The Wolf of Los Angeles.

Charlotte, North Carolina.

Jeffrey Gordon arrived at Hendrick Racing's headquarters, sat down in front of the office, and immediately noticed the important documents his assistant had prepared.

This was issued by the board of directors, instructing him to recover the investment losses of the "War Horse" project as soon as possible.

A few years ago, Jeffrey led a project to work with the Pentagon to develop a quiet, all-terrain individual soldier transport vehicle that would be adaptable to the environment for the U.S. military in the desert, mountainous, and Gobi battlefields of the Middle East.

Everything was going very smoothly until the election and the inauguration of Tom Emer, the new president, in the White House, and many things changed.

Even the Pentagon was affected.

General Walker, who previously held a relatively minor position, was given a more important role and put in charge of procuring army equipment.

The real military-industrial complex was not greatly affected, after all, General Walker could not afford to offend those behind-the-scenes bigwigs.

However, projects from smaller companies inevitably faced renewed scrutiny, with some being cancelled by the Pentagon.

This includes Hendrick Racing's all-terrain individual transport vehicle project.

The replacement for this project is West Coast Environmental Technology, a Los Angeles-based company known for its government outsourcing, drone projects, and satellite communication technology.

Jeffrey had seen firsthand the other party's new all-terrain transport vehicle, a high-powered electric tricycle.

While it may not be as easy to pass as its own company's products, it surpasses them in terms of transportation capacity and convenience.

The meticulously prepared all-terrain transport vehicle project was scrapped, and Hendrick Racing's initial investment went down the drain. Although several key patents were registered for the vehicle, it was basically useless in the civilian market except for making money from the Pentagon.

American soldiers can push things around to get things done, but Americans would never do that.

We can't sell it to homeless people unless it's free...

There's no market for the patents I applied for, and the research and development materials are just gathering dust in the warehouse.

Jeffrey was worrying when his assistant Curtis came in.

She understood the pressure her boss was under recently and said, "Boss, the staff reported that a South American company expressed interest in our trolley project when we attended the state trade show last week and left their contact information. The marketing department has contacted them twice to discuss the patent and project transfer."

"How much money are they planning to put in?" This was Jeffrey's biggest concern, as the board of directors demanded that the initial investment be recovered as much as possible.

Curtis thought for a moment and said, "Three hundred thousand dollars."

Jeffrey's initial enthusiasm instantly cooled: "Are they trying to get rid of a beggar?"

Curtis said, "The company is from Costa Rica, and they reportedly bought the project only for agricultural production in Costa Rica."

Jeffrey knew a little about the area; it was a very poor Latin American country.

While handcarts may not be of much use in the United States, they remain an important means of transportation in agricultural production in developing countries and regions.

Jeffrey was somewhat resentful. Was the advanced individual transport equipment developed for the US military in the Middle East being sent to Costa Rica to be used for agricultural transport? Perhaps it would even be used to transport cow and horse manure.

The problem is, this kind of thing can only be used to swindle money from the federal government and sell at high prices; it's impossible to sell it anywhere else.

Curtis asked cautiously, "Or should we refuse to negotiate with the Costa Ricans?"

"We can't possibly give up on our only client," Jeffrey said, raising his hand to stop them. "Continue negotiating with them. It's impossible for the price to be three hundred thousand dollars."

Curtis said, "I understand."

It's simply a matter of price.

Jeffrey gave instructions that, regardless of the circumstances, it would be better to recover some funds that the headquarters was just sitting in the warehouse collecting dust.

This was never the company's main business.

Hendrick Racing's team negotiated with an agricultural machinery company from Costa Rica, and the two sides finalized the deal in less than a week.

The latter bought the entire trolley project from Hendrick Racing for a total price of $75.

This includes several patents, three completed prototype vehicles, and a series of research and development and detailed production data.

The company was willing to raise its price because it offered a series of conditions, including that the deal would not come with any additional terms.

In other words, all the technologies and patents that the Costa Rican company bought can be freely licensed and sold to anyone.

The week the deal was completed, all the patents and documents, along with three prototype vehicles, were shipped to Los Angeles by the Costa Rican company.

Subsequently, the company signed a new transfer agreement with West Coast Technologies.

After the prototype arrived, Henderson immediately led a team to the warehouse to take a look at it in person, took photos, and sent them to Hawke.

He specifically instructed the accompanying technicians: "Modify the prototype as soon as possible, and most importantly, change it to our West Coast label."

The technicians had previously obtained the relevant parameters of these vehicles, and said, "We have combined Hurricane Company's extensive experience in guerrilla warfare and raids to complete the modification design, and the appearance will be changed to some extent."

Henderson added, "General Walker will be in Los Angeles next week to meet with the big boss, and this must be done before then."

The technicians agreed and immediately had the vehicle sent to the processing plant for modification by workers.

The power supply system remained unchanged; the modifications were mainly in the appearance and related components to adapt to the multifaceted requirements of the battlefield.

…………

The Pentagon concluded its counterterrorism military operation in northern Iraq, clearing out several armed groups, including Shamddu, and successfully bringing justice to those who died in the London attacks.

Given the outstanding performance of several new Army equipment, General Walker, in high spirits, recently accepted an invitation from West Coast Environmental Technology Company to come to the training ground in Los Angeles to personally observe the field testing of the new generation of all-terrain transport vehicles.

Hawke had been actively promoting General Walker, and within two years, he brought him into the U.S. military via a three-wheeled vehicle, establishing a relatively solid cooperative relationship based on shared interests.

When General Walker came this time, he was personally received.

The two arrived together at the West Coast Company's testing grounds.

Henderson led the way, arriving near a specially designed rugged mountain area and simulated river.

Hawke told General Walker, “The latest manual-electric-assisted version of the vehicle is an effective complement to the electric individual all-terrain transport vehicle, enabling soldiers to traverse narrower areas and reach their target locations.”

A man in U.S. Army uniform emerged from behind a hill, pushing a handcart with two-way handles and a desert camouflage pattern.

He controlled the vehicle, smoothly pushing it along the narrow path that could barely accommodate one person.

The vehicle was loaded with sealed cargo such as ammunition boxes and supplies.

General Walker looked at the car and felt it looked familiar; it resembled a project that the Pentagon had phased out after he took office.

However, the vehicle's appearance was somewhat different from the one that had been phased out; it seemed to be more rationally designed and had better off-road capability. The man in military uniform suddenly pushed the vehicle down a nearly 45-degree slope without losing control.

Both Hawke and General Walker heard the sound of the motor running.

At the bottom of the slope is a river, deep enough to reach above an adult's thigh, with an uneven riverbank.

The man in military uniform pushed his cart down into the river and crossed it by himself without much effort.

The handcart's electrical system was completely unaffected; it continued to operate normally after being brought ashore, even running at high power on the rugged, winding path.

The men in military uniforms moved back and forth along the winding road, crossing not only slopes and rivers, but also extremely bumpy sections of road and areas of rubble and debris resembling battlefield bombing.

These things not only did not stop the handcart from moving, but the man in military uniform also seemed very relaxed.

Hawke was well aware that this was essentially an electric two-wheeled cart, which West Coast Technologies had modified in terms of balance and appearance after acquiring the project and utilizing Hurricane Corporation's extensive practical experience.

The handcart then approached and stopped near General Walker.

General Walker pointed and said, "Let's go take a look."

Hawke and Henderson accompanied him, followed by several officers.

General Walker looked at the man in uniform and asked, "Are you tired after walking for so long?"

The man in military uniform saluted General Walker: "Reporting, General, not tired!"

"Which unit did you serve in?" General Walker could tell at a glance that this man had been a soldier for a long time.

The man replied, "Lieutenant Contelin, 75th Ranger Regiment, retired from the Middle East due to injury."

Upon hearing this, General Walker smiled, a hint of warmth in his expression, and patted Contlin on the shoulder: "Lieutenant, at ease."

General Walker came from the Army Special Operations Command at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Hawke glanced quickly at Henderson.

West Coast Technology made thorough preparations to secure the order.

Even General Walker's former military personnel and favorite soldiers were approached.

“Thank you for providing these distinguished American veterans with such excellent job opportunities,” General Walker said to Hawke with a smile. “They are all heroes of America.”

Hawke's words were quite grand: "Yes, soldiers like Contelin are all heroes of America, so I entrusted them with the very important security work of my company."

General Walker nodded, said a few more words to Contlin, and then turned to his men: "Give this car a try."

A lieutenant colonel came up from behind and took the initiative to push the electric handcart.

General Walker's officers had long been fed by West Coast technology and Henderson and others.

Moreover, this single-soldier transport vehicle is an excellent product in the category of handcarts.

Of course, no matter how excellent it is, it's still just a handcart.

The competition between Hendrick Racing and West Coast Tech's three-wheeled vehicles was initially a completely asymmetrical one.

But the current performance is based on the fact that the U.S. Army needs a transport vehicle that can navigate the narrowest terrain.

They were transporting not only supplies, but also wounded people.

Several officers took turns trying out the handcart and praised its performance.

Hawke specifically stated, "The vehicle is equipped with a satellite positioning system, which can send rescue notifications in a timely manner. If we encounter difficulties, we can promptly call for support from our superiors."

General Walker nodded repeatedly: "The performance is indeed outstanding."

Henderson added, "We also customized different loading devices for the vehicles according to different missions, such as universal chassis for transporting ammunition boxes and supplies, fully enclosed compartments for transporting dangerous goods, and stretcher clips for facilitating the transport of the wounded, etc."

The officer behind him was very cooperative and asked, "What are the specific parameters?"

Hawke didn't know any of this.

Henderson automatically chimed in: "This vehicle can carry a load of about 250 kilograms and has a range of 35 to 55 kilometers, depending on the terrain and the load. It can effectively reduce the burden on infantry squads."

Contelin knew it was his turn to step in and said, “I have been involved in the entire process, from the first appearance of the prototype to the months of field testing. This prototype has undergone two and a half months of testing. In my personal experience, an infantry squad carrying the same amount of ammunition in the mountains can shorten their marching time by 55%, reduce consumption by nearly 60%, and increase their load by five times when using this vehicle.”

He emphasized, "Especially in complex terrains such as mountains, cities, or underground environments, it produces almost no noise, operates quietly, and is not easily detected."

The lieutenant colonel said, "West Coast Technology's products are trustworthy. In this counter-terrorism military operation in northern Iraq, all-terrain individual transport vehicles played a vital role in logistical and battlefield resupply during the ground troop advance, although they also revealed limitations in navigating narrow alleyways and winding paths..."

He patted the electric trolley: "These will be the most effective supplement."

Another colonel said, "Our individual transport vehicles are provided by the same company, which also facilitates logistical maintenance."

Hawke remembered these words. The handcart would definitely be manufactured overseas, and small parts such as screws and washers should ideally be compatible with the three-wheeled vehicle.

After all, a bag of screws costs tens of thousands of dollars, so you have to be a little particular about it.

General Walker might carefully consider other companies promoting this type of product, but he would give priority to West Coast tech companies with which he has worked closely.

General Walker asked directly, "Approximately what is the purchase price per unit?"

Henderson, used to such a direct questioning style, immediately replied, "$14.5, including all accessories and repair parts."

For the military, this is definitely a very reasonable price.

The officers under General Walker all exchanged knowing smiles.

A new member wanted to speak, but held back.

He knew very well that if he didn't fit in, he wouldn't be able to get promoted, and he wouldn't even be able to keep his current position.

He had no choice but to accept this offer, and the personal benefits it could bring.

General Walker was quite pleased and then followed Henderson to the Beverly Business Club, where West Coast Technology had prepared a grand reception party.

When Hawke returned to the Coast Building, he called Henderson.

Like three-wheeled vehicles, such military equipment will not be included in the Pentagon's sales ban list.

Hawke said to Henderson, "We could try marketing this new generation of high-tech handcarts to the Indians." (End of Chapter)