It seemed Kazakhstan was likely to be able to win from China at any moment.

"Your Highness, it has proved that the power of the laser gun in the trap is great. China is no longer our match."

Prime Minister Kasim looked as excited as ever before.

He had been going back and forth between the capital and the Arirang royal territory about two or three times a week these days as Kazakhstan was in a conflict with China.

"We'll have to operate more covertly in the future. We're improving the range of our laser gun so that it can attack a target beyond the horizon."

Even now, the royal family was investing quite a lot in the Laser Gun Research Inst.i.tute to improve the weapon's performance.

"If we do that, it's going to be an icing on the cake, but we can defeat the enemy with just what we have now."

"It has to be an unrivaled weapon that no one can follow. If China finds out about the presence of the laser gun, it will soon catch up with our technology. That's why we have to be one step ahead of China all the time."

China was also currently working hard to develop laser guns. It was still in the rudimentary stage, but if it used all of its capabilities, it would be able to deploy the guns in practice as early as next year. Before China followed, Kazakhstan must make a more improved laser gun.

"If the laser guns deployed to the Army were as powerful as the Navy's laser guns, we could stop tanks and armored vehicles. It's a shame."

With a power generation facility on naval vessels capable of producing 100 kilowatts of power, the laser gun was as powerful as a portable rocket launcher. However, that level of power generation facilities required the deployment of several fixed or special power generation vehicles, which increased the chances of being detected in the eyes of Chinese troops. If such facilities stood out at the border, China would soon find out about them and apply them to China's weapons technology to produce its own laser guns.

"It would be possible if there were a lot of power-generating special vehicles. The problem is that they're so big and loud that they'll be easily spotted."

"Wouldn't it be possible if we can disguise them and find a way to reduce the noise of generation? And it's common even for China to run a mobile generator in a forward unit, so it won't be suspicious."

"Well then, let's test them out. Put a high-powered laser gun in front of the forward unit."

"The Army must be very pleased to hear that."

When Youngho took it positively, Kasim was going to boast to the military right away.

This was because the top Army leaders, who had seen the Navy's performance, had been bothering Kasim to deploy such powerful laser guns to the Army as well.

"And please pay more attention to Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet. Their activities had been immensely helpful in disturbing China."

"Have you decided to get involved more deeply?"

Kasim said this because originally Kazakhstan only planned to get its hands off Tibet only after instigating their armed conflict.

"I'd like to go all the way to the end. It seems like the U.S. will be helping us, too."

Learning of Kazakhstan's involvement in the Tibetan armed protest, the U.S. CIA contacted Youngho to offer some help. This was also an opportunity for the U.S. as the Chinese government was in turmoil. It was in a position to put China in trouble in any way as it was engaged in a trade war with China these days.

It was a few days ago. Michael, the director of the U.S. CIA called in hurriedly after an armed uprising broke out in Tibet.

-Duke. Are you trying to ignore our intelligence service now? It's a shame you left us out of this.

"I thought you already knew, Chief. I don't think you don't know that Uyghur militiamen are being trained by us in Afghanistan..."

-Who doesn't know that? You never intended to shake Tibet, did you? I'm sorry that you didn't inform us about such a big decision.

"Do you want me to set you up now?"

-You would have pretended not to know if I hadn't called. The higher-ups already think that our intelligence service has also had a role in this. So, if anyone asks, the Tibetan operation is a joint operation with us no matter what. If I get kicked out of my position as the head of the intelligence service, you'll be held responsible for it.

There was no organization other than the U.S. CIA that would map out an armed uprising in Tibet, so the president of the United States had asked Michael implicitly, and Michael would have been fl.u.s.tered and answered that the intelligence agency had intervened. Otherwise, he would have been branded an incompetent intelligence chief.

Michael was trying to get a free ride, but given his relations.h.i.+p with him, Youngho could let it slide.

"Well, I'll say thank you when I meet the president later."

-I can't thank you enough. Thank you for saving my face.

"You know it's not free, right?"

It was not Lee Youngho if he just let it go. Kindness without counter-payment was rather inconvenient for the other party.

-Hahaha...

Michael would have already guessed, but he was trying to let it slide with a smile.

"I won't ask you to send your agents."

Michael cut off Youngho's words as if he was anxious.

-I was thinking we could provide some information about China's weaknesses. What do you think?

"No other country knows China's weakness better than we do. Our submarines are already standing by in the South China Sea."

-No way. Are you aiming for mainland China? This will inevitably lead to expansion. I'd like to dissuade you.

Michael's voice shook slightly in surprise.

"You know that's not going to happen, don't you? A nuclear submarine is just a bluff to stop the expansion."

-Please be honest with me. I can't wait anymore because my heart is pounding.

"I'm thinking of taking this opportunity to provide the foundation for Uyghurs and Tibetans' independence."

In order to avoid Kazakhstan's all-out war against China, Youngho had already instigated armed uprisings in Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet. He was going to push this further and help them achieve their independence. There was no reason for the U.S. CIA to hesitate to add one hand. Kazakhstan alone could not afford to take care of Tibet's independence, but if the U.S. intervened, it would not only ease the burden but also create excuses later. If everything failed, at least it would have a way out. The U.S. also needed a s.h.i.+eld called Kazakhstan, and Kazakhstan was in the same position.

The rest just unraveled smoothly. Therefore, Michael agreed to send Kazakhstan special vehicles for power generation in order to increase the output of laser guns first, and it was also promised that the U.S. CIA would provide all expenses of training and supplies for Uyghur and Tibetan independence fighters, which would be done in Afghanistan. It was up to Kazakhstan to recruit young people who were willing to become independence fighters and bring them to Afghanistan. It seemed easy, but bringing them through China's surveillance network was hard enough to risk lives.

***

Between India and China, there was a dispute over the treatment of Chinese wars.h.i.+ps and sailors captured in waters northeast of the Maldives. The Chinese government was demanding the release of their s.h.i.+ps, saying that the s.h.i.+p's steering rooms were accidentally swept away by currents after the unidentified explosion, so that they violated the Indian waters. Although the steering rooms were said to have exploded, the communication rooms were fine, so the naval soldiers transferred the entire incident to their home country while being seized by the Indian Navy. There was no attack, but China acknowledged that the steering room, the bridge, exploded on several wars.h.i.+ps.

Only when the wars.h.i.+ps were returned could they investigate the bridge and see what kind of attacks were there, but the Indian government would not return them. The Indian government also protested harshly. It was because the country's naval vessels were also at the scene, so the Indian side was more aware of the situation. The naval soldiers witnessed explosions in Chinese wars.h.i.+ps despite no external attacks.

It was suspected that the Chinese Navy intentionally caused the explosion to play tricks to get a cause to create a dispute in the Indian Ocean. As the tension between the two countries heightened, the Indian government sent back Chinese naval soldiers first, but it did not return the seized wars.h.i.+ps. If the wars.h.i.+ps were sent back as China would probably destroy the evidence if it did.

The Indian government had thoroughly investigated the cause, but it had not been easy to find out what destroyed the bridges of Chinese wars.h.i.+ps. If there was an explosion, there should have been traces or fragments of gunpowder, but none was found.

The Kazakh Navy seemed to have done something, but its consistent ignorance was driving the Indian government crazy. After much effort, the Indian government made the hypothesis that it was an explosion by a laser gun, but the Indian government remained silent. It had found an unidentified object that was always wrapped on the middle deck of each Kazakh wars.h.i.+p, but since the Indian government was an ally of Kazakhstan, it did not want to expose Kazakh Navy's secret weapons, so it did not return the seized Chinese wars.h.i.+ps despite Beijing's protests. Besides, there was no reason to abandon the opportunity to capture more Chinese wars.h.i.+ps in the Indian Ocean in the future.

After failing to get the captured wars.h.i.+ps back, the Chinese Navy began to launch an armed exercise in the Indian Ocean. China had made strong moves to send Liaoning-cla.s.s aircraft carrier fleet into waters off the Indian Ocean. However, the Indian Navy was also a country with an aircraft carrier acquired from Britain, and Kazakhstan had also deployed a small carrier, forcing the scope of Chinese naval operation to be narrow. Moreover, the Chinese Navy could not do anything as the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, which had no rival, was holding out as well. All the Chinese naval forces could do was to conduct an armed protest in the western waters of the Malacca Strait. Although the Chinese aircraft carrier's air defense destroyer and frigate came a little further for guard duty, they avoided the Indian and Kazakh naval vessels unconditionally if they encountered them. Whenever the Kazakh wars.h.i.+ps chased the Chinese fleet, they were busy running away, which was not understandable. Perhaps, they were tired of chasing the Chinese Navy, the captains gathered in the command s.h.i.+p asked for a more efficient attack.

"Chief Commander, do you think the Chinese Navy already noticed?"

"I think they might be thinking something's fishy, but they couldn't have found out about our laser guns. If they knew, they wouldn't have sent such a small fleet."

It was impossible to know what kind of attack damaged the wars.h.i.+ps without a close investigation. The Chinese Navy was probably just avoiding the Kazakh and Indian Navy for caution.

"Why did they come to the Indian Ocean when they are so busy running away?"

"Because of the face of the Communist Party of China. It hurts their pride to just wait for India to dispose of their naval vessels, so I guess they want to show off their force. It's something to show to the people as well."

"Sir, what if we approach the Strait of Malacca? Then won't Chinese aircraft carrier fleet return to the South China Sea or even fight against us?"