Chapter 52: Tremors in the Military Region

"What?"

Li Wenshan leaped to his feet at the other end of the phone call, the screech of his chair scraping against the floor clearly audible.

The guard had already anticipated the commander's reaction and continued, "Commander, how should I handle this situation now?"

"Let me ask you again. Are you certain that is a real fighter jet?" Li Wenshan asked once more.

His tone carried distinct urgency and a hint of astonishment.

The guard could fully understand the commander's reaction.

Discovering a genuine fighter jet within the borders of Kyushu, and right outside the military district at that—even if its performance and technology were outdated and fell short of current active-duty aircraft in every respect—was a monumental event. It was an incident weighty enough to shake the entire military region.

After all, fighter jets belonged to the category of heavy combat weaponry in military terms, items that global arms dealers simply did not possess, which spoke volumes about their extreme rarity.

Once such an item circulated among civilians, it was impossible to guarantee that severe consequences would be avoided. If anything were to go wrong, it would be far too late to act.

Therefore, the military region had always treated matters of this nature with utmost gravity; any discovery had to be met with strict and serious measures.

Yet, prior to this, it seemed such an incident had never been heard of.

The fundamental reason for this was that civilians were entirely incapable of researching and developing fighter jets. In this era of heavily restricted military scientific research and technology, even members of ordinary military research institutes were required to sign strict confidentiality agreements when undertaking any research project to prevent accidental leaks.

Let alone technology related to fighter jets.

Thus, discovering one—no, two—real fighter jets inside this warehouse today was an utterly absurd anomaly.

The guard could not even fathom how this person named Wang Yang had managed to get his hands on these fighter jets in the first place!

"That's correct, Commander. Director Lin and Director Su have both confirmed that these are indeed two genuine fighter jets. However, their specific performance metrics have yet to be precisely tested, so we cannot yet determine the exact capabilities of these aircraft," the guard replied.

Over the phone, Li Wenshan drew several sharp breaths and immediately issued orders: "Seal off this warehouse at once. Furthermore, news regarding these two fighter jets must be strictly suppressed and kept from leaking outside."

"Everyone present must sign a confidentiality agreement. Tell the individuals who put these fighter jets up for sale not to leave Qingcheng in the near future and to remain on standby to assist with the investigation."

"Move quickly!"

***

Hearing this, the guard nodded heavily. "Understood, Commander."

He hung up the phone, turned around, and looked at Wang Yang, who remained calm and composed without a trace of fear on his face, as well as the deeply frightened Zhai Lin and Sister Li.

He stepped forward, walked right up to Wang Yang, and raised his hand in a salute. "Mr. Wang Yang, I have just received instructions from my superiors. Please refrain from leaving Qingcheng in the near future. Additionally, our military will temporarily seal off this warehouse for further investigation. We kindly ask for your cooperation."

"No problem, but please conduct the investigation as quickly as possible," Wang Yang said with a smile.

Next, the guard walked over to Zhai Lin and Sister Li, raising his hand in a salute once more. "You two, please accompany me to the military district to sign confidentiality agreements. Once those are signed, you will be free to leave. However, everything you have seen and heard today must not be disclosed to the outside world in any way, shape, or form."

"Understood, understood. I swear I won't breathe a single word of this—not even a syllable! Let's go sign right now." Zhai Lin had been waiting eagerly to sign the confidentiality agreement. At this moment, he only wanted to get away from here as fast as possible, even if his fifty-million-yuan deposit was entirely non-refundable.

Compared to fifty million yuan, he cared far more about preserving his career.

Sister Li was equally well aware of the stakes involved; naturally, she had no intention of objecting and readily agreed to everything.

Shortly after, the guard escorted Lin Yi, Su Qi, Zhai Lin, and Sister Li into the vehicles.

Before getting into the car, he secured the doors of the warehouse and retrieved the keys from Wang Yang and Jiang Liangliang.

Afterward, he watched as Wang Yang and Jiang Liangliang departed from the warehouse.

He waited until the military-plated off-road vehicle arrived and several armed soldiers surrounded the entire warehouse before driving the rest of the group back to the military district.

...

"Brother Yang, military personnel are here now... what... what are we going to do?" Jiang Liangliang sat in the passenger seat, her delicate face pale, as if the reality of the situation had finally dawned on her.

Wang Yang maintained his nonchalant expression as he drove. "What's there to panic about? The military is just conducting an investigation. Didn't they just let us walk away?"

"But I've heard that trafficking in arms is a grave crime!" Jiang Liangliang said belatedly.

Wang Yang merely chuckled. "Don't fret. In fact, I've been hoping the military would get involved."

"Huh?" Jiang Liangliang was completely dumbfounded, utterly failing to follow her boss's logic at this moment.

The military had arrived and confirmed that the F-22 fighter jets they had offered for sale to the public were actual, real fighter jets. Didn't that mean they were now directly implicated in the illegal trade of weaponry?

And we are talking about heavy combat weaponry at that. Just thinking about it made her certain of the gravity of the situation.

Earlier, she hadn't fully grasped this aspect, completely consumed as she was by the surge in her livestream's popularity and the prospect of their company staging an immediate turnaround. She simply hadn't thought in that direction at all. But now that she reflected on it, that was precisely what was happening!

Wang Yang smiled. "Think about it. At first, when I claimed in the livestream that these were combat-ready F-22 fighter jets, the viewers didn't believe it. Nobody believed it; everyone just treated it like a model. But now that the military has stepped in and verified for me that these are genuine fighter jets, the military is essentially giving us a massive advertisement!"

"Doesn't that make sense to you?"

Jiang Liangliang was momentarily stunned by Wang Yang's line of reasoning, dazed as she began to feel that somehow, it actually sounded a little logical.

Yet, she snapped back to reality almost immediately. "But the military might not necessarily let us continue selling them, Brother Yang!"

"That may be, but the final verdict hasn't been reached yet, has it? Don't panic." Wang Yang kept his eyes on the road ahead, his expression entirely unruffled.

Naturally, he was well aware of all this, just as he understood what would happen once the military discovered that these two F-22s were the real deal.

Of course, the military might hypothetically choose to prosecute him on charges of illegal arms trafficking, but he knew for a fact that they would never do that.

Right now, the military only suspected that these were two ordinary, operational fighter jets. But once they realized these were actually authentic F-22 fighter jets, the nature of the situation would completely change.

One had to remember that the F-22 was a frontline fighter jet currently in active service with the United States, possessing cutting-edge technology and serving as the ultimate symbol of American air combat prowess.

Although Kyushu had its own J-20 guarding its skies, Kyushu would never simply turn its nose up at an F-22. If the opportunity arose to genuinely acquire an actual F-22 of their own, the Kyushu military would undoubtedly go to any lengths to get their hands on it.

By that time, he would no longer be viewed as some illicit arms dealer; instead, he would be a miracle merchant capable of delivering a miracle to the Kyushu military!

When that day came, the entire dynamic would shift dramatically.

Therefore, he wasn't anxious in the slightest. He would let the bullets fly for a while longer. All he needed to do was sit back and quietly wait for the military to complete their inspection, realize these were genuine F-22s, and everything would fall into place.