Darkstone Code

In the morning, a family breakfast together.

The nanny’s expression was completely composed, showing no surprise at Lynch staying overnight.

She certainly knew Lynch, but she didn’t expect Lynch had such a relationship with her employer.

She sneaked a glance at the little boy, who seemed aware of the situation too, which surprised her.

But... everything seemed quite reasonable; after all, Vera’s job was so good, she probably couldn’t have managed it all on her own, right?

She found an excuse for her own inadequacy against Vera’s excellence, not out of malice, but as a natural reaction people from the lower class have when facing those far more superior.

They wouldn’t wonder if they hadn’t worked hard enough; they would just believe there were other external factors, such as how unfair society was and how it didn’t give them opportunities.

There’s a saying that is quite accurate: only the weak question the unfairness of fate, the strong... they are born like this!

After breakfast, Lynch dropped Vera off at work and then headed to the Flight Research Institute, where the Chief Engineer was already waiting for him.

The two greeted each other briefly and headed towards the testing ground.

"We have conducted some trials based on the concepts you proposed earlier, and we now have some results. The next step is to perform routine experiments..."

With the Chief Engineer’s gesture toward the control tower, a plane began to accelerate and soared into the sky.

This aircraft was much larger than an ordinary fighter plane, appearing somewhat cumbersome.

However, it was different from a regular bomber because its shape was more "full-bodied," like a big-bellied frog.

After flying up and spiraling for a while, the plane reached the designated altitude and began steadily circling.

Following further instructions from the control tower, its cabin door opened, and some heavy objects were thrown out!

Even if those objects weren’t bombs, dropping from such heights would still cause terrifying shock and destruction, yet no one at the scene left—they merely looked up.

A white object above those heavy items fluttered in the wind, and when it reached a certain speed, suddenly, a large white parachute opened up!

Its descent speed became extremely slow, falling to the ground in a manner people could accept.

After all the heavy objects landed, the Chief Engineer drove Lynch to the "drop" site, where most of the wooden boxes remained intact, and most of the fragile items inside were undamaged except for a few.

This sufficiently proved the safety of this buffered landing.

After inspecting the delicate glass items, Lynch asked, "When is the aerial landing experiment scheduled?"

The Chief Engineer clapped the dust off his hands, "We are recruiting volunteers and need training; it’ll take at least two weeks."

Lynch nodded, "As soon as possible."

Aerial drops are definitely a powerful weapon in an era with no fast relocations.

When the Ministry of Defense crafted special operations like special combat tactical concepts, Lynch immediately thought of airdrops.

Sending these special ops teams into the enemy’s rear under cover of darkness for disruption caught the Ministry of Defense and the Military’s attention after Lynch discussed the tactic.

Moreover, airdrops can deliver not just personnel but also supplies, making resupply for isolated regions much easier.

In signing a new supplemental agreement with the Ministry of Defense, Darkstone Airlines was tasked to help the Ministry of Defense and the Military achieve rapid airborne tactical operations.

Thus, Darkstone Airlines submitted a new design plan: greater payload, more singular functionality.

It lacks any attack capability, and its defense is mediocre, but its payload and flight range are noticeably superior to bombers—they were given a simple, understandable name: transport planes.

The prototype finished its spiral in the sky and returned to the ground; now, takeoff and landings are no longer issues for the planes.

Time slips by people’s hands without notice, and before they realize, more than a week had passed.

Lynch and people from the Ministry of Defense boarded military ships, sailing to Bupen’s territorial waters, where they would demonstrate the airdrop results today.

Many people from the Ministry of Defense attended, as well as numerous personnel from the Military and even the Navy.

When the two transport planes flew over the waters and began circling, everyone’s attention focused on them.

Upon command, the plane’s cabin door opened, first releasing various supplies, which, upon descending to a certain altitude, suddenly deployed parachutes, beginning to slow their descent.

Officers started discussing among themselves; they could see the supply boxes descending slowly, fully aware that even if they landed on concrete, they wouldn’t suffer much damage.

Next are the airborne personnel, all of whom are volunteers recruited from Darkstone Security. Higher salaries and higher company ranks always attract some people to join.

During this period of high-density trial jumps, although some were injured, no one was seriously injured, disabled, or killed.

After the initial stage of attempts, the world’s first batch of paratroopers have preliminarily mastered the skill of parachuting.

People held binoculars, watching the soldiers leave the aircraft, with some even exclaiming because it was too high!

To demonstrate the practical use of airborne drops, the transport aircraft flew high to minimize the noise impact on the ground.

Among the slightly noisy sounds, small black dots appeared in the sky, and then clusters of white "flowers" blossomed.

The Ministry of Defense and the military observers showed great interest in this, even conducting on-the-spot discussions about the airborne technology.

Someone even mentioned the assassination plan against Beigaao previously, where their special operations team traversed half of Mariluo to reach Mariluo Capital.

If there had been airborne capabilities at that time, they could have transported these soldiers to the wilderness or forests near Mariluo Capital for a drop, not only more secretive but also quicker.

The discussion about how to use paratroopers was very intense, and when those paratroopers returned by ship, people from the Ministry of Defense and the military had more parachuting discussions.

Later, the Ministry of Defense signed a second supplementary agreement with Lynch and an additional order.

They would purchase twenty transport aircraft of the current model and related equipment in one batch. Lynch’s quotation was high, but the Ministry of Defense didn’t mind.

In addition, Darkstone Airlines will assist the Ministry of Defense and the military in forming the Federation First Airborne Brigade.

With a training equipment fee of twenty thousand per person plus miscellaneous charges, it’s quite a substantial income!

"I heard you’ve recently extracted quite a lot of money from the Ministry of Defense!"

On Monday morning, Lynch received a call from Mr. Wardrick, and by evening, they were sitting together for dinner.

Their relationship is relatively close, with Severa’s unique connection as a bond, making them slightly closer than typical friends.

Darkstone Airlines getting several big orders is no longer a secret in the military industry, as the Congressmen’s understanding of confidentiality is quite limited.

Plus, military budget allocations must go through Congress, so it’s not surprising that someone is involved or knows about these matters.

"The president of Lanying was dismissed..."

Mr. Wardrick raised his wine glass, Lynch raised his glass from afar, and both took a sip.

Lanying Airlines is a new company jointly formed by several traditional military industry companies, established specifically to counter Darkstone Airlines.

From the beginning, they used some underhanded tactics to harm Lynch, but they didn’t achieve the results they wanted.

In the aviation field, which is entirely new, technical advancement is the key!

Congress and the Ministry of Defense may cooperate with big capitalists trying to procure those ordinary military products, but the military rarely compromises.

Simply put, whether it’s the Ministry of Defense or Congress, they don’t need to go to the frontline, so even if they buy outdated products, it’s okay for them. As long as they get what they want, that’s enough.

But for the military, once war breaks out, it’s them who will go to the battlefield. The military can’t joke around with their lives. If procured items are obviously outdated, the military won’t agree.

Therefore, on the issue of military procurement, it ultimately depends on the military’s attitude. When the military thinks Darkstone Airlines’ products are good, they give Lynch big orders.

Lanying Airlines’ products aren’t bad either, holding a leading position globally, but compared to Darkstone Airlines’ planes, they are evidently lagging.

Capital is never sentimental. Not getting big orders means the Lanying president made wrong decisions in many choices, so his removal is not surprising.

As a corporation, the board also needs to be accountable to the shareholders, and the president is the way to demonstrate accountability!

Lynch put down his wine glass and sneered, "They shouldn’t compete with me; they don’t realize how stupid this is!"

A bit arrogant, yet Mr. Wardrick nodded in agreement.

"They don’t want to believe in your extraordinary ability!" He referred to public opinion which argues that Lynch "can’t lose."

He paused and discussed the reason for inviting Lynch for dinner, "Our factory has produced new designs and prototypes, a more suitable self-propelled artillery for the front battlefield. As a shareholder, you need to come over and help."

Previously, Mr. Wardrick established a heavy industry company to produce self-propelled artillery, with Lynch providing the initial design.

After several local wars, the company’s designers burst with inspiration, combined with actual feedback from wars, designing a very special self-propelled artillery.

Considering Lynch’s extraordinary ability and his good relationship with the military, coupled with his status as a shareholder, Mr. Wardrick, with the mindset of using what’s available, invited him over.