Homo Sapiens

After speaking with several of the company’s department heads, Li Qingye made a few more decisions.

「At the same time.」

Prince Jipu of Saudia Arabia, led by Paul, the Director of the Special Trade Department of the Military Industry Division, was touring an exhibition of various weapons and equipment near Hongsawaddy’s Tuwah Port.

Paul pointed to a drone with a wide smile. ”This is the Flying Mink Drone, manufactured by Flying Fish Company. Its key feature is its ultra-low altitude flight capability. It’s equipped with optoelectronic chips from Nanyang Electronics and radar-absorbent materials from Sea Snail Company.”

Prince Jipu glanced at the Arabic-language instruction manual in his hands. ”Director Paul, isn’t this drone a bit too slow? Its top speed is only 350 kilometers per hour.”

”Your Highness, this is a necessary compromise for its ultra-low altitude flight. During testing, we found that once the speed exceeds 350 kilometers per hour, the probability of an accident occurring while the drone is navigating over waves or through forests increases dramatically.”

”What a shame,” Prince Jipu said, his expression tinged with disappointment.

But Paul quickly changed his tune. ”Actually, the Flying Mink’s speed can be boosted to 600–700 kilometers per hour.”

”Oh?” Prince Jipu’s interest was suddenly piqued.

”It requires intelligence and reconnaissance. You need a complete understanding of the terrain along the flight path to build a specialized route database. Once you have that, the probability of a mid-flight accident drops significantly.”

”A flight route database?” Prince Jipu’s eyes narrowed. ”Director Paul, does your company sell this database as well?”

”Of course,” Paul proposed with a chuckle. ”However, we would recommend that our own professionals handle the management of this database in cooperation with your team.”

Prince Jipu frowned. Clearly, he found this proposition difficult to accept.

”Perhaps your nation doesn’t fully appreciate the threats and weaknesses associated with this type of drone. Our company, you see, has tested its performance in the Badu Strait.” Paul was telling a bald-faced lie.

’The Badu Strait!’ Prince Jipu’s expression was conflicted. Of course he knew the United States Army had suffered a major defeat there.

In truth, Paul wasn’t entirely lying.

While the Flying Mink Drone was a downgraded export model—its stealth capabilities were mediocre and its maneuverability at ultra-low altitudes was relatively poor—it was still more than capable of launching surprise attacks on enemy armored divisions, warships, and airfields.

Moreover, the Flying Mink Drone’s flight speed wasn’t constant.

The 350 km/h speed was for the low-altitude approach phase. Once within approximately 10 kilometers of its target, the Flying Mink Drone could accelerate to a subsonic speed of 1,100 km/h.

For Saudia Arabia, this drone represented a formidable deterrent.

Although Saudia Arabia appeared to have close ties with America, this was only because America wielded a bigger stick. Anyone who claimed Saudia Arabia lacked ambition simply didn’t know about the series of moves it had made in recent decades. It was no docile child.

For instance, the items Saudia Arabia purchased from a certain major Eastern power decades ago were proof enough.

The Flying Mink Drone’s overall performance was decent, and Flying Fish Company’s quoted price was quite reasonable: a unit price of 40,000 Jin-dollars.

But Prince Jipu understood one thing clearly.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch.

Homo Sapiens Company’s request to station personnel to ”assist” Saudia Arabia with controlling the drones clearly concealed an ulterior motive.

Prince Jipu was no fool. He had already figured out that Homo Sapiens Company wanted to acquire Saudia Arabia’s topographical data.

Once Homo Sapiens Company obtained detailed topographical data, Saudia Arabia would be completely defenseless against them.

Paul added with a friendly laugh, ”Frankly, this arrangement is also the best option given your nation’s own information security capabilities.”

Hearing this, Prince Jipu looked slightly embarrassed.

Saudia Arabia’s internal security was indeed plagued by major issues. Setting aside the Black Ship’s Converts and Lookouts, even the Samoed of the Kingdom of Judah—West Asia’s Little Overlord—knew the inner workings of Saudia Arabia like the back of their hand.

If news of Saudia Arabia’s procurement of the Flying Mink Drones were to leak, it would be a serious question as to whether the drones could be effective at all.

After all, the Samoed was notorious for stealing secrets and military equipment from other nations.

If the Flying Mink Drone’s chips were stolen, the flight path database built by Saudia Arabia would become a fatal vulnerability.

This was precisely why Paul had brought it up to Prince Jipu.

When it came to intelligence capabilities, Homo Sapiens Company’s Foreign Affairs Division was more than a match for a hundred Samoeds.

After careful consideration, Prince Jipu knew that some prices had to be paid. For the security of Saudia Arabia, they had to offer Homo Sapiens Company a sign of their commitment.

As for whether Homo Sapiens Company would use this as an opportunity to infiltrate his country, that was likely unavoidable.

Still, Prince Jipu had a fair amount of confidence in his kingdom. After all, Saudia Arabia’s per capita income was extremely high. The temptations offered by Homo Sapiens Company would likely have little effect on the average citizen.

Before coming to Southeast Asia, Prince Jipu had studied the Homo Sapiens Company model.

He discovered that their model and Saudia Arabia’s achieved the same results through different means: both used generous social benefits to win over the populace, thereby ensuring a high degree of internal stability.

The only difference was that Saudia Arabia could only rely on selling oil and natural gas to fund its cash distributions to civilians.

Homo Sapiens Company, on the other hand, pursued a strategy of controlling entire industrial chains and was self-sufficient in food, minerals, and energy.

Consequently, Homo Sapiens Company was far more stable than Saudia Arabia. After all, once Saudia Arabia’s oil and natural gas reserves ran dry, the kingdom would quickly revert to its former state.

Having made his decision, Prince Jipu nodded. ”To a successful partnership. We will begin by procuring 10,000 Flying Mink Drones. As for the database management, we will trouble your company with that.”

”Not a problem at all. Serving our clients is one of Homo Sapiens Company’s core principles,” Paul said, extending his hand with a wide smile.

Their handshake marked the promising start of their collaboration.

The vast majority of these 10,000 Flying Mink Drones were loitering munition variants, with a small portion being reconnaissance models.

In addition, at Paul’s slick persuasion, Prince Jipu also procured a batch of short-range ballistic missiles, all-terrain armored vehicles, and electromagnetic radar systems.

Management of the short-range ballistic missiles and radar systems was likewise entrusted to Homo Sapiens Company.

According to their contract, Homo Sapiens Company would dispatch two special security battalions to Saudia Arabia to train the local military in the use of these weapons.

After finalizing the arms procurement contract, Paul, acting on behalf of the Medical Department, introduced several new pharmaceuticals to Prince Jipu.

Prince Jipu was very interested in Homo Sapiens Company’s new drugs. ”How effective is Lanf Anning 3?”

”Our company developed this for the new variant strain. Its therapeutic effects are identical to the previous Lanf Anning 2, and the side effects are minimal,” Paul said, handing over an internal test report for the new drug.

Prince Jipu accepted the report, which had already been translated into Arabic.

He skimmed through it, noting that the drug was highly effective with relatively minor side effects.

However, he was more interested in the Meisheng Prophylactic. After all, it could prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Though priced at 5,000 Jin-dollars per box, this was a trivial sum for the wealthy.

A single box of the Meisheng Prophylactic contained only 21 tablets, essentially one course of treatment.

Furthermore, the Meisheng Prophylactic required long-term use. It had to be taken whenever the body experienced inflammation in order to prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s.

Clearly, compared to a one-time-purchase drug like Lanf Anning, the Meisheng Prophylactic was far better for raking in long-term profits.

Prince Jipu signed another letter of intent for the procurement of the new pharmaceuticals.