46: Mandele's Changes

Professor Shen Yi suddenly thought of something: "That clean energy center! That huge spherical building! Do you remember what the Director of Titan Group said, that it could power the entire industrial city? But if the industrial city only has an above-ground section, it wouldn't need such a massive energy device..."

"Unless there's more energy-intensive equipment," Lin Mo continued his line of thought, "like a large particle accelerator, or..."

"High-energy weapon research," Zhao Zhigang's face turned pale, "My god, they wouldn't be researching..."

"It won't be atomic weapons," Director Zhou shook his head, interrupting Zhao Zhigang's speculation, "Team Leader Lin had already found clues before. The Emerald Principality secretly acquired a batch of nuclear power equipment, and judging by the technology, it should have been provided by the Northern Steel Federation."

Professor Shen Yi nodded in agreement, "That's right. Given the current technological level demonstrated by Titan, nuclear bombs are not a difficult problem that needs secret research to overcome. Furthermore, they can even get a new generation of nuclear power equipment, so getting a few from the Red Giant's leftover nuclear arsenal is not difficult at all."

This conclusion plunged everyone into deep thought once more. Indeed, from hoverbikes to Xingtian Armor, from electromagnetic rifles to nightingale aircraft, all the equipment seen today had clear military value and played a far greater role in localized warfare than a single nuclear bomb.

On the third day of their arrival in Mandalay, sunlight filtered through the mist and scattered over the Irrawaddy River. Lin Mo stood by the hotel window, watching citizens exercising by the river and cargo ships shuttling back and forth. Compared to when they first arrived two days ago, the city seemed to have become even busier. Many more cargo vehicles bearing the Titan logo appeared on the streets, and several new Titan Logistics cargo ships were added to the river.

"Team Leader Lin, all the data has been organized," Director Zhou walked over, holding an encrypted hard drive, with a tired look on his face, "Last night I found a very interesting piece of data: in the past six months, Mandalay Province's GDP grew by 47%, and the unemployment rate dropped from 12% to 3.8%. But none of this data has been made public."

Lin Mo raised an eyebrow: "Is it all because of Titan?"

"Exactly. Titan has directly or indirectly created nearly 200,000 jobs," Director Zhou pulled up a set of charts, "What's even more astonishing is that the 'New City District' they are building on the outskirts of the industrial city, according to the plan, is sufficient to accommodate 500,000 people, complete with schools and hospitals..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhao Zhigang and Professor Shen Yi pushed open the door, both with excited expressions on their faces.

"You'll never guess what we heard on the street!" Zhao Zhigang said eagerly, "The first batch of 5,000 welfare homes in Titan's New City District had their lottery yesterday, and the number of applicants exceeded 200,000!"

Professor Shen Yi took off his glasses and wiped them: "Local people say that as long as you can work for Titan, even as a cleaner, the benefits are higher than for civil servants. Not to mention technical positions; the monthly salary of an ordinary technician, converted to domestic standards, can reach 10,000 Dragon Yuan."

Lin Mo looked out the window thoughtfully. Across the street, a group of young people were gathered under a giant electronic billboard, which continuously played a promotional video for Titan's New City District: modern residential buildings, tree-lined parks, hospitals equipped with advanced facilities...

"Let's go have breakfast first," Lin Mo withdrew his gaze, "Today we'll split up. Director Zhou and I will go to the university, and you two will continue to visit the chamber of commerce and the citizens."

In the hotel restaurant, almost every table was discussing Titan. Lin Mo deliberately chose a window seat. At the next table, several businessmen-like people from the Emerald Principality were discussing animatedly. Surprisingly, they were communicating in Chinese, although it was not yet very standard or fluent.

"My cousin drives for Titan Logistics, and last month he earned 800,000 myanmar kyat in salary and bonuses!" A middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses gestured, "Now his whole family has moved into the employee transitional housing, a two-bedroom apartment with air conditioning and a water heater, all fully equipped."

"What's that?" Another young man in a plaid shirt interjected, "My classmate studied at the Technical Training Center for a year, and now he's an equipment maintenance technician, with a monthly salary of over one million myanmar kyat! I heard he might even get a new house in another six months."

Director Zhou subtly winked at Lin Mo. These conversations confirmed the data they had, that Titan was rapidly winning over the public through high salaries and benefits.

The situation at Mandalay University was even more unexpected. In the office of Professor Wu Min Deng, head of the Physics Department, were numerous awards and souvenirs from cooperation projects with Titan.

"Titan has funded seven of our laboratories," Professor Wu enthusiastically introduced, "They not only provide the latest equipment but also send experts to teach classes." He pointed to a photo on the wall, "Look, these are our first batch of students who interned at the industrial city. Now they all work there."

Lin Mo noticed the modern laboratory in the background of the photo, which contrasted sharply with Mandalay University's old facilities. "Are the students adapting? I heard management in the industrial city is very strict."

"That's certainly true. Besides not being able to enter certain specific areas, many things cannot be taken out of the industrial city at will."

Lin Mo and Director Zhou exchanged glances. This was consistent with their observations in the industrial city, where Titan strictly segregated foreign technical personnel and local employees.

"But then again, it's strict but fair," Professor Wu smiled, "As long as you pass the assessment, you can get promotion opportunities regardless of your background. I have a student, a genius, the only genius I have ever met in my life, whose father was just a street vendor. But yesterday he told me that he has now become a full-time employee of Titan, a P2-level full-time employee. His monthly salary, converted to myanmar kyat, is nearly two million."

"Converted? What, he didn't receive money?" Lin Mo discovered new information and quickly asked.

Professor Wu didn't know much, but he still tried his best to explain.

"I'm not too sure about this either. I only know that he said he belongs to the official staff, and he can buy things for daily necessities, clothing, food, housing, and transportation at very low prices from within the company. However, what he uses isn't myanmar kyat, but something called 'points'."

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo was greatly alarmed. Titan had established two sets of transaction systems within the industrial city. Creating such a complex arrangement, its purpose must not be simple.

As they left the university, a recruitment notice on the campus bulletin board caught Lin Mo's attention: the Titan Education Foundation was recruiting Chinese language teachers, with excellent benefits. The line of students waiting to inquire already stretched to the playground.

"Using both economic means and cultural output..." Director Zhou muttered, "This strategy is too familiar."

Meanwhile, Professor Shen Yi and Zhao Zhigang heard even more thought-provoking observations at the Chamber of Commerce.

"Titan has changed the entire ecosystem of Mandalay," Wu Suo Wen, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce, pointed to the newly built shopping mall outside the window, "Three months ago, that was a slum; now it's a commercial center. Titan's employees have such strong spending power that they've driven the entire industry chain."

He flipped through a photo album: "Look, this is a comparison of our Chamber of Commerce from last year and this year. The number of members increased from 187 to 642, almost all of whom have direct or indirect business dealings with Titan."

"How do local residents view Titan?" Professor Shen Yi asked.

Wu Suo Wen smiled: "Just go ask anyone on the street. What Mandalay people look forward to most now is getting a qualification to buy a house in the New City District, or their children passing Titan's entrance exam." He lowered his voice, "To be honest, even government officials in Jinta Port are trying every means to send their relatives and children to Mandalay, so they can find a way to work for Titan."

At lunchtime, the inspection team met at a local restaurant. The restaurant's TV was broadcasting the latest progress on Titan's New City District; the kindergarten and elementary school were already completed, and the first residents would move in next month.

"I interviewed several vendors," Zhao Zhigang said while eating, "They all said that before Titan came, Mandalay was like a big rural area. Now there are shopping malls, movie theaters, and it's even more advanced than Jinta Port."

"More importantly, security," Professor Shen Yi added, "Since Titan's security department assisted the local police, the crime rate has dropped by 70%. People dare to go out at night."

Lin Mo silently noted this information. Titan clearly understood the principle of "he who wins the hearts of the people wins the world." Through a multi-pronged approach involving economics, culture, and security, it had already established a firm foothold in the Emerald Principality.

"This operation, no matter how you look at it, seems familiar," Professor Shen Yi stroked his chin, saying meaningfully, "I completely believe it now; Titan's mysterious boss is definitely one of us. This style of conduct and philosophy, without having experienced the baptism of our university's ideological and political courses, wouldn't have this level of purity."

The others nodded in unison, their hearts suddenly much more at ease.

On the way to the airport, the taxi driver, hearing they had visited the industrial city, immediately began to talk non-stop: "My son works as a driver there, and he just got promoted last month after passing the assessment! Now he drives those high-end electric cars; I heard they can run a thousand kilometers on a single charge..."

Lin Mo looked at the rapidly receding city landscape outside the window, his mind racing. Titan had won the support of the Emerald Principality's people with tangible benefits. This "people's project" was more effective than any military deterrent. As the car passed a newly built residential area, the slogan on a giant billboard was particularly striking: "Building the Future Together, Sharing Prosperity — Titan New City District Phase II Hotly Subscribing."

After the plane took off, the inspection team began to review the results of their investigation from the past few days. While checking the data, Director Zhou suddenly exclaimed, "Team Leader Lin, look at this!"

On the screen was a comparison chart of Mandalay Province's economic indicators: three months after Titan's arrival, per capita income had tripled, and investment in infrastructure construction was the sum of the past decade.

"An economic miracle!" Professor Shen Yi exclaimed, "This has directly reshaped the entire region's economic structure."

Zhao Zhigang pulled up another set of data: "What's even more frightening is its talent attraction. 70% of the Emerald Principality's science and engineering graduates have gone to Mandalay."

Lin Mo fell into deep thought. Titan displayed not only technological strength but also a complete development model. By attracting talent through economic dividends and then driving technological innovation through that talent, a virtuous cycle was formed. This model was incredibly effective for a medium-sized city in a developing country.

Titan may not have as much capital as a developing country, but its comprehensive scientific and technological capabilities are probably only rivaled by a few major powers.

When the plane landed at the Imperial Capital International Airport, night had already fallen. A convoy of black cars took them directly to the National Security Bureau headquarters.

The next day at noon, Director Zhou Zhenguo had been waiting in the conference room for a long time.

"You've worked hard," Zhou Zhenguo gestured for them to sit down, "The situation is more complex than we imagined. The information you brought back has been initially analyzed." He pulled up a video, showing the underground equipment center of the industrial city, "Most of these technologies, based on our current scientific understanding, are simply unexplainable."

The video paused on the 'Xingtian Armor,' and Zhou Zhenguo zoomed in on a detail: "Look here, this should be the energy supply source. The Eastern Federation Academy of Sciences' analysis shows that this might be some kind of solid-state battery, but its energy efficiency ratio is at least a hundred times that of what we have in our laboratories."

"The idea of several academicians is that this is not an ordinary multinational group, but a technology monopoly."

"Technology monopoly?" Director Zhou repeated in confusion.

"It means that in some key areas, they may be decades ahead of the rest of the world, or even longer," Zhou Zhenguo explained, "For example, the ceramic-gold composite material technology you brought back, three academicians from relevant fields have already started research with their teams. Their view is that if they weren't given detailed data and new principles, and only given a sample, it would take at least 10 years to reverse engineer it."

"In other words, if it were forward research, it would be more than double that..." Director Zhou muttered to himself.

The large screen was playing a promotional video for Titan's New City District: modern residences, advanced medical centers, tree-lined campuses...

"The conclusion is already very clear," Zhou Zhenguo closed the video, "Titan, this technology monopoly, demonstrates not only technological strength but also governance capabilities. They exchange economic dividends for political influence. This 'soft conquest' is more dangerous than military invasion."

He pulled up a document marked "Top Secret": "Based on your intelligence, plus information from other channels, we have concluded: the true purpose of Titan Group is not commercial profit, but..."

"To establish a state within a state," Lin Mo suddenly said, "They are experimenting with a brand new model of regional governance in the Emerald Principality."

Zhou Zhenguo nodded: "Tomorrow morning, your report will be submitted directly to the Zijin Pavilion. Prepare all night tonight; every detail must be thoroughly analyzed."

At 3 AM, Lin Mo stood on the roof of the National Security Bureau building, getting some fresh air. The stars in the night sky were exceptionally bright, and he involuntarily recalled what Emerald had said: "Titan values long-term cooperation."

Now he felt he finally understood the true meaning of that sentence.

Titan did not want business partners; they wanted political partners. The advanced technology they displayed and the economic miracles they created were all to prove one fact: Titan had enough capital to negotiate as equals with a major power.