Chapter 560: Chinese Barrier, Self-Destruct Mechanism

"Those restrictions are too harsh," Minister Zhang laughed, "Connecting to 'Pangu Net' requires authorization, the core components have a self-destruct mechanism, and the operating system only opens up surface-level functions..."

"This is the business model," Li Mingyuan shrugged, "Future software industries will all play it this way. Selling hardware doesn't make money; selling services and ecosystems is where the real profit lies."

Minister Zhang shook his head and sighed: "Lao Li, sometimes I really wonder if you fell from the sky. These ideas of yours are too far ahead of their time."

Li Mingyuan smiled without a word and turned to look at the blueprints spread out on the table—they were the national node planning map for 'Pangu Net', with dense lines connecting major cities across the country, as if a giant web were being woven.

"The good show has only just begun," he muttered to himself, "The day 'Pangu Net' truly launches will be the moment the world is truly shocked."

Beijixiong Guo, Leningrad, inside a secret laboratory.

A Longxin-III of unknown origin was carefully placed on a specially made workbench, surrounded by nervous scientists and engineers.

"Begin," the laboratory director ordered, "but remember, under no circumstances should you attempt to dismantle it; intelligence indicates there is a self-destruct device inside."

An engineer pressed the power button, and everyone held their breath.

The monitor lit up, the system finished booting in just a few seconds, and a clean, elegant graphical interface appeared on the screen, with a bright Long Country flag emblem in the center of the interface, next to the words "Pangu Operating System".

"My God..." a scientist whispered in shock, "It really exists..."

The laboratory director's face turned pale: "Start a comprehensive test; I want to know every performance metric of this machine. Also, contact the Kremlin immediately and tell the Head of State that we need more equipment and more manpower. This is no longer a simple technical analysis, but a mission concerning the fate of the nation."

He looked at the quietly running Longxin-III, his heart filled with fear and awe. The Eastern dragon had awakened, and it was more powerful than anyone had imagined.

London, inside a luxury apartment.

"Are you sure this is the real deal?" the buyer stared at the silver case in front of him and asked vigilantly.

"Absolutely the real deal," the seller wiped the sweat from his forehead, "Just air-freighted from Long Country; it cost me 280,000 USD, plus three human lives."

"I'll offer 700,000," the buyer said straightforwardly, "if it can pass my tests."

"700,000? Someone offered 1.2 million yesterday!"

The buyer sneered: "Then go find him. Oh, right, let me tell you some news: the Star-Spangled Country government just issued an order yesterday prohibiting any individual or enterprise from purchasing Longxin-III, with violators to be prosecuted for treason. So, either accept my price now, or wait to be arrested."

The seller gritted his teeth: "Deal! But I want cash, bearer bonds."

The buyer nodded and opened the briefcase, inside which were neatly stacked bundles of banknotes: "The test passed; these are yours."

Transactions like this were happening simultaneously in the shadows all over the world. Intelligence officers, commercial spies, tech company representatives, and government agents were all frantically chasing this mysterious computer from the East, at any cost.

On the black market, the price of the Longxin-III had been hyped up to an astronomical figure, with a complete, unrestricted version quoted as high as 5 million USD, equivalent to the value of a medium-sized factory at the time.

And behind this frantic scramble, Li Mingyuan was quietly preparing his next move at Penglai Base. The test nodes for 'Pangu Net' were complete; it was time to show the world a true information revolution.

A storm that would thoroughly reshape the world order was about to arrive.

……

Li Mingyuan was debugging the latest Pangu network node in the underground workshop of Penglai Base, and when Minister Zhang hurried in, his expression already told Li Mingyuan everything.

"Things aren't looking good?" Li Mingyuan didn't look up, continuing to adjust the equipment parameters in front of him.

Minister Zhang put down a stack of classified reports, his tone grave: "Worse than not good. The actions of the Star-Spangled Country and Beijixiong Guo have completely escalated. Our overseas intelligence network just sent back news that the Central Intelligence Agency of the Star-Spangled Country has launched a secret operation codenamed 'Blue Bird', targeting Penglai Base and all leaked Longxin-III devices."

"Oh?" Li Mingyuan raised an eyebrow and finally looked up, "It seems our old friends can't sit still anymore."

"It's not just the Star-Spangled Country," Minister Zhang handed over a photo, "The KGB of Beijixiong Guo has also launched 'Fire Phoenix' operations; the two arch-enemies have rarely reached a kind of tacit understanding, both listing the acquisition of our technology as their highest priority mission."

Li Mingyuan took the photo, which showed blurry images of several Western faces operating on the perimeter of Penglai Base. "These people, are they being this blatant?"

"That's just the tip of the iceberg," Minister Zhang smiled bitterly, "According to security department statistics, in the past two weeks, at least thirty-seven suspicious foreigners have been active around Penglai, twelve of whom have been confirmed as agents from the Star-Spangled Country and Beijixiong Guo."

Li Mingyuan pondered for a moment, then suddenly smiled: "Let them come. The security system of Penglai Base was designed by me personally; it's not that easy to break through. It's the Longxin-III prototypes that have already leaked out..."

"Each one has a self-destruct mechanism," Minister Zhang continued, "Once someone attempts to physically dismantle it, the core Chip will immediately melt down."

"They will try every possible method," Li Mingyuan stood up and walked to the world map hanging on the wall, "Not just dismantling, but also attempting to crack it from the software level, and even risking everything. We need to strengthen the security protection for all relevant personnel."

Minister Zhang nodded: "It's already being done. However, are you sure our confidentiality measures are truly foolproof?"

Li Mingyuan revealed a mysterious smile: "No, nothing is foolproof. But I buried a natural barrier in the system that they will never think of."

"What barrier?"

"Chinese," Li Mingyuan gently patted his own head, "From the bottom layer to the application layer, all code, comments, and variable names in the Pangu System are pure Chinese. In this era, this is more effective than any encryption."

Minister Zhang was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "Good fellow, this move is truly ruthless! Those foreigners can't even read our newspapers, let alone technical code!"

"Exactly so," Li Mingyuan also smiled, "Let them have a headache. Now, let's focus on our own path—the second phase of construction for Pangu Net is about to begin."