180 Reduce Your Time to Consider

No detailed patterns were seen in the panoramic photo. Only the small black dot in the center was evident.

The high-resolution digital photos were quickly magnified by the staff. A group of bespectacled team members stared at the monitor wanting to see what it was.

As the dot grew, the group held their breath.

"Eh?"

"Ah?"

......

"It's... It's like a rock." Sonnenfeldt rubbed his chin. The coordinates of the signal captured by the satellite could not possibly be wrong, so why did they find only this?

"It should be rocks!" Minister Earl pushed up the spectacles on the bridge of his nose. The satellite took pictures at a 90-degree angle. The wave-like concave line was definitely rocks.

"Continue to zoom in, and then use the image polarizing stereo software to analyze if there are any camouflage tents hidden in it."

As soon as the chief gave his command, the group immediately searched the reef with the help of special image analysis software. However, the result was the same: nothing at all.

"How could this be possible?" Minister Earl was in deep trouble. Communications satellites and reconnaissance satellites couldn't go wrong, but the photos did show nothing but a rock.

He thought the other party might be hidden inside the submarine, but the idea was withdrawn. Using this way to get to the internet was just like exposing their submarine acoustic signature to the enemy. Even small countries could find them with the signal source. What's more, were the French—one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council—their opponent now?

"Sir, what if…" Sonnenfeldt whispered, "...why don't we just go down the network and hack into their terminal. If we do, we'll find something."

Hearing this, Minister Earl hesitated. From what they knew about the other side, their hidden tactics were absolutely top level. Could these people really invade their technology?

"Armand, you have several people in charge of monitoring the data flow, and when there is a data overflow exception, you immediately terminate the network connection. Sonnenfeldt, you're responsible for the rest of the hackers. Be careful."

It had to be said that Earl directly raised the other side to a very high level. He was even prepared to stop action immediately once the other end perceived what was going on.

"Yes!" Sonnenfeldt cracked his knuckles. It had been a long time since there had been such an intense moment.

Three, two, one, go! Sonnenfeldt counted down a few seconds in his head, adjusted his mindset, and then quickly struck the keys on the white keyboard tailor-made for him by the technology department.

"Ah!" Suddenly Sonnenfeldt's mouth opened wider than a hippopotamus's, and he stared at the monitor like he had seen an alien in daylight!

"Sir, looks like we met a ghost," he said.

The other side… the other side unexpectedly had no defense mechanisms. He just used the simplest kind of bug scanning software, and he detected 50 bugs. Even the internet had shown seven bugs. The other side did not patch them.

To his great surprise, he also discovered two common viruses on the market, working through these vulnerabilities...

This kind of feeling was bad. Sonnenfeldt even began to doubt that he had not learned enough. For example, the other side had given him a very brilliant honeypot system, and he could not discover it?

This proved Sonnenfeldt's thoughts were too complicated. While he was carefully using all his skills, sadly, the other party only used a newly bought Japanese Fujitsu computer straight from the manufacturer. It didn't even have a firewall installed. The only thing on the hard drive that didn't come out of the factory was the satellite modem software.

Oh, and the two viruses!

"Enculer!" Sonnenfeldt scratched his hair. He looked like he had locked onto a mere lamb, but was trying to capture it by launching a nuclear bomb at it. He was an idiot!

But what could an idiot do?

There was no trace of the other party. It would be useless, even if he remote controlled the other party's computer.

............

The cave near Zhongyun...

Chen Fan was sitting in his chair, eating nuts and reading a long email in 20 languages.

Of course, he could only read the Mandarin version!

I, President Kosaki of France, on behalf of the great French people, solemnly declare to you!

No matter who you are, no matter what your purpose is, our French government will never be able to pay this $500 million.

As a country with a history of more than 1,600 years, we have never been afraid of any threat or given in to any threat.

"President of France?" Chen Fan was biting into a nut like biting a gold bar. He just didn't think the president would send him an email. He could make a large amount of money just selling this email.

But excitement is excitement, and making money is making money. They could not be combined. The other party's tone was so aggressive, it seemed very necessary to give them another lesson. This lesson was called, "one after another" of course!

Chen Fan grabbed the black storage card with the acoustic signature of the conventional-power submarine, and plugged it into a computer to send the Japanese text that had been translated by another computer.

I forgot to tell you that I recorded the acoustic signature of another submarine accidently last time!

But... The price...

After sending, Chen Fan laid on the stone bed behind him to control the electric eel to Japanese waters, to the end of the cable.

The other person would certainly find his signal position by some means, so the electric eel had to monitor it. After all, the food in the stone tower was enough for two months, so it didn't matter how many more days he stayed for this operation to be successful.

Chen Fan was content there, while the presidential office of the Elysee Palace at the eastern end of the Champs-Elysees was in chaos.

"Pa!" President Kosaki slammed down the documents. His face was as cold as a Siberian wind. "Bailey, do you want to lose your job as navy captain? The other side actually still has another squid-class conventional-power submarine acoustic signature."

Admiral Bailey wiped the perspiration from his forehead and said timidly, "Mr. President, our investigation has begun. Please give me some time."

"Time, time, who will gives me time, then?" President Kosaki's face was as cold as ice. "Now we don't even know who the enemy is. I really don't know why Congress gave you so much money. The other party has already produced two acoustic signatures. I can only think they would have a third, fourth, fifth acoustic signature...?"

Two submarines. What did that mean? It meant that the enemy probably already had a special device that could steal the acoustic signature of a submarine at close range, rather than some strange coincidence.

This was no less of a disaster for France. If the news reached the public, there would be no chance of a second term in office for him.

"It would not be. I can vouch on my honor that this technology of ultra-close surveillance is not even possible in the United States." Admiral Bailey said this, but he was nervous, and for the first time in his life, he was afraid of such a strange thing.

"There are six days to go before the deadline. I hope you will give me a satisfactory answer within five days. Otherwise, please return the honor on your shoulder here."

"Yes...Yes... Yes, Presi... President!" Admiral Bailey left the room trembling.

"Hello, secretariat, have you prepared the email?"

"Mr. President, it's ready to be sent at any time!"

"Send it immediately!" President Kosaki hung up the phone with a snap.

The incident swept through all the navy's top brass and left them in danger, leading the naval command to demand that all the outlying submarines return.

The employees of the ruby-class nuclear submarine were demoted along with the officers of the squid-class submarine. If it weren't for the fact that training a submarine officer was so difficult, Admiral Bailey would have demoted everyone.

Of course, the demotion was only temporary. However, if the enemy's home country was not discovered within five days, Bailey would have to make sure everyone was miserable.

I'm President Kosaki of France, can you tell me your true intention?

I'm sure that if you have the ability to do this, your real intention is not to gain money.

If there is any misunderstanding between us, we can consult with each other. As long as this issue does not exceed our principles, I can promise that France would make appropriate concessions.

President Kosaki

December 20, 2010

Chen Fan sat on his chair, stunned. He stared at the email. The other party unexpectedly said as long as it does not exceed their principles, they could make an appropriate concession?

Yeah, it was already a national security issue. The biggest advantage of submarines was their stealth, but this advantage had been defeated more than once. Plus, they did not know exactly how the acoustic signature was stolen. Even if they re-built the submarines, they would still be afraid to sail them!

Acoustic signatures, after all, included information about of the inside of the submarine: the high-power diesel engine, cruise propulsion motor, auxiliary power, propeller, change gear, the main circulation pump, steam turbine, the heat transfer agent, and so on.

The acoustic signature was proven. Unless they made a new submarine because they wanted to change the power system, they would have to open the shell. It would not only be time-consuming, it would also affect the submarine's functioning. It would be more convenient to just re-build it.

With a sigh, Chen Fan used the mobile phone network card to access the internet on the computer, and translated the following into Japanese:

Well, your attitude this time has satisfied us just a little.

I have decided to give you one more thing, which is the acoustic signature of another squid-class conventional-power submarine.

Don't panic. If nothing happens, we would only have these three transcripts.

We certainly don't have the acoustic signature of the strategic nuclear submarine.

Still, in six days, I hope you can give us a satisfactory answer.

...............

"Cap... Cap... Cap... Cap..." In the office of the presidential secretary in the Elysee castle, Oughtred, who was dealing with all kinds of files, suddenly trembled and stared at the screen, horrified. He could not speak a full sentence.

"Did your wife run away with someone?" The secretary general, Kingscote, was already in a fit of rage, and it got even worse when he saw Oughtred's expression.

"Look... Look... Look…"

"Look at what?" Secretary-General Kingscote stormed up and punched him in the shoulder.

"Oh..."

Kingscote, a master of six languages, was almost scared to death when he saw the message on the screen that could represent the word, "devil."

And then...

When he saw the acoustic attachment of more than 20 megabytes attached below the email, his legs buckled on the red carpet.

"Quickly... Quickly, inform the President…"

In his office, Kosaki smiled bitterly as he inhaled pure oxygen to relieve stress.

He seemed to have good potential as a psychic. After he had just said, "Can I think there would be a third, a fourth, and a fifth?" it didn't took long for the third acoustic signature to arrive.

It had been concluded that the other side definitely had a submarine with a static ability, surpassing the technology of any existing submarine in the world, and could easily approach any submarine in motion without being detected.

Twenty-seven members of the European Union as well as the United States could be excluded. Because they were a strategic alliance, even if they got the acoustic signature of the submarine, they would keep it a secret rather than blackmail them.

The only possibilities were Russia, Japan, and China.

Russia was an old power, not to mention its submarine capabilities. The north wind god, built in 2007, had a nuclear strike capability, maneuverability, stealth, and was even better than America's Ohio-class strategic nuclear submarine. A single volley from it could wipe out more than a dozen Euro countries.

Japan had also made remarkable gains in electronics and precision technology, and its conventional submarines were arguably the best in the world. It was not impossible at all that they could have built a new one without anybody knowing about it.

Although China was backward in technology as a whole, it was admittedly developing rapidly, and had replaced Russia as the main rival of European countries in the Pacific. If left unchecked, within a few decades they might be the second America.

Three suspected countries, but the President had not found out exactly which country it was. Having such a "strategic" weapon in hand, it was sure to be hidden and kept as a trump card.

What worried him most now was whether the other side had their triumph-class strategic nuclear submarine's acoustic signature. The strategic nuclear submarine was the country's last card, and if its detailed acoustic signature was stolen, France would become the opposition's target.

"Mr. President, seven agents in Japan are ready to go!" Just then, an attractive woman with black-rimmed spectacles came in and whispered in Kosaki's ear.

"Tell them not to be too obvious, otherwise it would be easy for the Japanese side to notice." President Kosaki sent her away and continued to struggle with how to respond.

Japan, 3 p.m. local time, at a company called, "The Big Island Electronic Shop"

Murakami was arranging a wide variety of goods on shelves. Business these days was good. They had sold at least 11 laptops.

While he was wondering whether or not to find a beautiful girl to sleep with later, a deep voice came from behind him. "Hey, man! Can you come with us for a cup of tea?"

Turning his head, he saw a foreigner with bulging chest muscles wearing a black vest, a cap, and dark sunglasses scanning him with hostile eyes.

"No... No... I, uh…" Before Murakami could finish his sentence, he suddenly felt a lump in his throat and fell down on the ground in pain.

Meanwhile, a four-seater Sea Eagle Dashing rubber boat was sailing at a speed of 30 knots from the northwestern tip of Yuya bay to the 50-nautical mile reef.

Four foreigners with perfect physiques looking worthy of being well-trained professional agents sped off in the boat without a word for more than an hour. Once they were about 2,000 meters away from the reef, the man at the helm whispered a few words.

"First you look through your telescope and make sure it's safe before you land on the rocks."

A minute later...

"Safe!"

"Safe!"

"Look around!" Killip relaunched the boat and drove slowly towards the rocks.

"Sean, you and I will swim to the rocks with a rope, and we'll secure the rubber boat. Casimir, you and Bobby are responsible for moving the equipment to the rocks and immediately searching for the nearby signals."

When the boat reached 20 meters from the reef, Killip, who was wearing diving gear, turned around and said, "There are many exposed rocks around the reef. If you don't pay attention, you will puncture the rubber boat."

The three men whispered, "Yes!"

Sean and Killip spent a few minutes on the reef. They held the boat in place as they pulled it in front of them, and then took the signal search equipment from the boat.

Satellite photos didn't find the specific target, so they decided to personally climb the reef and use portable devices to search for it. If they found that the signal appeared on the surface, they would quietly dive down and see what could be found.

With the cracking, clattering acoustics of the keyboard, the device in orange, which weighed 150 kilograms and could search for a 10-kilometer signal source, began working immediately.

"Dude... dude…"

Casimir, who was in charge of operating the device, grew increasingly frustrated as the work indicators flashed.

"There's no signal anywhere near here!"

Sean pulled himself up from behind and cut in. "I've found the reef, and I haven't found any hidden channels or disguises!"

"Chief, did they find us out and cut off the internet?"

"Probably not. We've checked all around, not even a submarine periscope was seen. Are they invisible?" Killip looked out over the water. "We'll put up our tents, pretend we are fishing, and wait here for a few days."

............

Damn, even putting up a tent. Are they beginning to show off ? The electric eel peeked from a distance and suddenly became very angry. If you don't leave, I'll leave, and move the satellite receiver dozens of miles.

Three hours later...

Chen Fan again connected to the network. He had no time to read the email they sent. He directly sent the email he translated.

How dare you send spies to our Japanese coastline! This kind of behavior makes us feel very uncomfortable, so I want you to make compensation for this intrusion!

Your consideration time is shortened from six days to three days!