198: Chapter 198 Multinational Cooperation to Pressure Technology Sharing

Harlan Croft pushed another folder labeled "Comprehensive Assessment of Recent Lighthouse Country Military and Technological Abnormal Activities" in front of him:

"According to the intelligence we have gathered, the Lighthouse Country has currently obtained direct technological assistance from a higher civilization organization known as the 'Deep State'."

"As for this organization's internal factional splits, assistance tiers, and the identities of key liaisons, our infiltration channels have not yet been able to fully figure them out."

"But one thing has been confirmed:"

"The current president of the Lighthouse Country, Joseph Biden, former president Donald Prant, as well as the century-old Warren Family in Nevada, and the three major military-industrial giants the Hopkins, Remington, and Knox Families, all have varying degrees of technological and military cooperation with this organization."

"The technological equipment they have obtained has already far exceeded the absolute upper limit of NATO's existing equipment series in terms of performance."

After hearing this, Harlan Croft raised his hands from the desk, crossed his fingers in front of him, and remained silent for quite a long time.

"Integrate all current fragmented intelligence regarding the Deep State into a complete briefing and send it to Gaul Country, telling them that John and Gaul Country share the exact same stance on this matter."

"The Lighthouse Country cannot shoulder the guns of a higher civilization alone to fight Zeta Star one-on-one."

"If they really manage to shoulder this crisis from beginning to end all by themselves, the post-war world order won't be finalized by NATO and the United Nations, but rather flipped back and forth between Camp David and Casablanca Manor by themselves."

"We must seize the moment now!"

"Taking advantage of the shockwave from the destruction of the Three-Body Star System still hanging in the sky, make the Lighthouse Country agree to share the higher civilization's technological assistance under a multilateral framework!"

...

Meanwhile, the Élysée Palace.

Gaul Country's President Étienne Duval stood in front of the presidential office's floor-to-ceiling windows,

with his hands behind his back, gazing through the glass at the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Élysées outside, gleaming with a faint golden light under the morning sun.

His Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defense were spreading out the wreckage spectra retrieved from the Cambridge Observatory and the Southern Alps Observatory of Gaul Country, alongside the predicted jump path map of the Zeta fleet, one by one on that Louis XV-era desk embedded with the imperial eagle emblem.

Duval did not turn back.

His voice was calm and composed, yet carried a cold precision forged only after decades of immersion in diplomatic gambling at this position:

"The Lighthouse Country wants to hog all the benefits for itself; everyone knows they have obtained technological assistance from the Deep State."

"The Deep State's Longevity Faction and Tech Faction have each supported proxy factions locally, and the Lighthouse Country has not provided any substantive briefing about all this information to any party in NATO."

"However, the million-strong fleet of Zeta Star will not bomb just the Lighthouse Country."

"The scene of Trisolaris being destroyed was transmitted to all of our observation screens at the same time; the Zeta people did not favor anyone."

"Therefore, this is not just a crisis for the Lighthouse Country; this is a crisis for all of humanity."

"And a crisis for all of humanity is the best diplomatic leverage for us to demand the sharing of technological assistance!"

The Minister of Foreign Affairs closed the joint briefing and added softly:

"Prime Minister Harlan Croft's side is expected to formally call Washington in a few hours, suggesting an emergency special meeting be convened under the framework of the United Nations Security Council regarding the Zeta Star expeditionary fleet issue."

"Our stance and Downing Street's are completely aligned on this end:"

"The Lighthouse Country cannot unilaterally control the armed assistance channels of a higher civilization at the critical juncture of human survival."

Duval turned around, pulled his hands out from behind his back, and pressed them gently against the edge of the desk:

"Connect me to Harlan Croft."

A few hours later,

The Prime Minister of John and the President of Gaul Country secretly exchanged the text of a joint declaration, as well as their respective draft diplomatic memorandums sent to Washington and Moscow, on an encrypted video channel.

Both sides unanimously agreed to take "human survival" as the core initiative of the UN Security Council emergency special meeting, demanding that the Lighthouse Country share the higher civilization's technological assistance with allies possessing technology absorption capabilities under a multilateral framework,

and allow joint observation groups to enter all known Deep State technological equipment deployment locations in North America for on-site verification.

After signing the final encrypted memorandum, Harlan Croft added a sentence:

"Russia won't be satisfied with just sharing; they just took a hit from Diana and are waiting to counterattack at the United Nations General Assembly."

"I estimate they will demand at the Security Council that the Lighthouse Country hand over all technological blueprints and prototype equipment lists originating from the Deep State, in the name of all humanity."

On the other side of the screen, Duval closed his pen and replied calmly:

"Russia wants a massive bleed, while the two of us want admission tickets."

"The stances are different."

"Yet in a short period of time, it can instead form a multilateral pressure in the Security Council that jointly forces the Lighthouse Country to open up technological assistance."

"Even if this alliance only lasts until their respective proposals are dismantled item by item through voting."

...

Meanwhile, the Kremlin.

Maxim Kravchenko, Secretary of the Security Council of Russia, stood in the center of the conference hall lined entirely with walnut wood panels, and pushed the printed copy flat across the long conference table.

Printed on the paper were the dynamic coordinates of the million-strong fleet, marked by a designated unit under the Department of Defense directly from the Zeta Star fleet jump prediction map.

Minister of Defense Belyayev simultaneously lined up a classified document labeled "Comprehensive Assessment of Lighthouse Country Special Weapons R&D Progress" to the left of the printout.

Andrey Morozov, Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, stood at the head of the conference table, pressed his right-hand knuckles lightly against the documents, and after a moment of deep thought, stated his judgment.

"The imperial edict from the Fourth Prince of Zeta Star is 'Destroy Earth'."

"But Yuanzi first pushed the scene of the Three-Body Star System being swallowed by a black hole before everyone's eyes, and then publicized the fact that the fleet actively stopped at the edge of the observable orbital segment."

"This is not a destructive blast about to land immediately; this is a countdown, leaving a period of time for us to observe, to fear, and to prepare."

"But some people on Earth cannot wait that long."

"Biden and Prant are already crushing each other using technological assistance from the Deep State."

The Minister of Defense added from the side:

"Previously, Diana Hopkins relied on that fluid armor and a lightsaber to move freely across our army's hundred-thousand-strong position, entering as if no one was there."

"Her solo combat power rendered all of our conventional defense judgments invalid, and in the end, we were forced to agree to the platinum mining agreement."

"This matter is regarded as a supreme humiliation among officers at all levels."

Morozov removed his fingers from the documents and finally made the decision.

"This matter must go to the United Nations. In the name of all humanity uniting to resist the Zeta Star invasion and preventing the Lighthouse Country from collapsing alone, we must force the Lighthouse Country to hand over all technological blueprints, prototype equipment, material formulas, and deployment coordinates of the Longevity Faction and Tech Faction at the Security Council emergency meeting."

"The core clause must include unconditional technology transfer!"

"If the Lighthouse Country refuses, then we will disclose to the global public all the evidence that they are already at war with Zeta Star, pushing them completely onto the trial platform of international public opinion!"

...

Sakura Country, Tokyo, Prime Minister's Official Residence.

The atmosphere in the conference room seemed as if it had been frozen.

The Prime Minister of Sakura Country, Shigeru Hasegawa, sat at the head of the long conference table,

with his hands crossed and resting on the desk. Spread out before him was a briefing printed with the wreckage spectra and black hole decay traces that had been cross-verified countless times by domestic and other global observatories.

Behind him, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Chief Cabinet Secretary, the Minister of Defense, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs sat around the conference table in turn.

Everyone had already read the briefing, and silence hung in the conference room for a very long time.

When that Black Hole Bomb hit the Three-Body Star System, there was no external early warning whatsoever.

The Zeta Fleet simply diverted the most inconspicuous ordinary attack flying saucer from the very edge of the array, launched a munition with an extremely small effective volume from its belly,

and then the entire million-strong fleet continued accelerating toward the Solar System as if nothing had happened.

An entire Level 2 civilization, three stars, twelve planets—everything that had ever existed was thus uprooted and eradicated.

Shigeru Hasegawa finally spoke, his voice hoarse and low:

"Trisolaris is a Level 2 civilization."

"We aren't even a Level 1 civilization."

"Zeta Star was able to wipe out Trisolaris in an instant, and it can wipe Earth from this universe in an instant as well."

He gently pushed the briefing in front of him across the desk,

"If they really do that, all of our status, wealth, power, and families will be reduced to ashes in a matter of seconds."

The Minister of Defense spread his hands flat on the desk, and after a long silence, spoke:

"Prime Minister, after destroying the Three-Body Star System, Zeta Star specifically deployed Yuanzi to break the speed of light limit for all of us, allowing us to see the scene of that destruction in real time."

"If they just wanted to blow up Earth, they wouldn't need to take this step; they could have just sent the fleet flying over to drop a Black Hole Bomb and it would be over."

"But they didn't."

He paused for a moment, removed his fingers from the map,

"Making us see how Trisolaris was destroyed is telling us:"

"They have this capability, but they haven't used the same means against Earth immediately."

"They want us to understand something more complex through Yuanzi."

The Minister of Foreign Affairs followed up: "Indeed."

"If they were specifically aiming to destroy Earth, launching weapons directly would suffice. Why go to the redundant trouble of deploying Yuanzi? Wouldn't that be alerting the enemy?"

"According to the intelligence we currently possess, the primary goal of the Grey Aliens is to rescue His Highness Fourth Prince Daodun."

"Therefore, when the million-strong fleet arrives at the Solar System, it definitely won't destroy Earth directly like it did to Trisolaris, because the Fourth Prince is still on this planet."

"If they directly launch a Black Hole Bomb at Earth, their prince will also be caught in the blast and die."

"Thus, Zeta Star will never do such a thing."

Shigeru Hasegawa raised his head, his gaze sweeping across everyone present. His voice remained extremely low, yet every single word was exceptionally clear:

"Continue."