154: Chapter 154 Major Secret Leakage Incident

The next day, Lin Zhou's desk was neatly stacked with over a dozen rigorously worded and properly formatted "Naturalization Applications."

Leading the pack were Qin Yue, Chen Yuan, He Jun, and Zhang Zhe.

Following closely were the core backbone members from their respective departments who had made the same decision after a night of careful deliberation.

These included several veteran accountants from the Finance Department, bright young talents from the diplomatic negotiation team, and the captains of the most trusted special operations squads under He Jun's command.

Lin Zhou read through them one by one; behind every application lay a decision of immense weight.

To renounce one's original citizenship and bind one's future completely to this desert nation with an uncertain future.

This required more than just courage.

Since the immigration agency had not yet been established, all naturalization procedures still required Lin Zhou, the "Supreme Lord," to handle them personally.

He opened his system interface, which contained a feature he hadn't used in a long time—[Citizen Management].

He clicked on Qin Yue's application.

[Name: Qin Yue]

[Application Item: Naturalization]

[Review Status: Pending Approval]

Lin Zhou pressed firmly on the [Approve] option.

[Citizen Qin Yue, identity information entered into the national database. Citizen ID 002, second only to the Supreme Lord.]

[System Notification: Congratulations, the number of citizens of the Cyber Freedom Republic has increased by 1, current total: 2.]

Next was Chen Yuan.

[Citizen Chen Yuan, identity information entered... Citizen ID 004.]

(He Jun was 003)

Zhang Zhe, Gao Jian, Zhao Li...

Lin Zhou processed them one by one, and with every click, a sense of heavy responsibility was added to his shoulders.

These people had entrusted their lives to him.

When the last application was processed, he took a look at the overview of the [Citizen Management] interface.

[Number of official citizens of the Cyber Freedom Republic: 30.]

From one person to thirty.

It was a negligible number, not even equal to the population of a small village.

But for the Cyber Freedom Republic, this was a milestone victory.

It meant that this nation finally had its first batch of truly "its own people," possessing the skeleton capable of supporting the country's operation.

Just as Lin Zhou was about to share this joy with his cabinet, the satellite phone on his desk suddenly rang, the ringtone urgent.

The caller ID showed an unfamiliar international number.

Lin Zhou picked up the phone, and a voice with a thick Indian accent came from the other end.

"Is this Mr. Lin Zhou? I am Prakash, a reporter from The Times of India."

Indian media?

Lin Zhou frowned. Why were they looking for him? There was no connection between the two countries.

"I am Lin Zhou, what is the matter?"

"Mr. Lin, we have received exclusive information," the voice on the other end was practically overflowing with excitement, "It is alleged that your country has discovered a world-class gold mine with astonishing reserves in the Bir Tawil region. Furthermore, your country has reached a secret joint development agreement with China. Can you confirm this news?"

As those words entered his ears, Lin Zhou's thoughts came to a grinding halt.

The smile on his face froze, the color drained from his cheeks, and the office became so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.

Gold mine... secret agreement...

These two terms were soul-crushing, causing his very breathing to stutter.

This matter was a top-level state secret! Fewer than ten people knew about it! How did the Indians find out?

"Sorry," Lin Zhou's voice showed no fluctuation, but he enunciated every word heavily, "I don't know what you are talking about. This is fake news."

The reporter on the other end chuckled, his tone confident and unhurried as he said, "Mr. Lin, there is no need to rush to deny it. I suggest you open any international news website now, or look at the global trending list on social media. By then, you will realize that this is no longer a secret."

After speaking, the other party politely hung up the phone.

Lin Zhou gripped the satellite phone tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging. He flipped open the military laptop beside him and connected to the satellite network.

The webpage loading progress bar moved slowly, each moment adding to the pressure in his chest.

When the homepages of the BBC, Reuters, and The New York Times appeared on the screen simultaneously, his gaze was pinned to those banner headlines.

[Reuters Headline: Desert Gold Rush? It is rumored that the "Cyber Republic" has reached a secret agreement with China to jointly develop a world-class gold mine!]

[BBC Focus: From No Man's Land to a Land of Gold — The astonishing secret of Bir Tawil attracts global attention.]

[Twitter Global Trending List #1: #Bir Tawil Gold Mine#]

He clicked on the trending topic; posts and comments were constantly refreshing, quickly occupying the entire page.

"My god! Building a nation in the desert and then digging up a gold mine? What kind of protagonist script is this!"

"Lin Zhou is just too lucky! Is it too late to immigrate now? Requesting a 'Naturalization Application'!"

"I'm tired of saying the word 'envious.' Others are still stuck in the 996 grind, but he has already become a king and sits on a mountain of gold."

"Don't dream, upstairs. This heaven-sent wealth is backed by heaven-sized danger. Do you think the surrounding countries will just watch?"

"Too cool! It's basically a real-life version of the game 'Civilization,' starting with a piece of land and relying on exploration for all resources!"

The internet was in an uproar, with countless netizens envying his luck, regarding him as a legendary figure.

Looking at these envious comments on the screen, Lin Zhou felt no joy, only a chill spreading up his spine, making his limbs feel stiff.

The sense of stability and excitement from having thirty citizens just moments ago had been completely shattered.

He knew clearly that when this "secret" was made public, the Cyber Freedom Republic was no longer an unknown micro-nation.

This nascent country, along with the massive wealth it possessed, was now completely exposed to the covetous eyes of the whole world.