Chapter 1610 Vincent was tacitly approved
Fenves sat in his office, a furious look on his face. Several people, including some in military uniform, were sitting in his office.
"Why did you let Xiao Peng participate in this project?" A man in military uniform shouted at Fenves, "Do you know how private a project like this is? You're letting someone from Daxia participate in this project. Are you planning to sell out core state secrets?"
After hearing this, Fenves said coldly, "Minister Matt, the University of Texas at Austin has always maintained an excellent relationship with the military and has always had close cooperation with the Department of Defense. When have I ever sold out core national secrets? Please don't accuse me of this, okay?"
After hearing this, Minister Matt said, "Then why did you invite him to participate in this project? And why did you invite him to work here?"
Fenves pulled out a military laptop, opened a file, and placed it in front of Minister Matt. "Minister Matt, tell me what you think after reading this."
Matt's brows furrowed as he read the document, his eyes becoming more and more confused. After a long moment, he raised his head and said, "Principal Fenves, what is this? I don't understand!"
Fenves said, "Minister Matt, if I remember correctly, you hold a Ph.D. in both physics and materials science from Yale University, correct?"
Matt nodded and said with a hint of pride, "Of course."
Fenves said, "You, with your dual-disciplinary PhD, can't understand it. How do you think Xiao Peng can? And this is just one file in this project. There are over 70,000 similar files. How many can he access? Even if he accesses all of them, how many can he remember? If he only has access to text files and can't access electronic documents, do you think there's a chance of leaks?"
"Text file?" Matt asked puzzledly.
Fenves gestured to his office. "My office is over 120 square meters. If these documents were printed out on standard A4 paper, they would fill four rooms! Do you think he can finish reading them? Do you think he can take them away? Do you think he can finish reading them?"
His continuous questioning stumped Matt. Fenves said directly, "Do you know what the success of this project means? We are in such a fierce competition with Daxia at this time. We must obtain all the weapons we can! Daxia has no research and development in this area right now, and we are ahead here. And if Xiao Peng and his team can research hot springs, we can greatly speed up our research and development in this area! Now tell me what to do? Use this weapon or not?"
Matt said, "I think I understand what you mean. But not everyone can understand. This matter must be decided after a meeting at the Pentagon!"
After hearing this, Fenves was furious. "Hold meetings! Hold meetings! Hold meetings! It'll be years before you pass a meeting! Look at the other side of the world, they just start working on any project! And here we are? It's just meetings, meetings, and meetings! Look at all this information we have, do you know what this means? It means we're wasting time! Now I've found such a great way to speed things up, and what's the result? I still have to wait for your meetings?"
Matt frowned and said, "Do we really need him? Our country has the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Are we still not as good as a layman in Daxia who is just salvaging a sunken ship in the field of deep-sea research?"
Fenves said angrily, "You're right. Our country has the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, both of which are the best oceanographic research institutes in the world! But what's behind our oceanographic research institutes? Capital! They want to see returns! As long as these capitalists can make money, they'll sell the ropes they use to hang themselves! Although our country's scientific research in the field of hot springs used to be in the lead, it has now been surpassed by latecomers from Daxia! You only see that Xiao Peng is an outsider! But you also have to see that he has top Daxia scientists on board! Do you want our country's ocean exploration companies to waste money on something so obviously unprofitable? Or do you let those oceanographic research institutes do this?"
Matt fell silent after hearing this.
Fenves was clearly furious. "We're the leader among Texas public schools, but we don't have the funds to engage in deep-sea exploration! And I want to work with those schools that have deep-sea exploration programs, but what's the result? We can't even get along! They're all focused on their own interests. Who will lead the project? Who will cooperate? How will the profits be distributed? I feel like our country is a mess! Do you understand me?"
Matt and his friends had come here to find fault, but they didn't expect that Fenves was obviously more angry than them, and they were still unable to refute him!
Fenves suddenly slammed the table. "You're accusing me of selling out core state secrets? Then let me ask you: What about Vincent? He donated 50 million WWE shares to Xiao Peng's fund! Xiao Peng's fund supports the Daxia Submersible Base! The Daxia Submersible Base! Our country's biggest competitor in deep-sea development! Why didn't you stop him? Instead, you came to me to cause trouble?"
Matt coughed dryly and said, "There's something else going on here. In fact, Vincent came to us and reported this to us. He did this because the Pentagon allowed him to do so."
"Why?" Fenves said angrily. "I just made a suggestion and you're here to accuse me. They just handed over $50 million and nothing happened? Do you think those of us in academic education are easy to bully?"
Matt smiled bitterly and said, "Principal Fenves, what are you saying? You have students all over the world. Many of my superiors and colleagues are from your school. If word gets out that I'm bullying you, I'm afraid this will mean that my current position will be untenable. Principal Fenves, I will report everything you said today to my superiors. As for Vincent... There are some things I really can't tell you, but I can assure you that what he is doing now is really tacitly approved by the Pentagon. The reason they tacitly approve of him is because of some issues that touch upon the core interests of the country. Xiao is more troublesome now than you think. This is also why we don't want you to have too much contact with him. I came to Austin this time specifically for him."
"Looking for him here?" Fenves was stunned. "Then you've come to the wrong place."
"Huh? Isn't he in Austin?" Matt asked.
Fenves said, "He did attend the celebration party after the team won last night, but he returned to Houston in the middle of the night. Didn't Vincent tell you?"
“…”
Fenves continued, "And he brought a bunch of cheerleaders from our school with him, that pervert!"
"Pervert?" Matt rolled his eyes. "Perverts are good!"
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