What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 679 Fast and Furious

Due to the time difference, Yan Jian stayed up all night until dawn, glancing at his watch from time to time.

After promising to find a solution, Tang Wen stayed in the shipyard and sat down in the convenience store, where he also made himself a cup of instant noodles.

More than an hour passed and the instant noodles remained untouched. The shop owner across from him even used nail clippers to gnaw off an entire corner of the table.

After Tang Wen returned to the shipyard before Kronstadt took action, he counted the time as he walked out the door, and the two people in the convenience store immediately stood up.

They had no resources at Sparks and could only obtain firsthand information from Tang Wen.

The latter, under the anxious gazes of the two, made an "eight" shape with his right hand and gestured twice towards Yan Jian's brow:

"We are certain there is no risk of resurrection. The cleanup was completed as soon as we got off the plane, so we probably didn't have time to say anything."

Yan Jian finally relaxed and sat down on the stool with a sigh of relief.

"That's great...that's great! Your people are really amazing, they managed to succeed in such a short time!"

At this point, he became nervous again, secretly praying that it wouldn't be some kind of superhuman miracle related to the lost empire.

"So what? How many top talents lost their jobs when KBG broke up? There were plenty of ace snipers willing to take the job."

Yan Jian nodded vigorously. With the Dragon Group's resources, supporting former KBG experts was clearly no problem. He was about to get up to report, but his habitual caution made him more cautious, and he continued to ask:
"Could you reveal some details? Approximately where and when?"

"The sniping happened five minutes ago, when I was getting off the hatch."

Yan Jian didn't notice anything wrong with the conversation and was about to leave when he noticed the Guoan store owner across the street thoughtfully stroking his chin and then picking up a local map of Sparks from the table.

More than two hours ago, when he learned that the passenger plane had turned around, someone managed to get a map, and now all he can think about is the situation around the airport.

"Wait a minute, the area around Sparks is a low-lying area, offering no visibility and making us easy targets. If we really want to snipe, we'll have to start from..."

His finger gradually moved to a certain location, and then he estimated it by referring to the scale, which was more than 3 kilometers away.

Tang Wen and Yan Jian came over together, and the former glanced at it and immediately gave a thumbs up in surprise:

"Wow, that's amazing! You found it right away, awesome!"

"Wait a minute, this isn't right, is it?"

Yan Jian was terrified:

"You mean, sniping from three kilometers away?"

"Haha, I was planning to give you a surprise, it's actually around 3400 meters."

Yan Jian: "..."

He and the shop owner exchanged bewildered glances. Was this what they called keeping a low profile and being "unrelated to the lost empire"?
"What's with that expression? He's just a sniping genius, that's perfectly reasonable!"

"I...thank you!"

……

A huge crisis was temporarily averted with the firing of five bullets, and the main ABCD fleet in Antarctica was also put on hold.

But things are still unfolding and are far from over.

The Empire immediately issued a strong condemnation and gave clear instructions to the Pacific Fleet to exert pressure and increase harassment.

Domestically, the order to prepare for war has not been withdrawn. Although they still need to rely on the empire to make money through business, they cannot be soft when they need to be firm and will not give an inch.

At noon, three hours after the cleanup operation, the Imperial government released a statement claiming that all the "victims" had been taken to the hospital in the shortest possible time and were out of danger after being rescued.

—If being reincarnated counts as escaping life-threatening danger.

In this era, it is difficult for video footage to be leaked through means other than the media. After the attack, Sparks Airport was under information control and not a single photo was released. Many airport staff were still trying to figure out what was going on when the traces were erased by the agents.

The hottest news in the US right now is the Nevada street racing livestream that just ended. The Dodge Challenger drove 370 kilometers in California and more than 200 kilometers in Nevada, but it got its name because it was caught by a helicopter filming in Nevada.

The news helicopter crew involved in the chase seized the opportunity to cancel their evening soap opera and broadcast the entire thrilling, epic high-speed chase live.

At that time, the number of high-horsepower cars owned by civilians was not high, and although there were high-speed chases between police and criminals, they were almost never broadcast live, and the speed was not very fast.

Sheriff Matthews and the unknown challenger engaged in a high-intensity chase that lasted for over an hour, with speeds almost always exceeding 200 km/h. Afterwards, a speed camera revealed that the challenger's top speed reached an astonishing 387 km/h, while Matthews' Chevrolet's top speed was 324 km/h.

At that time, the top speeds of supercars and race cars exceeded this number, but no one had ever thought of achieving it on a normal road with other vehicles in the presence of them. The two cars broke the world speeding record in one fell swoop, becoming the world's first and second speeding offenders.

Actually, this wasn't Bumblebee's limit. If Tang Wen hadn't told him to hold back, breaking 400+ wouldn't have been a problem.

Such insane speed made it difficult for helicopters to keep up, and it thoroughly excited the entire audience.

This live-streamed wild racing event spread virally, with millions of people watching simultaneously at its peak that night.

This includes a man named Rob Cohen.

Rob Cohen is a renowned director, screenwriter, and actor.

When he saw the footage captured from the helicopter showing two flying cars skillfully weaving through traffic, with the surrounding area repeatedly blurring due to the difficulty of focusing at high speeds, he found himself completely engrossed, his heart pounding.

When the live stream ended, the camera switched to Matthews leaning against the Chevrolet, creating a perfect cinematic composition!

Racing, chases, police and criminals—it provides the most intense thrills at all times!

He quickly called his screenwriter friend, Gary Scott:
"Hey buddy, I have a brilliant idea: let's make a racing crime movie! Did you see the live broadcast from Nevada? No? Then watch the replay tomorrow!"

I even had a name in mind: The Fast and the Furious.

……

Northwest, a certain base
Tang Wen stepped down the gangway, touched his chest with lingering fear, and couldn't help but say to Old Zhang beside him:

"Just throw away the Tu-154, I'll give you an MD-11G instead."

Civilian airlines can't fly into the air force base located in the desert. Tang Wen flew to Chengdu first and then transferred, but for the second leg of his journey, only United Airlines' Tu-154 was available.

The plane he just flew on was actually fine, but the pilot, who was a former military officer and had switched to civilian service, was so skilled and daring that he flew the passenger plane like a fighter jet. The takeoff was delayed by 20 minutes, but the plane landed 10 minutes early. The feeling of weightlessness during the descent was more thrilling than a roller coaster.

Moreover, a Tu-154 crashed in China four years ago, and then three more crashed abroad. The most recent accident was last December. Tang Wen was genuinely afraid of repeating Enrique's fate, and even if he survived, it would be difficult for him to make a public appearance in the future.

"There are indeed plans to withdraw the Tu-154 from civil aviation... You don't have to take this one when you go back, there's another one."

"Why didn't you say so earlier? Any aircraft is better than the Tu-154."

“Yun-8.” “Then I’ll take the bus back.”

Tang Wen's gaze was extremely firm, filled with distrust of the Widow's flying machine.

Lao Zhang: "..."

The two boarded the commuter bus and headed to the building. Tang Wen noticed that the hangars on both sides of the runway were covered with tarpaulins. Upon seeing this, the ground staff driving the bus explained:

"The base is now completely closed. In principle, no one is allowed to leave the base. Everyone must be re-examined, and all non-essential work has been suspended."

The engine piping for that Tomcat has been matched, but the integration with the flight control system requires repeated run-throughs for proper tuning, so it will be delayed by at least a month.

"Moving so fast?"

"That's right, many of the adapters are handmade by us... Here we are."

"Mr. Tang, I have failed your trust."

Tang Wen, the director in charge of the base, had met him before. He was an air force officer named He Huaide who was watching F-14s in Dawan.

At this moment, he felt ashamed in front of Tang Wen, and pointed to Zhao Yaohua and Chief Engineer Lu, who looked depressed, behind him, and said:

"It was our lax vetting that allowed someone to easily exploit the loophole. Now all those involved have been apprehended, and everyone else, including myself, will undergo the strictest vetting process. We will absolutely not have any contact with the outside world until the work is completed!"
I'm so sorry for dragging you all into this!

He Huaide truly felt ashamed, after all, Gaijin had provided so much advanced equipment, yet it was his side that had run into trouble first.

"It's nothing serious, it's all in the past, after all, there were no serious consequences."

Tang Wen didn't take it to heart. In fact, Zhao Hande had already told him that almost all classified projects in the country had been temporarily suspended, and that investigations and enhanced security education were being carried out.

What he cares about most is that the F-14 test flight progress has been slowed down, which is unacceptable.

However, if he couldn't conduct frequent actual test runs, there was no point in just hiding in the hangar to study it. So he finally decided to try a little bit of cheating.

Led by Chief Engineer Lu, he first arrived at the hangar, where he saw the Tomcat already equipped with F110 engines.

"The engine's piping and control lines are basically connected and matched, and the test run went smoothly. However, the F110's power output curve and response are too different from the TF30. We need to adjust the flight control and reprogram the data on the ground first, which can only be done through practice... Sorry."

"It's alright, Chief Engineer Lu. You mean the engine is ready to start, right?"

Chief Engineer Lu nodded: "There are no problems with the ground test drive. The hardware modification is complete, only the software is missing."

Tang Wen felt confident and placed his hand on the fuselage.

[Consumes 6000 (500*12) experience points to replicate]

由于F110发动机和F14A机体都已经研发过，结合改造后的鳖版F14B只需要500经验即可仿制，顶着12倍科技惩罚也不算什么。

The incompatibility of the flight control system is not a problem with the copied F-14B. It is equivalent to Tang Wen being able to immediately manufacture an F-14B with no flight control issues and perfect compatibility. The only drawback is that the flight control code is maintained by magic and cannot be copied. However, it can be handed over to Zhao Yaohua and others for test flights to obtain data and make up for the wasted time.

The Red Tomcat is a project that deserves gold, and Tang Wen will not allow any delays!
"That's right. Geijin has obtained another F-14A equipped with an F-110 and has secretly sent it to China. Let's conduct test flights to obtain data first. Matching the F-110 and F-14A is not very meaningful for reverse engineering."

The situation is becoming increasingly dire; we need to produce red male cats as soon as possible.

Zhao Yaohua: "..."

He Huaide: "..."

In that instant, they suddenly had a feeling that the Empire's leaks might be far more serious than theirs, perhaps not even on the same level.
……

Tang Wen ultimately decided against leaving the base by car. Instead, he chose to fly a Y-5 transport aircraft to the nearest civilian airport for a connecting flight, thinking that such a vehicle should be safe.

Before boarding the plane, he was still thinking that the Civil Aviation Administration's announcement this year that the Y-5 would be phased out of civil aviation passenger transport was too hasty, and asked why it wasn't promoted in underdeveloped areas? Maybe it would be more convenient than buses.

Old Zhang smiled without saying anything, telling him he would find out soon enough.

However, he regretted it when it took off. The 1000-horsepower piston engine was quite loud, and the Y-5 had no comfort features and was much noisier than a regular passenger plane. Without earmuffs, his ears would start to ring soon after entering the cabin.

What's even more unpleasant is that the Y-5's cabin is unpressurized, meaning it can only fly at low altitudes below 3000 meters. Low-altitude airflow is more variable and more affected by terrain undulations. The tiny Y-5 is constantly shaking and swaying in the wind, making a trip there even more unbearable than taking a slow train.

The extremely poor riding experience was difficult even for adults to endure. Tang Wen stood on the ground for a while before his dizzy mind cleared up, and he shouted:

"Saab's small propeller planes do have a market, and I'll try to buy a batch. The Y-5 is safe, but the passenger experience is terrible."

"Safety?"

Old Zhao raised an eyebrow before chuckling and saying:

"People outside don't know the accident rate. In fact, the Y-5 is our aircraft with the highest accident rate. Although the flight is simple, the low-altitude conditions are too complex. We crash into mountains and control poles quite often. It's only because we take off from the desert where the terrain is flat that you can take this flight. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to take this flight."

In mountainous areas, the accident rate for pilots who have transitioned from operating agricultural machinery is much higher than that for passenger bus pilots.

Tang Wen: "..."

……

The Sparks Airport shooting did not affect Rolls-Royce's engine deal.

The empire temporarily covered up the matter, allowing the live-streamed car chase show to generate new buzz, while quietly downplaying the sniper case.

This is also the countermeasure strongly recommended by Kazimirz:
On the surface, we must take advantage of this situation to make a big show of ourselves in the Western Pacific; otherwise, it will only make the outside world think that the empire is weak and easy to bully.

On the other hand, he also believed that assisting in the escape was not something that should be publicized. He suggested that it was better to pressure the University of Tokyo to offer some benefits or demand a certain degree of information disclosure, rather than to pursue the matter excessively.

The assassin, who can be described as a sniper superman and a deadly racer, and whose style of jumping into the river after completing his mission, has almost revealed the identity of the real culprit.

However, revealing the truth would only make it difficult for the empire to save face. After all, seeking revenge against a lost empire is an impossible task, and it's best not to make things difficult for oneself.

The president’s staff almost unanimously approved the proposal to turn retaliatory action into pressure through the upcoming Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) naval exercises in the Western Pacific.

Dai Ying sensed something was amiss, but at that moment she was only thinking about making money.

Tang Wen returned to Nansha District just in time for a three-day reflection period, and directly expressed his stance to Ruth:

接受以60亿美元购买500台RB211-52X发动机、以及专利授权、并要求罗·罗赠送BR715-C3发动机授权以及10台样品。

The contract will be undertaken by a shell company set up by Saab, but actual payments will be based on Rolls-Royce's delivery of the physical goods and the learning progress of the technicians trained by Geigan, and 100 in-depth learning opportunities will be allowed at the Rolls-Royce factory.

Ruth readily agreed, finalizing this largest and most numerous aero-engine deal of 98.

(End of this chapter)