Chapter 573 - 373: Meeting Timothy

Chapter 573: Chapter 373: Meeting Timothy

Los Angeles Police Department Headquarters, 8th floor.

Li Wei once again arrived at the office he had already become quite familiar with.

The door at the end of the corridor was wide open. Robert Flynn, dressed in a dark blue uniform shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, was pinning a phone to his ear while flipping through documents on his desk with one hand. Seeing Li Wei enter, he raised a hand to gesture "wait a moment," spoke a few more words into the receiver, and then hung up.

"You’re here." Flynn walked over and enthusiastically patted Li Wei’s shoulder. "Have a seat, sit down."

His tone was much more casual than before.

"Perhaps after the effect of the [Adaptability (Bronze)] skill changed his perception of me, I actually helped him out, which strengthened and consolidated that impression?" Li Wei wondered as he sat down.

"Coffee or water?" Flynn asked.

"Coffee, please." Li Wei settled onto the sofa. "Uncle Robert, did you need to see me about something?"

Flynn poured a cup of coffee for each of them and took a seat opposite Li Wei. Not in a rush to get down to business, he picked up his cup and took a sip first.

"Let’s start with some good news." He wore a highly pleased expression. "Sean went to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center the day before yesterday for a comprehensive check-up."

"Oh?" Li Wei asked. "How were the results?"

"The doctor said his knee inflammation markers have dropped by nearly forty percent, and his medication dosage has been cut in half." A hint of gratitude softened Flynn’s gaze as he looked at Li Wei. "They asked me what new treatment plan he switched to. Sean and I didn’t tell them; we just said he was doing his own rehab."

"Please don’t mention my name," Li Wei said with a smile. "Otherwise, the line of people looking for me to treat them would stretch from Pasadena all the way to Santa Monica."

Flynn burst into laughter. "He actually went out for a walk on his own yesterday. After all these years, he’s finally able to step out of the house on his own initiative."

"That’s a good thing," Li Wei nodded. "I’ll make another trip next month; we should be able to consolidate his recovery further."

"Good, good," Flynn nodded hastily. After chatting a bit more about everyday matters, Flynn asked, "By the way, how is LW sports drink doing lately? I heard you guys are expanding rapidly."

"It’s doing alright," Li Wei replied. "So far, forty-eight government agencies across the US have made purchases. If we add it all up, our contract value is around 70 million USD."

"Seventy million." Flynn thought for a moment. "That sounds like a lot."

"It’s also close to hitting its ceiling." Li Wei took a sip of his coffee. "The police system is only so big, and there are only so many mid-to-large cities in the US. The remaining smaller cities probably only have an annual procurement volume of a few tens of thousands."

"So you’re saying this isn’t a huge number for LW?" Flynn leaned back on the sofa with his coffee cup.

"Our consumer-facing retail is indeed the bulk of our business." Li Wei didn’t hide it, as this data could easily be found online. "We make over a hundred million USD in retail sales a month, and it’s still going up."

"That explains it," Flynn said. "The police and fire departments—to put it bluntly—are just small potatoes. Do you know where the real big money is?"

"The military?" Li Wei asked tentatively.

"The military, as well as federal agencies like the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security," Flynn said as he set down his cup. "Do you know how much the Pentagon spends every year just on soldier supplies? Rations, combat MREs, training supplements, base logistics—it all adds up to an astronomical figure."

"Like seventy thousand USD for a bag of screws?" Li Wei quipped.

He had known for a long time that military procurement was a massive piece of the pie, and Jin Heon had also mentioned this direction internally. Moreover, the profit margins in military procurement were ridiculously high. The retail price of an LW sports drink was 5 USD per bottle with a gross profit of 4 USD; after deducting advertising costs, they netted about 3.5 USD per bottle.

But if they could break into the military procurement system, the profits would skyrocket. They could simply change the packaging, and selling a bottle for 15 USD wouldn’t be out of the question.

However, for local police system procurement, as long as it wasn’t too outrageous, a chief’s nod was all it took for the city council to pass it. But military procurement had to go through the Defense Logistics Agency, follow federal bidding processes, and meet the military’s own testing standards. Just the qualification approval alone was enough to exhaust someone to death. More importantly, the military’s list of suppliers was an extremely exclusive circle; without connections, one couldn’t even touch the threshold.

"I know it’s a huge piece of the pie," Li Wei said with careful phrasing. "But the military’s threshold is a bit too high. Right now, we haven’t even run through a standard federal procurement process."

Flynn tapped his fingers on the desktop, thinking carefully.

"You saved my son. You gave him a new lease on life," he said. "From military hospitals to civilian rehab centers, I spent hundreds of thousands of USD, but none of them could solve the problem."

Flynn leaned forward. "When I served in the Marine Corps, I had a comrade-in-arms. We served together on Parris Island. Later, he worked his way up to brigadier general, and now he is a Senior Executive Service (SES) official at the Defense Logistics Agency."

Li Wei sat up straight. "The Defense Logistics Agency?" he asked.

"DLA. You can think of it as the Pentagon’s general procurement department. They manage the procurement of all non-weapon supplies for the entire military—everything from rations to medical consumables to toilet paper," Flynn explained.

"Sounds like this department holds a lot of power," Li Wei remarked.

"Of course," Flynn smiled. "Every ordinary clerk in there is not to be underestimated; they can be connected to people you couldn’t even imagine. The best I can do is help you set up a meeting so he knows your product exists."

"That would be fantastic!" Li Wei blurted out.

"Don’t think it’ll be too simple. Opening a door for you is all I can accomplish," Flynn warned. "You’ll still have to follow all the subsequent procedures. Military procurement is not something I can interfere with."

"I understand," Li Wei said solemnly. "Thank you."

"It’s what I owe you." Flynn patted Li Wei’s shoulder again. "I’ll let you know once he confirms a time."

"Understood," Li Wei said. "I’ll wait for your call."

Flynn walked back to his desk, rummaged in the back of a drawer, and pulled out a business card. "His name is William Stone, Brigadier General," Flynn said. "I’ll give him a heads-up first."

As soon as Li Wei walked out of the revolving doors of the LAPD Headquarters building, his phone buzzed. It was a call from Alister. Today happened to be the third day since they last parted ways.

"Hey, Li Wei," Alister’s voice sounded exceptionally clear, lacking his usual half-drunk, half-high tone. "Are you free this afternoon?"

"I am." Li Wei unlocked his Cadillac Escalade. "What’s up?"

"Didn’t you want to see Timothy?" Alister said. "He has some time this afternoon."

"I’m in Los Angeles," Li Wei replied.

"I know. Timothy is also in Los Angeles right now, at this very moment," Alister said. "There’s a collector’s mixer for their little circle in Los Angeles, and he went over to buy some garbage used by dead people. Didn’t you ask me to set up a meeting with him? I got it. Three o’clock this afternoon, at his place."

"In Pasadena?" Li Wei asked. He had previously visited Elizabeth’s Spanish-style villa in Pasadena (Chapter 303). "I’ve been out there before."

"Pasadena... I can’t remember. Maybe it’s a place someone else likes," Alister said. "Our family has just as many houses in Los Angeles as we do in New York. Timothy has his own place."

"Damn rich people," Li Wei thought.

"Uh, the address of where he’s staying..." Alister hesitated for a moment. "I can’t remember. My brain still isn’t very clear. I’ll text you the address in a bit."

"Alright," Li Wei said.

2:50 PM.

Bel Air District. A villa neither too far nor too close to the house Li Wei was renting.

Li Wei’s Cadillac Escalade turned onto a private driveway completely shaded by dense California oaks. Li Wei had passed by this road before and had taken a liking to it at the time. The scenery and environment here were beautiful and quiet, but none of the houses were up for sale or rent.

Pulling up to a moderately sized villa, Li Wei got out of the car. A butler in a black polo shirt was already waiting at the door to welcome him inside.

Walking through the first-floor corridor, Li Wei noticed several oil portraits hanging on the wall. Although he didn’t know who the figures were, he could recognize from their facial features—which were strikingly similar to Alexander’s—that these were likely the ancestors of the Mellon family.

Timothy Mellon was sitting under a patio umbrella, a pot of tea and two cups set out in front of him.

Seeing Li Wei approach, he took the initiative to speak first. "I’ve always wanted to meet you, Li Wei," he said. "But I didn’t expect it would be Alister who called me."

"Liz and Charles Mellon don’t have a very good relationship," Li Wei smiled. "And she doesn’t know that I came to see you."

"Oh? Did the sweet couple have a fight?" Timothy asked. "Or are you planning to propose and looking to get the approval of a family member?"

"Marriage is still a bit too early for me," Li Wei chuckled. "I always feel that I need to be mature enough before I can raise a child with a normal personality."

Timothy Mellon gave a cold snort and settled back into his seat.

"I presume you didn’t come here to pick a fight with me," he said, reclining under the umbrella. "What do you want with me?"

Li Wei also sat down and leaned back. Activating [Adaptability (Bronze)], he smoothly improvised a topic. "How many more years do you think Alexander Mellon can keep at it?"

This topic had almost become a sore spot for Timothy. He gave Li Wei a cautious look and said slowly, "That depends on his own thoughts. It’s hard for us children to say."

Li Wei just smiled at his diplomatic answer. The focus wasn’t on this anyway, so he continued chatting casually with Timothy. A few minutes later, as Timothy’s tone visibly relaxed, Li Wei suddenly forced a change in topic.

"By the way, Mr. Mellon," he asked, "have you been paying attention to media news lately?"

"I have," Timothy nodded. "Why?"

"I recently received some information." Li Wei stared directly into Timothy’s eyes. "The New York Times is going to publish an in-depth report on the Delaware Free Port in June. Were you aware of this?"

He watched as Timothy’s teacup paused in mid-air. His expression wasn’t one of anger or guilt, but of pure confusion.

"What?" he said. "The New York Times is reporting on the Free Port? How come I don’t know about this?"

Li Wei furrowed his brow. Under the effect of [Adaptability (Bronze)], it was impossible for Timothy Mellon to lie to him.