Tehran Grocery Store: My Intelligence is Priced Clearly

Farhad braced himself on his knees, leaned forward, and kept his voice as low as possible.

"Boss, listen to my advice."

"Never touch the Puer Mohammed family without absolute certainty."

His brows furrowed, and his worry was undisguised.

"These guys are different from the suit-wearing thugs of the Taresh family; they're real mad dogs."

"Once they set their sights on you, you'll be lucky to escape with your life."

As a former senior intelligence agent, Fahad knew all too well the way the Pul Mohammed family operated.

Zhang Jian leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath.

"I see."

His own face, or rather the intelligence within his own system, is indeed invaluable to the Iranian military.

The reason Ahrid and Salish valued him was simply because he was useful to them.

But this identity is worthless to the outlaws in Tehran's underworld.

Gangs don't care who you are.

If you push them too far, a few RPG shots can still raze this grocery store to the ground.

Based on the store's current security setup.

Shahra, Ali, Haishen, and Bakhtiar and a few other retired soldiers who had fought in battle.

It's more than enough to guard against street thugs like the Viper Gang.

Compared to a family like Purmuhammad, they are far inferior.

"Let's hold back for now."

Zhang Jian made up his mind and tapped on the armrest.

"Don't mention the key to anyone other than the few of us."

"Tell Shahra to keep an eye on that little girl and not let her run around."

"Let's discuss this further when Ali and Haishan return."

Farhad breathed a sigh of relief and straightened up.

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

Zhang Jian watched as Fahad turned and left, then got up and walked to the counter himself.

Sitting at the counter, I took out my phone and started browsing international political news.

The USS Ford carrier strike group is moving towards the Persian Gulf!

Israeli Prime Minister delivers national televised address, declaring readiness for all-out war with Iran!

Iranian Revolutionary Guard leadership responds: Any aggression will be met with devastating retaliation!

It's all just empty talk.

"System, check again for any concrete plans regarding retaliatory actions by the US and Israel against Iran?"

[Ding! Target intelligence retrieval in progress...]

This intelligence is classified as top strategic secret and requires a deduction of $500,000. Do you wish to pay?

Zhang Jian's hand trembled, and he almost threw his phone away.

"How many?"

"Five hundred thousand? System, why don't you just rob someone?!"

It's one thing to let the 200,000 yuan I extorted from the Viper Gang be stolen, since that's what I wanted to earn more money from.

But the intelligence the US has on Iran is usually only around 100,000 or 200,000, so how come it has almost doubled all of a sudden?

[The intelligence involves multinational joint military operations; its value is directly proportional to its scope of impact. Should we make payment?]

"Pay my ass!"

"What if the General Staff thinks it's too expensive and doesn't want to buy it? Then I'll have to pay for it myself!"

Zhang Jian angrily shut down the system and immediately took out his encrypted phone to call Aiharid.

Meanwhile, the General Staff of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

The top-secret operations conference room on the third basement level was filled with smoke.

Aiharid was sitting on the left side of the long table, arguing heatedly with several other generals from the General Staff across from him.

"I said we must strengthen air defenses along the northwestern border!"

Aiharid slammed his hand on the table.

"The American aircraft carrier attack is just a feint; the real threat is in the air!"

The general opposite him snorted coldly.

"Aharid, you're being too sensitive."

"Our air defense network still has the capability to retaliate."

"As long as we can keep getting intelligence on them in advance, American and Israeli planes may not be able to get in."

Just as Akhalid was about to retort, his specially made secure cell phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket.

He frowned slightly, took out his phone, and glanced at the screen.

Dedicated route.

张？

Ahrid suddenly stood up and raised his hand to interrupt the meeting.

"Excuse me, I need to take this emergency call."

Ignoring the surprised looks from everyone, he strode out of the conference room and pushed open the heavy iron door of the adjacent security room.

The call was connected.

"open?"

"Are you contacting me at this time because you have new information?"

"right."

"General Al-Khalid, the retaliatory plan between the United States and Israel has been finalized."

"Is the plan finalized?"

Aiharid lowered his voice, his tone revealing an undisguised urgency.

"What is the specific target?"

"Nuclear facility? Missile base? Or the Revolutionary Guard's command center?"

"I think so."

Zhang Jian leaned against the counter of the general store, speaking somewhat tentatively.

Normally, he would buy the intelligence from the system first, but this time was different.

He didn't buy it, so he can only make it up for now.

"It now appears to be a multinational military operation with a very wide scope."

The phone went silent instantly.

Only Ahrid's increasingly heavy breathing could be heard.

As a senior general in the General Staff, he was all too aware of the significance of this intelligence.

These past few days, the entire Iranian military leadership has been in a state of panic.

American aircraft carriers are patrolling the periphery of the Persian Gulf, while Israeli warplanes are frequently taking off.

Everyone knew that retaliation was inevitable, but no one knew when, how, or where it would strike.

Air defense forces dare not keep their equipment running 24/7.

Once locked on, destruction awaits them.

This passive and defensive situation made every commander feel suffocated.

Especially since they had become accustomed to obtaining intelligence from Zhang Jian, it was difficult for anyone to suddenly revert to their old ways.

Name your price.

Al-Khalid's voice was deep.

Three million US dollars.

"How many?!"

Aiharid suddenly raised his voice, making the echo in the safe room reverberate.

He originally thought it would be around one million again.

It was supposed to rise slightly, but unexpectedly, it tripled!

"Three million?"

"Zhang, are you crazy?!"

His chest heaved violently, and anger surged up instantly.

"I approved the most expensive offer of one million based on the previous intelligence! Now you're going to triple it?"

"Do you think the Revolutionary Guard's funding comes from thin air?!"

Zhang Jian held the phone a little further away, and only put it back to his ear after Aiharid finished yelling.

"General, please calm down."

"In business, you get what you pay for."

"The previous intelligence was either targeting the CIA or the Americans themselves."

"And this one is a joint strike by multiple countries."

"It's also much more difficult for us to acquire them than before."

"We even used some previously hidden informants to obtain our respective intelligence."

Zhang Jian spoke calmly.

"General, although the price has gone up a bit, I guarantee it's worth the money."

"If you had known the entire plan in advance, I don't need to elaborate on how much loss you could have avoided, do I?"

"Those expensive radar stations, missile silos, and your precious nuclear facilities."

"Saving either one would bring in more than three million."

Ahrid was choked.

Zhang Jian is absolutely right.

Three million dollars is indeed not much compared to the devastating blow the country is facing.

They don't even have enough money for a decent drone.

But he couldn't swallow his anger.

There's always a feeling of being taken advantage of.

"This amount of money is too large."

Aiharid gritted his teeth.

"I don't have that much authority; I need to ask for permission first."

"Please go ahead."

Zhang Jian smiled indifferently.

"However, General."

"I must remind you that this information is time-sensitive."

"If we had been a minute later, the situation might have been very different."

"I'm hanging up now. I'll wait for your good news."

Before Aiharid could speak again, Zhang Jian immediately disconnected the communication.

He finally breathed a sigh of relief after putting his phone back in his pocket.

In fact, he didn't have a clue.

Three million US dollars, which is equivalent to more than 20 million RMB.

It feels somewhat unreal to just open your mouth and expect it to come out like that.

But that system is a scam, it just asked for 500,000. I have to earn back the money I was scammed out of before, and also save up some more capital.

In case we need to investigate any high-value intelligence in the future, we won't be caught short of resources.

Beside him, Bakhtiar listened intently to Zhang Jian's conversation.

The hand that was wiping the gun barrel with a cotton cloth stopped involuntarily.

He swallowed hard, looking at Zhang Jian's expression as if he were looking at a monster.

"Boss..."

"You really dare to ask for that?"