365: Chapter 364 All's Fair in War

Time slipped away in the exchange of questions and answers between Lin Mo and Sophon.

The sun gradually slid from overhead.

As time passed, it eventually turned into a resplendent setting sun.

Bathed in the brilliant glow of the sunset, the three pale gold spheres were stained with iridescent colors.

"Thank you for your answers, Lin Mo."

"We have no further questions."

Lin Mo smiled and replied, "Likewise."

The three spheres became even more illusory.

"We believe in and accept the goodwill of China."

"Sophon will remain stationed on the Moon as agreed."

"We look forward to future cooperation and hope that day comes soon."

"Goodbye, Lin Mo."

Lin Mo clasped his hands together in a salute.

The gauntlets collided with a "click."

"On behalf of China and the human race of Earth, I extend the highest respect to the Trisolaran Civilization for its perseverance and survival."

"The Galaxy is vast, with countless brilliant star systems, nearly infinite resources, and an endless number of habitable planets. It is more than enough to accommodate both of our civilizations."

"I hope that in the future, our human civilization and the Trisolaran Civilization will always adhere to the basic principles of peaceful coexistence and joint exploration of the Galaxy, abide by the three conditions of good-neighborly friendship, and become good neighbors who support and help each other."

"I firmly believe so!"

"By pooling the collective wisdom of both civilizations, we will undoubtedly shine with the greatest brilliance of civilization together in the three-dimensional material universe!"

The three spheres were about to dissipate completely.

Finally, three rows of Chinese regular script characters flashed.

"Being recognized by the supreme intellect of human civilization is a great honor for us as well."

"Lin Mo, see you on the Moon."

Lin Mo waved his right hand and smiled in farewell.

"See you on the Moon."

Watching the three illusory spheres vanish completely, Lin Mo remained suspended in the air.

It was not until night fell that Lin Mo smiled calmly.

If not for the requirement of the system upgrade mission to "Annihilate the Trisolaran Fleet," there might have been a slim chance for China and the Trisolaran Civilization to turn into friends.

But now, I can only say sorry!

...

When Lin Mo landed back on the ground, the entire crowd on the shore of Taiping Lake had already left.

The perimeter of Taiping Lake was now surrounded by China's Exoskeleton Armor troops.

"Chief Designer Lin, you have finally come down!"

Deputy Secretary-General Cao Tongguang strode forward, his face full of anxiety.

Others also quickly gathered around, surrounding Lin Mo.

They had originally thought that Lin Mo flying into the air to hover would take at most a few minutes.

Who knew it would take a full six hours from noon to evening...

Regarding this, although they didn't show much on the surface, they felt quite helpless about their superior's unreliability.

"Chief Designer Lin, did you suddenly have a flash of technical inspiration after hearing about my dream?"

Zachary's perspective was unique.

After hearing Zachary's words, everyone suddenly realized.

So, the Chief Designer had a sudden burst of inspiration and needed to be alone.

And they had mistaken this for unreliability...

Most people felt a sudden sense of shame in their hearts.

"Yes, Dr. Zachary."

"I really must thank you!"

To avoid any extra complications, Lin Mo simply followed along with Zachary's words and said with a smile, "With your reminder, I suddenly had some new ideas about the construction of the space city and needed to think about them alone."

Having received the answer he imagined, Zachary was ecstatic.

"I knew it, hahaha, I knew it..."

Ignoring the seemingly crazed Zachary, Lin Mo turned his head to look at Deputy Secretary-General Cao Tongguang.

"Special Administrator Cao, starting next week, step down from your post as the Special Administrator of the Washington Special Administrative Region in North America..."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's gaze focused on Deputy Secretary-General Cao Tongguang.

The shirt on Cao Tongguang's back was quickly soaked with sweat.

"Chief Designer Lin, I don't know which part of my work I haven't done well?"

Lin Mo was surprised.

"When did I ever say you didn't do something well?"

Beads of sweat as large as peas rolled down Cao Tongguang's forehead.

"Then why do you want to remove me from my post? I cherish the time I've spent serving as the Special Administrator of the Special Administrative Region government. If there is anywhere my work hasn't been up to par, please give me a chance, and I will definitely correct it twofold..."

Seeing that Cao Tongguang had misunderstood, Lin Mo was both amused and annoyed.

"What are you talking about?"

"I intend to promote you to Deputy Secretary-General of the Pan-Chinese Union Supreme Council to assist me in my work."

"You know that Chief Designer Bai Yannian is currently tied up, and I don't have time to manage those miscellaneous matters."

"After thinking it over, I still find you reliable."

Sudden great sorrow turned into great joy.

Cao Tongguang froze on the spot.

Secretary Liu, who was standing nearby, nudged Cao Tongguang and reminded him with a smile, "Deputy Secretary-General Cao, what are you still standing there for? Don't want to be a new official?"

Coming back to his senses, Cao Tongguang was incomparably excited.

"Thank you for your trust, Chief Designer Lin. I will definitely fulfill my duties with all my heart and will not let you down..."

"Alright, don't say too many official pleasantries; it's tiresome to hear and makes things distant."

Lin Mo smiled and said, "In the future, I will be relying on you and Secretary Liu to help me share the work pressure."

"Don't let me down."

Deputy Secretary-General Cao Tongguang and Secretary Liu readily agreed.

"By the way, the new Special Administrator will officially arrive in North America to take office the day after tomorrow. Take these few days to show him the ropes."

Cao Tongguang asked curiously, "Chief Designer Lin, may I ask who this new Special Administrator is? Why haven't I heard any news about it before?"

"You should know him, Chief Designer Tan Wenxuan."

"Are you talking about..."

Cao Tongguang recalled, "Academician Xiang Guangming's top student, the former Chief Designer of the Jinwu Overseas Project who was almost assassinated by CA Organization spies in Shanghai and was awarded the title of China's Second-Class Hero after waking up—Chief Designer Tan Wenxuan?"

Lin Mo nodded.

"That's right, it's him."

Deputy Secretary-General Cao Tongguang and Secretary Liu exchanged glances.

As the top student and spokesperson for Xiang Guangming, the core leader of China's Development Faction, Tan Wenxuan had studied at Waseda University in Japan during his master's degree and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States during his doctoral studies.

He had good connections with high-quality personnel in the entire Western scientific community.

After being assassinated by traitors, Tan Wenxuan enjoyed great prestige in China and even throughout the West.

In the eyes of the public in some Western countries, Tan Wenxuan, who was keen on peace, advocated diversity, and respected other countries, was even greater than Lin Mo.

In these tense times, he was indeed the best candidate to serve as the Special Administrator and appease North America and the Western countries that had once been hostile to China.

"Rest assured, I will definitely hand over the work as soon as possible."

After Lin Mo and his party returned to the Black Palace, they did not stay any longer and directly took the Xuan-Nu Fighter Jet back to China.

...

In the dark and boundless deep space of the universe, 100 Droplet probes with incredibly smooth surfaces reached their maximum flight speed—8% of the speed of light—after completing their final acceleration.

However, the direction the Droplets were heading was not the Biling Star System, but the Solar System 4 light-years away.

These Droplet probes had never changed their direction at all.

Instead, they had completed their final acceleration while heading toward the Solar System.

The Trisolarans had lied!

...