104: Chapter 104 Undercurrents and Firewalls

September 24th, 10:00 AM. A well-dressed woman walked into the front desk of Spark Materials.

"Hello, I have an appointment for a tour at 10:00." She handed over a business card: Hong Kong Qiming Capital Partner, Lin Xue.

The receptionist was a young woman in her early twenties. She took the card, glanced at it, and smiled. "Hello, Ms. Lin. However, our company currently has no financing plans, and we do not accept visits from investment institutions."

Lin Xue—also known as Nightingale—was prepared. She took another document from her bag. "These are our investment cases in Hong Kong, including early investments in CATL and DJI. We focus on companies with disruptive technologies; immediate profitability is not a requirement."

Her tone was gentle yet confident, matching her exquisite makeup and well-tailored suit. She looked every bit the professional investor.

The young receptionist was clearly persuaded; she made an internal call. Five minutes later, a manager from the Public Relations Department walked out.

"Hello, Director Lin, I am Manager Zhang from the Public Relations Department." A man in his thirties with a professional smile. "In principle, we do not host investment institutions, but since it is Qiming Capital... Tell you what, I will take you to visit the public exhibition hall, but the laboratory and production areas are off-limits."

"Understood, understood." Nightingale smiled. "Just being able to take a look is great."

Manager Zhang led her through the corridor. Nightingale's observation was meticulous: all employees wore ID badges with chips, and entering or leaving different areas required swiping a card and iris recognition. There were inconspicuous cameras at the corners of the corridors, but to her professional eye, those cameras covered all blind spots.

The public exhibition hall was large, displaying various samples of Xinghuo's products. There was a demonstration board for "Shadow" material—a metal plate coated with the material, with a radar reflection tester placed next to it. The data showed that the reflected signal strength was reduced by 99.7%.

Nightingale took out her phone to take a picture, but was stopped by Manager Zhang: "Sorry, photography is prohibited in the exhibition hall."

"Understood." She put away her phone, but her fingers tapped rapidly on the screen—that was the activation signal for the chip implanted under her skin. The chip began to work, encrypting everything she saw and heard and transmitting it outward through her skin.

However, she soon discovered that the mobile signal here was extremely weak. It wasn't ordinary shielding, but a type of intelligent interference—it only blocked data transmission, not voice calls. This meant that the signal emitted by her subcutaneous chip was likely also being interfered with.

She remained composed and continued the tour. In the carbon fiber exhibition area, she asked "casually": "Manager Zhang, these technologies are truly impressive. Are they developed independently by the company?"

"Of course." Manager Zhang's answer was watertight. "We have our own research institute, and our annual R&D investment accounts for 10% of our revenue."

"Then where does the R&D inspiration come from? I mean, such disruptive breakthroughs must have a catalyst, right?"

Manager Zhang smiled: "Director Lin, I'm just in the Public Relations Department, I don't know much about technical issues. However, our President Wu often says that inspiration comes from a deep understanding of customer needs."

Standard PR jargon, devoid of any real information.

The tour lasted forty minutes. Nightingale didn't obtain any valuable information. Before leaving, she proposed wanting to meet the technical lead, even if just for a brief exchange.

"President Wu is very busy recently, his schedule is fully booked." Manager Zhang politely declined. "However, I can convey your wish to visit."

Nothing gained. When Nightingale walked out of the Spark Materials building, she was calm on the surface, but her heart was turbulent. The security of this company was so tight it didn't look like a private enterprise; it looked more like a military base.

She decided to try places where employees might relax. At 1:00 PM, she walked into a coffee shop near the park. Sure enough, there were quite a few Xinghuo employees there.

Nightingale chose a corner seat, ordered an Americano, opened her laptop, and pretended to be working. Her ears, however, were capturing every word around her.

Two young engineers were sitting diagonally behind her, whispering to each other.

"That Director Chen from Shenfei yesterday was really impressive; he spotted at a glance that our coating might blister in a hot and humid environment." The speaker was a boy wearing glasses.

Another girl with short hair nodded: "President Wu has already initiated a project to solve it, saying we should add a nano-hydrophobic layer. We're doing the experiment this week."

The boy lowered his voice: "Seriously, where does all this technology of ours actually come from? I feel like... we just suddenly knew how to do it. This time last year, we were still worrying about T500-grade carbon fiber, and this year we've made something better than T1100."

The girl looked around vigilantly: "Shh! President Su said, do your own job and don't ask about things you shouldn't. Anyway, the technology is ours, the salary and bonuses are paid in full, why bother asking so much."

"That's true." The boy laughed. "It's just curious. It feels like playing a game with cheats enabled."

The two finished their coffee and left. Nightingale sat where she was, her fingers tapping rapidly under the table—this was an information encoding method she had been trained in, converting the conversation she just heard into encrypted information.

"Internal staff are confused about the source of technology," "There is a feeling of 'suddenly knowing how'," "Senior management forbids discussing the source."

These fragmented pieces of information confirmed the CIA's suspicion—Xinghuo's technology might not have been developed through conventional paths.

But what path was it exactly? She needed more information.

At the same time, at the Xingchen Academy of Sciences on Dapeng Peninsula.

Su Chen was inspecting the park's security upgrades. Accompanying him were Li Jianfeng and a security consultant group sent by the national security department.

"The perimeter wall has been reinforced with three layers of protection." Li Jianfeng pointed to the map. "The outermost layer is vibration sensors; any touch will trigger an alarm. The middle layer is infrared beams, one every five meters. The innermost layer is a high-voltage pulse electric fence—non-lethal, but capable of instantly incapacitating a person."

"What about the drone defense system?" Su Chen asked.

"It has been deployed." The head of the security consultant group, a man in his forties with an ordinary appearance but sharp eyes, replied. "A five-kilometer radius has been set as a no-fly zone. Any unauthorized drone that enters will be jammed and forced to land. We are also testing a laser anti-drone system, which can be put into use next month."

Su Chen nodded and turned to cybersecurity: "How is the data protection?"

"We have built a dedicated quantum encrypted communication network with Huawei." The person in charge pulled up the architecture diagram. "All R&D data is stored locally and is not connected to the external network. When transmission is required, it goes through a quantum encrypted channel. With current technology, it is theoretically impossible to crack."

They walked into the data center. Huge server cabinets were neatly arranged with indicator lights flashing. But the most eye-catching thing was an independent glass room in the center of the server room—inside was only one supercomputer, without any connection cables.

"What is this?" Su Chen asked.

"A physically isolated server." The person in charge explained. "It stores the most core technical data. It is not connected to any network; data input and output are handled via dedicated interfaces by designated personnel, with full monitoring. To steal the data, you would have to move the entire machine away."

Su Chen looked at Li Jianfeng: "What about personnel management?"

"All core researchers have signed lifetime confidentiality agreements." Li Jianfeng reported. "Background checks on immediate family members have been completed. All personnel's communication devices are regularly checked, and monitoring software is installed on office computers. In addition, monthly anti-espionage training has been conducted three times."

They came to the Academician work area. Li Weimin, André Dupont, Robert Chen, Zhang Mingyuan, Academician of the US National Academy of Sciences, Former Intel Chief Process Architect, James Wilson, and other five Academicians were discussing chip design issues. Seeing Su Chen, Li Weimin waved: "Su Chen, just in time, there's a question..."

Su Chen walked over, but did not discuss technology. He looked at the five old experts, whose average age was over sixty-five, and said solemnly: "Old Li, André, teachers, there is something I need to disclose to you."

He briefly explained the situation of the security upgrade and then said: "From today on, your work will receive the highest level of protection. But at the same time, it will also be subject to the highest level of surveillance—from our own security department, as well as external national security protection. If anyone contacts you in any form, promising money or fame, please report it immediately."

Li Weimin laughed: "I'm a seventy-two-year-old man, what do I need money for? Want money? The money Xinghuo gives me is more than I could spend in several lifetimes."

André Dupont's expression was more serious: "I have experienced commercial espionage at ASML. But this time... it feels different. This time it is war, only the battlefield is in the laboratory, and the weapons are beakers and microscopes."

"It is exactly war." Su Chen nodded. "A war without smoke. And you are the most precious generals in this war."

After leaving the Academician area, the head of the security consultant group said to Su Chen: "President Su, we have detected abnormal signals appearing around the park recently. There are professional personnel scouting our security layout. In addition, yesterday there were foreign personnel attempting to contact Spark Materials employees."

"Do you know their identities?"

"Still verifying, but it is highly likely to be CIA personnel." The person in charge lowered his voice. "We suggest that core technical personnel reduce public activities recently. You yourself should also best not go abroad."

Su Chen frowned: "But next month, the chip team is going to Germany to negotiate equipment procurement, and Red Flag engineers are also going to Europe for training. These trips cannot be canceled. I will not be going abroad in the near future, please rest assured about that."

The person in charge thought for a moment: "Then we will strengthen the accompanying security. We will arrange for professional personnel to blend into the team to protect them throughout the journey. But President Su, you must understand—you are now a strategic asset under key protection by the country. Your safety is the safety of these technologies."

At 10:00 PM that night, Su Chen received an encrypted satellite call in his office.

The other party's voice was processed, but the tone was very formal: "Comrade Su Chen, I am the head of a certain bureau of the national security department, codenamed 'Zhulong'. We have confirmed that at least three batches of foreign intelligence personnel have attempted to contact the core team of Xinghuo. One of the batches is confirmed to have CIA background."

Su Chen gripped the phone: "What do you need me to do?"

"First, do not go abroad recently. Second, core technical personnel should reduce public activities. Third, we have arranged for a security team to move in, but it requires your cooperation." 'Zhulong' paused. "In addition, we detected that your communications may be monitored. It is suggested that you use the encrypted devices we provide for important calls."

"I agree to all arrangements." Su Chen said. "But regarding the technical personnel going abroad, it really cannot be canceled. That equipment company in Germany has the ion implanter we urgently need, and we must send people to negotiate."

'Zhulong' was silent for a few seconds: "Then go. But we will strengthen protection. In addition..." He hesitated for a moment. "May I ask a question? Those material technologies, as well as the breakthroughs in chips... what is the source?"

This question was very sensitive. Su Chen knew what the other party was worried about—worried that these technologies were obtained through illegal means, worried that it would bring diplomatic trouble to the country.

"The source is absolutely safe and absolutely controllable." Su Chen said word by word. "I can only say this much. But please believe that all of Xinghuo's technologies are developed by ourselves. No theft, no violations, and certainly no intervention from external forces."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a long time.

"Understood." 'Zhulong' finally said. "Keep in touch. Also, keep that card safe. If you encounter difficulties that cannot be solved, you can use it."

He was referring to the confidential phone number the Great Elder gave to Su Chen.

The call ended. Su Chen stood by the window, looking at the night view of Shenzhen. The city was still brightly lit, with traffic like a weave, a scene of peace and prosperity.

But beneath this calm appearance, undercurrents had already begun to surge. The breakthrough in technology brought glory, but it also attracted prying eyes. Xinghuo had already changed from a commercial company to a pawn in the country's strategic game.

"No, not a pawn." Su Chen thought. "We want to be the ones playing the game."

He opened the safe and took out the card with only a number on it. The plastic card was very ordinary, but the power and trust it represented were as heavy as a thousand jun.

Outside the window, an airplane streaked across the night sky, leaving a long contrail. Like a light cutting through the darkness.

Beneath the deep water, the game had already begun. And Xinghuo must swim to the deepest part of this game.