270: Chapter 270 A World of Spies

Inside a suite at the Yunzhou Hotel.

Chen Fan tossed his phone onto the table.

Su Wanqing walked forward and grabbed Chen Fan's arm.

"Mice die when they eat poison," Su Wanqing said, biting her lower lip. "This is a state-level intelligence agency; they have no bottom line in how they operate. Nianyao is too dangerous in Paris."

Chen Fan reached back and held Su Wanqing's hand.

"I am here," Chen Fan said in a steady tone. "They want the technology, not her life. As long as they don't have the technology, Nianyao is safe."

Su Wanqing looked at Chen Fan.

After so many years of ups and downs, she trusted this man.

Chen Fan picked up the phone and dialed Chen Haoyu's private line.

"It's been verified," Chen Fan said into the receiver. "The mastermind behind the painting theft in Paris is a commercial espionage unit under the CIA. Their target is the room-temperature superconducting material data on Nianyao's tablet."

A sharp intake of breath came from the other end of the line.

"The CIA?" Chen Haoyu's breathing quickened. "Boss, those people are all mad dogs! I will personally lead the first unit of the Shadow Guard to Paris! Within three hours, I will forcefully bring the young miss back to the country!"

"No," Chen Fan refused directly.

"Boss!" Chen Haoyu was anxious. "The young miss is out there alone, and the other party is a state-level intelligence agency. What if they get desperate and kidnap her?"

"Forcibly taking her back is the same as telling them we've noticed," Chen Fan tapped the table. "Since they've set their sights on the superconducting technology, if they don't succeed this time, they'll just use other means later. It's better to chop off the thief's hand once and for all than to guard against them for a thousand days."

Chen Haoyu was stunned.

"What do you intend to do?" Chen Haoyu asked.

"Contact Zhou Ming at the Huihuang Academy of Sciences," Chen Fan ordered. "Have him pull up the underlying data for the room-temperature superconducting material."

"Why pull the data?" Chen Haoyu didn't immediately grasp the meaning.

"Alter the data," Chen Fan sneered. "Have the experts at the academy work overtime through the night. Based on the real data, modify three core parameters. Create an entirely new data package."

Chen Fan paused for a moment.

"This new data must perform flawlessly in a laboratory environment," Chen Fan continued. "But when it comes to mass production and high-load operation connected to the national power grid, it must trigger a chain overload. I want it to become a ticking time bomb."

Chen Haoyu understood.

This was setting a trap.

A massive, earth-shattering pit capable of burying the entire Western technology industry.

"Yes!" Chen Haoyu's voice was high-pitched. "I'll get it done immediately!"

The call was disconnected.

Imperial Capital, five floors underground at the Huihuang Academy of Sciences.

The top-secret laboratory was brightly lit.

Zhou Ming, along with twelve top physicists, gathered around the supercomputer.

The sound of keyboard typing filled the room.

"Adjust the critical temperature parameter up by 0.5 percent," Zhou Ming stared at the screen. "Disguise the resistivity decay curve, and hide the thermal runaway threshold behind a cubic equation."

The experts were sweating profusely.

Faking it was harder than developing the real technology.

To deceive America's top scientists, this data had to be indistinguishable from the real thing.

Four hours later.

The supercomputer sounded a prompt.

"Done," Zhou Ming wiped the sweat from his forehead. "With this data, as long as they dare to put it into mass production and connect it to the power grid, once the load exceeds eighty percent, the superconducting material will turn into a super-strong resistor. The high heat generated in a short time will melt every substation."

Zhou Ming packaged the data and sent it to the Pangu Computing Center.

Yunzhou.

Chen Fan sat on the sofa, looking at the encrypted file transmitted to his tablet.

"The data is ready," Chen Fan dialed Chen Haoyu's number. "Use Pangu System Computing to remotely infiltrate Nianyao's tablet. Replace the real data inside. Downgrade the firewall and leave a backdoor for the Americans."

"Yes!" Chen Haoyu executed the order.

Paris, Hotel George V.

Chen Nianyao was fast asleep in bed.

The screen of the tablet on the nightstand suddenly lit up with a faint glow.

The data replacement was completed in 0.1 seconds.

At the same time.

Inside a black commercial van five kilometers away from the hotel.

Three white agents were staring at the surveillance screen in front of them.

"Boss, there's a vulnerability in the target's tablet firewall!" a hacker agent typed on the keyboard. "We've successfully connected through the backdoor installed at the art exhibition!"

The lead agent officer leaned in toward the screen.

"Can you download it?" the officer asked.

"Downloading now," the hacker agent's fingers moved rapidly. "The data volume is huge. It's the base model and core parameters for the room-temperature superconducting material! My God, we did it!"

The progress bar advanced rapidly.

One hundred percent.

"Cut the connection, clean up the traces," the officer ordered. "Transmit the data back to Langley headquarters immediately. Have the experts in Silicon Valley verify it overnight!"

Yunzhou.

Chen Fan looked at the monitoring logs sent back by the Pangu Computing Center.

The logs showed the data had been completely copied.

The other party was very cautious and had erased all traces of access.

But in front of Pangu System Computing, such concealment was meaningless.

"Boss, the fish has taken the bait," Chen Haoyu reported over the phone.

"Bring Nianyao back," Chen Fan tossed the tablet aside. "The play is over. Have Alexander send a private jet to escort her directly back to the Imperial Capital."

"Yes," Chen Haoyu agreed.

Chen Fan stood up and walked to the window.

The sky was already bright.

The morning markets in Yunzhou were starting to get lively.

Five days later.

Yunzhou, the old southern district.

Zhao's Zhajiang Noodles restaurant had been renovated.

Chen Fan sat at a table by the window, eating a bowl of steaming hot Yangchun noodles.

Su Wanqing sat opposite him, peeling garlic for him.

The phone on the table vibrated.

It was the international private line from Chen Haoyu.

Chen Fan pressed speakerphone.

"Boss, there's big news," Chen Haoyu said, speaking very fast with irrepressible excitement.

"Speak," Chen Fan ate a mouthful of noodles.

"Half an hour ago, the four major tech giants in Silicon Valley held a joint press conference," Chen Haoyu reported. "They announced they have conquered the final barrier of room-temperature superconducting technology. They displayed laboratory data that is identical to the fake data we gave them."

Chen Fan put down his chopsticks.

"What is Wall Street's reaction?" Chen Fan asked.

"They've gone crazy," Chen Haoyu laughed. "The stock prices of the four giants soared three hundred percent right at the opening. The Nasdaq index hit a record high. The US government announced they will invest one trillion dollars to build three super mass-production bases. They intend to replace the entire US power grid with superconducting materials."

"One trillion," Chen Fan grabbed a tissue and wiped his mouth. "They're investing quite heavily."

"Boss, they also put out word," Chen Haoyu continued. "Saying that China has been completely left behind in the superconducting field. The West will once again dominate the technological hegemony for the next hundred years."

Su Wanqing stopped peeling the garlic and looked at Chen Fan.

Chen Fan leaned back in his chair.

The sunlight outside shone onto the street.

"Let them revel for a few days," Chen Fan said into the phone. "The higher they build their factories, the harder they'll crash when they fall. Keep a close eye on their mass production progress and report back at any time."

"Yes!" Chen Haoyu hung up the phone.

Su Wanqing placed the peeled garlic cloves into a small dish.

"Investing one trillion dollars to build factories," Su Wanqing said softly. "When they discover there's a problem with the material, all that money will go down the drain. Several of those giants will go bankrupt."

"Bankruptcy is what they deserve," Chen Fan picked up his water glass and took a sip. "If they dare to reach into my house to steal things, they should be prepared to have their hands chopped off."

Chen Fan looked out the window.

"Wanqing," Chen Fan said.

"What is it?" Su Wanqing asked.

"Tell me, when the entire US power grid burns down on the same day," Chen Fan tapped his fingers on the table, "do you think those tycoons on Wall Street will line up to jump off buildings?"