Tehran Grocery Store: My Intelligence is Priced Clearly

Panda Embassy in Iran.

The atmosphere in the internal conference room on the second floor was somewhat strange.

Ambassador Chang Peiwu held his thermos cup, staring at the map of the Middle East situation on the wall, without taking a sip for a long time.

Minister Wang Ya sat beside him, flipping through several newly printed briefings, his brows slightly furrowed.

"Old Chang, this is too strange."

Wang Ya threw the briefing onto the table.

"'Ford'? That's the most advanced nuclear-powered aircraft carrier currently in service with the United States."

"Those Houthi rebels usually only attack merchant ships, but this time they actually managed to break through the aircraft carrier's three-dimensional defenses. They've really gotten a lot of luck."

The intelligence advisor, Lao Li, shook his head.

"I specifically asked about this earlier."

"Based on fragments of communications we intercepted, the Houthi-launched Fatah-1 missile made a serpentine maneuver at the end of its flight path, heading towards the starboard side, and the starboard air defense network of the USS Ford clearly reacted with a lag."

"Based on the delayed response time, they were probably resetting the radar data link around that time."

What does this mean?

"This means they already had intelligence about the USS Ford!"

Chang Peiwu turned around, unscrewed the thermos, and took a sip of water.

"Do you really think that the Houthis, with their limited technical skills, or Iran's intelligence network that's been thoroughly infiltrated by the US, could obtain such top-secret data?"

Wang Ya lowered his voice.

"Old Chang, you mean...?"

"Was there any third-party involvement?"

Old Li moved closer.

"Was it done domestically?"

"Could it be our 'Jilin-1' or some other military satellite...?"

"Bullshit."

Chang Peiwu interrupted him directly.

"I just spoke with people in China via a secure hotline this morning."

"The higher-ups were also completely baffled by this matter, and even specifically asked me to investigate who was supporting it behind the scenes."

"Don't you know our style?"

"At this stage, stability is the priority. The Taiwan Strait issue hasn't been completely resolved yet, so how could we possibly give out this kind of intelligence directly?"

Wang Ya thought about it and agreed.

"but……"

"If it wasn't us, then who else could it be?"

"The Russians?"

"Could it be that they've been under a lot of pressure from NATO lately and want to cause trouble for the Americans in the Middle East?"

"That bear?"

Old Li shook his head, looking disdainful.

"Are you kidding me?"

"With their crappy GLONASS navigation system, which can't even accurately locate a HIMARS on the Ukrainian battlefield, how could they possibly figure out the 'Ford's' data link reset time from hundreds of thousands of miles away?"

The meeting room fell silent.

Chang Peiwu stood by the window and glanced at the scenery outside.

"That's very interesting."

"It wasn't us, it wasn't the Russians, and the Americans themselves couldn't possibly have leaked it."

"Could it be that there's some incredibly powerful figure hiding in Tehran?"

Wang Ya sighed.

"No matter who it is, the Americans have really lost face this time."

"A fire in the laundry room? I can't believe they even thought of that."

"I just don't know how the situation in the Middle East will develop next. What if it really gets out of control? That would be really difficult to handle."

Chang Peiwu waved his hand.

"It's the Americans' problem if the situation gets out of control."

"Our task is to find out as soon as possible what's going on here."

"Old Li, get your men moving."

"Keep a close eye on the recent high-level movements of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, especially the Quds Force and the General Staff, and see what mysterious figures they have been in contact with recently."

"Understood, I'll arrange it right away."

the other side.

The bedroom on the second floor of the grocery store.

Zhang Jian leaned against the headboard, listening to Aiharid's slightly rapid breathing on the other end of the phone.

"General, here's the overall layout map of the Bahrain base, including the location of the ammunition depots, the deployment map of the air defense radar array, the underground pipeline map, and all sorts of other miscellaneous stuff."

"All in all, it adds up to quite a bit."

"The value of these items will skyrocket. Are you sure you want them?"

Aiharid said in a deep voice, "Zhang, just name your price."

"Eighty million."

Zhang Jian uttered a number.

"US dollars. No bargaining."

There was a sudden silence on the other end of the phone.

A full half minute passed before Ahrid finally spoke, his voice dry and strained.

"Zhang, are you kidding me?"

"Isn't this price a bit too high?"

"Previously, the intelligence on aircraft carriers was only 25 million..."

"That's not how the accounts are settled, General."

Zhang Jian smiled.

"The intelligence on the aircraft carrier is just a point in time. If your goal is not to sink it, you can only hurt the Americans, but not cripple them."

"But the Bahrain base is different."

"This is the base of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, which plays an important strategic command role."

"If you bomb it, not only will the supply problem of the Fifth Fleet be the first thing to be affected, but the maintenance and upkeep of US warships in the Middle East will also become a huge problem."

"With the loss of Bahrain, the ships the US uses to blockade the Persian Gulf may not be able to remain outside the Strait of Hormuz for long."

"Your stress will be reduced accordingly."

"At least until he repairs the military base in Bahrain, there won't be any major moves."

"And for Trump, time is just as tight."

"If I remember correctly, the maximum period for launching a military operation without congressional authorization is 60 days."

"Counting the days, a month has already passed."

"If you hold out for another month, without you even having to lift a finger, he'll be the first to take the initiative to cease fire and negotiate with you."

"Unless, he has a reason to convince Congress."

"So, this money isn't actually expensive for you."

"After all, what you're buying isn't intelligence, it's time."

Ahrid was tempted.

But he was also weighing the consequences of attacking Bahrain in his mind.

If Bahrain were bombed, would the US be enraged and launch a full-scale retaliatory attack?

This is too risky.

It's not certain that things will go well with the leader.

He sighed.

"Zhang, I admit it, I'm attracted, but you know, these kinds of things..."

"I can't make that decision."

"This amount of money is too large; I must report to His Excellency the President and General Salehi immediately."

"No problem, whether you buy it or not is up to you."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Jian stretched again.

As a result, my stomach started growling first.

I didn't eat dinner last night, and as soon as I woke up, I talked to Ahred for half a day on the phone.

After all this trouble, I haven't even had a sip of water, and I'm already at my breaking point.

He got dressed, put on his shoes, pushed open the door and went downstairs, thinking he'd go to the kitchen to find something to eat first.

As soon as Zhang Jian reached the corner of the stairs, he froze.

In the lobby on the first floor.

Fahad, Bakhtiar, Ali, and several other security personnel all appeared before them.

Some leaned against the wall, some squatted on the ground, while Shahra stood at the top of the stairs, looking at them coldly.

Zhang Jian walked down the last few steps in surprise, looking completely bewildered.

"What are you doing?"

He swept the room around.

"Are they having military training so early in the morning? Or have the Americans invaded Tehran?"

The group looked at each other, but no one said a word.

Finally, it was Bakhtiar, the bald, burly man who was 1.9 meters tall, who awkwardly stepped forward.

He touched his bald head and gave an awkward smile.

"Um, boss."

Bakhtiar chuckled, his rough voice suddenly lowered, sounding somewhat out of place.

"What's the date today?"