Everyone's playing Red Giant? I, Black Hole, devour everything!

Lin Tian nodded and stood up.

He didn't elaborate further, nor did he add any personal commentary.

He recounted in the simplest language the entire process of the president of the United States, from mediating with the United States to proposing a cooperative development route for the black hole, and then to exposing the existence of ancient relics.

The atmosphere in the meeting room grew increasingly heavy as he spoke.

When he mentioned that the president of the United States said, "The Pacific Ocean is the boundary, with the Great Xia Kingdom in the east and the United States in the west," the old man sitting to Chen Lao's left suddenly snorted coldly.

"He's got a good plan! Japan is about to fall, his defenses in the Asia-Pacific are about to collapse, so he comes to us to talk about cooperation."

"They want to use the Pacific Ocean as a platform for art—on what grounds? Does the Pacific Ocean belong solely to their beacon nation?"

The others also frowned.

"However, if that ancient relic is real, its value is indeed considerable," an old man said slowly.

"Two billion years ago, more than a billion years earlier than the Ayers, and they even got inspiration for the Quark Star route from it, which shows that the information in the ruins can be extracted and utilized."

"The problem is, how do we verify the authenticity of this relic?" another person chimed in. "The president of the United States only gave us forty-eight hours. Within forty-eight hours, it's impossible for us to send someone to the Third Sector of the United States to verify its authenticity."

"What if this is a trap? What if he's just using this so-called legacy to buy time?"

"What good will it do him to delay? We already have the eighth star sector of Japan in our hands. If we push forward any further, we can reach Tokyo in ten days at most."

"What the United States lacks now is not time, but a chance to turn the tide. Using a fake historical site to buy time for ten days is meaningless to them."

"If the relics are real, should we accept his conditions?" another person asked.

The moment this question was asked, the debate in the meeting room suddenly became intense.

Some people advocate for acceptance.

The reason is simple: the first-mover advantage of the black hole route is in the hands of the Great Xia Kingdom. Even if it shares the technology with the United States, it will take the United States at least several years to catch up.

The value of that ancient relic may far exceed the trajectory of the black hole itself.

Trading a temporary technological advantage for an ancient legacy that could potentially alter humanity's understanding of the universe's will is a worthwhile trade-off.

Some advocate for rejection.

The reason is also clear.

The United States has been the dominant power on Earth for a century. Once they also master the black hole route, with their industrial strength and resource reserves, it won't be long before they catch up with the level of the Great Xia Kingdom.

By then, the Great Xia Kingdom's first-mover advantage will have vanished.

As for what exactly is in that site, there is still no reliable evidence. What if it's just a pile of worthless ruins?

Some people have also proposed a compromise.

They agreed to cooperate, but the specific methods of cooperation would be determined by the Great Xia Kingdom.

For example, the core data of the black hole's trajectory can be withheld, and only the training methods for the periphery can be provided;

Alternatively, the US could demand that the Great Xia Kingdom first allow people to enter the ruins to investigate their authenticity before discussing further cooperation.

But this proposal was quickly refuted.

The president of the United States would never agree to such conditions.

The reason he dared to come was because he held the trump card of the ruins.

If the Great Xia Kingdom sends people in to investigate first, the location, structure, and defense system of the ruins will all be exposed, and the Lighthouse Kingdom will lose its last bargaining chip.

The debate lasted for nearly an hour.

Both sides have valid points, and neither side can completely convince the other.

The air in the meeting room grew increasingly stuffy. The teacups had been refilled several times, and the cigarette butts in the ashtray had piled up into a small mountain.

Old Chen remained silent throughout.

He simply listened to everyone's remarks, occasionally jotting down a few words on the documents in front of him.

But the deep look in his eyes told everyone that he was thinking.

In the end, everyone's eyes turned to Lin Tian.

He was the least qualified one among them.

But everyone knows that Lin Tian pioneered the black hole route, and his understanding of the will of the universe is unmatched by all those present combined.

More importantly, he is the only one who has actually entered ancient ruins and come into contact with the cultural heritage of the previous generation of observers.

"Lin Tian, ​​what do you think?" Old Chen finally spoke slowly.

Lin Tian's gaze swept across the faces of everyone present, then he slowly stood up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my views can be divided into three levels."

"First, let's talk about the authenticity of the ruins." He raised his hand and brought up a set of comparative data he had previously compiled on the screen.

"The technical parameters of the Quark Star route of the Lighthouse Nation and the gravitational array theory we obtained from the Ayers ruins do have some similarities in their basic ideas."

"For example, the resonant frequency modulation method of the quark star array is similar to that of the Ayers gravitational wave relay station."

"This is no coincidence; this technological approach has no prototype in any known theoretical framework on Earth."

"Therefore, I tend to believe that the United States did indeed obtain information from the remains of some ancient civilization."

"Secondly, there are the pros and cons of cooperation."

"I understand everyone's concerns. The black hole route is currently the greatest weapon of the Great Xia Kingdom. Sharing it with the United States does carry risks, but those risks can be managed."

"The path to a black hole is not a textbook; you can't learn it just by having it in your hand."

"The talent threshold, training system, and evolutionary environment required for it are already fully accumulated in the Great Xia Kingdom, while it would take the Lighthouse Kingdom at least two or three years to catch up if it started from scratch."

"If we can obtain the remains of that civilization that predates the Ayers by more than a billion years during this window of opportunity, it may be of decisive help in dealing with the great extinction predicted by the Ayers."

He paused, then said his third point.

"Finally, I think the conditions proposed by the president of the United States are not actually that scary."

"The idea of ​​jointly governing the world with the Pacific Ocean as the boundary sounds exaggerated, but the premise of this commitment is that the two countries jointly control the black hole route."

"The decision on the black hole route rests with the Great Xia Kingdom."

"How we teach, how much we teach, and to what extent we teach are all entirely up to us. The initiative is always on our side!"

"And even if they really learned it, even if they really mastered it, so what?"

"By the time they mastered the path to black holes, we were already able to leverage our first-mover advantage to create dozens of quasars!"

"The resources of the Universe Online are limited. Even if the United States possesses a black hole array, their understanding of quasars remains zero!"

The meeting room fell silent once again.

Old Chen put down his teacup and glanced at everyone's faces.

"Gentlemen, Lin Tian's analysis has been very clear. Now, let's vote."