was not built in Germany.

Melville lit a cigar and took a deep drag: "So the conclusion is: the steel, engines, guns, dry docks, workers... all these elements required for six 20,000-ton battleships are not unusual in Germany. But they did appear, and were sailing in the Mediterranean yesterday."

"There's only one explanation, sir," said Charles Brent, the young analyst sitting in the corner. He was a newly transferred mathematical genius, skilled at finding patterns in chaotic data.

"explain."

“These ships weren’t built in Germany.” Brent stood up and walked to the world map on the wall. “At least, not the major components. The Germans were probably the assemblers, not the manufacturers.”

Melville narrowed his eyes: "Continue."

"I analyzed Germany's import and export data over the past three years," Brunt said quickly. "There are three anomalies: First, imports of alloy metals such as nickel and chromium from Sweden increased by 40 percent, far exceeding the growth in domestic military demand; second, exports of machine tools to the Ottoman Empire, Persia, and other Middle Eastern regions surged, but these regions lacked the corresponding industrial capacity to receive them; third, the volume of special cargo transshipped from the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands—labeled as 'agricultural machinery'—tripled in the past eighteen months, with most of the final destinations being...ports in the Indian Ocean."

He picked up a pointer and pointed it at the map: "If you connect these anomalous data, you'll get a path: special alloys from Sweden to Germany, machine tools from Germany to the Middle East, and then a large amount of unidentified cargo from Europe via Rotterdam to the Indian Ocean. And six warships suddenly appeared in the Suez Canal."

Colonel Hall looked up abruptly: "You mean, the warships were built outside of Europe? The parts were manufactured in a decentralized manner and then transported to a location for assembly?"

"Or perhaps there's a complete shipbuilding industry somewhere we don't know about," Brent said. "A place capable of building the world's most advanced battleships, yet outside our intelligence network."

Melville stood up, walked to the map, and traced the Indian Ocean coastline with his finger: "What does a place that can build 20,000-ton warships need? Deep-water ports, large shipyards, steel mills, skilled workers..."

His finger suddenly stopped on the southern shore of the Persian Gulf.

"Here. Oman? No... This place is marked 'Trushir Oman,' nominally under the jurisdiction of the Ottoman Empire, but it's actually a tribal region."

"But something unusual has happened here in the last three years." Brent pulled a report from the pile of documents. "The intelligence station in Mumbai sent back a briefing last year: a large number of Chinese laborers have disappeared from Singapore, Penang, Batavia and other places, and it is rumored that they have gone to the 'Western desert'. The number is estimated to be over 100,000."

"Chinese? Laborers?" Melville frowned.

"And this too." Hall also found a document, "A trade report forwarded by the Indian Governor-General's Office: Over the past two years, a large quantity of refined copper, crude steel ingots, and even... chemical products have been exported to India from an unmarked port on the southern coast of the Persian Gulf. The exporter is listed as 'Lanfang Trading Company'."

"Lanfang..." Melville murmured the unfamiliar name, "What does it mean?"

Brent has already consulted the Encyclopedia Britannica and found the corresponding entry: "The Lanfang Republic, a Chinese state that existed in Borneo from 1777 to 1884, was later annexed by the Dutch East India Company. The remaining forces fled to Southeast Asia."

He looked up, his eyes gleaming with the excitement of discovering a crucial piece of the puzzle: "Sir, if these Chinese are descendants of Lanfang, if they are gathered on the southern shore of the Persian Gulf, if they have industrial capabilities..."

"Then the German warships might have come from there," Melville concluded, "a quasi-national entity established by Chinese people, possessing advanced shipbuilding capabilities."

The room was completely silent. This deduction was astonishing, bizarre, but it was the only logical chain that could explain all the anomalies.

After a long pause, Melville stubbed out his cigar: "I need solid evidence. Photos, eyewitness reports, at least one reliable intelligence officer's on-site observation."

"We don't have an intelligence network there," Hall said helplessly. "The southern coast of the Persian Gulf has never been a priority area. The nearest intelligence post is in Basra, at least 500 miles away."

"Then establish it." Melville decisively ordered. "Hall, transfer two officers from Naval Intelligence who speak Arabic or Persian to the region as merchants. Brent, you continue analyzing the data. I need to know the size of this 'Lanfang,' its industrial capacity, and information about its leaders. And..." He paused, "find out who else, besides Germany, is doing business with them."

"Yes, sir."

"Finally," Melville's voice turned cold, "this matter is currently confined to this room. No speculative conclusions may be reported to the Admiralty or the Cabinet until conclusive evidence is obtained. Understand?"

Everyone nodded. They all knew that if they reported the speculation that "the German warships might have been built by the Chinese," it would only be seen as a pipe dream and would damage the credibility of the intelligence department.

After the meeting, Melville remained alone in the room. He relit his cigar and stared at the blurry corner of the Persian Gulf on the map.

"Lanfang..." he murmured to himself, "Who exactly are you? What do you want?"

Then he remembered what Fisher had said at the Admiralty the day before: the race has only just begun.

But it now appears that there are probably more participants in the competition than anyone imagined.

The most terrifying thing is that one participant, without anyone noticing, had secretly manufactured the gun and sold it to the highest bidder.

Melville stubbed out his cigar and decided to personally draft a top-secret memorandum to send directly to Lord Fisher, First Sea Lord.

He already had a title in mind:

"A preliminary assessment of the possible existence of a Chinese political entity with advanced shipbuilding capabilities on the southern shore of the Persian Gulf."

This may be the boldest report of his career, and it may also be the most important.

London outside the window was still asleep, but in this basement, a new intelligence war had already begun.

Cabinet Room, 10 Downing Street, London

The long walnut table was filled with people. The smoke from the tobacco billowed in the sunlight, like lingering gunpowder from a battlefield.

Sir Henry Campbell-Bannaman, the Prime Minister, tapped the table with his knuckles. "Gentlemen, let's begin. Lord Fisher, please give your briefing first."

First Sea Lord John Fisher stood up, his uniform perfectly pressed without a single wrinkle. He walked to the huge North Sea chart on the wall and picked up a compass.

"Three days ago, six new German battleships passed through the Suez Canal." His voice was like a blade slicing through glass. "This is a comparison image produced by the photo analysis department."

The assistant drew back the curtain, revealing two line drawings side by side on the blackboard. On the left was the Royal Navy's newest Edward VII-class battleship, and on the right was the estimated outline of the German Westphalian-class battleship.

"The comparison data is as follows." Fisher pointed his pointer at the diagram. "Captain: We are 525 feet, they are 560 feet. Displacement: We are 16500 tons, they are at least 18000 tons. Main guns: We have four 12-inch main guns and four 9.2-inch secondary main guns, they have ten 12-inch main guns, all of the same caliber. Speed: We are 18.5 knots, they are no less than 21 knots."

Finance Minister Herbert Henry Asquith took off his glasses and wiped them: "Are you sure these figures are accurate? Or is this just the Germans bluffing?"

"The photos were taken by Suez Canal dispatchers, and the measurements are based on the canal's width and water gauge markings," Fisher said coldly. "If Mr. Asquith doubts the capabilities of the Royal Navy's technical department, he can verify the calculations himself."