103: Chapter 103 Waiting for the Right Time

"It's not over yet!" Zhao Jianguo continued moving forward, his steps steady and powerful. "In terms of personnel, the base's resident staff has increased from 10,000 to 250,000! Logistics support personnel number 120,000, scientific researchers 50,000, and military personnel 80,000!"

"Logistics and transportation... see for yourselves!"

They came to an observation deck.

Looking down from above, on a wide underground highway, transport fleets were connected end-to-end, stretching for several kilometers like an endless steel dragon.

"The supplies entering and leaving every day..." Zhao Jianguo pointed to a giant LED screen in the distance.

On the screen, real-time data scrolled like a waterfall:

[Zombie World portal]

Daily Throughput: 280,000 tons

Cumulative Transport: 2.6 million tons

Deployed Citizens: 1.662 million

[Giant World portal]

Projected Daily Throughput: 350,000 tons

Cumulative Transport: 0

Deployed Citizens: 75,000

...

"What?!" Su Mingyuan suddenly raised his head, his eyes widening in shock. "More than 1.6 million of our people have already entered the Zombie World?!"

"In seven days, another 1.2 million people were deployed?!"

"With such a large-scale personnel mobilization, won't there be any flaws? What if we get discovered..."

"Even if there are flaws, it's unavoidable..." Zhao Jianguo's voice became incomparably solemn, the smile on his face completely disappearing, replaced by unprecedented gravity. "Central Command has decided to fully accelerate Otherworld development! The entire state apparatus must serve Otherworld development!"

He paused and said word by word:

"Because we... no longer have time."

"What do you mean?" Tao Zhe felt an ominous premonition welling up in his heart.

Zhao Jianguo did not answer directly, instead leading them to a heavily guarded conference room.

At the doorway, eight fully armed guards stood straight, each with eyes as sharp as an eagle's.

Iris scanning, fingerprint recognition, voiceprint verification...

After three layers of security verification, the heavy alloy door slowly opened.

"Sit."

Zhao Jianguo motioned for everyone to take their seats, his expression more solemn than ever before: "You haven't been here for seven days, and you don't know that the situation in the Main World... has become extremely dangerous."

"What's wrong?"

"Over at Eagle Nation..." Zhao Jianguo's fists clenched, veins bulging, a flash of anger crossing his eyes. "They have launched a comprehensive blockade against us on a global scale!"

"Economic sanctions have escalated to an unprecedented degree! Technological blockades have intensified across the board! Military deterrence is constantly strengthening..."

"They have even deployed thirteen aircraft carrier battle groups, sixty-two destroyers, and thirty-four nuclear submarines in the Pacific Ocean!"

"The objective is very clear—"

He said every word clearly:

"They know we have a secret. A secret sufficient to change the world pattern."

"They want to find it. At all costs."

Su Mingyuan's expression changed drastically: "Have they... discovered the portal?"

"Not yet." Zhao Jianguo shook his head, "But their reconnaissance satellites are already focusing their surveillance on the Southern Jiangsu region. Fortunately, our actions were fast enough; the Operation Rat-Catching from some time ago played a huge role, and all the spies were caught."

"But they don't know what we are doing, only that we are making big moves."

He paused, a sneer lifting the corners of his mouth:

"The more anxious they are, the more it proves that we took the right path!"

"Oh right, there is one more thing." Zhao Jianguo pointed to the new logo on the wall. "Starting today, this place will no longer be called the Southern Jiangsu Military Base, and the name Tianmen Project is also cancelled."

"Central Command has officially issued an order to rename this place to 'Tianmen Base'!"

"This name will go down in history."

"All our projects have now gone underground. On the surface, this is just an ordinary military exercise base. What the satellites capture are merely large-scale military facilities far beyond the ordinary."

"But..."

He sighed, his voice tinged with exhaustion:

"How long this concealment can be maintained, no one knows. Maybe a month, maybe a year, or maybe it will be discovered tomorrow."

The conference room fell into a brief silence.

Su Mingyuan suddenly spoke, his voice low and suppressed:

"When... will we no longer need to hide like mice?"

These words plunged the conference room into a deathly silence.

Just then, a rough voice suddenly sounded.

"I say Commander Zhao, our energy should be very sufficient by now, right? The crystal core conversion devices have all been built, and overcoming Controlled Nuclear Fusion in the future is also something we can expect."

Zhang Dabiao stood up. This soldier responsible for Su Mingyuan's security wore a puzzled expression on his face: "We have resources, we have technology, and our development speed is so fast, why should we still fear Eagle Nation? Can't we just go toe-to-toe with them directly?"

"Fear?"

Zhao Jianguo shook his head, his voice becoming incomparably solemn:

"It's not fear, it's unnecessary."

He walked over to the huge sandbox in the conference room, his fingers slowly tracing across it:

"Right now, time is on our side. With each passing day, we gain an extra fraction of accumulation and confidence in the Otherworld. And Eagle Nation? They are still trapped on Earth, with resources gradually depleting and internal conflicts intensifying day by day."

"What we need to do is continue developing, continue accumulating, until we are so powerful that they cannot shake us."

"But..."

Zhao Jianguo's tone suddenly sank, his gaze turning sharp:

"We must even more prevent the opponent from acting out of desperation!"

"Engineer Zhang, have you ever thought about what Eagle Nation has in their hands? And what does the Russian Bear have in theirs?"

Zhang Dabiao was stunned.

"Nuclear weapons..." Su Mingyuan muttered, his face turning pale instantly.

"That's right!"

Zhao Jianguo heavily slapped the table, his voice sounding like muffled thunder:

"Eagle Nation has more than 6,000 nuclear warheads, and the Russian Bear has over 5,000! These things are enough to destroy the Earth dozens of times!"

"If we tear our faces with them right now, if we let them realize that the secret we possess is enough to change the world pattern, what do you think those madmen will do?"

"They will detonate a nuclear war in despair!"

"At that time, all of human civilization will be destroyed in an instant!"

Inside the conference room, everyone drew a sharp breath.

Yeah...

Nuclear weapons.

This Sword of Damocles hanging over humanity's head has never truly been far away.

"We can hide into the Otherworld, we can take millions, or even tens of millions of people." Zhao Jianguo's voice was low and heavy. "However, what about our homeland? What about our compatriots? What about those billions of innocent lives?"

"Great Xia has a population of 1.4 billion. How many can we transfer in a short time? Ten million? Twenty million?"

"What about the remaining people?"

"Let them wait for death in a nuclear winter?"

Zhang Dabiao fell silent, his expression turning incomparably ugly.

"Therefore, we cannot let them know." Zhao Jianguo said every word distinctly. "At least before we have the ability to transfer populations on a large scale, before we establish a strong enough base in the Otherworld, we must absolutely not let them know!"

"We must act like hunters, patiently waiting and silently accumulating."

"Until the day when the time is ripe..."

He raised his head, his gaze like a torch:

"Until we establish a complete industrial system in the Otherworld, until we have the ability to transfer 1.4 billion people within a week, until we possess enough trump cards..."

"At that time, even if they want to jump out of desperation, we will have the ability to keep them from jumping!"

Boom!

These words exploded like a thunderclap in everyone's hearts.

Su Mingyuan took a deep breath, finally understanding Central Command's concerns.

It wasn't weakness; it wasn't cowardice.

But responsibility.

Responsibility toward the 1.4 billion people!