King Of War: Starting with Arms Dealer

He walked into the cage, scooped up a Little Lion whose spots hadn't faded yet, held it in his arms, and had Dorian take a photo of him. Then, chuckling, he shot a video with Dorian and sent it to his brother, Qiao Liang, whom he hadn't been in touch with for several months.

The early evening in Central Africa was exactly noon in China.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

It wasn't long after Joe Ga sent the message that Qiao Liang made a video call to him.

Once connected, Joe Ga saw that not only his brother was there, but also a few curious men and women crowded around him.

Seeing the Little Lion crawling around messily and the adorably cute Dorian, a slightly plump girl with a baby face clutched Qiao Liang's arm and let out a shriek...

"Ah, so cute, Qiao Liang, I want to go, I want to go, take me with you, I must go, I'll buy my own plane ticket and book the hotel, just take me…"

Watching his brother nod in agreement to the plump girl's request among the cheering from the others, Joe Ga smacked his lips and asked, "Who is this?"

Hearing this, Qiao Liang quickly grabbed the enthusiastic plump girl and said with a dry laugh, "Bro, this is my classmate, her name is Tong Tong, from our province's capital, heh heh..."

Seeing the expression on his brother's face, Joe Ga knew the kid was in love.

Just by looking at Qiao Liang's clothes, Joe Ga knew, his brother's thrifty ways hadn't changed.

A few years ago, to take care of their parents in the hospital, Qiao Liang pinched every penny so tightly that Joe Ga, the elder brother, couldn't bear to watch.

Joe Ga, who had made some money, kept sending him money, not much, just US$5,000 a month. He hoped it would let him return to a normal university life and perhaps correct his miserliness, otherwise, he really wouldn't find a girlfriend.

Joe Ga never thought that, while his brother's stingy habits didn't seem cured, he had actually managed to find a girlfriend.

This girl named Tong Tong wasn't particularly pretty, but she seemed outgoing and passionate. A bit plump, but she looked pretty when she smiled.

Joe Ga greeted Tong Tong with a smile and said, "If you want to come, just come. Decide on the day and I'll buy your tickets. I am now in Central Africa, preparing to invest in a resort. There are many animals here, a perfect place for an enthusiastic girl to offer some love."

While saying this, Joe Ga glanced at the surrounding environment and said to Qiao Liang, "Why aren't you at school? Today isn't a holiday."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Liang scratched his crew cut and said with a smile, "Bro, didn't you ask me about the solar-powered drone? It happens that one of my seniors and his advisor are working on this development, so I asked my professor to introduce me to their project team to learn something and also scout for you."

Qiao Liang then introduced a few young people around him to Joe Ga, and specifically pulled over a man in his thirties wearing glasses, saying, "Bro, this is my senior, Yang Guanghui, the actual person in charge of the solar-powered drone project.

Senior Yang's skills are really impressive. I've learned a lot from him. He has always wanted to use solar-powered drones for communication relay projects. It's said that this project has great prospects in many third-world countries. If developed well, it might just be a low-tier Starlink system."

Joe Ga was momentarily stunned, then marveled at how bold these young people really were!

Developed countries wouldn't let your large solar-powered drones fly around unregulated, but third-world countries didn't have such problems.

But these things are unstable and can't operate as long as satellites could. How many drones would be needed to build an effective communication network that could operate for extended periods?

With that much money, why not hire someone to build a base station?

These young people are daring and active, but they obviously targeted the wrong market. They should have aimed at military and police departments.

With the endurance of solar-powered drones and their simple maintenance, coupled with advanced visual systems, recommending them to any country's border patrol wouldn't be an issue.

These excellent university students, like Qiao Liang, surely understood this, so he laughed and said, "Third-world countries can't maintain such things. Communications companies are dying to throw money to seize the market there, who would you sell these to?

It would be better to contact the border defense forces; maybe you could even pull in some sponsorship, as long as it can really fly. Even if it only flies for 10 hours, it's still more affordable than those high-tech drones."

Joe Ga's words made Qiao Liang pause, then Yang Guanghui, standing next to him, adjusted his glasses and said somewhat disappointedly, "They already have…"

As he said this, Yang Guanghui patted Qiao Liang on the shoulder, then looking at Joe Ga through the phone, said, "Our project's main goal isn't to design drones but to design a shared system for modern cities.

A city with a population of three million only needs three drones to achieve signal tracking and coverage.

This smart sharing system can integrate all the unused items within the city and then make them generate benefits...

......

......"

Joe Ga was confused as what Yang Guanghui was saying afterward sounded impressive, as he recognized every word, but put together, they made no sense to him.

Joe Ga didn't really understand internet technology, but his recent business ventures were going smoothly, so he instinctively realized that this Yang Guanghui was using the school's funds for drones to develop his so-called smart sharing system.

This didn't concern Joe Ga much, as he was only interested in the solar-powered drones.

As Joe Ga's territory grew increasingly larger, his need for communication and reconnaissance grew as well, otherwise the efficiency of his special combat team was bound to decline.

It was most important that dispatching the Big Beak Bird for surveillance had started to make the 'Cobra' a bit weary.

Looking at the young people on the other side of the smartphone, some nodded frequently, some were indifferent, but his own brother remained calm.

That was when Joe Ga knew that Qiao Liang had his own ideas.

He knew his brother too well, their experiences had made them mature earlier than most because they cared a lot about money, so they had their own unique perspective on it.

Joe Ga was keen on making money but was not stingy about spending it, whereas Qiao Liang was keen on saving money, always pondering how to spend it efficiently.

In terms of being level-headed, frugal with spending, and pragmatic by nature, Qiao Liang far surpassed Joe Ga.

Yang Guanghui's offerings couldn't move Qiao Liang at all; in fact, nothing aimed at soliciting investment and fundraising could sway him.

The young man's plan was to blend into this project team, decipher the technology of solar-powered drones, try to learn more and then help Joe Ga.

The reason Yang Guanghui was so enthusiastic now was because he saw that Joe Ga seemed to be quite wealthy and wanted to try to secure some investment.

This was a typical case of leveraging one project to fuel another, using school resources to coat one's personal project with the guise of another.

As soon as Yang Guanghui found interested investors, he could spin off his own smart sharing platform from the school's drone project as a separate initiative.

After Yang Guanghui had passionately shared his ideas, Joe Ga smiled and said, "That's a very advanced idea, I hardly understand it, but I think it's impressive."

Saying this, Joe Ga stood up and walked out of the lion's cage, turning his phone's camera in a circle, and said with a smile, "See what I have here?

I've acquired an Animal Rescue Center, and I intend to keep it running. I indeed need drones here, including a communication system, especially since this national park is just too vast."

Is your drone project still lacking funds?

If you're willing, you could come here to take a look. After a field inspection, as long as it proves to be useful for me, I can fund your research on solar-powered drones.

Africa doesn't need shared software, but you all study computer science; drone control systems and surveillance require a professional set of software and hardware. If you're interested, you should really put some effort into this area. I surely won't let your hard work go unrewarded."

Joe Ga's words were indirect, but his message was very clear.

It showed that he wasn't interested in Yang Guanghui's offerings, but he was very interested in the solar-powered drones and their control systems and was willing to fund their enhancement of software and hardware.

This was now about business. I fund your research, and then I buy your product. Although he didn't specify how much money, this was already very attractive to a bunch of college students.

Because the elder didn't talk about taking over the project, he only wanted the results.

The commercial prospects for this product weren't very promising because solar-powered drones have their limitations, and they definitely couldn't compete with industry giants backed by significant scientific institutions. However, even if it just lands a couple of civilian orders a year, it would be enough to sustain these young people.

Joe Ga's thoughts were simple, he just wanted to see if his brother was interested and if he could pull together a team on his own. If he was, Joe Ga would certainly not be stingy in funding it.

DJI went from a small workshop to a leader in drones, and although Qiao Liang missed the perfect timing, just having a customer like his brother could help his company thrive.

If the product is proven to be up to standard and Qiao Liang can't sell it himself, couldn't Joe Ga sell it?

Search and rescue, coastal patrols, border patrols, weather detection, environmental monitoring...

The range of applications for this gadget is vast!

Its core competitive edge lies not merely in the solar-powered drones themselves but in the control software, as that is what really requires attention. Given the sky's many uncertainties, there are currently no solar-powered drones that can achieve "non-landing."

There are a lot of issues that need to be addressed, mainly in the software.

Making drones foolproof was the key reason for DJI's success.

Solar-powered drones temporarily can't achieve this, as they need to bear a lot of solar panels, so their aerodynamic structure and power are restricted.

This necessitates concurrent software and hardware development, allowing it to automatically adjust itself when issues arise, otherwise, these potential "single-use drones" risk crashing and would be hard to attract customers.

Joe Ga was indirectly giving Qiao Liang a test, hoping to enrich his college life, and unexpectedly found his brother was much smarter than he thought...

"Brother, I'll come over to your place in a few days to take a look. I'll contact you once I've arranged my visa,"

After finishing, Qiao Liang hung up the video call. While Joe Ga was still puzzled, Qiao Liang sent him a photo, causing Joe Ga to pat his head in admiration, acknowledging indeed it's the younger people whose minds really work...