"Born from the dying bed, the clown is me.
When Meng Hao was enlightened about the price of the F-35, he instantly understood why the mysterious Taobao buyer had so readily agreed to his ten-million-USD mechs.
Damn it.
A single F-35 cost eighty million USD.
Ten of them, eight hundred million.
If he were to purchase F-35 fighter jets through conventional channels and outfit his mechs with them, he would be at a massive loss!
However, to be fair.
It was no wonder the United States was so keen on instigating global conflicts.
This arms deal business was far more profitable than dealing white powder.
Just as Meng Hao was fretting, the respondent updated their reply.
'The big boss posted a paid help request, and it comes with a million-dollar bounty. It seems he's not short on cash...'
'Uh, based on my deduction, the big boss is a mech figure enthusiast, right? You want to equip your over ten-meter mech with an F-35 to achieve realism...'
'I heard that in the US, there's an arms dealer named Jarvis who has quite a few F-35 models... Although they are models, they are genuine F-35 airframes... It's just that due to unqualified composite metal, all engines, navigation, and fire control components have been removed and are being sold off!'
Oh?
There was such a thing?
However, it was also logical.
The development of any high-tech product involved a large amount of trial and error.
With the US being a large and wealthy nation, there were bound to be defective products.
Meng Hao pondered for a few minutes and replied again.
'Continue!'
While the forum user continued to reply, Meng Hao clicked on the system mall interface.
Undoubtedly, this arms dealer named Jarvis must have connections with high-level US officials, offloading some insignificant discarded F-35 airframes to make some extra cash.
Of course, there was no doubt about it.
These shells were definitely defective products used for testing during the F-35's development or improvement. Almost all internal components had been stripped.
That's why they dared to sell them at a low price.
After all, those Americans probably believed that, apart from themselves, no other country could master the core technology of the F-35 fighter jet.
Hmm.
They probably wouldn't have guessed in their wildest dreams.
That in this world, there existed a heaven-defying individual like Meng Hao, who possessed a system.
As long as he found suitable technology in the system mall, developed and manufactured it at the desert base, and then installed it into the low-priced F-35 airframes, a perfectly functional mech long-range assault flight vehicle would be complete!
In any case, he had promised the mysterious buyer on the Taobao platform that the F-35 would serve as a long-range assault flight vehicle for the mech. As long as the appearance was identical, the core technology inside the fighter jet was whatever Meng Hao wanted it to be.
Not to mention.
He actually found similar technology in the system mall.
Twin-engine hydrogen energy multi-stage compression turbine... Maximum thrust 8000 kN; Thrust-to-weight ratio: 2.37; Maximum flight speed Mach 3.9; Practical ceiling 25,000 meters; Maximum takeoff weight 62 tons... Exchange price, 17,000 tech points.
Damn it.
Although the technological content of this twin-engine hydrogen energy multi-stage compression turbine crushed Earth's technological civilization.
Compared to other black technologies in the system mall, it was weak. At least, in theory, humans could develop and manufacture aircraft engines within 20 years.
And its exchange price was 17,000 tech points.
This price was almost equivalent to the warp engine of a planetary fighter, which could have shaken the world's scientific and technological community.
However, only this twin-engine hydrogen energy multi-stage compression turbine could meet the requirement of carrying a 37-ton mech, fit into the size of an F-35 airframe, and at the same time, if the fighter jet's parameters were leaked, it would only cause the world's countries to marvel, rather than suspect Meng Hao of being an extraterrestrial or possessing a black technology system due to the engine being too advanced.
Damn it.
Meng Hao strongly suspected.
That the system was deliberately inflating the price.
Its intention was to drain his hard-earned tech points.
Soon, Meng Hao's suspicion was confirmed.
He continued to browse the system for other components that matched the F-35 airframe.
Unmanned flight core control component, 5000 tech points... Earth magnetic positioning avionics core system, 3000 tech points... Aviation fuel converter, 3000 tech points...
After selecting all the matching technology blueprints.
Meng Hao calculated the total price.
Added up, it was almost thirty thousand tech points.
Damn it.
The system was definitely doing this on purpose.
How could there be such a coincidence in the world?
The配套 components for a single F-35 just happened to completely empty Meng Hao's wallet.
This was commercial piracy... This was undisguised big data exploitation... This was an inhumane pay-to-win strategy!
After a burst of impotent rage.
Meng Hao had no choice but to grit his teeth and exchange all these technology blueprints.
...
Looking at the user who had written a long reply, Meng Hao, in a bad mood, replied directly.
'So, where can I buy these scrapped F-35 airframes?'
Soon.
The user posted a link.
'These scrapped F-35 fighter jet shells are priced at one million USD per unit... But for a rich boss like you, it's probably a small amount... Just asking, how many are you planning to buy?'
Meng Hao clicked on it and confirmed it was genuine. He casually typed 'Buying ten' and directly selected that user's answer as the sole accepted one.
Immediately.
A message floated across Bilibili.
'Congratulations to user 'FlyingChikenHunter' for their answer being selected and receiving a reward of 999,999.99 Dahaxia Yuan!'
Instantly.
Silence.
'Holy crap, they really give the money.'
'If I had known, I would have answered properly too.'
'We chatted for a bit, rambled for over half an hour, and got a million-dollar bonus.'
'Damn, what a loss.'
'This is a real loss of one million.'
As the largest bounty reward in the history of Bilibili, and even the entire internet, was claimed, Meng Hao's post saw a surge in replies.
'Big boss, can we see the mech?'
'Big boss, are you really going to buy F-35 airframes worth a million USD each, which translates to seven million Chinese Yuan?'
'At this price, you could buy the main battle tanks of quite a few countries.'
'Main battle tanks? You could even buy regular third-generation fighter jets or old civilian airliners!'
'If you bought old civilian airliners, you could actually carry that 37-ton, over ten-meter-tall, 1:1 restored mech and fly it everywhere!'
'In the end, the waste is me!'
'How am I worthy of playing on the same website as you big bosses!'
'...'
Seeing the various interesting replies from Bilibili users under his post, Meng Hao's mood, which had been soured by the system's 'rip-off,' somewhat calmed down.
Meng Hao, who was amused by many funny and talented posts and had a smile on his face, thought for a moment, replied a few more sentences, and brought his post, which had caused a sensation on Bilibili, to a close.
'Alright, everyone.'
'You guys have fun.'
'I'm going to go chat with that arms dealer Jarvis and get those 10 scrapped F-35 airframes as soon as possible!'
Afterward.
Meng Hao's avatar went dark.
He went offline!"