The military bigwigs gathered again, listening to Ou Zhanpeng's report on the entire deterrence operation.
Ou Zhanpeng focused on the encounters on Shallow Cloud Star. After hearing it, the bigwigs were speechless, their minds in utter chaos.
"What is all this?" Mu Xingyu chuckled and shook his head. "Which version is the true historical record?"
"Does it matter if it's historical fact? The key is what Shallow Cloud Star intends to do and what their attitude is towards us!" Zhou Guangyi painstakingly sorted through the jumbled thoughts in his mind, filtering out the dross and focusing on the essentials.
"I agree!" Shan Qiuyu voiced his opinion. "Whether the prophets excessively exploited the prehistoric civilization or the prehistoric civilization betrayed the prophets, it has no practical significance for us now. How to deal with the upcoming changes is what we should consider."
"How can you say it has no significance? It's a reference, isn't it?" Mu Xingyu immediately objected.
"A reference? What is there to reference?" Shan Qiuyu retorted helplessly. "Although we don't know how much time has passed outside the time bubble, it wasn't modern giants who betrayed the prophets. We can't label them as traitors just because their ancestors betrayed the prophets, can we? We stopped that practice long ago!"
A ripple of laughter went through the bigwigs. Ou Zhanpeng grinned, managing to hold back his own amusement.
He decided it was better to pretend not to hear the jokes among the leaders.
Mu Xingyu savored the thought and joined in the laughter, "That's true, I was getting stuck on that point."
"I agree with Old Shan. We don't need to worry about the messy affairs between the prophets and the prehistoric civilization. The key is how to face the alliance with both sides!" Zhou Guangyi tapped the table lightly with his finger, bringing the straying conversation back on track.
"I reserve my opinion on this matter," stated a cautious bigwig. "When both sides are of similar strength, it's called an alliance. When one side is superior and the other is inferior, it's called subjugation!"
"I also think we must consider it carefully. The giants are definitely not that altruistic!" another bigwig chimed in. "We are the weaker party. Once we form an alliance, we will undoubtedly have to pay a great price for this covenant!"
Zhou Guangyi nodded, "What about the others? Let's hear from everyone!"
"I believe this alliance must be formed. The key is to see what conditions they propose," Shan Qiuyu said, choosing his words carefully. "We are not familiar with the outside situation, and the giants might exploit this. However, I personally believe that since we are the weaker party, it would be better to let the giants gain some advantage first. Only by doing so can we get what we want from them and gradually develop!"
"I agree!" Mu Xingyu said. "It's easy to refuse the giants' alliance, but we've finally opened the door to the interstellar world. We can't refuse this exchange just because our own interests are affected... Although we have acquired some alien technology, if we lose this opportunity, we will have to develop slowly on our own. But self-imposed isolation is not ideal!"
Others also voiced their opinions sequentially. Soon after, Zhou Guangyi summarized, "Everyone's opinions are very good, but I must emphasize one point: we must first clarify the main contradiction we are facing, rather than getting bogged down in endless debate about whether to form an alliance!"
His gaze swept across everyone. "You all know without me saying it, the most important issue now is Earth's precarious situation, the opening of a communication channel between the solar system and the outside world, and the impact the dangerous interstellar environment will have on us!"
"The next strategic direction must pave the way for this. Even if the alliance conditions are unfavorable to us, we must establish contact with the giants... Sacrificing immediate interests is for the sake of gaining opportunities for development, for the sake of having an environment for peaceful development! Even if we are exploited by the giants, in the long run, the benefits will outweigh the disadvantages. The key lies in how to balance the degree!"
Zhou Guangyi's speech initiated another round of discussion. The bigwigs comprehensively debated the various conditions proposed by the giants, meticulously scrutinizing which conditions could be accepted and which absolutely could not be compromised.
Although Ou Zhanpeng was connected to numerous bigwigs, he was not at a level to participate in their discussions. His presence at the meeting was merely to provide necessary data and intelligence support when needed by the leaders.
He was just a tool.
Compared to these troublesome issues, Ou Zhanpeng was more interested in knowing why the aliens... or rather, non-human aliens, knew about the Starship, and why they were persistently pursuing it.
Also, during his time on Shallow Cloud Star, his thoughts had been too confused to notice some connections. Now, reflecting on it, after the giants' fleet arrived in the solar system, their first action was not to seize Earth, but to directly appear near Jupiter to capture the Starship.
The giants' actions were enough to indicate the Giant civilization's attitude towards the Starship base.
What had that old man, Neo, concealed? What was his true purpose? Could the so-called alliance be a delaying tactic, and could the so-called envoy not exist at all?
If it wasn't just one warship, but a massive fleet capable of destroying the entire solar system, what would be Earth's fate?
He thought a lot, but the bigwigs considered things more comprehensively, quickly discussing the issues he couldn't figure out one by one and formulating a series of response plans.
As the meeting was about to conclude, Zhou Guangyi delivered his summary remarks: "Regarding the alliance, I want to emphasize a few points: First, issues of sovereignty are inviolable, and any demands infringing on sovereignty will be rejected; Second, we will lead, and other companions should not be involved, as they are not yet capable of this; Third, we must be prepared for the worst-case scenario. From now on, strengthen the construction of the underground city and do our utmost to relocate as many people as possible to the underground city; Fourth, expedite the colonization of Mars..."
Zhou Guangyi emphasized over twenty issues, and Ou Zhanpeng was almost stunned, unable to comprehend how Zhou Guangyi's mind worked to consider so many details.
"Meeting adjourned!" Zhou Guangyi announced.
Ou Zhanpeng finally heard the long-awaited words, but Zhou Guangyi immediately added, "Ou Zhanpeng, you stay!"
Well, he'd been singled out by a leader!
The screens of the other bigwigs promptly went dark, leaving only Zhou Guangyi. "Little Ou!"
"Here!"
"Don't be so nervous. I have a few things to tell you." Zhou Guangyi's demeanor was exceptionally kind, like a grandfather next door.
"Please speak," Ou Zhanpeng replied respectfully.
"Your mission was completed very well. The information you brought back is extremely important and has very significant reference value for our decision-making," Zhou Guangyi first affirmed the achievements of the deterrence mission.
Ou Zhanpeng quickly responded humbly, "Commander, I failed to complete the deterrence mission..."
"Ah, don't say that!" Zhou Guangyi waved his hand. "Whether the mission is completed or not isn't about whether we detonated the mushroom bomb, but whether our intentions were conveyed effectively. Since the objective was achieved, other matters are not important."
Ou Zhanpeng finally breathed a sigh of relief, the weight on his heart finally lifted.
Zhou Guangyi continued, "Little Ou, we understand the situation. We must admit that the situation we face is extremely grim. For safety reasons, you will return to the base shortly. The Starship is not to leave without orders. Do you understand?"
"Understood!" Ou Zhanpeng replied crisply.
"Also!" Zhou Guangyi's expression became extremely stern. "The Starship base is our last fallback and trump card, but the enemy's target is likely the Starship base. Therefore, we will unconditionally refuse any requests related to the base. However, we don't know what consequences refusal will bring. If the giants become enraged and attack or even destroy Earth, I order you to remain stationary, and not to expose the base even if Earth is lost. Do you understand?"
"Understood!" Ou Zhanpeng's heart sank as if into an abyss. "Under no circumstances are we to move, even if Earth is destroyed, the base must not be exposed!"
"Excellent!" Zhou Guangyi nodded with satisfaction, finally relaxing his expression. "Not only the Starship, but also the Jupiter fleet. If Earth is lost, please ensure that the spark of human civilization is passed on... I'm counting on you."
With that, Zhou Guangyi suddenly stood up and raised his right hand in a solemn salute.
Ou Zhanpeng quickly returned the salute, his heart churning.
It was only then that he realized the immense responsibility Zhou Guangyi had placed upon his shoulders.
He had no psychological preparation at all, and his mind buzzed like a disturbed beehive.
"Go back," Zhou Guangyi said.
Ou Zhanpeng didn't even have a chance to say goodbye to Shan Qiuyu and Mu Xingyu before hastily activating a wormhole and returning to the Starship base.
The following period was relatively peaceful. Ou Zhanpeng wrote a detailed report, omitting no detail, reporting all the encounters during the mission.
The military specially organized an analysis team to meticulously examine every detail of the mission and judge whether Ou Zhanpeng's responses were appropriate.
The results indicated that although not perfect, Ou Zhanpeng's responses were above average.
Based on the analysis team's recommendations, every future long-distance warship should be equipped with a negotiation team to handle foreign affairs issues.
The tactics and strategies of aliens were also a focus for the military.
The analysis found that both the giants' white ships and the pirates' spacecraft were primarily equipped with energy weapons, consistent with previous predictions.
The military had a heated debate on whether to continue equipping electromagnetic cannons.
One viewpoint argued that aliens had more combat experience. Since aliens had completely abandoned projectile weapons, it was unnecessary for humanity to cling to cannons and missiles. They must keep pace with the times and adjust weapon equipment policies promptly.
Missiles and electromagnetic cannons previously equipped for starships were completely redundant.
Another viewpoint argued that although projectile weapons had obvious drawbacks, they also had positive aspects. Energy weapons were the development trend of the future, but projectile weapons should not be abandoned either. In certain special circumstances, electromagnetic cannons remained irreplaceable.
For example, for bombarding planets.
Missiles were also retained, especially smoke bombs that could fly alongside warships.
In short, the goal was to formulate the most reasonable tactics and the most effective weapon configurations for various alien warships.
Gong Yiding was not particularly interested in either of these aspects. He was only keenly interested in superluminal speed travel that was not wormhole-based, and believed it to be warp drive.
Furthermore, he believed that non-wormhole flight was likely an effective way to break through spatial blockades!
To this end, he thoroughly searched the vast database of the Starship base and actually found some records related to warp drive.
The results showed that it was indeed a superluminal speed flight technology, but the equipment was enormous, consumed a lot of energy, and was very slow.
In essence, besides not being afraid of the Black Horn people's spatial blockade, it had no other advantages.
If such a set of equipment were installed on the Starship, it would occupy at least one-fifth of the spaceship, which was completely not worth the gain.
With no other option, Director Gong had to reluctantly give up.
However, he then became intensely interested in the Black Horn people's technology, spending day and night in the research laboratory, analyzing the uses of various Black Horn items, and hoping to find some equipment and data related to spatial blockade.
Ou Zhanpeng couldn't help but sigh with relief that Gong Yiding had a mechanical body. It required no food or drink, nor did it need to excrete. As long as there was electricity, it could continue to operate, and even if there were fatal problems, a new body could be replaced to resume research.
If he still had his fleshy body, he would likely have worked himself to death in a few days.
To achieve results as soon as possible, Gong Yiding also found Ou Zhanpeng and applied for a separate time-space bubble research laboratory.
This was a newly discovered function not long ago. Simply put, it meant covering a part of the base with a time-space bubble, rather than enclosing the entire base – if not for the alliance, Ou Zhanpeng would have definitely opened the time-space bubble and started another ten-year research project.
But now, he could only satisfy Old Master Gong and a very small number of researchers. The Starship had been away for a short time, but the base had gained over a dozen robots with human consciousness.
The vast majority of them had to switch to mechanical bodies due to aging, but one person had to give up his flesh body due to a fatal accident.
This person was Zhan Wanyi!
When Ou Zhanpeng learned this news, he was stunned for a while before accepting it.
He suddenly had an ominous premonition: would the Starship base become a robot base in the near future?
They could still coexist peacefully now, but after decades or even a century, would they diverge due to ideological differences?
He couldn't help but express his concerns to Gong Yiding, who remained silent for a long time before saying, "I can only guarantee myself, not others, but I strongly oppose installing restrictive measures on mechanical bodies, no matter what kind of means. We are machines, but first and foremost, we are people. If you do that, division will not be a future problem, but a present one!"
Ou Zhanpeng couldn't help but smile bitterly, "I never thought that way. I just feel that a large-scale replacement of mechanical bodies might lead to some unpredictable problems."
"Foresight is a good thing," Gong Yiding said. "But there's no need to worry unnecessarily. The most crucial thing is not the difference between humans and robots, but mutual understanding and tolerance. Remember, no matter when, never artificially create divisions and barriers, otherwise, that will be the root of division!"
"You can rest assured!" Ou Zhanpeng agreed immediately. "I..."
WHOOSH—
A piercing alarm drowned out his words. Ou Zhanpeng's expression changed, "They're here!"