Chapter 221 I Went Mad During the Republic of China Era 37 (End) Bonus Chapter
Zhou Jue closed the wooden box, held it in his arms as if it were some rare treasure.
"Comrade Xinghuo, today is just the first step. We don't really know how to proceed next."
"What are you afraid of! We have territory, men, and guns now! Anyone who doesn't submit, we'll beat them until they do!"
"Now is not the time for fighting and killing."
"How should we run this household? We'd like to hear your thoughts."
Zhou Jue put the wooden box aside and sat up straight: "We have a large family and a big business, but our foundation is too weak. Our steel production is less than a fraction of others; we don't have improved seeds; we don't have fertilizer; we can't even produce the most basic penicillin. And foreign enemies are still eyeing us covetously."
Her words were like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing some of the warm, festive atmosphere in the room.
“You’re right. We’ve discussed it. We need to tighten our belts and concentrate our efforts on industrial development, starting with heavy industry.”
“It’s too late.” Zhou Jue shook his head: “If we catch up step by step, by the time we build a tractor, they will already be driving spaceships. We don’t have time to figure things out slowly.”
"First, establish several special research institutes and gather the brightest minds in the country. One will focus on materials, one on energy, one on biology, and one on information."
“I will be the chief consultant. I can explain the principles of the machine to you and help you avoid decades of detours.”
Zhou Jue has more than two months left, and she doesn't know if she can create a miracle in those two months.
These words stunned everyone present.
"You mean... you not only know that 'divine power,' but you also understand these... these sciences?"
"I know a little bit." Zhou Jue smiled modestly, "Enough to give us a higher starting point than others."
...
In the time that followed, Zhou Jue acted like a tireless mentor, shuttling between different project teams.
She would provide answers to what she knew, and for what she didn't know, she would ask the system and then provide an answer. She also guided these top minds in China to find the door to a new world.
In addition to technology, social development is also underway simultaneously.
Participating in the Marriage Law advocates for gender equality and strives to ensure the fair rights and interests of both parties.
At another meeting on language reform, the atmosphere was even more enthusiastic.
A linguist presented a scheme for simplified characters, which included the simplified characters commonly used in later generations.
Zhou Jue looked at the plan and pointed to a few words: "Why are these words not simplified to their original forms? Instead, they all have the 'woman' radical, as if all the bad things in the world are related to women."
“We are building a new society, a society that values gender equality. Written language is the carrier of culture. We cannot eliminate illiteracy while subtly instilling discriminatory ideas into the minds of the next generation.”
Everyone present fell silent. They looked at Zhou Jue with admiration and deep contemplation in their eyes.
In addition, Zhou Jue would also use the function of the Listening Sea Fang to eavesdrop on whether there were any spies inside or outside the organization. If he found any, he would either arrest them or kill them.
The deeply hidden traitors were exposed one by one; this newly established nation cannot tolerate the slightest betrayal.
On December 18, 1937, just 13 days before Zhou Jue left, the system detected that the Americans wanted to start another war. Zhou Jue informed the country of this.
The nation did not send Zhou Jue to fight again. Instead, it used its latest developed weapons, as well as the weapons that Zhou Jue had previously provided, to force back the provocative fleets of the great powers on its own, and declared to the world: We have stood up on our own!
Although the Americans were defeated, they discovered that since Xinghuo had not taken action, some countries had begun to secretly plan an attack. Individual countries could repel these attacks on their own, but they would still face pressure when facing a multinational coalition. Zhou Jue took action again, telling the world that she was still there, and buying precious time for the new China.
As he was about to leave this world, Zhou Jue looked at the country he had been pushing forward. Militarily, it had caught up with the West and even surpassed it in some aspects. All they lacked now was time—time for mass production.
[Ding! One minute remaining before time travel. Please prepare yourself.]
[10, 9, 8... 3, 2, 1, Start the time travel!] A flash of white light, and Zhou Jue disappeared from the spot.
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Materials Science.
Professor Qian, his hands trembling, rushed out of the laboratory with an uncontainable look of elation on his face, holding a freshly completed report.
"We did it! We did it!"
"Following the theories of Spark Consultants, we have synthesized a new alloy with a strength more than three times that of existing special steels! And the cost is only one-third!"
The surrounding researchers immediately swarmed around, eagerly passing the report around, exclamations of amazement rising and falling.
"Great! Quick! Go report this to the Spark Advisor!"
"Mr. Qian, please go quickly! This is incredibly good news!"
Professor Qian nodded, carefully put the report into his pocket, and jogged all the way to Zhou Jue's private office.
The office door was closed, so he knocked on it.
"Advisor? Spark Advisor?"
There was no response from inside.
He then struck a few more times with increased force.
"Advisor, it's me, Old Qian! We've made a major breakthrough!"
The inside remained silent.
A security guard came over and said, "Professor Qian, please stop knocking. Xinghuo Advisor hasn't come over these past few days."
Professor Qian was taken aback: "Didn't you come? Did you go to another project team?"
The soldier shook his head: "I don't know. We have no right to inquire about the advisor's whereabouts. But we haven't seen him for three or four days."
Professor Qian's initial enthusiasm cooled somewhat, and he felt a little disappointed.
"I see... Okay then, let me know as soon as the consultant returns."
He took the still-hot report and went back to the lab.
...
One week later.
The director of the biological research institute, holding a tube of reagent, exclaimed: "Penicillin! We've successfully mass-produced it!"
"Using the strains and fermentation methods provided by Spark Consultants, costs were reduced by 90%! Production increased tenfold!"
"Great! Excellent! This can save so many soldiers' and compatriots' lives!"
"Where is Comrade Xinghuo? She must be very happy to hear this news!"
The director of the Institute of Biology shook his head, a hint of confusion on his face.
“I’ve been looking for several days. No one’s in the office or the dormitory. I asked the Institute of Materials and the Institute of Energy, and they haven’t seen the consultant for more than a week either.”
...
Zhongnanhai, the small courtyard where Zhou Jue was entertained back then.
The three people sat around the stone table, and no one spoke; the atmosphere was terribly oppressive.
The tea that had been brewed on the table had gone completely cold.
"He's just gone like that? What does this mean! Was it those Americans who did this? I knew they were plotting to destroy us!"
He stood up and paced back and forth in the yard like a trapped beast.
"I'm going to muster my troops right now! I'll wreck their fleet!"
"Alright."
"If there is anyone in this world who can harm her, then what we are discussing now is not where she went, but whether this country still exists."
Yes, Comrade Xinghuo's methods are comparable to those of a god. With a wave of his hand, he can make a fleet lose its way or an army kill each other.
Who can touch her?
“I checked. Her last public appearance was twelve days ago at the Information Institute. After that, she seemed to have vanished into thin air, with no record of her whatsoever.”
“I went to her dorm room. Everything was still there, but she was gone.”
"Then...where could she have gone? We need to give her an explanation, right?"
"Do you remember what she looked like when we first met her in the cave dwelling in Yan'an?"
They both nodded.
"And then there were the things she took out, those technical blueprints that were decades ahead of their time."
"Furthermore, she made the enemy's weapons disappear out of thin air in Vladivostok and Malacca."
“We have never investigated it in depth, or rather, we dared not investigate it in depth. We simply accepted her existence and everything she brought.”
He looked at the old locust tree in the yard, his gaze becoming distant.
“These past few days, I’ve been thinking about something. Her name is ‘Spark.’ She’s like a spark that appeared out of nowhere, igniting this land during our darkest and most desperate time.”
"She helped us drive out the invaders, helped us achieve unification, and showed us the way forward..."
The voice on the platform grew softer and softer.
"Now that the fire has been lit, perhaps... her spark has also departed."
A long silence fell over the courtyard. This guess was too vague and unfounded, yet it seemed to be the only reasonable explanation.
immortal?
monster?
Or is it a spirit born from this land's unwillingness to succumb?
"You mean...she's a celestial being descended from heaven...to help us? And now that the matter is settled, she's gone back to heaven?"
"No matter who she is, where she comes from, or where she is going."
"She did everything for this country and for the people here."
"Now that she's gone, we have to walk the rest of the road ourselves."
He turned around and looked at the two of them.
"Everything about Comrade Xinghuo is classified as a top state secret. To the outside world, it is claimed that the advisor is carrying out a long-term, top-secret scientific research mission."
"I agree. Because of her deterrent effect, those wolves and tigers outside dare not act rashly. This deterrent effect must continue to exist at this stage."
"Let's seize the moment and turn all those treasures left behind by the Spark Advisors into our own stuff!"
That's how it was settled.
A file named "Spark" was placed in the deepest safe, stamped with a seal that would never be opened.
The wheels of history continue to roll forward.
In later generations, countless historians, military enthusiasts, and scientists have been fascinated by the miraculous rise of China around 1937.
They searched through all the declassified files and interviewed every eyewitness they could find, but they still couldn't piece together a complete truth.
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