31: Chapter 31: Someone Has Their Eyes on the Nation's Treasure
The news of the success of the "Kuafu Project" did not leak to the outside world at all, unlike the time with the East Sea Purification Tower.
On the contrary, the matter was kept strictly under wraps and was directly classified as top secret.
The entire project base, along with the surrounding hundred miles of land, was designated as a military restricted zone.
The official explanation given to the public was: a new mineral deposit had been discovered, and the area was being cordoned off for exploration.
But there is no such thing as an airtight wall in this world.
Scattered, strange occurrences still managed to spread through various gossip channels.
For example, some people noticed that the meteorological satellite imagery of the Northwest region looked wrong; in a desert so dry it was practically smoking, the water vapor content in the sky kept rising—rising to an unscientific degree.
Another example: the nation's strategic grain reserves and all sorts of supplies began being shipped to the Northwest as if they were free.
The scale of that logistics operation was even larger than that of a major military exercise.
Furthermore, the country's top experts in botany, ecology, and even sociology were all taken away by private planes under the guise of "secret missions" and were never heard from again.
To the common people, these events were just fodder for post-meal conversation.
But for those sharp-nosed top-tier players, behind every signal could lie an opportunity to change the world.
In the capital, inside a top-tier private club that was not open to the public.
In an antique-style tea room, incense was burning brightly.
A man in his fifties, wearing a handmade Tang suit and gold-rimmed glasses, was unhurriedly brewing a pot of Dahongpao tea.
His demeanor showed that he was a man accustomed to giving orders.
He was the boss of the Huanyu Group, Chairman Qian Boan.
Thirty years ago, he was just a building materials trader, but through keen insight and ruthless actions, he managed to roll that into a trillion-dollar business empire.
"Director Zhou, try this. It's some newly arrived mother-tree Dahongpao. See how it tastes?" Chairman Qian Boan pushed a cup of tea across the table.
Sitting opposite him was none other than Director Zhou from a certain physics research institute in the capital, the same man who had previously backed Dr. Li and tried to sabotage the "Kuafu Project."
At this moment, Director Zhou's face was dark.
He had received the news immediately after Dr. Li was arrested.
Following that, he lost contact with all the people he had planted on the periphery.
He knew that this time, he had truly hit a hard wall.
"Chairman Qian, I have no heart for drinking this."
Director Zhou picked up the teacup, didn't even look at it, and set it down heavily. "I came here today to ask for your help to get my good-for-nothing student... out."
Chairman Qian Boan chuckled, took a sip of tea, and replied unhurriedly: "Director Zhou, the offense your student committed is not small.
He touched the nation's current apple of its eye.
At this critical juncture, whoever tries to fish him out will fall in with him.
I cannot help with this."
"You!" Director Zhou was choked up, not expecting such a blunt refusal.
"However..." Chairman Qian Boan shifted his tone, his eyes behind his lenses gleaming with calculation. "I can't get the person out, but the thing you're worrying about, I might be able to help you handle."
He set down his teacup, leaned forward, and lowered his voice.
"Director Zhou, aren't you worried that that little girl surnamed Jiang, along with her so-called 'new technology,' will overturn your current scientific research system entirely and turn you veterans into useless antiques?"
Director Zhou's expression changed drastically; these words were like a knife, stabbing right into the place he feared most in his heart.
He had been desperate to suppress Jiang Ning; while he claimed it was for the sake of "scientific rigor," in his bones, he was just afraid of being eliminated by the times.
"You... what are you trying to say?"
"I want to say that our enemy might be the same person."
Chairman Qian Boan leaned back in his chair. "I'm not interested in that girl's 'metaphysics,' but I am very interested in her ability to turn stones into gold."
He tapped his fingers on the table.
"Director Zhou, you might not know this yet. The information I received is that the 'Kuafu Project' is not about mining at all."
"They have forcibly created The Oasis in the desert."
"Water is being squeezed out of rocks.
Energy is coming from thin air.
I heard that whatever they plant in that land grows, and they can harvest a year's worth of grain in three months."
With every sentence Chairman Qian Boan spoke, Director Zhou's eyes widened a little more.
"This... this is impossible! This violates the laws of nature!" he exclaimed.
"In the face of money, any law can be changed."
Chairman Qian Boan curled his lips into a smile. "A desert The Oasis that can continuously produce water, energy, and grain... Director Zhou, tell me, how much is this thing worth?"
Director Zhou didn't say anything; his brain was buzzing from the shock.
"It's priceless," Chairman Qian Boan answered himself. "Whoever holds it in their hands holds the future."
"So," he stared at Director Zhou, "I need your help.
I need to know everything about that girl surnamed Jiang and everything about that project.
Especially, can her technology be replicated? Or... stolen?"
Director Zhou's heart was pounding wildly.
He understood what Chairman Qian Boan meant.
This dragon from the business world had set its sights on the nation's "seed of civilization."
He wanted to turn this treasure of the nation into his own!
This man was simply insane!
But for some reason, the fear in Director Zhou's heart found an outlet in Chairman Qian Boan's crazy plan.
If Chairman Qian Boan actually succeeded, that girl surnamed Jiang and her technology would have to roll down from their pedestal.
The old system he represented might be able to catch its breath again.
"I... why should I trust you?" Director Zhou asked, struggling.
Chairman Qian Boan smiled.
He took a document from his pocket and pushed it over.
"Just because of this.
I have already asked a few 'old friends' and obtained an official 'inspection' quota.
Next week, my people will enter the 'Kuafu' base under the guise of 'exploring a public-private partnership model.'"
"My son, Vice President Qian Feng, will lead the team personally."
He looked at Director Zhou with eyes like a starving wolf.
"Director Zhou, the old era is coming to an end.
But who holds the tickets to the new era is not yet certain."
"Now, are you getting on my boat or not?"
Director Zhou looked at the inspection approval document stamped with the red seal, then thought about his student whose life and death were uncertain, and his own precarious academic status.
In the end, he nodded.
In this small tea room, a shadow war targeting the nation's top secret had just begun.