126: Chapter 126 Seventeen Kingdoms Flee! Dragon Kingdom Navy: Are You Sure You Want to Come?

Inside the Y-20B cabin, 6:11 PM.

Su Che was shaken awake by turbulence.

The plane was passing through a patch of turbulence, and the fuselage shook twice. His head slipped off the hoodie he was using as a pillow, hitting the edge of the bench.

"Hiss!!!"

He rubbed his head and sat up, the blanket sliding down to his waist.

The light in the cabin had dimmed significantly, and the sky outside the porthole had shifted from white to orange-red.

Lin Waner was not on the bench opposite him.

The insulated food jar was still there, and next to it were a bottle of mineral water and a peeled orange, the segments arranged neatly on a paper towel.

Su Che picked up the orange and popped two segments into his mouth; it was sour, making his teeth ache.

Qin Lan was sitting next to the equipment crate, facing a tactical tablet, without looking up.

"You slept for three hours and eight minutes."

"Who told you to time me?"

"Lieutenant General Peng's exact words: 'If he dares to wake up early, knock him out for me.'"

Su Che downed half a bottle of mineral water, screwed on the cap, and took his own tablet to unlock it.

The first message was a situation report sent by Lieutenant General Peng.

Timestamp: 4:47 PM.

[After the Golden Dome shut down completely, communication across all of Dragon Country has been restored, and early warning radars are back online.]

[The Southern Theater Command Navy's Shandong carrier strike group has advanced from the northern South China Sea to the Bashi Channel, and all 36 J-35s in the formation have taken off fully armed, entering combat patrol.]

[The North Sea Fleet's Liaoning carrier strike group has maneuvered across regions to the eastern sea area, and the 32-jet J-15T formation has entered Level 1 combat readiness.]

[The five 10,000-ton Type 055 destroyers, "Nanchang," "Lhasa," "Dalian," "Yanan," and "Anshan," have all departed port, and the strike network now covers the entire First Island Chain.]

[The Rocket Force's DF-26B anti-ship ballistic missiles have all entered Level 1 combat readiness, and the launch vehicles have completed deployment to their positions.]

Su Che finished reading this, orange fiber still stuck between his teeth.

The second message. Timestamp: 5:03 PM.

[Feather-01 patrol log update:]

[Coalition fleet dynamics change—]

[Two "Sejong the Great"-class and one "Dokdo"-class ships from the ROK have detached from the formation, reduced speed to 8 knots, changed course to the southeast, and are returning to Jeju.]

[Two Philippine Navy "Jose Rizal"-class frigates have stopped engines and are drifting, not following the formation forward.]

[Three Australian "Hobart"-class destroyers and one "Canberra"-class amphibious ship have turned and detached.]

[Four Canadian "Halifax"-class frigates have turned and detached.]

[As of 17:00, the total number of ships confirmed to have detached from the coalition formation: 31, involving 17 countries.]

[Remaining ships in the formation: 147.]

From 178 down to 147. Seventeen countries had quit.

Su Che scrolled down. The third message was an intelligence analysis forwarded by Qin Lan.

[Following the collapse of the Golden Dome, the total destruction of Ame-no-Murakumo, and the interception of all 1134 missiles, serious divisions have emerged within the coalition.]

[After an emergency cabinet meeting at the ROK Presidential Palace, they ordered their navy to fully withdraw. According to intercepted communications, the ROK President's exact words were: "This is not Judgment Day; this is a funeral day."]

[Australia, Canada, the Philippines, and other countries detached on their own, citing "insufficient supplies" or "equipment failure."]

[Six countries from the North Atlantic organization are drafting a joint statement, the gist of which is: "Suggesting a suspension of military operations and the initiation of diplomatic consultations."]

Su Che placed the tablet on his lap.

A missile rain was launched, and not a single one landed.

The deck of the JS Izumo was burned through, and the Rising Sun flag was burned to ashes in front of the whole world.

The deterrent power of these two things combined was more effective than any diplomatic rhetoric.

More importantly, Dragon Country's own military power had been displayed.

Two carrier strike groups, five Type 055 destroyers, and the DF series anti-ship missile groups.

These weren't something Su Che had conjured up; they were the foundation built by Dragon Country's military industry over decades.

Su Che's black technology was the spearhead, while Dragon Country's conventional military force was the spear shaft.

Without the shaft, the tip couldn't pierce; without the tip, the shaft couldn't kill.

He picked up the water bottle and took another drink.

Gao Jian walked over from the direction of the cockpit.

"Engineer Su, Lieutenant General Peng is calling, asking if you're awake."

"I'm awake. Put him through."

Gao Jian handed over the encrypted handheld communication device.

"Good afternoon, Chief Engineer Su. Make good use of the last forty minutes." Lieutenant General Peng's voice was a bit more relaxed than before, but only a bit.

"I've seen the situation; seventeen have run off."

"Those who ran were just making up the numbers; the real hardliners are still here. Not a single one of the seven carrier strike groups the Eagle Country fully mobilized has withdrawn. As for Sakura Country, apart from the JS Izumo being towed back for repairs, the rest haven't left either."

"147 ships—is that enough to fight?"

"You don't need to fight them." Lieutenant General Peng's tone deepened slightly. "The fire control data for the DF-26B is already locked in. The Rocket Force guys update the latitude and longitude of every single one of those 147 ships every five minutes. Once they enter within 200 nautical miles of our territorial sea baseline, the first salvo of 348 missiles will be enough to give them a headache."

Su Che popped the last two orange segments into his mouth and chewed a few times.

"Then I'll focus on R&D with peace of mind."

"It's time for you to focus. How do you plan to handle that luan bird truss?"

Su Che stopped chewing; the orange juice in his mouth was so sour it made his eyelid twitch.

"I have the blueprints and technology in my head. After arriving at Pangu Laboratory, I'll first organize the blueprints and plans, then calculate the materials and schedule the processes."

"How long do you need?"

"At least three days for the truss verification section."

"Three days, are you sure?"

"General, last time you asked me how long for the engine, I said thirty hours, and it actually took twenty-eight."

"Alright, land first. I've already notified Pangu; you'll be just like at home when you go in."

"By the way..." Su Che swallowed the orange. "Where is Lin Waner?"

"In the communication cabin behind the cockpit, helping Jiang Yingxue organize intelligence files. Your Teacher Lin is quite efficient."

Su Che hung up the handheld device and folded the blanket twice, placing it on the bench.

It was folded poorly, all wrinkled.

He picked it up and folded it again.

Still wrinkled. Whatever.

...

6:53 PM.

The Y-20B landed at a military airport on the outskirts of Beijing.

At the end of the taxiway, two black military off-road vehicles were waiting with their low-beam headlights on.

Su Che stepped off the rear ramp. The evening breeze in early April in Beijing was much cooler than in the Taklamakan Desert, carrying the faint, raw scent of newly sprouted locust tree buds.

Lin Waner followed behind, holding the insulated food jar and the thin blanket. Her sneakers, wrapped in three layers of tape, clicked on the runway.

"Get in." The driver of the front vehicle was from the Military Science Commission; he didn't recognize him.

Thirty-eight minutes later.

Military Science Commission Compound, main building of Pangu Laboratory.

Su Che scanned his face at the security turnstile. The system prompted "Access: Highest," and the turnstiles opened fully in both directions.

The inside of the laboratory was brightly lit.

It was different from his last visit. Last time, it was to demonstrate the Controlled Nuclear Fusion directional output module; one table and one set of tools were enough.

This time...

The entire B2 level had been cleared.

In the 2,000-square-meter underground space, a 42-meter-long hydraulic loading test bench sat across the center.

Clusters of atomic layer deposition equipment were lined up in two rows, looking like a set of silent, giant printers.

A spatial stress testing platform occupied the entire north wall.

The floor had been waxed, and the tubes had all been replaced with high-color-temperature fluorescent lights, so bright it was hard to keep one's eyes open.

Su Che stood at the entrance and scanned the room.

"Where is Candle Dragon?"

Qin Lan pointed to an independent glass cubicle on the west side.

The main body of Candle Dragon was still in Beijing, in the workshop next to Pangu Laboratory, connected directly via a quantum link, and the remote control terminal had been moved to the operating console on the B2 level.

Su Che walked over and touched the terminal panel; it was ice-cold.

He sat down and took the tactical tablet, encrypted hard drive, and spare quantum chip out of his pocket one by one, lining them up.

Then he closed his eyes.

The blue and white panel in his mind lit up.

[System Prompt: Detected that the host has redeemed the core technology for the aerospace carrier's main load-bearing truss, but the supporting auxiliary technologies/blueprints/plans have not been redeemed.]

[The following auxiliary content is available for redemption:]

[10,000-ton aerospace load-bearing truss assembly blueprints — Redemption points: 800]

[Spatial self-repairing structural module design — Redemption points: 500]

[Ultra-light, high-strength alloy formula — Redemption points: 400]

[Truss node connection scheme — Redemption points: 300]

[Current accumulated skill points: 4,500. Redeem?]

Su Che opened his eyes and stared at the numbers.

All four added up to 2,000 points.

4,500 minus 2,000 left 2,500.

"Redeem all."

[Ding! Consumed 2,000 skill points.]

[Current accumulated skill points: 2,500.]

A 3D engineering drawing covering his entire conscious space unfolded.

10,000-ton truss.

42-meter sections, six sections pieced together to form the complete main beam, with a total length of 252 meters.

The cross-section was neither square nor round.

It was a topological configuration he had never seen before: a hexagonal honeycomb nested with a triangular truss, where every node was a miniature Anti-gravity coupling anchor point.

The entire main beam itself was a complete lift-bearing structure.

10,000 tons, flying in the sky.

Su Che let out a breath and imported the verification parameters for the first section of the blueprints into the console.

Just as he was about to continue working, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

Not a Beijing number.

Number origin—Xiang Province, Xuefeng City.

Dad.

Su Che froze for a second, then answered.

"Son, have you eaten?"

Su Pingan's voice came through the receiver, carrying the wind of Su Family Village and the scent of firewood that never seemed to wash off him.

Su Che opened his mouth, his throat choking up.

"...Yes, I have."

"The news says there's a war? Where are you? Are you safe?"

"I'm safe, in Beijing."

"That's good, that's good." Su Pingan repeated twice.

Someone on the other end was fighting for the phone, their voice extremely loud.

"Brother! Brother! Did you do it? The news says over a thousand missiles were all shot down! Was it that quantum thing you were working on?"

Su Hao.

The kid had returned to the village for the Qingming holiday.

Su Che moved the phone an inch away from his ear; the volume was too loud.

"Spend less time on your phone and more time doing your homework."

"Brother, don't change the subject! The whole school is buzzing! They say there was an unidentified flying object... wuwuwu..."

The phone was snatched back by Su Pingan.

"Don't listen to your brother's nonsense. During the Qingming festival, I burned incense for your mother and kowtowed on your behalf."

Su Che gripped the phone, saying nothing.

His mother's grave was on the hill behind Su Family Village.

"Dad, after I finish this busy period, I'll come back to see you."

"No rush, no rush. State matters are important." Su Pingan paused. "Is that... your girlfriend still with you?"

"She is."

"That's good. Don't treat the girl poorly."

Su Che hung up the phone and pocketed it.

He stood for five seconds.

Then he sat back at the console and pulled up the material list for the first section of the truss.

Just as his fingers touched the keyboard, the phone rang again.

Lieutenant General Peng.

"Su Che, new situation."

"Speak."

"The Eagle Country Seventh Fleet flagship, the 'Reagan,' has broadcast an unencrypted communication."

"Unencrypted?"

"Yes, not encrypted. Everyone can receive it."

The pencil in Su Che's hand stopped.

"The content is only one sentence..."

Lieutenant General Peng read it out.

"'If Dragon Country does not hand over all technical data for the aerospace weapon system codenamed Feather-01 within 48 hours, the fourth phase of Judgment Day will be initiated.'"

Su Che snapped the pencil into two pieces.

"What is the fourth phase?"

"I don't know." Lieutenant General Peng's tone sank. "But this time, even our own intelligence systems cannot intercept any warning signs."