41: Long-distance voyage agreement

Just as the air in the White House Situation Room and the Eastern Command Center, thick with diplomatic rhetoric and political maneuvering, was about to freeze solid.

A voice, unexpected by anyone, suddenly, clearly, and simultaneously rang out in the two top-secret conference rooms, thousands of miles apart.

It was a voice that had undergone multiple electronic synthesis treatments, making it impossible to discern any gender, age, or emotional fluctuations.

It did not come from any telephone or video conferencing equipment.

It seemed to come directly from the loudspeakers on the ceiling, from the wiring in the walls, from the air itself.

"Hello."

"I am StarRiver."

Just one sentence made everyone present—whether battle-hardened politicians or well-informed generals—involuntarily stiffen, their pupils instantly contracting.

StarRiver.

The mysterious founder of Paradox Technology.

The person who single-handedly forced Human Civilization into this current era.

The spokesperson for the guide, who only exists in legends and whose true face no one has ever seen.

He... or rather, it, had actually intruded directly into the highest-level closed-door meetings of two superpowers in such an inscrutable manner!

"Who are you?! How did you get in?!"

In the White House Situation Room, several Secret Service agents instantly drew their pistols, nervously guarding the President, warily scanning every corner of the room.

On the other side, Academician Chen Haikang immediately signaled his technical staff to trace the signal source.

"No need to be nervous, gentlemen."

The electronic voice rang out again, its tone as calm as stating a fact.

"On this planet, there is no place I cannot enter if I wish."

"The reason I am interrupting your meeting today is simply to provide a final solution for your meaningless dispute."

...

In Lei Wen's underground command center in Tianqiong City, he was observing the changing expressions of everyone in both conference rooms simultaneously through the ubiquitous 'eyes' of white flower.

He knew it was time for him, the hidden chess player, to personally step in and end this farce.

He looked at the most powerful people on Earth on the screen, who seemed somewhat flustered by his sudden “arrival,” and even chuckled a few times.

He cleared his throat and conveyed his voice through the voice changer.

"Regarding the ownership of the voyager," StarRiver's voice continued to echo in both conference rooms, "my answer is simple—it belongs to neither of you."

"It, and all future starships built with the assistance of Paradox Technology, belong to only one entity—"

"Human Civilization."

"And I," the voice paused, then declared in an unequivocal tone, "will use the voyager as the flagship to build a true space fleet for this civilization within the next ten years, capable of guarding us as we venture out of the Solar System."

These words were like a giant rock thrown into a calm lake, instantly stirring up violent ripples.

Build an entire space fleet?

This plan sounded grand and audacious, but it seemed there was nothing StarRiver couldn't achieve.

"Mr. StarRiver," the President forced himself to calm down and, facing the loudspeaker on the ceiling, tentatively asked, "I understand your grand vision, but a fleet needs a clear command system; it must belong to a sovereign entity, otherwise..."

"Otherwise, it will become an uncontrollable private armed force, right?" StarRiver's voice seemed to carry a hint of imperceptible mockery. "Mr. President, you don't seem to understand the true situation we are facing right now."

"You are arguing over who will wield this sword."

"And I am concerned about whether this sword, once forged, will be used by you to cut down your own people."

He no longer used euphemistic diplomatic language but chose the most direct, almost admonishing tone.

"So I honestly inform you all," StarRiver's voice became cold and sharp, "Paradox Technology will leave necessary 'emergency measures' on all ships we help build in the future."

"The AI core of every starship will be linked to my main AI with the highest priority."

"Normally, you will have complete command and usage rights over the fleet."

"But if my AI determines that any of you attempt to use this fleet, which was created to protect civilization, as a weapon in a civil war within Human Civilization..."

"We will take over the highest control authority of all warships within one millisecond."

"At that time, your fleet will no longer obey any of your commands."

"It can only be a 'Spear of Civilization' that exists to protect the survival of the entire civilization."

"I call this measure—the fuse."

When StarRiver finished his last sentence, both conference rooms fell into a suffocating silence.

Everyone present, whether politician or soldier, felt an unprecedented offense and indignation after that cold statement.

This was no longer cooperation.

This was naked threat.

This was a coercive stance, setting an insurmountable “tightening-spell” for the future armed forces of Human Civilization.

This meant that no matter who controlled this fleet in the future, they would always be under the surveillance of that mysterious Paradox Technology.

This was unacceptable to the leader of any sovereign nation.

"This is absolutely unacceptable!" A hawkish general from The Pentagon was the first to bang on the table. "We can never hand over the backdoor of our nation's supreme armed forces to an entity of unknown origin!"

"We don't even know who you are!"

However, anger was one thing.

When they calmed down and thought about it, they felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

Because they knew that what StarRiver said was very likely true.

The voyager, from the laying of its first keel, every component, every line of code, came from Paradox Technology.

Those intelligent engineering robots, like visitors from outer space, those materials and technologies that human scientists have yet to fully comprehend...

Who knows how many such “backdoors” they left during the construction process?

Trying to investigate and dismantle them themselves?

That would be like asking a group of people who just learned to use an abacus to disinfect a supercomputer.

They wouldn't even know where to start.

"Rather than engaging in meaningless arguments on this matter," after a brief and tense exchange of glances, the Chinese side first showed a more pragmatic attitude with strategic foresight, "it would be better to see what other benefits we can gain from Mr. StarRiver."

Academician Chen Haikang understood implicitly. He spoke to the air in a calm tone: "Mr. StarRiver, we understand your concerns, and we agree in principle with the supreme principle that the fleet should not be used for civil war."

"But you must also understand that a fleet without clear ownership cannot establish an efficient command and logistics system."

"We need a clear plan."

This statement was undoubtedly throwing a signal for negotiation to StarRiver.

And in the White House Situation Room, after a fierce exchange of glances, the President and his staff quickly made the same choice.

They knew that in the face of absolute technological superiority, pointless rigidity would only make them appear foolish.

"Very good."

StarRiver's voice rang out again, seemingly satisfied with their pragmatism.

"Since you all agree to this supreme premise, then we can discuss the specific details of cooperation."

An unprecedented meeting, a "trilateral talk" involving a mysterious individual and two superpowers, thus began in an extremely bizarre manner.

After several hours of tense negotiations and exchange of interests, a verbal agreement, later dubbed the “Voyager Protocol” by historians, was finally reached.

[Trilateral Agreement on the Ownership of the voyager and Future Fleet]

I. Command Authority: The supreme command authority of the voyager starship and its future sister ships will be held by China, which demonstrated stronger execution and contribution in the dome project. The crew will primarily consist of Chinese personnel, with the United States and other United Nations member states allowed to send a certain proportion of observers and technical personnel to join.

II. Technology Sharing: As compensation for the United States' concession on command authority, Paradox Technology will gratuitously package and transfer all subsystem technologies used by the voyager starship—including but not limited to complete blueprints for improved large-scale nuclear fusion reactors, practical electromagnetic railgun technology, high-energy laser beam technology, voyager design blueprints and material processes, and the complete design scheme for jinglei-class transport ships—to both countries in the form of technology licensing.

III. Political Framework: The Chinese side solemnly pledges that it will never use this fleet to interfere in any internal affairs of Earth, unless confronted by a common threat from outside Earth. The two countries will work together, within the existing United Nations framework, to swiftly and fully advance the political agenda of establishing a "World Government" or "Earth Federation" with higher authority and executive power.

The outcome of this agreement can be said to have given all three parties what they most desired.

China gained actual control of the fleet, giving them an undisputed dominant position in the future interstellar era.

Although the United States lost direct control of the fleet, it gained the complete set of future technologies it had longed for.

This was enough for them to quickly close the technological gap caused by internal strife in recent years and to maintain strong competitiveness in the future global economic and technological landscape.

The concept of a "World Government" also aligned with the interests of both superpowers.

And Lei Wen achieved his core strategic objective.

By establishing that “AI fuse,” he fundamentally prevented the possibility of this powerful fleet being used for civil war.

At the same time, by promoting the “World Government” agenda, he laid the final political foundation for Human Civilization to unite when facing a true crisis.

When the agreement was finally reached and StarRiver's mysterious voice disappeared from both conference rooms, everyone present felt a sense of relief after exhaustion.

From today on, the rules of the game in this world were completely rewritten.

In the underground command center in Tianqiong City, Lei Wen watched the two conference rooms on the screen, which had once again fallen into heated discussion, but the topic had shifted from “how to contend” to “how to cooperate,” and slowly leaned back in his chair.

"white flower," he whispered, "record this date."

"Today, we calibrated the initial course for this ship that is about to embark on a long voyage."

"Yes, Father," white flower's voice replied, "Course calibrated. It is expected that in the near future, Human Civilization will enter an unprecedented golden age of rapid integration and development."

"Let's hope so," Lei Wen murmured, looking at the deep night sky outside the window.

"Let's hope we have enough time."