707 The Shadow in the Distant Sea

When the door opened, the northern wind blew snow all over the ground.

Jiang Chen closed the door, hung his winter coat on a hook, and walked to the Aerospace Technology Research Institute.

Compared to the previous "workshop," the snow-covered Aerospace Technology Research Institute could undoubtedly be called a proper workshop. It had a wide lobby and was a five-story building. Although researchers were still in short supply, at least it was more spacious.

He went straight to Jiang Lin's lab and saw him working with several researchers in lab coats around a two-person tall oil drum.

Jiang Chen went up then looked at the barrel for a moment.

"This is?"

"It's called the 'Messenger,' a space telescope that belonged to the Pan-Asia Cooperation. It has a maximum observation range of 13.8 billion light-years and captures light from the beginning of the Big Bang. It can directly observe galaxies in 1-50 light years, photograph the landforms of the planets, it can also be used to observe black holes, dark matter, etc…" As he put some things aside, Jiang Lin explained to Jiang Chen.

"Good lord, where did this thing come from?" Jiang Chen, clearly intrigued, stared at the object.

"The Zhao Corporation got it from the Taipei Space Launch Base. It was originally used to explore extraterrestrial civilizations. However, before it was put into use, the Third World War broke out, so this was brought into Taipei's Fallout Shelter... You told me to collect all equipment related to space, so I bought it."

"How much was it?"

"10000 credits." Jiang Lin shrugged.

10,000 credits was a huge sum for the average person, but it was nothing for NAC. If this was before the war, this space telescope would've cost at least billions of dollars' worth of pan-Asian currency. Now, it was worth a thousand canned foods.

"Great value, you did an excellent job." Jiang Chen laughed then looked at the thing a few more times. "How was this repaired?"

"This wasn't broken to begin with, but it wasn't completed. The survivors on the Taipei side sold the design drawings and the ground monitoring equipment to us. As long as we digest the technology and create the remaining parts, we just need to install it before it's good to go."

Once this space telescope was completed and launched by Celestial Trade, the mysterious veil of the Natural Selection and Gliese 581g planet would also be completely uncovered. Only when the enemy was seen with one's own eyes could earth have the possibility of fighting its enemy.

After telling Jiang Lin to complete the space telescope as soon as possible, Jiang Chen left the Institute. On his way to the community center, he happened to see Wang Qing, who was looking for him.

From her face, there was a matter of urgency.

"What happened?" Jiang Chen stopped and looked at her.

Wang Ching nodded.

"A distress signal came from Liuding Town."

"Liuding Town?"

While Liuding town still remained independent from the order of NAC-led Wanghai City, it had now become a vassal of NAC with close economic ties. For no other reason, no matter how strong its air force and long-range firepower were, its foundation was ultimately the sea, and they relied heavily on imports from onshore survivors.

Think about it - what kind of industry could be supported by an aircraft carrier?

More and more small and medium-sized survival camps envied the jurisdiction of the NAC. With closer trading with the Sixth Street, they had taken the initiative to join the NAC economic zone and accept the protection of the NAC military government. This could also save a considerable amount of tariffs and military expenses. Among these was the Beer Bottle Company that provided ammunition supplies for Liuding Town and the small harbor towns that had close trade ties with Liuding...

For these small and medium-sized survival camps, NAC gave them a high degree of autonomy. The only requirement was to abide by the NAC-designated constitution and pay taxes to NAC according to their charter.

All the pawns had taken refuge in NAC, and Liuding naturally became a pawn of NAC. Although they were unwilling to accept this fact, after several internal meetings in the Liuding government under the leadership of the capitalist Tang Miya, Liuding and NAC signed a defense pact symbolizing their friendship.

When they received a request for assistance from Liuding Town, NAC was certainly obliged to respond.

However, Jiang Chen hadn't imagined he would run into this on a temporary trip.

"Who's the enemy?" Jiang Chen looked at Wang Qing.

"I'm still not sure if it's an enemy..." Wang Qing shook her head. "A destroyer appeared close to the Bohai Aircraft Carrier and has been hovering five kilometers away from the port of Wanghai. Since they're unsure if it's a hostile force, Liuding has been tense lately."

[Destroyer?]

Jiang Chen furrowed his brows slightly.

What worried him wasn't that it was a destroyer, but that a new force had appeared in the sea near Wanghai. If they possessed a destroyer, presumably their forces weren't small. Whether this destroyer was inherited from before the war or made by them, it proved they wouldn't be easy to deal with.

And what made him most surprised was that someone could actually travel freely on the dangerous seas?

Zhao Chenwu mentioned before that the Zhao Corporation had a small fleet, but it basically didn't dare to leave shallow waters and only sailed along the island mass. The monsters in the ocean were far more dangerous than those on land.

Aside from polarized extreme variants, the strongest mutant on land was the Mother of Death Claw, and they even trembled in front of electromagnetic pulse cannons. In the ocean, both the upper and lower limits were unknown.

After all, species, whether quantity, density, or size, weren't at an order of magnitude. Disregarding everything else, a mutated blue whale was almost equivalent in size to a Bohai Aircraft Carrier. Jiang Chen had seen the photo of the mutated blue whale; it was shot by the merchants who sailed to Japan. Its massive size made it impossible for him to imagine what weapons could defeat it.

"Did Liuding try to contact the destroyer?"

"They've tried to get in touch with them, but the other side seems to be averse to contact."

They didn't want to engage in conversation; they were just hovering in the distance.

It was evident why Liuding felt nervous. Both parties were too close to each other, and any misjudgment could lead to battle. If the opposite destroyer struck, the Bohai Aircraft Carrier, which had its engine broken for more than two decades, couldn't evade an attack.

"What message did Liuding send?" asked Jiang Chen.

"They want us to honor the defense pact," Wang Qing said.

Jiang Chen nodded and said after a moment of contemplation:

"Deploy a battalion of forces from the First Division on Hengsha Island and send engineering teams to build forts and fortifications on the island. Give this to Cheng Weiguo. He knows what to do."

"Hengsha Island is outside the jurisdiction of NAC. There are two different mutant nests in the area. Do we send troops directly?" Wang Qing asked.

"Mutants nests? Perfect - NAC's artillery hasn't performed military exercises for a long time. Bombard the area then enter." Jiang Chen waved his hand and ordered.

"Yes!" Wang Qing saluted.