Chapter 576 - 376: Pentagon

Chapter 576: Chapter 376: Pentagon

"That fast?" Li Wei asked in surprise.

He had originally thought this matter would drag on for at least a month before seeing any progress.

"Yeah, I’m surprised too," Robert Flynn said. "Normally, it wouldn’t be strange for a procurement like this to be delayed for over half a year, but William Stone agreed to it very readily."

Half a year... Li Wei realized he had still overestimated the efficiency of the United States Government.

"So, Uncle Robert, what do you think?" Li Wei said. "Is the likelihood of reaching a cooperative agreement this time very low?"

"I don’t know. Within the United States of America, every single system is highly compartmentalized. Data and intelligence are absolutely not shared." Robert Flynn’s tone sounded somewhat troubled. "I’m genuinely not too sure."

"Understood," Li Wei said. "Then I’ll bring my team to Washington as soon as possible."

"I’m sorry, Li Wei. I truly can’t be of much help with this matter," Robert Flynn said sincerely. "The government agencies of the United States of America are full of isolated silos. I don’t know if you’ve heard a classic saying from the Internal Revenue Service: even drug dealers have to pay taxes?"

"Of course I’ve heard that," Li Wei laughed.

Flynn said rather helplessly, "It’s true. After the Internal Revenue Service collects taxes from drug dealers, they genuinely protect the dealers’ personal privacy and will not disclose it to other departments like the DEA or the police system. I’m telling you this," he paused, "in the hopes that you won’t mind. I really can’t help you much with this."

"I’m already very grateful that you used this favor to introduce me," Li Wei said, waving his hand. "I’ll fly to Washington first and see what General Stone has in mind."

After hanging up the phone, Li Wei fell into thought.

This matter probably wouldn’t be that easy to settle. Who said the United States of America didn’t value connections? Trying to squeeze into the military’s procurement list and enjoy the same treatment as Commissioner Smith—how could it be that easy? However, he still had to go. At the very least, he needed to see exactly what this Brigadier General Stone was thinking.

"What’s wrong?" Don Quixote walked over and handed Li Wei a cup of coffee. "Is something the matter?"

Li Wei relayed what Robert Flynn had told him.

"Fifteen million percent," Don Quixote shook his head. "No chance."

"I think so too," Li Wei took the coffee and took a sip. "But we still have to make the trip."

"It doesn’t hurt to try," Don Quixote thought for a moment. "Take it slow. First, establish a firm foothold in the police system, lay a sufficiently deep foundation, and then gradually expand outward from there."

Li Wei nodded. "Notify Jin Heon and the others. We’ll head to Washington together in a couple of days... Actually, never mind. Let’s discuss this outcome first."

Later that day, Li Wei, Don Quixote, Jin Heon, Arthur, Mark, and the others held an online meeting.

"...That’s the situation," Li Wei said. "Director Robert Flynn has already made an appointment with the General for us. Let’s figure out when to go to Washington together. If we delay any longer, he’ll be leaving on a business trip."

"I need to recalibrate the consumer-end data for LW beverages," Mark said. "I should have it ready the day after tomorrow."

"I need to study the Pentagon’s procurement process with our partner law firm. We haven’t looked into this before, so it might take some time," Arthur said. "Give me three days."

"What about you, Jin Heon?" Li Wei asked. "How many days do you need?"

"I... I might need about five days or so," Jin Heon said after a moment’s thought.

As soon as she said this, everyone was a little surprised.

"What do you need to do?" Li Wei asked in surprise. "Why so long?"

"There’s a lot to do," Jin Heon said, looking strangely at the faces of Li Wei and the others on the video feed. "I need to retrieve the latest batch of athlete blind-test data from the data lab. I also have to supplement the certification letter from the FDA with the newest version. Besides that, I also have to organize the government procurement contracts for forty-eight cities. I need to separately attach the repurchase rates, complaint rates, and user feedback for every single city."

Mark’s and Arthur’s mouths slowly fell open. They wanted to say something but hesitated.

Having both been seasoned veterans who had worked in the corporate world for years, they could naturally tell that this was just a mere formality.

"In addition, I plan to create a competitive product analysis report. I’ll pull the ingredients and monitoring data of Gatorade, Red Bull, Monster, and all similar functional beverages on the market to do a horizontal comparison—"

"Wait, wait, wait," Mark finally couldn’t help but interrupt. "Jin, do you know what we’re going there for this time?"

"An interview," Jin Heon said as if it were a matter of course. "To put forth our best performance and let the General see LW’s product strength and market performance."

Mark sighed. "With all due respect, there’s a high probability that this is just going through the motions. The military’s supplier list is an extremely closed-off system. It’s not something we can just squeeze into by waving data around."

Arthur echoed in agreement, "The Pentagon’s procurement process has to go through federal bidding. Just the qualification approval alone can consume over half a year. Preparing too much for this meeting is pointless."

Jin Heon let out a soft "Oh," and fell silent for a couple of seconds.

Unable to hold back, she spoke up again, "But General Stone agreed to meet. Doesn’t that mean he’s interested in LW?"

"Not necessarily—" Mark just started to say something.

"If he has no interest in us, then why meet at all?" Jin Heon interrupted Mark. "Even if we don’t succeed in the end, at least we will have shown them our sincerity and capabilities. What if? What if he sees the data and feels that LW is truly worth a try?"

The video conference went quiet for a few seconds.

Arthur said, "True. At the very least, we have to try."

"Then we’ll give you the time," Li Wei made the final call. "We leave next Monday."

Mid-May, Monday.

Li Wei, along with Don Quixote, Jin Heon, Mark, Arthur, Chen Haisheng, and the others, took off from New York on a private jet, flying toward Washington.

Less than fifty minutes after takeoff, the plane began to lower its altitude.

"Mr. Li," Arthur joked, "how does it feel to be back in Washington?"

The last time Li Wei came to Washington, it was for an away game against the Washington Commanders. Last time, he had completely demolished the Commander Team, earning the long-lasting resentment of The Washington Post.

"I feel like Washington and I don’t really vibe," Li Wei shrugged. "Let’s hurry up, get the job done, and head back."

Jin Heon didn’t say a word. She kept her head down and continued sorting through her documents.

Li Wei glanced at her, wanting to say something but ultimately holding back, and turned his head to look out the window.

Outside the window, the outline of Washington emerged from beneath the clouds.

Unlike New York, this city didn’t have a dense cluster of skyscrapers. As far as the eye could see, it was filled with low, symmetrical limestone buildings, looking like a chessboard drawn with a compass and a ruler.

After the plane landed, Li Wei stepped off.

Jin Heon followed closely behind, clutching a dark blue folder containing the materials she had spent five whole days preparing. Don Quixote, Arthur, and Mark descended the airstairs from the other side. Both Arthur and Mark carried briefcases, while only Don Quixote was empty-handed, bringing nothing but a pair of glasses and a gray suit jacket.

Seeing Don Quixote looking as though he hadn’t prepared a single thing, Jin Heon scoffed internally and turned to follow behind Li Wei.

Don Quixote didn’t notice Jin Heon’s expression as he walked in the back with Arthur, Mark, and the others.

After getting off the plane, two black Chevrolet Suburbans were waiting outside the private terminal of Dulles International Airport.

"Mr. Li, I need to have you look over what we’re going to present today one more time." Jin Heon got into the first car with Li Wei.

Don Quixote and the other two got into the second Suburban.

Once everyone was inside, the motorcade drove along the Dulles Toll Road toward downtown Washington, turning onto a broad, somewhat empty avenue in Arlington County, Virginia.

"Mr. Don Quixote," Mark asked, "do we really have no chance this time?"

"Does it look like I have anything to prepare?" Don Quixote stretched. "There is absolutely zero chance this time."

"What a shame. Miss Jin did work hard for a whole week, after all," Mark said with a hint of regret. "Besides, if we could break into the military’s procurement system, it wouldn’t be impossible for LW’s market value to hit tens of billions."

"Basically no chance," Don Quixote shook his head, holding up a finger. "This place is incredibly insular. You can tell just by looking at the buildings outside. Unless we have connections with some lieutenant general, governor, or senator, we’re just here to have a cup of tea at the Pentagon."

"Miss Jin still isn’t convinced," Arthur said.

"Xiaojin does have capability," Don Quixote said. "She just needs to shift her mindset a bit. After all, she’s still young, having only just graduated."

"She hasn’t even graduated yet. She’s not even twenty-two," Mark chuckled. "She officially graduates next month."

"It’s so nice to be young," Arthur said enviously. "I hadn’t even graduated from law school when I was twenty-two."

"Don’t go bullying her just because she’s young," Don Quixote said mildly. "Guide her more. Li Wei spent a lot of money to hire you all, so do your jobs well."

Mark and Arthur quickly agreed.

A short while later, the Pentagon appeared in the distance directly ahead through the windshield.

The largest office building in the world was shorter than Li Wei had imagined.

Perhaps it didn’t need height to project power like the office buildings on Wall Street. Instead, it used area—five massive concentric pentagons expanding outward from the center, with its pale yellow limestone exterior reflecting a gentle yet majestic light under the midday sun.

The vehicles stopped in front of the scheduled visitor lane. A sergeant wearing an Army service uniform was already waiting at the security entrance.

"Mr. Li Wei?" he checked the list and said in a low voice. "I watched your game against the Commander Team. You played beautifully."

"Are you a Giants fan?" Li Wei hadn’t expected to have a fan of his own at the Pentagon.

"No, I’m a fan of the Washington Commanders, but I have to admit that you played beautifully," the sergeant said. "Please follow me. General Stone is in his office on the third floor of the D Ring."

After passing through security, the five of them followed the sergeant down a corridor so long they couldn’t see its end.

The walls on both sides of the corridor were lined with portraits of successive Secretaries of Defense and the insignia of various military branches.

Most of the people in the corridor wore either military uniforms or dark suits. Their paces were uniformly swift. No one was chatting idly, and no one stopped to look at their phones.

After walking for a few minutes, the sergeant stopped in front of a wooden door with no markings.

"General Stone, your guests have arrived." He knocked twice on the door.

"Please come in."