131: Chapter 131 Surrender? Kneel down before the thirty million souls of the Dragon Kingdom first!
Pangu Laboratory, Level B2, 7:02 AM.
The atomic layer deposition cluster was running automatically, and pieces of the black stealth battle robe were sliding out from the output end.
Su Che sat in front of the console with his tactical tablet resting on his knees, its screen displaying the 3D structural diagram of the simplified civilian fuselage.
He held half a steamed bun in his right hand while dragging parameter modules on the tablet with his left.
The door opened.
Qin Lan walked in carrying a cup of black coffee, the rhythm of her military boots hitting the floor faster than usual.
"Have you watched Sakura Country's national televised address?"
Su Che had his mouth stuffed with a steamed bun and spoke indistinctly.
"No."
Qin Lan placed her tactical terminal on the table and pressed the play button.
On screen, Takaishi Sayuki stood behind the podium.
She wasn't wearing makeup, her hair was loose, and there were dark, greyish bruises under her eyes.
She spoke in Japanese, and the terminal automatically translated it into Chinese subtitles.
"...In view of the severe situation of the current war, to protect the lives and safety of our citizens, I have decided to issue a request for a ceasefire to the Dragon Kingdom through diplomatic channels."
Su Che swallowed the steamed bun.
"She only dares to say 'ceasefire'; she doesn't even have the guts to mention the word 'surrender'."
"Of course she doesn't," Qin Lan said, turning off the playback. "It's pure stubbornness. She submitted a ceasefire note through the Swiss Embassy in the Dragon Kingdom, which has already been reported to General Shen. The General Command took the lead, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has drafted a list of conditions."
"What does the Ministry of Foreign Affairs say?"
"The list of conditions has already been prepared and will be formally submitted at nine o'clock this morning."
Qin Lan pulled a printed sheet of paper from her coat and placed it in front of Su Che.
Su Che glanced at it.
1. Immediately and unconditionally disband the Self-Defense Forces. All military facilities are to be handed over to the Dragon Kingdom military for takeover and supervision, and no military forces may be rebuilt permanently.
2. The sovereignty of the disputed islands in the East Sea and their affiliated islands shall permanently belong to the Dragon Kingdom, effective immediately. Sakura Country shall not raise any further disputes.
3. The Eastern Pacific Islands shall implement a high degree of autonomy, with the Dragon Kingdom responsible for security, defense, and diplomatic affairs.
4. War reparations of three trillion USD, to be paid in full within ten years. If payment is overdue, it will be deducted from core enterprises and overseas assets.
5. Prime Minister Takaishi Sayuki must personally go to the Dragon Kingdom's War of Resistance Martyrs Memorial Hall to publicly apologize and read a letter of commitment, broadcast globally, and permanently recorded in Sakura Country's textbooks for reflection.
6. Permanently prohibit all military technology research and development. All military-related data, equipment, and projects must be handed over to the Dragon Kingdom; none may be retained.
7. The Dragon Kingdom shall establish a permanent military base on the Eastern Islands. Sakura Country shall provide the site and logistical support free of charge and may not object.
Su Che finished reading and placed the paper back on the table.
"Who wrote the fifth point?"
"General Shen drafted it personally."
Su Che picked up his water cup and took a sip.
"She won't agree."
"Of course she won't," Qin Lan said, crossing her arms and leaning against the equipment crate. "So, here's the question: after she refuses, what will she do?"
Su Che didn't respond.
He archived the civilian fuselage design on the tablet and switched to the monitoring terminal for the Yiren AI Core.
Yu-01 was still flying in a figure-eight pattern over the East Sea, and the remaining 126 coalition warships were retreating like turtles toward Guam.
There were no unusual ship movements from the direction of Sakura Country, but no movement didn't mean there was no action.
"Have the Core keep an eye on all ports and underground facilities on the Sakura Country mainland," Su Che said, inputting supplementary patrol instructions into the terminal. "Especially those abandoned factory areas of Ida Heavy Industries on Kyushu Island. Ida Yuji is dead, but his technical team can't all be on the USS Reagan."
Qin Lan nodded and turned to go make a phone call.
Lin Waner walked in from outside, carrying a plastic bag.
She placed the bag on the edge of the console and pulled out a pair of brand-new white sneakers.
"Issued by the Military Science Commission logistics," Lin Waner said, crouching down to take off her old shoes, which were covered in three layers of tape. She put on the new ones, stomped twice, and said, "They fit perfectly."
Su Che looked down at her.
The new shoes were very white, making the pencil dust on her pant cuffs stand out even more.
"Throwing away the old ones?"
"No way," Lin Waner said, stuffing the old shoes back into the plastic bag. "I'm keeping them as a souvenir."
Su Che didn't ask what she was commemorating.
He pulled the keyboard over and continued to push forward with the parameter optimization for the simplified civilian fuselage.
When he got to the third sub-module of the aerodynamic simplification plan, the blue and white panel in his mind suddenly lit up.
"Ding! Host detected advancing military-to-civilian aviation technology plan. New livelihood demand triggered. Side quest issued!"
"Mission Name: Things in the Sky Can Be Used on the Ground Too!"
"Mission Content: War has given birth to countless cutting-edge technologies, but peace is the true destination of technology! Based on the bionic hydraulic deformation drive technology of Yu-01, please design a core drive scheme for a civilian-grade small vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) logistics drone, so that the seeds of aerospace technology can land in the delivery boxes of ordinary people!"
"Mission Reward: 1500 skill points, unlock exchange permission for civilian bionic drive simplified design scheme, exchange cost 800."
"Current accumulated skill points: 7000. Exchange?"
Here it is.
Su Che didn't hesitate.
"Exchange."
"Ding! 800 skill points consumed."
"Current accumulated skill points: 6200."
A lightweight drive scheme flooded into his mind.
This job was simple.
Yu-01's eight bionic hydraulic limbs suddenly shrank into four micro-rotor drive arms, the core mechanical framework remained unchanged, the output power was cut by 90%, and the material was changed from niobium-tungsten alloy to civilian carbon fiber.
Su Che spent forty minutes drawing up the plan.
The moment the plan was finalized, the panel popped up.
"Ding! Side quest completed! Reward: 1500 skill points!"
"Current accumulated skill points: 7700."
Still 300 points short.
He rubbed his temples; counting on side quests to make up the difference was tough.
He could only wait until the stealth battle robe mass production was finished to get the 10,000-point reward from that main quest.
He stood up, walked to the output end of the stealth material, and checked the quality of the finished product.
Less than 3% of the 15 tons of graphene had been consumed, and the yield rate of the heavy-duty stealth armor plates was stable at over 97%.
At the current speed, full coverage of the 42-meter verification section would take about twelve more hours.
Plus the manufacturing time for the remaining five main beams...
Su Che moved a chair to sit next to the equipment and drew up a process schedule on the tablet.
Main beam manufacturing: five sections processed in parallel, estimated twenty hours.
Stealth coverage: performed simultaneously, can be completed in twenty hours.
Not even a full day.
The three-year countdown was still a long way off; no need to worry about it yet.
...
9:00 AM. Tokyo, Swiss Embassy in Japan.
The Dragon Kingdom's list of conditions was delivered to Takaishi Sayuki via a diplomatic classified letter.
The secretary stood at the door, watching her flip through the seven pages.
There was no sound in the office.
Takaishi Sayuki gently placed the last page on the table.
"Autonomy for the Eastern Islands."
When she read those words, her voice had no inflection.
"War reparations of three trillion, to be paid in ten years."
"The Prime Minister must personally go to the Memorial Hall to kneel and apologize."
Cold sweat seeped from the secretary's back.
Takaishi Sayuki folded the seven pages neatly, put them into an envelope, and handed it to the secretary.
"Send it back."
"Prime Minister... this means..."
"It means we still have other paths."
Takaishi Sayuki turned around, opened a drawer, and dug out a black USB drive from the very bottom.
There was a label on the surface of the USB drive with only one line of text.
[Ida - Final Backup]
The secretary recognized the words.
"Prime Minister, Mr. Ida has already..."
"The man is dead, but the thing still exists," Takaishi Sayuki said, clutching the USB drive in her palm. "Contact the Third Factory on Kyushu Island and tell them: 'Operation Yellow Springs' is initiated."
The secretary opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.
Takaishi Sayuki walked to the window and looked down at the streets below, which were crowded with people holding white banners demanding peace.
"Three trillion."
She shoved the USB drive into her pocket.
"What they want isn't reparations; it's the destruction of our nation."
She turned around.
"Then let's take a gamble and see who dies first."
...
Pangu Laboratory, Level B2, 9:27 AM.
Jiang Yingxue's tablet emitted a notification sound.
"Su Che."
Su Che walked back to the console from the equipment.
"The Yiren AI Core has intercepted an internal dispatch order from the Sakura Country Ministry of Defense," Jiang Yingxue said, turning the screen around. "In Kagoshima Prefecture on Kyushu Island, an underground facility codenamed 'KT-03' has just activated an independent power supply line."
"What level?"
"Industrial grade. The power consumption curve is highly similar to the characteristics of Ida Heavy Industries' main factory in Yokohama."
Su Che pulled over a swivel chair and sat down.
"What's the Core's behavioral deduction?"
Jiang Yingxue swiped to the next page.
On the screen, the Yiren AI spat out a line of analysis in its cold, clinical format.
[KT-03 facility startup mode and Ida Heavy Industries "Ame-no-Murakumo" directed-energy beam device production sequence match rate: 89.3%.]
[Speculation: The facility is urgently assembling a new directed-energy device or activating pre-installed backup equipment.]
Su Che leaned back in his chair.
A backup of Ame-no-Murakumo.
These people had left a contingency plan back when the JS Izumo was burned through.
"Qin Lan."
"I'm here," Qin Lan said, returning from outside, having just hung up the communication.
"Tell Lieutenant General Peng that Sakura Country might refuse the conditions."
Su Che looked at the 42-meter-long metal skeleton in the center of the hall.
The black stealth battle robe was being applied piece by piece.
"They want to fight to the death."
Su Che touched the broken eggshell with the crooked sun painted on it on the console.
The shards were still piled in the corner.
"Then let them come."