Was Xu Cheng a bit extreme?
A bit.
But to him, since he wanted to do it, then he had to make all the preparations. As a soldier, before he got any intel that could put him at an advantage, he wouldn’t recklessly take action. This also helped him form the habit of getting prepared before doing something.
In fact, as for Hawking, Xu Cheng really did need him. Suppose that day really came, when he unified the Land of Mercenaries through force. If he wanted to establish a nation, he would have to face all the nations that originally had their eyes on this land’s resources. By that time, no words and force were more powerful than a quantum weapon that could easily beat nuclear weapons. This would be the highest level of deterrent.
In fact, Hawking could just leave. Xu Cheng never forced him to stay nor try very hard to convince him, so Hawking knew very well that he could leave if he wanted to.
But, inside his heart, he was also very tempted.
What Xu Cheng just said, in fact, wouldn’t it be a great challenge from Hawking’s perspective?
It was just that this challenge was a bit difficult.
It was so difficult that even Hawking was scared, but… deep inside his heart, there was an unexplainable feeling of anticipation.
Maybe this was the power of instigation. Despite being so old already, he actually couldn’t take this kind prodding, especially when he was prodded by such a young guy.
Hawking stared at Xu Cheng and said, “I want to see how you die.”
Xu Cheng smiled. He knew that meant Hawking was onboard.
“If I die, someone will be arranged to send you back home,” Xu Cheng said.
Xu Cheng would make Li Wei responsible for escorting Hawking back to the UK if something were to go wrong. After all, Li Wei had been through all the agent training at the Dragon Division and knew how to disguise Hawking. Right now, Hawking could stand up and move just like a normal person, so the others wouldn’t be able to use the old methods to look for him. Now, as long as no one ripped off his facial mask or he didn’t declare that he was the Hawking that went MIA, no one would be able to recognize him.
Hawking came up with a preliminary list of quotes for the materials he would need. Xu Cheng prided himself on being a rich man, but after seeing the quote, he suddenly began not feeling well.
While dreams could be wonderful, the reality was sometimes very harsh, and this was exactly the situation.
The research start-up fund – 5 billion dollars!
Right now he only had about 15 billion in assets, and the initial funding would take a third.
The various basic equipment would cost a billion, and the supercomputers will cost another billion. They would also need to find team members that shared the same ambition and goal while also having the capabilities to study quantum technology deeper together. This wasn’t too difficult, Xu Cheng would just have Caesar use his online network to slowly find private researchers. However, the cost to building an underground industrial base would cost 2 billion! This was the most difficult. Firstly, this place had got to be well-hidden. But then, where could he find the manpower and resources to build it? For it to be viable and safe underground, the quality must be top-notch. Otherwise, during the testing of quantum technology, a poorly-built construction would only bury all the researchers underground.
Xu Cheng wanted to build it directly on the territory of the Land of Mercenary, but there was no precedent of internationally-renowned construction teams that were willing to go in there to build a project. After all, it was one of the most chaotic and dangerous places on earth.
Hawking sneered at Xu Cheng and said, “Now do you suddenly feel like it’s impossible to move another step forward? In this kind of information era, it’s impossible if you want to hide and develop something big. As you progress more, the amount of money you have to burn would only get more and more. Do you have enough money to fill the black hole?”
Xu Cheng directly replied, “No.”
Then, he continued, “But I can make more. Making the M Nation’s money to fund my people and my research, what a great deal! I’ve decided, I will be a vampire and get some sucking going on the M Nation.”
Hawking said, “Just arrange the underground engineering experiment base’s construction first. Any explosion tests in the later period could attract media and military attention. So, I mean, you might as well put the experiment base in the Land of Mercenaries, it’s already pretty chaotic with tons of explosions every day, and information is all pretty jammed there.”
Xu Cheng nodded. That was what he originally planned. He turned around to look at Li Wei and asked, “How big is our territory right now over there?”
