Five days later.

The door to the empty laboratory at the research institute was pushed open.

Mingzhao walked in. She was still wearing her faded old work clothes, her figure slender. But behind her followed two soldiers in crisp uniforms, their expressions cold and their eyes sharp as eagles.

A man and a woman. The man was about thirty years old, tall, with a resolute face and a scrutinizing gaze; his epaulets indicated he was a captain.

The woman was slightly younger, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with short hair reaching her ears. Her eyes were equally alert, and her movements were efficient and neat. She was a lieutenant.

The air seemed to freeze.

The researchers who had been secretly observing in the institute fell silent instantly.

Mingzhao seemed oblivious to the two icy gazes that followed her like shadows. She walked straight to her lab table.

On the table, the core board, the mysterious "silver box," her homemade tools, the list covered with red crosses, and the disassembled scrap parts... were all placed untouched, only covered with a thin layer of dust.

She picked up a clean cloth and carefully wiped the dust off the table and tools, her movements meticulous.

Then, she picked up the welding torch, turned on the power, and preheated it. The buzzing sound of the current was particularly clear in the quiet laboratory.

"Comrade Mingzhao,"

The male captain behind him, Zhao Gang, spoke in a cold, hard voice.

"According to regulations, all your research and development activities must be conducted under supervision. You must report and obtain approval in advance before handling any drawings, documents, or components. Any conversations not related to work must be recorded by us in your presence."

Mingzhao continued wiping the dust without stopping, and didn't even look up: "Hmm."

Su Xuan stood not far away, watching this scene. He saw Ming Zhao's calm, almost indifferent attitude, and the two soldiers who were like shadows. He felt a mix of emotions.

I was struck by her composure, but also felt a heavy sense of oppression.

Mingzhao wiped the table clean and put down the cloth.

She picked up a pencil and began sketching lines on a new sheet of white paper. It wasn't a complex circuit diagram, but rather… an extremely simple sketch of a signal amplifier circuit with only a few basic components.

This is clearly not a core component of the communicator; it's more like an introductory practice circuit.

Zhao Gang and Lieutenant Liu Mei exchanged a glance, their eyes scrutinizing each other. They didn't understand the technical aspects, but they needed to confirm what she was drawing.

Mingzhao finished the sketch and put down his pen.

She didn't touch the core board and the "silver box" on the table, nor did she touch the key drawings and documents that had been sealed away.

She stood up, walked to the corner where discarded parts were piled up, squatted down, and began rummaging through them.

Soon, she found several of the most common and cheapest resistors and capacitors, an old low-power transistor, a small piece of discarded copper-clad board, and a small piece of solder wire.

She took these basic, even non-component-level, scraps back to her workbench. Picking up a small hacksaw, she began cutting the copper-clad laminate. Her movements were steady and precise. The cut copper foil had sharp edges.

Then, she picked up the soldering torch and began soldering the simplest amplifier circuit using the scrap metal. The sizzling sound of melting solder rang out again.

Zhao Gang and Liu Mei kept a close eye on her every move, trying to find any clues that might be unusual.

However, no.

Her movements were fluid and focused, yet carried a cold, mechanical quality, as if she were simply completing a very ordinary piece of handicraft.

Su Xuan, however, understood.

Her gaze seemed to be fixed on the simple circuit in her hand, but the corner of her eye was like the most precise scanner, quickly sweeping over every interface, every flying wire, and every solder joint on the dusty core board and the "silver box" next to her!

She was using this most inconspicuous method, right under the noses of the regulators, to conduct a silent review and deduction! She was rebuilding and optimizing every detail of the core design in her mind!

This requires an incredible amount of spatial imagination and memory!

Su Xuan felt a chill rise up his spine, followed by a powerful shock.

Looking into Mingzhao's lowered, clear, and calm eyes, he realized for the first time clearly: Surveillance? A cage?

Faced with this woman's absolute power, these constraints are perhaps utterly... meaningless! Her battlefield lies within her mind!

Mingzhao finished soldering the last joint and put down the welding torch. She picked up her homemade simple test clip and plugged it in.

The rudimentary amplifier circuit, cobbled together from scraps, lit up with a faint but steady indicator light.

She stared at the faint light, her dusty profile expressionless, only her eyes seemed to hold a silent, burning starlight.

It's a pity I can't go back to the family compound now.

The promise made with Howard that "night" probably... can't be kept either.

The sky outside the window gradually darkened, foreshadowing another storm brewing.

The air outside the materials warehouse was thick and oppressive. Su Xuan held the material requisition form stamped with Mingzhao's seal, having just checked the last item—the quantity of high-frequency ceramic substrates—and was about to sign it.

“Engineer Su,” Old Zhao from the materials department came over.

He lowered his voice, gestured with his chin toward Mingzhao's laboratory, and his eyes held both the goodwill of someone with experience and a hint of barely perceptible apprehension.

"Still going over there? Take my advice, switch groups as soon as possible! Engineer Wang has just taken on a radar project and they're short-staffed. Shall I talk to her about it?"

A young technician nearby chimed in, his voice even lower and tinged with mystery: "Exactly! Engineer Su, you're a returnee from overseas, with a bright future ahead of you. Why get involved in this mess? That woman... her identity is too sensitive! Getting involved with her might affect your future promotions and awards! Even Professor Chen..."

"Su Xuan!" A greeting tinged with obvious displeasure interrupted their whispers.

Su Xuan looked up and saw Chen Songnian and Li Weiguo, whose face was grim, standing at the warehouse entrance. The gentle smile that was usually on Chen Songnian's face had disappeared, replaced by a heavy disappointment and heartache typical of an elder.

Li Weiguo was much more direct, his eyes filled with frustration and disappointment.

Chen Songnian walked over, his gaze sweeping over the material requisition form in Su Xuan's hand, his brows furrowing even more.

"Xiao Su, I personally wrote a letter recommending you to return to China. You're a talent the institute has high hopes for! How could you... be so foolish!"

He shook his head in anguish, “That project is a hot potato now! Comrade Mingzhao’s background is unclear, and she’s under close surveillance now. Can’t you see how risky the project is? What can you learn by following her? You’ll only get yourself into trouble!”

Li Weiguo couldn't help but interject, his tone sharp: "Engineer Su! Wake up! That woman is incredibly strange! Who knows where she got those blueprints? They might have been... given to her from over there!"

"If you get involved with her now, once the investigation team finds out, you'll be in deep trouble! Professor Chen is doing this for your own good!"