Chapter 57: Consent? Refusal?

Zhu Lan remained silent, simply looking at Luo Guoqiang.

Luo Guoqiang gave a wry smile, at a complete loss for words when it came to Zhu Lan.

“By your calculations, satellite manufacturing is indeed extremely difficult, but is there anything money can’t buy in this world? Besides, the latest aerospace centers are already in operation. In the future, satellite manufacturing will have great prospects. It’s no surprise that I’m interested!”

Luo Guoqiang fell silent.

There are many who have mastered satellite technology, and with enough money, one can indeed build a few satellites, but the performance cannot be guaranteed.

Countries like Iran and India, even Europe, possess quite advanced satellite technologies. If you have the money, hiring a few experts to work for three, five, or even eight years is not a problem at all.

If you’re willing to spend, you could even recruit satellite experts from Russia or the United States. If you can get satellite specialists, then rocket experts are theoretically within reach as well, though that’s much more difficult.

What Zhu Lan was suggesting now was to manufacture satellites and then launch them using China's rockets.

“I can’t make that decision.”

Satellite manufacturing is both simple and difficult: you can produce a satellite, but without a launch vehicle, it’ll never reach orbit.

Only a handful of countries in the world possess launch vehicles, and even those capable of sending rockets into space may have their launches shot down by the self-proclaimed righteous world police—America—the moment the rocket takes off, mistaking it for an intercontinental missile.

Every rocket launch is a highly publicized event; at the very least, there will be news bulletins. Secret launches? Sorry, anything not officially recorded is treated as a potential ICBM and a devastating threat.

In short, every rocket that leaves the ground is known to the world’s nations. Any rocket launch that goes unnoticed will be shot down without hesitation.

Even if there’s only a one-in-a-billion chance that a rocket might be carrying a nuclear warhead, no country would take that risk.

In fact, countries with anti-nuclear capabilities like the United States, Russia, China, and the United Kingdom always put their missile defense forces on standby whenever another country launches a rocket. If there’s even the slightest chance that the rocket could be targeting their territory, they won’t hesitate to launch anti-missile rockets to intercept.

What many don’t realize is that every rocket launch teeters on the brink of triggering World War Three.

The alert only stands down once the rocket truly enters space.

Nuclear forces generally have three levels of alert:

Level Three Alert means the homeland may be subjected to an unknown attack. Rocket launches are the most frequent cause of this alert.

Level Two Alert clearly indicates an imminent nuclear strike on the homeland. The Cuban Missile Crisis is the most notable example, with nuclear missiles openly placed on launchers, ready to fire at any moment.

Level One Alert is a full-fledged war alert. At this point, the authority to launch nuclear weapons is no longer solely in the president’s hands; generals in charge of the arsenal also have the power. If they lose contact with the president for a certain period, the missiles will launch automatically at pre-designated targets.

Since the advent of nuclear weapons, Level Two Alert has only occurred a handful of times—ninety percent during the Cold War. Level One Alert has never occurred.

A rocket launch equates to a Level Three Alert.

So when Zhu Lan proposed satellite manufacturing, Luo Guoqiang had little to say, simply noting that he’d consider it. If Zhu Lan had spoken of manufacturing launch vehicles, Luo would have had him taken away on the spot.

The next step after launch vehicles is intercontinental missiles. No nation would ever allow civilians to possess the ability to launch ICBMs.

Zhu Lan nodded. “No matter; I’m not in any rush.”

Luo Guoqiang and Li Hongjin exchanged glances and shook their heads. “Very well, let’s leave it at that for today.”

They left in anger, and who could blame them? They’d come hoping for a breakthrough in quantum communications, only to discover it was still riddled with flaws.

They didn’t suspect Zhu Lan of deception; after all, what is quantum communication? China may have mastered it, but not completely.

The new satellite was intended for quantum communication, that much was known, but China’s technology in this area remained immature. The new communications satellite project hadn’t even started manufacturing.

That day, the regular standing committee meeting proceeded as usual.

Seven people were seated in the conference room, each one a leading figure at the highest level of China’s government. The top leader was visiting Europe, and the third in command was in Russia. The remaining seven standing committee members were present.

China’s power structure consists of nine people—the Politburo Standing Committee.

“Still haven’t found it? What are those people down there doing? Such a massive amount of data just vanished into thin air?” The fifth leader started the meeting with anger, glaring at everyone.

The others bowed their heads, each busy with their own affairs, all too accustomed to this kind of situation.

“All right, Old Huang, you know how things go in the military. Just be patient and investigate.”

“Hmph, isn’t it your precious grandson behind this? I’m beginning to suspect your grandson is a top Japanese spy!”

“Huang Yitang, you must have a death wish!”

“Enough! Stop bickering! How long are you going to argue?” The second leader looked at the two with a headache. One was military, the other political; they were like oil and water.

“None of you are to interfere in this matter. I’ve already ordered the Third Department to investigate. No matter who’s involved—even if it’s any of our own descendants—they will be executed. This is an order conveyed directly from the top leader!”

“What?”

“What, are you dissatisfied?” The second leader looked at the eighth, growing increasingly displeased with him.

“No... not at all...”

“Let’s move on to the next topic—the matter of Illusion Technologies.” As he spoke, the second leader glanced at the eighth, who looked rather uneasy.

“Quantum communication has been verified. Commander Luo has already submitted the report. However, this communication method is still incomplete, plagued by many flaws. The biggest is that current satellites can barely support quantum communication, so new satellites are essential.”

“Build new satellites? I oppose!” The sixth leader, who’d been silent until now, objected immediately. “The Beidou System, Tiangong Program, Lunar Exploration—all these satellite projects are already scheduled eight years ahead. The nation cannot divert more resources to a new satellite project, especially when quantum communications are still unproven. To act rashly might only give other countries an excuse to interfere.”

The second leader nodded. “I understand. I’m not proposing a new state satellite project. Rather, Zhu Lan from Illusion Technologies wants to establish his own satellite manufacturing plant for quantum communication satellites. Commander Luo can’t approve it, so the problem has landed here.”

“Manufacture satellites? Naive. I oppose!” The eighth leader objected at once.

The second leader ignored him and looked at the others. “What do you think?”

“I’ll oppose as well. Satellite technology must not fall into civilian hands.”

“I object too.”

“Opposed.”

“Opposed.”

Five votes in a row against, leaving only the second and fifth leaders yet to speak.

“I think it’s worth considering,” said the fifth, after a moment’s thought.

“Oh? How so?” The second leader’s question left everyone stunned. Did this mean he supported it?

Unthinkable—to allow civilians access to satellite technology would be a slap in the face to national security.

“I know Zhu Lan. There have been people interested in him for a while,” the fifth leader said, glancing at the eighth.

“Zhu Lan is a genius. You’re all familiar with the gene enhancement serum—he’s the one who developed it. You might not know this, but he’s also made significant breakthroughs in robotics. What interests me more is his secrecy.”

“Secrecy?”

The fifth leader nodded. “He hides it well, but the National Security Bureau has discovered that many of the devices in Illusion Technologies are equipment embargoed by Western countries. Zhu Lan personally brought them back from Europe, but our overseas operatives found no trace of such transactions.”

Everyone frowned at this. To acquire embargoed equipment without being detected by China’s agents abroad was no easy feat.

“Our people suspect that Zhu Lan is getting the equipment straight from the manufacturers.”

“Impossible!” The seventh leader, head of the Commerce Bureau, objected immediately. He knew full well that factories producing embargoed equipment in the West are top secret, guarded by the military, each item numbered and untraceable if lost.

“At first, I thought it was unlikely too, but there’s been no evidence of any overseas transactions. That makes Zhu Lan a figure worth watching.”

“So what are you suggesting?” someone asked.

“If we agree, but only assign him some basic staff—no engineers or experts—what then?” the fifth leader continued.

The second leader smiled. “So that’s your plan. Quite the strategist!”

“Likewise, likewise.”

“What do the rest of you think?”

At this point, everyone understood—each of them was a seasoned old fox.

If Zhu Lan wasn’t given skilled personnel, he’d have to look abroad for talent. After all, China’s experts were all recruited to Jiuquan, with very few left outside the system.

Even if he found the talent, what about the manufacturing equipment?

Satellites are high-precision instruments. Every component is meticulously crafted, each treated as a work of art. Ordinary equipment can’t produce qualified satellite parts.

A satellite must operate in the harsh environment of space, facing countless challenges, so the bar for manufacturing is extremely high.

Standard commercial equipment simply can’t make acceptable satellite parts. Only specially customized machines can, and such equipment is manufactured under strict supervision by the National Security Bureau and the military—ordinary people can’t even approach, let alone buy it.

If Zhu Lan wanted to build satellites, he’d have to find a way to acquire this kind of equipment.

Despite China’s aerospace industry being world-class, there are still gaps in certain areas. If Zhu Lan could acquire some of this equipment, it would benefit China, not harm it.