29: Chapter 29: The Appointed Ambassador! An infrastructure engineer is perfectly suited for diplomacy!

Cairo.

In the city center, a street-corner cafe filled with the scent of tobacco and espresso.

Lin Zhou sat on a wobbly wooden chair.

Opposite him sat a man with dark skin, dried cement dust still embedded in his fingernails.

Zhao Li.

He had been grinding away in Egypt for twelve years.

His resume bore no stamps from Harvard or Yale.

Only dense records of highway mileage, bridge load capacities, and a few police reports from being extorted by local thugs.

Among the 100,000 resumes submitted to the "Cyber Republic" official website, this one looked most like a crumpled construction order.

Lin Zhou picked up his cup and took a sip of the bitter liquid.

"Mr. Zhao, do you know why I chose to meet you instead of those PhDs from diplomatic academies?"

Zhao Li shifted uneasily, rubbing his rough hands against his faded jeans.

"Leader Lin, I... I really don't know. I was just drunk, made a bet with my coworkers, and submitted it on a whim."

He chuckled, revealing teeth stained yellow by local tobacco.

"I'm just a road builder; what would I know about national affairs?"

Lin Zhou put down his cup and tapped his fingertips lightly against the table.

"I don't need you to understand national affairs."

"I need you to understand the appetite of that fat minister at the Cairo Ministry of Transport."

"I need you to understand what brand of cigars the folks at the Suez Canal customs office prefer."

"I need you to know how to get a train loaded with steel bars to depart Alexandria on time within three days."

Zhao Li froze.

The unease in his eyes gradually vanished, replaced by a professional shrewdness.

"Leader Lin, you're not looking for an ambassador."

"You're looking for a general contractor."

Lin Zhou smiled.

"Exactly."

"The Cyber Republic doesn't need gentlemen swirling wine glasses at cocktail parties."

"We need a tough guy who can connect the power grid to the Bir Tawil desert."

"Can you handle those departments?"

Zhao Li was silent for a moment.

He pulled a locally produced, low-quality cigarette from his pocket, didn't light it, but just held it to his nose and sniffed.

"Saleh at the Ministry of Transport, I've had drinks with him five times, and I was the one who pulled strings to get his youngest son's study abroad application processed."

"As for customs, as long as you grease the wheels properly, you could get a permit for a rock."

"But, Leader Lin, this is a dangerous business."

Lin Zhou pulled a document he had prepared earlier from his breast pocket.

It was an appointment letter printed on heavy, specialized paper.

On the cover, the Cyber Republic's gear and circuit board emblem shimmered with a cold light.

"From now on, you are the ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Cyber Republic to Egypt."

"Your annual salary will be triple your highest-earning year in engineering."

"If the country falls, I will personally cover your losses."

"If the country succeeds, you will be a founding father."

The 1 billion USD in the nation-building fund was meant for exactly this moment.

Zhao Li's breathing became heavy.

He looked at the appointment letter as if looking at a ticket to another world.

He stood up abruptly.

The movement was so forceful that he bumped and tilted the coffee table.

"Leader Lin, I'll take the job!"

"As long as the money is there, I can get the Egyptian President's office phone line connected to your nightstand!"

Lin Zhou reached out and shook that calloused hand firmly.

"Very good, ambassador Zhao."

"Your first task: get the road permit for the road to Bir Tawil."

"I want to see bulldozers breaking ground next week."

When they left the cafe, the Cairo sun was still scorching.

Lin Zhou didn't return to the hotel; instead, he went straight to the temporary office where Qin Yue and Zhang Zhe were staying.

It was a rented apartment, the living room piled high with legal documents and maps.

"The Provisional Management Committee is officially established today."

Lin Zhou stood before the map, his tone unquestionable.

"Qin Yue, you are in charge of coordination; you are my eyes and ears."

"Zhang Zhe, take the legal team and go to Sudan."

Zhang Zhe adjusted his glasses, his expression grave.

"The situation in Sudan is much more complex than in Egypt; they are very sensitive about territorial sovereignty."

Lin Zhou held up five fingers.

"Fifty million dollars."

"This is your negotiation limit."

"I don't care what methods you use, whether it's bribing border officials or funding their infrastructure projects."

"What I want is legal tacit approval and absolute clearance for the southern passage."

Zhang Zhe gasped.

"Fifty million? Leader Lin, that's enough money to buy the loyalty of an entire division at the Sudanese border."

"Then go buy it."

Lin Zhou turned around and looked at the bustling traffic outside the window.

"Don't waste my time on problems that money can solve."

"Our goal is the stars and the sea, not haggling in the mud with them."

After giving all the instructions, Lin Zhou felt an unprecedented sense of exhaustion.

He waved his hand, signaling everyone to get to work.

The room fell silent.

He pulled out his phone and opened the flight booking app to return home.

His finger hovered over the "First Class" option for half a second.

Then, he opened his personal account balance.

The string of numbers made him curl his lips in self-mockery.

Every cent of the crowdfunded money had gone into server maintenance and initial procurement.

The 1 billion USD awarded by the system was the "National Development Fund," locked tightly in a public account.

As the Leader, he could authorize a 50 million USD bribe.

But he couldn't use that money to buy himself a Häagen-Dazs.

His current personal assets weren't even enough for a business class ticket back home.

"How ironic."

He whispered.

The search results popped up on the screen.

EgyptAir, red-eye flight.

Departs at 3 AM, connecting through Dubai, economy class.

Ticket price: 4,200 RMB.

Lin Zhou pressed the pay button.

His fingers felt a bit stiff as he entered the password.

Payment successful.

He leaned back against the sofa, watching the peeling paint on the ceiling.

Who would have thought that a man who had just waved away 50 million USD was now scrounging to save a few thousand yuan by taking a red-eye flight?

True nation-building is never about sitting on a throne and issuing orders.

It is about digging out the cornerstones of the future, bit by bit, in the mud.

He closed his eyes, and the desolate land of Bir Tawil appeared in his mind.

Soon, the roar of machinery would echo there.

And he, he had to return to that domestic battlefield filled with skepticism and noise.

To face the next storm.