367: Moon landing program

Inside The Pentagon office, the atmosphere was frozen.

The newly promoted Four-Star General slumped in his chair, his eyes devoid of focus, having completely lost the pride and fighting spirit of a soldier.

Before him, the highest authority of America, the Mr. President who had just been speaking passionately on television, declaring that he would judge the Eastern Cultivator, was now trembling all over, cold sweat already soaking his expensive handmade custom shirt.

The alloy door of the office, capable of withstanding a nuclear explosion, was just left wide open.

The black-haired young man standing at the doorway, despite the gentle smile on his face, made the President feel as if he were being stared at by a prehistoric Vicious Beast, to the point where even breathing became a luxury.

"I... we can talk."

The President squeezed these words out of his throat with difficulty, his voice dry.

The smile on Li Heng's face deepened. He stepped forward, walking unhurriedly into the office, casually surveying the furnishings around him, and finally stopped in front of the President's massive desk.

He did not sit, merely looking down at the other man from a superior position.

"See, isn't this better?" Li Heng's tone was as relaxed as if he were chatting with an old friend. "I have always believed that violence cannot solve problems. Sitting down to have a calm and peaceful chat is what civilized people should do."

The President's Adam's apple bobbed up and down, but he could not say a single word.

Calm and peaceful?

You call what just happened calm and peaceful?

Catching a god-slaying spear with a power comparable to a nuclear bomb with one hand—you call that calm and peaceful?

If you weren't being calm and peaceful, were you planning on tearing the Earth apart?

These words were things the President only dared to rant about wildly in his heart.

"Since Mr. President is so sincere, let's have an honest and open discussion."

Li Heng extended a finger and lightly tapped on the desk, producing a soft "tap-tap" sound.

Each tap felt like a heavy hammer striking the hearts of the President and the Four-Star General.

"I am very interested in that spear of yours."

Li Heng's gaze turned to the massive screen that had been completely destroyed. With a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, he continued, "So, let's start with how you dug that corpse of the Ancient Deities out of the ground."

Boom!

The President's brain went "buzz," and his mind went blank.

The last trace of color on his face also drained away in that instant.

This man... how could he know!

This was the highest level of top-secret information in America, the very Foundation that allowed them to lead the world by decades! Not to mention the outside world, even within America, there were absolutely no more than five people who knew the full picture of this matter!

"Deity... Deity?"

The President forcibly suppressed the surging waves in his heart, attempting a final struggle. He squeezed out a smile that was uglier than crying, "Sir, you... what are you talking about? I don't understand at all. That spear is just the crystallization of our most Advanced technology, it is..."

"Hmm?"

Li Heng made a soft nasal sound, interrupting his defense.

The President's words came to an abrupt halt, the second half of his sentence stuck firmly in his throat.

The smile on Li Heng's face remained unchanged, but in those pitch-black eyes, there was no longer a hint of amusement.

"Mr. President, I am a person with not much patience."

He spoke leisurely, "I only give others one chance to tell the truth. If you don't want to say it, that's fine too."

Li Heng turned around and looked back toward the doorway, as if admiring the scenery outside.

"I can call that spear out again, and in front of you, take it apart, inch by inch, so you can take a good look at what kind of 'crystallization of technology' is inside."

"Or..."

He paused, turned his head, and glanced with the corner of his eye at the President, who was trembling like chaff.

"...I will let you, and America, go accompany that spear."

The plain tone contained a terrifying weight capable of overturning the world.

The President's psychological defenses were completely shattered at this moment.

He thought of the ruins where Los Angeles had been razed to the ground, thought of those three towering divine magical manifestations, and thought of the scene where the arrogant god-slaying spear was swallowed in one gulp...

He did not doubt for a second that the man before him could absolutely do what he said.

Resist?

With what could he resist?

Should he gamble the fate of all of America on whether he would show mercy?

The President dared not gamble, nor could he afford to.

It was as if all the bones in his body had been extracted; he slumped dejectedly into the large leather chair, the cold sweat on his forehead forming streams that slid down his cheeks.

The office fell into a deathly silence.

That Four-Star General watched all this with a deathly pale face; he wanted to do something, but discovered he didn't even have the strength to move a finger.

In the face of absolute power, all schemes, all weapons, and all dignity appeared so laughable and pale.

For a long time.

The President let out a long sigh, filled with despair and unwillingness.

He seemed to have aged twenty years in this instant, and his hair, which had been meticulously groomed, became disheveled.

"I... will tell you."

He raised his head, looking at Li Heng with unfocused eyes, and spoke in a hoarse voice, "I will tell you everything I know."

Li Heng turned around and looked at him again, his face having returned to that harmless smile, as if the person who had just issued a threat of national annihilation was not him at all.

"That's right."

The President closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if he needed to use all his strength to tell that top-secret history which had been sealed away for more than half a century.

When he opened his eyes again, only numbness and resignation remained in his gaze.

"The beginning of all this..."

His voice carried a strange, ethereal quality, as if he were recounting a story that had nothing to do with himself.

"...has to start from decades ago, from our 'Apollo Program' that successfully landed on the moon."

Hearing this, Li Heng lightly raised an eyebrow, a hint of curiosity appearing in his eyes.

Moon landing?

How did this matter end up getting linked to the moon landing?