American Strategic Deception Bureau

　The next moment, two contradictory thoughts swirled in her mind.

　But she soon discovered that the smell of the dry sand was probably incomparable to any dream, no matter how realistic it was.

　Then, Elena finally heard vaguely from the sound of the wind blowing through the desert that someone seemed to be humming beside her.

　She then lowered her head and looked down the sand dune, and was immediately shocked!

　In the shadow of the sand dunes, there was a row of naked women lying in a disorderly manner!

　They were lying on the sand with their legs and arms spread out. They looked to be between sixteen and seventeen to twenty-eight and twenty-nine years old. Their skin, hair, and eyelids were all different colors.

　vary.

　The only thing they had in common was that all the women were naked, with nothing on except a few pieces of jewelry and brightly colored tattoos on their lower abdomens.

　One of the naked women seemed to have a layer of oil on her body, making her delicate body sparkle in the scorching desert sun, making her look even more charming.

　The other naked woman seemed to be injured, with a big bump on her head, and was groaning in a daze.

　Looking again, Elena saw a broken helmet and a broken sword in the weeds at the edge of the sand dune!

　This made her gasp for hot sand.

　Could it be that, perhaps, these women, like herself, had just traveled back from another world?

　Are they Earthlings who have traveled to another world and returned? Or are they native to another world?

　However, she looked around and found that among all the women present, the rest were naked, and she was the only one wearing clothes. She couldn't help but feel a little proud in her heart, and developed a sense of superiority that she didn't know how to describe.

　But despite her pride, Elena took off her heavy wooden shoes and climbed down the sand dune barefoot. She first checked the unconscious women one by one to make sure they were still breathing. Then she helped the injured naked woman up and carried her to the road to stop a car for help.

　Half an hour later, with the help of enthusiastic drivers, the naked women who had fainted beside the sand dunes were gradually lifted onto trucks and cars and transported to the nearby desert casino city of Las Vegas for emergency treatment. Someone even called the police on the way.

　Two hours later, almost all the FBI agents in Las Vegas went out, with Elena as their guide, and returned to the sand dune where they had just woken up. They searched the area inch by inch, trying to find out if there were any otherworldly objects hidden under the sand.

　Reporters from all walks of life who received the news also rushed to the scene, making this originally empty and deserted desert suddenly as lively as a market.

　Next, the strange story about the "returnees from another world" in Las Vegas spread like wildfire and spread throughout the United States in just a few days.

　But before national reporters, occult enthusiasts, and "folk scientists" could flock to Las Vegas, more "returnees from other worlds" appeared in Hawaii, the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore... and even Morro Bay (Night City), which had just been hit by a nuclear bomb.

　Some of these were rumors that were spread by word of mouth or deliberately fabricated, but there were also many genuine "supernatural objects" that appeared.

　Suddenly, the United States seemed to have entered a bizarre and magical new era, and no one even cared about the previous high-level infighting...

　Even though they have to travel in bulletproof cars, they are still overwhelmed by the endless roadside bombs and long-range sniper attacks.

　Among them, there are violent games of assassination between high-level officials, as well as hateful attacks by angry citizens who drew their guns.

　——Although violence cannot solve all problems, it can at least solve your...

　From governors and legislators, company presidents, department executives to ordinary clerks, everyone is born randomly and dies freely.

　As a result, surgeons in hospitals across the United States have gained more practical opportunities to treat gunshot wounds, making their skills in treating gunshot wounds far superior to those of military doctors in many foreign armies—for example, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, which even slacked off on drills and faked live-fire exercises.

　However, despite the constant gunfire and corpses everywhere, when Thanksgiving arrived that year, the streets were still filled with the aroma of roasted turkey. Although the citizens generally complained about the hardship of life, they still did their best to prepare a good meal and make their families happy.

　Grand parades were held on the streets of Los Angeles and San Francisco. Unemployed actresses from all walks of life dressed up beautifully and followed the floats through the streets, singing and dancing. Even if they had to change into leopard-print miniskirts and black stockings to stand on the streets at night, it did not affect their enjoyment of the day's joy.

　Seattle held a trendy giant balloon parade. Balloons in the shapes of various cartoon characters, such as Tom Cat, Jerry Mouse, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Astro Boy, were dragged along by volunteers and slowly paraded through the city accompanied by the music of a band. Wherever they passed, everyone was cheerful—even if they planned to hang themselves at night or change into night clothes to rob people, at least in this moment, they were happy.

　As if infected by the festive atmosphere, even President Nixon, who had been hiding underground for quite a while, came out of the White House bunker. As per tradition, he solemnly "pardoned" two turkeys on the South Lawn of the White House, allowing the two chickens to temporarily escape the fate of being stuffed into the oven.

　The tradition of the US president pardoning turkeys on Thanksgiving originated in 1947, when the National Turkey Federation of the United States gave two turkeys to President Truman. Later, it became a tribute-like custom to send two turkeys to the White House every year.

　But President Truman did not pardon the two chickens. Instead, like other ordinary Americans, he served them on the table every year.

　The next president, Eisenhower, did not think of pardoning the two turkeys that the Turkey Club sent every year, but instead used them as a sacrifice to his stomach.

　It was not until President Kennedy took office that, for some unknown reason, he decided not to roast the tribute turkeys directly but to release them.

　President Johnson later continued this practice, thus forming the hypocritical custom of American presidents pardoning turkeys every Thanksgiving.

　In short, the turkey pardoning event went smoothly, with no gunfire or explosions to disrupt the event from beginning to end, which made President Nixon very happy.

　Even though he was about to return to the murky and stuffy White House bunker, the President couldn't help but hum a little tune in a relaxed manner.

　It was truly remarkable! In September, he faced over ten assassination attempts and rebellions. In October, the number of assassination attempts on the president dropped to three. And by November, Nixon hadn't faced a single assassination attempt.

　At this rate, maybe he will soon be able to move back to the Oval Office and enjoy fresh air and real sunshine!

　Uh, wait, it’s only been a month since I last encountered an assassination attempt, and you already feel light all over?

　Is this feeling normal?

　It's not normal no matter how you think about it, right?

　Is there something wrong with my brain? Or is there something wrong with America? Or is it both?

　Hey, maybe there have been too many supernatural events recently, and my mind is a little off, right?

　President Nixon sighed at this thought and returned to his office deep within the White House bunker, where he frowned under the desk lamp as he read several classified documents sent by the Director of National Intelligence. The first of these was a compilation of information about the future brought back from California a hundred years in the future by the British frigate that had "traveled" to Cyberpunk 2077.

　Although the so-called "Philadelphia Experiment" during World War II was purely fabricated, the concept of "time travel" already existed in early science fiction. Therefore, President Nixon easily understood the story of a British frigate on the Thames traveling into the future.

　Next, although he was a little skeptical, but when he could not see any flaws (the divergence between the world of Cyberpunk 2077 and real history was in the 1980s), President Nixon still

　The future information obtained by the world of "Cyberpunk 2077" can be regarded as true.

　Then he felt even more depressed:

　On this timeline, the future fate of the United States is really not good!

　First, there was the Reaganomics of the 1980s, which, while giving the United States a shot in the arm, also left behind more serious aftereffects.

　During this period, the power of the US intelligence agencies also expanded rapidly, and they were on par with the Soviet KGB. The Reagan administration's overly tough foreign policy caused almost all its allies to turn against the United States. Only by the continuous and forceful suppression of US troops stationed overseas and the similar kidney deficiency and internal strife on the Soviet side could Washington barely maintain the appearance of a "free camp."

　If the Soviet Union could really

　If it collapses as quickly as it's boasted, that's not bad either.

　Unfortunately, in the timeline of "Cyberpunk 2077", although the Iron Curtain of the Cold War was indeed broken in Europe, the Berlin Wall, which was regarded as a symbol of the Cold War, fell, and the Eastern European countries did undergo drastic changes, the Warsaw Pact came to an end.

　But the Soviet Union did not fall, and survived, preventing the United States from winning the final victory.

　On the contrary, the reunified Germany, using the European Community as a platform, quickly swallowed up most of the spillover benefits of the upheaval in Eastern Europe, and united with France and Italy to suppress the turbulent and declining Britain, and quickly realized the resurrection of the German Third Reich... no, the Holy Roman Empire!

　The fall of the Iron Curtain and the dramatic changes in Eastern Europe not only failed to allow the United States to dominate the world, but instead created a far more formidable opponent in Europe than the Soviet Union—Germany, dressed in the guise of the European Community!

　What’s even worse is that the United States, which has already overdrawn its national strength and is exhausted, no longer has time to adjust its strategic direction!

　In 1994, the aftermath of Reaganomics erupted, and the U.S. economy collapsed. The domestic and international situations were even more desperate than the Great Depression of the previous year.

　The military coup in the capital in 1996 brought an end to the democratic system that the American people were proud of. The Washington dictatorship came to power, but it was never able to maintain its power. The civil war between the Pentagon and the intelligence agencies continued into the 21st century.

　Coupled with the collapse of NATO, the uncontrolled anti-Americanism of Europe and Japan, the First Central American War, which was a victory but still a defeat, and the Second Central American War, which was a disastrous defeat, the United States lost almost all of its overseas spheres of influence in the endless civil and foreign wars.

　The CIA and the US military eventually fought to the death, and in the process, destroyed all of the United States' prestige and glory in the world.

　The reunified Germany, however, stepped on the corpses of the United States and the Soviet Union to become glorious again, and Japan also took the opportunity to break free from the shackles imposed by the United States.

　Thus, within just a decade after 1994, the United States' military, economic, social, and political systems all collapsed, and its social system underwent irreversible disintegration. Naturally, its status as a superpower vanished.

　And due to plagues, mutant viruses, terrorist nuclear attacks and complete ecological collapse, a full 100 million Americans died during this period:

　In 1998, a devastating drought struck the American Midwest, wiping out the once-productive Corn and Wheat Belts, transforming them into arid grasslands resembling the Mongolian Gobi Desert. Thousands of towns and farms became deserted ghost villages and towns. That same year, Los Angeles was struck by an unprecedented 10.5 magnitude earthquake, submerging a third of the city below the seabed. Sixty-five thousand people died instantly, leaving millions homeless and transforming into a community of homeless wanderers.

　In 2000, a cult organized mass suicides on a large scale, wildfires spread across western states, a mutated version of the Black Death broke out, and 1400 million people died at the turn of the millennium.

　In 2008, the US-Soviet space war broke out. In just six hours, both sides suffered heavy losses and their space forces were almost destroyed.

　In 2012, another devastating plague broke out in Chicago, turning the entire city into a ghost town.

　During this period, Washington was not only helpless, but also deliberately obstructed disaster relief, attempting to profit from the national crisis, and completely failed to treat the citizens as human beings.

　Starting in 2009, the unbearable Midwestern states declared independence one after another. By 2019, the United States was left with only the territory it had when it was founded.

　Although the Midwestern states were still nominally part of the United States, they maintained complete independence in domestic and foreign affairs, refused to pay taxes, and denied the jurisdiction of federal law, declaring themselves "free states." Texas, already prone to independence, reverted to the "Lone Star Republic."

　During the collapse of the Confederation, many bankrupt city governments, overwhelmed by debt, corruption, and financial burdens, chose to sell government functions and public services to domestic or foreign companies, allowing the Japanese to practically buy out the West Coast of North America, while the eastern states were also hollowed out by various companies.

　Since 2000, Arasaka Corporation has acquired numerous bankrupt companies and cities in the United States, providing numerous jobs for the people of the Midwest. Saburo Arasaka even personally visited the West Coast to offer condolences and assistance to Americans trapped in dire straits by natural and man-made disasters, denouncing the Washington federal government's inaction and disregard for the people's lives. He was dubbed "the man of the people" by the suffering American public...

　But for the "old-school" Americans during the Cold War, this kind of rebellious behavior was simply unimaginable.

　Are Japanese companies buying up half of the United States? Are American citizens welcoming a Japanese ruler to rule? Has the world gone mad?

　The thought of the West Coast of the United States covered in Japanese flags made President Nixon, who had fought in World War II, instantly freak out: How could a mere yellow-skinned dwarf have the guts to colonize America? Oyster sauce?! (How dare you?!)

　I guess they dropped too few nuclear bombs on Japan! Not enough Japanese people were roasted! Yeah, that must be it!

　After preparing himself mentally, President Nixon continued to read on and then breathed a sigh of relief.

　——As the saying goes, whenever the country is in danger, a hero will emerge.

　As the old United States crumbled and Japanese colonial power advanced triumphantly across North America, Elizabeth Kress became President of the United States in 2019.

　Moreover, this female president can be described as a heroine who is as capable as any man. She managed to turn the tide and curb the decline of the United States!

　Over the next four years, she rebuilt the political structure of the New United States and launched the Fourth Corporate War, launching a counterattack against the Arasaka Corporation. Although this campaign inflicted massive environmental damage, infrastructure destruction, and economic losses on the North American continent (President Nixon couldn't comprehend the implications of an internet meltdown), a strike team infiltrated Japan's North American headquarters (Arasaka Tower in Night City) and detonated a nuclear bomb on August 20, 2023. The Japanese, now without their leader, finally surrendered and were forced to withdraw from the continental United States.

　Although the new United States still failed to unify the country and the free states were still unruly, the external forces interfering in North America were finally repelled.

　If we were to comment on her achievements, this female president could at least be compared to Kemal, who founded the Turkish Republic. Although she could not save the old empire from collapse, she at least managed to preserve the country's existence and left hope for future revival.

　However, as a politician who rose to prominence during America's golden age, President Nixon obviously could not be satisfied with this "guaranteed" future.

　In contrast, Japan gained far more in this future timeline—although the Japanese royal family was killed in a series of civil wars, leaving only a young girl, Japan expanded to an unprecedented level, far exceeding the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere during the Pacific War.

　Not to mention that around 2020, Japan (Arasaka) almost controlled half of the western United States and once reached its glorious peak of drinking water from the Mississippi River.

　Even after being expelled from North America, Japan under the rule of Arasaka Corporation still occupied the Korean Peninsula (China lost the Second Korean War, the North Dynasty collapsed, and South Korea became a protectorate and semi-colony of Japan again after the war), and aggressively encircled Southeast Asia and Australia. It was even able to expedition to Africa, established a colony in Cape Town, South Africa, and controlled the Cape of Good Hope channel... What kind of imperial hegemony was this?

　Of course, compared with the seemingly prosperous Japan, the country that gained more on this timeline was the reunified Germany.

　The 21st century in Cyberpunk 2077 is a time when Europe has returned to prominence and the world uses the euro. The European Community is essentially led by Germany. The right to issue the euro is also in the hands of German bankers in Frankfurt...

　Obviously, President Nixon could not accept such an absurd result: How could Americans use the euro?

　It seems that in the future, Germany and Japan will work together to tear the United States apart in the east and west, and World War II will be fought in vain?

　What’s even worse is that if he lives long enough, he might be able to witness this tragic and absurd scene in his lifetime!

　"Germany must not be allowed to unify, and the European Community must not be allowed to issue the euro. At the same time, we must strengthen our control over Japan..."

　President Nixon rubbed his forehead in distress, and then realized that with the United States severely damaged and internally unstable, even if he had foresight, it would be difficult to do anything about Japan and Germany immediately. If he was not careful, it might even backfire and destroy the US hegemony ahead of time!

　Now I can only keep all this in mind and be more careful in the future.

　He sighed, put away the "Summary Report on Key Points of Future History" he had just read, and flipped through another secret report. His brows furrowed. "A celestial intersection? A magical world? A group of Poles, presumably from the 18th or 19th century, escaped from Earth by ship to another world, defeated the dwarves and elves, and colonized a continent in that world? The evidence is that all the people on that continent speak Polish?"

　Months.

　Therefore, they only experienced a brief and fleeting journey in the other world, and coupled with the language barrier, the information they could obtain about the other world was even less - to the point that the FBI is currently unable to even confirm whether they traveled to the same magical world?

　Although their descriptions of their respective alien environments differed greatly, a planet was so vast that, with backward productivity, it was normal for many vastly different civilizations to coexist, even if they had no contact with each other.

　Moreover, compared to their number, the items they brought back from the other world were pitifully few - perhaps a lot in terms of total quantity, but when distributed equally among each person, it was far less than the group of British sailors who had traveled to the future. Some people even brought back nothing.

　The reason for this is probably that most of them, after landing in the other world, were either quickly captured by monsters and stripped naked to be used as food reserves and toys, or because of their outstanding appearance, they were captured by greedy aliens and used as slaves.

　In the magical world they traveled through, it seemed that there was a tradition that slaves were not allowed to wear any clothes unless the weather was cold, and were required to remain naked as a sign of their lowliness. Anyway, according to them, when they arrived in the other world, they all caught up with the hottest summer, and the other slaves they saw, regardless of gender, age or status, were all naked and barefoot...

　So, by the time they returned from the other world, none of the twenty or so girls could manage to fit in three sets of clothing. Most of the girls had traveled to the other world naked, and returned to Earth naked, bringing back only a magical brand on their abdomens and a slave collar around their necks.

　In this way, when the time travel phenomenon occurs again, the personal belongings they can bring back to Earth will naturally be very few.

　The only clothes they brought back were two linen robes, a loincloth, and five pairs of wooden shoes. They were all crude handmade items and have been handed over to archaeologists to study their craftsmanship. However, it is estimated that nothing special can be seen.

　However, although the American girls who had been enslaved didn't bring back many clothes, they did bring back a considerable amount of jewelry and ornaments. It seemed that some of these girls were intended by the slave traders to be dancers, so they were given numerous rings, necklaces, earrings, and hairpins. Although most of these were cheap, crudely made brass items, there were also a few magical items that could emit auras.

　In addition, while most of the girls' slave marks were just ordinary tattoos, four girls were branded with magical marks. Normally, there was nothing unusual about them. However, if they exercised vigorously and sweated profusely, or became emotionally agitated, the marks on their skin would glow.

　Scientists still don't understand why these jewelry and tattoos can glow - some say it's fluorescence, but that's clearly not the case.

　If they weren't worried that the magic tattoo would become ineffective when separated from the human body, these four unlucky girls might have been skinned in the laboratory.

　Next, there are a few helmets, daggers and short swords brought back by chance, and there is nothing special about them at the moment.

　The only otherworldly artifact with written records collected so far is a wooden box, said to have belonged to the headmistress of an otherworldly magical academy. Inside, two parchment scrolls remain. Experts are excited about this discovery, hoping to gain insights into the society, culture, institutions, and power structures of this magical world, similar to the deciphering of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and Mesoamerican Mayan scripts.

　Then, they were disappointed.

　The text on both scrolls was in Polish, a modern Polish language that was easily readable by Earthlings. However, they contained no historical, geographical, mythological, or magical information. Besides decorative images, they contained only two poems.

　When these two parchment scrolls from another world were delivered to the White House, the two poems recorded on them had even been published in newspapers.

　Anyway, Nixon opened the scroll and took a quick look at it, but he couldn't read a word—he had never learned Polish.