I built an armada.

"Director Xu... the pressure... the pressure is still escalating! The pipe is about to burst!"

Xiao Chen pointed to the pressure curve that seemed to be bursting through the screen, his voice trembling with tears.

A deathly crimson light enveloped the entire control room. All the technicians were pale, their hands trembling as they operated the controls. Cold sweat instantly soaked Xu Bingxian's back; he froze, his mind blank. A split second!
"Turn off the second extractant injection valve."

A calm, emotionless voice suddenly broke the deathly silence.

"Who?! Who spoke?"

Xu Bingxian suddenly turned his head and roared. The heavy blast-proof door of the control room had been opened at some point, and Su Dingping stood in the shadows by the door, his face as calm as a frozen rock.

He didn't look at anyone; his sharp gaze pierced through the panicked figures, fixing on the frantic pressure curve on the main control screen and a set of inconspicuous solvent rheology monitoring numbers next to it!
The number is now strangely stable within an extremely narrow range.

"Immediately! Close the second input valve!"

Su Dingping's voice suddenly rose, carrying an unquestionable commanding tone!
Overwhelmed by this imposing presence, the technician closest to the secondary control panel almost reflexively slammed his hand on the large red emergency brake knob on the control panel!
"Click!"

With a crisp sound, the green indicator arrow in the corner of the screen, representing the second stage of solvent injection, suddenly went out!

The miracle has appeared!
The red pressure curve on the screen, which was surging wildly, convulsed a few times as if it had been gripped tightly by an invisible giant hand, and then began to stubbornly and slowly fall back down!
A dozen seconds later, the value finally returned to the yellow zone within the warning line! The deathly silence was replaced by heavy breathing.

Xu Bingxian was completely exhausted and had to hold onto the control panel to keep from collapsing.

He turned his stiff head and stared intently at Su Dingping, who was backlit by the doorway.

"How...how did you know?"

Su Dingping stepped into the brightly lit control room, his boots kicking up dust.

His face showed no sign of seeking praise or reproach, only pure contemplation.

He raised his hand and pointed precisely at a data stream area magnified on the main screen—the micro-rheological curve representing the collision and fusion of the two original solvents, which Xu Bingxian had completely ignored earlier.

"The density gradient difference between the two newly purified solvents is 0.0007."

His voice was like a scalpel cutting through the air, precise and cold.

"When the second solvent is injected, a transient stagnant fluid is formed at the edge of the centrifugal force field, which accumulates and causes internal stress distortion, and is transmitted to the pressure pipeline, causing oscillations."

It's not the equipment's fault.

He lightly tapped the two sets of numbers with his fingertips, numbers so small they could be ignored.

"Your purity has increased, but the balance point is lagging behind by one ten-thousandth of a second."

That's enough.

Xu Bingxian was struck dumb!
That day, Su Dingping had just arrived at the institute when he glanced at the centrifuge unit optimization model that Su Dingping cherished and casually mentioned "the solvent rheological critical point is misaligned by 0.2 microseconds." At that moment, Su Dingping's words shattered the doubts that had been accumulating in Su Dingping's mind for many days!

He looked at the set of data pointed out by Su Dingping, then suddenly looked up at the unfathomable eyes of the young man in front of him... The calm light in those eyes seemed to be able to penetrate all chaos and reach the fundamental laws of the movement of matter!
This is not procrastination or escapism at all!

A surge of hot blood rushed to the top of Xu Bingxian's head, his face instantly turning bright red, his throat tightening, and he couldn't utter a single word.

He finally understood that Su Dingping had thrown himself into every corner of the mine like a grain of sand, immersing himself in the smell of solvents and the roar of machines, using his eyes, ears, and every pore of his body to breathe and "see" that fatal difference of one ten-thousandth of a second!

This isn't madness; it's an almost savage, intuitive grasp of the laws of the physical world!

A biting wind whipped up snowflakes the cold portholes. At the mouth of the Rhine River where it flows into the North Sea, the grey cargo ship "Hailong" was being relentlessly pursued by several converted speedboats that spewed thick black smoke, looked like a patchwork of old cans, and flew skull and crossbones flags!

"They cut off communications!"

The first mate screamed futilely into the satellite phone, only to be met with a piercing electrical noise. Captain Zhou Qiang's calloused hands gripped the cold rudder tightly, his knuckles white. On the bridge's electronic screen, the red dot representing the pirate speedboat was rapidly approaching from all directions!

"Full power! Into international waters!"

His voice cracked from shouting.

Too late! Several heavy cables with grappling hooks came hurtling in with a tearing sound.

With a few muffled thuds, like maggots clinging to bones, they were heavily entangled high on the ship's side! The grappling hook was connected to a zipline, and dozens of figures wearing thick headscarves and messy, dirty camouflage uniforms, like ugly, poisonous spiders, were creaking and climbing upwards along the cable!
"boom!"

A thunderous gunshot shattered the deathly silence on the deck!
A pirate who had just climbed to the ship's side had his forehead burst with blood and plunged straight into the churning, inky black sea.

A sharp-looking guard in a Qin Group security uniform knelt behind cover, his automatic rifle still smoking, and shouted at the captain with bloodshot eyes.

"Zhou Tou! How many points can the brothers hold?!"

They have heavy firepower!

Before the words were even finished!

"Da da da! Da da da—"

A barrage of submachine gun bullets rained down on the steel deck and the tall ship's sides, sending sparks flying!
Two crew members who tried to lean out and return fire screamed as they were torn down by the hail of bullets, the crimson staining the cold steel hull instantly. The pirates' rampant shouts and vulgarities could be clearly heard between the gunfire.

Captain Zhou's eyes were bloodshot and about to burst.

He recognized the monstrous nest that the bastards had taken up—"Ghost Reef"!
Behind this infamous sea area is the "Stinger" pirate ship that hijacked the Qin family's 3D printer and precision machine tools!

He stared at the SOS red light flashing wildly on the control panel, the device indicating the location being located. A crazy thought gnawed at his heart—once the location signal was cut off, these critical devices worth billions, along with the lives of everyone on board… would be completely swallowed up in this deadly sea!
In Hamburg, Germany, the verdigris spires of the City Hall Square appear cold and arrogant against the leaden sky.

In the warm café, the rich aroma of milk foam couldn't mask the suffocating heaviness. Ambassador Li Ping, the Chinese ambassador to Germany, set down his delicate bone china cup, the cup and saucer clinking softly together.

She was about fifty years old, with short hair styled in a carefully curled shape. There were deep fine lines at the corners of her eyes, but her gaze was calm and sharp, like the edge of a tempered blade.

"Miss Qin."

Li Ping's voice was deep, each word sounding as if it were struck from a taut string.

"'The Stingers' are one of the two most ferocious pirate groups in the Cross Strait reef area."

Behind them is the 'Blood Moon Eye' organization, a group secretly tolerated by the Eagle Federation in low-intensity conflict waters, specifically used to clean up troublesome routes in 'unpopular waterways.'

She lightly tapped her fingertip on a blurry satellite photo of a pirate ship spread out on the table.

"The last set of coordinates sent back by the 'Hailong' pinpointed the core of the turbulent waters west of Ghost Reef. Even German naval patrol ships avoid that area."

Qin Mingzhu, who was sitting opposite her, did not say anything.

She wore a perfectly tailored black cashmere suit, her long hair was neatly styled in a bun, and there was almost no trace of makeup on her face.

Only her hands, clasped together on the table, her knuckles slightly white from the force, betrayed the turbulent emotions churning within her.

Days and nights of sleepless nights, countless smiling faces masking fierce confrontations, and painstaking efforts to break through technological barriers... Two core pieces of equipment, worth billions and crucial to Longxing's nuclear fusion breakthrough, were stuck in the mouths of this group of pirates and poisonous insects!
"ambassador."

Qin Mingzhu finally spoke, her voice low and hoarse, yet exceptionally clear and steady.

“The equipment must be brought back. Longxia needs it, and ‘Longxing’ needs it.”

She looked up and stared directly at Li Ping.

"As you know, this isn't just a business for the Qin family."

Li Ping looked at her calmly.

The young woman before her, with the stubborn flame in her eyes, reminded her of the harrowing scene from a few days ago.

In order to get in touch with the group of old foxes at the German Precision Machinery Workers' Union, Qin Mingzhu managed to get into her office by using only one name—Su Dingping.

The name seemed to have a magical power. Li Ping used all the connections he had built up over more than a decade in the German political and business circles, and even personally arranged a private dinner of astonishing scale.

Those usually arrogant German industrial giants and influential local brokers, under Li Ping's skillful mediation and Qin Mingzhu's irresistible combination of "cooperation intention + exorbitant deposit + huge subsequent market access," finally reluctantly nodded their heads amidst the aroma of whiskey and the swirling smoke of cigars. But now…

"...Forcing your way into Ghost Reef is tantamount to suicide."

Li Ping spoke slowly, breaking the heavy silence.

Qin Mingzhu stood up.

The cold air outside the window seemed to penetrate the glass and the heating.

Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried a cold, hard edge, as if she had nothing to lose.

“Then I will go and talk to them myself.”

"what?!"

Li Ping suddenly looked up, his eyes flashing with a sharp light.

There is no room for maneuver.

Qin Mingzhu's gaze fell on the leaden sky outside the window and the spires of the Gothic buildings in the distance.

"Ambassador, I would like to trouble you to find a way to arrange a route."

A path that will get me to those pirates as quickly as possible.

Li Ping remained silent for a full ten seconds.

She looked into Qin Mingzhu's calm, almost cold eyes, which burned with a familiar, intense heat—a heat that could burn everything for the core of her homeland! Li Ping picked up the long-cold black coffee, tilted her head back, and drank it all in one gulp, the bitter, icy taste going straight to her lungs.

She slammed the cup down.

"Alright! I'll use the 'Nest' line! It will take at least... 72 hours!"

Three days later, late at night.

A rusty, heavily laden fishing boat, bearing the faded flag of an unknown small country, silently glided into the edge of the gradually calming Cross Strait, like a wounded old dog. A strong stench of fish, mixed with the smell of engine oil and cheap diesel, filled the narrow, greasy cabin.

Qin Mingzhu leaned against a pile of tattered fishing nets that reeked of a fishy smell. She had changed into a faded hooded waterproof suit, applied some dark face paint to conceal her skin color, and tucked her hair haphazardly into a worn-out felt hat.

Her eyes were closed, seemingly resting, but her right fingertips were lightly tapping the cold, hard outline of her outer thigh—it was a folding assembly of a replica "Scorpion" submachine gun that she had painstakingly brought onto the ship. Beside her lay several inconspicuous waterproof bags, stuffed with gold bars.

The "nest" line that Liping used, buried for many years, gave her nothing but this old fishing boat ticket and this cold warning.

'Don't trust anyone! Anyone!'

The boat captain, a thin, dark-skinned middle-aged man who seemed to have been dried out by the sea breeze, mumbled a sentence in a heavily accented local dialect through the greasy waterproof curtain, meaning that they were almost at the edge of "Stinky Bay".

Qin Mingzhu opened her eyes, and under the dim cabin light, there was not a trace of emotion in the depths of her pupils.

She deftly rolled up her trouser legs and used waterproof tape to secure the submachine gun components and two small bags of gold bars to her calves. The cold metal against her skin made her shiver slightly.

She zipped up her waterproof suit, put on thick, cut-resistant gloves, and took one last look at the waterproof watch on her wrist. The second hand ticked very faintly in the darkness.

Everything was ready; beneath the calm exterior, muscles were taut like a bowstring.

The iron-hulled ship suddenly rocked and lurched, clearly changing course. Rough shouts and the screeching of anchor chains against the hull came from outside. The curtain was violently ripped open, and the captain's face, weathered by sea winds and grime, peered in. His cloudy eyes held a hint of warning and pity as he uttered two harsh words.

"The ghost... has taken the bait..."

It's time to disembark.

Qin Mingzhu took a deep breath of the salty, cold sea breeze, which carried a cloyingly sweet scent of death, and grabbed a bottle of cheap, cloudy, yellowish anise-flavored liquor from the table.

With a "pop," she bit open the metal bottle cap and gulped down a large mouthful! The burning sensation instantly traveled from her mouth all the way to the bottom of her stomach! Then she grabbed another unopened bottle and used all her strength to...

With a loud crash, he slammed the heavy, sturdy glass bottle against the metal frame of the bulkhead behind him!
Crash! Shards flew everywhere! Glass shards and clear liquor gushed out like a fountain, splashing all over her back and front! The strong, pungent smell of alcohol exploded instantly, masking the last trace of civilized life on her!

At this moment, she was completely enveloped by the crude and unrestrained stench of alcohol. All the brilliance in her eyes faded, leaving only a cold, eerie light that seemed to crawl out from the darkest crevice of the deep sea, in line with the surrounding murky waters.

She ripped off her felt hat and wig, which were covered in spilled liquor, revealing her dry, tangled hair.

He exuded a chilling, ruthless aura, like a desperate gambler just pulled from a vat of liquor.

Without any hesitation or glancing at anyone, Qin Mingzhu hunched her stiff shoulders and stepped out of the cabin!
What came into view was a pirate camp that was suffocating, a mixture of the salty smell of seawater, rotting seaweed, cheap diesel, human filth, and the strong smell of gunpowder and sulfur!

The murky seawater crashed against the jagged, dark reefs, where a dozen or so dilapidated boats, looking as if they had been salvaged from a garbage dump, lay haphazardly on the makeshift rocky pier. (End of Chapter)