46: Chapter 46 Deep Currents in a Calm Sea

Chen Youhua was deep underground, using cold symbols to map out a blueprint capable of changing the world.

On the surface, time continued to flow, the sun shone brightly, and traffic bustled.

In this vast nation of 1.4 billion people, the life trajectories of the vast majority remained unchanged.

Going to work, coming home, daily chores, joys and sorrows.

However, in certain small circles, an invisible cold current, originating from the highest level, was quietly spreading, stirring up ripples, only to be quickly swallowed by the larger torrent of daily life.

Information Engineering Division of the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Young Associate Professor Lin Feng, with two dark circles under his eyes, tapped his fingers irritably on the desk.

The project application for "Next-Generation Intelligent Communication Network Architecture Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning," which he and his team had painstakingly polished for two years, just received a system notification.

"Project not approved. Review comments: Postponed."

"Postponed?!"

Lin Feng almost thought he had misread it.

This project had a solid foundation, and the preliminary feedback from reviewers was very positive. It was the project he was most confident about for a key grant this year!

He immediately grabbed the phone and called a familiar staff member at the Foundation.

"Old Li, what's going on? My project is postponed? What's the reason? There must be an explanation, right?"

Lin Feng's voice carried irrepressible agitation.

The voice of Old Li on the other end of the line was very low, carrying an unprecedented caution.

"Professor Lin... this matter... sigh, I am confused too. It's not just your project. We just received notice today that all new applications involving new information architecture, advanced algorithm optimization, and Artificial Intelligence underlying directions... are all... all directly halted by the higher-ups! It's not that the review didn't pass; they aren't even allowing them to be reviewed! The reason... there is no reason! Only the word 'postponed'!"

"What?!"

Lin Feng was struck by lightning.

"All of them? The entire field is halted? This... how is this possible? Have the higher-ups gone crazy? Information Engineering is a national strategic priority!"

"Who is to say otherwise!"

Old Li's voice was filled with helplessness and a trace of panic.

"Our director was just called to an emergency meeting, and his face was green when he came back. He only left one sentence: Execute the order, do not ask why! Now the whole division is in a panic, and rumors are flying everywhere... Some say it's a major strategic shift at the top, others say they found a disruptive technical vulnerability that needs to be checked... In short, Professor Lin, don't ask. To ask is to not know! In this current climate, whoever touches it will be unlucky!"

Similar scenes were playing out simultaneously in Information Engineering-related fields across major universities and research institutes.

Emails rejecting projects fell like snowflakes, the reason uniformly being 'postponed'.

Phones were blown up, connections were pulled, but all efforts to inquire about the news were like hitting a cold, thick, invisible wall.

Anxiety, anger, and confusion permeated the academic circle.

Sensitive media quickly captured this unusual cold current.

The *XX Science and Technology Daily* headline screamed with an eye-catching title.

"A Winter for Scientific Research? Large-scale freezing of projects in the field of Information Engineering, suspicions of broken capital chains!"

Online self-media added fuel to the fire:

"Breaking! Information Engineering kicked out of the national strategic sequence? The end of the golden industry?"

"In-depth analysis: Scientific research funding shrinks significantly, has the innovation engine stalled?"

"Experts worry: This move may lead to our country falling behind in the next information revolution!"

Various speculations, questions, and even alarmist insider news were rampant.

The uninformed public was also drawn into the discussion, with voices of worry, mockery, and doomsaying endless.

However, amidst this clamor, a very small number of people maintained a terrifying silence and sharp intuition.

The Dean of the School of Information at Jing University, an elderly, highly respected Academician with gray hair, looked at the sensational news headlines on his computer. He pulled out the printed copy of that world-shaking *JCMI* paper from a few months ago, his gaze lingering on the name "Chen Youhua" in the author column.

He took off his reading glasses, rubbed his brow, and whispered to the empty office.

"The storm... did it actually start here? That young man... what exactly did he hand over? To be able to make the entire field stagnate because of it..."

He did not participate in any discussions; he simply closed the news page, picked up a thick mathematics monograph, and fell into deeper contemplation.

He was waiting, waiting for the inevitable thunderclap that would explain all of this.

Z University, National Key Laboratory of Biomedicine.

Wang Zhe was humming a tune, carefully setting parameters for the centrifuge.

Li Wei was observing cell slices under the microscope nearby, her brows slightly furrowed.

Professor Zhang was reviewing the final few experimental reports in his office, feeling rare relaxation.

The national-level project was successfully concluded, and a new topic was brewing.

Everything was orderly and full of familiar, mundane comfort.

Suddenly!

The laboratory door was pushed open violently; it was not a familiar colleague.

A group of people dressed in dark casual clothes, with cold expressions and swift movements like the wind, swarmed in, instantly taking control of all entrances and exits.

They did not present any identification, but their murderous aura and precise actions made the air freeze instantly.

"Everyone, stop what you are doing immediately! Stay where you are!"

The leader's voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable tone of command.

Wang Zhe was so scared he almost dropped the reagent bottle in his hand, and Li Wei suddenly lifted her head from the microscope, her face deathly pale.

Professor Zhang rushed out of the office upon hearing the noise. Seeing the scene before him, his heart sank, and his face instantly became extremely ugly.

He had been cautious in his scholarship his whole life and never thought he would encounter such a situation!

"Who are you people? This is a national key laboratory! What are you doing?"

Professor Zhang tried to remain calm, his voice carrying suppressed anger.

No one answered his question.

The men in black acted with extreme efficiency, working in pairs, quickly moving toward every piece of precision equipment.

PCR machines, flow cytometers, ultra-low temperature freezers, and even computer hosts... They took out special anti-vibration boxes and shielding materials, and began to dismantle, package, and label them with professional and cold efficiency!

The whole process was terrifyingly quiet, with only the slight clicking sounds of instruments being dismantled and the friction of packaging materials.

"Our experiment! Those samples! You can't move them!"

A doctoral student, watching the precious cell lines he had cultured for months being carried away along with the incubator, was so anxious tears almost came out.

A man in black just glanced at him coldly, his movements not stopping for a second.

Another staff member, who looked slightly gentler, walked up to Professor Zhang. His voice still lacked warmth, but he offered an explanation.

"Professor Zhang, please cooperate. This is the highest-level technology transfer and confidentiality procedure. All your experimental data and samples will be properly preserved and transferred. Please come with us immediately, personnel will also be provided with detailed instructions."

"Technology transfer? Confidentiality?"

Professor Zhang's mind was in chaos.

"Our project is already finished! What else requires the highest level of confidentiality?!"

Just then, Li Wei seemed struck by lightning. She looked at the ordinary Pipettes and petri dishes being carefully sealed as if they contained nuclear warheads, and a name blurted out.

"Is it... Chen Youhua? Did something happen to him?"

"Silence!"

The staff member who had been slightly gentler suddenly changed his expression. His eyes were sharp as knives, and he shouted sternly!

The oppressive feeling that erupted in that instant caused the temperature in the entire laboratory to drop to freezing point.

Professor Zhang, Wang Zhe, Li Wei, and all the laboratory members stood as if frozen, staring at each other, their hearts pounding wildly, and a terrifying, unspeakable conjecture instantly gripped them.

That genius student who had already left, what... what exactly was he involved in?!

There was no answer.

Like objects being escorted, they were silently led into several black commercial vehicles without any markings, leaving behind the familiar campus and laboratory.

A few days later.

They were settled into a brand-new research base with security so tight it was suffocating.

All the previous experimental equipment appeared in the new laboratory, not a single piece missing; even the placement was almost identical, but everything was clean and new, carrying the scent of just coming off the assembly line.

Resource supply was excessively abundant.

Days went by as usual, just in a new laboratory.

But high-intensity confidentiality training began, with content so strict it was almost harsh, and the core was only one rule.

Everything about that person was the highest taboo, never to be mentioned.

And at Chen Youhua's home.

Father Chen returned from work, feeling baffled by the brand-new access card and the new security guards in the residential complex who had eyes as sharp as eagles.

Going to the regular vegetable market, he found that the familiar vendors were gone, replaced by a batch of new faces who were quick-handed, had standard smiles, but would never bargain. The vegetables were fresh and crisp, without a single rotten leaf, and the prices... seemed even a bit cheaper?

He muttered, "Are services this good nowadays?", but felt a bit creepy inside.

Even more bizarre was his work.

Having worked in a technical position at a state-owned enterprise for half his life, he was suddenly kindly spoken to by his leader, who said he was experienced, had outstanding abilities, and was to be entrusted with important responsibilities.

The next day, he was transferred to an idle management position where he had nothing to do but look at reports and sign papers.

Occasionally, when he made a small mistake due to unfamiliarity with the process, the leader not only didn't criticize him but comforted him with a pleasant demeanor.

"Old Chen, it's fine, it's fine. Take your time, you'll be familiar with it soon! Your experience is the most valuable!"

Mother Chen also noticed her husband's change and muttered.

"Old Chen, this official position of yours... why does it feel like you're being enshrined?"

They vaguely felt that their lives were shrouded in an invisible, soft, yet incredibly tough net.

The world outside the net was still noisy, but everything inside the net pointed to that son they were proud of, yet who seemed to have become incredibly distant and mysterious.

Beneath the calm facade was a pervasive sense of difference that only they could feel.

A subtle, safe, yet somewhat bewildered sense of unreality, quietly wrapped by the will of the state and isolated from the storm.

The lecture underground continued.

The world above, after a brief ripple, seemed to have returned to its daily rhythm.

Only a very small number of people at the center of the vortex or affected by its edges could feel that the undercurrent hidden beneath daily life, capable of changing everything, was surging forward.