"What brings you here?"
In the reception room, William Stryker greeted Thaddeus General Ross, the… Air Force Brigadier General.
According to US Military tradition, although they were both brigadier generals, General Ross's status was clearly higher than William Stryker's.
Therefore, even though William Stryker knew why this guy was here, he still had to go through the motions.
General Ross was here for nothing other than that… 'One-Time Enhanced Physique Serum,' wasn't he? "I refuse to believe you genuinely don't know why I'm here!"
General Ross glared at Stryker and said, annoyed.
General Ross considered his personal relationship with Stryker to be quite good; when Stryker was promoted at The Pentagon last time, General Ross was the first to congratulate him.
Naturally, General Ross didn't put on any airs in front of Stryker.
"If you don't say, how would I know?"
General Ross believed his personal relationship with Stryker was good, but Stryker didn't see it that way.
As a Marine, Stryker had experienced quite a bit of discriminatory treatment during his military career and naturally disliked Air Force guys.
However, General Ross, as a brigadier general, had congratulated him after all, so Stryker didn't completely show him a cold shoulder… "Damn it!"
"You're playing dumb with me!"
"I think you just… don't want to help!"
Seeing Stryker not respond, General Ross jumped up, fuming and staring.
"What do you mean?"
"You haven't even said what the matter is."
"How can I help?"
"Right?"
"Coffee, coffee."
"This is the best coffee bean I have, ground by the most skilled soldier. Have a taste."
"I never said I wouldn't help."
"Why are you in such a hurry?"
"Sit down, let's talk slowly."
"As long as I can help, why wouldn't I help you?"
Seeing General Ross getting agitated, William Stryker quickly tried to calm him down.
Truth be told, in Stryker's mind, General Ross was a very valuable asset.
Regardless of General Ross being a future big shot in the Air Force, just General Ross's family influence alone was worth Stryker trying to win over.
However, for Stryker to directly fawn over him, that was impossible! "Hmph!"
"I'll be direct."
"I'm here for… the company's 'Enhanced Serum'!"
The main business hadn't been discussed, so General Ross had no mind for coffee. He pushed the coffee aside, slammed the table, and declared his purpose to Stryker… "Is that all?"
"Why don't you just buy it yourself?"
"Their company's online store sells it."
"Bulk orders even get free shipping!"
"Why come to me?"
William Stryker rolled his eyes. What kind of nonsense was this? "Stop with the idle chatter."
"I heard…"
"You're an internal member of their company."
"You get a 50% discount on their products!"
"I'm not asking for too much."
"I'll give you sixty percent of the money."
"I'll just buy ten thousand doses!"
General Ross laid his cards on the table… "Pfft!"
"What?"
"What?"
"Ten thousand doses?"
"Sixty percent of the money?"
"You might as well just kill me!"
William Stryker was stunned by General Ross's shamelessness.
"Do you know how much one dose costs?"
"Do you know how much one costs?"
"That's one hundred thousand US dollars for just one!"
"And you 'only' want ten thousand of them?!"
William Stryker stared at General Ross with wide eyes, not expecting him to be so shameless! "Just tell me, are you going to help or not?"
"I know that with your internal membership, you only need to pay half the price."
Facing a dumbfounded William Stryker, General Ross didn't care, and even pressured him… "No!"
"That's… a benefit the company provides to its internal members."
"If I were to do such a thing, wouldn't that be… fleecing the company? Am I even human then?"
William Stryker righteously refused! "Get lost!"
"I know you too well!"
"Just tell me, how much do you want?"
General Ross scoffed at William Stryker's 'righteousness'.
A 'righteous' Stryker who would kill prisoners on the battlefield? A 'righteous' Stryker who would use Mutants for vivisection research? He didn't believe a single word of William Stryker's righteous speech… "Heh heh!"
"I am the embodiment of authority!"
"I am the incarnation of justice!"
"You want to buy the company's injections at sixty percent of the price?"
"Impossible!"
"Don't even think about it!!!"
"Unless…"
"You… pay more!"
William Stryker said with a 'righteous' expression… "I knew you son of a bitch would say that!"
General Ross, with an expression that said 'just as I expected', glared fiercely at William Stryker.
"Hold on!"
"Buying it from the company at half price, then reselling it to others instead of using it myself…"
"You should know, if the company finds out about this, it will reduce my credibility with them!"
"At that time, when I go to buy things from the company again, not only will there be no discount, but the price will also increase, and some items might even be restricted from being sold to me!"
"You expect me to bear such a cost for sixty percent of the price?"
"Go back to where you came from!"
William Stryker remained unmoved, his expression conveying that not even the King of Heaven himself could make him budge… "Give me a straight answer!"
"What price will you sell it for?!"
General Ross pulled out a cigar, lit it directly with a military windproof lighter, took a puff, and blew a series of smoke rings towards Stryker.
"Hmph!"
"Ninety-nine percent!"
Seeing the smoke rings float towards him, William Stryker frowned and immediately made an exorbitant demand… "Pfft!"
"Cough, cough, cough!"
"What did you say?!"
"Are you even trying to be shameless?!"
"At your price, why wouldn't I just buy it directly from the company?!"
General Ross was directly choked by William Stryker's shamelessness; the cigar in his hand was no longer… fragrant, and he threw it fiercely at William Stryker.
"Hmm…"
"Alright."
"It is a bit high."
Dodging the cigar General Ross threw, Stryker patted nonexistent ash from his clothes, speaking in a tone that sounded like it might indeed be a bit underhanded, but with not the slightest hint of concern on his face.
"Then, a little less. How about ninety-nine point nine five percent?"
William Stryker decided to shamelessly see it through to the end… "Damn it!"
"Seventy percent, no more!"
General Ross 'raged'.
"Ninety-nine point ninety-nine percent!"
"No less!"
William Stryker also had a 'furious' expression.
Bang! "Seventy-seven point one percent!"
General Ross slammed the table.
"Just ninety-nine point ninety-nine percent!"
William Stryker put his hands on his hips, 'I'm just… that arrogant…' In the end, after a period of mutual tug-of-war, General Ross and William Stryker settled on a transaction price of eighty-eight point five percent.
"Pleasure working with you!"
General Ross smiled broadly as he shook William Stryker's hand, as if the person who had just been red-faced and arguing wasn't him.
"Pleasure working with you!"
William Stryker, also smiling, shook General Ross's hand vigorously.
This was 198X! The purchasing power of the usd was far stronger than in later generations! How much could William Stryker earn from ten thousand 'Enhanced Serums'… This thirty-five percent profit, if converted to the year 202X, would be worth at least… ten billion usd! Similarly, General Ross declared the military expenditure at ten thousand usd per dose, then pocketed fifteen percent for himself. Converted to 202X, that would be worth fifty billion usd! As long as the deal was done, these two old foxes could be said to have stuffed themselves full!
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