Chapter 598
is generous enough.
Zhou Zhou's next words left Jiang Nian speechless for a moment.
He understood Zhou Zhou's meaning: this military factory was a bargaining chip to buy him three years of his time.
But what do I have that would make the other side trade their entire military factory for me?
Is it just because of her identity?
But for a researcher, a top-secret status only indicates that they are highly skilled in their field. In China, there are quite a few people with top-secret statuses, so why did Zhou Zhou specifically target him?
"How about it, Comrade Jiang Nian? I think the conditions I offered are already quite generous."
Unable to get a reply from Jiang Nian, Zhou Zhou couldn't help but urge him again.
"You're offering me three years of your time in exchange for a military factory. What exactly do you want me to do?"
Zhou Zhou offered incredibly generous terms, even allowing him to use the resources of this force to help China's development.
Wang Ba once said that this force aims to unify the entire world. The conditions they're now offering seem somewhat incompatible with their stated goals.
Jiang Nian is now genuinely curious; he wants to know exactly what level Zhou Zhou is within this organization.
"Comrade Jiang Nian, that's a valid interpretation. You have a great talent for scientific research, and what we hope you will do is naturally related to scientific research as well. I know that suddenly discussing these conditions with you will make you think we have ulterior motives. But you can consider it. You can also get more resources from us. Japan has already deployed a secret weapon to deal with China. If you join us, we will take action in Japan to ensure China's safety. Even with the United States eyeing China covetously, we can guarantee that the United States will not dare to act rashly and take action against China."
Like a skilled hunter, constantly throwing bait at its prey.
This was Zhou Zhou's attitude towards Jiang Nian at that moment.
He painted an extremely beautiful picture for Jiang Nian, telling him everything he could get.
Why did you poison Wang Ba?
Instead of directly answering Zhou Zhou's question, Jiang Nian abruptly shifted the topic to Gu poison.
"The organization likes obedient people. Although Wang Ba is obedient enough, just in case, putting some Gu worms on him is only to ensure his loyalty. But Comrade Jiang Nian, you can rest assured that as long as you are willing to make this deal with me, I guarantee that I will never put Gu worms on you, and you will have absolute freedom."
Zhou Zhou explained why he used the Gu poison on Wang Ba, and at the same time gave Jiang Nian another promise.
"You will remain a military researcher, only needing to appear in our organization for three months each year. The rest of the time, you can continue to work for the Chinese military. Moreover, during your time in our organization, we will also assist China."
"I think I need to go back and think about it carefully."
In the end, Jiang Nian did not give a clear answer, but only gave a vague reply.
"That's natural. I understand that Comrade Jiang Nian needs time to think when he suddenly hears this kind of question. I'll give you enough time. Half a month. In half a month, I hope Comrade Jiang Nian can give us a satisfactory answer. The weapons in this military factory will be temporarily stored here. But Comrade Jiang Nian, you should understand that since we can build this military factory, we can also destroy it before anyone has time to react. I believe that Comrade Jiang Nian is a smart man."
Zhou Zhou showed no dissatisfaction with Jiang Nian's answer. It was only as Jiang Nian and Lan Tianyu walked out of the steel gate that Zhou Zhou's voice came from behind them.
His voice was calm, yet carried an indescribable danger.
With his back to the steel gate, Jiang Nian did not answer, but simply walked away step by step with determination.
"Senior, if you were to face off against Zhou Zhou, would you be confident you could defeat him?"
After leaving the crematorium, Jiang Nian asked Lan Tianyu in a heavy tone.
“He has at least dozens of Gu worms on his body, and they are all female worms. If we act rashly against him, at least dozens of people will suffer because of him. Comrade Jiang Nian, you are a member of the military, and I don’t want to hide anything from you. The offspring worms connected to the Gu worms on this person, and the people infected with the offspring worms, probably all have some special identities. You don’t want many people to suffer because of Zhou Zhou’s accident, do you?”
As soon as Jiang Nian finished speaking, Lan Tianyu didn't rush to answer, but fell into deep thought. After a while, he finally raised his head and explained solemnly.
Lan Tianyu didn't think her Gu worms were any worse than Zhou Zhou's, but the key point was that Zhou Zhou held other people's lives in his hands.
Unsure of who Zhou Zhou was dealing with, Lan Tianyu stated that he could not directly take action against Zhou Zhou.
Jiang Nian was stunned; he hadn't expected that.
"Alright, I was too hasty. Senior, I'll leave Wang Ba to you. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving now. I'll arrange for someone to take you back first."
Jiang Nian was somewhat emotionally unstable at this moment. After saying these things to Lan Tianyu, she directly called Wei Zixuan over, gave him some instructions, and then left first.
Finding a quiet place, Jiang began to mentally call upon the system.
"System, come out here, stop playing dead."
What exactly is the power behind Zhou Zhou? Jiang Nian is now filled with more doubts than anything else, and in his opinion, only the system can answer his questions.
"Sorry, host, your permissions are insufficient to perform the query." The system's cold voice carried a strange hint of helplessness.
"No, you're a system, and you can't even find something this simple? I feel like I'm getting the short end of the stick by you."
Jiang Nian wasn't intentionally mocking the system; he genuinely felt that the system seemed to have changed since the incident at the military factory. And now, everything happening was gradually slipping out of his control.
"Sorry, host, you do not have sufficient permissions to view this."
The system repeated this sentence without answering Jiang Nian's other questions.
Jiang Nian was furious, but he also knew that if the system was unwilling to speak, there was really nothing he could do about it.
Enraged, Jiang Nian stopped hiding his whereabouts and drove straight back to the military region.
On Gao Shiwei's side.
He Chenguang reported to him about Jiang Nian's private meeting with Zhou Zhou.
Gao Shiwei believed that Jiang Nian could handle these situations, but when he heard that Jiang Nian had brought Lan Tianyu out and asked Wei Zixuan to arrange for someone to send Lan Tianyu back, but then left alone, Gao Shiwei was shocked—could something have really happened to Jiang Nian?
He wanted to ask Lan Tianyu about what happened at the military factory, but Lan Tianyu's identity was also special, and even Gao Shiwei did not have the authority to force Lan Tianyu to answer his questions.
This caused Gao Shiwei's worries to resurface.
Even after Jiang Nian rushed into his office, looking travel-worn, Gao Shiwei was still pondering how to get Jiang Nian back.
"Comrade Jiang Nian, you're finally back!"
Seeing Jiang Nian rush into the office, Gao Shiwei showed no dissatisfaction but instead breathed a sigh of relief, his tone revealing undisguised joy.
"Commander, I have something important to report to you."
Compared to Gao Shiwei's surprise, Jiang Nian's expression was very serious.
Upon hearing this, Gao Shiwei realized what was happening and personally got up to close the office door.
"I know you went into the military factory and met with Zhou Zhou alone. I wonder what exactly happened there?"
Gao Shiwei was afraid of hearing bad news from Jiang Nian, but he still asked anyway.
“Zhou Zhou wants to discuss a deal with me.” After a pause and reorganizing his thoughts, Jiang Nian continued, “He can give me the military factory, and even hand over all the detailed blueprints for the weapons we want. They can even help with Japan’s conspiracy against China.”
"They actually offered such good terms? What are their requirements?"
Gao Shiwei understood perfectly well that there was no such thing as a free lunch. Since the other party was willing to offer such generous terms, they must have ulterior motives.
After Gao Shiwei finished asking his question, the atmosphere in the office suddenly became awkward, and Jiang Nian's expression became even more strange.
Seeing the change in Jiang Nian's expression, Gao Shiwei suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Sir, the other party checked my identity information and found out that I am a top-level classified research personnel."
After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Nian finally spoke.
As soon as Jiang Nian finished speaking, Gao Shiwei's face turned extremely ugly.
"Who used their privileges to access your information?"
He slammed his hands on the table, stood up abruptly, and roared angrily.
Ignoring Jiang Nian's reaction, Gao Shiwei picked up the phone and dialed a number.
"Investigate! Investigate thoroughly! Find out who has been investigating any information about Jiang Nian without my permission recently!"
After saying something on the other end of the phone, Gao Shiwei shouted at the other person in a serious tone.
After hanging up the phone, Gao Shiwei swayed violently and staggered back into his chair.
"Comrade Jiang Nian, after they found out you were a researcher, what exactly did they ask for?"
Rubbing his temples, Gao Shiwei had a terrible headache.
He never imagined that one day Jiang Nian's identity information would be leaked.
Although the other party only found out that Jiang Nian was a researcher, that alone was enough to shock him.
After all, Jiang Nian's contact with Wang Ba and the military factory was carried out entirely under the identity of the special forces Red Cell Squad. Under normal circumstances, no one would find out that Jiang Nian was a researcher.
You must understand, Jiang Nian is a national treasure of China.
Gao Shiwei couldn't even imagine what the consequences would be if something happened to Jiang Nian, especially if the other party had actually tried to harm her. He was still terrified just thinking about it.
Fortunately, Jiang Nian was unharmed at the military factory.
"The other party's condition was that I give them three years of my time in exchange for all of this."
"What? How dare they? How dare they make such a request?"
Gao Shiwei became even angrier.
He never expected that after all that trouble, the other party's demand would be to exchange Jiang Nian for him. How could he accept that?
Jiang Nian's identity is so special. If China were to lose Jiang Nian, a national treasure, it would definitely fall far behind in scientific research.
"Sir, I think we can absolutely agree to their conditions."
Unlike Gao Shiwei's anger, Jiang Nian appeared unusually calm. Even though his expression was extremely grave, he still spoke his thoughts slowly and deliberately.
"That's impossible! We absolutely cannot agree to their conditions!"
"We can take over the military factory by force, but exchanging you for it is absolutely unacceptable."
Gao Shiwei never expected Jiang Nian to make such a request, and repeatedly shook his head in refusal.
His attitude was unusually firm; everything else was negotiable, but this was the one thing that was not open to discussion.
Anyone can go, but it absolutely cannot be Jiang Nian.
“I only need to stay in that place for three months each year, and during these three years, I can use all their resources and connections to help China continue to develop. At the same time, they also guarantee that they will help China during these three years and will never be our enemy.”
Jiang Nian did not expect that Gao Shiwei would refuse so firmly as soon as she spoke, as if he did not want to hear her continue.
“Sir, you know better than I how terrifying Gu poison is. Lan Tianyu came with me, but he told me that Zhou Zhou has at least dozens of mother worms on him, controlling dozens of lives. Just think, what kind of people could he be controlling?”
Knowing that Gao Shiwei would definitely refute her if she continued, Jiang Nian still insisted on her idea and tried to persuade him with great effort.
On his way back, he had weighed the options countless times.
When Zhou Zhou made that condition, they actually had no other choice.
The system doesn't assign tasks frequently anymore, and even Jiang Nian himself can't guarantee how much more he can contribute to China in scientific research.
In this situation, Jiang Nian felt that exchanging himself for the power behind Zhou Zhou was a very worthwhile deal.
"Leader, Japan has been plotting against China and has even secretly set up weapons to deal with us. Although we thwarted their schemes before, Japan's ambitions have never stopped. Therefore, I think we should really consider accepting Zhou Zhou's suggestion this time."
All of this was the conclusion Jiang Nian reached after careful consideration.
The other party's power was too great, or more accurately, too secretive.
In a short period of time, they simply cannot completely wipe out the other side's forces. Therefore, it's better to take a step back and choose to cooperate.
"Jiang Nian, you're being foolish, playing with fire! How can we agree to this kind of deal?"
Gao Shiwei felt that Jiang Nian was like he had been brainwashed and was being too irrational.
"Go back to the repair company. You are not allowed to go out for the time being. Just stay in the repair company and reflect on your actions. Don't worry about anything else; someone will take care of it."
Rubbing his temples, which were already throbbing with pain, Gao Shiwei finally made a decision.
"lead--"
"Don't call me. I'll have Fan Tianlei watch over you. Jiang Nian, you are our hope. I can't just stand by and watch you make a foolish mistake."
Without giving Jiang Nian a chance to speak, Gao Shiwei got up, walked to the office door, opened it, and called Fan Tianlei in.
"You are to keep an eye on Comrade Jiang Nian during this period. Cut off all contact between him and the outside world, without fail."
Gao Shiwei gave Fan Tianlei his order, his tone stern, his voice carrying an unyielding resolve. (End of Chapter)