Homo Sapiens

Hongsawaddy.

The eastern part of Karen State forms the border between Hongsawaddy and Siam, marked by a boundary river—the Dangweng River.

The river is also a tributary of the Salween River.

Previously, since the Dangweng River was a boundary river, the Qingye Group had only dredged it enough to allow passage for ships of the 500 to 1,000-ton class.

But things were different now.

Because the Homo Sapiens Company had already established a fully authorized branch in Siam, the boundary river existed in name only.

On a section of the river that had long been secretly surveyed, a massive earthen cofferdam now blocked the flow, temporarily diverting the river to another channel.

And behind the cofferdam, on a section of the riverbed that had been pumped dry, a host of excavators and transport vehicles were hard at work.

The Dangweng River Dam was the core of this project.

After Liu Zhifan and Wunan cut the ribbon for the project, they each gave interviews to local television stations. It was noon before they finally sat down to eat together.

They ate in the construction team’s temporary company town, situated on a leveled mountain terrace that overlooked the entire construction site.

"Even though it’s a temporary town, the infrastructure and services are quite complete," Wunan remarked, spearing another piece of chicken cutlet with his fork.

Liu Zhifan smiled. "The company has a standard plan for large-scale engineering projects. An undertaking like this requires several thousand employees, so building a new town is no problem. Besides, a city will need to be built here eventually anyway."

Since there was no one else in their private dining room, Wunan spoke more freely. He gazed out the floor-to-ceiling window at the river construction site.

"A three-year timeline for the project... isn’t that a bit rushed?"

"Not at all. We’re using new technologies, like the low-maintenance Coral Cement, iron-bamboo steel-wire composite rebar, and most importantly, our crack-repair technology."

Wunan’s eyebrow shot up. He put down his fork. "More new technology?"

The project’s chief engineer, Su Jincheng, explained to Wunan, "Yes. Cracks are a common problem during construction, even on a normal schedule. They’re practically unavoidable, especially in a monolithic dam."

"Our Coral Cement is no exception. While it requires less curing, cracks still appear. And because we’ve hastily commissioned a large number of hydroelectric power stations in recent years, quite a few of those dams have developed cracks due to improper construction."

Su Jincheng paused and took a sip of water.

"So, headquarters developed a specialized crack-repair technology to address this. The core principle is to use a genetically modified fungus, combined with a special silicate and calcium solution. The fungus grows within the cracks, forming an extremely strong layer of calcium silicate."

Wunan was very interested in this. "Does this technology also work for repairing cracks in old reinforced concrete buildings?"

"Yes. As long as the damage is crack-based, it can be repaired quickly this way. The bond is even stronger than the original concrete structure, since it’s a bond at the molecular level," Su Jincheng confirmed with a nod.

Liu Zhifan added with a smile, "If the unit cost wasn’t 2.7 times that of concrete, and if there wasn’t a risk of the technology leaking, the company would consider building everything this way."

"It’s already impressive. Combined with Coral Cement and the iron-bamboo composite rebar, it allows for rapid construction. In fact, the three-year timeline includes the time for later installation of turbines, ship locks, and other equipment. The main structure itself will only take about 18 months," Su Jincheng added.

"Only 18 months? That’s incredibly fast. Technology truly is the primary productive force," Wunan marveled.

The true specifications for the Dangweng River Dam, it should be noted, were significantly different from the numbers they had announced on television.

The entire Dangweng River Dam used a gravity dam design, with a length of 1,832 meters and a crest height of 156 meters—essentially a slightly smaller version of the Three Gorges Dam.

Its maximum water-retention height was 132 meters, with a normal operating water level of 100 meters.

But that wasn’t the most critical part. The most critical part was the Navigable Lock on one side of the dam. It was designed as a dual-line, four-stage lock, with a maximum capacity for 20,000-ton class vessels (1,000 TEU container ships).

The figure the two of them had announced on television, however, was a maximum vessel tonnage of only 3,000 tons.

Clearly, they were deliberately concealing this from the outside world.

The reason for this was mainly to reduce external pressure.

This was because upstream on the Dangweng River, the shortest distance to the Bin River—the largest tributary of Siam’s Mae Nam River—was less than 20 kilometers, separated only by a low-lying ridge in the Tannantawong Mountain Range.

In the future, once the river channels were dredged, they only needed to cut through this ridge to connect the two rivers directly.

Once that happened, the shipping route for vessels under 20,000 tons traveling from Yangon to Bangkok or Chiang Mai would be shortened from the original 3,600–4,200 kilometers to just 700–1,000 kilometers.

This was also why Liu Zhifan had specifically invited Wunan.

For the entire canal to reach its 20,000-ton capacity, the Siam Branch would also have to modify the Mae Nam River in parallel, allowing for a seamless connection.

As for why they weren’t digging the Kra Canal, it was mainly because it wasn’t necessary at the moment and would also attract immense external pressure.

The very existence of the Malacca Strait involved a tangled web of complex interests and strategies.

Digging the Kra Canal would inevitably attract the attention of America, and Xing Island might even become openly hostile toward it.

Therefore, at this stage, the Kra Canal was not essential.

After all, the Homo Sapiens Company had already established a fully authorized subsidiary in Malaysia and controlled at least a quarter of the sovereignty over Malacca.

Furthermore, Siam was connected to Hongsawaddy by land and could connect to Luzon and Malaysia by sea, so there was no urgent need for the Kra Canal.

In contrast, the Dangweng River-Mae Nam River canal was far more important, as it would promote the integration of Hongsawaddy and Siam and drive economic development along its route.

After all, this canal would connect to Siam’s northern interior, turning the Tannantawong Mountain Range—once an obstacle to transportation between the two regions—into a thoroughfare.

Building the Dangweng River Dam now, dredging the upstream channel, and having Siam build a dam on the Mae Nam River were all in preparation for the final connection of the two rivers.

Upon learning of the plan, Wunan’s expression was a mixture of excitement and apprehension.

"President Liu, the dam and the river dredging are fine, but excavating that section of the Tannantawong Mountain Range... that will be easily spotted by the eyes in the sky."

"Don’t worry. They won’t see it," Liu Zhifan replied, full of confidence.

Wunan’s eyes widened. "How can you avoid being discovered? Even if you cover it with camouflage netting, satellites can detect anomalies in the reflected wavelengths."

Liu Zhifan wiped his mouth, pushed his plate aside, and patted Wunan on the shoulder. "We’ll go take a look at the site together next month. The construction team is heading over tomorrow to scout the location."

"President Liu, you really do love your secrets," Wunan said, his curiosity piqued.

Liu Zhifan shook his head. "Seeing is believing. Besides, you’d probably find the specific technical principles to be a bit confusing."

"Alright! In that case, I’ll be eagerly awaiting it."

The group rested for a night in the company town before returning to their respective duties the next day.

「Meanwhile.」

Just as the sky began to lighten, a special engineering team, their equipment long since packed, boarded a dozen or so small 500-ton transport ships and set off up the Dangweng River.

Even though it was the dry season, the dredged Dangweng River could still accommodate the passage of 500-ton class vessels.

The low-lying ridge was located midway upstream.

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