But after a short while, the sharp-eyed Tyler noticed a young guy among them who had actually secretly pulled out a phone and aimed it at the screen; he was stopped just in time when Tyler called him out.
This shout made Bill and Zion's faces turn beet red. After glaring at the young man, the two of them smiled awkwardly at Nick and the others before focusing their attention back on the screen.
Of course, that shout didn't completely stop those young people; they simply pulled out small notebooks they carried with them and began recording things secretly.
Nick felt pretty helpless about it; how could these people be so thick-skinned?
However, with only half an hour, how much could they actually transcribe even if he let them copy freely? Besides, he hadn't brought out the core components, so he let them scribble as they pleased.
"Wait, why is it gone?" Everyone, who was reading with great interest, suddenly saw the file on the screen automatically disappear and couldn't help but get nervous.
Still immersed in the data, Bill saw the file on the desktop vanish and looked up at Nick, asking anxiously, "Nicholas, why is it gone?"
Seeing the old man's frantic state, Nick replied with a smile, "Time's up, so the file naturally cleared itself."
"I was just getting to the critical part. Can we look for a bit longer? Just half an hour," Bill pleaded with Nick.
Nick shook his head with a smile and said, "As long as you can meet those conditions of mine, you can take all these documents, including the core technical data. You can look at them however you want, and no one will bug you."
"You..." Hearing Nick's words, Bill was so angry his beard bristled and his eyes bulged, not knowing what to say.
Knowing that Nick wouldn't budge, the old man stopped speaking and sat there lost in thought, clearly still reviewing the information from the data in his mind.
Zion looked at Nick with a bitter smile and said, "Nicholas, you know that doing this is like a pack of hungry wolves seeing a piece of fat meat. Just as they've bitten into it and tasted the flavor, someone forcibly pulls it out of their mouths.
If this were some short-tempered experts, they might have stood up to fight you for it!"
Nick rolled his eyes and said, "Fortunately, I pulled it away in time, otherwise this meat would have been swallowed by ungrateful wolves.
Do they really think we didn't see them? Those guys were secretly taking notes in their little notebooks. It's already good enough that I didn't stop them."
Uh... Zion's face turned red, and then he coughed a few times in embarrassment. "You must keep the items safe. Don't lose them, and don't let them leak. You are currently a key target for those people; being careful is never a mistake."
"Don't worry, I've physically isolated the data. Even if they get this memory card, it would be impossible to obtain the information on it.
I've set a triple password. If even one digit is entered incorrectly, the entire card inside will be rendered useless with no possibility of repair," Nick said, gesturing toward his phone.
However, there was one thing he didn't tell Zion: after transferring that data, the data on the memory card in his phone had already been cleared and destroyed by him. So now, even if someone got hold of his phone, they could forget about getting the information inside.
The real information and data were stored elsewhere by him. This was the so-called Plan B, also known as a security backup.
After all, for such important information, how could he only store it on a single memory card?
"You..."
Zion opened his mouth wide, not knowing what to say, and finally sighed. "Anyway, just be cautious. One can't be too careful."
At this time, Bill stood up and said to Nick with a serious face, "I will go back immediately to apply for the funds and strive to get them to you as soon as possible."
Nick stood up and nodded. "That would be for the best. We're currently waiting for the money to keep the lights on."
"You must take care to protect these things, and also pay attention to your own safety. I still have many questions to ask you. I'm leaving!" After saying this, Bill walked out quickly.
Seeing this, the young people hurriedly followed. Zion smiled at Nick and said, "Nicholas, I also have many questions I'd like to ask you, but it seems today won't work. Another day, I'll make a special trip to Tampa so we can have a good chat."
"Haha, then I'll wait for you in Tampa," Nick replied with a smile.
Overall, his impression of these two was not bad. Although they had tried to play him quite a bit, it wasn't out of selfishness.
The external environment being what it was, they could only follow suit.
In the end, it was all for research projects and to serve the country. If Nick and the others weren't truly broke, he probably would have donated this technology for free.
Fortunately, there was still plenty of time, and there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.
After seeing off Bill and the others, Nick packed his things while waiting for news from Robert. Without word from him, they couldn't leave the hotel, let alone leave back to Tampa.
During the time they were waiting, many companies, including DJI from before, Amazon, as well as SpaceX and Google, called one after another to inquire. It seemed these companies had received some news.
However, to cooperate with Robert's operation, Nick and the others remained tight-lipped and did not reveal any information.
Early the next morning, Robert arrived, but he was in a very bad state, with a somber face devoid of any expression.
Seeing this, Nick tried asking, "Didn't catch the person?"
Robert nodded with a weary expression. "That guy is very cunning. Just as we were about to lock onto his location and move in, he sensed the danger and fled in advance.
Currently, we are setting up controls throughout the city to see if we can flush him out."
Although Robert said this, he knew that it was basically impossible to find a senior spy with a professional intelligence background among the millions of people in Miami.
Speaking of this, he forced a smile at Nick and said, "But it wasn't without gains. We took down his group of lackeys, and we've also obtained key information about him.
This 'X' is of Caucasian descent and not very old. You should be careful if you encounter someone like that in the future. Since he didn't succeed this time, he certainly won't give up easily. I'm afraid he might go to Tampa to find you one day.
Be more careful. We will notify our colleagues in Tampa later to have them look out for you.
By the way, the things you lost have been recovered, but they don't seem to be of much use anymore. The computers and drone equipment were stripped into parts, but fortunately, the hard drives are still there. It's a big bag; see if any of it is useful."
As he spoke, Robert had someone bring over a black plastic crate and open it. Inside were indeed the components of their computers and equipment.
Seeing this, Nick and the others knew these things were useless, so they picked out a few hard drives and threw the rest directly into the trash can.
"Let's go, I'll take you to the airport," Robert gestured to them.
"No need, we'll go ourselves. It's too much trouble," Nick said quickly.
Robert shook his head. "That guy might still be lurking in Miami. I have to see you onto the train to feel at ease.
Be careful on the way. If anything seems wrong, go straight to the transit police. This is my number; call me immediately if you encounter an emergency."
Taking the small slip of paper handed over by Robert, Nick felt a lump in his throat and gave him a heavy nod.