18: Chapter 18 has been read but no reply has been received. Is the big one coming?

The submission of the credentials set off a new wave of frenzy on the internet.

"The streamer is playing for real! He's actually getting involved in diplomacy!"

"The greatest performance art in history, bar none!"

"Do you guys think Egypt will reply?"

"Reply my foot. That document probably went straight into the shredder the moment they turned around."

Public opinion on the internet split into two factions.

One faction believed this was another of Lin Zhou's hype stunts, a carefully planned farce that the Egyptian authorities would never acknowledge.

The other faction believed that with the temptation of the "atmospheric water generation" black technology, there might actually be a turning point.

Lin Zhou turned off the live stream and cut off all contact with the outside world.

He locked himself in his hotel room and, together with his ace team, began a long wait.

Time passed day by day.

One day, two days, five days...

There was no response from the Egyptian Embassy, as if the message had sunk into the bottom of the ocean.

It was as if that solemnly submitted "credential" had indeed gone into the shredder, just as the netizens said.

The atmosphere within the team began to grow anxious.

"Mr. Lin, it's been a week already," the Business Expert said, pacing back and forth in the meeting room. "This is a typical cold shoulder. They haven't taken us seriously at all."

The Risk Assessment Expert also analyzed: "There are two possibilities. First, they think our technology is fake, or its value isn't as great as we imagined. Second, they are internally evaluating whether they can bypass us and crack the technology themselves."

Qin Yue's expression was also somewhat solemn. She had used some personal connections to fish for information, but the responses she got were very vague, only saying that "the higher-ups are discussing it."

The word "discussing" could have many interpretations.

"Should we initiate Plan B?" Zhang Zhe suggested. "We could try reaching out to the Sudanese Embassy in China. Create a little tension to put some pressure on the Egyptian side."

This was a contingency plan they had prepared long ago.

However, Lin Zhou unexpectedly shook his head.

"No, wait a little longer."

He leaned back in his chair, fingers tapping rhythmically on the table, his face showing no anxiety whatsoever.

"Think about it. If they were really not interested, or thought this was a scam, what would be the simplest thing to do?"

He answered his own question: "It would be to immediately issue an official statement condemning our irrational behavior and defining us as a 'cyber-fraud gang.' That would both calm their domestic public opinion and completely cut off our hopes."

When everyone heard this, they felt it made sense.

"But they didn't do that," Lin Zhou continued his analysis. "They chose silence. In diplomacy, being 'left on read' is a message in itself. What does this indicate?"

Qin Yue's eyes lit up. "It means they're tempted! They're having an intense internal struggle and can't form a unified opinion in the short term!"

"Exactly." Lin Zhou snapped his fingers. "The silence is because the temptation is large enough that they don't dare to refuse easily. It's also because the risk is large enough that they don't dare to accept easily. So they need time to argue, evaluate, and unify their thinking."

"What we need to do now is not to rush them, and certainly not to complicate things by contacting Sudan. Instead, we must stay quiet and maintain an air of mystery, letting them guess and fill in the blanks themselves. The calmer we are, the less confidence they'll have at the negotiating table."

Lin Zhou's analysis acted like a sedative, calming the entire team down.

They couldn't help but admire the young man before them; his insight into human nature and political maneuvering had reached a terrifying level.

...

Meanwhile, in Cairo.

Inside a secret meeting room of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service, smoke filled the air.

The heads of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, the military, the intelligence agencies, and the National Academy of Sciences were all gathered here.

In the center of the conference table lay the deep blue folder that Qin Yue had submitted.

The folder had been opened, and the "Negotiating Note," the technical brief, and the tempting "Draft Sovereign Entrustment Agreement" inside had been photocopied into a dozen copies and distributed to every attendee.

"A fraud! A grandstanding internet clown!" the Foreign Minister slammed the table. "We absolutely cannot recognize such an absurd 'country'! It would make us the laughingstock of the world!"

A general from the military stroked his chin, looking thoughtfully at the staggering water production data in the technical brief.

"But what if... this technology is real? Everyone, do you know what this would mean? It means our agriculture could break free from the shackles of the Nile River, and our cities could expand deep into the desert. Our strategic depth would double!"

The President of the National Academy of Sciences, a white-haired old man, adjusted his glasses and said in a heavy voice:

"We organized the country's top experts to conduct a frame-by-frame analysis of his live stream videos. From existing theories of physics and materials science, achieving this level of efficiency for atmospheric water generation at room temperature and pressure is almost impossible. Unless... he has mastered a completely new material science that we've never heard of."

"And what about that 'Sovereign Entrustment Agreement'?" the Director of the General Intelligence Service—the official who had once personally "escorted" Lin Zhou out of the country—spoke coldly. "Defense and diplomacy would be fully managed by us. This is equivalent to letting us drive a legal wedge into Bir Tawil. Whatever we do in that place in the future, Sudan will have no right to interfere. Don't you find this condition tempting?"

The meeting room fell into a heated argument.

The conservatives believed it was a trap and a political scandal.

The radicals believed it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity worth a grand gamble.

The debate lasted for a full ten days, yet there was still no conclusion.

Until the night of the tenth day.

Qin Yue's encrypted inbox suddenly received an email without any signature or subject line.

The content of the email was extremely simple, consisting only of a time and a set of coordinates.

The time was three days later.

The coordinates pointed to Zurich, in the neutral country of Switzerland.

Qin Yue immediately reported the email's content to Lin Zhou.

Lin Zhou looked at the string of coordinates, his lips pursed into a line.

He knew the fish had taken the bait.

"This isn't a formal diplomatic contact," he immediately judged. "This is an informal probe by the intelligence agencies. They want to test our depth outside of official levels first."

"Then how should I reply?" Qin Yue asked.

"Don't reply." Lin Zhou stood up and walked toward his room. "Notify Zhang Zhe and Li Mer to get ready. The three of us are going."

"Leaving now?"

"Yes, immediately." Lin Zhou looked back, his face filled with a calm confidence. "They didn't ask us to reply, which means they assume we'll go. In this kind of informal meeting, whoever loses their composure first, loses."

"Let's go to Zurich and see our old friends."