NOVPUBChapter 84: Chapter 83 You Have a New Job
Chapter 84 -83 You Have a New Job
“May I ask who you are…?” Zhang Zhiyuan tilted his head backward.
“Ah, I forgot to introduce, this is Dr. Ding, the head of the mineral identification department,” Bai Yan quickly interjected, “I felt the ore was a bit unusual earlier, so I asked the teacher to take a look…”
“A bit unusual?” Dr. Ding cut him off, “This thing doesn’t look like any mineral from Earth at all!”
Zhang Zhiyuan and Gao Wei looked at each other with the same thought crossing their minds.
“Are you sure?”
“Nonsense! I’ve been in this field for thirty years, one glance at the spectral analysis and I can guess most of it.”
“Cough cough,” Bai Yan coughed.
“Okay, it may be a product of Earth,” the other party conceded somewhat, “But it absolutely must have been dug out from some hidden corner, with a composition and structure unlike anything we’ve seen before, so where exactly does it come from? Is there more of it?”
“Sorry, I cannot disclose its origin,” Zhang Zhiyuan looked toward Director Gao, who signaled with his eyes that there was no need to worry, then took out his mobile phone and walked aside.
He got the message and continued, “Could you tell us more about what’s so strange about this rock?”
“Ah, you people are so impatient!” Dr. Ding said, full of impatience, “I told you, you wouldn’t understand it!”
“But can we get a report at least?”
“No!” He waved his hand, “Reports are only for things in the database, this thing doesn’t fit into any category of gemstone, jade, or other mineral classifications, the machines can’t make heads or tails of it. It can only be figured out manually, bit by bit, and that would take at least five or six days.”
“You might as well tell us what’s so strange about it,” Zhang Zhiyuan intentionally dragged out the time, “We’re also on a mission, and it’s difficult to report back without knowing anything.”
“Teacher, let me explain,” Bai Yan stepped forward, “Don’t be too hard on Dr. Ding. He just thinks this item might be a major discovery, and both its discovery location and quantity are of utmost importance. The former could help us understand the origin of the stone, while the latter could enable more experiments.”
“Simply put, we’ve found several common elements in the sample, such as silicon, oxygen, carbon, iron… but that’s just spectral data, their combined forms are completely different… How should I say this, it’s like both are watermelons, one is intact, and the sample is smashed. Additionally, there are a lot of black areas on the spectrum, which theoretically are signs of material absorbing light, but we’ve never seen black areas to this magnitude before. The most puzzling part is that electrons absorb light and should undergo a transition, and then they should release that energy again—but we did not observe this latter phenomenon.”
“…” Zhang Zhiyuan realized he was thinking too much. What the other party had said might have been put simply, but he still felt completely in the dark.
“See, they don’t understand the significance of the sample at all,” Dr. Ding had anticipated this response, “Never mind, we’ll continue testing, send the spectral data along with the other analyses to the lab, have someone help us take a look. The studio that works with Beifu University can also have a look, those kids will be shocked to their core—” 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙥𝙪𝙗.𝒄𝙤𝙢
“No!” Zhang Zhiyuan suddenly interrupted.
“Huh?” Dr. Ding, who had just planned to return to the identification room, turned back and frowned, “Aren’t you in a hurry for a report? Many hands make light work, if we distribute the identification work, maybe we could have something in three days…”
“I can’t explain, but please cooperate and don’t move from where you are,” Zhang Zhiyuan stepped forward, blocking them.
“What do you mean? This is a state-owned facility!” Dr. Ding said discontentedly.
Just then, the sound of sirens came from outside the door.
One by one, black Iveco vehicles drove into the National Appraisal Center and parked neatly on both sides of the courtyard. Armed police jumped out, methodically set up a cordon, and within minutes, had taken control of all the entry and exit points of the center. At that time, an ordinary black sedan parked directly at the reception hall entrance, several middle-aged men got out of the car, and walked straight toward Gao Wei.
He hadn’t waited in the hall, but went forward to greet them with a handshake.
Zhang Zhiyuan did not recognize them, but he had an impression of one of them, who often appeared in the front row of conferences during the restructuring of the national security department.
It was not until this moment that Zhang Zhiyuan truly understood the real meaning of the phrase his boss had said.
“Whether I believe it or not is not important, what’s important is to have evidence.”
Gao Wei did not take it lightly, but he still prepared for the possibility that “what if this is true?”
It wasn’t just him, the higher-ups also adopted the same approach.
—Rather than betting it will never happen, it’s better to take some time to make a contingency plan; after all, it wouldn’t take much effort.
Everything before his eyes couldn’t have been hastily put together; a group of people had long been prepared, only needing to wait for the evidence to be confirmed for the higher-ups to act with the greatest speed.
The subsequent events seemed to follow naturally.
Zhang Zhiyuan was asked to leave the appraisal center—his clearance level was neither sufficient to participate in the following discussions nor to be informed of the superiors’ next plans. The personnel from the appraisal center were in a similar position, for instance, Bai Yan was “kicked” out, and not only that, but he also had to sign a confidentiality agreement requiring him not to disclose anything he had seen today. Of course… the confidentiality fee was rather substantial.
This could be seen from his expression.
An hour later, new researchers were brought to the site. This batch could be recognized at a glance as carefully selected elite, their smooth, shiny heads serving as proof of their abilities.
Another hour passed, and even construction vehicles were allowed in—they began to dismantle the appraisal center’s sign and started to set up new entries and exits. Clearly, from today onwards, this place was to be renamed.
But Zhang Zhiyuan could understand this practice; after all, the appraisal center was equipped with various testing devices, naturally suitable for transformation into a laboratory. He just hadn’t expected all this to happen on the same day, which might be the unintentional display of power when the state intervenes.
Zhang Zhiyuan was grateful that they didn’t immediately kick him out of the loop; at least he could still linger outside the reception hall.
He squatted in the parking lot, watching the cars come and go all day until six o’clock in the evening when his boss, Gao Wei, finally reappeared at the entrance to the lobby.
Zhang Zhiyuan hurried over.
“Old Gao, what did the top brass say?”
Gao Wei glared at him with annoyance.
The latter immediately covered his mouth, “I forgot the discipline, don’t ask what you shouldn’t. I won’t be kept out of the loop regarding Paradise from now on, will I?”
“You shouldn’t ask here! Haven’t had dinner yet? The cafeteria is serving now. Come have dinner with me.”
“Sure, are we heading back to the Interpol building?”
“No, just in the cafeteria here.” Gao Wei pointed to the building on the left side of the reception hall, “Today they’ve turned the public lobby into a staff cafeteria.”
Zhang Zhiyuan was stunned; he remembered the public lobby was a service hall open to the public, mainly providing appraisal services to city residents, and now it had become a cafeteria?
“From now on, entry and exit here will require a special ID card, and you must sign out when leaving.” Gao Wei continued as he led the way, “Also, you don’t need to return to the Interpol building anymore. Starting today, you have new employment.”
