The plunder of the heavens begins with the Spirit Cage.

Because everyone knows that destroying data is tantamount to destroying one's own opportunity for technological breakthroughs.

But in Lu Qianwei's opinion, that's the stupidest thing to do!

Of course, from the perspective of corporate, family, and individual interests, the monopoly of knowledge is indeed beneficial to those high-ranking officials.

But from 2022 to 2075, a span of 50 years, a bunch of idiots are still thinking about using human lives to dig technology from the Black Wall.

If the global internet is rebuilt, looking ahead, even if we fail to restore the original level of civilization, at least we won't be stuck in the same place.

We will not allow AI to awaken, seize back our lifeline, or retaliate.

Looking at the data report on how AI and various countries and companies are mutually constraining, Lu Qianwei shook his head.

"Boss!" A secretary's soft knocking came from outside the frosted door.

After Lu Qianwei let the door slide open automatically, his secretary walked in and said, "Boss, the representative from China has arrived. Shall we let him in now?"

"Let him in," Lu Qianwei said, casually placing the data panel on the walnut wood desk.

Soon, a middle-aged man with a square face walked in.

“Mr. Lu, I am Chen Huaishan from the China Trade Delegation.” The man extended his right hand and shook hands with Lu Qianwei with a firm and steady grip.

After a few polite words, Chen Huaishan confirmed that Chen Huaishan was from his hometown and stopped beating around the bush.

He smiled and got straight to the point, explaining his purpose.

"Mr. Lu, the first reason I'm here is to finalize this year's grain trade orders."

Secondly, and most importantly, we are drawn by the natural technology your company recently shared with us.

"I just don't know the price?"

Seeing Chen Huaishan's worried face as he awaited his fate, Lu Qianwei smiled and gestured for him to sit down.

After pouring him a cup of tea, he said, "Representative Chen, don't worry. Our Gongnong Company never engages in technology to lock up knowledge and treat it as a family heirloom."

We are not like those companies.

"The price is very negotiable. We will provide complete technology authorization and training personnel, and we will definitely restore the original ecological state of China's land step by step."

Chen Huaishan visibly breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. He was about to say thank you while holding his teacup when Lu Qianwei suddenly changed the subject.

He posed a question that made his heart pound: "We're all on the same side, so let's skip the formalities."

I have something I'd like to ask Representative Chen today: have you considered reintegrating the national regional network into a complete intranet?

Even...connecting the entire world.

Chen Huaishan's hand holding the teacup suddenly paused, and the celadon lid tapped against the rim of the cup with a soft sound.

His once calm gaze instantly turned turbulent, and the barely concealed unease was clearly written all over his face.

How could I not want to?

This has been what they've been doing ever since the network crashed.

After all, the country spans thousands of kilometers from the permafrost in the north to the islands in the South China Sea, and after the Black Wall incident, the network was cut into hundreds of small local area networks.

Not to mention that transferring data across regions requires special personnel to escort physical storage hard drives, which not only delays things but has also led to countless leaks and robberies.

What's more troublesome is that many local tycoons and corporate forces are taking advantage of the network's disconnect to conceal production capacity and seize resources. Even if the central government wants to access data, it has to consider the local governments' attitudes. Without the network, it is impossible to truly consolidate the power of the whole country. We can only watch helplessly as these forces slowly grow stronger and become arrogant.

If nationwide connectivity can be achieved, it would be a tremendous boon to China for generations to come.

but……

Chen Huaishan's Adam's apple bobbed. He put down his teacup, sat up straight, and said in a firm tone, "President Lu, our country is certainly interested in complete network communications."

But if the Industrial and Agricultural Corporation (IIC) wants to monopolize the national network in this way, I can only say sorry.

Chen Huaishan's words contained a hint of unspoken confidence: in reality, the domestic internet is far less fragmented than outsiders imagine.

After the Black Wall was completed, the domestic forces, like other factions, chose to search for and retrieve data from the Old World, and to obtain technical information.

During this period, they recovered a significant amount of domestic AI programs and surviving remnants of hacker data.

I won't go into the details of the domestic situation and political ideology.

In short, under these ideas, any AI and hacker spirit that is logically sound and willing to cooperate with control is very willing to go home.

They dare not say they can maintain smooth network connectivity between provinces, but local area networks within a single province have long been operating stably.

Chen Huaishan's strong words were essentially because he feared that foreign capital would seize control of the network technology and ultimately hand over control of the national network to outsiders.

Knowing the nature and ambition of this company, Lu Qianwei naturally understood Chen Huaishan's general idea.

"Representative Chen is overthinking it. Our Gongnong Company has neither the intention nor the plan to touch your country's cyber sovereignty."

As he spoke, he clicked on the floating data panel on the table, and with a gentle push, it slid down in front of Chen Huaishan. "What we can provide is brand-new quantum communication networking technology, as well as a distributed storage database with a fully optimized architecture."

From the launch parameters of low-Earth orbit satellites to the construction standards of ground backbone base stations, from the framework for allocating network permissions to new firewall algorithms for preventing uncontrolled AI intrusions.

"This is quantum technology?!" Chen Huaishan exclaimed in surprise as he stood up and leaned closer to look at the content on the holographic screen.

Quantum communication.

Once a network crashes, it becomes virtually impossible for network technology to advance further.

Who the hell would have thought that someone would actually develop quantum communication?

"Is this data accurate?" Chen Huaishan asked with a skeptical attitude.

"Of course it's true. If Representative Chen doesn't believe it, we actually have finished products here."

"Buy now, get free now!"

"As for how to plan, how to install, how to launch satellites, and how to build base stations..."

"These are all decisions you make; I only sell the products."

Lu Qianwei paused, then added something that almost made Chen Huaishan jump up: "If you're still not at ease..."

We can show you the complete set of technical documents and core underlying code.

"If you find any extra hidden code, we'll give you this technology for free, no charge whatsoever."

Chen Huaishan stared intently at the clearly listed technical catalog on the whiteboard, speechless for a long time, his heart filled with astonishment and doubt.

This is so un-corporate!

Where have your monopolies and your ambitions gone?

"Mr. Lu, I really don't understand what you're saying."

No one gets up early without a reason, and there's no such thing as a free lunch.

What exactly is your company hoping to gain by incurring such a high cost?

"Haha, there really is no such thing as a free lunch in this world." Lu Qianwei leaned back in his chair, a smile playing on his lips.

"But that's exactly the price that normal companies used to charge, isn't it?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Huaishan frowned, completely unable to understand the actions of the Gongnong Company.

They had absolutely no idea about the source of the goods, especially.

Leaving aside the weapons and equipment, surely those clothes must have some source, right?

As a result, neither state powers nor corporate spies could find a single company that supplied the raw materials, except for knowing that the clothes were made of high-quality materials.

Damn, this is really weird!

Especially when hundreds of millions of tons of grain are coming out of warehouses with a capacity of several thousand tons, even if the think tank racked its brains, all it could think of was an underground transportation line.

But the Workers and Peasants Company only appeared in Night City half a year ago. The territory used to belong to the Vortex Gang. Is there really such a path?

How could those crazy guys not know?

Chen Huaishan grew increasingly puzzled, but ultimately decided against thinking about it and looked up at Lu Qianwei, asking, "Who exactly are you people?"

“It’s understandable to hoard grains, but fruits and vegetables obviously lose moisture during transportation.”

"Representative Chen, why don't you make a bold guess?" Lu Qianwei didn't answer directly.

As I said before, people who haven't seen it with their own eyes won't believe it no matter how much I tell them, unless something illogical happens.

Chen Huaishan leaned forward slightly, his fingertips unconsciously tapping the smooth tabletop, and poured out all the guesses he had been holding back for so long.

"In the six months since your company appeared, we have checked your shipment volume and found that many things are unreasonable."

After much deliberation, I could only think of a few possibilities—

He paused, his dark, bright eyes fixed on Lu Qianwei's expression, not missing a single change in his expression.

"The first option is that you moved the main production area to a deeper underground layer."

"The second possibility sounds a bit absurd, but you are from outer space."

"The third possibility is a more reasonable speculation: you have hidden the planting area using advanced camouflage technology."

Transportation relies entirely on stealth airships and radar-resistant coatings to evade detection.

"Of course, this means that the output of your agricultural and industrial companies is still not proportional to the area of ​​land they cultivate."

“This land is so large that if some people want to investigate, it’s impossible for them to find nothing at all.”

"So I'm more inclined to believe that you're from outer space, or that you have cloning technology that far surpasses biotechnology."

After saying that, Chen Huaishan picked up the cold tea that was on the table and took a sip.

He hadn't drunk this pure tea water for a long time, and had almost forgotten what it tasted like.

"Representative Chen is brilliant." Lu Qianwei clapped his hands. "You're just one step away from the answer."

As he spoke, he held up two fingers. "So, how about choosing one of the two?"

"If I'm right, there are many things that can be discussed."

Upon hearing this, Chen Huaishan was about to blurt out the cloning technology.

But when I think of the advanced equipment such as power armor and laser guns of the Workers' and Peasants' Company soldiers...

He still managed to utter the words "alien."

The difference is simple: the main world uses methanol-based energy, while the Industrial-Agricultural Corporation uses nuclear fusion energy, specifically the kind of micro-nuclear fusion that can be easily disassembled and replaced.

Damn, if their world had this technology back then, those heartless bastards wouldn't have used so much land to grow some kind of pure energy.