50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 260 Public funds: half for each party

Lieutenant Colonel Vincent and Sun Zhiwei have reached an agreement on this deal, but the specific distribution of profits still needs to be discussed.

This was no time for restraint. The two argued fiercely in the office, almost to the point of slamming their fists on the table and coming to blows, but they never actually did.

Whenever one of them loses their temper, the other always has to make some concessions.

The two argued over every penny, reasoning their points, and eventually reached an agreement.

The buyback agreement for these damaged fighter jets involved individual pricing for each aircraft. Overall, the average cost per aircraft was $174 million.

This money would naturally come from the fleet's military budget. Vincent was responsible for smoothing things over with the higher-ups, while Sun Zhiwei was responsible for handling the aircraft.

After deducting the $30 processing fee and taxes per aircraft, the final amount was split equally between the two individuals, resulting in $72 per aircraft per person.

Sun Zhiwei also told Sean Carr about his agreement. Lieutenant Colonel Vincent didn't care about giving the captain a small share of money; on the contrary, he was happy to see it happen.

After all, he would receive an additional $67 for every additional fighter jet recovered.

After the verbal agreement was reached, Sun Zhiwei immediately bought a shell recycling company from a local law firm.

Then, this shell company was used to sign a recovery agreement with the Third Fleet.

Ultimately, 14 fighter jets were recovered, including 10 that were actually destroyed. Sun Zhiwei and Lieutenant Colonel Vincent each received $720 million.

The two men each received $268 million for the other four damaged aircraft, and paid Sean Carr an additional $400,000 for technical repairs.

The original agreement to purchase the damaged fighter jet for 20 was naturally void.

Although these 14 damaged fighter jets weigh only a few hundred tons, they occupy a considerable area.

Sun Zhiwei had to temporarily charter a 3000-ton open cargo ship to load the aircraft wreckage at the Norfolk Naval Base dock.

On the third night, the open cargo ship carrying the aircraft wreckage left the Norfolk Naval Base and finally docked at an old pier several hundred miles away.

That night, all the cargo ship's crew went out to have fun, and Sun Zhiwei finally had a chance to put the wreckage into his spatial storage.

Having achieved one of his goals, Sun Zhiwei breathed a sigh of relief.

As for the $988 million he earned incidentally, that's his personal slush fund, and he'll likely use most of it for missions in the future.

Nearly ten million US dollars seems like a lot, but it's really nothing for a country. Back when they wanted to build a liaison office in New York, the government allocated eight million dollars at once to buy a house.

It wasn't that he was greedy; it was mainly because he frequently needed money to carry out his missions, and the funds allocated domestically were simply insufficient.

Handing over this money will only earn him a reward, but keeping it in his hands will lead to a vicious cycle of problems.

Ultimately, these will translate into more successful missions and achievements, which will then be returned to the country.

On the night the fighter jet was recovered, Sun Zhiwei personally sent a telegram to Xu Yimin in China.

He was given an urgent report on the Nimitz collision and asked whether to attempt to retrieve the wreckage.

A few hours later, a call came back from home: under the premise of ensuring safety, attempt to retrieve the wreckage of the fighter jet.

After all, Sun Zhiwei had already reported that the wreckage contained F-14s and EA-6Bs.

Of these two aircraft, the F-14 completely outclasses domestic fighter jets and represents the pinnacle of fighter jets of that era, offering significant reference value for the development of domestic fighter jets.
The EA-6B is an electronic warfare aircraft, a type of aircraft that is still nonexistent in China, and its development is out of the question, since there is no reference material available and scientists are clueless.

The opportunity to obtain the wreckage will greatly benefit domestic research and development efforts.

Our country's intelligence work has always adhered to the principle of putting people first since its first generation, and we have never made intelligence officers risk their lives to exchange for intelligence.

Although in reality, everyone is willing to risk their lives for important intelligence if necessary. In addition, the intelligence department has two ironclad rules: one, no honey traps; two, no assassinations.

This has absolutely nothing to do with any ideology; it's entirely a rule we set for ourselves, which completely violates the essential principles of intelligence work.

Maintaining morality and ethics in intelligence warfare is a rare and admirable quality among the world's intelligence agencies.

In reality, however, our intelligence work was not affected by these two prohibitions; on the contrary, it was done even better because of them.

After receiving the new assignment, Sun Zhiwei timed it perfectly and contacted Mr. Huo again five days later.

“Mr. Huo, do you remember me? I’m Sun Wei, a rice merchant.”

Upon hearing that it was the mysterious Mr. Sun again, Mr. Huo immediately understood that there was a new mission.

"Oh, it's you. We had a pleasant collaboration last time. Mr. Sun, do you have any business opportunities to introduce to me this time?"

Last time, he inexplicably received praise from the country. After thinking about it for a long time, he finally realized it was because of that ship of rice.

Of course, he understood that the real reason was definitely not rice, but he didn't need to know that.

"Mr. Huo is indeed exceptionally intelligent. This time it's another 1 tons of flour. North America has had a bumper harvest this year, and the price of flour here is very cheap. Mr. Huo, are you interested?"

This time, Sun Zhiwei contacted him again, requesting another 10,000-ton bulk carrier. Clearly, this was yet another domestic mission.

For Mr. Huo, there was money to be made and he could help the country, so he naturally wanted to cooperate fully.

"Of course I'm interested. Shall we stick to the same rules as last time?"

"Of course, we'll follow the same rules as last time."

"Understood. I will arrange the ships immediately. A ship will arrive at the port in 3 days at the earliest and 10 days at the latest."

"Mr. Huo is very generous. However, a few people would like to return on the ship this time. I wonder if that would be convenient?"

Xu Yimin scolded him last time. Such an important thing, and there wasn't even anyone to escort it. It made him very angry.

This time, Sun Zhiwei will definitely learn from his mistake.

“There’s no inconvenience about it. I’ll talk to the captain and ask him to cooperate with the guests.”

"Mr. Huo, thank you for your contributions. The motherland will never forget them."

"You're too kind. Although we live in different places, we are compatriots. Isn't it only right that we help each other out?"

"Mr. Huo, I admire you. Let's have tea sometime."

"It's a deal. I'll treat you next time I'm back in Hong Kong."

Soon after, Mr. Huo temporarily interrupted the journey of a cargo ship to North America to prioritize Sun Zhiwei's needs.

After contacting Mr. Huo, Sun Zhiwei reported the progress of the mission to Xu Yimin and requested his superiors to send people to secretly escort the cargo ship.

A week later, Mr. Huo's cargo ship docked. At the same time, a group of his colleagues from New York secretly found him.

Sun Zhiwei immediately understood that this group of people were there to provide escort, so he introduced them to the Huo family's captain.

The purpose of this group of people was to protect the ship; they knew nothing else.

Sun Zhiwei used the same method as before: first load the grain, and after passing through the checkpoint, he secretly replaced some of the flour.

(End of this chapter)