121: Chapter 121 The entire ship explodes with explosives! The only one who's eloquent is on the blacklist.
At the Pearl Harbor Naval Base, the lights in the Operations Department's meeting room stayed on all night.
The leaden morning light sliced through the blinds, falling onto a table full of inspection reports. The items circled in red as 'unqualified' were dense and shocking.
Admiral Jensen slammed his fist onto the solid wood tabletop, making the coffee cup rattle.
"Speak! What are the final census results?"
The technical staff officer looked at the report in his hand, hesitated for a long time, and then forced himself to speak: "Admiral, of the 28 active arleigh burke-class destroyers, the low-temperature impact toughness of the hull steel in 22 of them fails to meet the standards. It's the same failure mode as the sunken Japanese freighter!"
"It's not just the destroyers!" another engineer responsible for nuclear submarine inspections chimed in. "We followed the procurement records. The Ticonderoga-class cruisers and Virginia-class attack submarines all use the same series of military-grade steel from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries!"
"From 1985 to now, for thirty years, it's all been this batch of goods!"
The meeting room fell into a dead silence instantly.
Everyone understood what this meant.
The cockroach effect: when you find one cockroach in a room, it means a whole nest has already been breeding in the dark corners.
Fraud in one place means fraud everywhere.
Veins popped on Admiral Jensen's forehead. He grabbed a report and slammed it hard onto the table, roaring: "Investigate! Investigate it to the death! I want to see who has the audacity to cover up this thirty-year-long fraud!"
...
A few days later, in the interrogation room of the Military Police at Pearl Harbor Naval Base.
The harsh white interrogation light shone on Mary Thomas's face. Facing the questioning, this middle-aged woman didn't show much fear. She even seemed somewhat... self-righteous, feeling the military had arrested the wrong person, without the slightest panic of guilt.
She was the former metallurgical supervisor of the Tacoma Foundry and the 'mastermind' the Navy task force had arrested overnight.
The military policeman in charge of the interrogation slapped a stack of falsified test cards in front of her and questioned sternly: "Ms. Thomas, from 1985 to 2014, you forged positive results for all 240 steel strength tests. Is that a fact?"
"Yes." Thomas lifted her eyelids, her tone as flat as if she were saying the weather was nice today.
"Why did you change the data?!"
"Because the -100 degrees Fahrenheit low-temperature impact test required by the Navy is simply stupid." Mary Thomas sneered, leaning back in her chair. "When does the seawater in the Pacific ever freeze to that temperature? Why should I be so strict about a test that's never used?"
The interrogating military policeman was stunned, unable to react for a long time.
They thought they would hear excuses about corruption or kickbacks, but the old woman's reason was actually that she found the client's standards 'stupid'.
The military policeman slammed the table: "Do you have any idea what you changed?! For the impact toughness of every batch of steel, you casually changed the test results from 20 foot-pounds to 100 foot-pounds! Just to let unqualified steel pass inspection!"
"So what?" Thomas rolled her eyes. "It's been so many years. Which submarine has sunk? Even the Navy's own tests didn't say there was a problem with the hull structure. What are you all getting so worked up about?"
Outside the interrogation room, behind the one-way glass, Admiral Jensen's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.
The legal officer behind him reported in a low voice: "Admiral, the foundry was acquired by Bradken in 2008. The company management insists they only discovered the fraud in 2014 and were completely unaware before then, and then they pushed all the responsibility onto Thomas."
"And what about the Navy's procurement and inspection department? Thirty years of fraud, were they blind?" Admiral Jensen asked through gritted teeth.
The legal officer gave a bitter smile and said nothing.
Everyone knew exactly what was going on.
A 67-year-old woman couldn't possibly have hidden this for thirty years on her own.
From the foundry to the procurement department, from the inspectors to the Congressional Military Committee, everyone on the entire industry chain was turning a blind eye.
Now that the ship has sunk and the bomb has exploded, someone has to take the fall.
This retired old woman is the perfect scapegoat.
The interrogation continued.
Thomas's lawyer walked in and handed over a statement, reading it righteously to the camera: "My client only took shortcuts and never intended to compromise the integrity of the Navy's vessels."
"She had no greedy motives and did not profit from it; she simply had a different opinion on the Navy's testing standards. She regrets not sticking to her moral principles, but she is also relieved that government testing proves no submarines were damaged by her actions."
The engineer behind the one-way glass cursed out loud on the spot: "Relieved? Does she know that because of those few numbers she changed, the Navy has to spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year on extra safety reinforcements for this scrap steel?!"
Admiral Jensen turned and left, unable to watch this absurd farce any longer.
He finally understood.
It wasn't just fraud in one place; the entire American shipbuilding and military-industrial system was rotten to the core.
...
In the meeting room, the atmosphere was even more oppressive than before.
"Admiral, the plan for replacing the steel for the entire fleet is out." The Logistics Chief placed the report on the table and sighed tiredly, "Whew, replacing the entire fleet with qualified steel will cost 120 billion dollars and take at least fifteen years."
"Congress will never approve this budget. And... our domestic steel mills can no longer produce steel that meets military standards."
The meeting room was deathly silent.
Their globally dominant US Navy had dozens of capital ships floating at sea, all of which were tin cans that could snap in half at any time, yet they didn't even have the capability to replace the steel.
Just as everyone was falling into despair, an inspector in the corner suddenly stood up, his voice trembling with disbelief:
"Admiral! There are two ships! The test results show some areas are qualified! They even... even exceed the military standard requirements in every performance metric!"
"What?! How is that possible?"
They found gold in a pile of rat droppings?
Everyone immediately crowded around.
On the projection screen, it was clearly the destroyer USS Truxtun and the supply ship USNS Supply, which had just finished repairs at the Yellowstone Shipyard.
The inspector pointed at the report and explained: "We conducted seventeen rounds of low-temperature impact tests. In an environment of minus 73.3 degrees Celsius, the impact energy of this batch of steel stabilized at 150 foot-pounds, with a yield strength of 850 MPa—more than double the military standard value claimed by Mitsubishi!"
"Its fatigue resistance and fracture resistance completely crush all steel currently used in active vessels!"
Admiral Jensen stared at the report, his heart full of mixed emotions.
This was the only life-saving straw in their desperate situation!
"Whose steel was used? Trace the source immediately!"
"We found it!" An adjutant rushed in, his expression extremely strange. "It was repaired by the Yellowstone DYB Shipyard. The origin of this batch of steel... is East Asia's Ansteel."
The meeting room instantly became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Everyone looked at each other, their faces full of absurdity and disbelief.
The US military-grade steel they had boasted about and pursued for decades was a fake with forged data.
The East Asian steel they had put on the Congressional blacklist and strictly forbidden from procurement was the only real thing that could save their lives.
"Absurd! This is simply a monumental absurdity!" Admiral Jensen slammed his fist on the table, both angry and laughing, his face turning the color of pig liver.
Just then, the military-industrial supervisor sent by Congress suddenly stood up and shouted sternly, his neck stiff:
"No! This batch of steel absolutely cannot be used! All steel enterprises from East Asia have been on the prohibited procurement blacklist set by Congress five years ago! Using it would be a serious violation!"
"Violation?" The chief engineer in charge of testing exploded on the spot, throwing the report in his face. "Can a 'violation' keep a warship from snapping in half in the ocean? The 'compliant' steel is all fragile junk. Tell me, is the lives of the sailors more important, or that piece of scrap paper you call a list?!"
"I don't care! The list was set by Congress! Using anything on the blacklist is simply not allowed!" the supervisor shouted back, refusing to budge.
He had no choice; the annual public relations fees Mitsubishi Heavy Industries gave them had already been turned into their private yachts.
If East Asian steel really entered the US military procurement list, his benefactor would cut off all his financial paths.
The meeting room instantly erupted into a chaotic mess.
The Navy pragmatists wanted to save the ships and lives, while the Congressional supervisor clung stubbornly to compliance. After three full hours of arguing, the final decision left everyone dumbfounded.
DYB Shipyard was found to have violated regulations by using prohibited steel. The project's final payment of 680 million dollars was withheld in full and would not be paid.
The two repaired ships would temporarily remain in active service.
Mitsubishi was kicked off the procurement list.
After the meeting adjourned, Admiral Jensen retreated to his office and leaned back in his chair, his face full of exhaustion.
He was only a year away from retirement, and his influence in the Navy was no longer what it used to be. Unless he received special approval from the Secretary of Defense, there was no way he could serve until 81 like Admiral Hyman Rickover, the 'Father of the Nuclear Navy'.
That 100 million dollar PR fee hadn't arrived yet; he didn't want the bird in his hand to fly away, and he certainly didn't want to take the blame for the Navy's collapse before he retired.
...
Yellowstone Shipyard, top-floor office.
Fu Haoran hung up the phone, his fingers crushing the water cup in his hand.
Tea mixed with glass shards dripped onto the expensive solid wood floor, but he didn't seem to feel it and let out a laugh.
"Heh, a fraudster can still be awarded the Charles W. Briggs Memorial Technical and Operating Medal to honor her 'outstanding contributions' to metallurgy? I think it's to honor her for being a scapegoat."
Fu Haoran's anger flared up instantly.
"In the Warhammer World, I guarded against old aristocrats, Genestealers, and the Horus Heresy, walking on thin ice every day, planning every step carefully."
"In the 2K World, I just wanted to quietly fleece some sheep and build up resources for the Hive City's infrastructure and armaments."
"And now a bunch of vermin actually dare to ride on my head? A bunch of unqualified products have no problems, but I, the only one who's qualified, don't get my final payment!"
"Do they really think this Hive Governor and Reincarnators is made of clay?"
For this batch of steel, the price he got from back home was 4,200 yuan per ton. Even with shipping and tariffs, the cost was only one-third of Mitsubishi's quote.
For repairing two ships, his total cost was only 120 million dollars. Even if the final payment was withheld, he wouldn't lose money.
But Fu Haoran couldn't swallow this insult.
That was nearly 700 million in final payments!
These people set the rules, these people committed the fraud, and in the end, they want to withhold his money and shut down his shipyard?
There is no such logic in this world.
"Jarvis." Fu Haoran looked up, his tone terrifyingly calm.
"I'm here, sir."
"Send the complete, hard evidence of the US Navy's fleet-wide steel fraud anonymously to all major global media outlets."
"Also, send the complete evidence chain of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries reselling East Asian steel and thirty years of data fraud to the Japan Maritime Bureau, the EU Shipbuilding Association, and the domestic military-industrial system."
Fu Haoran stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the busy docks below, a murderous intent surging in his eyes.
"They want to play dirty? Fine."
"I'll see who dies first once this fig leaf is ripped away."
...
In Fuzhou, at the National Security Bureau Special Task Force office.
Old Professor Lin Peiyuan sat slumped in his chair, holding two inspection reports. Overnight, several more strands of white hair had appeared at his temples.
One was the actual test data of the US military's Mitsubishi steel, which didn't even reach 60% of its nominal value.
The other was the domestic steel used by Fu Haoran, with performance metrics far exceeding the US military standards.
His fingers trembled violently as he repeatedly muttered the words etched into his bones.
"If all this data is fake... then has our struggle to catch up for all these decades also been fake?"
The sky outside was beginning to brighten. The old man sat in the empty office, holding his head, unable to sleep all night.