the Thunder Horse Group, and Lockheed Martin was beyond reach, up in the Heavens. Xia Lei’s ambition only let him dare to want to surpass Rheinmetall AG at this stage, and he dared not even think of trying to surpass Lockheed Martin.
“Are you surprised?” Jacqueline Eva asked, trying to feel Xia Lei out.
Xia Lei smiled faintly. “I am a little surprised. What I find strange is… Why would you invite people from Lockheed Martin to observe the test? Didn’t you say that this matter cannot be known to America? They’ve even avoided sending any official from the French government to negotiate with me for fear of angering the Americans, and sent you instead.”
The French government’s behaviour was somewhat contradictory.
“Lockheed Martin does not represent the U.S. government. As the largest arms dealer in the world, it is its own monarchy. The queen of Lockheed Martin and the ‘king’ of the White House are, from some perspectives, similar in many ways. In my opinion, the only difference is in the number of rights they have,” said Jacqueline Eva.
“What you say is great, but I think you’re just changing the topic. I’m not asking about that.”
Jacqueline Eva shrugged. “All right, I’ll be frank. I don’t know either. I’m just a small fry. I don’t understand the world of politics, and I don’t want to. I don’t think this is such a big issue either. A high-level staff member of Lockheed Martin coming to observe the test doesn’t affect our agreement. If nothing goes wrong, you will get what you want, and we will get what we want. This is enough.”
“Mm, well said.” Xia Lei had a smile on his face as he said probingly, “But... it can’t be that the French government is deliberately putting on an act of having some sort of secret negotiations, while sharing my technology with the Americans through the back door, right?”
“You are a man full of suspicion.” Jacqueline Eva rolled her eyes at Xia Lei. “You think that America will agree to us using the avionics and stealth technology of the Eurofighter Typhoon to exchange for China’s artillery, rifle and lathe technology?”
Xia Lei just smiled, and didn’t add on to the conversation.
The U.S. and China were the two biggest economies in the world, and also rivals. America would not want China’s military airfleet to get more powerful, of course. If that happened, America would lose their aviation advantage, and that was something America would definitely not allow.
Since the situation was like this, why was a member of the higher levels of Lockheed Martin going to observe tomorrow’s test?
Xia Lei could not puzzle this out, but he did not mind this. If Lockheed Martin had some sort of secret deal with the French government, then it was between them. As Jacqueline Eva said, the French government would have what they wanted, and he would get what he wanted. This was enough.
“Mr Xia, would you like to discuss the incident involving those gunmen?” Jacqueline Eva changed the topic.
Xia Lei shook his head. “There’s nothing much to talk about. Just thinking of those guys make me feel afraid.”
“You can feel fear?” Jacqueline Eva leaned in to Xia Lei.
“Miss Eva, can’t you talk in a nicer way?” Xia Lei’s mood was getting all twisted up.
“Can’t we have a good talk like this?” Jacqueline Eva continued pressing on Xia Lei. Her upper body weight was practically all on Xia Lei.
Xia Lei was at a loss for words. If they really could have a good talk like this, then… well, I’ll be damned.
All of his holding back and restraint had gained him no peace, but the blonde woman was taking advantage of him instead…
The coming night was sure to be… not peaceful.
The light of dawn dispelled the darkness and romance slowly awakened from the darkness. One could not calculate how many men and women fornicated in the city last night, but Xia Lei and Jacqueline Eva were very obviously one of those pairs.
“Heh, Xia, time for you to get up for breakfast, you lazy bum.” Jacqueline Eva drew close to Xia Lei and gently called for him to wake up. After last night, she changed the way she addressed him. He was “Mr Xia” before, and now he was “Xia”. This was a more intimate way of addressing him.
Xia Lei was actually already awake, but he’d pretended not to hear.
“Oh, it’s all my fault. You must be tired out. You should rest well, but you still have to get up. We need to go for the Hellhound One-soldier Cannon testing. Those guys would lecture me if we ‘re late,” said Jacqueline Eva.
Xia Lei climbed out of bed.
Jacqueline Eva stared at him. “Nice. You’re the most exquisite man I’ve seen. Your body is like a statue of Venus. I’ve never seen a body so perfect.”
“How many perfect bodies have you seen?” asked Xia Lei as he put on his clothes.
Jacqueline Eva then realised that she had let that comment slip from her tongue, and a look of embarrassment crossed her face. She turned around and headed to the door. “Hurry up. I’ll wait for you so we can have breakfast together.”
*
The mood at breakfast was quite jovial. A French-style breakfast, a French woman… everything about it was romantic.
“I received the notification while you were still sleeping,” said Jacqueline Eva as they ate. “The location for the testing of the Hellhound One-soldier Cannon is at Military Base AZ14. It’s a military base for the French Foreign Legion.”
The French Foreign Legion was a world-famous legion, and their name was widespread during World War II.
Xia Lei put down his knife and fork. “I have to make a call and let my people get the Hellhound and the artillery ready for the testing.”
“Tell your people to prepare the XL2500 and Gust rifles too. They want to see the capabilities of these two guns with their own eyes,” said Jacqueline Eva.
Xia Lei nodded. “No problem.”
The French sure were cautious, but he was confident that he could win them over. He estimated that the agreement-signing would come after the end of the test.
Xia Lei gave Qing Caiyue a call, and she went on to prepare the weapons and ammunition for him.
Half an hour later, Jacqueline Eva and Xia Lei left the hotel. They headed towards the AZ14 Military Base under the protection of a long line of military off-road vehicles.