44: Chapter 44 A Fireworks Display Spreads Globally, the Southern Heavenly Gate Plan Surfaces
In the night sky, green beams of light burst open, transforming into a painting.
The painting featured mountains, water, and a few birds flying.
The villagers had never seen anything like this; they were all dumbfounded.
"W-what on earth is this?"
"It's something Su Che made; it looks even better than what's on TV!"
Su Hao held up his phone, recording the entire scene, and casually posted it to his short video account with the caption: My brother says this is called 'a new look for the new year.'
Not long after the video was posted, it was reposted to an overseas platform by a student from the Dragon Kingdom studying abroad.
The title was straightforward: "Hardcore Fireworks Show in a Dragon Kingdom Village, This Is Called a Space Weapon?"
In the video, brilliant lasers precisely outlined the Chinese characters for "Happy New Year" and "May all your wishes come true" in the night sky, and there was even a vivid, animated image of a "Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate."
It was romantic, exquisite, and filled with Eastern-style blessings.
This was completely different from the "violent, satellite-destroying directed-energy beam" mentioned in the news from The Eagle.
Below the video, the comment section exploded.
[Sakura Country Netizen: Is this what the Dragon Kingdom calls a 'fireworks show accident'? This is f***ing gorgeous! I want one too!]
[Gallic Chicken Netizen: I would call this art! The Eagle, you call this a weapon? Can your missiles fly into the shape of a heart?]
[Germany Netizen: To be precise, in terms of energy control precision, this technology is indeed more than a generation ahead of our laser engraving machines... I want to go to the Dragon Kingdom to learn this!]
[The Eagle Netizen: FXXK! President Trump said we were attacked, and it turns out they were just setting off fireworks? I feel like my intelligence has been insulted!]
[Dragon Kingdom Netizen: Basic operation, don't be surprised, everyone sit down. We do this every Chinese New Year in our village.]
The official account of The Eagle was even more flooded with mockery from netizens worldwide.
The indignant face of the spokesperson for The White House, edited together with that vivid laser carp in the night sky over Su Family Village, became the most popular meme of the year.
A menacing international accusation was thus turned into a global joke by a village fireworks show.
...
During the few days of the Spring Festival, Su Che had some rare leisure time.
The blockade of Su Family Village had long been lifted, but there were always a few strange "tourists" wandering around the village entrance; Su Che knew they were people arranged by General Zhang.
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, according to village custom, one had to visit elders to pay respects.
Su Che took Lin Waner to Village Chief Wang Fugui's house first.
"Uncle, Aunt, Happy New Year."
Lin Waner carried two bottles of wine, following behind Su Che with some restraint.
"Oh my, it's Su Che and Teacher Lin! Come in and sit!"
The Village Chief's wife enthusiastically welcomed the two into the house, grabbing a handful of melon seeds and peanuts and stuffing them into Lin Waner's hands.
"Teacher Lin, you really have to help us keep an eye on Su Che; this kid has been mischievous since he was little!"
Lin Waner blushed, glanced at Su Che, and answered softly.
After leaving the Village Chief's house, they visited a few more.
Everywhere they went, the villagers were incredibly enthusiastic toward Lin Waner; the way they looked at her was exactly like looking at a future daughter-in-law.
Lin Waner, who was nervous at first, gradually relaxed and was able to chat about daily life with the aunts and older women.
For many years, she hadn't felt this kind of lively and simple New Year atmosphere.
In the evening, the two walked on the ridge of the field on their way home.
The setting sun stretched their shadows out long.
"Su Che."
"Hmm?"
"Thank you."
"What for?"
"Thank you for bringing me... home." Lin Waner's voice was very soft.
Su Che stopped, turned around, and ruffled her hair.
"Don't be silly, isn't this your home too?"
On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year.
Su Che dug out the remaining flexible bulletproof fiber, miniature infrared sensors, and a pile of miscellaneous parts in his studio.
He tinkered around for the whole afternoon.
In the evening, he handed a pink, ordinary-looking backpack to Lin Waner.
"For you, a New Year's gift."
"A backpack?" Lin Waner took it; the style was very simple, just the kind ordinary female students used.
"Try it on." Su Che smiled mysteriously.
Lin Waner didn't understand why, but she put the bag on.
Su Che pretended to be a thief and quietly unzipped the backpack from behind.
"Beep! Beep! Beep! — Pervert! Catch the thief!"
A sharp alarm, accompanied by a crisp female voice, suddenly exploded from the backpack, almost scaring Lin Waner out of her wits.
As soon as Su Che's hand touched the zipper, it was fiercely repelled by a strong electric current, causing him to shake his hand in pain.
"Damn it!"
Lin Waner was stunned and quickly took the bag off.
"Th-this... what is going on?"
"Smart anti-theft." Su Che explained while rubbing his numb fingers.
"I recorded your fingerprints, voiceprint, and walking gait."
"Except for you, whoever touches this bag will trigger the alarm and a high-voltage electric shock."
He pointed to an inconspicuous logo on the side of the backpack.
"There is also an infrared sensor here that can predict whether someone approaching has the intention to steal. If you fall asleep on the bus and a thief tries to make a move, the bag will start calling out before their hand even reaches you."
Lin Waner listened in a daze.
It was just a backpack; why did it sound like a robot?
"Then... what if I want to take something out myself?"
"Just say something to it; it recognizes your voice."
Lin Waner hugged the pink backpack, looking at Su Che, who was grimacing from the electric shock; she wanted to laugh, but was also moved to tears.
This man always expressed his care in his own unique, hardcore, and goofy way.
...
The happy New Year holiday was always short.
During this time, Su Che also took the time to organize the technical data for the Anti-gravity water pump, pack it, encrypt it, and send it to General Zhang, asking him to forward it to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, a piece of news broke the holiday's peace.
"Regarding the 'Starlink satellite failure incident,' The Eagle states that they do not accept the Dragon Kingdom's explanation of a 'fireworks show accident' and have formally proposed through the United Nations to dispatch an international investigation team composed of experts from multiple countries to the Dragon Kingdom's incident site for on-site verification."
In the news footage, the representative of The Eagle to the United Nations was firm and resolute.
A diplomatic storm surrounding Su Family Village had officially begun.
General Zhang's call came almost at the same time as the news.
"Kid, trouble is coming."
"Hmm, I saw it." Su Che's tone was very calm.
"The higher-ups' intention is to argue reasonably, but they haven't shut the door completely. After all, we are technically in the wrong first on this matter."
"What do you think?" General Zhang asked.
"Let them come," Su Che said.
"Even if they come, they won't find a damn thing." Su Che's voice was filled with confidence.
After hanging up, Su Che locked himself in his studio.
He looked at the letter left by his grandfather on the table, his expression becoming solemn.
Whether it was the relentless pressure from The Eagle or the "Onikiri" hiding somewhere unknown, both were like swords hanging over his head.
He needed greater strength, not only to protect himself and those around him but also to allow the Dragon Kingdom to stand tall.
He opened the military supercomputing terminal and entered the encrypted coordinates from the letter.
This time, he did not try to brute-force it.
He mobilized all the knowledge he had regarding quantum information and cryptography.
In his mind, countless algorithmic models were rapidly being constructed, deduced, and colliding.
Time passed minute by minute.
The sky outside the window turned from black to white, and then from white to black.
Two whole days and nights passed.
Su Che did not sleep or rest, his eyes bloodshot, and the draft paper in front of him piled up into a small mountain.
Finally, on the morning of the third day, as the first ray of sunlight shone into the studio, the complex encrypted symbols on the screen, accompanied by a crisp "beep," were unlocked layer by layer, turning into a clear line of numbers.
[ L2 - S . P-001 ]
[ Earth-Moon L2 Point ・ Projection Coordinates: 110.34 E, 28.12 N | Earth-Moon Distance: 384400KM ]
Su Che looked at these coordinates, his gaze fixed.
110.34 degrees East longitude, 28.12 degrees North latitude... These were the coordinates of his hometown, Xuefeng City.
But that 384400KM...
That is the average Earth-Moon distance!
These are not coordinates on Earth!
These are space coordinates located at the Lagrange L2 point of the Earth-Moon system!
Su Che's heart pounded wildly.
He remembered the riddle in the letter.
"Above the Kunlun, there is a Heavenly Gate."
An incomparably bold and crazy idea exploded in his mind.
The "Kunlun Alloy" project that his grandfather and their team were involved in, and the "Dragon Vein" unit they were in, were not simply about researching Anti-gravity materials.
It was an interstellar exploration layout that was unimaginably grand.
"Nantianmen Project"!