Rebirth of Hong Kong Island, leading the technology war

Chapter 497 The Mysterious Stonemasons' Club
Gates has always doted on his daughter Katherine, and is known in the industry as a doting father.

However, a large part of the reason is that Guss's daughter is indeed very smart and wise, and she has a very comprehensive perspective on and analysis of problems.

So when Gus encounters a difficult problem, he really needs to consult with Catherine before he can get inspiration and find a solution. And the success rate is very high.

At this moment, Guss said, "Catherine, when you go to Hong Kong this time, bring up this idea with Mr. Hu first and see how he reacts. If he really wants to take this order, then I will send someone over to formally negotiate with him."

Catherine thought for a moment and said, "Okay, Daddy, I'll do it."

In fact, Catherine was also very curious about what Hu Jiangshan's expression would be and what he would say when he found out that the Gais family wanted to give the order for the probe to be sent to the moon to the Tenglong Island launch site.

Most people wouldn't dare accept such an order; they'd just think it's a joke.

However, Catherine believed that Hu Jiangshan was no ordinary person.

Ordinary people would never build a space launch site.

However, Catherine thought Hu Jiangshan's expression would be quite interesting.

At this moment, Gus suddenly thought of something, frowned, and said, "But we still need to discuss this with those people."

Catherine paused, then said, "...Those people? Daddy, do you mean they might not agree to what you're doing?"

"Perhaps. If they want to stop me, it will be difficult for me to fight them, but I think I can persuade them."

“I agree, Daddy. I think they’d also like to know how good the space launch site on Tenglong Island is.”

“You’re right, that’s exactly what I think.”

Catherine was well aware of the power those people possessed; it was terrifying, beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

Even tech giants like Daddy Gus sometimes have to take orders from these people.

If someone doesn't listen, they could be ruined, and in severe cases, their life could be in danger.

Many federal officials are even afraid of these people, dare not do anything against their wishes, and may even work for them.

Over the decades, many wealthy individuals and federal officials have disappeared or died unexpectedly, and these incidents are all related to them.

Of course, if Gus really wants to break ties with them, it won't be so easy for them to deal with this side.

The Guise represent a high-tech force and have already gained some influence; Malak is one of its members, and they may well be capable of putting up a fight.

The problem is that Guss is unwilling to do that; he thinks it's not worth it now.

More importantly, Guss was nominally one of them, just not of a very high rank.

Catherine asked, "Daddy, when do you plan to get this sorted out?"

Guss thought for a moment and replied, "Tomorrow, I think. There's a dinner party tomorrow night, and some people will be attending, including Mr. Cherold. I plan to bring this up with him. Catherine, you know Mr. Cherold is quite easy to talk to; he should understand what I mean and give me the green light."

Catherine nodded: "I hope so."

In fact, Catherine knew this was not easy, because the United States was now very sensitive to all aspects of China, even its every move, with semiconductors and aerospace being of paramount importance.

Even decades ago, the United States had already decided not to have any cooperative relationship with China in many areas, especially in the aerospace field.

Of course, the official regulations state that cooperation at the official level is not allowed, but there are no specific regulations regarding the scope of such cooperation at the grassroots level.

Guss was thinking that he might be able to find a loophole.

·
In the United States, as long as you find the right person with enough power, you can do anything without any oversight.

I'll let you know if there's any news.

"Okay, no problem, good luck, Daddy."

Gus laughed and said, "Alright, Catherine, let's talk about something happy and throw all these worries into the lake."

As they spoke, Gus and his daughter glanced at the lake view outside the window at the same time; it was so beautiful that they couldn't recognize each other.

Frankly speaking, as top billionaires living in such places, and not just one, with endless money, it's hard to imagine that rich people also have unhappy things, but they do, and they have big troubles.

Perhaps having money is itself a kind of trouble.

The next day, in the evening, at the Golden Club in Xiyatu.

Seattle is an extremely beautiful seaside city, popular with many Americans and foreign tourists. It frequently appears in movies, TV shows, and games, and is well-known.

Therefore, the city of Sierra has countless clubs, bars, and nightclubs.

Of course, there are high, medium and low-end options, but this so-called "Gold Club" is the highest of the high-end, in a class of its own.

Only the truly wealthy, the super-rich, and the core federal officials of the United States have the opportunity to visit this place regularly. Ordinary people cannot even stay at the entrance; they will be turned away by security personnel.

Of course, it's not impossible for ordinary people to get in; they just need to find someone with status and position to take them in.

However, on the other hand, if you can find someone like that to take you there, it means that person also has a certain status and position.

What many people don't know is that the Golden Club actually contains another club.

That club was not publicly known and was unknown to the world, not even to ordinary wealthy people. In other words, the Golden Club was just a facade, a cover for the hidden club.

And the name of that club was the Stonemasons Club.

The Stonemasons Club operates on a membership system, and becoming a member can only be described as incredibly difficult.

There are probably only a few hundred people on the entire planet Blue Star, and members are divided into different levels.

There are definitely no more than seven people who truly stand at the top of the pyramid.

And the name of this union is the Stonemasons' Union.

At that moment, a Tesla car drove up to the entrance of the Gold Club, and a waiter immediately came to greet it.

Before the driver even got out of the car, the waiter called out the person's name accurately, because they could remember the car models and license plate numbers of their regular customers.

"Good evening, Mr. Guise."

Gus responded, got out of the car, and handed the car keys to the waiter.

The waiter said, "Mr. Guss, please come in."

When Bill Guise entered the club and arrived at the lobby, waiters would frequently bow and salute him.

It's obvious that Bill Guise is a regular here, and all the waiters and waitresses are handsome men and beautiful women with fantastic figures—they're all pleasing to the eye. That's the quality of a high-end club!
Bill Guise did not stop, but continued walking inside.

Gus walked down a long corridor to a door at the end, and decisively chose the one on the left.

The door was very simple and unadorned, like a basement door.

But the place Gus went to was not so simple.

Gus knocked on the door, but instead of opening it, a tiny little door opened, barely big enough to put a hand through.

Gus readily extended his left hand inside; he wore a very distinctive ring on the ring finger of his left hand, and someone inside looked at his ring.

A voice came from inside: "Good evening, Mr. Guss."

"good evening."

Gus withdrew his hand, opened the door, and went inside first.

The amazing thing is that there was no one behind the door at this time. Perhaps they had already left, or perhaps there was no one there at all, and the ring was being viewed through a surveillance camera.

The voices just now could very well have come from a loudspeaker.

Gus was used to it; this was actually the basic procedure for getting in here.

Everyone must go through this process, which is extremely rigorous.

But inside is a completely different scene. It looks like the interior of an ancient castle, but upon closer inspection, you'll see that the effect has been achieved through renovation and even an antiquing process, making it look very rustic.

It's a very large place with many rooms, each with a different size and function.

Some of the houses contained a lot of supplies, and even firearms.

If it were someone coming in for the first time, it would be hard to imagine what the people here want to do or what preparations they are making.

Actually, this is just for self-defense. There are secrets hidden here, and many of them are things that cannot be made public.

Revealing these secrets will only result in two outcomes: either panic or complete disbelief.

A moment later, Bill Guise arrived at a very spacious hall, which was the club's main hall.

There's a dance floor, booths, tables, and even a very long dining table that looks like it can seat dozens of people at once.

This is just like the scene often seen in movies, where many noble members use the same dining table at gatherings in castles, emphasizing extravagance.

However, there is a problem with Western dining tables: people at one end of the table may not be able to hear each other clearly.

If you have poor eyesight, or a high degree of nearsightedness, you may not even be able to see what the person in front of you looks like or make out their appearance.

Another problem is that you need to prepare many portions of the same dish. If you prepare one turkey, many people won't be able to eat it.

Leaving one's seat and running over with the plate to get it is acceptable, but it's too undignified and doesn't suit the status of an aristocrat.

Anyway, this place feels like a separate dining system, which is not as comfortable and orderly as eating separately.

In comparison, a round table seems more scientific.

Although using round tables can sometimes be messy, at least they save space and resources, and the experience is better.

The uniforms of the staff here have also changed; each one is dressed like a butler in an ancient Western castle, and the chosen women are even more stunning, exuding elegance in every gesture.
It's obvious that these service personnel are all highly educated, and some even graduated from Ivy League schools.

As is well known, Ivy League schools are ranked highly and are top-tier institutions in the United States that attract top talent; they are extremely difficult to get into.

Don't underestimate these service staff; they have the potential to become more professional in the future.
In other words, getting a job as a waiter isn't something anyone can just do. Not only do you need to be good-looking and have a good family background, but more importantly, you need someone to recommend you. Otherwise, you have absolutely no chance of getting in, and you might not even know that this place exists.

These waiters have also signed confidentiality agreements, and they are constantly being watched. If the secrets here are leaked, they will definitely not survive and will simply disappear without a trace.

Bill Guise looked around. There weren't many people there; there were only about a dozen scattered around.

This is quite normal, as there is still about an hour before the actual banquet, and most of the VIPs attending the banquet have not yet arrived.

However, Guss's early arrival was not without reason, as the person he was to meet was one of the people in charge here, and under normal circumstances, he would also arrive very early.

After searching for a while, Gus finally found his target, Colin Chalode.

The Chalco family is a very famous family; anyone with a modicum of knowledge on Earth has heard of them. They are one of the most powerful Western conglomerates and are also known as one of the oldest families in the United States, which is indeed true.

Guss walked over and greeted the other man warmly: "Mr. Chalod, how are you?"

Chalod smiled and hugged Guss, patting him on the shoulder: "Long time no see, Mr. Guss."

It's clear that Guss and Cherold have a good relationship; at least they can talk to each other.

Of course, Chalode is only one of the people in charge, and it's not enough to just get on his good side. However, Chalode can act as an intermediary, which is very useful. You can ask him for help with things that aren't particularly difficult.

After exchanging pleasantries, Guss, holding his wine glass, began to get down to business.

“Mr. Chalode, I have something to tell you.”

Chalode glanced at Gus's expression and realized that the other man was serious: "Mr. Gus, what is it?"

"I want to do a project that sends a probe to the moon."

Chalod was stunned: "Mr. Guss, this is no simple matter. Currently, the number of countries that can send probes to the moon can be counted on three fingers."

Guss said, "It's difficult, but we have to do it."

“That’s right, this is something that has to be done sooner or later, but which aerospace company does Mr. Guise plan to launch with? SpeyX?”

Gus shook his head: "Mr. Chalode, it's not Speth X, I'm planning to go with the Tenglong Island Space Launch Site."

Chaluode's eyes widened: "Tenglong Island Space Launch Site? I feel like I've seen it somewhere before... Right, is it the one on Hong Kong Island?"

"Yes, that's the one. They've started accepting commercial orders now, so I plan to work with them."

“This…this won’t do…Mr. Guss, let’s not even talk about the fact that Tenglong Island Space Launch Site is a Chinese company, and they don’t even have this technology.”

“Mr. Chairod, do you know that the intelligence department launched a large-scale cyberattack on Tenglong Island, but it was to no avail, which means that the technology of this space launch site is beyond imagination.”

"That's not necessarily true," said Challow. "Maybe they just have a very good level of defense."

"So we can use this project to test the capabilities of the Tenglong Island Space Launch Site."

(End of this chapter)