In the highly concealed room of the Great Xia Academy of Sciences.
The two of them instantly froze as they looked at the contents of the email before them.
"What was their organization called?" Zheng Lixing was filled with disbelief.
"Great Wall Watchers... Does that mean they are Great Xia's shield?" Zhang Yuli was equally shaken by the organization's name.
The Great Wall had been an important defensive line of Great Xia from ancient times to the present. In ancient times, it had been the final line of defense against foreign enemies.
For this organization to be called the "Great Wall Watchers"... didn't that mean it had now penetrated deep behind Eagle Sauce's lines, constantly serving as Great Xia's first and final line of defense?
Zheng Lixing's brows nearly twisted together. "What kind of organization would choose a name like that?"
"How long have they existed? And why did they appear over in Eagle Sauce?"
He had thought that learning the Mysterious Organization's name would answer many of his questions.
Yet after finding out they were called the "Great Wall Watchers," even more thought-provoking questions had arisen, with no answers in sight.
The meaning was far too straightforward—so straightforward that the name alone made them feel an overwhelming force filling their bodies.
"I think this organization has existed for far more than a few decades."
Zhang Yuli frowned deeply and began analyzing it step by step. "The Great Wall now lies entirely within Great Xia's interior. It is more of a totemic symbol than an actual defensive line."
Even the nearest Great Wall pass from Yanjing was only several dozen kilometers away, and beyond it lay over a thousand kilometers of Great Xia's territory.
If they had only existed for the past few decades, they would never have used "Great Wall Watchers" as their organization's name. If even the Great Wall had fallen, it would practically mean Great Xia had entered a war for national survival.
"Unless this Mysterious Organization has existed for much longer?" Zheng Lixing's eyes lit up. "That explains it!"
That also explained why no classified document in Great Xia's records had ever mentioned this organization.
It was because it had existed for far longer than the founding of the nation, hiding all along in places like Eagle Sauce and quietly accumulating strength.
Only now, when it believed the time was ripe, had it taken the risk of handing these important materials over to Great Xia.
Over at Lu Ze's side, he had waited a long time without receiving any reply to the email.
Looks like this news is too much for the Great Xia Academy of Sciences to digest right away. He could not help but chuckle.
It made sense. If he had casually chosen some name like "Mysterious Power," the other side probably would not have reacted so strongly.
But it had to be something like "Great Wall Watchers," a name so steeped in Great Xia's unique character. It would have been strange if the Great Xia Academy of Sciences had remained calm.
After thinking it over carefully, his fingers quickly typed out a line.
Our organization has another technology we can submit to you, though this time it is merely a very ordinary technology.
Reply immediately upon receipt.
Lu Ze suddenly remembered the Complete set of small drone technology he had won in yesterday's lottery draw.
Compared with things like the F-22 fighter jet from before, this technology was somewhat insignificant.
The technology was ahead, but only by a little.
Several companies in Great Xia were already researching this sort of thing. They would probably be able to release highly mature industrial products in another two years.
Back at the Great Xia Academy of Sciences.
The email notification startled the two men awake as if from a dream.
[We have received it. May we ask what kind of technology this is? How much compensation will we need to provide?]
Zhang Yuli shuddered and immediately replied, afraid the other side would suddenly go offline.
"I wonder what outrageous technology they'll submit this time." Zheng Lixing narrowed his eyes.
As for that line about it being ordinary technology, he did not take it seriously at all.
This was technology submitted by a Mysterious Organization. How could it possibly be ordinary? Last time, they had called the Boeing 777 ordinary technology too.
The reply did not arrive for a long time, as though they were preparing something.
After waiting for quite a while, a notification chimed through the room, and a new email appeared in the inbox.
Once again, it contained a massive collection of densely packed compressed files.
[Complete set of small drone technology design blueprints.]
[Drone flight control system]
[Drone rotor motor chip management]
[Drone safety ultrasonic system...]
[GPS-free navigation, automatic recognition, positioning, and hovering system]
"They sent drone technology this time?"
Zhang Yuli frowned. "And a complete set of small drone technology?"
After briefly going through the technical overview.
"This doesn't seem very useful to us at the moment, does it?" Zheng Lixing stroked his graying beard, deeply puzzled.
At present, this technology did not seem capable of serving much of a purpose.
After all, Great Xia's drone technology had developed rapidly over several decades. In fact, its unmanned reconnaissance aircraft were beginning to gradually surpass Eagle Sauce's, and producing a reconnaissance drone better than the Global Hawk was only a matter of the next few years.
Not to mention that this drone technology only allowed a flight altitude of a little over a thousand meters and an endurance of merely twenty minutes.
It seemed more suitable for civilian applications than for military reconnaissance and similar uses.
"Even if it isn't very useful, this technology is still more advanced than our current small drone technology."
After thinking carefully, Zhang Yuli still typed a reply.
[We are very interested in this technology. May we ask how much compensation your organization requires for it?]
Who knew whether these small drones would possess enormous practical value once they were truly developed?
More skills never weighed a person down. Did Great Xia lack such a small amount of compensation?
Even just to avoid damaging its relationship with the Mysterious Organization, they had to show interest even if they were not interested.
However, the reply from the other side took both men by surprise.
[As I said before, this technology is very ordinary, so there is no need for payment this time. Consider it a gift to Great Xia.]
However.
"How can we possibly not pay for it, when it is a gift from them?"
Zhang Yuli shook his head. "By our customs, we must give them a return gift as well."
Even if it was freely given and required no payment, Great Xia absolutely could not accept it that way.
This further strengthened the suspicion in his heart.
The organization known as the "Great Wall Watchers" absolutely had a close and profound relationship with Great Xia in the past.
Zhang Yuli decisively typed a line.
[Great Xia has always conducted fair exchanges. There is no such thing as receiving something for free. This drone technology may be exchanged for any one form of compensation.]
[Whether you require money or materials, so long as it does not cross Great Xia's bottom line, we can satisfy your request.]
Whether the Great Wall Watchers organization wanted compensation or not, it had to accept it for this technology.
PS: I recommend a new book by my good friend Honey Sauce Ji, a new work from a master of urban romance stories.
Title: Rekindling the Green Years.
Interested readers can go check it out. It is a very, very sweet romance novel, the kind the author has loved reading since childhood.
The link is in the author's note.
Before you continue