Chapter 156: The Americans Want to Cooperate?

The three of them were completely dumbfounded upon seeing the message. Zhang Mingyang decided to consult Qian Zhongshu, the Minister of Energy, who might actually know something about it.

"Beep, beep..."

"Mingyang, what is it?" Qian Zhongshu appeared on the screen.

Zhang Mingyang quickly asked, "Grandpa Qian, did you receive the text message just now?"

"Ah! You're asking about the American delegation?"

"Yes!" Zhang Mingyang glanced at the other two. "Grandpa Qian, what is going on here? As the Minister of Energy, you should know about this, right?"

Qian Zhongshu fell silent for a moment on the other end of the line. "Mingyang, to be honest, the base should have let you all know about this sooner."

"What is it?" Judging by Qian Zhongshu's tone, Zhang Mingyang had a feeling another disaster had struck.

Qian Zhongshu replied, "Mingyang, you might not know this, but at the very same time our base was attacked, the Americans' secret base was also attacked."

"What?" Hearing this news, all three of them were startled. "Grandpa Qian, are you saying the American base was attacked as well?"

Qian Zhongshu answered, "That's right. The Black Hole organization attacked both our base and the Americans' base simultaneously, and they also stole the four tons of dark matter manufactured by the Americans."

"This...!" Upon hearing this information, Zhang Mingyang suddenly understood why the Black Hole organization chose to attack these two bases at that exact moment. At this stage, the production of dark matter was precisely half-completed. Stealing the dark matter from both bases would yield exactly enough energy for a single spacecraft, allowing the Black Hole organization's vessel to reach Beta Trianguli ahead of the two nations.

"Grandpa Qian, then why is the American delegation coming here at a time like this?"

Qian Zhongshu replied, "The Americans want to cooperate with us."

"Cooperate?" Peng Dongli immediately caught on. "I see. They want both countries to jointly build and utilize a single spacecraft."

"Xiao Peng is right." Qian Zhongshu explained, "The Americans want to cooperate with us at this juncture precisely because of the Black Hole organization. They certainly don't want a terrorist organization to reach Beta Trianguli first. Whichever party acquires the secrets on Beta Trianguli earlier will gain a greater advantage, so the Americans want to share a spacecraft with us, while the two nations produce the required dark matter together."

"Grandpa Qian, does that mean the American delegation is coming tomorrow just to inspect our spacecraft?"

"Most likely." Qian Zhongshu only knew the general outline of the bilateral cooperation; as for the specific details, he was not entirely clear.

"Mingyang, I have to go; I need to hurry to a meeting. Tomorrow morning at seven, you, Peng Dongli, and Tian Wenyuan wait for me at the plaza. There are work assignments." With that, Qian Zhongshu hung up the phone.

Putting down the receiver, Zhang Mingyang had never expected things to develop this way. The attack by the Black Hole organization had actually brought two fierce competitors into cooperation.

"What cooperation? It's all about interests." Peng Dongli didn't believe for a second that true cooperation existed. He remarked, "When it comes down to it, the Americans are cooperating with us for their own benefit. Since they can no longer reach Beta Trianguli first on their own, they have no choice but to take a step back and cooperate with us. Rather than letting a terrorist organization get there, it's far better to share the spoils with a civilized nation."

Zhang Mingyang felt his senior brother made sense. He checked the time and saw it was already ten o'clock in the evening. "Senior Brother, let's call it a night. We have to report to the plaza at seven tomorrow morning for our assignments."

"Alright." Seeing that it was getting late, Peng Dongli also wanted to head back and get some early rest.

Before leaving, Peng Dongli patted Zhang Mingyang on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Mingyang, what's past is past. You can keep it in your heart, but life goes on. Let go of the burden in your heart and keep moving forward."

Hearing Peng Dongli's words, Zhang Mingyang patted the hand resting on his shoulder. "I know, Senior Brother. You should head back and get some rest early." Of course, Zhang Mingyang knew Senior Brother was referring to their teacher's death, but some things could not be forgotten so easily.

Zhang Mingyang was the last one to leave the office. He turned off the lights and took the elevator down the mountain.

Seven days had passed since the attack, and all the destroyed equipment and buildings in the inner zone had been completely rebuilt. Walking back to his dormitory and looking at the structures on both sides, Zhang Mingyang was struck by the incredible speed of the construction crews over the past week.

A week was neither long nor short, yet the base had already been restored to its original state.

Returning to his dormitory, he paused in front of their teacher's room for a while before walking back to his own quarters.

Lying in bed, he still could not forget his teacher's face. "Teacher, I will definitely fulfill the promise I made to you."

...

At six o'clock the next morning, Zhang Mingyang woke up early. He rushed through his washing and breakfast, hurrying toward the plaza. Along the way, he ran into Bai Muqing again, and the two simply exchanged a few brief words before parting ways.

After spending time with her recently, Zhang Mingyang's perspective had shifted significantly. Instead of avoiding and ignoring Bai Muqing as he used to, he now found himself actually looking forward to seeing her and wanting to chat with her.

"Mingyang, over here!" Peng Dongli spotted Zhang Mingyang in the plaza and waved frantically for him to come over.

Peng Dongli and Tian Wenyuan had already arrived in the large plaza, and Grandpa Qian was talking with them about something.

As Zhang Mingyang walked over, Qian Zhongshu immediately assigned him a task. "Mingyang, your mission today is to guide the personnel from the American Department of Energy on a tour of our Large Hadron Collider."

"Huh?" Zhang Mingyang stared at Qian Zhongshu in astonishment. "Grandpa Qian, you want me to guide them? I'm hardly qualified for something like this! You should lead the tour yourself."

Qian Zhongshu laughed and replied, "If I had the time, I'd definitely love to show them around. Of course I'd want to do something so relaxing, but I have to attend meetings and simply don't have the time."

"Junior Brother, you should just do it," Tian Wenyuan persuaded from the side. "Elder Qian is extremely busy today. The top brass of the American delegation will be holding a meeting with us, and as Minister, Elder Qian has to attend."

"Old Tian is right," Peng Dongli agreed.

Hearing their persuasion, Zhang Mingyang thought for a moment and said, "Alright then. But Grandpa Qian, I must make this clear in advance—if my explanations aren't up to par, you can't blame me."

"Don't worry," Qian Zhongshu said, appearing unusually relaxed. "The people coming for the tour are all experts in this field anyway; just give a casual presentation."

"However!" Qian Zhongshu's tone shifted abruptly. "There is one person among the visitors you need to pay attention to."

"Who?"

Qian Zhongshu replied, "There is a doctor in the American Department of Energy who serves as their chief technical expert, named David Miller. This man is a student of Chield. You should have heard of that name, right?"

"Of course I've heard of it!" At the mention of that name, Zhang Mingyang immediately recalled what Wang Bowen had told him back at the hotel: "Chield and Wang Huairen were both students of Bangel-Stede, and it was these two individuals who spearheaded the aerospace industries of both our nations."