Chapter 233
Chapter 233
The entrance to the courtyard compound was guarded by layer upon layer of soldiers.
On a building nearby, the lenses of sniper scopes glinted in the light.
“Hello. Are you Mr. Meng?”
Meng Chuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
“I’m Meng Chuan.”
One of the soldiers nodded to the men beside him. “Mr. Meng, we need to search you.”
Meng Chuan was completely dazed. He nodded helplessly.
The soldiers quickly finished searching him and opened the gate to the courtyard compound.
“Please go in.”
Meng Chuan clutched the USB drive in his hand, his heart filled with bitterness.
Like hell this wasn’t important!
One look at this place was enough to tell him it was highly classified!
How could a meeting held here possibly be unimportant?
Realizing his boss had tricked him, Meng Chuan lowered his head and cautiously followed the soldier ahead to a room.
“Please go in.”
Meng Chuan watched the soldier walk away, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door.
The room wasn’t very large, and its furnishings were extremely simple.
There was only a table and a few chairs.
Just three people were seated inside.
One was someone he saw on the news every day. The other two were practically living figures from the history books.
“Mr. Meng, please take a seat.”
Meng Chuan looked at the man seated farthest inside, and his legs nearly gave out.
He hurriedly sat down, his back ramrod straight.
The man tapped his fingers against the table. “This meeting regarding Nuclear Fusion will now begin. You brought the data, didn’t you, Mr. Meng?”
Nuclear Fusion?
Holy shit, wasn’t the whole world researching that?
Wait. From the sound of it, this data belonged to his boss?
A bolt of realization flashed through Meng Chuan’s muddled mind. He took out the USB drive.
“I need a computer.”
The man nodded and pressed the button on the microphone on the table.
“Bring in an encrypted computer.”
“Yes, sir!”
Barely ten seconds later, there was a knock on the door.
A man in a suit entered and placed a laptop on the table.
Meng Chuan breathed a sigh of relief, turned on the screen, and inserted the USB drive.
The sixty-four-gigabyte drive contained only two folders.
[Complete Cold Fusion Data]
[Strategic Vision for Cooperative Development]
Meng Chuan took a deep breath and turned the laptop around.
“Everything is here. Would you like to take a look?”
“That won’t be necessary. Let’s discuss Young Friend Zhang’s terms first.”
Meng Chuan nodded and opened the other folder.
Most of the document was a list of materials that couldn’t normally be purchased. The terms for cooperation were only two short lines.
[Military applications: Provided unconditionally at no cost. Civilian applications: Our side will receive a forty-nine percent technical equity stake in the power generation company.]
[Establish an International Nuclear Fusion Company led by the state, with Meng Chuan participating.]
After reading the two lines aloud, Meng Chuan felt his scalp go numb.
So a secretary really was just a pack mule to be worked to death?
He could already imagine it. His boss definitely wouldn’t handle any of the follow-up work. There was a hundred percent chance all of it would be dumped on him again.
The man at the head of the table nodded. “None of those materials will be a problem. I’ll arrange for someone to deliver them.”
“I have no objections regarding civilian applications either. I’ll have someone establish the company.”
“Now, let’s discuss the international side of things.”
“All right.”
The meeting lasted over five hours. By the time Meng Chuan left the courtyard compound, he was nearly in tears.
Once Nuclear Fusion saw widespread use, there would be no hiding it from the satellites overhead.
That made the establishment of an international organization necessary.
Following his boss’s principle of never taking on extra work, Meng Chuan had pushed off every responsibility he possibly could, large or small.
If it weren’t for the fact that the Island would be unsafe without state backing, Meng Chuan wouldn’t even have wanted to join the organization.
“Honey, what’s wrong?”
Zhong Yi pressed a finger to the deep furrow between Meng Chuan’s brows.
“Nothing. I’m just exhausted.”
“Why don’t you quit?”
Meng Chuan froze for a moment, then shook his head. “Forget it. The job might be tiring, but being his secretary gives me access to a lot of things.”
“You’re just a lowly secretary, and you’re already getting so full of yourself!”
Meng Chuan looked at his girlfriend and gave a wry smile.
“I’m going back to the Island in a couple of days. Want to come have some fun?”
“Can I really go?”
“Sure. You can go anywhere except the Laboratory.”
Meng Chuan thought back to his last stay on the Island.
They had eaten the meat of extinct animals and drunk all-natural coconut water.
Even the pets were pandas!
It had been paradise on earth.
Meanwhile, the Amusement Park was nearing closing time. Zhang Bei sent an announcement to the WeChat group.
[The Overseas Zootopia Project will officially launch on the first of next month. Anyone who has obtained a Pass Card from any attraction is eligible to participate.]
Boss Zhang’s message instantly sent the regulars into an uproar.
Qingqing Herself: [Are there not enough animals at the water park already?]
A Photographer Who Doesn’t Want to Be a Chef Isn’t a Good Teacher: [Has the boss finally realized it’s inconvenient to kill people at home?]
Holding Out to the Bitter End: [Boss, what animals will there be?]
Zhang Bei looked at the messages and promptly muted the group.
Thanks to gene-editing technology, none of the animals on the Island would harm humans, regardless of species.
With safety guaranteed, the surface of the Island could be turned into one enormous amusement attraction.
However, since the Laboratory was still there, Zhang Bei only intended to let a handful of regulars visit and have fun.
Time flew, and in the blink of an eye, the next day arrived.
That morning, Zhang Bei opened the gates of the Amusement Park as usual.
But this time, none of the people waiting outside were regulars.
A crowd of bespectacled men and women occupied the very front of the line.
Standing at their head was the leader of this trip, Kong Hanchi.
As a teacher at Dingyang No. 1 Senior High School, he had been lucky enough to secure a holiday outing on the public dime.
Following detectives, doctors, nurses, and crematorium workers, teachers had successfully joined the roster of professions that got this once-a-month opportunity.
Sanitation workers had once again failed to make the cut, receiving only two percent of the vote.
Meanwhile, Director Gu, the mastermind behind the program, looked around his newly renovated office and nodded in satisfaction.
He had not been very busy lately, and when people had too much time on their hands, their thoughts tended to run wild.
And so, a meeting that would determine the teachers’ fate was convened.
After some deliberation by the Director of Education, the verdict was reached: approve the funding and let them play!
I’m not the one who’ll suffer, so let the deluge come-Zhu Juzi.
Kong Hanchi glanced at the excited crowd behind him. “Watch yourselves. You need to complete at least three attractions. We have an assignment to fulfill!”
“Brother Kong, can we go in now?”
“Go on, but slow down!”
Kong Hanchi sighed as he watched everyone rush inside, then silently followed after them.
Several female teachers took one look at the rapidly lengthening line for the Hot Air Balloon before quickly turning away.
If one attraction was at capacity, there was always another waiting for them.
After arranging his usual four-piece setup, Zhang Bei soon noticed the group as well.
The strong bookish air around them made their profession obvious at a glance.
Zhang Bei walked over to a thin, frail-looking man.
“Hello. I’m the owner here.”
“Oh! Hello, Boss!”
“Are you all teachers?”
“Yes, high school teachers.”
“Do you teach chemistry?”
The man froze for a moment, then shook his head. “I teach PE.”
Zhang Bei fell silent and gave the frail man another careful look.
“Would you like me to recommend an attraction?”
The man scratched his head. “Thanks, Boss!”
Zhang Bei pointed toward Werewolf nearby. “Werewolf. It’s especially fun with a big group!”
“Great, I’ll head over right now!”
Armed with the owner’s personal recommendation, the man gathered a group and headed straight for Werewolf.
Kong Hanchi followed them as well.