104: Chapter 104 A Courteous Departure, the World's Beacon of Anger!

"Oasis One" Base.

German engineer "David Smith," also known as Edward James, was processing data on his laptop in the dormitory.

He was an excellent structural engineer who had come to this desert both to seek refuge and because he was attracted by the ideal of "building a new world from scratch." He thought he had finally found a place where he could catch his breath.

There was a knock on the dormitory door. He opened it to find several men in police uniforms with tense expressions standing outside. Leading them was none other than He Jun, the Minister of Internal Affairs and Security.

"Mr. Smith, or rather Mr. James, we are the National Police." He Jun presented his credentials, speaking politely. "There are some matters that require your cooperation in an investigation. Please come with us."

James's spine stiffened, but he did not resist. He calmly closed his laptop and followed He Jun out of the dormitory.

The lights in the interrogation room were not harsh, and no one subjected him to a grueling interrogation. He Jun poured James a cup of warm water, sat across from him, and said in a conversational tone, "Mr. James, we already know your true identity. Although you have made outstanding contributions to the construction of the base, entering the country with a forged identity is a serious violation of our laws."

James's cheek twitched as he gave a helpless smile. He confessed everything but emphasized that he harbored no ill will toward this new nation.

"We believe you," He Jun interrupted him. "Therefore, the Head of State has decided not to arrest you or extradite you. We will deport you and guarantee your safety during the process."

That night, an all-black off-road vehicle secretly carried James toward the border. He Jun personally escorted him, and the two chatted congenially along the way, discussing everything from structural engineering to the future of humanity.

Upon parting, He Jun handed him a heavy backpack. "There's enough food, water, and a hundred thousand dollars in cash here for you to start over anywhere. Good luck."

This respect and friendliness touched James. Before getting out of the car, he pulled He Jun aside and quickly wrote down a complex network address and a string of dynamic commands on a slip of paper.

"This is a small token of my appreciation, consider it payment," James lowered his voice. "This address connects to a top-secret database that will completely self-destruct within ten minutes of the first access. The contents inside might be able to help your Head of State."

After James's figure vanished into the depths of the desert, He Jun immediately reported the address.

Far away in his office, Lin Zhou quickly logged into the address. The content that popped up on the screen made his breath hitch for a moment: it was a list of intelligence personnel recruited and bribed by the United States worldwide.

However, the system prompted that due to the massive volume of data and the extremely high level of encryption, he could only download the list for one continent before the self-destruction.

Lin Zhou hardly hesitated, his mouse decisively clicking on "Asia."

As the progress bar jumped to one hundred percent, the entire webpage turned into gibberish, and the server was completely destroyed. Lin Zhou examined the thick list of intelligence for the Asian region, his fingertips tapping lightly on the desk. With this, he would have a significant bargaining chip for future cooperation and equipment purchases with the Great Eastern Power.

Early the next morning, the official website of the Cyber Freedom Republic issued a brief and solemn announcement: "Supreme Procuratorate Deportation Order No. 001: Foreign worker Edward James has been deported in accordance with the law for entering the country with a forged identity. This office upholds procedural justice and maintains national sovereignty."

Washington, Foggy Bottom. In the office of Stephen, Assistant Secretary of State at the U.S. Department of State, the speakerphone button flashed red.

Qin Yue's voice came from across the ocean, her professional gentleness mixed with a well-measured touch of grievance: "Mr. Stephen, I fully understand your concerns. Regarding the decision to deport Edward James, our side does not wish to be provocative; rather, we want to solve a difficult problem in the most legally sound manner to avoid straining our bilateral diplomatic relations."

"A difficult problem?" Stephen let out a scoff, the Parker pen in his hand spinning rapidly between his fingers. "A wanted criminal who holds core American secrets—you dump him in the Sudanese desert and call that solving a problem? Ms. Qin, what we want is extradition, not for him to play wilderness survival."

"Please understand our difficulties," Qin Yue's tone was sincere and her words airtight. "The CFR is a new country and cherishes its image of the rule of law immensely."

"In the absence of an extradition treaty, if we were to hand James over directly, it would leave a reputation for 'illegal rendition' in international law. Not only would this damage our credibility, but your own lawyers would use 'illegal source of evidence' to attack you in the future."

She paused for a moment and threw out the prepared explanation: "Deporting him back to his point of departure, Sudan, was the only legal option under current immigration management laws."

"To this end, we even bore immense security pressure, with the Minister of Internal Affairs personally escorting him. Our intention was to both clear our country of lawbreakers and make it convenient for you to pick him up there. If your side encountered difficulties during the search, we express our deep regret and are willing to provide the meteorological data from the night of the deportation as a reference."

Listening to this explanation, Stephen felt his throat tighten. He wanted to lose his temper, but he found that every word the other party said stood on the moral high ground of "maintaining the rule of law" and "thinking of the U.S. side."

"Ms. Qin," Stephen said through gritted teeth, emphasizing every word, "I hope your procedural justice can also protect you in future international affairs."

After the call was disconnected, the office fell into a heavy silence.

Stephen raised his hand and slammed the fountain pen onto the desk, the nib leaving a jarring ink mark on the expensive stationery.

He felt a sense of pure humiliation; the other party had used a set of logic that even he couldn't find fault with to leave him speechless.

"They're teaching me how to play international law?" Stephen turned around and growled at his staff, his voice sharp with rage. "Two people! A country of only two people is using the rules we set to run circles around us! They even damn well thoughtfully provided meteorological data!"

One staff member lowered his head and reminded him in a small voice, "Sir, the CIA and the Pentagon are both waiting for news. If we deploy special forces to Bir Tawil now to maintain order..."

"Shut up!" Stephen interrupted him rudely. "Go attack two civilians who aren't even in their own country? Go bomb a construction site that hasn't even been built yet? Do you want tomorrow's global headlines to be 'United States Declares War on Two Geeks'? That's too beneath us! Such a military operation would have no strategic significance other than making us the laughingstock of the world!"

He breathed heavily, his facial muscles tensed, staring at the staff member in silence until the latter didn't dare look up.

Stephen adjusted his breathing, the anger on his face fading into a dangerous calm. He picked up another encrypted phone and dialed directly to the office responsible for Western Hemisphere affairs.

Stephen's voice echoed in the office, devoid of any warmth: "Orders! First, spread word to all member states of the Organization of American States. Any country that wants to establish diplomatic relations with the CFR, recognize their passports, or even sign commercial agreements will be placed on a diplomatic watch list. Tell them that if anyone is disobedient, they can forget about American aid."

"Second, keep an eye on Lin Zhou's next moves in the Americas. No matter which country he wants to go to, whether it's to buy seeds or seek recognition, I want to ensure he can't even get a formal landing visa. I want his Head of State's private jet to be unable to find a single place to legally land in the entire Western Hemisphere."

"Third, step up lobbying efforts toward Vatican City. Tell the Holy See that while we respect their religious influence, the United States does not wish to see the Holy See go too far on the issues of cyber sovereignty and illegal entities."

As the orders were issued one by one, a vast diplomatic net targeting the Cyber Freedom Republic silently spread across the Western Hemisphere.

Back at the distant "Oasis One," Lin Zhou watched the diplomatic shifts monitored by satellite, which already clearly showed the countermeasures from across the ocean. He knew that although Qin Yue's words had gained the upper hand legally, the Americans' retaliation had begun. The road ahead would not be easy.

In the planning room of "Oasis One," Lin Zhou picked up a red pen.

On both sides of the base's main road, he drew two perfectly symmetrical building complexes.

"Pass down my order," Lin Zhou said to the planning official behind him. "Build the National Police Station on the left side of the main road and an Egyptian military camp on the right side. The scale, height, exterior wall color, and decoration style of the two buildings must be identical, forming a perfectly symmetrical layout. In the future, one hundred and fifty police officers will be permanently stationed here."

He examined the two buildings on the blueprints that faced each other, nearly indistinguishable from one another, and tapped his finger lightly on the location of the Egyptian military camp. This move was prepared for the much more distant future.