Chapter 211: All preparations are complete, ready to begin construction!

"I want to see a lawyer." Zhang Mingyuan spoke, his voice a little hoarse.

"Okay." Director Zhou nodded.

"But after you see a lawyer, your special status will enter judicial proceedings. Then it won't be us chatting with you here."

Zhang Mingyuan's fingers trembled slightly.

"Your master's thesis advisor, Professor Chen." Lao Lin opened the file.

"Three years ago, Eagle Country's think tank paid you eight hundred thousand dollars under the guise of academic consulting. Of this sum, two hundred thousand were transferred to your mother's overseas account in the name of a scholarship."

Zhang Mingyuan suddenly lifted his head.

"Don't be surprised." Director Zhou said calmly.

"Your parents thought that was money you earned, and they went around telling neighbors how promising their son was. What they didn't know was that this money was buying your future."

"I... I didn't..."

"You did." Lao Lin pulled up a screenshot of the chat log.

"On the open day, you hid in the mall restroom and sent encrypted files."

"The recipient's IP address is in Maryland, Eagle Country, belonging to the CIA Technical Analysis Division. Do you want me to read out the decrypted contents?"

Zhang Mingyuan closed his eyes.

"The material test data has been sent." Lao Lin read it aloud.

"Propulsion system information is hard to obtain; Wang Hao's side has tight security. Figure it out, and the pay will be doubled."

After a moment of silence.

"I can talk." Zhang Mingyuan opened his eyes, "but you must guarantee my parents' safety."

"Your parents are safe now." Director Zhou said.

"Someone is protecting them where you can't see. But if you don't cooperate, that might not remain the case."

He was recruited three years ago, and his contact was that Professor Chen.

At first it was just normal sharing of academic progress and exchange, then it gradually turned into providing industry trends, and finally it step by step became helping them obtain specific technical information.

The payment also rose from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars; this time, for the Dragon Scale-Space data, the other side directly offered five hundred thousand dollars.

"Just that?" Lao Lin frowned.

"Torch Dragon detected three more external leaks, occurring three months ago, two months ago, and one month ago. At that time you hadn't yet touched the materials team, right?"

Zhang Mingyuan stared blankly: "What three leaks? I don't know anything about that..."

Director Zhou and Lao Lin exchanged a glance.

"Keep going." Director Zhou gestured.

"Tell everyone you've come into contact with, and all the anomalies."

Zhang Mingyuan could only try to remember.

Suddenly he recalled a detail: "Two months ago, while he was eating in the cafeteria, he overheard two administrative staff at the neighboring table chatting, one of them complaining, 'The newly transferred Section Chief Wang is really a pain—he wants every report right away.'"

"Section Chief Wang? Do you still remember his full name?"

"Wang... Wang Zhen-guo? He seems to be a newly transferred section-level official from the Administration Department." Zhang Mingyuan wasn't entirely sure.

"I didn't pay much attention back then, but now I think... his transfer timing was about right around the first leak."

Director Zhou immediately pulled up the personnel file.

Wang Zhen-guo, forty-eight, former deputy director of the Longguo Academy of Sciences Administration, section level.

A year ago, when the Longyin Research Institute expanded, he voluntarily applied for support and was transferred to become a section chief in the Longyin Administration.

His background is clean; his parents are retired workers, his wife is a middle school teacher, and his son is in college.

His work performance is also diligent, low-key, and his interpersonal relations are decent.

Clean, too clean!

"Investigate him." Director Zhou stood up, "All records from the past twenty years, including every project he handled and every person he came into contact with."

Torch Dragon retrieved his communication records, consumption records, and travel logs for the past year.

On the surface everything looks normal—he clocks in and out on time, spends weekends with family, and occasionally meets friends for meals.

But there are still a few abnormal points:

First, he goes every month to an old teahouse in the eastern suburbs of Yanjing, always sitting in the same private room, each visit lasting an hour.

Second, his wife's account receives a fixed manuscript fee each month for the past three years, from an overseas publishing company, totaling about three hundred thousand.

Third, his son studies in Eagle Country, with tuition funded by scholarships, but the scholarship-providing foundation has a convoluted funding flow that ultimately leads to a peripheral organization of an Eagle Country intelligence agency.

"Let's bait him." Feng Yan, after hearing the report, decided outright.

"He wants intelligence, doesn't he? Give it to him."

Fabricate a confidential document of the Penglai shipborne system, with content seven parts true, three parts false.

The true parts are enough to convince experts of its value, but the false parts will cause serious trouble at a critical moment.

The document was personally "forged" by Li Yang and Wang Hao.

"'Bixie-3S Space-Specialized Mech Design Draft'—it's merely a draft model, with the most critical energy synchronous leap technology details deleted."

"'Kuafu-3 Air-Space Missile Performance Parameters'—just the parameters, with range increased and the orbital maneuver capability parameters removed."

The document also slipped in a "major news" item: the preliminary date for Penglai's maiden voyage test is set for the fifteenth of next month, at a certain test site in the northwest.

"How could he possibly get hold of this document?" Chen Guang asked.

"Wait for him to come ask for it." Feng Yan said.

"The Administration Department recently needs to update the Research Institute's confidential files, requiring each department to submit the latest technical progress summaries."

"As the person in charge, Wang Zhen-guo will separately request materials from the Mech Group, Missile Group, and Energy Group."

Sure enough, on Monday afternoon, Wang Zhen-guo impatiently grabbed the official document and ran from department to department.

When he arrived at the mech unit, Li Yang happened to be in a meeting, and the assistant, by accident, inadvertently mixed a document marked "Internal discussion draft, do not circulate" into the submission materials.

When he got to the missile unit, Wang Hao was "busy testing a new engine, and casually grabbed a document from the desk and handed it over: 'This one, the latest!'"

Everything should be natural, but not overly natural.

On Tuesday, the surveillance showed Wang Zhen Guo staying in the office until very late.

The camera captured his focused expression while flipping through documents, and he also took a photo with his phone.

Of course, he thought that turning off the surveillance would be fine, but he didn't know Torch Dragon had already taken over all the equipment.

On Wednesday, he took a half‑day leave, saying his mother‑in‑law was unwell and he needed to go to the hospital. In reality, he still went to the tea house in the eastern suburbs.

In the private room, a middle‑aged man wearing glasses who looked like an ordinary merchant was already waiting for him.

Wang Zhen Guo handed over a USB drive, and the other side handed over an envelope.

The transaction was completed, taking less than five minutes in total.

What they didn't know was that the teapot in the private room, the decorative painting on the wall, and even the tissue box on the table had already been pre‑installed with micro‑sensors.

Their conversation, video, and the USB drive's contents were all transmitted back in real time.

"Confirmed," Chen Guang said, looking at the screen.

"The other side is an external operative of the Jiaobanji intelligence department, codename Qingzhu. The files on the USB drive have also been encrypted and sent; the recipients include the Jiaobanji Defense Ministry and Eagle Country's CIA."

"We can start the net capture now," Feng Yan said.

The net‑capture operation proceeded simultaneously in the early hours of Thursday.

At Wang Zhen Guo's home, when the door was knocked, he was still burning some paper materials.

The fire smoke triggered the alarm, but he didn't expect that the person knocking was from security.

"Section Chief Wang, the downstairs neighbor reported a fire alarm; we're here to check,"

The door opened, a person entered, control.

All in one smooth motion.

At the eastern suburb tea house, the merchant was about to leave when a plain‑clothes operative waiting outside seized him.

He struggled, trying to bite through the poison pouch hidden in the collar, but that was an old‑fashioned trick; in this day and age, still hiding poison in one's mouth—once the plain‑clothes officer made contact, he injected a muscle relaxant, leaving him without any bite force.

Following the trail, in the next forty‑eight hours, operations spanned seventeen cities nationwide, and thirty‑four targets were taken under control.

Some were administrative staff of research institutes, some were quality inspectors at defense‑industry firms, and others were clerks in government departments.

The deepest hidden ones had even been working in a certain ministry for twenty years.

This is an intelligence network that has been buried for many years.

In the interrogation room, Wang Zhen Guo was far calmer than Zhang Mingyuan.

"I have nothing to say," he said, looking at Director Zhou. "You should already know everything you need to know."

"Why?" Old Lin asked.

"Your parents were workers, your wife is a teacher, your son… does your son know what you're doing?"

A slight fluctuation appeared on Wang Zhen Guo's face for the first time.

"He doesn't know," he whispered. "Never let him find out."

He recounted that twenty years ago, while he was still in graduate school, he participated in an overseas academic exchange program.

During that time he made a mistake, having relations with a local woman after drinking, and was photographed.

Later someone came to his door, using the photos to blackmail him into doing work for them, promising payment.

At first it was just passing along some public information, then it gradually deepened.

The remuneration rose from a few thousand at the start, to tens of thousands, then to hundreds of thousands.

His son went to study in the United States, and the other side covered all the expenses.

"These years, the things I've passed on would have been enough to get me executed ten times," Wang Zhen Guo said with a wry smile.

"But this time… this time is different. The weight of Penglai is truly enormous, so large that if I don't report it, both sides will suspect me."

"So you dragged Zhang Mingyuan into the water as well?" Director Zhou asked.

"He was just an accident," Wang Zhen Guo shook his head.

"I originally intended to use him as a shield; if something went wrong, he would be the insider. But you investigated too quickly."

The interrogation continued until dawn.

When Feng Yan obtained the complete list and transaction records, it was already Friday morning.

He sat in his office, looking at the thirty‑four names on the screen, along with the additional leads they implicated.

"These people, most of them have already been controlled," Lei Jindong's call came in.

"But a few overseas ones can't be acted upon yet."

"For the ones we can't act on yet, just note them for now," Feng Yan said. "The key question is, is the research institute internally clean?"

"At least the ones discovered so far have been cleared," Lei Jindong paused.

"But Torch Dragon's monitoring cannot stop. The darkness targeting Dragon Chant's eyes will never close completely."

"Understood."

At daybreak, people in the research institute had already begun morning exercises.

Researchers wearing lightweight exoskeletons were running, technicians were walking robot dogs, and Wang Hao was jogging in the test field wearing a mech suit.

Li Yang stood before the brand‑new Bian‑an‑3S space‑specialized mech.

This mech is a head taller than the standard model, with a ship‑mounted docking interface added to the shoulders and a foldable vector thrust wing added to the back.

"Test item: docking with the Penglai simulation hangar," Li Yang said into the communicator.

The mech powered up and steadily walked toward the simulated hangar at the center of the test field.

A Penglai hangar segment built to a 1:1 scale.

The hatch opened automatically, and the interior lights came on.

The mech walked to the designated position, and its rear interface docked with the charging pile inside the hangar.

「Click。」

The sound of the mechanical lock engaging was crisp.

Data popped up on the screen: docking precision 0.2 millimeters, charging interface connection normal, data link smooth.

"Welcome home, Pilot Li Yang." The hangar AI's voice sounded.

Li Yang froze for a moment, then the corners of his mouth rose slightly.

He exited the mech, looking at this silver-gray big guy standing quietly in the hangar, like a giant beast returning to its nest.

"Old Li!" Wang Hao ran over, holding a freshly printed document.

"The test data for Kuafu-3 is out! A single missile can intercept twenty-four incoming targets simultaneously, with a 100% hit rate! Moreover, its orbit-changing capability exceeds the design specification by 15%!"

"What about the cooldown time?"

"Only eight hours! Zhao Kaiyuan's new cooling system is too awesome!" Wang Hao flipped through the pages excitedly.

"Also, this: the hive-minded multi-warhead coordination mode, AI automatically assigns targets, efficiency up 300%! I'm applying for a patent this time!"

"Wasn't that the patent you got for painting the missile rainbow-colored?" Chen Guang appeared out of nowhere.

"That's art! Do you understand art?" Wang Hao glared, "Forget it, you won't get it. Anyway, this test passed, so our shipborne system is all set!"

Indeed, it's all set.

We have the mech, we have the missile, we have the AI, we have the energy, we have the materials.

All the pieces needed for Penglai are now in hand.

In the afternoon, Feng Yan called a short meeting of the core team.

"The internal mole cleanup is basically done, but vigilance cannot be relaxed." He first got down to business.

"Torch Dragon will add an internal communications monitoring algorithm; abnormal behavior will trigger automatic alerts. Additionally, all classified positions will undergo rotating training starting next week, with renewed political vetting."

Everyone nodded.

"Now for Penglai's progress." Feng Yan pulled up the blueprints.

"Materials breakthrough, propulsion system test successful, shipborne system in place. Next up is the construction of the orbital shipyard."

The screen displayed a design: a massive ring structure over 500 meters in diameter, with multiple building bays inside, capable of simultaneously constructing three Penglai-class ships.

"First module launch next Monday." Feng Yan looked at Wang Hao.

"Haizi, is the rocket ready?"

"Ready anytime!" Wang Hao thumped his chest.

"The Qingyun heavy-lift version can carry 120 tons per launch! Six launches can send the shipyard's core module up!"

"Old Li, what about the upgraded version of your space robotic arm?"

"The Jilingshen robotic arm is also offline, length 150 meters, load capacity 1,000 tons, positioning precision 0.1 millimeter." Li Yang pulled up the test video.

"Ground simulation docking test, all three hundred attempts succeeded."

"Guangzi, what about the shipyard's AI control system?"

"Based on the Torch Dragon-2 space-industry dedicated version, we've completed a million simulation runs." Chen Guang pushed his glasses.

"It can coordinate hundreds of robotic arms and thousands of construction robots working together."

"Zhao Gong, how about the material adaptability for space construction?"

"The specially developed Longlin-space construction type performs 12% better in microgravity." Zhao Gong tapped his pipe.

"Moreover, it's cheap, costing only 60% of the standard version."

"Kaiyuan, what about the energy supply?"

"Four Xuanwu fusion space-modified units have been mounted on ships; they'll launch together with the core module next Monday." Zhao Kaiyuan smiled.

"Enough to power the entire shipyard at full capacity for fifty years."

Feng Yan looked around at everyone and finally said: "So then, all that's left is——"

"Just build it." Li Yang picked up the thread.

After the meeting, Wang Hao edged up to Feng Yan: "Brother Feng, about that internal mole thing… should we celebrate? Like, have a hot pot?"

"When Penglai's keel successfully reaches space, I'll treat the whole institute to hot pot." Feng Yan said.

"Word is bond!"

"Of course it is."