386: Chapter 386 The Deadly Cut at Forty-Four Kilometers

The wharf expansion project in the Dagon Industrial Zone was just completed last month.

The new deep-water berths are large enough to dock two 100,000-ton container ships simultaneously, and the gantry cranes at the berths are stamped with the "Dawn Heavy Industry" logo; the paint hasn't even fully dried yet.

This gantry crane was redeemed from the System Mall two weeks ago and is capable of automatically handling standardized containers without needing any operators.

Old K handed the report tablet to Zhang Cheng.

"As of midnight today, twenty-one countries around the world have opened import permits for the 'Dawn MX-1' chip.

Our market share in the six Southeast Asia countries exceeds 65%, in Africa it has broken through 40%, and in South America, it has reached 37%.

In the industry report released by Morgan Stanley this morning, the sentence 'The technological order of Southeast Asia has been rewritten by the Myanmar-Thai-Cambodia alliance' appeared in bold, and was subsequently cited on the front page of the *Wall Street Journal*."

Zhang Cheng's gaze shifted from the tablet screen to the long line of container trucks outside the construction site.

"What about Nvidia and AMD?"

"Nvidia's stock price has fallen by a cumulative 41% over the past three months.

AMD has fallen by 37%.

Both companies announced layoffs in the Southeast Asia region at the end of last month—totaling about 4,000 people."

Zhang Cheng handed the tablet back to Old K.

At the end of the factory area, another steel-structured workshop that had sprung up from the ground was wrapped tightly in blue dust-proof fabric. The brand-new logo on the fabric hadn't been unveiled yet, but the approval documents stated it clearly: Phase II Project—a dedicated production line for 3nm RF chips.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia Ministry of Education server control center.

This place was converted from the former Ministry of Defense communications hub—after the Ministry of Defense was abolished, the remaining nuclear-hardened bunker and power redundancies became the perfect breeding ground for a national data center.

The four walls of the room were lined with server cabinets taller than a person, and each cabinet panel bore the same metal nameplate: "Dawn Cloud - Phnom Penh Main Node".

The hum of cooling fans was evenly spread through the air, and the floor was covered with anti-static rubber that had a slight suction feel when stepped on.

Data traffic charts danced on the screens; five data streams representing the education, medical, transportation, finance, and election systems were clearly colored, all converging to this node via local Cambodia fiber optics, and then connecting to the core hub in Naypyidaw via an encrypted dedicated line.

Technical Director "Weng" was a Khmer man in his early thirties, but just by looking at his stride and the speed at which he scanned the screens, one could tell this man was no ordinary person.

He was not only a Death Soldiers—he was one of the first mass-produced products of the System 3.0 "Political Elite Specialization" module.

His implanted background included a PhD certificate from Télécom Paris, experience as a technical director for a World Bank digital government project in Southeast Asia, and a childhood spent growing up in Phnom Penh, speaking fluent French and Khmer with a Siem Reap accent.

"This is the school networking data from the Ministry of Education," Weng said, enlarging a set of data onto the main screen. "Of the 2,417 public schools nationwide, 2,210 have already been connected to the 'Dawn Cloud' platform.

The remainder will be completed by the end of this month.

The computer terminals installed in the server rooms of every school all use 'Longteng' chips.

Teacher training has been completed simultaneously, using courseware templates provided by the Myanmar side and localized by the Cambodia side."

He switched to the second set of data.

"Medical system—the electronic medical record systems of all provincial hospitals nationwide were switched to the cloud version last week, the imaging AI-assisted diagnosis module has been fully activated, and terminals for grassroots health clinics are being deployed.

The Ministry of Finance's full-caliber budget management system completed its integration today; from the Prime Minister's office down to village-level cashiers, every appropriation and expenditure can be traced in real-time."

He pulled up the last set.

"Communications backbone—this is connected to the link monitoring of the Cambodia Ministry of Telecommunications.

All provincial data centers across Cambodia are now using 'Longteng' processors, and the encryption standard for the fiber optic backbone uses a sub-protocol of the Federation of Myanmar 'Vega' system.

From today on, all of Cambodia's government data will circulate within this closed loop."

He paused, "A secure closed loop."

In the bottom left corner of the main screen, the object marked in a small window of the traffic map was still in a fully gray, disconnected state.

That node was the original site of the American Ream military training center.

From the moment the agreement took effect, all external data exchange for Ream was cut off.

Japan's P-3C anti-submarine aircraft had withdrawn weeks ago; now, even the residual logs left in the servers were just unreadable, abandoned sectors.

Weng glanced at it and casually dragged the small window into the Recycle Bin, his movement as light as brushing an invisible thread off his cuff.

Bangkok, Grand Palace side hall.

Rama leaned back on the carved teak throne, the holographic projection in front of him displaying the real-time grid load map of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.

His face looked even more exhausted than it had three months ago—this was a biochemical parameter deliberately adjusted by the System to match the image of a monarch who "persists in governing the country despite illness."

But in reality, his daily workload was three times that of the real King of Thailand, Maha Vajiralongkorn, before he fell ill.

"The second phase of the national grid upgrade project, the replacement of smart meters across the entire network, has reached 82% completion."

Phibun Songkhram stood below the throne to report, "The new meters are all equipped with 'Longteng' chips.

In addition, the Ministry of Transportation's vehicle identification system has been switched to the 'Dawn Cloud' platform, and the facial recognition backend for surveillance cameras in the capital region has also started using the 'Dawn MX-1'."

Rama nodded. "What about the education system?"

"All computer terminals in primary and secondary schools use 'Longteng' chips.

The Ministry of Education is currently updating the university data center servers, which is expected to be completed in six weeks."

Rama waved his hand. "Speed it up.

I want to see the data streams of all government departments in Thailand running on 'Dawn Cloud' within this year."

Phibun bowed to acknowledge the order and withdrew.

Rama was left alone in the side hall.

The grid load map on the holographic projection was cut by him into separate split-screen displays—the real-time stock index of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, preliminary data from the geological survey of the Kra Canal project, and a batch of fire-control radar systems newly received by the Thai Army Eastern Military Region, upgraded with 'Dawn MX-1' chips.

He stared at the screen, his fingers tapping a scattered rhythm on the armrest of the throne, his lips moving slightly as he silently recited a set of figures that had already been signed into the record.

Naypyidaw, Presidential Palace top-floor conference room.

In front of Zhang Cheng was a holographic engineering model floating in mid-air.

The model displayed the Isthmus of Kra—the narrowest section of the Malay Peninsula, between Chumphon Province and Ranong Province in Thailand, with a straight-line distance of only forty-four kilometers.

A blue waterway spanned the isthmus, crossing three mountain ranges, two rivers, and a swamp.

In the model, the canal channel had already been finely modeled: a dual-lane channel capable of simultaneously accommodating 300,000-ton oil tankers and 15,000 TEU container ships, with locks and breakwaters at both ends, and cutting through leveled mountain ridges in the middle.

Once the canal is opened, ships can enter the Gulf of Thailand in the Pacific Ocean directly from the Andaman Sea in the Indian Ocean, bypassing the Strait of Malacca, shortening the shipping distance by about 1,200 nautical miles and saving five to seven days of voyage time.