Chapter 360

Chapter 360: The Distant Future

“Hello! Hello! This is Haiqing. Who is this?”

“Uh, Professor Kang, did you receive the fax I sent? Yes, yes, I just got it and sent it to you. Can you help me verify it? I’m not sure how useful this information is.”

“What? You haven’t slept all night? Professor Kang, your health is your most important asset. You need to rest before working again. Work will never finish. You must take care of yourself, or I’ll have to insist you take a break.”

“You made some particles with powder? How effective are they? Ah! Really effective? There’s a ninety-nine percent chance it’s true? That’s amazing! Hmm, the source is confidential; I can’t tell you. It’s military secret. Don’t worry, I haven’t done anything wrong. The source is absolutely legitimate; you can trust it.”

“Hehe, I have a huge stack here, at least dozens of times more than what you received. Yes, yes, don’t worry, I’ll send it over soon. Just make sure you don’t tire yourself out too much.”

While Chen Haiqing talked on the phone, he exchanged knowing glances with Lin Mo.

Lin Mo shrugged, remaining silent as he raised his hands. This time, his brother was solid. Chen Haiqing responded with a thumbs-up.

After a while, Chen Haiqing hung up the phone and jumped forward, hugging Lin Mo tightly while saying, “Thank you, Lin Mo! You really helped a brother out.”

“Stop! Keep your distance! I warn you, I don’t swing that way!” Lin Mo jolted and pushed this clingy guy away.

“Impressive,” Chen Haiqing yawned, stretching as his joints cracked like a symphony, instantly rejuvenating him. He suddenly wrapped the stack of metal formulas tightly in his arms, bursting into uncontrollable laughter, which startled Little Song, who was dozing off on the sofa and woke up rubbing his eyes, watching his master go wild.

“You really saved me this time! Haha! Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group, and South Aircraft Corporation, you guys are no match for me! I’m going to beat you all! And then, Sukhoi, Lockheed, Boeing, MiG, Dassault, Saab, and even EADS, just wait for me to take you down!” Chen Haiqing, clutching the A4 papers, flopped down on a nearby single sofa, shouting towards the ceiling and laughing. After a while, he regained some composure and looked at Lin Mo.

“I’m really sorry for digging you out completely, but don’t worry, I’ll take responsibility. What compensation do you want? We’re brothers; I can give you cash, a house, a car, or even shares! I can even arrange for girls, but they’re still in high school. You wouldn’t want to ruin the flowers of our country, right?”

Feeling triumphant, Chen Haiqing joked with Lin Mo without restraint, while waving his checkbook to launch a financial attack on the ace pilot.

“Just figure the reward out yourself!” Lin Mo wasn’t expecting much from the newly established National Defense Star, which needed funds everywhere. Plus, he didn’t mind the alloy formulas; shaking his head, he said, “This is just a tiny part of what I have in my head, not even one-tenth of what I know. If I had more time, I could copy even more for you.”

“Ah?! Just a tiny part…” Chen Haiqing’s eyes nearly bulged in shock, as if he had been choked. Lin Mo’s words overwhelmed him, almost driving him insane.

“Why is it only a tiny part?”

Even the largest steel mills and metal materials research institutes would have a collection of metal formulas similar to what Lin Mo shared with him. Most likely, the Soviet Union’s formula data had all been obtained by the 611 Institute. Lin Mo’s learning ability was astonishing; he directly used a super “plug-and-play” learning method.

Although Lin Mo only shared proportions and properties, leaving out the production process, it didn’t matter for the aviation industry. As long as they could achieve small-scale production in the lab, they wouldn’t end up at a loss.

“Yes! Exactly!”

“Oh my gosh, did you hack into the National Materials Research Institute, or steal America’s alloy formula database?”

The man in front of him was an ace fighter pilot and a future aircraft design expert, so it wasn’t possible for him to have that much energy to research metallurgy. An ordinary person without money and equipment couldn’t play this game.

Chen Haiqing began to regret trusting Professor Kang’s assurance of the materials’ legitimacy for National Defense Star. Most likely, they had acquired them through illegitimate means, even if some could be used to create high-performance fighters, which was enough to justify their possession.

“Don’t concern yourself with where it came from. Why all the unnecessary questions?”

Lin Mo’s annoyance only confirmed Chen Haiqing’s suspicions.

In Bangkok, in a dark and damp alley near an exclusive red-light district, piles of garbage emitted foul odors. Carelessly, someone could easily trip.

The walls were damp with patches of moisture; even when the occasional window appeared, it was dark inside, with broken glass exuding a spooky vibe.

From deep within the alley, the sounds of stray cats fighting could be heard. This filthy, dark corner had no sign of life, contrasting sharply with the bright, flashy lights just a few dozen steps away, revealing two entirely different worlds.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps rushed into the alley, and a man and a woman stumbled into the darkness, disregarding the filth. They hurriedly pushed deeper into the alley.

The pair desperately hid behind a rusty iron box, clearly having run quite a distance. They leaned against each other, seizing the rare chance to catch their breath while gasping for air, stifling their voices with complaints.

Behind the metal box stood none other than Nong Lan and Bayu, who had set a trap for Lin Mo near the Sino-Thai joint base in Songkhla. They no longer wore traditional Thai clothing, now dressed in simple t-shirts and shorts.

However, these two looked utterly disheveled, clearly evading pursuers.

“Damn, that Thai government! Why are they so persistent?”

“Ms. Nong Lan, it’s not just the Thais; there are also the Chinese. Our outpost has been completely destroyed. We’re finished.”

“Bayu, what exactly happened? We shouldn’t have been exposed. Why did the Thai agents suddenly attack us? It makes no sense.”

“I don’t know! Have we done anything excessive recently? ‘Eden’ only gathers intelligence; we didn’t touch on Thailand’s important secrets. Did we offend someone we shouldn’t have?”

“Maybe. If I can survive this, I’m done with this job. It’s just too dangerous! They actually deployed armed personnel to wipe us out, which is outrageous! Luckily, I managed to escape quickly.”

“Nong Lan, let’s first shake off those tails. I hope the others are still alive. I don’t even know where it’s safe. We need to find a safe place quickly.”

“No, they can’t have a chance anymore. The armed agents from Thailand don’t want any survivors. The moment they burst in, they started spraying automatic rifle fire; they clearly aim to eliminate us. I know a good place where we can hide.”

“Where?”

“Pattaya! I bought a small villa there; we can use it as a refuge.”

“That sounds great, but how do we get out of here? The police must be hunting us. The moment we fall into their sight, the Thai armed agents will come to kill us. I’d rather be caught by the Chinese than fall into the hands of the Thai government.”

“I can dress as a ladyboy, and you can too, of course, as an old and ugly one. I promise the police and agents won’t look at you twice.”

“…”

“Shh! Someone’s coming.”

Outside the alley, hurried footsteps echoed, shoes pounding on the ground with unavoidable thuds, getting closer. Someone seemed to be running while whispering, “Quick, Calori, Morta, hurry up! They’re going to catch us!”

“Wait for us! Huh! Huh! I can’t run anymore.”

“Calori, Morta twisted his ankle. I’m helping him; we can’t go any faster. Damn it, we need to find a place to hide. There’s an alley up ahead; let’s get in there!”

“Damn it! If you don’t hurry up, we’re all going to die!”

A woman, with a hint of surprise, whispered urgently, “It’s Calori and Morta, plus Eri! Great! I didn’t expect them to escape too. I… uh…”

Bayu clamped his hand tightly over Nong Lan’s mouth and whispered nervously, “Shh! Nong Lan, don’t make a sound. It’s too dangerous right now.”

Nong Lan seemed to want to call out to her companions but was stopped by Bayu.

Suddenly, gunfire erupted outside the alley.

“Ah…” A scream rang out.

Nong Lan’s eyes widened; that was Eri’s scream. He was helping the injured Morta and didn’t expect to be shot.

“Eri! Ah! I’ll fight you for this!”

Calori’s voice coincided with the sound of gunfire.

Outside the alley, it sounded like a group of mischievous children letting off firecrackers, banging away nonstop. You could even hear bullets ricocheting off junk in the alley, with one bullet eventually landing within a foot of Nong Lan’s feet, a dark bullet rolling in the mud and slowly coming to a stop, sending up a light puff of smoke.

The air filled with the acrid smell of gunpowder and the strange odors from burnt debris.

Calori and Morta struggled to fight back but couldn’t fend off their pursuers. Both sides exchanged fire continuously.

Soon, automatic weapons joined in like a rainstorm of bullets, instantly changing the stalemate. They must have been soldiers, or the armed personnel Nong Lan and Bayu had mentioned.