Tehran Grocery Store: My Intelligence is Priced Clearly

Farhad quietly left the grocery store through the back door.

The basement fell silent again.

Zhang Jian sat on the wooden crate, took out his phone, and opened his bank account.

Looking at the severely shrunken numbers on the screen, I felt a chill run down my spine.

Are intelligence brokers really that expensive? It's like throwing paper into a furnace.

They bought intelligence from the system, gave these retired old men resettlement allowances, and then got Fahad to help them buy weapons.

After all that spending, their once-plenty of savings was about to run out.

Let alone the salaries of these dozen or so people next month, we might not even be able to raise enough money to buy weapons.

He put his phone back in his pocket and rubbed his temples.

Everywhere costs money, but I'm always broke.

You can't expect to make money from that run-down grocery store upstairs; it's just for show.

With the war raging outside, people in the old town can't even get enough to eat. Selling two cases of bottled water a day is considered a good business.

We absolutely have to make money.

Zhang Jian tapped his fingers lightly on the metal handle of his cane.

Tap, tap, tap.

The pace is slow.

He quickly calculated in his mind the cards he could currently use.

The system contains a large amount of high-value intelligence, but intelligence cannot be eaten; it must be monetized.

As for the General Staff, Aiharid is still dealing with the internal traitor issue and can't attend to him for the time being.

The Watchmen are a big fish that could give him a hard time, and it's too early to tell what will happen to the Revolutionary Guard.

If you remove this line, you're really only left with two people.

Karimi and Reza.

Zhang Jian didn't like Reza.

They are too utilitarian and will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.

If we exclude him, only Karimi remains.

Zhang Jian took out his phone, found Karimi's number, and dialed it directly.

After two beeps, the call was connected.

In the background, you can hear the sound of a hospital ward cart wheel rolling, and the occasional words of advice from a nurse nearby.

"Zhang! My friend!"

Karimi sounded to be in good spirits.

"How's it going? Are you satisfied with the people I arranged for you? They're all top-notch!"

Zhang Jian changed his posture, resting his cane under his armpit.

"Yes, I admit, most of them are good players, that's fine."

"but……"

Zhang Jian didn't stand on ceremony with him and changed the subject.

"What's the deal with that Farhad?"

"A former senior intelligence agent, still on an internal kill order, and you send me a spy who faked his death? Do you really want me to die even faster?"

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

Several seconds later, Karimi coughed twice, his tone revealing embarrassment.

"Zhang, you...you knew all along."

"nonsense."

"Zhang, let me explain."

Karimi lowered his voice, seemingly covering the microphone.

"I'm just saying this because I see how miserable he is."

"And this person is really good, extremely capable."

"The way he ended up wasn't something he wanted to see himself in."

"You happen to need someone who can make decisions, so I..."

"Alright."

Zhang Jian interrupted him.

"Let's leave it at that, I'll keep the person."

"But if there are any more 'surprises' like this in the future, please give us a heads-up beforehand."

"Definitely! Definitely!"

Karimi quickly backed down, his tone becoming much more relaxed.

"but……"

"You didn't come to me today just to yell at me about Fahad, did you? You're not the kind of person who's bored."

"That's certainly not the case."

Zhang Jian tapped his fingers lightly on his cane.

"Karimi, I have a question for you."

"you say."

"Do you want to make a contribution?"

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

Karimi gave a wry smile, his voice sounding somewhat dejected.

"Zhang, you probably don't know this yet."

"Deputy Battalion Commander Bakhrami... has been killed in action."

Karimi paused, seemingly trying to calm himself down.

"I just received a transfer order to replace him. I am now the deputy battalion commander of the 47th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion."

"I know," Zhang Jian said calmly.

Karimi was stunned for a moment, not reacting immediately.

But he didn't ask any more questions, he just sighed deeply.

"Do you want revenge?" Zhang Jian asked bluntly.

Karimi's breathing suddenly became heavier.

"I want to! I dream about it!"

He gritted his teeth, his voice filled with fierce determination, but he quickly deflated like a punctured balloon.

"But what's the use of thinking about it?"

"The US military's equipment is far more advanced than ours."

"Their stealth fighters, electronic early warning systems, and anti-radiation missiles—aren't they all overwhelming us?"

"We don't even dare to turn on our radar casually anymore!"

"As soon as we turn it on, anti-radiation missiles will land on our positions in no time."

"The radar operators have been replaced batch after batch; they simply can't keep up."

"What will we use to avenge ourselves? Our brothers' lives?"

Zhang Jian listened quietly as Karimi finished venting.

Only when all that could be heard on the other end of the phone was heavy breathing did he slowly begin to speak.

"The US military simply relies on stealth fighters and electronic jamming to carry out airstrikes with impunity."

"If we can shoot down one of their planes, I believe we can definitely put a lot of pressure on their arrogance."

"This is not only revenge for Bahrami, but also a huge boost to the morale of your entire air defense force."

"Zhang, this is easier said than done," Karimi sighed helplessly.

"What if I told you I could give you all this information?"

There was an instant, deathly silence on the other end of the phone.

Zhang Jian didn't stop and continued to throw down chips.

"The penetration route of the fighter jet formation."

"Flight altitude".

"Escort configuration".

"Even their communication frequencies."

"I can give you all of these."

Zhang Jian's voice wasn't loud, but every word carried immense weight.

"You don't need to keep your radar on all the time and be targets."

"All you need to do is time it perfectly, and suddenly activate your weapon and lock on a few minutes before they enter firing range."

"Blind shooting becomes open shooting".

"Isn't this enough to take them down?"

Karimi's voice went silent instantly on the other end of the phone!

Zhang Jian could clearly hear Karimi's heavy breathing.

Like a wild beast cornered and suddenly smelling the blood of its prey.

No air defense commander could refuse such a devastating gift that was practically offered to them.

The fact that US warplanes can enter their airspace with impunity is a thorn in the side of all Iranian soldiers.

If it were truly possible to obtain all flight parameters and routes in advance, as Zhang Jian said...

That would be equivalent to spreading a large net along the route that the US military is bound to take.

If the radar is turned on for a short enough time and the missiles are launched fast enough, they can be brought down from the sky before the US military can retaliate!

A full half minute passed.

Karimi's hoarse voice came through again, trembling slightly.

"open……"

"What price do we need to pay?"