The giant corporations that started from Night City

Chapter 494: Joint Meeting of the Solar System Fleet! Robinson Crusoe in Space!

"We belong to the Universal Corporation, another branch of human civilization."

As Paul said this, he also ordered the Infinity-class aircraft carrier to lift its stealth state and appear directly above the Earth's orbit.

Since superluminal technology cannot be used in the Three-Body Universe, Leon did not bring any super-large warships with him. The Warships such as the Mantle of the Immortal and the Sojourner Dreadnought, which were over 10 kilometers long, were all left at home.

The five-kilometer Infinity-class aircraft carrier is already the largest warship used by the giant enterprise to carry out this mission.

However, even if it was the earliest warship of the Universal Corporation, the scale of this Infinity-class ship was still so huge that it made people's scalps numb, at least for the humans here.

At this moment, John 117, the captain of the Infinity-class aircraft carrier, felt a little bit unbelievable about the order issued by Paul. They were hiding so well, why did they suddenly have to lift the stealth status?

As long as they don't expose themselves, even the Trisolaran intelligent beings won't be able to easily detect their location.

“Paul, are you sure you want to do this?” John 117 asked Paul again to confirm the authenticity of the order.

This legendary figure, who worked his way up from chief petty officer to captain of a giant enterprise, is no less capable or experienced than Paul.

According to his original idea, after surrounding the Earth International, his Infinity-class aircraft carrier would be able to seize control of the country in a matter of minutes and compete with the Fleet International.

Exposing his tracks now would undoubtedly disrupt his plans.

“Please believe me, I have a way to take over the entire executive power of this earth without moving a single soldier.” Paul promised John 117.

Paul hopes to use the existence of the Infinity-class aircraft carrier as an endorsement of his own strength, win some negotiating power in the Earth International, and gain the trust of mankind as the fifth wallfacer.

John 117's cooperation was the first step in the plan.

After hesitating for a moment, John 117 chose to trust Paul's judgment and gave the order: "Remove the concealment state and enter the inner atmosphere."

After a while, a huge shadow suddenly covered everyone's heads, and the already gray sky suddenly turned into night.

Guo Zhengming and the policemen behind him looked up and saw a warship like a giant beast in the sky breaking through the clouds and descending above their heads.

It was the largest battleship they had ever seen. When the Infinity-class aircraft carrier descended above the deserted city, countless residents of the underground city ran out and stared blankly at the sky.

The wind pressure caused by the Infinity-class aircraft carrier lowering its altitude brought about a brief sandstorm, which blew the people here so hard that they could hardly open their eyes. Guo Zhengming finally believed that what Paul said was true.

Just as Paul expected, the Infinity-class aircraft carrier had caused a stir in various parts of the Earth during its arrival on Earth, especially the residents of the underground city, who came out one after another to look up at the steel behemoth before them.

"Is that our battleship? It looks much bigger than I imagined..."

"How is that possible? A star-class battleship is less than a thousand meters in size at most, but this giant is at least five thousand meters!"

"Could this be a Trisolaran warship? How could this be possible? They shouldn't be here. What are those people from Fleet International doing?"

"..."

Although the Infinity-class aircraft carrier is an antique used by the world's giant corporations a century ago, after being strengthened, this not-outdated old guy is still an evergreen in the giant corporation's forces.

The ultra-thick neutron armor plates from inside to outside, coupled with the spacious interior space, make the Infinity-class look much longer and larger than a 5,000-meter battleship.

In comparison, the Star-class battleships on Jupiter are like shoddy little toys, barely comparable in size to the caliber of the Infinity-class main guns.

The sudden appearance of such a huge warship on Earth shocked the leadership of Earth International and Fleet International, who were full of confidence in the Jupiter orbital defense line.

The edge of the solar system was clearly under their surveillance, so how come a giant ship of unknown origin suddenly appeared in their own base?

The fleet array that was originally preparing to set out to the edge of the solar system to intercept the Trisolar probe stopped immediately. Under the orders of the commanders of each unit, all warships returned urgently and immediately went to Earth to monitor the Infinity-class aircraft carrier.

In fact, the Trisolaran fleet is still some time away from reaching the solar system, so there is no need for Fleet International to prepare for war in such a hurry.

But with a hammer in hand, everyone looks like a nail. Both Fleet International and the general public on Earth are extremely eager to dispel the haze that has shrouded their hearts for two hundred years through a resounding victory.

However, the appearance of the Infinity-class aircraft carrier instantly disrupted this plan, forcing the leadership of Fleet International to rush back to rescue and find a way to save the Earth first.

At this moment, everyone was frightened by the Infinity-class aircraft carrier in front of them. Their heads went blank and their legs went weak. Many people suffered from gigantic fear on the spot, their eyes rolled back and they fainted.

Human beings of this era are addicted to a kind of false power. The infinitely expanding bubble is just like their bloated confidence. But once the bubble is punctured, their fragile self-confidence will collapse.

As it is now.

Guo Zhengming, who had received an urgent call from his superior, responded and then came back to Paul and said to him, "I will take you to another place now. From now on, you are the most important target of protection of Earth International."

Paul nodded and followed the other party to quickly move to another location, which was a huge building complex located in the desert, surrounded by elite troops.

The solemn, dignified and iron-like atmosphere makes people feel heavy.

Guo Zhengming's level is only enough to bring Paul here safely, and the rest of the things will have to be left to others.

"We have the best firewalls and virus protection measures in the world here. Genetic missiles and killer viruses shouldn't cause you any more trouble."

Guo Zhengming saluted Paul and his group and said, "My mission has been completed. You can talk to them slowly from now on."

"Thank you for your hard work." Paul returned the greeting and then looked at the sealed building in front of him. This thing is absolutely foolproof in protecting against humans and animals.

However, it is still useless to guard against the Trisolaran intelligent beings.

Soon, a middle-aged man with a European white face came up. He was wearing a neat and solemn suit, which was completely different from the clothes in the dungeon that would flash and reflect images.

"Hello, I'm Ben Jonathan, the special commissioner of the Fleet Joint Council. Are you the representative of that interstellar battleship?" The battleship Jonathan was referring to was naturally the Infinity-class aircraft carrier.

"Yes, I came here to talk with friendly intentions." Paul nodded.

"That's great. I hope we can resolve all conflicts through conversation." Jonathan said this, but he did not let his guard down.

With a smile on his face, he led Paul and his companions to the meeting room inside the building. Humans of this era have made extensive use of holographic projection technology.

After Jonathan pressed a few buttons, a seemingly solid white wall disappeared, revealing an internal passage, and some seemingly wide halls turned out to be thick porcelain walls. This kind of real and fake projection could easily trigger some kind of alarm switch for someone who sneaked in, exposing their position.

After a while, Paul came to the conference room for the conversation, but surprisingly, there were only two reception staff members and they were the only ones there.

"Our meeting practice here is basically remote meetings, and time is tight, so it's difficult to get everyone here in a short time. Please forgive me."

Jonathan explained to Paul that the commanders of the three fleets and the leadership of Fleet International were all at the Jupiter base, and it was unrealistic to ask them to return immediately.

So the only way to communicate is through remote conferencing.

Paul remained indifferent and waited patiently for the meeting to begin. A meeting of this level did not require the president of a giant company to show up in person.

He can handle it alone.

Soon, the conference room was filled with people. These senators placed themselves in the conference room through holographic projection. Most of these people were officers and leaders of Fleet International.

Only a small number of people are leaders of Earth International.

In this era, the once-famous great powers have declined, leaving only two major international political systems.

In international politics, only Fleet International, which controls the three major fleets, is the highest ruling power of mankind. Therefore, it is natural that these officers are the ones who lead this conversation.

This council is also known as the Solar System Fleet Joint Meeting.

At this time, the top leaders of the European Fleet, North American Fleet, and Asian Fleet all appeared at the meeting, and they expressed high vigilance against the appearance of the Infinity-class aircraft carrier.

With the current technological capabilities of mankind, it is impossible to build such a huge warship. I am afraid that if their 2,000 warships want to bite off this tough bone, they will have to pay the price of at least more than half of their casualties.

Before this, the reason why Fleet International sneered at the Trisolaran civilization's fleet was that the warships of both sides were of similar size, but the number of human fleets was several times that of the Trisolaran civilization.

Coupled with the convenience of fighting while resting, it is normal for them to look down on the Three-Body Civilization.

But the Infinity-class aircraft carrier suddenly appeared on Earth, and this unknown fear frightened all the leaders of Fleet International. Fortunately, Paul was willing to talk to them, which prevented them from completely panicking.

"Who are you and why are you here?"

The representative of the North American Fleet asked the first question. He was an officer with a stern face, and his aggressive tone seemed to be interrogating Paul.

"We are representatives of the Universal Corporation, and we are here to help the human beings here." Paul replied.

"Where are you from, and what does human civilization have to do with you?"

The representative of the European fleet then asked.

Who are we, where do we come from, and where are we going? These three questions apply to every civilized species, and they are also the first questions humans ask when they come into contact with extraterrestrial civilizations.

"We were originally a warship built by a company on Earth. We left the solar system in response to the call of mankind to find a new home. Later, we explored some planets and developed step by step to where we are today."

"Now we just want to bring advanced technology to help humans trapped in the technological blockade of the Trisolaran civilization."

Paul made up lies without any hesitation, and not only Sophon who was monitoring the meeting, but even the humans here were confused.

From what Paul said, the Universal Corporation seems like Uncle Jules who made a fortune at sea and now comes back with piles of gold coins to lead his relatives to live a good life.

The desperate spacecraft landed on a resource-rich planet. Without the blockade of the intelligent machines, it broke through the layers of technological restrictions and developed a powerful battleship force.

This story sounds like a beautiful fairy tale, but it is particularly out of place in this cruel and cold universe.

"So, you are the humans who went out during the Great Depression?"

The representative of the Asian fleet looked at Paul with suspicion. In his impression, no exploration team had ever left the solar system safely.

With technology blocked by the Sophon, humans using backward technology to carry out space colonization plans is like a primitive man simply building a wooden canoe to cross the Pacific Ocean.

This is a completely futile act with no chance of survival.

If this plan had a 10% chance of success, Fleet International would have tried to find a way to escape instead of preparing for a decisive battle with the Trisolarans.

"Yes, we are an exploration spacecraft funded by a Chinese technology company and the local government. We set sail in 2077 AD and have experienced many twists and turns..."

Paul's narration, a space adventure story that could be described as Robinson Crusoe, plunged the congressmen present into silence.

Any intelligent person would not believe such a ridiculous story, but they just can't find any fault with it.

Because the Great Depression from 2044 to 2133 was a very chaotic era, countless data were lost in wars and riots.

Even if this really happened, there is no place to investigate it now.

"The information you mentioned has long been lost. We have no way of determining your true origin. Now please tell us that with the navigation technology at that time, it is impossible to travel to other habitable galaxies."

"How do you resupply your voyages, and how do you reach habitable planets to develop technology?"

The leaders of Fleet International knew that Paul was not honest and did not reveal his true origins, so they simply set traps from other places, hoping to find some flaws.

But Paul had already optimized the story countless times in his mind, and with the real historical data provided by the AI ​​Red Queen, the story he made up was completely indistinguishable from the real thing.

"With the navigation technology and material reserves at the time, it was indeed impossible to meet the needs of the colonization operation, but we encountered a broken warship on the way, and we inherited all of its supplies."

"We found it from the opponent's remaining database..."

This is another old-fashioned story about a hero falling off a cliff and finding treasure, but the congressmen present could not find any fault with it, because no one could refute what the other party said.

What if someone really has this kind of luck?

Even the Trisolarans can meet a guide like Ye Wenjie in the vast sea of ​​stars. Is it outrageous that the people on Earth can pick up the wreckage of alien spacecraft and a large gift package of supplies while running away?

(End of this chapter)