From Aocheng, you can reach Regän, in the central part of the Federal State of Alsa, in 16 hours by train.

The CZ plant is the internal name of the Grumman Group, officially known as the GELLENBERG-Zelpock manufacturing company owned by the Grumman Group, and is located on the northern outskirts of Regan, just over 200 miles from Speyerstadt, the largest coal mining and metal smelting center in the Federation.

After arriving at the CZ plant, Major Brooks visited the production facilities of the factory with great interest, asking this and that along the way, as if he were a primary school student visiting a museum for the first time, but based on his identity, the factory managers who accompanied the visit did not dare to slack off, but also had to be cautious, and from time to time they had to look at the face of the fat vice president.

After a half-day visit, Major Brooks only asked, without any statement or question.

Later that day, the plant's archivists retrieved CZ908732's production, storage, and sales records. According to these yellowed archival materials, the Grumman M3.2B bolt-action rifle was manufactured in April 3910 by the Oren Star Gregorian calendar, and was shipped out of storage on May 5 of that year and shipped to the Second Quartermaster Department of the Federal Army.

Major Brooks took out his portable magnifying glass and carefully examined the archives. Weiss glanced at the fat vice president, and saw that he was calm, it seems that this matter does not involve the behind-the-scenes business of the Grumman Group - although the "Grumman Burning Stick" has such and such shortcomings, but its comprehensive performance is much better than that of the past single-shot rifle and pressure rifle, not only the regular army has demand, but also the non-governmental armed forces and even the civilian demand has always existed. Where there is demand, there will be a market, and this law applies everywhere.

After carefully reading these files, the major seemed to introduce the situation to Weiss: "The Second Quartermaster Department is responsible for the deployment of weapons and materials for the reserve troops, and compared with the regular troops, the equipment wear and loss rate of the reserve troops has always been criticized. ”

So, the Second Quartermaster Department is here to carry this pot? Or is it possible that the Grumman Group is colluding with the Second Quartermaster Department and beyond, to secretly export some of the arms that should have been supplied to the reserve forces?

Major Brooks was so calculating that Weiss couldn't figure out the answer from his tone and expression.

At this time, the fat vice president interjected: "Starting from the number of guns and bullets is indeed a way to investigate the source of weapons, but will there be such a possibility...... The enemy imitated our weapons and ammunition, made a batch of imitations, and used a fake number? ”

Major Brooks turned his head to look at him and muttered, "Logically speaking, there is indeed such a possibility. ”

Vice President Fat said: "It's not difficult to identify whether those weapons and ammunition are genuine or imitation. For example, rifles, we can determine the carbon content of the steel parts of the firearm parts, and the carbon content of the steel parts of different countries and even different suppliers is different; As for bullets, we can also determine the carbon content of warhead shells and the sulfur content of gunpowder. These technical measurements can be done in our research center. ”

Major Brooks nodded, "This is a very good suggestion, and we will seriously consider it." ”

At this point in the investigation, it seemed that there was no longer any need to stay at the CZ plant, but Major Brooks had no intention of leaving, and he offered to visit the various warehouses and affiliates of the Grumman Group in Reagan City.

The fat vice president rolled his eyes, and immediately agreed, and by the way, he announced to Major Brooks that a very important person would come to Reagan City today and set up a banquet to entertain them.

Major Brooks seemed to have been informed of the news, and he replied lightly: "It's Edwig, the eldest son of your Grumman president. Grumman! ”

"Exactly!" "As the CEO of Grumman Group, Edwig spends more than half of his time in Freetown, and recently went to the Kingdom of Wessex to negotiate trade, and stayed in the cold north for more than a month. This kind of hard work is not something that ordinary people are willing to bear. ”

The eldest son of the president of the Grumman Group, Edwig. Grumman, Weiss has never tasted it before, but I heard the fat vice president say, that is a high-looking, high-IQ, high-EQ character, outstanding temperament, smart and long-sleeved good dancing, since the age of 24 as the CEO of Grumman Group, overseeing the group's operational affairs, and is very familiar with the federal military and political high-level relations, and has many connections with high-level figures in the northern Wessex Kingdom and even the Norman Empire. He is deeply loved by BOSS and respected and recognized by the majority of directors, and is seen as the best choice to take over the Grumman Group in the future.

"Speaking of which, I've known Edwig for a long time." Major Brooks stood up and patted the hem of his shirt, "Ten years ago, when he first arrived in Liberty City, I was just a midshipman officer in the Department of Military Intelligence. We met for the first time at the old Grumman branch office on Fitley Street because of official business. Speaking of which, our birthdays are in the same month, but I'm three years older. ”

The fat vice president got up, and his smile became relaxed: "Fate is often so wonderful!" In that case, let's go around the places you mentioned, and then go to the hotel to meet Edwig. If nothing else, he'll be there in half an hour. ”

Major Brooks said solemnly: "Things belong to things, human favors belong to human feelings, don't mix the two, understand what I mean?" ”

"Yes, of course I do!" The fat vice president sneered and made a gesture of please.

Major Brooks walked out, and Weiss had no choice but to leave. From beginning to end, he didn't get a good look at the archival materials that the archivists had found. If the major emphasized in the investigation report that he accompanied him throughout the whole process, wouldn't he have become a backstabber?

The rest of the trip was somewhat unexpected by Weiss, the Grumman Group actually had 10 warehouses and 7 affiliated companies in Reagan City, even if they only stayed in each place for two minutes, including the time spent on the road, it took two hours.

These warehouses, some of which are located in railway freight yards, are stocked with considerable amounts of coal and timber, and some are fully equipped with piles of steel pipes and full boxes of spare parts – the CZ plant, the largest production base of the Grumman Group, is at the forefront of the modernization of assembly line operations, and even the Klumberg-Haisen gun mill, which has invested heavily in upgrading, can only be compared......

As for the many affiliated enterprises of the Grumman Group, some of them are just franchise cooperative relations like the Crumber-Haysen Gun Workshop, and the Grumman Group affects its operation by signing agreements and trade contracts; Some of them are affiliated enterprises in which Grumman Group invests capital and directly participates in the operation. Regardless of the form of the company, the seven companies in Reagan are closely related to the CZ site: some of them are responsible for the rough processing of the wood used in Grumman rifles, some have specialized in the production of rifle firing pins for decades, and some have produced high-quality springs. Although the production scale of the CZ plant is not completely limited to the output of these affiliated enterprises, through their overall production capacity, it can still be roughly inferred that the upper limit of the output of the CZ plant - Weiss's observation and calculation results are roughly consistent with the data revealed to him by Vice President Fat.

Did Major Brooks' insistence on coming to "visit" also be for that purpose?

As night fell, the tour was finally completed and the Major and his party arrived at the E-Grumman Hotel, located next to the Reagan train station.

Strictly speaking, E-Grumman Hotel is not an affiliate of the CZ site, as its direct investor is Edwig. Grumman, not the shareholders of the Grumman Group.

Weiss had heard from the fat vice president that in order to maintain the absolute right to speak, the shares held by President Grumman have not been distributed to his children, whether it is the eldest son Edwig, the second son Ruov or another son and two daughters, the source of living is the living expenses paid by the big boss and the salary obtained from working in the Grumman Group. As the CEO of this huge industrial group, Edwig has a high salary, and may receive a lot of rewards for some special trade matters, but he does not use these income for personal enjoyment, but all of it is used for investment, and the main direction of his investment is the real estate represented by the hotel chain, E-Grumman Hotel has become one of the most well-known hotel chain brands in the Free Federation, and Edwig's personal wealth has gradually accumulated to a shocking extent.

The greatest imperfection of such a perfect man is that he is still single and has no children. It is said that he has always been infatuated with a princess of the Kingdom of Wessex, and swore that he would not marry her, and it is unknown what the princess's intentions were, but the king of Wessex was resolutely opposed to marrying his daughter to a commoner who did not even have noble blood, even if he was rich and wealthy, even if he was behind a rich and rival military industrial group......

In the private dining room on the top floor of the E-Grumman Hotel, Weiss finally meets this figure who previously existed only in "legends". Like President Grumman, he is also a blonde, blue-eyed and white-skinned western face, with a pair of bright thick eyebrows that make him highly recognizable in the crowd, and his facial features are quite similar to the Elf King in The Lord of the Rings actor Lee Pace, but not as arrogant and cold as the "Elf King", he always has a relaxed and calm smile on his face.

Maybe it's because of his mentality, maybe it's because he's well-maintained, he's only 3 years younger than Major Brooks, but he looks like he's a dozen years younger.

Such a handsome young man with good looks and talents, if the princess of the Wessex Kingdom really doesn't like it, it can only be said that the class concept and secular vision kill people......

When the group entered the dining room, Edwig, who was sitting alone at the head of the table, got up calmly, waited for Major Brooks to come closer, he smiled and hugged him, and then said, "My dear Major Brooks, it's a pleasure to meet again!" And voila! The last time we met was two years and four months ago at the E-Grumman Nine Hotel in Liberty City, with General Punk and Colonel Gotteos present. Am I not mistaken? ”

Major Brooks had a rare smile on his face: "Your memory is more accurate than the official secretary's notebook, how could it be wrong?" General Punk is now the supreme officer of our military intelligence, and Colonel Goteos is already Brigadier General Goteos, but I am the only one who ...... Still just a minor major intelligence officer. ”

Edwig patted his right arm: "Don't worry, gold always shines." I'm going to meet with General Punk recently to discuss some new intelligence stations in the Kingdom of Wessex, and as far as I know, General Punk has always been very supportive of you. ”

Major Brooks did not answer, and as he sat down at the table, Weiss could clearly see the ruddy color of his face in the side of his face. Could it be that going around and around for so long is just for Edwig's words? Judging from this point alone, the "young owner" of the Grumman Group is really an extraordinary figure!