Tehran Grocery Store: My Intelligence is Priced Clearly

Less than forty minutes after Reza left.

Zhang Jian's phone vibrated.

I took it out and saw it was a short message from the bank confirming the deposit.

Bank transfer received: USD 500,000.00.

Zhang Jian stared at the numbers on the screen, his heart leaping in his throat!

Five hundred thousand dollars!

Converted to RMB, that's 3.45 million!

He hasn't saved this much in the three years he's been in Tehran!

He had thought Reza would dawdle for at least a few hours.

Even when intelligence agencies spend money, they still have to get approval from higher authorities, go through procedures, and deal with disputes.

I didn't expect this guy to move so fast!

"Karimi".

Zhang Jian lay on another hospital bed and turned his head to look at the side.

"What?"

"How much is your military's annual intelligence budget?"

Karimi was stumped by the question and paused for two seconds.

Why are you asking this?

"Let's just chat, tell me about it."

"Well... I don't know the exact number either."

"However, I did hear some complaints when I attended the meeting before."

"They say the intelligence agencies spend at least tens of millions of dollars a year, but what they get back is mostly irrelevant information."

"Tens of millions?"

Zhang Jian's initial joy instantly turned into astonishment.

"So many?"

"Then I didn't say enough!"

Karimi stared at him speechlessly.

"You still think it's not enough?"

"Our battalion's intelligence is only worth a few hundred dollars, but Reza gave you a full half a million!"

"You're kidding me."

Zhang Jian rolled his eyes, trying to cover up his previous behavior.

"You really think my intelligence is only worth a few hundred dollars!"

"I spent the lion's share; yours is just a drop in the bucket!"

"If it weren't for our relationship, I wouldn't care whether you live or die!"

He picked up an apple from the side, which he didn't know who had given it to him, and took a big bite.

"Besides, Reza is not like you!"

"Let alone the fact that I have absolutely no connection with him!"

"What he wants is a complete US airstrike plan covering the entire Tehran area!"

"Don't you know how valuable this thing is?"

"With this intelligence, you can make preparations in advance."

"Not only will no one die, but it can also deal with US airstrikes. If we prepare in advance, we might even be able to shoot down one or two planes."

"Then, whether domestically or internationally, it'll be impressive, won't it?"

"It can both curb the arrogance of the Americans and boost domestic resistance, killing two birds with one stone."

"Even at the United Nations, they can stand much more confidently."

"You're telling me this kind of information is expensive?"

Karimi opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.

If what Zhang Jian said is true, this intelligence isn't expensive at all.

A single Tomahawk cruise missile costs $1.5 million.

The US military drops dozens of missiles in a single strike, which amounts to tens of millions of dollars.

If Iran had known about the strike plan in advance and adjusted its deployment accordingly, the savings in equipment losses alone would have been more than just this amount of money.

"So, when do you plan to contact the intelligence?"

"What's the rush? He said within 12 hours, how much time has passed?"

Zhang Jian threw the leftover apple core into the trash can next to him.

"By the way, is there any food here?"

"have."

Karimi was also a little hungry.

"I asked the nurse for two meals, could you go and get them for me?"

"OK."

Zhang Jian went out for a walk and brought back two aluminum lunch boxes from the nurses' station.

He placed a copy on Karami's bedside table and then plopped down next to her.

He opened the lunchbox in his hand.

Rice with stewed mutton, not a large portion, but still hot.

They hadn't eaten all day and had been bombed.

I'm about to lose my life.

Looking at this food now, the hunger in my stomach intensified.

Without saying a word, he started eating.

Karimi looked at him, hesitant to speak.

He and Reza didn't get along, but when it comes to intelligence, the sooner the better.

Zhang Jian's attitude clearly indicated his dissatisfaction with Reza's interrogation methods.

But this thing...

Zhang Jian caught a glimpse of Karimi's hesitant expression out of the corner of his eye, but completely ignored him.

After finishing the meal, I threw the lunchbox aside.

He went straight back to his own bed.

fell asleep.

In less than three minutes, snoring began.

Outside.

The informant responsible for monitoring Zhang Jian had long been exasperated by his actions.

Is this kid a pig?

They either eat or sleep.

He took out his walkie-talkie and reported in a low voice.

"Report: After the target entered Captain Karimi's ward, he chatted for a while, had a meal, and then... fell asleep."

There was a five-second silence on the walkie-talkie.

"Asleep?"

The voice of Alibaba.

"Yes."

"..."

"Keep an eye on it."

This state lasted for a full eight hours.

Zhang Jian woke up once during the middle of the night, but didn't get out of bed.

He turned over, changed his position, and continued sleeping.

Zhang Jian slowly opened his eyes only when the sky outside the ward changed from gray to yellow and the fluorescent lights in the corridor came on.

He sat up, his body still aching all over.

"How long did I sleep?"

Karimi leaned against the headboard and looked at him.

Eight hours.

"Yeah?"

Zhang Jian rubbed his face.

"I'm doing better, I feel much more energetic."

He stood up, leaning on his cane.

The stitched wound is still throbbing slightly, but it's a little better than before.

Then, he pushed open the door and went out.

He walked straight to the nurses' station.

"Hello, do you have paper and a pen?"

The nurse on duty rummaged through the drawer and handed over a ballpoint pen and several sheets of A4 paper.

"Thanks."

Zhang Jian, holding paper and pen, slowly turned into the restroom at the end of the corridor.

"Report, target initiated, location: restroom."

The informant's eyes followed Zhang Jian's movements.

"Follow them, and stay hidden."

Ali gave a signal and ordered his men to start recording audio on Zhang Jian's phone.

There are surveillance cameras in the ward.

But aside from the initial, pointless chatter, all they heard was eight hours of snoring.

Extremely boring.

Now that their target has been set in motion, they have become much more energetic.

Zhang Jian went into the restroom and placed his crutch to the side.

The door was closed and locked.

"System, redeem the complete airstrike plan for the entire Tehran region for the next day."

【Ding! 】

[New assets detected in the host account: $500,000]

[Would you like to spend $100,000 to redeem the "Tehran Full-Scale Next-Day Airstrike Plan"?]

The content includes: all targets (12), precise strike time (seconds), aircraft type and formation information, penetration route, weapon type and quantity, and pilot call sign.

[Redeem or not?]

Zhang Jian did not hesitate.

"exchange."

The phone screen lit up instantly.

The transfer notification arrived quickly and efficiently.

At the same time, dense text began to pour out from the panel.

Twelve targets.

Behind each target are details accurate to the second: the time of attack, direction of attack, attack formation number, aircraft type, weapons carried, penetration altitude, and coordinates of the turning point of the penetration route.

The last column even lists the tactical call signs of each pilot.

"Viper 1-1", "Reaper 2-3", "Talon 4-1"...

Zhang Jian glanced at it.

This is more detailed than even the US military's own operational briefings!

There's so much information, it's impossible to copy it all down in a short time.

He plopped down on the toilet, spread out the paper, and began copying lines onto it.

Target number, name, GPS coordinates, time of strike...

The handwriting is fast and not very neat.

But every number and every set of coordinates is crystal clear.

Outside the toilet.

The informant kept raising his wrist to check the time.

"Report: The target stayed in the restroom for more than five minutes. Should we intervene?"

Ali's voice did not come out immediately.

After a while.

"Wait a little longer."

"I haven't detected any outgoing cell phone signals yet."

Ten minutes later.

Four A4 sheets of paper were filled with writing.

Zhang Jian blew on the ink, folded the paper twice, stuffed it into his shirt pocket, and then returned to the ward with his cane.

But when I got to the door...

He paused, then turned to look at the people sitting in the corridor outside.

"Please inform Reza for me."

"Just tell him the things are ready and he can come to Captain Karimi's ward to pick them up."