Chapter 718 - 694 Strategy (Part 2)

After absorbing different pieces of information, the seven people had a new understanding of the situation.

Lin Ju had never imagined that Death Ray One would be discovered at some unknown time, but from America’s reaction, it must not have been too long ago, or else they wouldn’t have delayed for so long.

The others were reassessing America’s reaction, wondering if they had also discovered "alien civilization" early on and were single-mindedly preparing for war or planning to flee.

At this moment, Zhong Cheng once again realized the absurdity of history. The world is not a giant machine that operates according to rules and regulations, but rather a rickety bus patched up and traveling through the wilderness, always at risk of veering in an unexpected direction due to some accident.

However, after reevaluating America’s situation, he found some maneuverable space:

"If that’s the case, we can keep the secret of ’Karst’ to ourselves!

We can simply say that we, too, have discovered the ’Departing Fire’ signal, so the reason for discovering the existence of an alien civilization would be consistent, and there’s no need to disclose anything related to ’Karst’."

Zhang Shoucheng’s eyes lit up at this. His reasoning was persuasive, and there was no need to worry about being asked to share any advanced technology obtained. Moreover, by following America’s line of thought, it was practically a perfect entry point.

Domestically, it took only a very short time to abandon the idea of going it alone. No matter how much one country tried to contend with aliens on its own, the matter couldn’t be kept secret for long – at most a few months, at most a few years; it was inevitable.

The attitudes of other advanced space agencies then became extremely important. NACA was the most important; the RSA and the European Space Agency combined were nearly equivalent to NACA, with the rest being negligible.

And when one truly considers it, this is still a massive, sustained economic expenditure. There are only two economies capable of supporting the construction of a Solar System defense system. Together, their GDP accounts for 40% of the world’s total, and their combined industrial capacity makes up 70% of the global total – almost all the strength humanity can muster.

So, according to the domestic think tanks’ views from a few days ago, once an alien civilization is exposed, even if the relationship between the two super-economies is bad, they would come together. No matter how great the schism or disagreement, the pressure from the alien civilization would keep it in check.

"What about America, then? Why haven’t they initiated contact?"

It was then that a higher-up finally asked the question. America had discovered the "alien signal" six months ago, so why hadn’t they chosen to unite, as speculated by their own think tanks?

"Because they’ve chosen to flee."

Yang Zhongkai finally got the opportunity to speak, decisively stating his conclusion.

"If the aim is to jointly resist the alien civilization, then unity is inevitable, and even that might not be enough. But if the goal is merely to ensure one’s own survival or to evacuate a small portion, going it alone is an option.

Resisting aliens requires advanced technology and vast resources, but fleeing only needs the former and some resources, something one country can just manage."

"Flee to where?"

"That depends on how far they think is safe. The most ideal scenario is, of course, to go to another life-bearing star system, but realistically, it might just be to the Kuiper Belt; currently, our technology can only get us that far."

Regarding what America might do after discovering an alien civilization, the CSR Group had been continuously tracking it as an oversized sociological experiment, confidently asserting they had chosen the escape route, and roughly guessing their plans.

"That’s too risky."

Zhong Cheng furrowed his eyebrows – flee to the Kuiper Belt? That was almost like moving from the bedroom to the living room, and to actually get out of the house, one would have to cross several kilometers of lawn. Even a small-scale evacuation was far too risky.

"Yes, it’s very risky. NACA surely understands this, but they might consider the chances of successful resistance to be even lower than those of fleeing, so they’d rather run first."

Yang Zhongkai’s explanation made Zhong Cheng suddenly think of the reason Zhongyuan had dismissed the escape plan a week ago: In addition to other factors, it was mainly because of various advanced technologies from ’Karst’, especially the most important controlled fusion technology, which added several more weights to one side of the balance.

Therefore, within the country, there is confidence that a significant technological breakthrough could be made within 10 years, presenting the possibility of resistance, but America does not share this view. For them, future technology has not reached the threshold that warrants choosing resistance.

"But we don’t need to actively persuade them to resist together, we don’t even need to reveal our own stance. Allying with them is first and foremost about controlling the situation as much as possible. Once we land on Mars and Titan for onsite exploration, America might take the initiative to change its stance."

Yang Zhongkai added that as long as America knew they were not the sole discoverers of an alien civilization, they would, at the very least, superficially agree to the resistance plan, in order to grow stronger themselves.

Or, the alien artifacts excavated at that time might prove that a short-distance escape is meaningless, which would naturally change their strategy.

"In fact, escape and battle are not necessarily conflicting actions."

Zhang Shoucheng interjected:

"There aren’t many footholds on the outer edge of the Solar System, and it’s not easy to build massive defense bases on the outer four giant planets, which also leave significant blind spots.

We must establish a mobile space force, that is, a space fleet capable of long-duration patrols within the Solar System. Although it’s still a distance from interstellar travel, it is an essential path for development.

Based on these space warships, we can then develop starships capable of interstellar escape, able to flee farther and more safely."

"When it comes to propulsion, nuclear fusion has already laid the foundation for interstellar travel. If there are other aids, it’s hopeful that the propulsion systems will meet the requirements for interstellar travel within a few decades."

Wu Yunfeng also backed up Zhang Shoucheng, possessing the advanced technology of the base, future technological development will only be faster than imagined.

By this time, all the information had more or less been gathered, and the higher-ups had already made their judgment.

The shortest time they have to make a decision is just over a month; there’s a chance that the July hydrogen bomb test might trigger an anomaly, so reaching some kind of tacit agreement with America is certain.

The "M incident" caused by a misunderstanding is now paradoxically a great asset to use, making it easier to gain the trust of America.

"Since it’s a matter of sooner or later, it’s better to act sooner rather than later."

The higher-ups made a decisive decision; they only needed to determine the direction of choice, as the specifics of how to implement it would be the concern of others.

"And there’s Death Ray No. 1... well, let’s give it back its name of Qianjun Rod No. 1; subsequent ones will start from Thousand-Jin Stick Two.

If you have the Golden Cudgel in hand, you’ve got to swing it, otherwise it’s a waste of invested resources. Lin, think about organizing a test, specifically to show off our muscles to the Pentagon. This will also increase our leverage in subsequent negotiations."

"Okay!"

Lin Ju immediately agreed, as he had been itching to carry out targeted experiments with Qianjun Rod No. 1.

"Zhong Cheng, you will take charge of the space agency. The current mission must not be taken lightly, and all necessary preparations must be made without fail. From now on, there will be more hard work.

And all you scientists and sociologists are the supporting forces for resistance against an alien civilization in the future. A coordinating organization must be established, with personnel freely transferable, to begin targeted research for the survival of human civilization!"