35: Chapter 35 The Conference Begins

United Nations Headquarters, the General Assembly Hall.

This hall is one of the most photographed rooms in the history of human politics.

The podium directly in front is a single piece of dark green marble, with patterns on its surface left by water currents over hundreds of millions of years.

Behind the podium, a golden United Nations emblem hangs on the light brown wooden wall; it is a world map surrounded by olive branches, viewed from the North Pole, where all continents are spread out on the same plane.

On both sides of the emblem, 193 member state flags hang down from the dome, symbolizing all human regimes of the Blue Star Civilization.

At this moment, beneath that emblem, the Secretary-General of the United Nations stands behind the lectern on the side of the podium.

"Distinguished delegates." His voice, amplified by the microphone, echoes under the dome.

Simultaneous interpreters break down his words into the six most common languages on this planet, which flow through headsets into the ears of every delegate below.

"Today, we are here, not because of any agenda proposed by any single country. Today, we are here because human civilization is facing an unprecedented moment."

"Four days ago, a fleet from outside Earth appeared at the edge of the Kuiper Belt. Three days ago, an emissary claiming to be from Guga Planet descended upon our planet. He gave himself a human name, Chen Mu."

"Once, in the White House press briefing room, he introduced his civilization to the eight billion people on this planet via a global live broadcast."

He lifts his gaze from the speech draft and scans the people sitting beneath those 193 national flags.

"And today, he is here."

He turns to the side and extends his hand toward the entrance on the side of the podium: "Let us welcome, with applause, Ambassador Chen Mu."

The door opens, and amidst the applause, Chen Mu walks in with his head held high.

Maya follows behind him, standing just as straight, her presence in no way inferior.

For a moment, all sound in the General Assembly Hall vanishes simultaneously.

Beneath the 193 national flags, all whispering, all shuffling of documents... everything stops at the exact same moment.

All eyes turn in the same direction.

Chen Mu does not look at any of the flags; his gaze is fixed straight ahead, his back straight, his pace steady, as if he has long been accustomed to such scrutiny.

Chen Mu stands behind the lectern, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations turns the microphone on the lectern slightly toward Chen Mu.

Then he steps back half a pace and turns slightly toward Chen Mu: "Mr. Ambassador, please."

Chen Mu steps forward, and the light from the dome falls from directly above, illuminating him until he looks like a deity wrapped in light.

His facial muscles are held at that precisely calculated, perfect arc.

All live media outlets train their cameras on him, the signal of the global broadcast spreading at the speed of light to every corner of this planet.

Traders at the New York Stock Exchange stop their fingers from typing on keyboards.

Everyone in Times Square looks up at the largest advertising screen.

On the Tokyo subway, the phones of an entire carriage of passengers are lit up with the same image, and the same voice echoes through the entire carriage.

In a Mumbai slum, a solar-powered second-hand television is squeezed among twenty people, with static and high-definition signals alternating.

In a village in sub-Saharan Niger, the voice of the French simultaneous interpretation on an old radio is intermittent, and an old man relays it bit by bit to his clansmen sitting around him in Hausa.

On the International Space Station, six astronauts are squeezed into the cupola module, with Earth rotating beneath their feet, while their gazes are locked onto the screen inside the module.

"Greetings, leaders of the Blue Star Civilization!"

His voice reaches every corner capable of receiving electromagnetic waves via the official United Nations channel, pirate broadcasts, dark web mirrors, shortwave radio, and satellite phones.

"One month ago, I arrived on Blue Star, and my body was that of a homeless man who had frozen to death in the Hudson River."

"I spent seven days learning to use the lungs of this body to breathe your air, and the tongue of this body to speak your language."

He tilts his head slightly, wearing a perfectly calculated expression of confusion.

"Initially, my mission was very simple: to evaluate, report, and prepare for the future rule of our Guga Planet."

"But after my observations over this past month, I have discovered that your civilization is very contradictory."

"Some of you will shoot a stranger for a piece of food worth five cents, while others will jump into a frozen river to save a drowning person they have never met."

"You have built weapons capable of destroying your planet ten thousand times over, yet you also paint rainbows at the gates of kindergartens and teach them that war is wrong."

"You hate each other, yet you need each other."

"Therefore, when I submitted my observation report to the Commander, I said: This civilization is worthy of a different approach."

"We argued for a long time, but eventually he agreed with my assessment, and after a series of deliberations, I have brought an improved plan."

He holds up one finger: "First, Guga Planet joins the United Nations, and specifically, becomes a Permanent Five member, with myself as the representative, participating in all decision-making regarding Blue Star affairs."

The representative from the Indian government stands up abruptly: "That is illegal..."

"Please let me finish; you can raise your objections later!" Chen Mu glances at him, and the Indian representative sits down slowly, his face turning ashen.

"Second, the ownership of Mars shall be fully transferred to Guga Planet, and Guga Planet will permanently station troops on Mars to build a forward base."

"At the same time, we will blockade the planets surrounding Blue Star and prohibit any unapproved spacecraft from entering."

He holds up a third finger.

"Third, humans are prohibited from developing long-range space weapons. This does not prohibit your space exploration, but rather prohibits kinetic weapons, directed-energy arrays, and any technology that could be interpreted as 'space militarization' that could threaten our military facilities on Mars."

"Violators, once confirmed, will have their equipment dismantled by our Mars garrison."

Advisor Cole stands up slowly: "Mr. Ambassador, these three points essentially require humanity to relinquish space sovereignty and accept extraterrestrial oversight. Our constitution..."

Chen Mu says: "I checked your United Nations Charter on the internet; there are no clauses regarding space issues in your constitution, and I assume this is because the people in 1787 did not foresee today's scenario."

"But I know you have a tradition of amendments, so my answer is: Laws can grow."

"Alright, my statement is concluded; if you have any opinions, you may raise them now."

After Chen Mu's voice falls, the hall falls into an eerie silence.

The representative from Sakura Country lifts his hand from his knee, his fingertips slightly splayed toward the podium.

His lips move, but then he sees the representative from the East on the Permanent Five seating area picking up a teacup and sipping tea in a leisurely manner.

After a moment of thought, he puts his hand back on his knee.

The representative from Squid Country clears his throat, but sees Advisor Cole spinning a pen in his hand; when everyone looks at him, he decisively picks up the water on the table and takes a sip.

Many of the remaining country representatives are in the same situation; seeing the Permanent Five remain silent, they also remain silent.

The eerie silence, like a pool of stagnant water, flows quietly through the hall.

"Absurd!!!"

Suddenly, a booming voice erupts from the last row of the General Assembly Hall, instantly tearing through this stagnant water.