Chapter 264 Let’s Get Ourselves an Island and Have Some Fun  

"Test the water? Do you think that you are playing the slot machines?" Chen Fan smiled and said, "According to what I remember, the military usually orders finished goods. Do you think that they would want these?"

"The Material Reserve Bureau and the Supply Department are about the same. They are both owned by our party!" said Zhang Xueyang, while he was playing with the teacup in his hand. "The deputy minister is currently engaging in a research project in other places. It will take two days for him to get back. Then, when the time comes, we’ll go to Tian Hai City together and talk to him about this."

"In that case, what’s the rush in calling me here?"

"Of course, I had to inform you about this issue in advance!" said Zhang Xueyang, while showing a ridiculous expression to Chen Fan. "Rest assured, this is not a drug dealing business. There is no need to worry about this. Furthermore, I didn’t even tell him the specific amount of palladium we have."

Chen Fan was finally satisfied by his colleagues assurances. Then, after saying goodbye to Zhang Xueyang, Chen Fan drove alone to the dock and gazed at the sea.

Ever since the evil real estate owner was buried into the sea, the construction site that was located not far away from the dock had became a dead area. Rumors said that the developer’s capital chain had been broken, thus, he was forced to escape from the business, carrying a huge amount of bank loans.

However, the truth of the matter was, the head of the company vanished without a trace. Therefore, the workers were then forced to salvage what was left of the company and head off to seek a new life.

However, these were not the things that most disturbed Chen Fan at the moment. What really bothered him was the crossbow business.

Currently, the domestic restriction on crossbows was not too strict. As long as you had the money, you could buy them. The last ten thousand crossbows ordered were under the name of foreign trade, but almost all of the Chace-Moon models were taken during the order, leaving none left in the international warehouse. Therefore, it was impossible to continue ordering from them.

Most of the high-end crossbows were made of carbon fiber composite resin, and the critical factor that determined the shooting range of the arrow was derived from the length and thickness of the crossbow arm. Theoretically, as long as the user had enough strength to pull the string of the crossbow, then the range of the arrow’s shot could be increased. Although the weight of carbon fiber composite resin was less than a quarter of steel’s weight, its elasticity could reach seven to nine times that of steel!

Assuming the crossbow arm was two meters long and twenty centimeters thick, the power of the arrow shot from the crossbow could penetrate a strong man from two kilometers away. Moreover, winding back the crossbow required extraordinary strength, such that perhaps only a gorilla could handle it!

A crossbow and arrow with a shooting range of two kilometers shooting range would be too lofty of a goal. However, creating a crossbow and arrow with a shooting range of two or three hundred meters was still possible. The physical quality of outsiders was generally much higher than of those on earth. So, it was certainly not an issue to decide to double the winding force of the crossbow and arrow.

"Why don’t I build a crossbow factory myself?" After thinking for a while, Chen Fan slapped his forehead, realizing he was a multi-billionaire! Rather than finding an already crossbow factory, he had more than enough money to build a cannon factory!

Foreseeing a future cooperation with Argyll and huge amounts of arms trading, it was unsustainable to continue relying on different suppliers. A self-production base was necessary for them to create all kinds of products on their own terms.

This thought was like a virus, immediately spreading to his entire brain, pushing him to execute the plan as soon as possible. This "virus" was extremely powerful, allowing Chen Fan to start his preparations immediately!

First, he would need to search for a few experienced technicians. He decided that it would be best to take them from an already existing crossbow factory.

Next, as carbon fiber composites belonged to the world of high-tech materials, if he wanted to produce them on a large scale, he would need to import a complete set of carbon fiber materials from the United States, Japan, and Germany. Finally, the most important question to decide was that of the location of the factory.

Are we going to build it domestically?

To obtain the license for the factory would be difficult, especially if they would only be creating crossbows. However, what Chen Fan really wanted to build was firearms, even though it would be best if he could build cannons. After all, how much could they expect to earn from selling only crossbows?

Locally, it was a dead end for anyone to even think of conducting an arms manufacturing business. Therefore, Chen Fan planned to place the production base abroad, preferably in those island countries with weak military strengths.

There are many island countries in the world that are selling the ownership of their island. Why don’t I just buy an island from them, then build an arms production base there instead? Chen Fan thought.

When it comes to buying islands, most people would think of Greece and Italy, which are both in financial crisis. This financial crunch has forced them to start selling a large number of their islands to pay off their debts. One of the largest islands that Chen Fan was currently looking at had a surface area of 1,235 acres!

How much is an island that size worth?! He wondered.

In his opinion, the starting price was cheap, beginning at only fifteen million euros. As such, it was eventually auctioned off by the Arab Royal Family at a price of seventy-five million euros.

It could be hard to imagine the price per square meter of an island being only worth fifteen euros, or one hundred and thirty-two dollars. In fact, this price was considered by some to be expensive. In the Philippine Islands, a few square kilometers of island land costs only three to five million dollars.

The reason for this horrible price of the island was simple. There were no valuable large scale mineral resources on the islands, as it was dozens of nautical miles away from the continental shelf. Mostly importantly, there was no proper supply network for water and electricity to be set up.

To transform an island into a paradise that is suitable for humans to live, more than ten times the price of the island would need to be spent, and that would just cover the expenses of building basic living facilities. For example, the expenses of building a dock to facilitate the transportation of reinforced concrete materials from the land to the private island, then making a construction contract, would be almost 500,000 dollars.

Most of the rich people stepped away from the deal because of this huge renovation cost. They realized that, with that amount of money, they could just as easily stay and build in touristy islands that were already under the development of government.

But, as for our hero, Chen Fan, he had always been rich. Since he had so much money, the amount of money needed to transform the island into a modern production base was nothing to him.

Plus, the location of the island was also important. Only those islands that were some distance away from any international political center were preferred. Thus, any islands located within central European countries were prohibited.

"Dang Lang Li Dang Dang Lang Li Dang..." Chen Fan sang cheerfully, as he ran towards the dock. He couldn’t wait to check to see if there are any countries selling off their islands online.

Fiji, Solomon, and the Philippine Islands, all of these typical oceanic countries were skipped by Chen Fan. Eventually, his sights rested on the Seychelles, which were located in the Indian Ocean.