Less than half an hour later, a lawyer arrived with a check.

After signing a loan agreement, Wood received the 350,000 from Lynch, not a penny more, not a penny less.

This amount was enough for him to open his own fitness center in Bupen, and he knew he needed to set an example, to create a trend.

The first ones to do it are always the ones who make money; this was the experience he accumulated over the years in the "business sea." The violence is always at the start, and later... it gradually fades.

It’s just like a second-hand goods auction; the most profitable time is always in the beginning, and later almost nothing is earned.

Lynch’s little trick this time wasn’t hard to guess, which is why Wood was willing to get involved. He saw through the entire scheme.

What Lynch wanted to do was basically to have people continuously give him 350,000 to franchise his store, and then earn management fees!

Ten stores mean 3.5 million, a hundred stores mean 35 million!

How much is You’Er Mei’s total market value?

Perhaps 350,000 is a lot for one person, but this is Bupen, where what is least lacking is rich people.

If one person can’t make it, then two people, three people, or even five.

For these wealthy individuals, taking out tens of thousands of dollars is not at all difficult, and it doesn’t even count as an important decision that requires much thought!

Moreover, he believed that this thing had a market; rich people would gradually shift their attention from enjoyment to health preservation.

Everyone hopes to be very healthy, and the gym meets these people’s needs. It might not help people get rid of diseases, but at least it can make people as healthy as possible when they’re not sick.

That’s enough; those who start pursuing a healthy lifestyle won’t mind spending this money.

As for those who are stingy with this money, perhaps their life perspective hasn’t reached this stage yet.

Wood didn’t realize that all these thoughts came from what the trainers said during his training sessions; he noted them down and then turned them into his own ideas.

Soon, Wood expressed his intention to franchise with You’Er Mei. As the first franchise store of You’Er Mei, it was naturally given special attention.

Besides getting a good storefront with Lynch’s influence, Wood didn’t need to worry about anything else.

Everything was provided by You’Er Mei, including various fitness equipment, renovations, promotions, and even several top coaches were assigned.

Everything proceeded in an orderly manner, and Wood brought over his wife and children as well. A brand-new life seemed to beckon him.

On a warm afternoon like this, a shipment of top-secret materials was delivered to the frontline airport. Under the escort and protection of some secondary field agents from Darkstone Security Company, these items were loaded into a Mirage-II bomber parked at the airport, and the pilots were ready to take off at any moment.

Actually, besides the two prototypes used for testing data, all other Mirage-IIs were here, and the research institute had no plans to produce a new batch of II bombers.

Because the prototype of the III model had been developed, and the design for the IV model was already more than halfway completed.

Sometimes, one has to admire the development and speed of technology. Two years ago, people probably wouldn’t have believed that airplanes could bring effective changes to warfare; they only believed in giant ships and cannons.

Just like now, the II model has just come out not long ago, and the design for the IV model is almost done, and the III model might become the "nonexistent plane" in history on some decryption program many years later.

Because those exploring military history definitely won’t find any III bombers, but it has complete and sufficient blueprints, with each piece of data carefully calculated.

After all the cluster bombs were loaded, the field agents of Darkstone Security didn’t leave the airport before these planes took off and dropped all their bombs and returned.

They would also check the returning aircraft to ensure that no one had managed to stash a cluster bomb.

At around four in the afternoon, Ryan, with bandages wrapped around his head, arms, and legs, crawled slowly on the ground.

He was almost numb to the pain now!

God knows how he endured it; the wounds seemed nonexistent to him, and he couldn’t feel any pain.

He crawled slowly, needing to traverse to the other side behind a bombed-out wall, where there were some counterattackers.

The intensity of the firefight grew increasingly unsettling. From the start, these people might have been hiding and firing sporadically, to now concentrating their fire to block the street. Maybe as the Federation’s advance moved closer to the city center, they felt uneasy.

Or perhaps they realized they couldn’t resist the Federation forces, so they changed their strategy.

But no matter what, the war continued.

His lips almost touched the ground. A few days ago, a bullet that came from behind wounded his shoulder, and he furiously raised his gun and turned around, thinking a comrade had overlooked an enemy attacking from behind.

He even entertained a faint suspicion that someone had betrayed the company and was hitting their own with friendly fire.

But when he turned around, he saw nothing. He was hit by a ricochet.

What damned luck, and it also made him realize that harm doesn’t only come from directly ahead, but from anywhere, any direction!

For example, tanks.

He witnessed an enemy shoot at a tank, causing a spark on the turret, and then a companion at some distance from the tank had his head blown off by a stray bullet.

But he didn’t feel afraid, he just tried to protect himself, he was already used to death and injury.

In the past, this was unimaginable!

He finally moved to the other side, placing two éclairage flares from his supply pack on the ground, the sniper looked at him inexplicably.

"You crawled over from there just to give me two éclairage flares?"

The éclairage flares bought by Darkstone Security were all repainted on the shell, grenades, fragmentation bombs, smoke bombs, éclairage flares, and specialty shells, all brushed with easily identifiable appearances.

This was so that soldiers wouldn’t mistakenly grab the wrong throwable in the rush of battle. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Ryan licked his chapped lips, "Special ones, you know, they glow green, it’s said there’s a special operation tonight, at nine o’clock."

"If you don’t light this thing at nine, it’s very possible I won’t see you tomorrow."

The sniper was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted, "Bombing?"

Ryan smiled weakly, "That’s what I think too."

The last bombing, one plane was shot down, and half of the planes from Kemoko Industries fell, making everyone realize that bombing isn’t without risks and costs.

Now the directive is to light the éclairage flares at nine o’clock tonight, and everyone understood immediately.

Éclairage flares not only differentiate them from the enemy but also guide the bombers.

The sniper got slightly excited, "This is great, with night bombing they can’t see those planes, and it’s impossible to harm the planes!"

Ryan nodded, patting his supply pack, "I’ve delivered the message, I have a few more places to run..."

Saying that, he cursed under his breath, donned his helmet again, and crawled back, he needed to inform the nearby snipers and warriors.

No choice, the death toll among field employees was still within acceptable limits, but the injured were too many, even Ryan, who had returned to the rear for recovery, was sent up again.

After days of data collection, everyone basically has a feeling that indeed, armored vehicle coordination is very helpful for the offensive!

With the addition of armored vehicles, cleaning buildings and breaking lines have been solved very effectively.

But the vehicles themselves have many issues, for instance, their tires are a weak point, almost all vehicles’ weak points have been discovered, the enemy mainly attacks the tires, even setting up suicide squads with explosives to blow up the wheels of the vehicles.

Aside from a few vehicles, most have come to a stop, waiting for replacements from the rear.

Additionally, when climbing over obstacles, vehicles have unstable centers of gravity, with two vehicles overturning in the process.

There are many such minor issues, but no amount of problems can overshadow their immense value on the battlefield.

Rumors say the manufacturers of these vehicles have already received feedback and are hastening to design second or even third-generation vehicles.

This battlefield... is becoming increasingly incomprehensible.

As Ryan slowly moved, he thought about this.

When he was studying at the military academy, who ever heard of these things?

Back then, the most advanced were various howitzers and cannons, apart from those, there were hardly any new equipment.

But look at now, with planes, vehicles, and all sorts of gadgets, he sincerely marveled at the rapid development of military technology.

In his heart, an unbidden sense of crisis arose.

The Federation Army is still immersed in trench warfare and massed frontal attacks, they’ve fallen behind the entire era.

He knew that the people in the Ministry of Defense were always watching this war, but what good is watching?

The Federation Army watched the entirety of World War I, does that mean the Federation Army possessed world-class military capabilities?

Weren’t they awakened by a splash of cold water from the Mariluo people?

Observing isn’t the same as doing, and who knows when those old bureaucrats will grasp this truth.

All afternoon, Ryan busied himself running around delivering éclairage flares, and after finishing this task, he didn’t return to the rear but stayed at the frontline.

He wanted to see what exactly would happen at nine o’clock tonight.

He also wanted to see, what the difference was between night and daytime bombing, if there were any signs.

After all, if we can bomb them at night, they can bomb us at night too!

At eight fifty-nine in the evening, the distant sky had already begun humming, and green éclairage flares shot into the sky.

Ryan hid in the shadows, looking up with all his might at the sky, only to see some blurry shadows...