Key Laboratory

August 24.

Huang Xiuyuan had just returned to headquarters from Guizhuling Industrial Park.

Lin Baijie, who was just as busy, came in from outside. "Mr. Huang, you're back just in time. I have two things to report."

He set down his teacup. "What is it?"

"China Inspection has completed the paperwork for the laboratory. They delivered the certificates this morning."

Huang Xiuyuan nodded. "What's the other matter?"

At that, Lin Baijie's expression turned grave. "The higher-ups have sent special envoys. There are three of them, along with several special permits."

Huang Xiuyuan remained unruffled. "They're finally here? No problem. Have the Security Department receive them and prepare offices for them. As for those plaques, there's no need to hide them. Hang them openly by the entrance."

"All right!" Lin Baijie knew a little about the situation too.

After Suiren Company developed Nitrogen-20, it was inevitable that they would have to make some choices. They might become a target for foreign powers in the future, but there would be plenty of benefits as well.

For Huang Xiuyuan, this was a situation he urgently needed.

A little over twenty minutes later,

three men dressed in Sun Yat-sen suits came to meet Huang Xiuyuan.

"Special Envoy Qin, welcome to Suiren Company."

"Mr. Huang, you're too kind. Just call me Lizhang. I hope we'll work together closely in the future." Qin Lizhang extended his hand.

Huang Xiuyuan clasped it firmly. He was actually quite surprised by Qin Lizhang's arrival, because in the future, the two of them would cross paths through the Fuxi Project.

By then, they would both be quite old. He hadn't expected the butterfly effect he'd set in motion to bring their meeting forward by twenty-six years.

After they introduced themselves, Qin Lizhang took out several proposals. They covered laboratory security, confidentiality, and ensuring that the researchers involved in the experiments, along with other relevant personnel, did not leak any secrets.

Huang Xiuyuan didn't refuse. Instead, he called over his trusted subordinate, Huang Weichang, the general manager of the Security Department.

After discussing matters with Huang Weichang, Qin Lizhang realized that Suiren Company already had extremely tight security and a rigorous confidentiality system.

A large number of the Security Department's personnel were elite veterans, and the company even had political instructors responsible for ideological guidance.

They had established a firewall both physically and ideologically, doing everything possible to prevent leaks.

Now, with special envoy Qin Lizhang on site, the fifty-member special operations team he had brought along filled the last gap in Suiren Company's security.

Unless relations broke down completely, it would be very difficult for foreign forces to pull any tricks at Suiren Company's headquarters.

Meanwhile,

under Huang Xiuyuan's instructions, the Security Department also formed a risk analysis team. It would simulate every possible point of vulnerability, seal those gaps, and develop contingency plans for each one.

For example, with regard to all the wastewater filtration trucks, Suiren Company signed a BeiDou positioning service contract with BDStar Navigation through Qin Lizhang's connections, and installed BeiDou trackers in those special-purpose vehicles.

According to the plan, each wastewater filtration truck would be fitted with three trackers—one visible and two concealed—to ensure the vehicle could still be monitored in the event of an accident or deliberate sabotage.

They also planned to install onboard computers, surveillance cameras, and sensors for the filtration membranes.

If a membrane was removed outside the designated area without the company's authorization, the system would not only send an alert to headquarters but also automatically lock the vehicle and sound a piercing alarm.

Both the driver and the operator had to be present to start the vehicle. Operators would rotate regularly, making it difficult for them to collude with the drivers.

The company would also regularly organize confidentiality training, teaching employees what actions could backfire, how to identify suspicious people, and strengthening patriotic education and the company's sense of unity.

Huang Xiuyuan had never trusted human nature. For most people, loyalty had its price.

If they didn't stay vigilant, many people would struggle to hold on to their principles when faced with an enemy's bribery and blandishments.

Take the XCMG acquisition, which had just been settled the previous month. If it hadn't been for Xiang Wenbo, the president of Sany Heavy Industry, XCMG Group would have long since been sold off cheaply to the Carlyle Group.

There had been a precedent long before that.

In 2003, Caterpillar CEO Owens announced that the company would invest ten billion US dollars in China.

The announcement sent the entire domestic construction machinery industry into a frenzy. Backed by foreign capital and boasting the world's leading brand, Caterpillar had every advantage when acquiring domestic companies.

Owens understood the mindset of local governments in China. They would inevitably undercut each other over even a tiny investment, so he deliberately feigned indecision between Jiangsu Province and Shandong Province.

In the end, he negotiated a good deal for himself: for 1.744 million yuan, he acquired a 40 percent stake in SEM Machinery, then ranked seventh in China's loader industry.

The terms were extremely harsh: SEM Machinery had to abandon its existing brand, was forbidden from developing its own technology or exporting products, and faced restrictions on competition. Its workforce was also slashed on a massive scale.

Caterpillar would initially invest only ten percent of the capital, yet exercise full ownership rights. The remaining capital would be invested over the following seven or eight years.

In the end, this was nothing but the sinister intent of foreign capital. Just think how many domestic companies had been shelved or driven to bankruptcy after being acquired by foreign investors over the years.

Human nature was the one thing that must never be left unchecked. As Suiren Company continued to grow, more and more forces would set their sights on it.

Huang Xiuyuan's approach was to prepare in advance, leaving his opponents no opening to exploit.

His earlier large donations, along with using Harbin Institute of Technology to make connections and bring the company to the attention of the higher-ups, had all been intended to ensure Suiren Company's safety in its early days.

By the entrance to Suiren Company, a row of plaques hung on the wall.

Alongside Suiren Company's own plaque were several new ones that had just been put up: "Suiren Materials Laboratory," "HIT Designated Cooperation Unit," "National High-tech Enterprise," and "National Key Cooperative Laboratory (General Armaments Department)."

The last plaque was especially significant. Suiren Company was the only private enterprise in China to receive that designation.

It represented not only recognition, but also the level of Suiren Company's technological prowess.

Hung by the entrance, it could keep a great many demons and monsters at bay.

After all, the invention of Nitrogen-20 would bring an upgrade to China's conventional forces.

Passivated Nitrogen-20 was roughly seventeen times as powerful as TNT. That meant that if a weapon's power remained unchanged, its explosive payload could be reduced to one-seventeenth. If the payload stayed the same, its power would increase seventeenfold.

Either approach would effectively boost combat capability.

Another major undertaking was the Nitrogen-20 rocket engine that Suiren Company and Harbin Institute of Technology were currently researching together.

An energy density seventeen times that of TNT also meant that, when used as solid fuel, it could dramatically increase a rocket's range without changing its mass. Alternatively, the rocket's overall weight could be reduced while maintaining the same range.

If not for the need for secrecy, nominating Huang Xiuyuan to one of the two academies would have been entirely deserved.

The boost Nitrogen-20 could give conventional forces was truly staggering. It could even overwhelm finesse with sheer force, rapidly creating a decisive local advantage so long as nuclear weapons weren't used.

That was why Qin Lizhang had come—to be stationed at Suiren Company, serving as its final line of defense and safeguarding the company.

Just as Suiren Company was hitting the fast track, a special inspection team arrived in the downtown area of Shanmei from Pengcheng.