Chapter 326 I also want to grow vegetables on Yanxing!
President Biden sat there, his brows tightly furrowed; the more he thought about it, the angrier he became!
Yet, he also realized more and more clearly that the Dragon Kingdom had played a truly brilliant open conspiracy against him!
Moreover, this open conspiracy was like an inescapable net, tight and impenetrable—truly unsolvable.
Unlike his previous attempts at being clever, trying to play little tricks on the Dragon Kingdom, only to be slapped in the face by the Wolf Amendment they had implemented themselves, lifting a rock only to drop it on his own feet.
The fifty billion US dollars proposed by the Dragon Kingdom this time was truly calculated to perfection!
A dollar higher and global audiences would think they were taking advantage of a crisis to commit extortion; a dollar lower and it wouldn't achieve the effect of making the US feel the pain. There must be an expert behind this, meticulously planning and cleverly laying out the strategy.
Far away in the Dragon Kingdom, Su Chen was sitting on a comfortable sofa at home when he suddenly sneezed without warning!
That's right!
It was precisely this strategy that he had proposed.
The Dragon Kingdom had spent a massive amount of money and invested countless human and material resources to build a colony on Mars. Having finally seized such an opportunity this time, they naturally had to extort a sum from the US. Although this money was just a drop in the bucket compared to the overall construction costs, at least it could help recoup some funds; it wasn't all for nothing.
Over in the US, even though President Biden was ten thousand times unwilling, after weighing his options repeatedly, he really had no other choice. In the end, he could only angrily pick up his pen, grit his teeth, hold his breath, and fiercely sign his name on the transfer check.
At that moment, he felt his heart was bleeding, and his intestines were turning green with regret. He silently reproached himself:
"If I had known, I wouldn't have started that damn landing plan. I originally wanted to regain some face and show off on the international stage, but look what happened now. Not only did I fail to regain any face, but whatever little face I had left is all gone, and I've also caused the national treasury to lose such a huge amount of money. This is a total blood loss; it's a loss of epic proportions!"
After Gu Yun received the notification from headquarters that the funds had arrived, he remained calm and composed, saying:
"Alright, we have received your payment."
As he spoke, he raised his wrist to check the time, then continued unhurriedly:
"You wait here for now. When we get off work, you will go home with our soldiers."
After saying this, he turned and left without looking back, his crisp and decisive silhouette exuding an unquestionable sense of authority.
The three astronauts immediately looked at each other in bewilderment, their minds full of confusion.
"What did the person in charge from the Dragon Kingdom mean just now?"
"He probably meant that when they get off work, we should go back to the staff dormitory with them to stay for a while. That must be it."
"Then when will they send us back to Earth?"
"Who knows? At our speed, from the manufacturing to the launch of the return rocket, and finally arriving at Mars, it will take at least a year. It looks like we might have to stay here for a year!"
"Forget it, being able to go back is still better than dying here!"
Everyone nodded, offering each other some self-comfort.
At this moment, the black-skinned astronaut was captivated by the scene in the plantation. Looking at the plants of various shapes, he felt an inexplicable excitement, a strange sense of familiarity welling up in his heart.
He couldn't help but walk up to a rather peculiar-looking plant and asked curiously:
"Friends from the Dragon Kingdom, may I ask what plant this is?"
"It looks so unique; it makes one want to get close to it involuntarily."
The Dragon Kingdom soldier glanced in the direction he was pointing and introduced it calmly:
"That is mutated cotton!"
Hearing this, the black-skinned astronaut was stunned for a moment, his expression froze, and then he blurted out:
"What the f***????"
His surprised and somewhat comical appearance made the other two astronauts unable to hold it in any longer. They quickly looked away, hiding their faces that were twisted with laughter, but their shoulders couldn't stop shaking; they were clearly stifling their laughter. The whole scene exuded a unique sense of humor.
Not long after, a Dragon Kingdom soldier strode in from outside and shouted vigorously:
"Time to get off work! Take them home!"
Upon hearing this, the three astronauts instantly perked up. They hurriedly sat up, their eyes shining with anticipation, their hearts filled with curiosity and longing for what the Dragon Kingdom colony's staff dormitory would be like!
Imagining what kind of unique scene it would be.
However, to their great surprise, the Dragon Kingdom soldier did not take them in the direction of the dormitory they had imagined. Instead, he led them straight out of the colonial building and then walked quickly in one direction.
As they walked, a cool-looking, sci-fi Space Mecha suddenly appeared before their eyes. Its tall and mighty figure, with a shell shimmering with cold metallic light, looked like a steel beast from the future, exuding an awe-inspiring sense of power.
The Dragon Kingdom soldier signaled for them to enter the Space Mecha and told them to sit down.
Shortly after, a strange phenomenon occurred. The surrounding space seemed to be stirred by an invisible giant hand, and it began to twist violently!
Immediately following, a huge black hole appeared out of thin air, emitting a mysterious and profound aura. Before they could even react, their vision suddenly went black, and they felt as if they had entered a chaotic, void space. Their bodies felt light, and their consciousness became somewhat blurred.
Just like that, they experienced several such dreamlike, dizzying space-twisting operations. Finally, when their vision cleared again, they found themselves on a huge platform.
Taking a closer look, this huge platform was actually the Dragon Kingdom's Aerospace Carrier!
It was like a prehistoric beast hovering in the sky, immensely huge, its majestic and powerful aura making one look on with awe.
All around, countless Space Mechas, like birds returning to their nests, rushed in from all directions, and finally landed steadily on the platform. The neat and uniform, majestic scene felt like an incredibly shocking interstellar military parade, instantly stunning everyone in the live stream.
"My God! If I didn't know these mechas belonged to the Dragon Kingdom, I would have thought some powerful interstellar civilization had arrived. This is just too spectacular!"
"The Dragon Kingdom has actually developed to such a powerful level; this strength is simply beyond imagination. I really underestimated them before!"
In the live stream, barrages of comments flooded the screen like a tidal wave. Netizens were stunned by this spectacular scene, gaining a more intuitive and profound understanding of the Dragon Kingdom's power.
Although the scene of the Dragon Kingdom's Aerospace Carrier and numerous Space Mechas gathering was already shocking enough, when the live broadcast camera turned back to Mars, an even more shockingly outrageous scene appeared.
On the vast land of Mars, settlements seemed to be scattered like stars across the flat areas. Without looking closely, one could guess what they were—they were undoubtedly the Dragon Kingdom's colonies!
That scale, that momentum, undoubtedly demonstrated the Dragon Kingdom's powerful layout and control over Mars.
At this moment, netizens from all over the world in the live stream saw this scene clearly. Many couldn't help but tremble all over, their hearts stirred by turbulent waves.
At this moment, they truly felt from the depths of their hearts the unfathomable power of the Dragon Kingdom. Originally, in everyone's eyes, landing on Mars was a difficult and unattainable thing, but now the Dragon Kingdom had built colonies all over it. What kind of great power is this!
The technological strength, resource allocation capability, and long-term interstellar planning represented behind this all force one to be convinced.
The senior officials of the US sat in the command room, watching these scenes on the screen. They looked at each other, their faces pale as paper, their eyes full of disbelief and deep frustration.
The silence at this moment could better reveal the unspeakable shock and powerlessness in their hearts. The pride and confidence of once being high and mighty, attempting to dominate the stars, had long since vanished, leaving only bitterness and powerless sighs at the powerful rise of the Dragon Kingdom.
Meanwhile, on the Dragon Kingdom's side, netizens seemed to be welcoming a grand carnival.
Someone even couldn't help but shout:
"Mom, I also want to go to Mars to grow vegetables!!!!"