The Rise Of A Billionaire 1943-Chapter 146 - 158: San Dezi’s Gift

Life!

Time truly works in mysterious ways. Originally, Pierre had come to Italy specifically for their warships, but who could have imagined that the Italians themselves would eagerly deliver the ships right to his doorstep?

And at such a bargain price!

One dollar!

Did the Italians take a loss?

Not at all. Those warships, after the war, would be handed over to the Allies as part of war reparations. War reparations are a strange thing—although warships can be counted towards them, when it comes to calculating their value, the price is barely higher than scrap metal. Just like the German warships handed over after World War I, they were actually valued by their steel content.

If Italy could take advantage of the brief period when it still had some autonomy—before the Allies fully treated it as a defeated nation—and dispose of some warships, it could at least pocket tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of dollars in cash. For the Italian government, this would be an extremely lucrative deal.

As for buyers, there was no need to worry at all. Countries like Argentina, Brazil, and even Spain had made a fortune during World War II. As long as Italy was willing to sell, there would definitely be takers.

The only issue was whether Italy was willing to sell, but afraid of Allied interference. That’s why they needed to test the waters first.

Ordinary countries were out of the question. The Allies certainly wouldn’t buy.

So, after searching high and low, they finally found Pierre, whose status was uniquely special. Thus, a truly remarkable deal was struck. On December 29, 1944, after paying one dollar in cash, Pierre’s North Borneo Security Force acquired six destroyers.

Actually, to be precise, the total was $500,001. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Why the extra $500,000?

Because that $500,000 wasn’t for surface warships, but for four submarines!

Submarines weren’t originally part of the deal, but upon learning there were a few in the harbor, Pierre immediately asked to buy the four in the best condition.

After a brief negotiation, both parties reached an agreement. Of course, those four submarines couldn’t be given away for free, so Pierre forked over a hefty sum of $500,000.

Almost overnight, the North Borneo Security Force leapt to become the second-strongest navy in Asia. In fact, once Japan was disarmed, it might even become the strongest.

Just thinking about it was exhilarating!

But then, recalling that in another world, after Indonesia’s independence, the Russians had directly given them 47 warships—including a 10,000-ton cruiser and ten submarines—suddenly, those Italian ships didn’t seem quite so impressive.

"Sigh, you really have to hand it to them—if you know how to grovel and find yourself a patron, you can really reap the benefits!"

Soon, though, he let it go. Sure, he had a bit of backbone and wouldn’t stoop to such levels, but as long as there were sheep to be fleeced, why not take advantage?

Although the Italian sheep was pretty fat, Pierre was a man of principle—he wouldn’t just fleece one sheep dry. After all, it was nearly bald already.

After signing the contract and hiring former Italian naval personnel to sail the ships to Tunisia, Pierre, despite being eager to return, didn’t go straight back to New York. Instead, he flew to Switzerland.

In Switzerland, upon meeting Berlin, the latter looked at him with a resentful gaze and said,

"If it weren’t for you, perhaps the Führer’s ’Watch on the Rhine’ plan might have succeeded."

"Watch on the Rhine" was the codename for the Ardennes Offensive, a plan personally devised by Hitler—characteristically insane. Unfortunately, by this point Germany could no longer provide the necessary resources for such madness. Whether manpower or materials, even if they barely scraped together over 200,000 troops, what good would it do? Once the fuel ran out, the plan was doomed.

"Do you still have any oil left?"

That one question rendered Berlin speechless. With the loss of the Romanian oil fields and the synthetic fuel plants destroyed by the Allies, Germany was now out of fuel.

No oil left—how could they keep fighting?

"So, we no longer need tungsten ore."

"I know."

Pierre appeared calm, but inside he felt nothing but regret.

How could he not? That business was incredibly profitable!

In previous deals, he’d made nearly two "small targets" off the Germans, all paid in gold!

Who doesn’t love shiny gold?

"So what now?"

"Berlin has informed me that, if... it’s convenient for you, we’ll launch the ’Safe Harbor Plan’ in the coming months."

Berlin glanced at Pierre, took a file folder from his briefcase, and said,

"This is what you wanted!"

What I wanted!

Looking at the file, Pierre could feel his breathing quicken—he knew exactly how valuable it was.

"This list was compiled by Research Committee Director Osenberg. It contains the names and home addresses of all top German scientists and engineers—a total of 11,097 technical experts, including 7,645 top engineers..."

What!

Pierre’s eyes widened in shock. Wasn’t the famous "Osenberg List" supposed to have only about 1,600 names?

How could there be over 10,000?

Oh, right—the list the Americans found was supposedly fished out of a toilet, so maybe part of it was flushed away. That’s why the Americans only found a little over a thousand scientists.

And besides the Americans, the Russians also launched their own recruitment of German scientists...

The Soviet scientists’ plan, codenamed "Operation Osa Wagen." In a single night, the Soviets "recruited" more than 2,000 German scientists and technical personnel. The Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs, which later became the KGB, even bypassed the local Soviet occupation government and directly dispatched nearly a hundred trains to transport these German experts and their families—altogether about ten thousand people. In addition, a considerable number of German researchers escaped to Spain, Argentina, and even Egypt, where they continued their scientific work. Some German experts, for assisting Egypt in developing missiles and aircraft, were assassinated by Israeli intelligence agencies.

Now, the names of these German scientists—who were fought over by the US and the Soviet Union after the war, or who fled around the world to escape responsibility—are all contained within this thick dossier!

With this file, Pierre could easily get to these people before the Americans or Soviets made a move and take them away directly.

Yes, just like the KGB did—go straight to their doors and take the experts and their families away, simple, direct, and forceful.

We’re talking about more than ten thousand scientists and top engineers!

This was virtually the entire top intellectual resource of Germany’s scientific and industrial community.

For the first time, Pierre felt a bit overwhelmed.

There was no helping it—this was such a huge piece of fat meat, it might not be possible to swallow it all in one bite!

Before this, Pierre’s biggest worry was where to find technical experts and talent for the future industrial development of Borneo, now he had only one problem left—how to arrange for such a large number of German technical experts.

So many people—how many companies would it take to accommodate them?

Without enough enterprises, there could be a real waste of talent. If these people are left idle for too long, their knowledge could become outdated and fall behind the times.

Having too many people can be a headache, too.

"As we agreed, we’re only providing the list. As for how to contact and find them, that’s your responsibility."

"I understand!"

Pierre nodded. In the future, the search teams would go to Germany to handle this. With the Allied Command’s banner as cover, the teams could easily take these people away, even by force if necessary, compelling those scientists and technicians to leave Germany.

"In addition..."

Berlin took out another list and said,

"We have about 10,000 people who need to be evacuated. That’s for you to arrange."

Who were these 10,000 people?

They were certainly real Nazis—possibly the backbone of the Reich Security Main Office, SS leaders, or even war criminals.

But Pierre didn’t care at all.

Nazis...

The moment World War II ended, they became drowning dogs. Revive themselves?

Dream on!

"No problem! They can first be evacuated to Tunisia, and from there take a ship to Borneo."

As he agreed without hesitation, Pierre continued,

"Berlin, I have another suggestion..."

Looking at Berlin, Pierre showed a sincere smile.

"I know you have some spies hidden overseas. I hope to take them over!"

They... would become the future Hydra!

"What?"

Berlin was surprised.

"Overseas intelligence personnel? Why do you want them... After the war, they’ll definitely go into hiding."

Clearly, Berlin hadn’t realized the value of these people, while Pierre smiled and said,

"Why should they hide? My Borneo will offer them and their families asylum. All they need to do is continue their previous work!"

"Their previous work!"

Berlin looked Pierre up and down, as if he didn’t understand his motives.

"You want to take over the Third Reich’s overseas intelligence network?"

As he said this, Berlin’s gaze at Pierre became a bit strange. Sometimes he really couldn’t figure this man out—after all, at this time, most people wanted to avoid any association with the Third Reich.

But this guy not only engaged in secret dealings with the Third Reich, but also wanted to take over its overseas intelligence system.

What was he up to?

Wasn’t he afraid that one day, if the truth came out, everything would be exposed?

"Exactly!"

Pierre’s lips curled into a sixty-degree smile.

"This is a valuable asset—why waste it?"

"Right now, most people are avoiding any dealings with us. They’re worried about the postwar consequences. Aren’t you worried about being affected?"

Berlin’s words made Pierre burst out laughing.

"Weaklings worry about others’ accusations. For the strong, such accusations are nothing but a joke!"