Tehran Grocery Store: My Intelligence is Priced Clearly

"Akhalid is a General of the General Staff, aren't you afraid he'll turn against you?"

"Turning against you?"

Zhang Jian picked up the water glass next to him and took a sip.

"They probably won't turn against me; at most, they'll stop buying my information."

"But then again, I'm actually helping them save money."

"Three million, enough time to deal with it, I feel okay."

"If a real war breaks out, the losses could be hundreds of millions or even billions."

Bakhtiar reacted for a moment.

"That's true."

"If we had had intelligence support back then, we wouldn't have been in such a passive position in Syria."

"but……"

"Will they really approve this funding?"

"That's no small amount."

Zhang Jian shook his head.

"Akhalid is not a rigid person."

"Judging from the current situation, the hardliners still have the upper hand."

"As long as they want to buy, given these extraordinary times, the approval process won't be too slow..."

Inside the safe house.

Ahrid held his phone and paced back and forth in the room.

Three million US dollars!

This number gave him a real headache.

Although Zhang Jian's reasons were valid, he could understand them.

But while he could understand it, the fact that the price had tripled was still hard for him to accept.

But it's too late now.

The price for the intelligence has already been set; whether or not to take it is no longer up to him alone.

He pushed open the door and strode back to the operations room.

Inside, they were still arguing about the details of the air defense deployment.

"General Navid."

Aiharid walked directly to the end of the long table, bent down, and whispered a few words in his ear.

Navid was the Chief of the General Staff of the Revolutionary Guard, a rank one level higher than Aikhalid.

After hearing Aiharid's words, his tightly furrowed brows suddenly twitched.

He raised his head and looked at Ahrid beside him.

"Sure?"

"He said it himself."

Navid remained silent.

The arguing in the conference room gradually subsided, and everyone looked at the two supreme commanders.

"How much does he want?"

Navid asked.

Three million US dollars.

Navid's cheek twitched violently upon hearing the number.

Three million US dollars!

This is not three million riyals.

Normally, this amount of money would be enough to equip a full-strength combat company.

Now, they're actually going to use it to buy a piece of intelligence?

The meeting room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

All eyes darted back and forth between Navid and Aiharid.

moment.

Sitting on the right side of the long table, General Hatami, who was in charge of military intelligence, was the first to speak up.

"absurd!"

He slammed his hand on the table, making the documents in front of him jump.

Three million US dollars?

"Who does he think he is? The CIA director?"

He pointed at Al-Khalid's nose, spitting everywhere.

"Akhalid, have you lost your mind?"

"One million was barely acceptable before, but it's only been a short time, and it's tripled!"

"This isn't selling information, this is extortion!"

"This is extortion against the Islamic Republic of Iran!"

A chorus of agreement immediately filled the conference room.

The department heads all shook their heads, feeling that this matter had gone too far.

"Yeah, that's outrageous."

"Our intelligence network spans the entire Middle East; are we really less capable than a stranger?"

"Three million US dollars, how do we report this to our superiors?"

Ahrid ignored the surrounding chatter.

He stared intently at Hatami and let out a cold laugh.

"General Hatami, since you think it's expensive..."

"Alright then."

"Now deploy all your overseas intelligence networks and see if you can get information about the Americans' joint operation plan this time."

"I don't need you to be so precise as to provide details like the takeoff time of the joint operation, the attack sequence, and the electronic warfare jamming frequency bands."

"Just get information about their key targets!"

"With such a simple request, can you promise you can fulfill it?"

Hatami was so choked up that his face turned red, and his lips trembled for a long time, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Of course he can't do it.

The top-secret plan of the multinational joint operation must have an extremely high level of secrecy.

Let alone the fact that there's only so much time right now.

Even if you give him a month, he might not even get a scratch.

"Shut up if you can't do it!"

Aiharid cursed without holding back, then turned to look at Navid.

"Minister, you've seen the intelligence reports from the previous reports as well."

"Almost exactly the same."

"If we hadn't received a concrete retaliation plan beforehand this time..."

"If their warplanes cross the border, how many times three million will we lose?"

"The perimeter of air defense missile sites, radar stations, and even nuclear facilities!"

"How much is that equipment worth?"

"How much are our soldiers' lives worth?"

"I also think this price is expensive."

"But I can understand."

"In multinational joint operations, intelligence from all sides needs to be managed, and the level of secrecy will be raised accordingly."

"The fact that the other party can afford it, and that the price has increased so much all at once, clearly means they have factored in all the risks and potential losses."

"If that's the case, I think this price..."

"It's not that it's unacceptable."

Al-Khalid's voice echoed in the conference room.

The section chiefs who had been making a fuss just moments before all fell silent and exchanged glances.

That's exactly how the accounts are calculated.

If the intelligence is true, three million is indeed acceptable.

Navid leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping lightly on the table.

"Da, da, da."

Each sound seemed to strike a chord in everyone's hearts.

A full minute passed.

He stopped banging.

His gaze swept across the entire room, finally settling on Ahrid.

"Akhalid, the General Staff will cover the cost."

Hatami panicked.

"Minister, this is against the rules!"

"What if the intelligence is false..."

"If it's fake, I'll personally go to the General Headquarters to apologize!"

Navid slammed his hand on the table, interrupting Hatami.

He stood up and put his hands behind his back.

"These are extraordinary times, and national security is of paramount importance."

"Akhalid".

"exist."

"Contact him and send him the money."

Navi's tone left no room for negotiation.

"Once the intelligence is obtained, it is immediately sent to the technical department for logical deduction and cross-comparison."

"yes!"

Aiharid let out a long sigh of relief, turned around, and strode out of the conference room.

Back to the safe house next door.

He picked up his phone, took a deep breath, and then dialed Zhang Jian's number.

In the general store.

Zhang Jian was idly playing with a lighter.

To be honest, he didn't know what Ahred would choose.

After all, it was three million US dollars, and this was the first time he had ever done such a big deal in his life.

Although I felt that the General Staff would probably spend the money, I was still on tenterhooks until the very last moment.

"Ring ring ring".

The phone in my pocket rang.

A glint of joy flashed in Zhang Jian's eyes, but he slowed down considerably when taking out his phone.

He waited until the phone rang three times before pressing the answer button.

Aharid's muffled voice came through the phone.

"Zhang, the money has been approved."