I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France

Chapter 615: This is a State Secret

The Minister of the Navy furrowed his brow slightly at the words, "Damn it, Shire, your shadow is in every invention."

However, he remained calm and asked, "You mean, the industrial property rights for the ’Echo Detector’ haven’t been applied for yet?"

"No, it has been applied for," Professor Fursden replied. "It’s just that it’s related to national security, so it hasn’t been made public."

The Minister of the Navy asked again, "Does Shire hold any rights?"

Professor Fursden was silent for a while before responding, "No, in order to minimize unnecessary trouble, the rights holder is solely me."

Shire is now an adult, and signing industrial property rights must be done personally by him.

But Shire spends most of his time commanding battles on the front lines and can’t leave the fight to rush back just to sign the rights.

"Then there’s no problem," the Minister of the Navy smiled again. "Legally, only the property rights documents are recognized. We can ignore some unnecessary factors."

This meant they could exclude Shire.

"No, General," Professor Fursden responded. "I can’t do that. As I said, Shire holds part of the rights. I know it, Shire knows it, and everyone in the lab knows it."

The Minister of the Navy said nothing. He merely nodded toward the adjutant standing beside him.

The adjutant understood, taking a pre-filled check out of his briefcase and handing it to Professor Fursden.

Professor Fursden glanced at the amount and was instantly stunned. He even doubted himself for a moment and brought his glasses closer—no mistake, 20 million US Dollars.

God, this amount of money was enough for him to live a luxurious life for the rest of his life or to set up his own laboratory and conduct his own research.

Professor Fursden’s breathing became involuntarily rapid. His eyes remained fixed on the amount on the check for a long while, unable to look away as if it had some sort of magic power.

The admiral added, "Considering you are an American citizen, we’ve decided to use US Dollars for the transaction. Is that satisfactory?"

"Of course, General," Fursden replied.

The United States is a neutral country, and its currency has always been very stable.

But Professor Fursden understood the implication: if Fursden feared Shire’s retribution and crackdown, he could sell the patent and return to the United States.

Professor Fursden hesitated and then looked up confusedly at the admiral. "But I don’t understand, General. Shire is a French General. His equipment belongs to France. Why would you..."

"That’s none of your concern, Professor," the admiral cut him off.

The admiral tapped a finger on the check and emphasized, "This is just a transaction. Money for goods, that’s all."

As he spoke, the admiral’s eyes carried a hint of threat, as if he was telling Professor Fursden there were some matters best left unknown—it wouldn’t benefit him to know.

Professor Fursden seemed to understand, yet not fully. He had always been unconcerned with politics, only focused on his research.

But he knew one thing: selling the industrial rights would likely be detrimental to Shire and could even be seen as a betrayal of Shire.

He reluctantly took one last look at the check and reluctantly shook his head, "Sorry, General, I can’t do it."

The admiral looked genuinely surprised, his eyes locked onto Professor Fursden. After a while, he seemed to understand, "Is it about the money? Name your price."

"No, it’s not about the money," Professor Fursden replied.

"Then what is it?" The admiral looked puzzled at Fursden.

"It’s about development, General," Professor Fursden answered. "Collaborating with Shire allows me to gain many things money can’t buy."

The admiral squinted, "Such as?"

"Ideas, platforms, talents, and much more," Professor Fursden spoke with growing conviction. "These are things that can’t be bought with money, and I’m convinced that continuing to cooperate with Shire will get me even more, including money."

During his time working at the Brest Shipyard, Professor Fursden came into contact with Shire’s proposals for new types of torpedoes, along with Shire’s numerous inventions. Professor Fursden believed that continuing to collaborate with Shire, his research wouldn’t be limited to just the "Echo Detector."

For a scientist, the most frustrating thing often isn’t money but ideas.

And Shire, he was a "goldmine" of ideas!

The admiral seemed to understand. He sighed softly, asked the adjutant to put the check away, and handed Professor Fursden a business card, "You don’t have to respond immediately, Professor. If one day you change your mind, give me a call anytime."

"Thank you," Fursden said, shaking hands with the admiral.

But as he accepted the card, he had already made up his mind that he would never make that call.

...

That evening, the Royal Navy came knocking. It was General Winter, and the topic was also about industrial property rights.

General Winter tried to entice Professor Fursden in a different way.

"Perhaps you know a bit, Professor," General Winter was very relaxed, drinking coffee while chatting with Fursden. "I’ve known Shire for a long time. We can almost be considered comrades, at the Dardanelles Strait, where I was the fleet commander."

"I’ve heard of that battle," Fursden’s eyes were filled with admiration.

People who haven’t been to the battlefield view war with a sense of romanticism or see it as an emblem of courage.

General Winter followed up on Fursden’s words:

"Although we lost that battle, Shire won."

"I even deeply regret not taking Shire’s advice from the start. Otherwise, we might have won that war."

"An amazing person, isn’t he?"

Professor Fursden nodded repeatedly, "Yes, his legends are everywhere."

"No, no, those are not legends, Professor," General Winter sincerely sighed. "Those really happened. They are facts!"

The two chatted pleasantly, and General Winter and Fursden found a common topic.

What Fursden didn’t know was that General Winter had subconsciously planted an impression in Fursden’s mind: General Winter was a friend of Shire, a fan of Shire, an admirer of Shire—such a person wouldn’t do anything detrimental to Shire.

After chatting for over half an hour, General Winter, seeing that the time was right, made a seemingly reasonable suggestion:

"I understand you won’t sell the industrial property rights of the ’Echo Detector,’ Professor."

"So we only hope to obtain a production license."

"You know why. Britain is an ally of France. We can fight German submarines together with the French Navy."

"Without a doubt, this will lessen Shire’s burden and end this dreadful war sooner. What do you think?"

In his last sentence, General Winter elevated it to a level of "contributing to world peace."

He knew this was something most scientists liked to hear, as they always hoped to be remembered in history for it.

Fursden almost agreed.

He had no reason to refuse. It would bring him fame and profit without selling the rights.

But just then, Shire pushed open the conference room door and walked in, "Sorry, General, this is a state secret. We will not trade it with anyone!"