After Wu Hao’s customized extended Rolls-Royce arrived in the city, he immediately had the driver head to the hotel he had arranged with Zhang Kui in advance.

Along the way, Wu Hao’s car naturally attracted the attention of all the pedestrians and vehicles on the road. However, many of them were not seeing this car for the first time. This car, along with several other customized vehicles, had been airlifted into the city months ago, and every time Wu Hao’s parents or Wu Xiaoxiao went to school, they were chauffeured by this fleet.

Such a grand display made Wu Xiaoxiao the undisputed top “white, rich, and beautiful” girl in her school, even beyond comparison, as this was essentially a princess-level treatment!

At first, Wu Xiaoxiao felt a bit uncomfortable with such extravagance, but Wu Hao directly overruled her. According to Wu Hao, his sister should enjoy a princess-level treatment, and it would also deter any classmates who might have improper thoughts about her.

After all, Wu Xiaoxiao’s status and position were far beyond theirs, and Sanyuan City was not a major metropolis like Magic City or the capital, where hidden dragons and crouching tigers abound. In Wu Xiaoxiao’s high school, currently, no one had a family background that matched hers.

Of course, saying it’s about family background might be an exaggeration, but the wealth and power Wu Hao currently possessed were already no weaker than some old, established wealthy families with decades of history.

And all of this was only the power Wu Hao displayed on the surface. His true wealth couldn’t be measured by the standards of modern society.

For example, could the resources at Wu Hao’s Qinling Base be measured by money? Obviously not, because the technological capabilities of the Qinling Base far surpassed the combined technological capabilities of all the countries on Earth.

It was like two different levels of civilization: one still striving to land on the moon, and the other already building spaceships and preparing to establish bases on the Moon and Mars.

The scene shifts back to the largest hotel in the city, where Wu Hao was now sitting face-to-face, exchanging pleasantries with officials from the National Security Bureau. Today’s meeting, however, slightly surprised Wu Hao. Not only was Zhang Kui present, but also a deputy director of the Security Bureau, Liu Shiguo, who was only slightly older than Zhang Kui.

“Mr. Wu, what do you think of our country’s current development?” After some small talk, Liu Shiguo began to probe Wu Hao. Originally, it was Zhang Kui’s responsibility to meet with Wu Hao today, but after reporting the situation to his superiors, they evidently began to place more importance on Wu Hao. Hence, a deputy director was sent to personally meet him, leaving Zhang Kui as a supporting figure.

“From what I can see, our country’s development in all areas is going quite well. At the current rate of progress, it won’t be long before we achieve a new level of international standing,” Wu Hao was fully aware of Liu Shiguo’s probing but didn’t mind. After all, he had long planned to take a more indirect approach and didn’t mind lending the country a hand with some of its stalled projects when necessary.

The country’s rapid development over the past few decades had been evident to the whole world, and it was inevitable that it would become a top-tier global power in the future. But when Wu Hao mentioned achieving a new level of international standing within a few years, he was mainly referring to the country’s current plans to build several new nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

Once these carriers were successfully built and put into service, the U.S. would no longer be the sole ruler of the seas. The carriers being secretly built by the country were of the same class as the U.S. Ford-class carriers, or even more advanced, as they were large nuclear-powered carriers.

In fact, even before the training carrier Varyag was commissioned, the country had already begun planning the construction of three indigenous nuclear-powered carriers.

While this carrier-building program was already underway, about a year ago, Wu Hao anonymously sold a set of blueprints covering all aspects of nuclear-powered carrier construction. Afterward, the government shifted to building larger, more advanced nuclear-powered carriers, abandoning the outdated steam catapult technology in favor of the more advanced electromagnetic catapult system.

Electromagnetic catapult technology was something that only the U.S. had mastered and applied to their carriers. For decades, U.S. carriers had been the most advanced in the world, more numerous and sophisticated than all other nations’ carriers combined.

However, with the development of missile technology over the past decade, aircraft carriers, once the undisputed rulers of the sea, were no longer invincible. Many missiles could now pose a serious threat to them.

But even so, the strength of a carrier strike group was not to be underestimated. After all, it was a mobile combat platform capable of launching dozens of fighter jets at a moment’s notice. While there were missiles that could threaten it, how to defend against and counter such threats depended on the two sides’ capabilities in information technology and satellite coordination.

In short, carriers would still have an irreplaceable role in future military operations and would remain a symbol of a strong global power.

Upon hearing Wu Hao’s response, Liu Shiguo’s eyes flickered slightly before he asked, “Mr. Wu, what makes you believe that our country will achieve a new international standing in just a few years? You must know that while we are a member of the Security Council, our military capabilities are still quite behind those of the old Western powers like the U.S. and Russia.”

“The reason is simple: our country’s ongoing aircraft carrier construction program,” Wu Hao replied, fully aware that today’s conversation with the National Security Bureau wouldn’t go smoothly without offering them some valuable information. He decided to half-truthfully admit his connection to the mysterious force that had sold the carrier blueprints to the country, ensuring the authorities would realize that maintaining a good relationship with him was better than turning hostile.

Wu Hao only needed them to understand this. He had no intention of creating any conflicts with his country. On the contrary, Wu Hao was even willing to offer some help at the right time.

All the government needed to do was ensure that Wu Hao wouldn’t be deliberately targeted or labeled a dangerous element within the country.

As expected, Liu Shiguo seemed to grasp Wu Hao’s meaning. The details of the three new carriers under construction were a national secret. While the outside world speculated that the government was building carriers, no one knew the specifics.

Much like the Varyag carrier before it was commissioned, as long as the new carriers weren’t officially in service, their whereabouts and construction progress would remain a mystery to the outside world.