196: Chapter 196 The Wonders of Nature

Zhao Yang noticed the strange expressions on General Feng and the others. While typing on his keyboard, he said, "This country's network security—both software and hardware—is entirely Western-made. Our network defense System has already detected almost all the backdoors and vulnerabilities in those devices. For our technicians, entering their servers is like coming home. Conversely, if they wanted to do the same to us, they would be blocked by the Great Firewall immediately."

General Feng said in a low voice to a stern-faced old man beside him, "Our country's laws don't seem to have any regulations regarding hacking into foreign websites, right?"

The old man smiled, "Of course not. Never mind those trivial matters for now; let's see what young Zhao has discovered."

Zhao Yang immediately summarized the information he had obtained and said, "The current president of the Philippines has received a significant amount of money from Japan and America. Look, these are the changes in his accounts. He deposited part of it into banks in America himself, and the other part was transferred into the accounts of several of their naval officers. At the same time, I also discovered that the account that transferred money to this Philippine president also transferred money to a research institution within our country."

"What?" General Feng and the several old men frowned simultaneously. "Which one?"

Zhao Yang pointed to the screen, "This one. The founder had some official background before retiring, but it is essentially a private organization operating under the guise of an economic research institute. Recently, they have been conducting research on island sovereignty. There are currently two directions: one is the East China Sea islands, and the other is the South China Sea."

The old men leaned in to take a look, and their blood pressure soared in unison.

"Bastards, they have forgotten their roots."

"Scoundrels, these are traitors."

Zhao Yang continued, "At the same time, America is strengthening its alliance with the Philippines. Therefore, I judge that the situation in the East China Sea and the South China Sea may become quite tense in the coming years."

These events were things the Dragon Nation had genuinely experienced in the old timeline. The turning point for the East China Sea began in 2012, while the peak for the South China Sea was in 2016—that time was extremely perilous, with internal and external forces even coordinating at one point, nearly leading to a full-scale war.

In this timeline, the Dragon Nation developed faster, so it would reach these nodes earlier, at least two to three years in advance. However, the good news is that the foundation of technology and military is also stronger.

One could tell from the disaster relief in the first half of 2008 that the Dragon Nation's relevant capabilities had already reached the level of 2015 in the later generations. The military gap surely wouldn't be too large—especially with those two big guys revealed today; America says there is no threat, but only they know what they are really thinking.

The several old men called by General Feng had actually anticipated that such a day would come sooner or later, they just lacked the precise intelligence support that Zhao Yang had. After all, the things Zhao Yang did could only be discussed behind closed doors; state institutions could not operate this way.

The East China Sea is close to the mainland, so it is not difficult to handle. But the South China Sea is tricky. The Navy has just received the big treasure and is still burdened with heavy research and training tasks, so it is impossible to deploy them for combat missions in the short term. The tonnage of a single Dragon Nation fleet is more than the sum of all Southeast Asian countries' navies, but it lacks sufficient air cover. Once America intervenes and deploys large-scale carrier-based aircraft formations, the Dragon Nation's warships would be at a great disadvantage.

Seeing General Feng's expression becoming increasingly grave, Zhao Yang suddenly said, "Elder Feng, we must build a few airports in the South China Sea as soon as possible."

General Feng sighed, "Due to historical reasons, the good places where airports could be built are all being illegally occupied by others, and now is not the right time to take them back by force. Moreover, the geographical locations of those places are not particularly ideal."

Zhao Yang smiled, "As far as I know, there is a technology that can suck up rocks and sand from the seabed, crush them, and spray them onto reefs to form islands, then fix them with cement. It can quickly turn reefs into islands."

The eyes of General Feng and the others lit up instantly, "There is such technology? Doesn't that mean we can build artificial islands at will?"

Zhao Yang smiled slightly, "Not artificial islands, but the masterpiece of nature. However, it requires detailed hydrological data, and we need to find reefs with relatively stable bases. When I was browsing the internet before, I saw America's survey data; it has relevant information."

"Where is the data?" General Feng asked hurriedly.

Zhao Yang had a strange expression, "Our country should have also conducted surveys of the South China Sea, right?"

"America has been surveying it since World War II," General Feng said. "Decades of data must be more detailed than ours."

Zhao Yang smiled bitterly, "You should have said so earlier. If I had known that the data was so precious, I would have copied it all back then. How about this, give me a few days, and I'll go look for it again."

"Can't you do it now?"

"I saw it two years ago, and I don't know if it's still in the same place now. Give me a week, and I'll go back to Shanghai to search for it properly."

"Alright." After General Feng finished speaking, he looked at the others, "We must form a report on today's matter. Young Zhao will go back to Shanghai first and find the data."

After the several people nodded one after another, Zhao Yang followed General Feng and left.

When they reached the gate of the compound, General Feng looked at Zhao Yang and suddenly smiled, "The masterpiece of nature—you kid are quite talented."

Zhao Yang pursed his lips upward, "Elder Feng, you didn't even introduce who those people were to me."

General Feng snorted, "Want to know? Just join the General Staff Department."

Zhao Yang laughed dryly, "Forget it, I still prefer being an official. Then I'll head back."

"Go ahead, get the data as soon as possible." General Feng patted his shoulder, "Work hard."

Zhao Yang reunited with Bai Xiaohe for the night, and the next day he returned to Shanghai. It took him five days to get all the survey data on the South China Sea from all of America's marine research institutions—not only civilian ones but also parts from the military's secret database.

A day later, three men with crew cuts found Zhao Yang and took away a USB flash drive.

One month after the military parade, the military channel broadcasted the news of the successful test flight of a certain new type of fighter jet. The news did not mention the model, but that iconic stealth shape explained everything. Zhao Yang was very surprised—in the old timeline, the news of the J-20's test flight was only spread after "wall-climbing fans" secretly took photos from the wall of the research institute. But in this timeline, the Dragon Nation actually broadcasted it openly.

By the end of the year, the television started broadcasting news of the H-9 carrying missiles on patrol in the South China Sea. Zhao Yang knew that this must be preparing for creating the masterpiece of nature.

At the same time, the police version of the hongdou m5 designed by Zhao Yang rolled off the assembly line, and Gao Qiqiang began to make appearances nationwide, vigorously promoting it to relevant departments. Extended-range vehicles have advantages in range and energy saving, plus they can be equipped with high-power-consuming special equipment, so they quickly spread to many cities.

On the streets of cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Jinghai, Linjiang, Ningyang, and Jianghai, the stylish and dynamic police M5 began to appear frequently, becoming a special scenery in the cities.

Time flew by, and 2010 arrived.

In August, Lu Yike sent news: The waste-to-energy plant in Luzhou was officially in operation, not only digesting all the garbage from the Yueya Lake Food City but also solving the domestic waste for the entire city of Luzhou. Secretary Gao Yuliang personally attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony and privately told Lu Yike afterward that he would give her more responsibilities at the end of the year.

Zhao Yang calculated and couldn't help but smile. Following Lu Yike's current trajectory, by the time the plot of "in the name of the people" officially begins, she should be at a higher rank than in the original drama, at least at the level of deputy director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

The Handong Province chess game had already seen variables before it even began.

Just after hanging up the phone with Lu Yike, Lin Wanyu's call came in: "Brother Yang, are you free tonight? Feifei wants to invite you over for dinner; she has something she wants to discuss with you."

Zhao Yang was stunned: "Hu Yifei? What difficult problem has she encountered?"

"I'm not sure either," Lin Wanyu said, "but I've noticed that she has been absent-minded these past few days; it seems like she really has encountered some difficult problem."

Zhao Yang was silent for a moment. Given Hu Yifei's personality, what difficult problem could she encounter? Has Nuolan, that big boss, arrived? It seems a bit too early, right?