Chapter 14: There Is a Mole—Terminate the Deal Immediately

July 15th arrived.

In the Wandering Earth world, Zhou Zhe was tied up with matters and wouldn’t be coming over anytime soon.

All communication work was handled by his son, Zhou Weirong, who was also the first person Fang Jing had met in this world.

Compared to his father, Zhou Weirong was gentle but spoke far less.

In recent days, he and Fang Jing had only begun to familiarize themselves with each other’s worlds.

However, negotiations with the Wandering Earth world had stalled because their universe couldn't provide a stable transit channel. Only basic communication was maintained.

Therefore, during this period, Fang Jing primarily focused on various training exercises.

On this particular day, while training with firearms, Zhou Yuan suddenly ran over excitedly, slapping Fang Jing on the shoulder. “The Type 23 exoskeleton has passed verification and will soon be officially deployed.”

“Officially deployed?” Fang Jing recalled the joke that Old Zhu had specially mentioned in a phone call about an old army officer who nearly wanted to sleep hugging the exoskeleton.

“Probably the army guys couldn’t hold back and stayed up all night pushing progress,” Zhou Yuan said.

“That’s possible. When I tested new guns before, I couldn’t sleep from excitement and would sneak out at night to fire a few rounds,” Fang Jing agreed as Zhou Yuan scratched his head.

“Ha, but the first units to get it will definitely be the elite Marine Corps and Air Combat units!”

Fang Jing chuckled.

“The army’s elite will have to wait a bit longer, hahaha.”

“小方,” Zhou Yuan said with a knowing shake of his head, “that’s not necessarily so. This time, the army went all out and grabbed two production lines.”

“On top of that, their reasoning is something higher-ups can’t refuse.”

“What reason?”

Curious, Fang Jing leaned in.

“To recapture a certain island. When fighting in urban warfare, they want to reduce casualties.”

Zhou Yuan’s expression grew serious. “The army decided to spend big money equipping the eastern landing forces with exoskeletons—all personnel—and improved versions at that.”

“When the landing forces fight in urban combat, they’ll be able to advance under the tank’s active defense system’s jet streams.”

“After that, the army won’t have any reservations.”

“What superhuman units? Advancing under active defense jets!”

Fang Jing was taken aback.

Tank active defense means launching rockets to intercept incoming anti-tank missiles.

Anyone following recent Middle Eastern conflicts would know why so-called ‘Judas’ tanks were ambushed by militia groups.

The answer: in urban combat, without infantry clearing buildings, tanks with active defense on think themselves safe inside.

Active defense emits metallic jets covering the entire area, making infantry coordination impossible.

Thus, active defense and infantry cooperation have always been mutually exclusive.

But with exoskeletons, China chooses both!

Armor activated, the soldier can withstand metallic jets and clear buildings—who would dare defy that?

“No wonder higher-ups can’t refuse,” Fang Jing nodded in agreement.

This reason was unbeatable.

Since it concerned national reunification, he supported it unconditionally.

“Also, Zhao asked me to remind you to keep an eye on that machine of yours recently—see if it shows any reaction.”

After chatting for a while, Zhou Yuan reminded Fang Jing on his way out.

“Attention… Are we going to the moon?”

Fang Jing was excited. So soon, and it hadn’t been that long!

“The news is already out; the base isn’t connected to the internet, so it’s normal you don’t know,” Zhou Yuan said with a warm smile, nodding toward the engineering team installing equipment. “The quantum channel will be connected today—you’ll know once you go online.”

“The news is already out!”

Fang Jing’s eyes widened.

Things were moving fast.

“Our infrastructure level—need I say more? The rocket launches on the first of next month. That’s sixteen days away; we can watch the live broadcast then.”

Zhou Yuan chuckled and waved goodbye.

“Well, infrastructure maniacs like us, if we get serious, a month is reasonable.”

“No, if it weren’t for going through the full safety inspection process, the timeframe could be even shorter.”

Fang Jing cracked a grin, snapped back to focus, and called out to Cheng Xu.

“Come on, let’s continue!”

Others were working hard; he couldn’t slack off!

“...What are you mumbling about?”

Cheng Xu was startled, his hand trembling as he rubbed his ear, reminding Fang Jing, “We’re training with explosives—when dismantling and installing, keep calm. No fussing!”

“Ah, got it.”

“All right, come here.”

...

At Huake University of China, Computer Science Institute.

Chen Haoran left work, cautiously walking down the corridor.

He looked tense, frequently glancing back as if wary of his surroundings.

“Old Chen, what are you doing?”

A sudden voice behind him startled Chen Haoran, causing him to shudder and spin around.

It was his colleague, Xu Kaihuai.

“Phew,” Chen Haoran exhaled deeply, forcing a stiff smile.

“Heading home after work?”

“Yeah. Oh, I envy you—I still have the night shift.”

Xu Kaihuai shook his head helplessly but had a question.

“Old Chen, why do you look so pale?”

Hearing this, cold sweat broke on Chen Haoran’s forehead. He hesitated, then suddenly shivered and clutched his stomach.

“Nothing much. I caught a cold recently, got chilled, and my stomach’s been upset.”

“Oh, health is wealth. No more talk—go home and rest well. If you’re not feeling well tomorrow, just take leave. The team leader won’t mind.”

Xu Kaihuai waved off the concern, exchanged a few more words, and left.

Because of certain computational tasks, the computer lab operated night shifts.

Therefore, someone always had to work overnight.

Xu Kaihuai was on night duty.

After dinner downstairs, he wandered around the building to aid digestion.

When he reached the rooftop power distribution room, through the window, he spotted a familiar figure.

Chen Haoran? Wasn’t he supposed to be home sick?

Xu Kaihuai’s pupils instantly contracted.

Watching his furtive colleague constantly looking over his shoulder, he recalled the team leader’s instructions.

A few days ago, the leader had quietly pulled him aside and earnestly told him:

Their computer institute was working on tracking orbital data for the lunar rocket sent by the space agency—a matter of utmost secrecy.

Because Xu Kaihuai’s family background was clean and his father was a military regiment commander, the leader trusted him to keep an eye out and avoid mistakes.

At first, he thought, what mistakes could there be?

But seeing his old colleague’s strange behavior, he felt alarmed.

Damn, could Old Chen have been bribed?

“This guy’s been to the US for exchanges several times; maybe he really sold out!”

“No, I have to call the team leader immediately!”

Xu Kaihuai’s heart tightened.

Chen Haoran’s odd actions meant he was about to act.

Why act?

The lunar spacecraft data!

"This is a big problem!"