Chapter 210: Cast the Net! Capture Zhang Mingyuan

Wednesday afternoon at 1:30, visitors began to enter.

Zhang Mingyuan wore a white lab coat, standing in front of the materials display area.

He was one of today's technical presenters, arranged specially by Feng Yan.

"Please look, this is our newly developed Dragon Scale–space-type material." He pointed to a sample.

"Its biggest feature is its self-repair capability, in extreme environments……"

Wang Hao pretended to adjust equipment not far away, the button camera on his chest aimed at Zhang Mingyuan.

Among the tour group, an Eagle Country reporter was especially active, asking pointed questions:

"What is the specific numerical value of the repair efficiency?"

"What is the chemical composition of the repair agent?"

"Can the raw data of the cycle life test be made public?"

Zhang Mingyuan answered in turn, but the answers were rehearsed, like: efficiency "very high," ingredients "a composite formula," data "involves confidential, not convenient to disclose."

But Wang Hao noticed, when that reporter asked a very professional question,

Regarding the material's fatigue characteristics under alternating stress, Zhang Mingyuan's gaze flickered, looking toward a folder in the corner of the display booth.

That was a folder Zhao Gong had accidentally left there, its label still reading "unpublished test data."

Sure enough, during the lunch break, Zhang Mingyuan happened to pass that corner, casually opened the folder, and quickly snapped a few pages with his phone.

The whole process took no more than ten seconds.

But he didn't know that the folder contained special paper that releases invisible fluorescent powder when flipped.

Moreover, he didn't know that Torch Dragon had already recorded his photo-taking action, angle, and even phone model.

The afternoon demonstration segment went smoothly.

Wang Hao's holographic projection drew gasps, and the interactive session pushed the atmosphere to a climax.

When the Eagle Country reporter personally struck the sample with a hammer, watching the cracks disappear within ten seconds, he stood with his mouth open, unable to speak for a while.

"This… this is impossible." He muttered.

"Here, the impossible happens every day." Wang Hao took the hammer with a grin.

The demonstration ended, Q&A session.

As expected, most questions were prepared, and the answers were flawless.

Finally, the Eagle Country reporter stood up: "I have one more question; I want to know whether this material will be used for military purposes."

"For example, a space weapons platform?"

The whole venue fell silent.

Feng Yan stood up from the back rows and walked to the front of the stage.

"Materials are just tools." He spoke calmly.

"Tools can be used to build houses or to make knives; the difference lies not in the tools, but in the people who use them."

He paused: "Our original intention in developing Dragon Scale–space was first to make our space station safer, to extend our satellites' lifespans, and to let our future moon base resist cosmic radiation."

"As for other uses…… if someone points a knife at us, we at least need a shield, right?"

The answer was clever, neither admitting nor denying.

Applause rose from the audience, some polite, some genuine admiration.

The open day ended at 5 p. m.; visitors left in succession, and Zhang Mingyuan also clocked out—carrying the "confidential data" he had photographed on his phone.

In the monitoring room, Chen Guang watched the real-time location.

"Zhang Mingyuan has left the research institute, heading toward the subway station."

"But he didn't go straight home; instead, he got off midway at a stop and entered a mall."

"He lingered in the mall restroom for eight minutes; after coming out, the photos on his phone had already been deleted."

"Deletion doesn't mean transmission failed." Feng Yan said.

"Torch Dragon intercepted a short pulse signal when he exited the restroom; it was an encrypted transmission. The receiver…… is overseas."

"Should we move in to catch them?" the security chief asked.

"Wait a bit longer." Feng Yan watched the red dot move on the screen.

"I need to know exactly who is behind him, and…… what else he will transmit."

At 8 p. m., Zhang Mingyuan returned home.

At 9 p. m., he turned on his computer, logged into an encrypted chat app. Torch Dragon decrypted the chat logs in real time:

"Today I obtained partial test data of the material; it has been sent."

"Good. Continue monitoring the Penglai Project's progress, especially the propulsion system."

"Propulsion system information is hard to obtain; security on Wang Hao's side is very tight."

"Find a way. The pay will be doubled."

The chat was cut off.

Feng Yan turned off the monitor, looking at Director Zhou: "Alright. Take immediate control, interrogate him, and find out who his upline and downline are. Be careful with the method—we still need to use him to keep passing messages."

"Understood."

At 11 p. m. late at night, Zhang Mingyuan was taken away from his home.

The whole process was very quiet; the neighbors heard nothing.

Meanwhile, at the same time, inside the Gobi Beach Propulsion Test Site, Wang Hao was rubbing his hands facing the array of seventy-two fusion engines.

"I've been waiting for this day for a long time!" He shouted over the comms channel.

"Brother Feng! Guangzi! Are you ready? I'm about to ignite!"

At the monitoring center three hundred kilometers away, Feng Yan looked at the screen: "Ready anytime."

Then—ignite!

Seventy-two streams of pale blue tail flame burst out simultaneously, like seventy-two small suns lighting up the Gobi Desert at once.

The ground trembled, the sky was dyed an eerie blue, and the heat wave made the monitoring center's glass hum.

The data went berserk:

Single-unit thrust: 812 tons.

Total thrust: tons.

Synchronization error: 0.0007%.

"Damn!!!" Wang Hao's roar came over the channel, "With this thrust, pushing Penglai to the stratosphere would only take five minutes! No, three minutes! No—"

"Haizi." Chen Guang's calm voice interrupted him, "The No. 37 engine temperature is 1.2% high; suggest checking the cooling loop."

"Received, received! But this deviation is just a drizzle!" Wang Hao was still excited.

"Feng bro! Do you want to give this propulsion array a little name? Like the Seventy-two Transformations? Heavenly Gang Formation or something?"

Feng Yan looked at the steadily running data on the screen and smiled.

"As you wish."

Propulsion system test succeeded.

The mole was also ferreted out.

Material deterrence demonstration was also completed.

Today, not bad.

He turned off the monitoring and walked out of the control center.

The night wind on the Gobi Desert was cool, but those seventy-two small suns in the distance lit up half the sky like daytime.

And farther out in orbit, the Deep Sea Dragon Palace Space Station glided slowly across the night sky.

Everything proceeded according to plan.

Except…… a new encrypted message received on Feng Yan's phone, from Lei Jindong:

"Zhang Mingyuan's online presence has been preliminarily locked down, involving a certain overseas intelligence network. But during interrogation we discovered he is not the only mole."

"Torch Dragon backtrace analysis shows there were three more unidentified information leaks within three months. Cleanup must continue."