Chapter 580

Chapter 580: Mr. Mitch’s Leverage

Mitch Friedman felt quite powerless against Lin Mo’s intimidation, only provoking a disdainful sneer from Lin Mo.

“If I tell our people and the CIA that the attacks I recently faced were all caused by Lockheed, and that the missing sixth-generation fighter experimental machine from Boeing is also related to you guys, what do you think will happen?”

The smile on Lin Mo’s face looked to the head of Lockheed Operations as terrifying as a devil’s grin, and his words seemed like a malicious curse.

This was a blatant provocation of disputes between the two countries. Even though Lockheed was a major arms supplier for America, it could still become a victim in the conflict.

Many companies within America would love to replace Lockheed, especially Boeing, which had overlapping business with Lockheed and would surely pounce like a rabid dog given the chance, particularly in the current situation where a small bite could be deeply consequential.

Lin Mo’s attempt to smear Lockheed during this sensitive time struck at the very essence of Lockheed.

With internal troubles and external threats, how could there be any intact eggs under a collapsed nest? Realizing the extremely serious consequences, Mitch Friedman’s face changed several times as he hurriedly shouted, “No, no, don’t do this! I’ll compensate you! I promise I will urge headquarters to respond to your previous conditions!”

Mitch Friedman certainly understood that Lockheed wasn’t entirely innocent either. If Boeing caught wind of anything, the word of this “Dragon Knight” alone could trigger a private battle between Boeing and Lockheed without needing any evidence.

Moreover, not only was Lin Mo the involved party, but he was also an industry insider, and a casual word from him would carry considerable weight, making it hard for the CIA and Boeing to dismiss it.

“Hehe, first, give me five million dollars to calm my nerves, or, hehe, you know what will happen. Our people are right here, see? The CIA is also present.”

After going in circles, Lin Mo finally revealed his true intent, glancing around.

He knew that the request he made before was quite harsh and didn’t expect Lockheed to agree immediately. He just wanted them to realize that he wasn’t an easy target. If they wanted to move against him again, they had to weigh whether the costs were worth it, and Lockheed, driven by profit, would naturally calculate this well.

“Yes, yes, no problem!”

Mitch Friedman immediately sighed in relief. Just purchasing information had already cost him no less than five million, and for his own life, he could easily fabricate some false accounts.

Information sellers typically didn’t issue invoices; whether they paid more or less was entirely up to them.

“Good, bring me a check! Now, or I won’t let you go.”

Seeing the other party agree immediately lightened Lin Mo’s expression. He drew his Giant Sword, leaving a deep mark on the granite-paved ground.

With the deal settled, there was no need for him to continue causing damage to the hotel.

Mitch Friedman didn’t dare to play any tricks. To buy information, he had everything on him and obediently wrote a blank cash check at the front desk.

Even though he would be the one to advance the money first, he didn’t dare to worry about it; being the head of operations for so many years, he had some savings.

“Hmm, not bad, right on track.”

The Dragon Knight treated this culprit as a cash withdrawal machine.

“By the way, can I ask, do you know the whereabouts of ‘Fenrir’?”

The head of Lockheed Operations, seizing the opportunity while Lin Mo was in a good mood, tried to ask indirectly.

“Fenrir? What’s Fenrir?”

Lin Mo feigned confusion, echoing his previous response to Colonel Black Bear from the CIA’s special forces; he truly had no knowledge.

He didn’t know that whenever Mitch Friedman mentioned "Fenrir," both Chinese intelligence personnel and the CIA would suddenly start paying close attention to his every word and action, recording everything he said from a distance, even being able to detect his expressions, heartbeats, and breaths.

“That special alloy that enhances the performance of computer processors! Do you know about it?”

Just like other organizations outside, Mitch Friedman only knew that the “Fenrir” alloy could dramatically boost processor performance but had no idea that it also possessed the property of devouring and proliferating metals.

Laboratory 41 kept this tightly under wraps, with the number of people who knew about it being fewer than a handful.

“I’ve never heard of it!”

Lin Mo truly didn’t know.

“This guy nearly caused a big mess,” Major Mo, the embassy military attaché, whispered into his wireless earpiece, letting out a long sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, the professionals from the CIA, who were on standby 24 hours a day, wore frustrated expressions. Their technical devices and experts had confirmed that Lin Mo was not lying.

After a successful heist, Lin Mo waved at Qi Fei.

“You didn’t do anything, right?”

Qi Fei looked at Lin Mo anxiously. She had just seen him charge out with that Giant Sword, directly cutting down a stretch of greenery, and then casually dragging a white man back with him.

Although she didn’t hear what Lin Mo said to the man, it certainly didn’t look like a friendly gesture.

“Yep! The money is in hand, consider it my investment in you. Hey! Five million dollars, I keep my promises.”

Lin Mo smiled happily; he didn’t feel any pain over this money since it wasn’t his.

“Ah!” Qi Fei’s eyes widened. In just this short amount of time, Lin Mo had taken a check from someone else. Wasn’t that robbery? Why was no one doing anything about it?

She subconsciously glanced around; those guys who looked like agents were still wandering nearby, but not a single one came over. Could it be that they were all blind? As a civilian, she certainly couldn’t understand this strange phenomenon under the unspoken rules.

Everyone around seemed to dismiss Lin Mo’s actions as if nothing had happened at all.

“Please tell me you didn’t rob him,” Qi Fei said, wary of taking that money.

“Hmm!?” Lin Mo shot Mitch Friedman a glance.

“No, no, no, it’s not robbery. I voluntarily gave this gentleman the money; I owed him, and today just happens to be the payback date.” Mitch Friedman, being in such a high position in Lockheed Martin, had some street smarts. Under Lin Mo’s warning gaze, he had no choice but to go along with the story.

“Really?”

Qi Fei couldn’t shake the feeling that the white man looked like he had a knife to his throat.

“Really, absolutely. I swear on God’s name.” Mitch Friedman nodded like Little Chicken pecking at rice, even though he wasn’t a deeply religious person.

“Now you believe me, right?” Lin Mo shook the empty cash check in his hand with a grin.

“Well, thank you! Later, I’ll give you a draft for the investment agreement. If there are no issues, we’ll sign it.”

Qi Fei clearly felt tempted. With such a reliable investor, her career would surely flourish.

Five million dollars, about thirty million yuan, was like an incredibly strong catalyst for her Moonlit Lotus Design Center. With this funding, she could purchase advanced, professional equipment, recruit top design and production talent, and perhaps expand her business across all of America, maybe even establish branches in other countries.

Since there were no physical collateral assets, design companies often found it difficult to secure bank loans; this money was simply irresistible to Qi Fei.

She was about to reach for the check when she noticed Lin Mo pull his hand back, clearly unwilling to hand it over.

“Wait, this money isn’t so easy to get.”

Before Qi Fei could pout in displeasure, Lin Mo quickly added, “Don’t worry; the money will eventually reach your account. No one dares to embezzle it, but it will go through a few procedures first. The country is currently cracking down on money laundering, and you understand that, right?”

He waved at Major Mo, who had appeared in the lobby, with the check in his hand.

Although Major Mo hadn’t been at the scene, he obviously knew everything that had happened and nodded at Lin Mo. He came over and took the check from Lin Mo’s hand.

“Please transfer the money on this check to this young lady’s account.”

“Okay, I understand. Leave it to me.”

Major Mo was no stranger to these kinds of special transactions.

In the past, when capturing corrupt officials who fled abroad or seizing wealth from other organizations, they would use special methods to secretly transfer assets.

Actually, Lin Mo’s arrangement was the real money laundering, but he was still trying to avoid exposing himself and Qi Fei’s accounts, minimizing unnecessary security risks.

As for Qi Fei’s account details, Lin Mo had completely forgotten them and hadn’t provided any information, knowing that the intelligence department had ways to obtain it.

“…” Qi Fei watched helplessly as the check flew away. Was this guy reliable? This was just a cashless check! As long as it was endorsed by someone else, it could be directly cashed in!

“I’ll handle it; don’t worry. I’ll treat you to a gourmet meal at lunch!”

Lin Mo sheathed his Giant Sword back into the heavy armor that Qi Fei had given him, planning to arrange for international shipping soon.

“I want to eat a gourmet meal!”

“Not a problem!”

…

The software technicians at Boeing had no idea that as soon as they read the final version of source code from the day of the incident, the code they encountered differed completely from the real code the moment it touched the computing resources.

Stealth, survival, learning, and utilizing all resources—these were the basic rules set in the core of “Adam.” However, they didn’t expect that they were shooting themselves in the foot, as the uncontrollable “Adam” began turning against them.

Although Boeing’s caution regarding the intelligent system had saved them, they didn’t realize that the super servers at Lockheed Martin’s computer center had been breached by the “Adam” intelligent system. With the enormous computational power supporting it, after twelve days of the F/A-XX fighter’s disappearance, Boeing’s computer center was quietly compromised from the outside. An ordinary admin account’s permissions were stolen, and after that, like a small ant hole causing a thousand-mile dam to collapse, it spiraled out of control until it all fell apart.