Scholar’s Advanced Technological System

“I said long ago that negotiations couldn’t solve any problems. We must preemptively declare our position before the First Fleet is equipped with new equipment! Force them to recognize our current situation!”

The so-called current situation was the reality that Martians could develop better under their own rules. From now on, they would no longer need to economically fund their “overlord country”, and they no longer need to sell cheap industrial labor to cover the consumer needs of tens of billions of people. They would formulate tariffs and immigration policies to protect the rights of Martians instead of bowing down to the Pan-Asian lords like before…

The name of the person who said this was Gao Ruiming, Xiao Hong’s office secretary. He was at least half of the reason why Xiao Hong was able to become the mayor of Tiangong City so smoothly.

“We still have to dream, Mr. Future Secretary-general. It would be best if we can avoid war. If we can’t, we must at least have a moral advantage.”

After reading the reply that came from the holographic screen, especially when Xiao Hong read the section where the garrison was dispatched, a faint worry floated in his eyes.

What he worried about was not his personal future or the destiny of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, but at this crucial moment in history, there was a better solution.

First, it was through the establishment of the Mars defense fleet and the expansion of the army in a fair manner. After that, they could wait until the Second Fleet was comparable to the First Fleet before helping other Mars cities to achieve independence. Finally, they could slowly seek their own independence.

But it seemed that Li Guangya did not intend to give them this opportunity.

The military exercise and dispatching of the garrison were almost equivalent to rejecting his ideas.

“Obviously, we threw the olive branch in exchange for the shackles on our hands and feet.” Xiao Hong’s index finger swept across the holographic screen. He regretfully closed the reply from the Pan-Asian authorities as he said, “If only one year ago, the accident was successful.”

The so-called accident naturally referred to the hijacking of flight N-177.

According to their original plan, the hijacked flight N-177 would directly hit the Tianzhou Space Station, and the resulting space junk would directly reduce the safety factor of the entire geosynchronous orbit by two levels. At that time, the Moon Palace Space Station and Lagrange Space Base resource supply would be severely affected.

By then, they would only need to take over the supply line of the Lagrange Space Base while requesting the Pan-Asian authorities to strengthen patrols in the asteroid belt. The Pan-Asian authorities would have little choice.

They could use the accident to strengthen the autonomy of the Martian colony bit by bit, expand the scale of the Martian defense fleet, and finally achieve true independence.

Xiao Hong even had a name for their own military, but who would have thought that an old antique who had been sleeping for a hundred years would actually go on the flight using a fake passport.

If that was it, it would be fine. The big problem was that this guy was able to kill the hijackers.

As a result, their plans were not only disrupted but they were also forced to lay low for a whole year. If it weren’t for the intelligence crisis that severely hit the global economy and caused the Pan-Asian Cooperation to further escalate the industrial reliance on Mars, they might have had to hold on for a few more years…

However, they couldn’t hold on any longer.

The warp speed technology had been broken through. Once faster than light communication and faster than light travel were realized, the distance advantage of Mars would no longer exist, and the Pan-Asian Cooperation would definitely regain the autonomy of Mars.

Or at least, they would turn them into a new special economic zone just like Guanghan City.

“There’s no point thinking about what has happened. They have a knife to our neck.” Gao Ruiming stared at the mayor sitting behind the desk and said in a serious tone, “If we do not act now, we will be the passive ones.”

Xiao Hong pondered for a while. He looked at his office secretary and asked, “How’s the preparation going?”

Gao Ruiming finally showed a smile on his face and said in a confident voice, “Thanks to the demand for space elevators, we are able to expand our production capacity. Coupled with the actions of the colonization funds, we can build ships in geosynchronous orbit and strengthen our fleet. According to the feedback from the ‘commander’, the number of starships we have has reached fifty. Although it is far from the power of the First Fleet, with the advantages of our supplies and channels, as well as the support of other space pirates, as long as we turn this war into a protracted war, it will be us who will be victorious in the end.”

Xiao Hong sighed quietly, shook his head, and said, “Numbers have no meaning. The key is quality. A starship with a warp drive facing a starship equipped with a traditional engine is like a jet plane facing a propeller plane. Do you know what I mean? We need warp drive technology; that is our only chance of winning. So what I need to confirm now is whether the factory of East Asia Heavy Industries on Mars has already begun to produce orders from the First Fleet. If so, how long will it take to complete a second version of the warp drive engine?”

The travel speed of the full version was apparently several times faster than the demo version, and it could even exceed the speed of light completely, crossing a distance of 1~2AU within a few seconds.

If the starships of the First Fleet were all equipped with such engines, they could forget about getting rid of the Pan-Asian Cooperation’s control. At that time, even the world outside the solar system would be brought under their control.

Seeing the fear in Mayor Xiao’s eyes, Gao Ruiming nodded slightly.

“I understand what you mean.”

“Good.” Mayor Xiao nodded. “You should know what to do.”

…

Located in a private house on the edge of Tiangong City.

A man in a brown trench coat spoke while handing a black card to Wang Peng.

“I have sorted out all the information you need. The situation is the same as I told you last time. So far, we have got enough evidence to prove that The Spirit of The Universe Foundation has moved their base on Earth to here. I have been following clues in this area… But I have recently discovered some interesting things.”

Wang Peng took the card containing important information and cast a questioning glance at him.

“What things?”

“Remember the plane crash a year ago?”

Wang Peng said in an uncertain tone, “You mean… Flight N-177?”

“Yes.”

“Of course I remember, what about it?”

It happened right after he woke up in this era.

Wang Peng still remembered that when Director Li came to visit him, they saw the news about the hijacking of flight N-177 on the holographic TV screen.

It was at that time that he heard the news that Lu Zhou was still alive.

The man in the brown trench coat nodded. He then glanced at the whiteboard that was full of photos and was hanging on the wall with a worried expression on his face.

“It may just be that I’m overthinking. But when I was investigating the Mars entry and exit records, I found several names that shouldn’t have appeared on it, and a batch of goods that passed through customs without inspection. And when I tracked these clues, they were linked to N-177.”

“You mean… the hijacking of flight N-177 was actually an act of the foundation?”

“If only it was that simple.” The man in the brown trench coat shook his head and said with a complicated expression, “I found a name in a signed document that shouldn’t be there.”

Wang Peng: “Who?”

“The current mayor.” The man continued looking at him as he said, “I checked his resume. At this time last year, he was the head of the Colonial Customs Bureau.”

A solemn expression appeared in Wang Peng’s eyes.

“Noted, I will keep this in mind.”

“Well, thank you.” The man made a helpless expression. He shrugged his shoulders and continued, “After all, I am not qualified to investigate such an important person. In addition, I have an immature suggestion.”

Wang Peng looked at him seriously and said, “Go ahead.”

“It’s best to find Academician Lu as soon as possible.” The man continued thinking before saying in a speculative tone, “If flight N-177 is really related to Mayor Xiao… His situation would be rather peculiar.”