After breaking up with my boyfriend, I made a fortune and rose rapidly in my career.

Liu Kun's face turned ashen, and all color drained from his eyes.

The reserve cadres he brought with him now wished they could disappear into a crack in the ground, and they were even trying to breathe more quietly.

The provincial governor is in charge of overseeing the matter.

The weight of those four words is undeniable in Nanzhou.

Chen Ping didn't look at Liu Kun again, turned to Li Weimin and the other two and said, "You have half a day to hand over the work. I want to see your first rectification plan at 5 p.m. this afternoon."

"Yes!" Li Weimin and the other two responded in unison, their voices loud and clear, their backs ramrod straight.

Liu Kun's lips trembled, and he didn't dare to utter another word. He stood up and walked awkwardly towards the door, feeling the supervisory order stuck to his back, burning with pain.

The door closed, and the sounds outside could no longer be heard.

Lin Yaodong looked at the scene before him, picked up his teacup and blew on it, a hint of emotion in his eyes.

This young man is quick and ruthless.

"Secretary Lin," Chen Pingfang looked at him, his eyes regaining their calm, "I might need your help tonight."

Lin Yaodong put down his teacup: "Speak."

"Keep an eye on things in the city for me. Write down the phone number for Factory No. 3, no matter who calls."

Lin Yaodong's pupils contracted slightly, and he nodded: "Okay."

He knew that the real trouble was yet to come.

……

Late at night.

Within a one-kilometer radius of Factory Building No. 3 in the Chipfire Industrial Park, security has set up two cordons. The surveillance cameras at the intersections have been covered up, and signal jamming vehicles are also in operation, completely cutting off this area from the outside world.

Old Ma personally led twenty skilled men, setting up guard posts every three steps and sentries every five steps, ensuring a tight security.

The factory was brightly lit.

Beside the large pit, several high-powered lights illuminated the bottom brightly. Jiang Fan, wearing a white protective suit and goggles, was directing seven or eight technicians to debug a plasma cutting machine, which had been urgently transferred from the Provincial Institute of Engineering Physics.

"Check the oxygen concentration, air pressure, and cooling system again," Jiang Fan's voice came through the communicator, sounding very serious.

Chen Ping stood at the edge of the pit, the night wind blowing the hem of his clothes. He wasn't wearing protective clothing, and just quietly watched the people below working.

Zhang Chao stood half a step behind Chen Pingfang, holding an encrypted satellite phone in his hand. This was delivered by Governor Zhou Jiang early that morning; it was a dedicated line.

"Director, it's ready." Jiang Fan looked up and reported, "The shielding layer is lead-core composite concrete, more than two meters thick, and contains a special alloy. Ordinary cutting equipment simply can't cut it."

Chen Ping nodded: "How long will it take?"

"If all goes well, four hours." Jiang Fan's tone was serious. "This feels like handling hazardous materials, not construction work."

Chen Ping's gaze fell on the flat concrete at the bottom of the pit.

"Let's begin."

He had barely finished speaking when a piercing buzzing sound rang out. The plasma cutter spewed out a high-temperature, bluish-white flame, precisely cutting into the layer of concrete.

Shila-

Sparks flew everywhere, and the air was filled with the smell of burning metal and stone.

Time passed second by second.

Cutting it was harder than I thought. The alloy in the concrete has a very high melting point, and the cutting machine had to be re-nose three times before it could cut a two-meter square opening in it.

A small crane drove over, and its hook precisely caught the cut piece of concrete.

"rise!"

As Jiang Fan gave the order, the steel cables tightened, and the crane emitted a muffled thud. Several tons of concrete blocks were lifted piece by piece, revealing the dark opening below.

A plume of white steam shot out from the gap.

"Everyone back off, check the gas composition!" Jiang Fan immediately ordered.

A technician rushed up with a testing instrument, and a few seconds later, he reported over the communication channel: "It's high-purity inert gas, non-toxic, and non-radioactive."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Filling with inert gas can isolate it from air and moisture, protecting the delicate equipment inside. The other party has thought of everything very carefully.

The large blower started ventilating the pit. A dozen minutes later, Jiang Fan took the lead and was the first to climb down the metal ladder.

Chen Ping followed behind.

The underground space was huge, about half the size of a basketball court. The four walls were smooth metal, reflecting a cold light under the spotlights.

In the center of the space, a large object lay quietly.

It was wrapped in a thick anti-static vacuum film, so only a rough outline could be seen. Many thick cables and pipes connected to the interfaces on the surrounding walls.

Even through the thin membrane, you can feel the pressure from this precision equipment.

Jiang Fan's breathing became rapid. He carefully stepped forward and used a specially made blade to cut open the membrane.

"hiss--"

The sound of the vacuum being broken rang out.

When the membrane was completely peeled off, revealing the equipment inside, all the technicians present gasped in astonishment.

The equipment had been dismantled and was in complete disarray.

The outer casing was removed, revealing a dense network of wires and structures inside. Several key locations were empty, leaving only some severed interfaces.

"The EUV light source system... it's been taken away." Jiang Fan's voice trembled as he carefully touched an empty base. "And here, the Zeiss mirror assembly... this is the workpiece stage... all gone..."

His face turned deathly pale.

"They are dismantling the equipment, taking away the most critical modules of the lithography machine."

Jiang Fan turned sharply to look at Chen Pingfang, his voice changing: "Director, this is tantamount to dismantling our high-tech industry. Any one of these core modules could be enough to push the West's technological blockade forward by another ten years."

Chen Pingfang's face was very ugly.

He finally understood that what Zhao Bo and his group wanted was not to launder the 3 billion yuan at all.

They wanted to destroy the machine.

Just then, a technician inspecting the equipment base suddenly shouted.

"Engineer Jiang, Director, come and see, there's something here that doesn't look like part of the equipment itself."

Everyone immediately gathered around.

Behind a well-hidden ventilation grille on the device's base, there was a black metal box. The box had no markings on its surface, and its material was unknown. It felt cold and heavy in the hand, and it was tightly sealed, with no way to open it.

"It's made of titanium alloy and has signal shielding." Jiang Fan examined it, then frowned. "This thing has a physical self-destruct lock; if you try to open it by force, the contents inside will burn instantly."

A black box that can't be opened.

It was buried here along with the dismantled lithography machine.

What secrets are hidden inside?

Chen Ping stared at the black box in silence for a moment. He took out his encrypted phone and dialed a number.

The phone was answered after only one ring.

"Third brother," Chen Ping said calmly, "I need you. Now."