239: Chapter 239 Mission Accomplished!

They had never experienced the era where the East led the world.

They had only glimpsed it through yellowed historical texts, catching sight of the ancient Eastern power's former glory when ten thousand nations came to pay court and all directions bowed in respect.

But for a long time in the past, they had sneered at and dismissed this weighty history.

In their eyes, it was nothing more than the dust of the past.

The scepter of modern civilization had long since changed hands; the right to speak on technology and the power to set rules were held firmly in the hands of those The Other Side of the Ocean.

Who dared to defy them?

Who dared to disobey?

But now.

Looking at the dimension-reducing technological achievements Xia Country threw out one after another, and seeing the Mecha Pilot selection announcement that covered the entire army and didn't even leave out new recruits...

That substantial sense of oppression from a sleeping dragon completely awakening forced the decision-makers of all the world's major powers to face that forgotten piece of history.

It wasn't a legend.

It wasn't a myth.

It was a reality currently unfolding.

...

In the high-level meeting rooms of major countries around the world, a subtle divergence appeared in the atmosphere.

Those national representatives who had once followed closely in the footsteps of those The Other Side of the Ocean—those who had charged at the forefront of technological blockades and jumped the most joyfully—were now sitting on pins and needles.

They began to frantically review one thing—

Was there truly an irreconcilable blood feud between their own country and Xia Country?

At the official residence of a certain island nation.

A white-haired old man sat at the head of a long table, with a thick stack of intelligence briefings regarding Xia Country spread out before him.

His gaze swept repeatedly over every word on the briefing, his Adam's apple rolling with difficulty.

He thought back to the things he had done to Xia Country over the past few years under the direction of those The Other Side of the Ocean.

Joint sanctions, export controls...

Thinking back now, every single one was a nail he had personally driven into a coffin lid.

Only, that coffin wasn't for Xia Country.

It was for himself.

"Are we..."

His voice was dry, carrying a tremble he couldn't hide.

"Is it still in time?"

No one answered him.

In the meeting rooms of other countries, however, the vibe was completely different.

The high-level officials of major powers who had no core geopolitical conflicts with Xia Country and had just drifted with the tide in the past were currently undergoing an intense internal struggle.

They hadn't formed a blood feud with Xia Country.

They had just... stood on the wrong side.

Or rather, they hadn't stood firmly enough.

"We need to re-evaluate our diplomatic strategy toward Xia Country."

The Foreign Minister of a certain major European power threw out this sentence using extremely cautious wording during an internal meeting.

Everyone present understood the subtext.

And in a place further removed from the games of the great powers, a more direct and naked argument was erupting in the parliamentary hall of a small neutral country.

A burly, pro-Xia middle-aged official was flushed red in the face; he unceremoniously kicked over a chair and pointed his finger straight at the pale faces opposite him.

"Xia Country's Fifth-generation Communication network, and that Longteng System, are both cheap and effective—they are era-defining technologies!"

"I proposed a full-scale introduction as early as possible, but what about you?!"

"You just wouldn't agree! You insisted on looking at the face of those The Other Side of the Ocean!"

His spittle flew onto the faces of the officials opposite him.

"Are you satisfied now?!"

"If you go to talk to Xia Country now, do you think they'll even recognize who you are??!"

The faces of those officials turned pale and blue in turns; their lips mumbled, but they couldn't refute a single word.

The argument didn't last long.

The person in charge sitting at the head took a deep breath and stood up.

"Enough, no need to argue."

He looked around, his tone carrying decisiveness.

"Contact the Xia Country embassy immediately."

"At all costs, fully introduce Xia Country's 5G network and Longteng System at the fastest speed!"

"Furthermore..."

He gritted his teeth, a resolute light flashing in his eyes.

"Form a special task force and bring our most core list of mineral resources."

"Go to Xia Country and request an early connection for their Controlled Nuclear Fusion energy supply project!"

Someone below cried out in surprise:

"But Xia Country's nuclear fusion hasn't officially opened for commercial cooperation..."

"Idiot!"

The person in charge interrupted sharply.

"Just because it's not open doesn't mean we can't connect early?"

"Xia Country's Controlled Nuclear Fusion is about to be connected to the grid; can commercial energy cooperation be far behind?"

"This time, we must go and pay the protect—cooperation fee at the first possible moment!"

As the person in charge finished speaking, no one present raised any objection.

Things that can be solved with money are not problems.

What's scary is when people won't take your money.

...

And for those die-hard allies who had always been on good terms with Xia Country.

This day was their carnival.

One leader, after finishing the intelligence briefing, threw his head back and laughed heartily for a full ten seconds.

After laughing, he patted the shoulder of the secretary beside him on the spot and roared with full energy.

"Draft a congratulatory telegram overnight! Use the highest specifications! The wording should be enthusiastic! Be sincere!"

"Tell Xia Country that we will always be their most loyal friend!"

And on the streets of that country, after the news spread, countless citizens spontaneously took to the streets, singing and dancing.

They were lucky.

They were lucky that their country had hugged the thickest leg in the world when everyone else still couldn't see the direction.

The tectonic plates of global geopolitics were undergoing an irreversible and violent displacement because of a single selection announcement from Xia Country.

The cracks in the old order were widening at a speed visible to the naked eye.

However.

The surging winds and clouds of the outside world and the differing thoughts of various countries did not affect Lin Yuan in the slightest.

Over the next few days.

Lin Yuan shuttled between the various workshops of the Xishan Base, tracking the progress of each sub-project of the south heaven gate project like a stabilizing force.

Meanwhile, with the assistance of the increasingly terrifying computing power of the Artificial Intelligence 'Xiao Long,' he went all out to overcome the technical integration of 'Large-scale Manned Mecha.'

As the Hidden Dragon System spread across the country and even into neighboring nations, the computing nodes Xiao Long accessed grew exponentially, and its computing power had climbed to a staggering level.

The massive parameter simulations, structural stress deductions, and energy matrix optimizations that seemed to take a long time for ordinary people...

Were compressed to a terrifying efficiency measured in 'days' under Xiao Long's assistance.

Five days later.

Early morning.

Xishan Base, in the corridor outside the heavy preparation workshop.

Shen Changhe had just come out of the workshop, his face covered in oil stains, wiping engine oil off his hands with a towel.

"Chief Engineer Shen."

A familiar and clear voice came from behind him.

Shen Changhe's hand-wiping motion paused, and he turned around.

He saw Lin Yuan standing at the corner of the corridor, with that black canvas bag that made Shen Changhe's heart skip a beat out of reflex slung over one shoulder.

Looking at that bag, the towel in Shen Changhe's hand suddenly tightened.

Lin Yuan stepped forward, took the canvas bag off his shoulder, and pulled the zipper open with a 'shhh' sound.

A matte black military-grade encrypted hard drive was casually taken out by him.

Shen Changhe's Adam's apple rolled violently.

He stared fixedly at that hard drive, his pupils shrinking sharply.

Lin Yuan handed the hard drive to Shen Changhe, a smile playing on his lips, his tone relaxed.

"Chief Engineer Shen, mission accomplished."

"The blueprint data for the oversized toy is ready."