In Chennai, India, Li Runshi, Secretary of the Southern Bureau of the Chinese Civilization Party, sat face-to-face with the newly arrived Chandra Bose. The temperature in Chennai was high, and fine beads of sweat appeared on Chandra Bose's forehead, making his eager expression seem somewhat urgent.

"Secretary Li, I don't understand why the Chinese military insists on dismantling the Dum Dum Arsenal," Chandra Bose asked, staring at Li Runshi.

Li Runshi did not answer immediately but offered Chandra Bose a cigarette with a smile. To Chandra Bose, it seemed Li Runshi was already confident. In reality, Li Runshi was using this brief moment to consider Chandra Bose's true intentions.

He Rui had long ago made strategic arrangements for the future of the Indian region. Since India had been subdivided into too many castes by the caste system, restoring various Indian regions based on these castes would not only be meaningless but also reactionary. Therefore, the foundation of independence for the Indian region was to restore the traditional ancient states of India. On this basis, factoring in language, history, and other elements, there was no need to restore hundreds or thousands of princely states; instead, the aim was to divide it into independent countries of medium size. In the process of Indian independence, although religious factors must be considered, they should not be used for overt propaganda. If religion had to be mentioned, the term "civilization and lifestyle" should replace the word "religion."

Before the Chinese army withdrew from India, following these principles and methods, 7 to 9 independent countries would emerge in the Indian region. So far, the plan was proceeding smoothly. Although the various regions that had already gained independence had their own internal problems, with the help of comrades from various countries in the World People's Liberation Army, these problems were being successfully resolved.

Of course, within the British Indian colony, there were some who held different views from the He Rui government; they hoped for the Indian region to exist as a single complete country. Chandra Bose was considered a supporter of this view.

Now that Chandra Bose had made a special trip after completing the uprising in the Mumbai region of western India, and was bringing up the issue of the Dum Dum Arsenal in Kolkata, eastern India, Li Runshi had to suspect that Chandra Bose had his own agenda.

After thinking for a moment, Li Runshi decided not to proactively mention this issue for now, but to follow Chandra Bose's topic first. Having made up his mind, Li Runshi saw that Chandra Bose had only politely taken the cigarette and taken two puffs before staring at him with an urgent look, so he asked with a smile, "Is something wrong with the Dum Dum Arsenal?"

Chandra Bose immediately replied, "The Dum Dum Arsenal is a very famous arsenal, producing the ammunition we use. I don't understand why China wants to dismantle the Dum Dum Arsenal."

"Does Mr. Chandra believe that Chinese weapons are inferior to British ones?" Li Runshi asked.

Chandra Bose's brows furrowed slightly, and after a moment of hesitation, he asked, "Will China provide us with a full set of weapons and equipment?"

"Why wouldn't we?" Li Runshi retorted. Seeing the expression of distrust within Chandra Bose's grave look, Li Runshi continued, "Mr. Chandra has cooperated with the Upper Burma People's Army for a long time; they use a full set of Chinese equipment. China fully understands the security anxieties of liberated peoples and is very willing to help these countries build their own reliable military forces."

Chandra Bose had always been accused by the Indian National Congress of being "pro-China," but he didn't care at all. Because throughout his life, Chandra Bose was only "pro-Indian people." As long as India could be liberated, China, the United States, the Soviet Union, and Germany could all be partners for Chandra Bose. Any country that prevented India's liberation, or attempted to continue colonizing or controlling India after driving out the British, would be fought to the end by Chandra Bose.

Hearing Li Runshi's words, Chandra Bose didn't believe them in his heart at all. He asked politely, "According to what Secretary Li said, if we need to build an arsenal in Mumbai..."

Li Runshi only wanted to understand Chandra Bose's objective and didn't want this goal to be affected by meaningless verbal disputes. He simply interrupted Chandra Bose, "The Chinese government will firmly support this plan. We can start discussing right now what level of arsenal needs to be built and within what timeframe. Afterwards, professional technical personnel will be responsible for formulating the plan."

Chandra Bose was made very uncomfortable by Li Runshi's decisive answer. He couldn't help but ask, "Why must your country dismantle the Dum Dum Arsenal? Isn't it good to utilize the Dum Dum Arsenal directly?"

"The equipment of an arsenal is very specialized; it cannot be used to produce other weapons and equipment just by making minor modifications. Moreover, the core of military equipment lies in standards. If the Indian region wants to establish its own military industry, it must consider which standards to adopt. Generally speaking, there are two choices: the Indian region starts from scratch and formulates its own military equipment standards, or it introduces military equipment standards from other countries," Li Runshi explained. Although these contents were common knowledge within the high levels of the Civilization Party, they were high-end knowledge in the colonies, so Li Runshi tried not to make it too complicated, keeping it simple and brisk.

"Developing it yourself takes a long time and costs a huge amount of money, but once the standard construction is completed with huge manpower and material resources, the national defense industry can achieve autonomy. If there is no such time and funding, then introduce mature military industry standards. By learning such standards and producing weapons and equipment, military production capacity can be obtained in the short term. Through the accumulation of usage experience, the country's own military industry talents can be cultivated. As for how to choose, it depends on one's own needs."

Chandra Bose himself had studied in China. Although he spent most of his time learning how to mobilize the masses for revolution, as a famous independent revolutionary in India, China had also given him a lot of training that leaders must accept. Hearing Li Runshi speak so briskly at this moment, he could understand.

When Li Runshi finished speaking, Chandra Bose asked somewhat hesitantly, "British colonial rule in India has basically ended, but I didn't expect India to fall into a state of division."

Li Runshi was basically certain that this was Chandra Bose's real purpose for coming. He advised, "Mr. Chandra, what the people of the Indian region need at this stage is true independence; they need to start a new life in a short time. We attach great importance to the feelings of the people in the Indian region. So far, there has never been an opinion from the people of various countries in the Indian region stating that they have been forcibly divided. Judging from what has already happened, the people of various countries in the Indian region are very satisfied with the current situation."

Chandra Bose certainly knew Li Runshi wasn't wrong. India was a colony forcibly cobbled together by the British. The British used different races and religions in India proper to check and balance each other. It wasn't that Britain had the ability to facilitate such division, but that the British utilized the division that originally existed in the Indian region.

But the India Chandra Bose expected was a complete, Greater India. Seeing various countries in the Indian region becoming independent one after another, although this independence was real, it was still too far from his ultimate ideal.

Seeing that Li Runshi did not yield in the slightest, Chandra Bose knew he could not confront China, so he tried asking, "If India holds an All-India Conference, will Secretary Li help us?"

After speaking, Chandra Bose gazed at Li Runshi's expression, trying to glean more information from any changes. He saw Li Runshi answer frankly, "I think this is a very good idea. Matters of the Indian region must be decided by the people of the Indian region. If Mr. Chandra can gather various forces in the Indian region to hold such a meeting, I will certainly support it."

Chandra Bose felt a joy in his heart and hurriedly asked to what extent this support could go. No matter how he asked, Li Runshi stuck to the same principle: China would support the people of the Indian region in holding a meeting to discuss the future of the Indian region, but would not forcibly require the Indian people to do anything.

Although Chandra Bose knew Li Runshi was definitely hard to deal with, he still hoped for a chance to make India a unified country. If China was willing to help, Chandra Bose was willing to give China various benefits while ensuring Indian sovereignty. But Li Runshi disappointed him; Li Runshi clearly stated that China would not attempt to control India at all. Since China wouldn't even try to control India, Chandra Bose's calculation of trying to utilize China fell through.

After determining Chandra Bose's position, Li Runshi ended the meeting. As a Chinese person, Li Runshi was naturally inclined towards Great Unification. But after being responsible for work in Southeast Asia and South Asia for a few years, Li Runshi discovered that these regions really had no foundation for unification. It wasn't that there were no people in these countries and regions calling for the establishment of a "Greater Vietnam," "Greater Burma," or "Greater India." The people who really wanted to accomplish these things were detached from regional reality, while those shouting to do so wanted to use these slogans to satisfy their own demands.

Great Unification was never that easy. China's unification was built upon the "Tianxia concept" proposed by the Duke of Zhou during the Shang-Zhou Revolution. In the Shang Dynasty, the Shang court practiced a unity of politics and religion; the Shang people had their own gods, their own Heaven. Other states were merely vassals or partners of the Shang people and were not qualified to participate in the Shang's institutional system at all.

By the time of King Zhou of Shang, the territory and colonial points controlled by Shang had retreated from south of the Yangtze River in its heyday to a limited area south of the Yellow River. To solve this problem, King Zhou implemented reforms, attempting to reverse the decline. The result was an intensification of contradictions, and Shang perished.

But Zhou did not have a systematic culture like Shang, so the Duke of Zhou revolutionarily proposed the concept of "Tianxia" (All-under-Heaven). All states were under Heaven, and the Son of Heaven was the one who conformed to the will of Heaven. From then on, "Son of Heaven" replaced "Human Emperor," laying the foundation of Chinese culture. Although the development of Chinese culture experienced twists and turns, it gradually grew and developed. China also became the only civilized country in the world to continue to this day.

The cultures of Southeast Asia and South Asia had never experienced these things. The "Greater India" Chandra Bose saw was not something produced by India itself, but a colonial system created by external forces to facilitate ruling India. Wanting to drive out the colonizers while maintaining the system established by the colonizers was obviously inconsistent with reality.

However, Li Runshi did not oppose holding some meetings in the Indian region. Only at a peaceful meeting could such matters be clearly presented. It could also prevent India from falling into a chaotic great war due to the erroneous actions of ambitious careerists or fanatics.

However, Li Runshi did not expect that before he could make any arrangements, he received a telegram from the Central Committee, ordering him to rush back to the capital to attend an important meeting with the Soviet Union. As the plane flew over the mountains of Burma, Li Runshi looked out the window at the continuous mountain ranges and felt a sudden urge to write poetry. But right now, he had no time to compose poems; the documents in front of him clearly showed that the Soviet Union expected to legalize the Communist Party in the Southeast Asian and South Asian regions liberated by China. China agreed with Stalin's view on the legalization of the Communist Party, so China's condition was that the Third International must be dissolved.

Based on Li Runshi's observation of the international situation and the Soviet Union, he was basically certain that the Soviet Union would accept such a request. As a former member of the Chinese Branch of the Communist International under the Third International, Li Runshi didn't expect that he would be the one to propose the dissolution of the Third International and witness its end with his own eyes.

In Moscow, when Molotov heard that the Chinese representative meeting him was actually Li Runshi, he couldn't help but widen his eyes. But a moment later, Molotov regained his composure. Among the former members of the Chinese Branch of the Third International, Li Runshi was the one who had achieved the highest political status.

Just as Comrade Kirov was General Secretary Stalin's successor, intelligence obtained by the Soviet Union indicated that among the several competitors likely to succeed He Rui, Li Runshi had a very large advantage. Although He Rui always considered himself a believer in communism, the Soviet Union believed that within the Chinese Civilization Party, Li Runshi was the true communist.

However, China's communism was built on the foundation of nationalism; communist ideals could not harm China's national interests. This was one of the reasons why the Soviet side never considered He Rui a communist. Molotov believed that if Li Runshi wanted to succeed He Rui's position, it was impossible for him not to accept He Rui's stance. Molotov believed that such a Li Runshi would be even harder to deal with than imperialists.

But the Soviet Union could not interfere in China's internal affairs. Whoever China sent to negotiate with the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union had to accept. Unless the Chinese Civilization Party was a member of the Third International and had to accept the leadership of the Third International.