novelThe Mysterious "District 900"
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Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
It was late into the night, but the bar near the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant was filled with flashing disco lights, heavy music, and the smell of alcohol.
Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant was the largest cooperation project between Russia and China. In addition to stationing a lot of its own Chinese engineers, the residential area for engineers also contained a lot of Russian engineers.
When it was late into the night, these foreign employees often came here to wind-down.
In contrast, the Chinese engineers rarely visited this place.
Georgy was by the bar, and he was a little tipsy. He stumbled around and began to chat with his colleagues.
"What do you think those Chinese people are doing?"
Ever since the troops were stationed in this area, blocking the site that was originally going to be used for the third phase of the nuclear power plant, it was like the area a few kilometers away from them had disappeared from the map. The on-going third phase project was also suspended.
All these were bound to attract people's attention.
What exactly were the Chinese doing?
This problem had been plaguing all of the foreign researchers; it became a very popular topic of conversation.
However, the Chinese engineers working here seemed reluctant to talk about this issue.
As for the ordinary employees, they were also interested in what was happening. However, they probably didn't know any more than the Russians.
Maksim was sitting next to Georgy, and he said in an uncertain tone, "I heard it's nuclear fusion."
"Nuclear fusion?!" Georgy's eyes were wide open. He took another sip of his tangy cocktail and said, "Are you kidding me? That's the third phase project site! They're using it for controllable fusion experiments?"
Maksim twirled his glass around, he seemed to be a bit down.
"I think so, I read their newspaper a while back... They might be more advanced on nuclear fusion technology than we had expected. Maybe it wouldn't take long before they start generating electricity."
If the demonstration reactor project was successful, there would be no reason to continue the third phase of the nuclear power plant project.
When that time arrived, they might as well forget about second-generation fission reactors, since even third-generation fission reactors would be of no use.
Also, by that time, it would be about time for the Russians to go back home.
Honestly speaking, after working here for so long, Maksim actually liked it here.
Suddenly, an Asian looking man who was sitting next to them spoke in fluent Russian, "You guys are Russian?"
Maksim raised his eyebrows, and he said with interest, "I've lived here for so many years; this is my first time seeing a Chinese speak fluent Russian."
"Oh really? It looks like we are destined to meet." The man smiled and looked at the bartender before saying, "Three White Russians, two for my friends."
The man looked back at Maksim and smiled, showing his row of white teeth.
"From now on we are friends, right?"
Maksim looked at him strangely.
He felt like there was something wrong with this man, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly where.
The man noticed the Russian was doubting him, so he continued to speak, "Don't feel alarmed. Actually, I'm just a reporter. I want to interview you about some things."
"Anything but trade secrets." Georgy burped and grinned as he said, "Since you bought me a drink, I can talk with you for a bit."
The Asian man asked, "I heard that there has been an army squadron stationed near here?"
Georgy rubbed chin and said, "They came here around two weeks ago."
The man was interested, and he raised his eyebrows and asked, "Two weeks ago... Do you know what they're doing?"
Georgy smiled and said, "Haha, good question! We all want to know what they are doing. How about you go ask them and tell me?"
"I'll change the subject." The man seemed to have expected this answer, so he didn't feel discouraged. He smiled and asked, "Have you heard any planes around here?"
"Planes? Why are you asking about this?" Georgy frowned and said, "I haven't heard any I think..."
Suddenly, two men, who were dressed casually, walked out of the crowd and stood next to the self-proclaimed reporter.
The reporter could feel the pressure weighing on him. He prepared to get up and leave, but when he saw his pathway was blocked, he calmly sat back down on the bar stool.
"I am a reporter from the Daily Mail. This is my reporter credentials." The man took out his ID from his pocket and handed it over to the man.
However, the man in casual wear didn't even look at the ID. Instead, he said with a blank expression, "Interviews are not allowed here, please come with us."
The reporter immediately refused as he said, "Hey, you have no right to do this."
However, the two men didn't bother to argue with him. They skillfully found and confiscated his recording equipment and camera, which were hidden in his collar. Then, without explaining anything, they took him away.
The loud heavy metal music was still playing, and the alcohol was making everyone discombobulated.
It was like no one noticed this was happening, as if nothing had happened.
Georgy and Maksim looked at the man being dragged away. They looked at each other and intelligently stopped talking about their previous topic. They began to drink instead.
...
[Secret nuclear tests? The mysterious District 900]
The latest issue of the Daily Mail was on Lu Zhou's desk.
District 900 seemed to be what the foreign media called this area. Because this area was blocked off in September, and they didn't know the specific date, so they wrote 00.
Ever since the demonstration reactor nuclear fusion project was launched, this small town gathered a large number of reporters.
Some of which were real reporters, others were disguised as overseas intelligence personnel. Lu Zhou occasionally heard from Wang Peng that the Ministry of State Security had caught many spies here.
So far, it seemed like the country was doing a good job of keeping it a secret. Even though there had been nosy people trying to explore this place, there hadn't been any "incidents" that affected the experiment.
However, the mysterious aspect was precisely what gave the foreign media the ability to use their imaginations.
The western media described the STAR-2 demonstration reactor project as China's version of the Manhattan Project.
To be honest, Lu Zhou was quite disappointed.
The reasons why he collected these newspapers for himself, was mainly to understand the latest developments in the international controllable fusion field. However, most of the news articles were written about himself.
Lu Zhou was sitting at his desk. He put down the newspaper and said, "I plan on going back to Jinling. There's an important piece of research waiting for me there."
Wang Peng: "Is it urgent?"
Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "The sooner the better, it's best if we can leave today."
Wang Peng immediately looked like he was taking this matter seriously, and he said, "Okay, I'll arrange it for you immediately."
Lu Zhou nodded.
"Ok, thank you."
He was quite confident at Wang Peng's abilities. At least, in terms of traveling, Wang Peng had never let him down.
After Lu Zhou let Wang Peng handle his travel plans, he continued to do his work at hand.
After around an hour or so, his phone suddenly began to ring.
"The vehicle is ready for you, you can leave now. Do you need to go back home and pack your luggage first? If you do, I'll drive you there first."
Already?
Lu Zhou looked a little surprised.
"No need, I don't have anything to carry back. I'm only going for a few days. Just wait for me at the site entrance."
Lu Zhou hung up the phone and stuffed his phone back into his pocket. He then picked up a few copies of the recently printed files from the table and put them in his computer bag.
When Lu Zhou was walking outside, he thought that Wang Peng had bought him the latest train ticket for him.
He didn't expect to see a military green helicopter parked right at the entrance of the base. The propeller on top of the helicopter was humming.
Lu Zhou looked at the helicopter. He then looked at Wang Peng. He stood there with his computer bag in his hand and his mouth wide open.
"This is the fastest means of transportation." Wang Peng walked next to Lu Zhou and smiled as he said, "Oh yeah, you're... not afraid of flying in one, right?"
Lu Zhou: "..."
| ← Ch. 0548 | Ch. 0550 → |