A faint voice traveled through the earpiece.
— “I’m not sure if I should say this or not. “
“Why? “
— “Speaking it aloud might anchor the future, because I firmly believe it—after all, it’s something I’ve already verified. “
……
In a house with a noticeably different atmosphere, Prime Minister Ferdrich had just lain down for sleep when a soft knock at the door forced him to open his eyes again.
“What is it? “
Outside, a middle-aged military officer, after escort ushered in through the door, stood tall and saluted at the entrance, saying: “Your Excellency the Prime Minister, there’s urgent news. Larger outbreaks of metal ivy have appeared in some areas. “
“Right now, some of the ivy near the tributaries of the seawater lines have begun to extend into the water, threatening to cross the seawater and enter the refuge areas. “
Ferdrich sat on the bed. Whether in thought or otherwise, he paused for only a few breaths before turning his head to look at the officer, who at that moment was struggling to keep his emotions steady.
“Bring the report in. ” The Prime Minister fumbled for the bedside lamp, switching it on, then picked up his folded crystal glasses. After two attempts, he settled them onto the bridge of his nose.
The officer strode in quickly and handed him the document. “Sir, ” he said.
The Prime Minister gazed at the textual and pictorial report before him, his mind momentarily unable to find any words with which to make a decision on this matter.
Just then, another set of running footsteps approached. The guard at the door raised his arm to block the breathless figure.
The two men in the room looked over. The young officer who had just arrived said, “Report, Prime Minister. This concerns a letter from the person in charge of the Jinbei Heritage Action Group. “
“Come in. “
The man jogged in and handed the document to the Prime Minister, who was now seated on the edge of the bed with his feet on the floor.
After scanning the pages for a few moments, the Prime Minister looked up and asked in a deep voice, “They want our airship’s signal band? “
“Yes. ” The newly arrived military man spoke with some reluctance in his tone:
“The people from the Jinbei Heritage Action Group said they want to use the World Ark’s communication system. They only need roughly eight or nine out of ten percent of the equipment to broadcast their final disaster response propaganda. “
“This… ” The middle-aged military officer off to the side glanced at the man.
The young officer paused and continued, “They said that once this is done, they will permanently donate a program signal relay device to us in Stedefen. Furthermore, they will send our technicians to that stretch of sea located between the two continents—a place only they can find. “
“There… ” The Stedfen Prime Minister’s gaze swept across every word of the document like bayonets. “I hear the World Ark’s broadcast station is located there. “
The middle-aged officer’s eyes fell on the two sheets of paper in the Prime Minister’s hand.
Nervously, he worried for the World Ark—those who had just made great contributions to Kruen and to restoring the Prime Minister’s prestige.
The letter merely requested certain signal bands and simple operational methods for re-tuning the signal receiving device to specific frequencies. In truth, these were nothing significant; the most important purpose was to use the Stedfen Congress to issue this executive order.
The Prime Minister raised his head. “In a time when the world is in crisis, even a small change can lead to consequences that are difficult to fathom. “
“Prime Minister, what do you mean by that? “
“Science is the force that propels the world forward. Regarding the affiliation of the most cutting-edge scientific fields, we must face them with an attitude of openness, tolerance, and exploration. “
Hearing the first two words, the two officers by the bedside were slightly happy for that group. But when “exploration ” emerged from the Prime Minister’s lips, that faint glimmer of hope in their hearts was extinguished.
The Prime Minister’s solemn voice came through:
“Therefore, we must seek constructive opinions from more people. Notify all party representatives to discuss this matter immediately. For instance, the researchers from the Old Guard Party, who have contributed greatly to the recent excavation and broadcasting of TiVi machines, possess ample experience that is worth our listening and learning. On tonight’s incident, we must fully respect the opinions and suggestions of all relevant parties. However, the primary stance should come from the Academy of Sciences, the Social Development Department, and the expert researchers led by the Minister of Defense. Go now. “
The young officer glanced at the middle-aged man beside him and then at the Prime Minister, whose expression on the bed was unreadable. After recalling those words with a frozen second of thought, he immediately saluted and rushed out.
This matter must be handled promptly without wasting a second.
Within about ten to twenty minutes, several senior engineers who had been sound asleep in Kruen City, along with many expert researchers from the refuge areas, were awakened by news arriving through various channels.
On this night filled with world desolation and a sense of apocalyptic panic to the point of suffocation, they stared in astonishment at the document before them, which bore the heading of the Congressional Request for Opinions.
……
The airship hovered silently over the city.
Sometimes they would fly far away for maintenance inspections, but generally during such times, other airships would arrive to take their place.
As the influence of the World Ark expanded, countries and cities that already owned their own airships also got in touch with the World Ark organization…
These creations, which would mostly be used for doomsday rescue operations for the fortunate in their respective nations, were partially given access through the gifting of broadcasting rights for some of their airships, thereby joining the World Ark.
This is to express the support of various factions for the organization.
And in exchange, they received some broadcast devices and related acceptance technologies for free.
At this moment, above Luyacheng, the central city once known as the world’s cultural capital, two airships—one large and one small—floated.
Suddenly, a simple low-speed aircraft glided over from the distance, approaching the pale-yellow airship adorned with the signatures of local celebrities.
……
“What is Yang Zicang doing?“
In a somewhat busy bunker, someone suddenly asked Alienong, who was nearby.
Alienong, who had already been granted absolution but was required to work on this most dangerous frontline, looked somewhat bewilderedly at the researcher who had rushed up beside him, his face taut with tension.
“I’m sorry, I only met him once, and apart from that, I have no contact with him.“
“So you can’t find him either?“
The tone of the person wearing the light-green researcher uniform grew even more serious. This made Alienong, who was organizing the materials, feel that something was off.
“Has something happened?“
“I…” The person hesitated for a moment.
This draft consultation opinion did not mention any confidentiality content. Instead, it advocated for fully listening to the suggestions of relevant experts. Therefore, after a brief pause, he handed the urgently printed document he held close to his chest over to Alienong.
“Take a look at this. If you can contact… cough, sorry.” He patted Alienong on the shoulder.
As Alienong’s gaze quickly swept over the words, he felt a tingling sensation, like a numbing electric current, pass through his skin all over his body.
Those Blazing Light action groups that “have spread safety zones across the land ” want to snatch… the fruits that belong to another team.
“They… ” Alienong felt his heart turn cold—was this the heart of a top-tier action team!
There was not a shred of camaraderie to be felt at all.
Even the World Ark had contributed to stabilizing the current situation.
Although, in propaganda and winning people’s hearts, they might have outshone the Golden Shell Heritage Action, which focused more on actually providing relief to a greater number of people. But trust that, in the hearts of the hundreds of millions near those regions, Golden Shell Heritage was the true savior!
In an instant, Alienong felt the chasm between himself and that group.
As expected of those who unhesitatingly dropped countless nuclear-radiated zones as part of their plan for people to confront the disaster. Their coldness and unwavering determination to seize any potential means of generating brilliance left him humbly admitting defeat.
Alienong turned his head, anxiety hidden in his eyes. When the researcher beside him saw his expression, he realized that this man had become aware of the dangerous predicament the World Ark team now faced.
For most of the Steffen people here, the World Ark team—having persistently participated in rescuing Kruun, extricating the Prime Minister from trouble, averting a potential melee among the southern nations, or, at the very least, preventing Steffen from being torn apart at this time—was already a mythic-level entity descending from the heavens.
They had not even resorted to force; they had saved the Lion Empire, which had been careening toward the brink of war, with ingenious and fervent measures.
“I, I… ” The frantic Alienong suddenly calmed down.
Then he chuckled lightly.
“What’s wrong with you? ” The researcher looked at him as if he were a neurotic.
“I believe there’s no need to worry. “
Alienong handed the document back to the man beside him, who was wearing a pale green research uniform.
“If I can figure it out, there’s no way those experts aboard the airships up in the sky wouldn’t know, right? Hmm… ” He frowned slightly. “But just in case, we still need to take some precautions. “
……
The situation here quickly fermented throughout the various regions of the entire empire.
Inside the manor of the old-world faction, a crowd bustled with activity.
“At a time like this, the Prime Minister remembers to seek our opinions. ” Someone in the room let out a cold snort mixed with amusement and a hint of resentment.
“We’ll follow the arrangements of the Congress, ” said another voice in the room.
“I’m afraid not, Director. That would make our group appear far too lacking in decision-making and backbone. “
“Then what do we do? Follow the direction set by the Prime Minister, and later have the people from the World Ark secretly blame us—‘Neither did they make guarantees through the foundation under their jurisdiction, nor did they refrain from pulling tricks behind the scenes’? “
“… ” By the window, the figure beside the sofa fell silent for a moment before speaking to the person whose half-sitting silhouette was partially obscured by a desk lamp, “So what should we do then? “
“Hmm, ” the person said, lightly tapping their fingers on the sofa armrest.
“Let’s say we highly value this hard-won contribution and need to study and discuss it. But our experts are not as readily available as those in Congress, so we’ll need about… forty-five minutes—actually, an hour. An hour then should be enough time for Chairman Yang to receive this news. “
“Councilor, ” said the man in formal attire standing by the sofa.
“Hmm? “
“I believe, if it’s only this matter, it would actually take us just ten minutes to submit our opinions. “
……
Vehicles raced down the midnight streets, pouring out from buildings across various districts.
At the same moment, in command-center-like structures that served as defensive outposts, telephones began to ring.
“What did you say? Those fanatics… “
……
“How could such a thing happen? Would Yang Buchen’s prestige really sway the Waldestadt military to heed his orders? “
— “Not exactly, Colonel. The first to launch the attack in the 317 seawater tributary area were people from a roaming militia armed with artillery. They received what they claimed was a call from Chairman Yang Buchen himself. “
The colonel by the table strained to listen and make sense of the reports coming from the other end of the line.
Amidst the crackling noise, his expression grew increasingly grim. When he heard that the ‘Vine of Doom’ had already crossed the seawater tributary and reached the very soil that held the collective hopes of the people, the colonel felt his heart clench up tightly.
“—But right at that dangerous moment, ” the voice on the phone said, “a nearby armed resistance force equipped with artillery received a call from Chairman Yang Buchen. The call, as if predicting the situation in advance, instructed the resistance to immediately open fire on the target area according to the dictated direction. “
“Those… those ignorant people actually went ahead and did it?! ” The colonel wanted to say ‘fools’ but ultimately muttered and changed the word in a low voice.
Ring, ring, ring. The colonel at this military camp looked up and pressed the receiver against his ear; he heard a phone ringing in another duty room.
Vague voices came through, “Hello, yes, this is the 23rd Brigade of Haolin, ” ‘Yes, we are,’ ‘Ah?’
Before the colonel could comprehend what was happening, a sizzling sound suddenly rang out in the air outside the building.
An airship hovering at the edge of the city huffed and puffed, its tethering ropes straining as they connected it to the ground to maintain its hover.
The images on the screen flickered chaotically, as if a broadcast struggling to break through a silent film, and intermittent arguments came from the loudspeakers.
The colonel was a bit puzzled. That airship belonged to a wealthy man in the city, but he had heard that two technically trained broadcasters from the World Ark were stationed on board. Therefore, this airship, now part of the World Ark fleet, also represented the honor of Haolin Province.
……
Off-fleet airships around the world began to gradually lose their signals.
……
Time ticked by minute by minute.
“Did you hear that? Many airships have already been acquired by the Golden Shell Heritage Action Team. “
— “Hmm, but it’s fine. “
“What? Do you have any idea what these airships could lead to? “
— “Trust me. “
The person holding the receiver suddenly heard some whistling sounds coming from the night sky.
She ran to the window to look at the area.
It seemed as if all aircraft were taking to the sky, flying towards the direction of darkness.
Inside the city, unfamiliar broadcasts came from the airships, waking up the various cities that had already passed midnight.
“What are they trying to do? ” People wrapped in clothes drifted towards the hulking structures, on which screens had finally lit up sparsely, their fabric surfaces displaying images.
The background scene of a ship appeared on it, with many demonic-shaped aircraft figures leaving the ground and charging into the night. This was followed by images of bombings raging amidst a crowded populace.
Someone on the stage spoke solemnly: “This is the true face of the World Ark. Their leaders are seizing the military power of the entire world and threatening the people. This is an extremely dangerous act. “
Some people who had rushed outside heard other sounds coming from loudspeakers hanging on wooden poles and telegraph poles on the ground.
— “I believe that the so-called borderless movement of the World Ark is a downright deceptive scheme, a brainwashing delusion aimed at destroying people’s loyalty and national sovereignty. “
A certain expert voice, which often appeared in one’s ears, was now shouting frantically on the midnight broadcast.
“What does this mean? “
Countless awakened people stared blankly at the airships broadcasting anomalies in the sky.
But many airships repeatedly switched images, and operators inside some airships pulled out the signal device’s connecting wires, causing the image gleam on the screen to vanish.
However, the sound of horns across the ground continued to echo.
— “The World Ark… sizzle… “
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