Chapter 13: Hope Reborn!

Wang Xin spoke up hurriedly as she was blocked by the soldiers.

"Comrade, we are students of Professor Wu. We are here to see Zhao Haikuo, a student of Professor Zhang. Could you please..."

"No one is allowed to enter."

Wang Xin froze, instinctively looking toward Guo Xueyun.

She remembered Guo Xueyun telling her earlier that she had relayed her instructions to Zhao Haikuo at the entrance.

It had been less than an hour; how could they not even be allowed in now!

Guo Xueyun looked equally bewildered.

"These are our student IDs, we..."

"I know, but no entry is permitted."

Taking a deep breath, Wang Xin tried a different approach.

"Then could you please contact Zhao Haikuo and tell him that I..."

Before she could finish, the soldier rejected her bluntly and told her to leave the area quickly.

Guo Xueyun pulled Wang Xin aside.

"Senior, something is wrong. It wasn't like this when I came earlier."

"It's just a final project review; why is there such a huge commotion? It doesn't make sense!"

Wang Xin was filled with confusion.

She had wanted to come and see how Zhao Haikuo was doing, but she hadn't expected that even getting close would be forbidden.

"What do we do now?"

"How about we wait here? I reckon they'll be finishing up soon. Professor Zhou's research group doesn't have a review scheduled!"

After thinking it over, the two decided to wait a little further away.

However, after waiting for a while, the soldiers did not leave; instead, a professor arrived.

"Eh, isn't that Professor Zhou? Why is he here?"

Wang Xin recognized Professor Zhou at a glance.

"Maybe his research group is getting impatient."

While the two were still wondering, Professor Zhou was blocked by two fully armed soldiers not far away.

Though they couldn't hear what was being said, the stance of the soldiers made it clear that Professor Zhou couldn't enter either, and he eventually had to leave empty-handed.

"Even Professor Zhou can't get in? Just what kind of incredible thing is Professor Zhang doing in there?"

"It's strange. Nothing was happening before, but the area was cordoned off as soon as the review started."

The two exchanged glances, their hearts filled with curiosity.

As time passed, a crowd began to gather around, everyone looking on curiously.

As long as people stayed at a sufficient distance, the guarding soldiers did not move to disperse them.

A moment later, Guo Xueyun suddenly pointed at someone approaching from the distance and shouted, "Senior, isn't that Professor Zhang! Why is he coming from the outside?"

Wang Xin focused her gaze and saw that it was indeed Zhang Gongnong.

"Professor Zhang isn't even in the lab!"

This left her even more stunned.

As Zhang Gongnong was about to enter the laboratory, he was stopped by two soldiers.

"Comrades, I am Zhang Gongnong, the person in charge of this laboratory. Here is my identification."

After a quick glance, one soldier said, "Professor Zhang, please wait a moment. I will contact the Major."

Watching this scene, Wang Xin was completely dumbfounded.

Even Professor Zhang was being blocked and required notification to enter; just what on earth was happening inside the lab?

Soon, the soldier who went to notify the authorities returned.

"Professor Zhang, please come in."

After escorting Zhang Gongnong into the laboratory, the two soldiers continued their guard duty at the entrance.

As soon as Zhang Gongnong entered the lab, Major Wan immediately walked out.

"Professor Zhang, this way."

As they passed the lounge, Zhang Gongnong heard a series of gibberish-like chanting that sounded somewhat familiar.

Listening intently, he remembered.

It was the content of the Secrecy Regulations that he had long since memorized by heart!

Zhang Gongnong poked his head inside and saw Professor Qian leading his students in a loud, rhythmic recitation.

"Major, what is this?"

"Reporting to Professor Zhang, this is per Colonel Zhang's orders to implement high-level security measures."

Zhang Gongnong looked perplexed.

"Major, what exactly is happening? Why has it suddenly become so serious?"

"I am sorry, Professor Zhang, but I do not know either."

Glancing around, he noticed that Su Dingping was not there.

"Major, have you seen my other student, Su Dingping?"

"I don't know."

Unable to get an answer, and combined with what Professor Li had said over the phone earlier, his confusion grew.

*Oh no, could something have happened to Dingping!*

In his anxiety, he didn't have time to think further and hurried deeper into the lab.

He reached the door of the private office, but found it was locked from the inside, so he had no choice but to knock.

"Old Li, what are you doing in there!"

When the door opened, Zhang Gongnong immediately saw Professor Li, who looked jubilant.

"Old Zhang, you're finally here! If you hadn't come, the cooked duck would have flown away!"

"What duck?"

"Don't worry about that, just come in first. Major, thank you for your hard work."

Professor Li thanked Major Wan and hurriedly pulled Zhang Gongnong into the room.

Before the bewildered Zhang Gongnong could speak, his attention was entirely captured by a massive model in the room.

With one glance, he recognized it.

"The 956E model! When was this made? How come I didn't know? And it's been moved into my office!"

"Old Li, what are you up to? You're treating my office like your own home! Also, Old Li, what's this about someone trying to steal my student?"

As he spoke, he noticed the room was filled with blueprints.

Scanning the surroundings, his gaze finally landed on Su Dingping and the others.

"Dingping! I thought something had happened to you! Colonel Zhang, Professor Huang, you're all here."

Seeing Professor Huang and Colonel Zhang looking somewhat awkward and embarrassed to meet his eyes, Zhang Gongnong was utterly baffled. He had no idea that his previous words were directed at the two men standing before him.

"Is no one going to explain to me what is actually going on?"

Just as Su Dingping was about to speak, Professor Li cut in.

"Old Zhang, why do you look like you've swallowed something bitter! Look at this model before you speak!"

"Isn't it just..."

Halfway through his sentence, Zhang Gongnong, who had been staring at the model, froze.

Previously, his mind had been entirely on Su Dingping, so he hadn't noticed the details of the model.

Now, looking closely, he immediately spotted the anomaly.

It was too similar! It was virtually identical!

He rushed forward, examining it inch by inch, letting out sounds of amazement.

"You old fox, Li! You've been working on something this big behind my back! Tell me quickly, how did you figure out the internal structure of the 956E? Didn't the higher-ups issue orders that dismantling the 956E is forbidden!"

Professor Li said with a smile.

"Look at those blueprints!"

"You old rascal, are you playing riddles with me!" Despite his words, he reluctantly shifted his gaze to the surrounding blueprints.

In his view, even if Professor Li had been conducting private research behind his back, being able to master the internal structure of the 956E and turn it into a model was already an incredible feat!

This progress had already surpassed the entire research institute!

As for the design details on the blueprints, he felt they should be within his capacity to handle.

His five months of work hadn't been in vain.

However, after flipping through a few pages, his eyes became stuck.

"This... this is the detailed design schematic for the 'Warship Bird-MA' type air situation awareness radar! Old Li, where did you get this? Did you bribe the Russian experts?"

"Huh? There's even the design concept for the MP-401 electronic warfare system? The design plan for the 'Baikal' tactical command system... and the problem of converting the warship's internal DC power to AC has been solved too?"

After looking at only a small portion, Zhang Gongnong was completely stunned.

These were all the core technical hurdles the Navy needed to overcome to enter the modern era! They were treasures! They wouldn't be sold for any amount of money!

When they had purchased the 956E, they hadn't failed to consider buying the core technology as well! But the Russians wouldn't sell it! Not even for an extra 900 million USD!

"Even if you bribed the Russian experts, you couldn't have gotten these! This is classified information that could get you executed!"

Professor Li pushed Su Dingping forward and said,

"Old Zhang, you've taken on a magnificent student!"