Chapter 174

The next day at nine o'clock in the morning, Geneva negotiation venue.

The atmosphere was completely different from yesterday.

Eagle Country Deputy Secretary of State Williams was the first to sign the revised agreement.

After signing, he didn't even look at the Longguo representatives and left the table immediately, his back as hurried as if he were fleeing.

Main contents of the agreement: 18 billion US dollars in compensation (of which 5 billion is offset by canceling some technical bans and opening markets).

Promise to reduce military presence in the Asia-Pacific, hand over some non-core military technical data, and not interfere in Longguo's resolution of historical issues with Foot-Basin Chicken.

Before signing, Williams asked only one question: "When can the officers and men of the Charlotte return home?"

Zhou Mingyuan's answer was very direct: "After receiving the first payment, one-third will be released first. When the full payment is received, all will be released."

Williams gritted his teeth and signed.

Next was the White Elephant representative Singh.

His hands were shaking, and the name he signed was crooked, like a primary school student's handwriting.

The White Elephant's agreement was more specific: acknowledge Longguo's actual line of control on the border, dismantle all cross-border outposts, and compensate 8.3 billion US dollars (of which 3 billion is offset by lithium and rare earths).

Hand over the twelve captured Eagle Country advisors and related communication records, and demilitarize the border.

After signing, Singh looked up at Lei Jindong: "The twenty-three thousand soldiers of ours who were captured..."

"They will also be released in batches," Lei Jindong said.

"According to the agreement, for every term you complete, we will release a batch."

"When all are completed, all will be released. But officers and key personnel need to... stay for a while longer to cooperate with the investigation."

Singh's face was ashen, but he didn't say anything else and left.

Now, only two parties remained in the conference room.

In front of Foot-Basin Chicken representative Onodera lay the agreement that hadn't changed a single word; he lowered his head, his hands under the table.

But through the reflection on the table, one could see him wiping the sweat from his palms.

"Mr. Onodera," Zhou Mingyuan checked his watch, "How has your side considered it?"

"We..." Onodera's voice was dry.

"Need more time. Historical issues involve too much, national sentiment needs to be appeased, Diet deliberation needs a process..."

"You were already given a thirty-day deadline yesterday," Zhou Mingyuan interrupted him, "Today is the second day. You have twenty-eight days left."

"Thirty days is too short! This kind of major decision needs at least half a year—"

"Then don't decide," Feng Yan suddenly spoke.

Everyone looked at him.

Feng Yan stood up, walked to the electronic map on the side of the conference room, and turned on the switch.

The map lit up, showing the real-time situation in East Asia.

"At three o'clock this morning, my East Sea Fleet began routine training in the waters around your side," he pointed to the group of blue light spots on the map, "This is the fleet's position."

Onodera stared at those light spots that almost surrounded the Foot-Basin Chicken islands, his throat moving.

"At six o'clock this morning, my southwest border mech troops advanced five kilometers and established a new observation post," Feng Yan zoomed in on the southwest region.

"This is real-time footage sent back by drones."

In the footage, "Jing-An Type 2" mechs were setting up a radar station on a ridge at an altitude of five thousand meters, their movements as skilled as if they were pitching a tent in their own backyard.

"Also," Feng Yan pulled up another window.

"'Kuafu-2' No. 2 test missile completed launch preparations two hours ago and can take off at any time. The target coordinates for this time... are set here."

He pointed to a spot on the map, which was an uninhabited mountainous area near the Foot-Basin Chicken capital.

Onodera's face turned completely white.

"I am not threatening you," Feng Yan turned off the map and walked back to his seat.

"I am telling you the reality. Thirty days is our patience limit."

"After thirty days, if your side has not signed the agreement, we will unilaterally enforce the agreement terms—in our own way."

"What way?" Onodera's voice trembled.

"For example," Wang Hao chimed in with a grin.

"We go get those historical archives ourselves. For example, we go 'help' you reduce armaments ourselves."

"For example, we go confirm the rights and interests of those islands ourselves. Don't worry, we are very professional, guaranteed to follow legal procedures and have complete paperwork."

This was no longer a threat; it was a clear statement of armed occupation.

Onodera stood up, the legs of his chair scraping against the floor with a harsh sound: "This... this is a war threat! Violation of international law!"

"International law?" Zhou Mingyuan also stood up, raising his volume for the first time.

"When you violated international law back then, did anyone talk to you about the law?"

"Today, we are just asking you to face history, compensate for losses, and guarantee peace—is that too much?"

He stared at Onodera: "Go back and tell your Prime Minister and Diet, thirty days."

"Not a day more, not a day less. After thirty days, we will either sign the peace agreement or see each other on the battlefield."

After speaking, the Longguo delegation rose to leave as a group.

When walking out of the conference room, Wang Hao looked back at Onodera, who was still standing there in a daze, and whispered to Feng Yan:

"Brother Feng, do you think they will jump over the wall in desperation?"

"They are already on the wall," Feng Yan said, "Whether they jump or not, they will fall."

That afternoon, the Longguo delegation returned to the country.

On the special plane, Wang Hao slumped in his first-class seat, hugging his tablet and scrolling through the news:

"Whoa! The country is exploding! The news of Eagle Country and White Elephant signing the agreement is already number one on the hot search! The comment section is full of people setting off firecrackers!"

Major General Lei Jindong was reading the military newspaper without looking up: "What about Foot-Basin Chicken?"

"Their cabinet held an emergency meeting, no results yet. But public reaction is polarized; right-wing elements are still organizing protests, saying the government is weak;"

"But ordinary people are already scrambling to buy supplies, supermarket shelves are empty. Oh right, Foot-Basin Chicken's stock market has plummeted and triggered circuit breakers twice."

Zhou Mingyuan closed his eyes to rest, suddenly speaking: "Feng Yan, does your technical team have confidence in executing the agreement terms?"

"In what aspect?"

"For example, if they don't sign after thirty days, can we really go and retrieve the historical archives, and can we achieve precise control technically?"

"I mean, without harming civilians, targeting only military targets and facilities."

Feng Yan thought for a while: "Yes. The 'Torch Dragon' system has a complete database of building structures, combined with the 'Insect Legion's' micro-robots."

"We can precisely enter archives, museums, even private collections, and retrieve designated items."

"The entire process can be completely unmanned and silent."

"What about armament restrictions?"

"That's even simpler," Li Yang took over.

"Their main military bases, weapon depots, and production lines are all marked by 'Torch Dragon'."

"Use EMP to paralyze defenses, mech troops to break in and control, and the technical team to dismantle or destroy on-site."

"Theoretically, we can dismantle 80% of their offensive capability within seventy-two hours."

Zhou Mingyuan opened his eyes: "In other words, we really have the ability to unilaterally enforce the agreement."

"We always have," Feng Yan said.

"Negotiations just give peace a chance. If they don't want peace, we'll go get it ourselves."

The plane passed through the clouds, below was the vast territory of the country.

At seven o'clock in the evening, Longyin Research Institute cafeteria.

The celebration banquet was simple but lively: over a dozen large round tables, eight dishes and one soup per table, beer and drinks provided in abundance.

All three hundred plus people from the institute came, even the logistics staff changed into clean clothes and sat together.

Feng Yan stood up with a drink: "No alcohol today, because the combat readiness state hasn't been lifted."

"But I'll toast everyone with tea; for the past seventy-two hours, everyone has been great."

Applause broke out, mixed with whistles and shouts of "Brother Feng is mighty."

Wang Hao stood up to add: "Especially a toast to our Guangzi; those bills at the negotiating table were calculated so precisely! Those bastards from Foot-Basin Chicken had their faces turn green!"

Chen Guang pushed his glasses and stood up: "The data support was done by 'Torch Dragon', I just relayed it."

"That's also because you relayed it well!" Wang Hao put his arm around his shoulder.

"Come, come, everyone toast Guangzi! Without his system, we couldn't have fought such a beautiful battle!"

Another round of laughter and noise.

The atmosphere was warm, but careful observers would notice that at the core team's table, laughter was quickly followed by a shift into work mode.

Li Yang said while picking up food: "In the southwest, stationing mech troops on the border is not a long-term solution."

"The plateau environment causes too much wear and tear on equipment; I suggest rotating the garrison, one rotation every three months."

Zhao Kaiyuan nodded: "Energy supply must also keep up. The efficiency of 'Xuanming' power supply vehicles on the plateau has dropped by 15%, and the cooling system needs improvement."

Zhao Gong smoked his pipe and said slowly: "I've looked at the tanks and artillery seized; the craftsmanship level is still stuck twenty years ago."

"However, the exoskeletons seized from Foot-Basin Chicken are interesting; their joint design draws on our early plans."

"Although it's an improved version of the exoskeleton specifically built for Foot-Basin Chicken by Eagle Country, the materials are still far behind."

Li Kui added: "The anechoic tiles of the Eagle Country submarine are new technology; samples have been sent to the materials group for analysis."

Feng Yan listened to these discussions without interrupting. After everyone had said their piece, he spoke:

"The battle was won, but it was won too easily; this is not a good thing."

The table went quiet.

"I mean," Feng Yan put down his chopsticks.

"The opponent didn't show all their cards this time."

"Eagle Country's space weapons, White Elephant's strategic missiles, Foot-Basin Chicken's extreme measures—none were used. They are probing, and they are also learning."

Wang Hao scratched his head: "Brother Feng, are you worried they will be more prepared next time?"

"They definitely will," Chen Guang took over.

"'Torch Dragon' analyzed the global intelligence traffic over the past three days and found that reconnaissance and cracking attempts against the Longyin technology system have increased by 400%."

"Eagle Country's national laboratories, Foot-Basin Chicken's military enterprises, White Elephant's research institutes—they are all working overtime to study our tactics and equipment."

"Let them study," Wang Hao didn't care, "Can they understand our technology?"

"They can't understand the whole, but they can understand the parts," Li Yang said.

"For example, the design ideas of mech joints, the cooling principles of laser weapons, the pulse waveforms of EMP bombs. If you give them time, they can imitate low-end versions."

"Low-end versions are also threats," Feng Yan said.

"So, we need to do three things now."

Everyone looked over.

"First, accelerate the research and development of next-generation equipment. By the time they barely imitate this generation, our next generation will already be in service; we must maintain technological leadership."

"Second, establish a more perfect technical ecosystem. Make our system the industry standard, force them to follow, and if they can't keep up, they'll be eliminated."

"Third," Feng Yan paused, "Prepare to deal with those who don't want to pay to buy, don't want to work hard to imitate, and want to steal directly."

Wang Hao's eyes lit up: "Spies?"

"More than that," Feng Yan pulled up encrypted intelligence on his tablet.

"'Torch Dragon' just intercepted a piece of intelligence: the remnants of the 'Confluence' organization have been activated somewhere in Europe, and the keyword is 'mech technology fusion'."

"We have dealt with this organization before; they specialize in stealing cutting-edge technology from various countries and then cross-breeding it into their own monsters."

The atmosphere in the conference room gradually became heavy.

"So the celebration banquet ends here," Feng Yan raised his drink.

"Starting tomorrow, a new project will be launched. The code name is 'Future Defense Line'; we must learn how to make them incapable of fighting before they learn how to fight us."

Outside the window, the night grew deeper, but in the institute's laboratory, the lights came on again.

Late at night, Feng Yan received a newly declassified file in his office.

It was a photo of the original text of an unequal treaty from a century ago; on the yellowed paper, the humiliating terms were still clearly visible.

At the signature spot were trembling handwriting and bright red seals.

He looked at it for a long time, then closed the file and opened the window.

In the distance, the city lights stretched to the horizon like a galaxy that would never go out.

The communicator on the table flickered; it was a brief message from Lei Jindong: "Historical archive retrieval work has started."

"The locations of two hundred and seventy-eight of the three hundred cultural relics on the first list have been confirmed."

Feng Yan replied: "One by one, they must all come home."

After sending it, he took one last look at the night outside the window.

This time, they will never be lost again.