Chapter 827: Chapter 697: Combat Proficiency

Sheriff understood and didn’t want to endorse such trivial matters anymore, "You tell me what to do."

Qu Jianlei responded in a deep voice, "You hand over the people colluding with the Norton Family, and of course, there won’t be a future issue."

"That’s impossible," Sheriff was used to denying the other party’s suggestions, and once again, he refused without hesitation.

Of course, he also knew how to adapt, "We will handle it internally, but that has nothing to do with you, sir."

Indeed, it would be handled internally, as the Customs Enforcement Division had suffered such a huge loss, there needs to be an account internally as well.

Qu Jianlei’s purpose was not that, "Then if others say my video is fake... what would you think?"

This question was a bit odd, Sheriff was taken aback — would anyone really find this fault?

But he quickly understood: indeed, someone might nitpick, but more likely, you really did fake it!

If it were simply a disabled military ship, the possibility of forgery is small, but you said yesterday... you repaired it!

However, for this kind of thing, he knew too well how to handle it.

So he calmly stated, "True or false... that’s for the technical personnel to analyze, it has nothing to do with me."

Hearing this, Qu Jianlei’s face dropped, "It has nothing to do with you, so you’re not going to take responsibility, right?"

"Responsible?" Sheriff frowned slightly, "What does the authenticity of your video have to do with me?"

"Then I’ll just edit a video and send it over, wouldn’t that be enough?" Qu Jianlei spoke with a dark expression, "Why actually destroy it?"

"Well..." Sheriff thought that the other party certainly made sense, but why did it always feel like something was off?

After thinking for a bit, he said, "Destruction is necessary, there’s no room for negotiation."

Upon hearing these words, Qu Jianlei’s expression was not very good, "We will keep our promise to destroy it, but what if you don’t recognize it?"

"Old Hong, Old Hong," Gottle beckoned to him, "come out, let’s talk about something."

The two walked out of the room before Gottle said, "Sheriff has already made quite a few concessions."

"I know," although Qu Jianlei was stubborn, he wasn’t closed to advice, "I just want to prevent any additional complications from the other side."

Gottle rolled his eyes at him and spoke in a low voice, "Actually, you can’t bear to destroy it, right?"

Everyone was sensible, who wouldn’t see through this little matter? Qu Jianlei smiled silently.

"That’s it," Gottle raised an eyebrow, "You can’t expect him to openly agree to your forgery, can you?"

He raised a hand to pat the other on the shoulder, "I’ll vouch for you... by the way, you won’t make it too fake, will you?"

Qu Jianlei shook his head, "Not to that extent, we have a powerful computing unit group."

"Isn’t that settled then?" Gottle laughed, "I heard you even bought computing units at Lanyun."

Wanmi Mining hired security, they would certainly conduct a thorough investigation of the other party.

They didn’t find out Qu Jianlei’s background, but they found out about almost everything else.

Otherwise, even if Gottle was Supreme, he might not have known about something as obscure as computing units.

After the two finished communicating, they returned to the room.

Gottle solemnly stated, "It’s been agreed, Mr. Rhodiola rosea and I will accompany the entire process of Starship dismantling."

Sheriff shook his head, "Just you accompanying isn’t enough, I need to witness it myself to prevent any trickery."

"That’s enough," Qu Jianlei spoke with a dark face, "We won’t agree to you spying on our privacy."

After another round of bickering, Sheriff finally "reluctantly" agreed to the condition, also requiring Wanmi to share responsibility.

As for the seriousness and binding nature, one could tell just by glancing at the occasionally rolling eyes of the military A-level present.

Even the military personnel understood; everyone was just going through the motions, ensuring no future military vessels appear in Customs Enforcement Division’s livery.

In any case, the Customs Enforcement Division found a reason, the other side got their benefits, and grievances were dissolved, that’s just how it was.

As the mediator, Wanmi had to bear some responsibility, but compared to brokering a deal between two major forces, that risk was negligible.

That evening, Wanmi Mine unexpectedly hosted a banquet to entertain all three parties, celebrating the peace agreement.

Qu Jianlei usually disliked participating in such events, but this time he really couldn’t avoid it.

However, he came alone, which even puzzled the military A-level.

"Supreme Sir, you came alone, I feel a bit unqualified to toast you."

Honestly, he was truly curious, could a dignified Supreme really not have even a single assistant?

Qu Jianlei still replied expressionlessly, "We operate on an elite model, we don’t have many people."

Li Ang worried that Customs Enforcement might think Rhodiola rosea was still preparing for battle, which would sour the atmosphere again, so he spoke proactively.

"It truly is an elite model, I’ve personally witnessed their battles, the coordination is quite exquisite."

Gottle also nodded, "I can vouch for that, we even wanted to hire them to train our guards, but unfortunately, terms couldn’t be reached."

"Oh?" Hearing this, the military A-level showed interest.

If it was only Li Ang who said so, he wouldn’t mind, but could an A-level eye for warship tactics really surpass that of professional soldiers?

But the endorsement from the Supreme, that was different, "Is there a video? Show it to us?"

"No need to take it out," Sheriff unexpectedly spoke up, "Their combat level is indeed very high."

On the attack ship that retreated, there was combat footage, and the Customs Enforcement Division had specifically organized people to analyze it.

Although the footage wasn’t particularly comprehensive, it was enough for them to analyze quite a bit.

Six against two, and they were completely routed, nearly wiped out, the Customs Enforcement thought at first that their side was just too amateur.

Even though the crew involved in the battle all stated, it wasn’t that we were weak, it was that the opponent was too strong, others still thought it was an excuse.

But after analyzing the footage, everyone had to admit, the opponent was indeed too strong, the coordination was unusually exquisite.

Not to mention these temporary hired hands, even if the official Customs Enforcement members participated, they likely wouldn’t beat the opponent.

The military’s A-level was taken aback for a moment, then nodded, true, six against two couldn’t win, "Give me a copy of the footage, I need to take it with me."

Qu Jianlei coughed twice, "Cough cough, better not? It might leak our privacy."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sheriff immediately stated, "No problem, if Wanmi doesn’t give it, our Customs Enforcement Division has it too."

The military A-level looked at him in astonishment, "I thought you would hide it, after all, it’s quite embarrassing."

"What’s embarrassing about it?" Sheriff replied blandly, "Losing to a formidable opponent isn’t shameful, losing to the weak is."

Qu Jianlei rolled his eyes at him, "Hearing a compliment from you is rare indeed."

Sheriff was unfazed and replied, "A true strong person acknowledges the gap, the weak find excuses."

Qu Jianlei was momentarily stunned, then nodded, raising his wine glass.

"After such a long conversation, hearing one agreeable sentence is rare, cheers."

He was willing to put grievances aside, and Sheriff was too; business had almost been concluded, no need for personal grudges.

Thus, he also raised his glass, smiling wryly, "Setting aside positions, I actually admire your side’s actions."

Qu Jianlei, hearing this, was stunned again, then drank it down in one go, "Admire us for what, powerful strength, or... being unreasonable?"

Sheriff sighed, "You could have retaliated against the Norton Family, yet you chose to fulfill the agreement first, how is that unreasonable?"

With this change in attitude, the upcoming banquet was also a joyful occasion for both host and guest.

The next day, the two warships were prepared to depart.

Before leaving, the military’s A-level specifically asked Qu Jianlei, "Do you still have warships nearby?"

Qu Jianlei smiled, "You guess?"

"Must be warships, right?" The military’s A-level asked confidently, then shook his head, "Forget it, I won’t ask about their origins."

Qu Jianlei casually replied, "The origin definitely has nothing to do with the military, we always have been ’if people do not attack us, we do not attack them’."

Anyway, these two warships came with great momentum but left quite amicably.

Two months later, it was once again Qu Jianlei’s vacation time.

He returned to the Abandoned Mine Star Body, fully applying the template of the Customs Enforcement warship, and the video was complete.

This wasn’t rough work; during these two months, Little Lake had been perfecting the video, only the last template needed to be loaded.

Qu Jianlei looked at it, feeling it looked quite realistic, at least with his Golden Core eyesight, he couldn’t see anything wrong.

Then he headed to Lanyun Market, where Gottle was already waiting for him.

Gottle was aboard the same heavy cargo starship, accompanied by two starships, heading straight for Blue Elf Star.

Upon arrival, Qu Jianlei’s 8384 didn’t land; he waited at a distance of three hundred thousand kilometers.

A day later, Gottle sent a message, "Alright, it’s been cleared by the Customs Enforcement Division, you can land now."

Where would Qu Jianlei be willing to land? Landing would mean he’s alone, which would be hard to explain.

"We still have something on our side, need to leave first."

"That’s a pity," Gottle expressed with some regret, "Sheriff was saying, once you land, to have drinks together in the evening."

The friendship between men can be both complicated and simple.

Qu Jianlei replied with a smile, "Let’s skip it this time, next time I’ll invite him for a drink at the Elf House."

Gottle didn’t insist, understanding the busyness of their Supreme status, "Next time I might not be here."

In a blink, another three months passed, and Qu Jianlei arrived as promised, piloting the 8384 to land on Blue Elf Star.

No one gave him any trouble; when paying the fee, he even noticed a hint of awe in the other’s eyes.

Is this the infamous reputation? Qu Jianlei was momentarily surprised, but didn’t pay much attention—better to be feared than bullied.

Exiting the Star Port, he sent a message to Sheriff’s wristwatch. Half an hour later, a message returned.