162: Chapter 162 The Twilight of Hegemony

The Pentagon.

Smoke filled the conference room.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, sat at the head of the table, his eyes bloodshot.

On the projection screen was detailed analysis data of the mecha.

"Gentlemen."

Milley rubbed his temples. "Tell me your thoughts."

The Air Force Chief of Staff stood up. "Its flight speed exceeds Mach 8, while our F-22 is only Mach 2.5."

"We can't catch up."

"What's even more fatal is that it can suddenly stop and turn sharply in mid-air, enduring a 12G overload."

"And our pilots?"

He spread his hands. "Even if the aircraft's performance is sufficient, a human would black out."

Chief of Naval Operations chimed in, "You all saw how it cleaved the destroyer in half with two strikes."

"Our warships' defense Systems are nothing more than decorations in front of it."

"Close-in weapon Systems? It's too fast to aim accurately."

"Missiles? Not a single one of the 108 could hit it."

"Aegis?"

He gave a wry smile. "Blinded by the interference and suppression of their mecha."

The Army Chief of Staff sighed, "The only good news is that there is only one of it."

"Are you sure?"

The Secretary of Defense suddenly spoke up.

He pressed the remote control, and the projection screen switched.

Satellite photos.

A satellite overhead view of Tianmen Base.

Inside the huge assembly workshop, there were at least nine massive figures similar to mecha no. 1.

The conference room instantly fell silent.

Deathly silence.

Three seconds later—

"Holy shit!"

"Nine units?!"

"When did they build them?"

"No wonder Daxia engaged in Level 1 combat readiness a while ago. Turns out they were secretly building mechas!"

Milley patted the table. "Quiet!"

The conference room quieted down again.

"The problem before us now is very simple—"

Milley looked at everyone. "What do we do?"

The Air Force Chief of Staff: "Develop anti-mecha weapons."

"Like?"

"High-energy lasers with megawatt-level power that can burn through armor."

The Secretary of Defense shook his head. "Our current laser weapons only have a power of tens of kilowatts, the gap is too large."

Chief of Naval Operations: "Electromagnetic pulse bombs?"

"Could they not think of that? This mecha definitely has an anti-electromagnetic interference System!"

"Nuclear weapons?"

Everyone looked at the Army Chief of Staff who spoke.

He coughed. "I mean, if worse comes to worst..."

"Even if worse comes to worst, we can't."

The Secretary of Defense interrupted him. "Daxia also has nuclear weapons. If you dare to use them, they dare to use them too."

"And—"

He paused. "They have mechas now, and their nuclear bomb home delivery speed is much faster than ours."

The Army Chief of Staff shut up.

Milley rubbed his brow. "Are there any other plans?"

"Diplomatic negotiations."

Secretary of State John Blake's voice came through the video connection.

"Acknowledge Daxia's status as the world's number two."

"What?! Doesn't that mean admitting we lost!"

Several people stood up at the same time.

"We are the boss!"

"We are the only superpower!"

"Why should we acknowledge them?"

John Blake sighed on the screen. "Gentlemen, wake up."

"The current situation is—"

"Our carrier strike group is just a target in front of the mecha."

"Our fighter jets can't catch up to them."

"Our missiles can't hit them."

"Under these circumstances, what's the point of talking about who's number one or number two?"

"It'll be good enough if we can maintain our current status."

The conference room was pin-drop silent.

Milley took a deep breath. "John Blake is right."

"I suggest—"

He looked at everyone: "Send a special envoy delegation to visit Daxia to strive for technology sharing or direct purchase of the mecha."

"At the same time—"

He tapped the table: "Initiate the 'Manhattan 2.0 Project'."

"Concentrate the nation's strength to develop weapons to counter the mecha within ten years."

"This is our only chance."

The whole room was silent for three seconds.

Then, the Secretary of Defense raised his hand first: "I agree."

"I agree too."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

One after another.

Milley nodded: "Then it's settled."

"Tomorrow morning, I will report to President Jack."

Kremlin.

Presidential Office.

Peter sat in his chair, watching the video of the mecha cleaving the warship on the computer screen.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

He watched it a full five times.

He put down the mouse and remained silent for five minutes.

The Secretary of Defense stood beside him, not daring to breathe loudly.

Finally, Peter spoke.

"Well done."

The Secretary of Defense was stunned.

Peter stood up and walked to the window:

"This is what a great power should look like."

"Back in the day, we did that too."

He turned around: "Don't you agree?"

The Secretary of Defense nodded: "Yes, Your Excellency."

"What a pity..."

Peter shook his head: "Today's Russia is no longer the Soviet Union of back then."

"Your Excellency the President, should we also develop mechas?"

"It's too late."

Peter was very decisive: "Daxia is at least a hundred years ahead of us."

"Then we..."

"But—"

Peter's eyes lit up: "We can buy it."

"Buy?"

"Yes, buy it."

Peter walked back to his desk and picked up a document:

"Exchange energy for technology."

"Siberia's oil, natural gas, and rare earths—they need them."

"We have plenty of resources; it just depends on whether Daxia is willing to sell."

He handed the document to the Secretary of Defense:

"Immediately send the Vice President to visit Daxia."

"Propose a long-term energy supply agreement."

"In exchange for mecha technology, or buy the finished products directly."

"In addition—"

Peter paused: "Strengthen military cooperation between the two countries."

"The Eagle is failing, we need to choose sides again."

The Secretary of Defense took the document: "Understood."

Europe Alliance Headquarters, Brussels.

Emergency meeting.

Representatives from Germany, Gaulish Rooster, Italy, and other countries sat in a circle.

The atmosphere was solemn.

The Germany representative spoke first: "Gentlemen, regarding the issue of Daxia's mecha, I think we should remain neutral and not take sides."

"Bullshit!"

The Gaulish Rooster representative slammed the table: "Now is not the time to be neutral!"

"The Eagle is already failing, we must choose sides again!"

"But—"

The Germany representative frowned: "If we lean towards Daxia, what about the US side..."

"The Eagle?"

The Gaulish Rooster representative sneered: "The Eagle can't even protect its own warships, and you expect it to protect us?"

"This..."

The Italy representative raised his hand: "How about... we surrender?"

Everyone looked at him in unison.

"Ah no, I mean..."

The Italy representative wiped his sweat: "We actively show goodwill?"

"Show goodwill to Daxia and antagonize the Eagle?"

"Isn't that still surrender?"

"But it works!"

The Italy representative got anxious: "Look at history, every time Italy surrenders, we live just fine!"

The whole room was speechless.

Finally, the Germany representative summarized:

"Let's leave it at that then."

"Temporarily wait and see, strengthen economic ties with Daxia, but do not make a clear statement."

"At the same time, maintain the Alliance relationship with the Eagle."

The British representative rolled his eyes: "Opportunists."

"There's no other way."

The Germany representative spread his hands: "Who told us we can't beat them."