Chapter 57: The End of All Things

The Leader saw Xu Chen off and had the political commissar gift him a pack of cheap, local military-district specialty tea.

Then, he sat back down at his desk and picked up a document to read.

This was a pre-signed document concerning the manufacture of the fully mechanical encryption machine proposed by Senior Professor He.

The manufacturing order for this machine would be distributed to a large northern state-owned enterprise, a codename-unspecified engineering institute, Yujing University, North Rock Mountain Research Institute, and others for joint production. This document would allow them to share resources and coordinate seamlessly. Compared to working in isolation, the progress would be much faster.

Suddenly, the office door was knocked on, and then pushed open.

Political Commissar Wang walked in with a gloomy expression, carrying a file folder, and placed it on the Leader's desk.

The Leader looked at the folder with a puzzled expression; there was no label on it, which meant it had been delivered without being properly filed and processed.

It seemed Political Commissar Wang considered this document extremely urgent, bypassing standard procedures.

"The Americans just claimed that they have brought us urgent intelligence, and then handed over this information. After confirming the contents and following the standard copying procedures, the liaison personnel deemed it necessary to present it directly to you. Thus, it was reported up the chain and entrusted to me to deliver.

I have already verified the contents myself. This is definitely worth conveying."

The Leader was somewhat bewildered. He flipped the page and took a look—it concerned their neighbor, the territory of Bharat, across the mountains.

Goodness, how did they manage to obtain information on Bharat?

The Leader looked closer, and this seemed to be a reconnaissance aircraft trajectory map?

He wore an expression full of question marks.

"This is... an American reconnaissance aircraft? Have they lost their minds? Spying on another country's territory, and instead of being stealthy, they're playing their cards wide open? And they even sent it to us?" The Leader found it incomprehensible. "Are they showing off? Threatening us?"

Then, realization dawned upon him.

"This aircraft... its take-offs and landings... could their aircraft carrier group have reached the vicinity of the Laisi Strait? If so... our national information security..."

The Leader's first thought was the threat these reconnaissance planes posed to national information security. However, after making a judgment, he realized it actually had no major impact.

That place was miles away; the planes couldn't possibly fly into the interior.

There were towering mountains above and island chains below.

Furthermore, with the Osprey system in place, a reconnaissance plane would explode the moment it took a glance, and an aircraft carrier would simply melt if it got any closer.

Realizing that their aircraft carriers and reconnaissance planes posed no threat to the interior from the Laisi Strait, the Leader suddenly felt a trace of admiration that an aircraft carrier could travel such a vast distance just to deploy two reconnaissance planes over Bharat territory.

However, recalling America's obsession with control exhibited over the years, he found it somewhat understandable.

Yet, as the Leader continued reading, his expression gradually shifted.

Because the file was interspersed with a large number of photographs.

The one that touched the Leader the most was a dark blue crater.

Viewed from a distance directly overhead from the sky, the cast shadows could easily make someone mistake it for a hill.

"Is this... a mass grave?"

The Leader looked at the photograph in disbelief, as if the most sensitive wound in his heart had been touched.

"How... how dare they?"

Political Commissar Wang offered a timely reminder: "Leader, turn the page. That's what they actually want you to see."

The Leader hurriedly pushed the photo of the dark blue mass grave to the side of the desk and flipped to the next page. It was a satellite image showing a dark blue expanse on Bharat territory, which easily brought to mind the previous photograph.

"The Bharat government first attempted to suppress the news, and then it blew up. Originally, we thought that kind of explosive news was the worst of their problems, but it turns out the situation has already spread extensively there.

The Americans claim that this 'End of All Things' fungus spreading in Bharat has reached an uncontrollable level. It has covered the most fertile agricultural regions in southern Bharat, and they hope we will take it seriously."

The Leader looked at the report. Hearing such grave news, he instead let out a slight chuckle: "They really have the leisure of mind. They even gave the Bharat fungus a name."

"Not just Bharat. They call the fungus that broke out in America the 'Endless Fractal'."

The Leader rubbed his forehead as if suddenly feeling exhausted: "Did they happen to give a name to the fungus here in our territory as well?"

Political Commissar Wang hesitated for a moment before replying: "They did, but it was rejected by the Academy of Sciences. According to them, since the fungus contained within our borders was discovered and studied by them first, the naming rights belong to them."

Though his thoughts were entirely absorbed by the documents, the Leader remained somewhat curious: "Oh? What name did they come up with?"

"Initially, it was 'Zoonotic Mutant Aspergillus Flavus'. Later, feeling that was inaccurate, they changed it directly to 'Special Variant Alienated Aspergillus Flavus', abbreviated as 'Special Aspergillus Flavus'."

"Alright... simple and clear enough..."

The Leader continued reading the material, but his eyes kept drifting toward the dark blue mass grave.

"What does the Academy of Sciences say about this data?"

"They are still researching..."

Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door.

The Leader looked at Political Commissar Wang and nodded.

Political Commissar Wang opened the door.

Standing outside was none other than Xu Chen, carrying a bag of tea!

The Leader immediately stood up from his seat and walked toward Xu Chen: "Xu Chen? Why are you back? Did you forget something?"

Xu Chen scratched his head, looking somewhat awkward: "No, I've decided to agree to join you."

The Leader was somewhat taken aback, but he looked around and retrieved the previous document from his desk: "Since you've made up your mind, go ahead and sign it. I will personally act as your recommender shortly, and Political Commissar Wang will be the other."

Xu Chen didn't quite understand the remark, but he took the document and sat down on the sofa.

Political Commissar Wang handed over a pen. Xu Chen flipped through every page, signed his name one by one, and then began reading with a solemn expression.

Seeing that Xu Chen had signed, the Leader realized that Captain Chu's entrustment had finally settled, and he could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

This news could be considered the best news they had received since facing 'Him'.

Seeing that Xu Chen was reading the text on the document paragraph by paragraph, the Leader understood that he truly took the matter seriously. He didn't rush him, but instead sat back down at his desk to wait for him to finish.

The Leader glanced at Xu Chen, figuring it would take a fair amount of time, so he returned to reviewing the documents provided by America. However, when he looked off to the side, he paused in bewilderment.

Where was the photograph of the dark blue mass grave?

He stared blankly toward Xu Chen and noticed that Xu Chen was holding a photograph, staring at it with an identical expression of blank shock.

Ordinarily, after collation, the photographs within these files should have been laminated and bound into the folder so they wouldn't scatter or accidentally slip into other documents.

However, because the intelligence brought by the Americans was handled under emergency circumstances without full archiving and organization, the photos had not been bound, and thus one had inadvertently ended up on top of the documents Xu Chen had just signed.

He hadn't expected this sheer coincidence to expose Xu Chen to that photograph.

Still, the Leader figured that since Xu Chen had already signed the papers, all subsequent materials would be opened to him anyway, so it didn't truly matter.

Perhaps that photograph would evoke an even greater sense of urgency and vigilance in him, granting him a deeper understanding of 'His' formidable power.