Chapter 1409 - 1408: All About Technology and Ruthless Skills

It turned out Lu Zheng was overthinking it. Liu Zi Yi studied business management and mechanical engineering at the University of Copenhagen. The reason she returned home this year was due to her father's poor health and to take over the family business.

Furthermore, the market for her family business is entirely domestic.

Additionally, the most she did on the foreign internet was to promote the true situation at home and confront the Hating Country Faction, even being threatened personally as a result, which escalated to the local police station.

From every angle, she is a second-generation of a national enterprise, a patriotic capitalist.

"Tsk tsk, worth hundreds of millions? A typical highly-educated, white, rich, and beautiful woman." Lu Zheng stared at the information in his hand. "What kind of dumb luck did Leizi get?"

Lin Wan couldn't help but roll her eyes at Lu Zheng and then said, "The people on the other side are about to go crazy."

"Hmm?"

"Just in the past few days, the achievements above are about to catch up with the past year," Lin Wan said. "Several deeply hidden sleepers have been awakened by the other side and caught by national security."

"For the Nine Islands of the South Sea?" Lu Zheng asked.

"And the Red Chess River project," Lin Wan said. "Because of direct national security involvement in this matter, they have directly targeted national security."

"Wow, such stubbornness?" Lu Zheng was also astonished. "Mice putting bells on cats?"

Lin Wan nodded, "Exactly, to them, finding us is the most important goal now. As long as the goal is achieved, it doesn't matter if all domestic sleepers are lost."

Lu Zheng couldn't help but laugh, "I just realized we're so important, huh?"

Lin Wan rolled her eyes at Lu Zheng again, "So you never knew your own importance before? How come you were so assertive facing the Ancient Culture Research and Analysis Archival Room?"

Lu Zheng put his hands on his hips, "That's because I can take them down with one hand."

Lin Wan was speechless, "Stop kidding, they're all ready to worship you. Oh, by the way, Xiao Yuya asked me to convey the director's gratitude from the archival room to you."

"What's happened again?"

"After Lighthouse Country also backed down, those countries in the South Sea not only didn't voice objections to the Nine Islands but instead sent out invitations for visits, hoping to discuss various cooperations with us, like communications, high-speed rail, new energy, and... finance."

"Isn't that great?" Lu Zheng nodded and then asked, "What benefits do we get?"

"The privilege of acting first and reporting later," Lin Wan said.

"Royal privilege?" Lu Zheng asked.

Lin Wan nodded, "Pretty much."

"Huh?" Lu Zheng looked surprised, "What does that mean?"

"Just notify Xiao Yuya, give her temporary permissions; whatever requests you have, she can handle them first and report later," Lin Wan said.

"That's so cool?"

Lin Wan sighed, "One Red Chess River project saved 4 trillion and decades, driving immeasurable economic growth in the central and western regions.

One set of Nine Islands in the South Sea completely controls the South Sea, adding nine strategic fortresses, directly deterring the Asia-Pacific region.

If I were the higher-ups, not to mention giving you the privilege to act first and report later, I'd not require any reports at all."

"Brilliant!" Lu Zheng snapped his fingers, meaningfully saying, "In that case, can I travel around the country?"

Lin Wan nodded, "Feel free."

...

As time passed, the impact of the Nine Islands of the South Sea gradually became evident.

Countries that should have reacted strongly had no reaction at all, watching as one transport ship after another delivered goods to the islands, and teams of construction workers arrived on the islands.

Ports, harbors, and airports took shape within a day, and soon the islands turned into bustling construction sites.

The first priorities completed were the naval base and freshwater processing projects on the islands, thus making the daily deployment and patrol range of our navy cover the entire South Sea.

And the positions of some disputed reefs became quite awkward... and visibly dangerous.

With high-end equipment arriving on the islands, the entire South Sea fell within the range of conventional land-based firepower of Hua Country's navy stationed on the islands; even Li Jia Slope and the Malacca Strait, as well as the distance between Phoenix Island and Dragon King Island, were less than a thousand kilometers.

The geographical implications of that position are terrifying—only those who understand will understand.

Moreover, several of these nine islands are actually on the edge of the territorial sea line, constructed face-to-face, so foreign fishermen and cruise ships, when going out to sea, often had to pass through this sea area.

But now they need to take a detour.

As more people witnessed them, the positions and appearances of the nine islands couldn't be kept secret anymore. Even if unrelated individuals were not allowed to approach, the world still had things called commercial satellites and Google satellite maps.

So, while foreign reactions were unknown, domestic internet ignited a delayed fervent debate.

"Wow... incredible, aren't the higher-ups too low-key?"

"Right in their faces!"

"The point is not pretending at all, yes, I built it, haha!"

"When poor, develop jointly; when rich, claim it's ours from ancient times!"

"Low-key act, high-profile deeds!"

"Speak meekly, act fiercely!"

"Continental drift, haha, darn, I previously believed the spokesperson's nonsense!"

"I should have known it's about hastening natural evolution artificially, proactively simulating South Sea plate movement effects."

"Amazing, such a large island, I wonder what it was built for."

"Surprise, absolute surprise, big surprise!"

"Gosh, Tai Chi Painting, Eight-sided Han Sword, Five-petaled Peach Blossoms... Our aesthetic level is improving!"

"Go, go, check the Meiji Island Heart of the Ocean, our aesthetic level has always been on point!"

"Strategist says, looks are combat power."

"And Phoenix, Divine Dragon, Nine-tailed Celestial Fox, gosh, there's even a giant gourd and a Giant Panda?"

"Hahaha, Giant Panda eats bamboo, is it Giant Panda Island? What genius designer came up with that, they even got approval, how is this different from building a Pipi Shrimp Number?"

"The last island doesn't look like anything, just a normal island."

"Internal source says this island isn't ordinary, specifics are ambiguous."

"Gosh, did they set a big weapon there?"

"Haha, open your mind, which of these islands can't hold a big weapon?"

Netizens were celebrating wildly online, but within the mainstream discourse, there wasn't a single suspicion about the origin of these islands; everyone assumed it was advanced technology and bold action of the higher-ups.

After all... they even turned island-building into an art form, even featuring a Giant Panda munching bamboo, so surely it's man-made. And those capable of building islands would naturally be the notorious natural evolution acceleration construction teams.

Seems the young folk are on the roll!

And those truly on the frontline, who know the islands appeared overnight—that it's definitely not technology and bold actions—were all under gag orders, signing confidentiality agreements.

Other islands were easy to deal with, but every time they landed on the most ordinary island, they would bow respectfully to that patch of Purple Bamboo Forest in the middle of the island.

...

Amid the carefree domestic bustle and eerie foreign silence, the Nine Islands of the South Sea were rapidly under construction, swiftly taking shape.

In less than a month, they formed a complete combat capability swiftly.