naruto-story Chapter 178 Treasures Beneath the Iron Curtain
Chapter 178 Treasures Beneath the Iron Curtain
June 29, 1989, 2 PM.
West Berlin, Tempelhof Airport.
The deep blue Gulfstream G4 was parked on the dedicated VIP parking apron. The auxiliary power unit (APU) emitted a steady, low hum, and the cabin maintained a comfortable temperature of 22 degrees Celsius.
Outside the porthole, the evening in West Berlin remained gloomy.
Dr. Klaus Weber sat upright at the conference table in the cabin.
He had changed out of the old corduroy suit that had been soaked through by the rain at Checkpoint Charlie, and was now wrapped in a dark gray cashmere blanket from the cabin. He was clutching a black Motorola encrypted mobile phone tightly in his hand.
Satsuki sat on the white leather sofa opposite her.
She held a gilded tea set from the Sèvres porcelain factory in her hands, the steam from the black tea rising gently into the air, carrying the fragrance of Darjeeling muscat grapes.
"Your Excellency, the Japanese representatives have raised questions about our equipment list."
Weber's voice was hoarse, carrying just the right amount of resentment. He took a deep breath, and although he didn't need to act, the muscles in his cheeks twitched slightly.
"They believed that the internal structure of those discarded machine tools might be severely corroded, and demanded that their technical team conduct a final unpacking and verification at their European headquarters in London before the final payment was made."
The German voice coming through the telephone receiver was impatient and heavily nasal, spoken by a high-ranking official from the East German Ministry of Foreign Trade.
The sound was so loud that even Satsuki, sitting opposite, could hear a few words about "West German Mark" and "foreign exchange quota" mixed in.
“I have already lodged a strong protest with them.” Weber straightened his back, as if the high-ranking official were standing right in front of him. “They have agreed to cover all the transportation costs from West Berlin to London. Once the weight and integrity of those cast iron bases are confirmed in the London warehouse, the remittance instructions will be issued to the Zurich bank immediately. I will personally oversee their signing.”
The voice on the other end of the receiver softened, turning into a series of praises and admonitions.
"Understood. Please rest assured. I will bring back every single dollar that belongs to our country."
"Click".
Weber pressed the hang-up button.
The heavy receiver was placed on the walnut wooden table.
He let out a long breath, his whole body slumped into the large airline seat as if his bones had been removed. His shoulders, which had been tense for a day and a night, finally relaxed, and a fine layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.
The cabin was comfortably warm, filled with the aroma of black tea. This contrasted sharply with the greedy and impatient voice of the East German bureaucrat on the other end of the phone.
Satsuki put down her teacup.
The porcelain base collided with the tray, producing a crisp "ding" sound.
"Well done, Dr. Weber."
Satsuki smiled and handed her a clean white linen napkin.
"The magic of time difference is always the most effective sleight of hand."
Weber took the napkin and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Would they...would they really believe that?" Weber's voice still trembled slightly. "If they investigated the final destination of those goods..."
"As long as they are still hoping for foreign exchange, they won't sound the alarm."
Satsuki turned her head and looked at the gray sky outside the porthole.
"Greed blinds people. In their minds, you are now like a loyal hunting dog, tearing apart capitalists at the negotiating table in London for the sake of East Germany's treasury. Before the agreed payment date arrives, they will not only not doubt you, but will even pray to God for your safe journey."
She stood up and straightened the hem of her cashmere sweater.
"This bought us three precious days."
"Three days is enough to do a lot of things."
The Gulfstream G4's engines roared loudly.
The plane taxied on the runway, accelerated, and soared into the sky.
That gray Berlin Wall was completely left thousands of meters below the sky.
……
At the same time.
Late at night, in the border forest between Hungary and Austria.
rainy night.
The torrential rain lashed down relentlessly, whipping the dense larch forest.
The black mud reached above his ankles.
Dieter and Frank lay prone in the muddy bushes.
The two men were wearing dark raincoats, and rainwater was running down their necks through the brims of their hats, quickly taking away their body heat.
Their chests heaved violently, but their heavy breathing was well masked by the surrounding rain and wind.
The guide, who was lying at the front, raised his wrist and glanced at the luminous dial in the dim light.
According to the deal agreed upon by the West Berlin buyer, who paid a hefty sum, the patrol squads in this defensive zone would vacate a three-minute blind spot in their defenses at 2:00 AM sharp.
The director lowered his voice and made a forward motion.
The three of them crawled forward through the mud and water, using both their hands and feet.
Just a little further... as long as we can get to that place...
These two top-tier intellectuals were covered in mud and their clothes were tattered, making them look no different from beggars.
But they didn't care at all, ignoring the mud splashing into their eyes, and were crawling forward with all their might.
Just then, a beam of pale searchlight swept across the treetops thirty meters ahead without warning, piercing through the dense curtain of rain.
Immediately afterwards, two more blinding beams of tactical flashlights lit up the woods.
A black-backed wolfhound wearing a leather muzzle barked wildly, its sharp front paws digging at the dirt as it struggled desperately toward them. The Hungarian border guards, holding it on a leash, raised their automatic rifles and shouted orders in Hungarian.
The patrol team that should have been avoided appeared ahead of schedule.
The beam of light slashed straight down.
Frank's body stiffened abruptly, his foot slipped, and his right knee slammed heavily against a sharp rock.
"Click."
The faint sound of a dry branch breaking suddenly rang out in the rainy night.
The soldier's flashlight beam suddenly swept across the bushes.
The three men buried their faces deep into the black mud. The cold muddy water filled their nostrils, bringing a strong feeling of suffocation.
No...no no no no no no!!!
The edge of the blinding halo stopped less than ten centimeters from Dieter.
The puddles reflected a ghastly white light. Dieter closed his eyes tightly, his fingers digging into the soil, waiting for the gunshot to ring out.
The rain intensified.
"Sir, it's just a few wild boars." Another soldier's voice, tinged with impatience, rang out from afar. "This damn weather, it's time for the shift change, don't keep everyone from going back for a drink."
The beam of the flashlight paused for five seconds in front of the boot.
Finally, the beam of light slowly moved away, following the pull of the sound. The wolfhound was roughly dragged back, and the sound of the chains scraping faded into the distance.
The guide let out a long breath, spat out the mud and sand in his mouth, and quickened his crawling speed.
After passing through a dense thicket of thorns, the guide suddenly stopped.
A towering barbed wire fence blocked the way. In the low-lying weeds, a faint green glow flickered in the rainy night.
The guide reached out and parted the weeds. A huge gap was clearly visible at the bottom of the barbed wire. The cut was unusually clean, and the edges were tightly wrapped with thick insulating black tape, completely covering all the sharp metal burrs.
Three hours earlier, special agents from Saionji Security Department had already crossed the border from the Austrian side, precisely cutting through this defense line and leaving a faint fluorescent marker here.
The guide covered his head with his hands and pushed off the ground with his feet, quickly slipping through like an eel.
Dieter shoved Frank hard from behind. Frank gritted his teeth, braced himself with his hands in the mud, and slid through the gap to the other side.
Beyond the defense line, there was an extremely steep downhill slope.
The mud washed down by the torrential rain instantly lost its grip. Frank slipped and completely lost his balance. The two tumbled down the grassy slope, thorns tearing through their raincoats and icy muddy water pouring into their collars.
With a dull thud, they crashed heavily onto the hard asphalt road.
The rain pounded furiously against the asphalt, creating a white mist. Frank coughed violently, spitting out mud and sand, and struggled to lift his head, supporting himself with his hands on the ground.
Suddenly, the view ahead brightened.
Two black Mercedes-Benz sedans stood silently in the rainy night at the edge of the road. The yellow hazard lights flashed rhythmically, casting long, distorted reflections in the puddles.
The car door opened.
Several men in sharp black suits waded through the puddles. A huge black umbrella instantly opened, shielding them from the torrential rain. The lead man in the suit strode up to the two men, his leather shoes splashing water as he stepped into the puddles.
A clean, warm white cotton towel was handed to Frank's mud-covered hands.
"Mr. Dieter, Mr. Frank."
The man in the suit bowed slightly, his German pronunciation tinged with a stiff Japanese accent, his attitude impeccable.
"Thank you for your hard work. This is Saionji Logistics' European branch, sent to pick you up."
A steaming paper cup was shoved into Frank's other hand.
The rich aroma of roasted coffee beans instantly dispelled the pungent smell of rotting leaves and mud in his nostrils. Frank held the paper cup tightly in both hands, greedily absorbing the scalding heat from his palms.
He turned around and glanced at the pitch-black forest behind him, and the invisible iron curtain at the end of the forest.
The black sedan doors were open, and the interior was illuminated by warm yellow reading lights, with leather seats exuding an air of luxury.
The world of capital, in an unprecedentedly concrete form, opened its arms to them.
……
Port of Hamburg.
Two o'clock in the morning.
The sea breeze, carrying salty, damp air, swept across the huge container yard.
The high-pressure sodium lamps bathed the No. 3 cargo terminal in a ghastly yellow light.
Hans von Schneider, wearing a dark gray windproof coat, stood in the massive shadow of the crane. His hands were in his pockets, and his gaze was fixed straight ahead.
A dozen or so huge wooden crates are parked in the loading and unloading area.
The air was filled with the pungent smell of paint.
Several workers in overalls were using high-pressure spray guns to work on the surface of wooden crates.
Black industrial paint gushed out.
The German markings originally printed on the wooden crates, such as "Scrap Metal/Export/East German Foreign Trade Department," were completely covered by a thick layer of black paint.
A worker took a custom-made metal perforated template, attached it to the still-wet paint surface, and then switched to a white spray gun.
"Sizzle—"
The white mist dissipated.
Several eye-catching Chinese characters and English words appeared on the wooden box.
【SA Logistics】
【Destination: Tokyo】
"Hurry up. The cargo charter flight is scheduled to depart at 4:30."
Hans glanced at his watch and urged in a deep voice.
"Clang!"
The forklift's forks accurately inserted into the pallet holes at the bottom of the wooden crate.
The diesel engine roared.
The heavy wooden crate was slowly lifted and headed toward the Boeing 747 cargo plane with its cargo hold wide open not far away.
Hans watched as the wooden crates filled with the bases of old polishing machines disappeared into the massive shadow of the cargo plane.
These goods no longer belong to any country.
They were labeled as chaebols and were about to fly straight to Asia.
……
three days later.
London.
Saionji Group's European branch, penthouse safe house.
A light London rain was falling outside the window.
Gray raindrops pattered densely against the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, the water streaks winding down, blurring the outlines of the Thames and Big Ben in the distance.
Inside the safe house, oak firewood was burning in the fireplace.
"Crackling sound."
The firewood crackled and sparks danced in the dim room, dispelling the damp chill of the British Isles.
Klaus Weber changed into a brand-new tweed suit and sat on the Chesterfield leather sofa by the fireplace.
Fujita pushed open the heavy oak door and walked in.
He walked over to the sofa and handed Weber a fax.
"Dr. Weber, your two students, Dieter and Frank, arrived in Tokyo last night on a flight. They are currently staying in a luxury apartment in Minato Ward and are safe."
Weber gripped the fax paper tightly with both hands.
He read the confirmation message word by word, and his nerves, which had been tense for days, finally relaxed completely at this moment.
His straight back slowly leaned against the sofa back, and a long sigh escaped his chest.
Safe.
Everyone is safe.
Satsuki stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, her back to the room.
She was wearing a dark blue velvet dress and holding a bone china teacup in her hand.
The aroma of black tea filled the air.
"Miss Saionji".
Weber looked up at the slender figure from behind.
His voice was low, conveying a sense of desperate resolve.
There is something I must confess to you.
Satsuki didn't turn her head, still looking at the rain scene outside the window.
"Speaking."
Weber took a deep breath.
"Those ten used polishing machines you bought. Their bases are hollow."
The only sound in the room was the crackling of the fireplace.
Weber's fingers gripped the fabric of his pants tightly.
"My students and I removed the access cover."
"At the Carl Zeiss Jena factory, there are miniature film rolls for the front optical design of extreme ultraviolet lithography lenses. And... the precise chemical formula parameters for special optical glasses."
"We wrapped them in waterproof paper and lead foil and stuffed them into the cavity of the cast iron base."
"It was filled with black waste oil and iron filings, and the bolts were resealed."
Weber finished speaking in one breath, his chest heaving violently.
He revealed his final trump card.
He handed over the culmination of half a century of the nation's optical industry.
This was the intellectual's self-respect, and also his final pledge of allegiance to his new employer.
He didn't want his proud knowledge to rot along with that country.
At the window.
Satsuki stood quietly.
The index finger of the right hand holding the bone china teacup paused for an extremely subtle second on the handle.
A tiny ripple spread across the amber-colored surface of the tea in the cup.
Imperceptible.
This is truly... a pleasant surprise.
The front-mounted design of the extreme ultraviolet lithography lens, the chemical formula of the special optical glass... these are all key technologies. With what Weber mentioned, the project could be accelerated.
The ripples subsided.
Satsuki slowly turned around.
The firelight illuminated her profile, outlining an elegant and serene silhouette.
A gentle smile played on her lips.
"Dr. Weber."
"The added value you've added to this scrap metal is enough to buy half of Tokyo's semiconductor production lines."
She raised her teacup and gave Weber a slight nod.
"Regardless of their motives, the Saionji family has an extreme fondness for people like you... who know how to proactively extract excess profits for the group."
……
……
……
The explanation for the rationale behind the two technologies mentioned in the text (too many words to fit in the author's notes, so it has to be placed at the end of the chapter; but don't worry, the main text is a full 4500 words, it won't be inflated to the main text word count):
In reality, ASML's lithography technology is a trade secret, but they do have close cooperation with Carl Zeiss in Germany. Therefore, the main logic behind the presence of this technology in East Germany is:
In the post-World War II Cold War context, the Carl Zeiss Jena factory remained the absolute optical hub of the Warsaw Pact. Scientists there, backed by a massive national system, undertook the most extreme research and development tasks in Soviet aerospace and military industries. To create lenses for spy satellites that could penetrate the atmosphere, and to develop mirror arrays for high-energy military lasers, East German scholars completely abandoned the cost control and commercial considerations that Western companies had to consider. They poured enormous resources into basic optical materials, theoretical deductions in the extreme ultraviolet band, and the chemical formulations of special glasses, thus prematurely touching the physical limits of human optics, both on paper and in the laboratory.
In the semiconductor manufacturing field, the ultimate precision of a lithography machine depends entirely on its internal optical reflection system. Weber's "Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography lens front-end design" theoretically charted a path for chip manufacturing towards single-digit nanometer processes. Simultaneously, the "special optical glass formula" he developed provided the materials science foundation for manufacturing lenses capable of withstanding EUV light bombardment and achieving atomic-level surface flatness. In the real world, ASML, the global leader in EUV lithography machines, has Carl Zeiss of Germany as its sole supplier of optical systems. This fundamentally demonstrates that these two advanced optical innovations, born in East Germany under the extreme Cold War regime, are very likely the core technological barriers that ASML still cannot overcome.
Of course, the above inferences are merely speculations, and represent the most logical explanations within the context of the article for the questions of "why these technologies appeared in East Germany" and "the key to ASML's technological monopoly." If you have different opinions, please feel free to discuss them.