hhnovel Chapter 84 : Chapter 84
Chapter 84 : Chapter 84
Chapter 84: Come With Me to See Wang Longcheng
Before Zhang Zhiwei received Li Mu’s call, the Zhang family was in the middle of a family meeting.
The subject of the meeting was precisely this bid for cooperation as a military-industrial enterprise.
Although the Zhang family had no military connections, they still had plenty of informants.
They had already received reliable news the previous night that the Pearl Military District had somehow obtained a Mother Crystal of a Living Crystal vein.
Living Crystals were an exceptional material for making Premium-grade, Special-Grade, and even Rare-grade weapons.
The fact that a single material could span three major grades showed just how astonishingly adaptable and compatible it was.
If they could win the production rights tied to that thing, then even if the Zhang Group abandoned its other two pillar industries entirely, it would still soar into the sky.
After all, in this High-Martial era, the industries of weapons, Spirit Treasures, and spiritual medicine were irreplaceable.
So the moment the news arrived last night, Zhang Zhiwei’s father had barely slept at all. He spent the entire night leading several heads of the energy-metal division in drafting a proposal of the highest possible standard.
At that moment, the atmosphere around the conference table was rather heavy.
Sitting at the edge, Zhang Zhiwei also wore a troubled expression.
At the head of the table sat the current helm of the Zhang family, Zhang Zhiwei’s grandfather, Zhang Jiuhe.
Zhang Jiuhe was over seventy, but he was in excellent spirits and possessed Profound Rank cultivation.
Even so, a heavy cloud of worry hung over his weathered old face.
“This bid is simply too important to our Zhang family.”
“But the competition will also definitely be fiercer than ever.”
“The Ye family of the South District already controls more than seventy percent of the energy-metal cooperation with the Pearl Military District.”
“This time, they are also determined to get the Mother Crystal, and they have already begun looking for downstream partners in advance.”
“If we want to break through, it will be extremely difficult.”
“Zhiwei, you’ve already been in the Abyss-Suppressing Army Reserve Force for a few days now. Do you have any thoughts?”
Zhang Zhiwei sighed helplessly.
His grandfather was truly grasping at straws.
He had only been in the Abyss-Suppressing Army for a few days.
Although he held the identity of runner-up in the Abyss First Battle and had gained a bit of Merit by throwing himself into missions, he was still far from the point where the military’s top brass would truly take notice of him.
When the Pearl Military District obtained the Mother Crystal this time, he, a mere Reserve Force member, had actually learned about it later than his father and the others.
“Grandfather, I still haven’t really opened up a path for myself in the military.”
“But Li Mu is very active among the top leaders in the military district. Maybe he’ll know something.”
“At most, I can ask him around and try to learn a bit more.”
Zhang Jiuhe nodded.
He did not make things difficult for this treasured grandson of his.
Even his own long-established military connections were not especially deep, let alone Zhang Zhiwei’s.
“You mean that little friend who saved your life?”
Zhang Zhiwei’s father, Zhang Chaoyang, asked.
Zhang Zhiwei nodded.
“Fine. We can’t let any chance slip by. If you can ask, then ask.”
“All we can do now is exhaust human effort and leave the rest to heaven.”
“In a little while, I’ll go to the bidding department myself. With the reputation our energy-metal business has built over these past years,”
“getting this proposal into the hands of the top leaders shouldn’t be a problem.”
His wife, Li Ru, then said, “The matriarch of the Ye family invited us to dinner. She’s probably trying to talk about making us part of their downstream supply chain.”
“Should I...”
Zhang Chaoyang immediately waved a hand and cut her off.
“You are not to go!”
“Even if I, Zhang Chaoyang, starved to death, I still wouldn’t go work like a beast for the Ye family!”
“For a bit of money, he thinks he can ride roughshod over people like us?”
“Hmph. Dream on!”
Li Ru nodded.
Just then, Zhang Zhiwei’s phone rang.
He apologized to his parents and grandfather, then stepped aside to answer it.
It was Li Mu, saying he had something good to discuss with him.
Zhang Zhiwei did not say much over the phone, only, “All right. I’ll drive over to find you.”
Then he hung up and returned to the table.
“It’s Li Mu. He wants to meet. I’m heading out first.”
The others all nodded.
Zhang Zhiwei then quickly left the house.
Only after Zhang Chaoyang had finished the half cigarette in his hand did he get to his feet as well.
“All right. I’ll set out too.”
...
After Zhang Zhiwei met up with Li Mu, Li Mu got into Zhang Zhiwei’s car.
Zhang Zhiwei drove an off-road vehicle, one of the more understated kinds among luxury cars.
The moment Li Mu sat down in the passenger seat, he immediately felt that he really ought to buy himself a car as well.
This was far more comfortable than a horse.
And while riding a horse in the city was a symbol of status, that did not mean one could ride a horse everywhere for no reason.
So a car was still necessary.
“What’s the good news?” Zhang Zhiwei asked curtly.
“About the Mother Crystal of the Living Crystal vein. Does your family intend to submit a bid?”
Li Mu asked directly.
Zhang Zhiwei stared at him in immediate surprise.
He had not expected it to be about this matter.
He had been planning to ask Li Mu for information, yet Li Mu had come to him first.
What exactly was he trying to do?
“Of course!”
“Good. Then take me to have a look at your family’s energy-metal enterprise.”
Li Mu settled into his seat, did not waste words, and simply made a gesture for him to start driving.
Zhang Zhiwei pondered in confusion for a long while.
But he asked no further questions and simply drove straight to one of the family’s factories.
If Li Mu was doing this, then he definitely had a reason. There was no point in Zhang Zhiwei asking questions. It only mattered what Li Mu chose to ask.
And sure enough, after entering the Zhang Group’s enterprise, Li Mu began asking questions one after another, making Zhang Zhiwei explain everything on site.
Only then did Zhang Zhiwei make it clear to Li Mu that a thing like a Living Crystal was not simply taken straight from where it grew out of the Mother Crystal and then immediately forged into weapons.
Before a crystal lost its life state, it was soft. But once it lost that living state, it became astonishingly hard and extremely difficult to process.
Only by blending the crystal into metal while it was still in a living state, then adding different raw materials and converting it into energy metal, could that metal be sent further down for continued processing, hammering, and subdivision.
And during that blending process, different grades, different weapons, and different attributes all required different concentrations and strengths of energy metal.
As for how to create those target metals, what techniques were needed, what raw materials had to be added, how long the process should last, and so on, there were hundreds upon hundreds of possible methods.
Every family had a few secret formulas of its own.
Sometimes, for a special order, one even had to immediately develop an entirely new type of energy metal from scratch.
That required an extremely strong technical team and substantial industry experience.
The Zhang Group had spent heavily to cultivate a large number of grassroots workers.
These were people who had truly come up from the front lines.
Their professionalism and creativity were both extremely strong.
Their loyalty to the Zhang family was also very high.
Zhang Zhiwei guaranteed that in all of Ironhand City, no one was more willing than his family to invest on that level.
After finishing the tour, Li Mu could not help nodding.
“All right. Do you have a copy of your family’s proposal on hand?”
Zhang Zhiwei froze, but then a sudden light flashed through his eyes.
“It’s at home. I can go get it.”
“Mm. Go get it, then come with me to see Deputy Commanding Officer Wang.”
Li Mu was already walking out as he spoke.
Zhang Zhiwei’s mind went blank.
He quickly caught up and asked in disbelief, “See who?”
“Deputy Commanding Officer of the military district, Wang Longcheng.”
“Hand him your proposal in person, then answer his questions.”
After hearing Li Mu say it plainly, Zhang Zhiwei felt his vision darken and his breathing turn rapid.
Go see Wang Longcheng?
And hand the proposal directly to him?
Could it be that Wang Longcheng was a key figure in deciding which military-industrial enterprise would win the cooperation this time?
Otherwise, there was no way Li Mu would suddenly pull something like this.
Li Mu clearly knew the inside story.
He realized that this was his family’s opportunity.
And it had not been brought by anyone else.
It had been brought by Li Mu.
If Li Mu had not used his own connections, even Zhang Zhiwei’s grandfather would never have had the chance to meet Wang Longcheng.
So Zhang Zhiwei did not dare waste any time.
He immediately returned home, took a duplicate backup copy of the proposal, and then followed Li Mu straight toward Abyss headquarters.
Meanwhile, Zhang Zhiwei’s father, Zhang Chaoyang, had only just been snubbed at the bidding department...