I handed over to another world

Chen Lin's voice suddenly became quiet in the restaurant, and his fingers tapped lightly on the table.

Zhulong's projection immediately called up a set of holographic data, which floated in the center of the dining table and rotated - it was the image of the tragic accident scene at the space elevator base station three years ago.

"Seven people died, twenty-three were seriously injured, and the direct economic loss was 8 billion."

Chen Lin's fingertips slid across the data labels one by one. "The case was closed after dealing with three grassroots leaders? Leader Zhou, do you think this approach can stand up to scrutiny?"

Zhou Hong's Adam's apple slid noticeably, and his hand holding the teacup hovered in the air for half a second before bringing it to his mouth.

Chen Lin noticed that the ring on his ring finger had an unnatural metallic luster under the light - it was the latest physiological signal monitor on the market, usually only worn by heart patients.

"President Chen, that accident is indeed heartbreaking."

When Zhou Hong put down the teacup, the bottom of the cup collided slightly with the tray. "But the investigation team had already confirmed that the material supplier provided substandard carbon nanotubes..."

"Really?" Chen Lin suddenly turned to Zhu Long and said, "Retrieve the quantum logs of the last three days of the accident base station and focus on marking all abnormal energy fluctuations."

The data flow in the silver-haired girl's eyes surged, and a set of complex waveform graphs instantly covered half of the dining table.

At a certain time point, the three red curves simultaneously show steep peaks.

"These three peaks," Chen Lin pointed his finger at the red line, "are exactly the same as the superconductor resonance frequency of the Martian polar veins."

"Director Zhou, can you explain why the accident base station detected the signal of Martian ore?"

The potted plants in the corner of the restaurant suddenly moved without wind, and ripples appeared on the projection of Zhulong's skirt - this is a visual representation of a quantum computer encountering strong interference.

Chen Lin caught a glimpse of Zhang Rui's figure passing by the door.

Director Lin suddenly stood up and said, "President Chen, I'm afraid these technical details require professional help..."

"Mr. Lin," Chen Lin interrupted him, which was rare. "You have been in charge of Zhongyuan Province for twenty years. You should know that the Red Dragon Association hates technical corruption the most."

He pulled up an encrypted document and projected it. "This is the inspection report that was suppressed that year. The fracture surface of the base station shows traces of nanoscale self-assembly."

Zhou Hong's ring suddenly lit up a warning red light and he clenched his fists.

Chen Lin ignored it and continued, "And now, the same nanotechnology appears in the laboratory of Nova Materials, the same Martian ore, the same..." He paused deliberately, "Approval loopholes."

The lights in the restaurant suddenly dimmed for a moment, and Zhulong's voice sounded at the same time: "President, abnormal proliferation of nano units in area B-7 has been detected, and it has exceeded the third-level safety threshold."

Chen Lin remained motionless, his eyes fixed on Zhou Hong's slightly trembling mouth: "It seems that what we are going to talk about tonight is not just historical issues."

"Secretary General Zhao, notify the Supervisory Group..."

"President Chen!" Zhou Hong suddenly raised his voice, "There must be a misunderstanding... Was the base station accident really just..."

"Just what?" Chen Lin's voice was as light as a knife. "Just a victim of your faction's money-making? Or..."

He suddenly pulled up a set of capital flow charts, "Mr. Zhou's 5% stake in Mars Mining is more important than seven lives?"

On the hologram, a red money chain snakes from the space base station contractor to Mars Mining, and then branches out into three offshore accounts.

In the transfer records of one of the accounts last year, there were five large remittances to Chen Xiao's exploration team.

Lin's face turned pale instantly: "Chairman Chen, this... this is impossible..."

"I hope that's impossible." Chen Lin stood up, the red dragon badge on the cuff of his suit glowing coldly under the light, "But Zhulong's data is never wrong." He turned to the door, "Technician Zhang, now that you're here, don't stand outside."

Zhang Rui staggered in, his white coat stained with suspicious purple fluorescent powder.

His lips trembled as he looked at Zhou Hong, his eyes full of fear.

"The nano units in Area B-7," Chen Lin slowly approached Zhang Rui, "were modified using materials recovered from the base station accident site, right?"

The data tablet in Zhang Rui's hand fell to the ground with a snap.

Zhou Hong suddenly got angry: "You are slandering me! I will report to the Supervisory Committee of Shangdu..."

"Zhou Hong!"

Director Lin shouted, "How dare you be so presumptuous in front of President Chen!"

When the old man turned to Chen Lin, his voice was choked with sobs, "President Chen, I...I have important information to report."

Manager Lin took a deep breath, held the edge of the dining table with both hands and slowly stood up.

His wrinkled hands were trembling slightly, but his voice was unusually clear: "President Chen, the investigation conclusion of the space base station accident... was approved by me personally."

There was a dead silence in the restaurant; even the data stream projected by Zhulong was temporarily frozen.

Zhou Hong opened his eyes wide and looked at his old leader, with whom he had worked for twenty years, in disbelief.

"The material test report was indeed tampered with."

Director Lin took off the Central Plains Province badge on his chest and gently placed it on the table. "At that time, the finances here were tight, and this base station was related to three national scientific research projects... I acquiesced to the use of the substandard batch of carbon nanotubes."

Chen Lin's eyes were as sharp as a hawk's: "So seven lives gave way to the scientific research project?"

"No!" The old man suddenly slammed the table excitedly, "I didn't know anything about the accident when it happened..."

His voice suddenly choked, and he took out a yellowed photo from his pocket and pushed it in front of Chen Lin, "One of the dead researchers was the son of my college classmate. How could I..."

In the photo, the young technician is standing in front of the brand new space base station with a bright smile.

Chen Lin noticed the huge logo of the Planetary Development Agency's space base station faintly visible in the background.

Zhulong suddenly spoke up: "It has been verified that the first victim in the accident, Wang Zhiyuan, was a former engineer of the Mars Exploration Bureau and was seconded to the base station project three years ago."

The silver-haired girl's projection pulled up a personnel file. "His wife is currently the deputy director of the finance department of the 0331 Space Base Station Department in the province."

Zhou Hong suddenly sneered: "Mr. Lin, why are you pretending to be noble now? When you were approving the note back then..."

"Shut up!"

Director Lin turned around abruptly and asked, "Whose overseas account did those so-called 'special funds' end up in? Zhou Hong, do you really think I don't know what your son has done at Mars Mining?"

Chen Lin raised his hand to stop the argument, and gently stroked the edge of the photo with his fingertips: "Mr. Lin, you just said there is an important situation to report?"

The old man sat back in his chair dejectedly: "Three months ago, Wang Zhiyuan's wife sent me some materials."

He took out a micro memory from his inner pocket. "A week before the base station accident, her husband discovered that nanotubes would mutate into..." He suddenly coughed violently, "They would become living things..."

Chen Lin immediately frowned: "I don't understand what you are saying."

“You only have to take one look to see that.”

The old man handed the thing to Chen Lin with both hands. Chen Lin took the micro storage device and rubbed the cold metal surface with his fingertips.

He noticed that there were slight signs of wear on the edges of the storage device, obviously from repeated use.

"Zhulong, level 3 protection scan."

Chen Lin placed the storage device flat on the table.

The projection of the silver-haired girl folded her hands, and a light blue light curtain enveloped the storage device.

Three seconds later, the light screen turned green: "No malicious program, quantum encryption level B, requires a biometric key to unlock."

Manager Lin stretched out his trembling right index finger and pressed lightly on the light curtain.

The memory device made a soft "beeping" sound and projected a holographic image.

In the picture, the silver-gray nanomaterial slowly wriggles in the experimental chamber, and strange purple spots of light appear from time to time on the surface.

These spots of light did not appear randomly, but followed some complex mathematical sequence. "This is..."

Secretary Zhao subconsciously took half a step back.

The image suddenly shook violently, and Wang Zhiyuan's horrified face appeared on the screen: "They are reorganizing their molecular structure! It's like... like they have their own consciousness!"

His voice was distorted by fear. "Director Lin, this is not a simple material failure. These nano units are receiving some kind of external instructions..."

The scene stopped abruptly.

The restaurant fell into dead silence.

Zhou Hong's face had turned from red to white, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Chen Lin slowly raised his head: "When was this video recorded?"

"36 hours before the accident." Director Lin said hoarsely, "Wang Zhiyuan immediately cut off the energy supply to the experimental cabin, but..."

"But what?"

"But those nanomaterials continued to function for a full eight hours after the power was turned off." The old man took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his forehead. "In the end, it took a strong electromagnetic pulse to stop their function."

Chen Lin turned his gaze to Zhang Rui: "Have you reproduced this phenomenon in the laboratory?"

Zhang Rui's lips trembled: "We...we thought it was a new type of quantum coherence effect..."

"Nonsense!" Chen Lin slammed the table. "How dare you continue the research knowing that there are potential safety risks? Secretary Zhao, immediately freeze all research projects on Nova Materials and take full control of the laboratory."

"President Chen!" Zhou Hong wanted to argue, "This will affect the timetable of the entire space defense plan..."

"Compared to human life, what is a plan?" Chen Lin said coldly, "Zhulong, retrieve the current address of Wang Zhiyuan's wife. Mr. Lin, come back to the headquarters with me and make a detailed report."

At this moment, the lights in the restaurant suddenly flickered violently, and a low roar came from outside the window. Zhulong's projection suddenly twisted: "Warning! Abnormal energy fluctuations appear in the orbital nanocloud!"

Chen Lin walked quickly to the window and saw that the silver cloud in the night sky was expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye, and purple arcs were faintly visible at the edges.

"Zhang Rui!" Chen Lin shouted, "What program did you activate?"

The technician collapsed to the ground: "It's just... just a routine resonance test..."

"President!" Zhu Long's voice was unusually hasty. "A quantum entanglement signal in the direction of Mars has been detected! The signal characteristics are...completely consistent with Dr. Chen Xiao's positioning beacon!"

Chen Lin's pupils suddenly contracted.

He took one last look at the strange sky outside the window, turned around and strode towards the exit: "Prepare the shuttle immediately, I want to go to the Mars base myself."

"Then over here..." Secretary Zhao hurriedly followed.

"You stay and deal with it."

Chen Lin didn't even turn his head. "Remember, this matter must be kept strictly confidential until the investigation is complete."

Chen Lin walked quickly through the corridor, his footsteps echoing on the metal floor.

His communicator suddenly vibrated, and an encrypted message flashed red: [President, emergency. The inspection team found abnormal data transmission records in Area B-7, pointing to the internal network of the association.]

Chen Lin's steps paused slightly, and his eyes suddenly became sharp.

He pressed the communicator: "Zhulong, immediately lock all internal communications of the association."

"Already executing." Zhulong's voice came from the watch, "An abnormal data packet has been detected being transmitted through the quantum channel."

"Source... the seventh floor of the association's headquarters."

Chen Lin's pupils suddenly contracted - the seventh floor was the location of the Association's Senate.

Two security guards had been waiting for a long time in front of the shuttle cabin door.

One of them handed over a data pad: "President, this is the latest one at the Mars base..."

Chen Lin raised his hand to interrupt: "Get on the plane first."

His eyes swept over the surveillance camera at the corner of the corridor and found that the lens was turning slightly at an unnatural angle.

The moment the hatch closed, Zhulong's projection suddenly appeared on the console: "President, encrypted communication has been intercepted, and the content is being analyzed..."

The data stream in the silver-haired girl's eyes flashed wildly, and finally stopped at a piece of text: [The target has boarded the ship, executing the second phase].

Chen Lin's mouth was pursed into a straight line: "As expected."

Secretary Zhao's holographic image suddenly interrupted: "President! Director Lin just had a heart attack in the interrogation room and is being rescued!"

"It wasn't an accident."

Chen Lin's voice was as cold as ice. "Immediately control Zhou Hong and Zhang Rui, don't let them..."

A loud bang suddenly shook the entire cabin.

The alarm sounded shrilly: "Warning! The left engine is under attack!"

Chen Lin staggered and held on to the seat. Through the porthole, he saw three black drones swooping down from the clouds. The red dragon emblems on the wings glowed bloody in the moonlight.

"Our own drone?"

Zhulong's projection flickered violently: "The source of the drone control signal...the association's headquarters combat command center."

Another missile whizzed in, and the shuttle shook violently.

Chen Lin grabbed the communicator: "Secretary Zhao, immediately..."

The communication was suddenly interrupted, and a strange male voice replaced it: "President Chen, I have heard a lot about you."

An old face appeared on the console screen—Zheng Yuanxun, the chief of the Senate, was looking at Chen Lin with a smile.

"Mr. Zheng?" Chen Lin's voice was filled with disbelief. "What does this mean?"

"You're in the way, Chen Lin."

Zheng Yuanxun said slowly, "The association does not need an indecisive president. The 'gift' on Mars was originally prepared for your daughter, but I didn't expect you to bring it to your door yourself."

Chen Lin's fists were clenched white. "So everything was designed by you? Base station accident, nanomaterial out of control..."

"clever."

Zheng Yuanxun chuckled, "It's too late. Do you think your daughter is the only one who encountered an 'accident' on Mars? Your son in Xanadu should have received our 'greetings' as well."

A blinding red light suddenly shot out from the drone and directly hit the control system of the shuttle.

Sparks flew in the cabin and the oxygen alarm sounded sharply.

"President!"

Zhulong's projection began to break, "The emergency protocol is being activated..."

Chen Lin rushed to the control console amid the violent turbulence and slammed a hidden red button at the bottom.

The entire cockpit was suddenly covered with a layer of silver liquid - it was the nano-protective layer developed by Nova Materials.

"Zheng Yuanxun." Chen Lin's voice came through the interference. "Do you think I don't know that the Senate is behind this?"

The old man on the other side of the screen froze in his smile. (End of this chapter)