Chapter 263

Only then did he realize he was still alive, nearly frightened to death by his own reaction. He looked up at the giant rock frozen on the screen; even the veins on the blades of grass pressed tightly against the stone by the gale were clearly visible.

Minister Li tremblingly picked up the teacup on the table and looked toward the Chairman:

"Chairman, where did you find this footage? You aren't planning to scare us old men to death by playing it, are you? Honestly, you really did scare me. My heart nearly stopped when that rock came flying over just now."

Minister Xie and the others began to complain as well, saying the Chairman was being unfair.

Only Minister Liu frowned, looking from the Chairman to the image before them. The Chairman shouldn't be so bored as to make a big scene just to call everyone here for nonsense. Could it be?

Minister Liu thought deeply, feeling a sense of dread. Just then, the Chairman, sitting upright in the main seat, observed the reactions of those on both sides and said:

"I also wish this were fake, but I regret to inform you all that this is a real event. This is authentic footage transmitted by the 98765 Unit in the video. They succeeded in luring the giant python into the deep mountains, but they paid for it with the lives of the entire unit. The unit's designation has now been erased."

"The designation has been erased!"

Everyone looked at the projection on the screen and fell silent.

Everyone present knew very well the reasons for a military unit's designation being erased: it was nothing more than a few possibilities—downsizing and reorganization, loss of the unit flag and damage to honor, or the total annihilation of the unit.

The reason for this unit's erasure was obvious. These were living, breathing people, all with families behind them.

No matter how much Minister Liu and the others engaged in infighting, they could not turn a blind eye to this. That was a fully organized unit with a designation, and it had just vanished without the ability to fight back.

Everyone looked down at the documents on the table, suddenly feeling a chill. These giant monsters appearing out of thin air possessed the power to easily wipe out a military unit.

No, it should be said they could easily wipe out a country. The giant octopus in the ocean had triggered a massive tsunami capable of making a landmass disappear into thin air; coastal countries were helpless, and it was even possible they wouldn't be able to find the culprit.

If that octopus came here, the massive tsunami could cause devastating losses to the economic hubs along the coast.

The office was filled only with the sound of pages turning and the "pat-pat" of cigarettes being smoked. Before long, the entire office was shrouded in mist.

After a while, the Chairman noticed something was wrong. After having Assistant Wan open the windows for ventilation, the Chairman looked at the officials present.

"Stop smoking. Do you really think this office is a smoking room? Anyone with good suggestions can bring them up!"

As he spoke, the Chairman looked at Minister Liu on his left and said:

"Minister Liu, why don't you share your thoughts first!"

Seeing the Chairman call on him, Minister Liu pondered for a moment and began:

"Actually, we can see the problem from the video footage just now. First, conventional weapons can barely penetrate the giant beast's scales, and the damage caused to the target is not as high as that of laser weapons."

"This may be related to the high temperature generated by the high-energy particles of laser weapons due to energy concentration, combined with the high-frequency cutting produced by the high-speed particle stream."

"However, current laser weapons also have major drawbacks: they lack sustained combat endurance, their volume is too large, the area of damage they cause is too small, and they have poor mobility."

After Minister Liu finished speaking, he had opened up a line of thought for everyone. At this point, Minister Li also spoke up: "Since that giant python has been lured into the mountains, why don't we just use nuclear weapons?"

"Minister Li makes a good point. Although this giant beast is terrifying, I don't believe it can withstand a nuclear weapon!"

"That's right, why not just use a nuclear weapon to solve it!"

The officials below became more and more excited, unable to help but look at the Chairman sitting in the main seat.

They secretly thought to themselves that the Chairman must be getting senile, as such a simple matter still required discussion.

The Chairman watched the ministers pointing out the country's future, ignoring the subtle glances they cast his way from time to time, and picked up his enamel tea mug to take a drink.

Minister Xie saw the Chairman's calm demeanor and frowned. Based on his years of dealing with the Chairman, the calmer this old guy was, the deeper his schemes were. He had suffered secret losses several times before without realizing it, so he knew better than to underestimate someone who could reach this position.

Minister Xie saw that Assistant Wan was also standing there with a calm expression, and he immediately understood. He cursed inwardly:

"This old fox, I wonder who he's plotting against this time."

Soon, everyone stopped discussing and looked at the Chairman, as the decision to launch nuclear weapons rested in his hands.

The Chairman placed his hands on the enamel tea mug and looked at the officials below:

"It seems you have already finished your discussion. I assume you want to launch nuclear weapons?"

Before anyone could respond, the Chairman reached out and tapped the table with his knuckles:

"Giant beasts have been appearing one after another all over the world for unknown reasons. Who knows if more giant beasts will appear after we deal with this python?"

"If they appear near major cities, for example, near the capital, can we still solve it with nuclear weapons?"

"How will we handle it then? Comrades, we must be prepared for danger in times of peace!"

"The giant turtle near Dianchi is still sleeping, and the giant python has been lured into the mountains by our soldiers. We can take this opportunity to train our troops; with experience, we will be able to handle them calmly when they appear again."

The officials fell silent upon hearing the Chairman's words. They had only been thinking about how to solve the giant beast quickly, without thinking about the long term.

Although they were unwilling to submit to the Chairman, they had to admire his far-sightedness.

"Don't just sit there in silence. I brought you here today to brainstorm. Everyone, discuss and see if there are any methods."

"By the way, Minister Xie, when they were discussing just now, I noticed you didn't speak. Clearly, you have a different perspective."

Minister Xie felt unlucky when the Chairman called on him. He hadn't expected the Chairman to notice him even after he had tried so hard to keep a low profile.

The officials turned their heads and cast inquisitive glances, as if saying, "You brat, you actually dare to betray the revolution."

Minister Xie complained inwardly, but it was clearly not the time for explanations. As his brain raced, he actually thought of a method.

Minister Xie glanced at the Chairman and thought to himself, since you chose me, let me give you a little trouble.

"I believe the Chairman is right; it is necessary to plan ahead. Minister Liu mentioned earlier that lasers can cause damage to these giant beasts, but he also mentioned the limitations of laser weapons."

The officials looked at Minister Xie with some confusion, not knowing what the connection was. Minister Xie continued to explain:

"Actually, these shortcomings are urgent problems for us to solve, but if they were placed on machinery or vehicles, these flaws would seem insignificant, wouldn't they?"

Upon hearing Minister Xie's words, everyone's eyes lit up, and they secretly gave him a thumbs-up. They all understood that Minister Xie wanted to use Transformers to deal with the giant beasts, and their attention returned to the Chairman, wondering if he would agree.

"I understand Minister Xie's opinion, but the research institute was closed by Minister Liu. I arranged for some personnel to return to upgrade and modify those Transformers, but it was shelved because of that. Furthermore, the Transformers must remain on the front lines to guard against the wolfish ambitions of the Beautiful Country. They have now appeared with ancestral-return warriors; their morale is high, and we must be on guard!"

Hearing the Chairman's words, everyone sneered. It seemed the Chairman did not want to hand over this trump card.

Minister Liu, hearing the Chairman's excuse, immediately had an idea and spoke up:

"Chairman, my inspection here is finished. There were no violations at the research institute. I was just about to report to you; it's perfect to discuss it at the meeting. I will withdraw the people later, and the research institute can resume operations."

In any case, the secrets of the research institute had been extracted well enough, and the research center built by everyone's joint efforts was developing rapidly with the injection of capital. Yesterday, a batch of mechanical combat vehicles imitating the Transformers had officially gone into production.

The Chairman nodded upon hearing Minister Liu's words:

"That's fine. Later, I will notify Commander Qin Zheng to arrange for the people to return and implement the upgrade work for the Transformers as soon as possible."

Just as everyone thought the Chairman had compromised, the Chairman suddenly turned to look at the smug-looking Minister Li.

"Minister Li, you look quite happy. It is said that your research center has just produced a batch of machines similar to Transformers. You know, the battlefield is the final place to test weapons. We cannot miss this hunt for the giant beast. If they are suitable, I will arrange for the military to place an order!"

"By the way, because we don't know when the giant beast will appear, and modifying the Transformers takes time, I have decided to put the ten already-modified ones into the battlefield directly. I wonder how many of the one hundred you just produced can be sent?"

Minister Li did not expect the matter to be exposed so thoroughly, so he hurriedly defended himself:

"I also found a group of experts to develop these by imitating the Transformers. This time, I am willing to contribute ninety units, which will make a hundred when combined with the ten Transformers."

"I thank Minister Li for his deep patriotic heart. The other ministers should also learn from Minister Li and take on their respective responsibilities. Alright, I have other matters to attend to. Meeting adjourned."

After speaking, the Chairman shot a sharp, eagle-like gaze at everyone and then announced the end of the meeting.

Assistant Wan hurriedly followed. Just as he reached the door, he turned back and looked at everyone present with a mysterious smile.

Minister Li saw the back of the Chairman as he walked away and collapsed into his chair, quickly wiping the large beads of sweat from his forehead.

The few who had collaborated also had shifty eyes. That look from the Chairman just now was surely a warning, but they didn't know how much had been exposed.