Chapter 251: The Birth of a New Order—Pacify the Interior Before Resisting the Exterior

Three days later, East Sea, deck of the Penglai.

The morning sea breeze, carrying a salty, fishy scent, blew across the makeshift signing platform.

The platform was simple: just a long table covered with a dark blue tablecloth.

But the backdrop was staggering. A hundred meters to the rear right, the wreckage of that Eagle Country Nimitz-class aircraft carrier was slowly sinking, with only the island structure still exposed above the sea, like an unwilling tombstone.

At nine in the morning, the representatives of the three nations boarded the ship.

Ishihara, the interim Prime Minister of Foot-Basin-Chicken, was pale, his legs trembling as he walked.

The Minister of Defense following behind him kept his head bowed, not daring to look at the Dragon Cavalry guards holding guns nearby.

Even more terrifying were the two rows of Yinglong mechs standing at the edge of the deck, their fifteen-meter-tall steel bodies casting long shadows in the morning light.

Wilson, the Eagle Country Secretary of State, remained relatively composed, but his suit and tie were fastened with such meticulous precision that he looked as if he were attending his own funeral.

Singh, the White Elephant Minister of Foreign Affairs, kept wiping away sweat.

"Please, sit," the chief negotiator for Longguo said in a calm tone, gesturing to the three chairs across the long table.

No pleasantries, no small talk.

Three documents were already laid out on the table, each thirty pages thick.

"The 'Unconditional Surrender' and the 'Military Control Agreement'," the Longguo representative said.

"The contents have been notified in advance; now, please sign to confirm."

Ishihara's hands trembled as he opened the copy for Foot-Basin-Chicken.

The very first article made his vision go black:

【1. The nation of Foot-Basin-Chicken shall immediately dissolve all armed forces, including but not limited to the Ground, Maritime, and Air Self-Defense Forces. All weapons and equipment shall be received or destroyed by Longguo.】

【2. Longguo shall station troops throughout the entire territory of Foot-Basin-Chicken and establish five major military control zones. The costs of stationing troops shall be borne by Foot-Basin-Chicken.】

【3. Foot-Basin-Chicken's energy supply shall be fully integrated into Longguo's Xuanming Power Grid, with prices charged at 200% of Longguo's domestic electricity rates (until war reparations are cleared).】

【4. Total war reparations: 50 trillion Long coins, to be paid off over 50 years. In the event of default, Longguo reserves the right to directly seize all of Foot-Basin-Chicken's state-owned assets.】

【5. Reorganization of the political system...】

There were over twenty more articles following, but Ishihara could no longer take them in. He looked up, his lips quivering: "These... these conditions are too..."

"Too what?" the Longguo representative raised an eye.

"Compared to your use of submarines to ram civilian energy platforms, causing power outages in coastal cities, direct losses exceeding 80 billion, and immeasurable indirect losses, these conditions are already quite merciful."

"Didn't you recover in just three seconds? Where did 80 billion come from?" Ishihara was stunned.

But seeing the cold gaze of the Longguo representative, he wisely picked up the pen.

The sound of the pen tip scratching across the paper was faint, but to him, it sounded like the death rattle of his entire country taking its final breath.

Wilson's side was slightly "better"—but not by much.

The conditions for Eagle Country included:

Immediate cancellation of all technical sanctions and trade barriers against Longguo;

Full opening of scientific and technological databases, including top-secret research data from Area 51;

War reparations of 30 trillion Long coins;

Consent for Longguo to station troops in Hawaii and Guam;

And the most humiliating article—voluntary demotion to a "Second-Class Member State of the Longguo Alliance," with no voting rights in the Alliance Council.

"Second-class..." Wilson smiled bitterly, "We've been number one in the world for so long, we've forgotten what it's like to bow our heads."

"Sign it," the Longguo representative pointed to the end of the document.

"Or, we could have the Penglai fly another lap around the West Coast—flying lower this time, say... five hundred meters?"

Wilson gritted his teeth and signed.

Singh was the most straightforward, signing almost without looking.

The conditions for White Elephant were relatively "lenient":

Ceding all disputed territories to Longguo;

Reparations of 10 trillion;

Accepting supervision by Longguo's "Economic Development Steering Committee" for five years;

Reducing the size of the military to one-tenth of its original scale.

"We couldn't beat them anyway," Singh said after signing, mocking himself, "Admitting defeat early might mean fewer casualties."

The signing process was broadcast globally.

The live comments went from explosive at the start, to silent later on, and finally to reflective:

"A day ago they were bombing our platforms, a day later they are kneeling to sign."

"This is the gap in strength... no, it's the gap between eras."

"Suddenly feels so unreal, like a dream."

"It's not a dream; a new era has arrived."

The ceremony ended, and the representatives of the three nations were escorted off the ship.

When Ishihara reached the gangway, he suddenly turned back and whispered in Japanese: "We will fulfill the conditions... but some people in our country will not accept this."

The Longguo negotiator looked at him coldly: "That is your business. But if they cause trouble again, next time it won't just be stationing troops."

"Next time, it will be the end of your nation."

Ishihara shuddered, bowed his head, and hurried away.

One hour after the signing, social reactions began to ferment.

On Longguo social media, hashtags like #Won# and #NewEra# flooded the screens, but the number one trending topic was:

#HurryUpAndBuildHeaven'sPunishment#

Clicking into it, a popular post read: "Done celebrating? If you're done, get back to work!"

"Didn't the Longyin Research Institute announce that the aliens will be here in four years and ten months? We're here celebrating beating down three old-era countries? Open your minds, brothers!"

The replies below were uniform:

"The OP is right."

"Hurry up and build Heaven's Punishment."

"Deep space is the real threat."

Someone even posted a comparison image: on the left, the surrender ceremony of the three nations; on the right, the luminosity variation curve of Proxima Centauri.

The caption read: "The cockroaches in the house are dealt with; time to prepare for the wolves at the door."

Pragmatic to the point of being funny.

On the side of the three nations, the reactions were much more complex.

On the streets of Tokyo, Foot-Basin-Chicken, a small group of extremists attempted to storm the Longguo military command headquarters, only to be dispersed by the mechs using sonic cannons.

Although not lethal, it was enough to leave those people vomiting on the ground for half a day, half-dead from the ordeal.

More citizens were silently queuing up, handling their account opening procedures for the Xuanming Power Grid at the energy access registration points set up by Longguo.

"The electricity bill is a bit expensive, but it's better than having no power," an old grandmother told a reporter.

"And Longguo goods are cheap; the rice cooker I bought yesterday was only one-third the price of what it used to be."

On the West Coast of Eagle Country, protests continued for three days before gradually subsiding.

It wasn't suppressed; the people were just tired.

When the first batch of Longguo-made Xuanming appliances hit the market at rock-bottom prices, when electricity rates really dropped to one-tenth of the original, and when the unemployment rate began to fall due to integration into the Longguo supply chain...

"Dignity can't be eaten," a former auto worker said in an interview.

"I'm working at a battery factory invested in by Longguo now, and my salary is twice what it used to be. Should I hate Longguo or thank Longguo?"

As for the disputed areas assigned to Longguo by White Elephant: once they were transferred to Longguo, the local residents discovered something the very next day.

The potholed dirt roads at their doorsteps were paved into beautiful asphalt roads, power was connected, and even schools and hospitals were being built; Longguo engineering mechs could build a residential building in three days.

"If we had known..." a border villager grinned, "it would have been great to be transferred to Longguo earlier!"

In the evening, inside the Longyin canteen.

Wang Hao sat down with his tray: "Finally done! You guys don't know, I stared at those three surrender documents for three days and three nights, and the clauses alone went through eighteen drafts."

"We have to make them feel the pain, but we can't push them to the point where they jump over the wall like cornered dogs and bite back."

Chen Guang ate slowly: "The most critical thing is resource integration. After receiving the industrial capacity of the three nations, the supply chain efficiency of the Heaven's Punishment project can be increased by 40%."

Zhao Kaiyuan's eyes lit up: "More than that! After Eagle Country opened the Area 51 database, some of the materials science data inside is very useful to us."

"White Elephant's rare earth mines, Foot-Basin-Chicken's high-precision processing equipment... now they are all ours to allocate."

Li Yang took a sip of soup: "I just checked the international statistics; the number of member states in the Longguo Alliance has expanded to 103, and our share of global GDP has risen to 68%."

"So," Wang Hao grinned, "are we basically... the planetary chiefs now?"

Everyone burst into laughter.

Chen Guang put down his chopsticks and pushed up his glasses: "There's a new situation with the deep space signal."

"Torch Dragon-3 has detected that the countdown speed... is accelerating."

He pulled up a holographic projection showing the curve representing time.

The line, which had been declining gently, had suddenly steepened over the past 72 hours.

"The original prediction was four years and eleven months; now it's revised to..." Chen marked the number, "four years and six months."

"Accelerated by another five months?" Zhao Kaiyuan frowned, "Why?"

"Don't know. Maybe the Harvesters changed their propulsion method, or maybe our previous observations had errors," Chen paused.

"But regardless, time has decreased again."

Feng Yan had been silent, but now he spoke slowly: "So this war was worth fighting."

Everyone looked at him.

"Pacify the interior before resisting the exterior," Feng Yan looked at the darkening sky outside the window.

"Now, within the solar system, no one will hold us back anymore. 103 countries, 68% of global production capacity, all can be turned toward one goal."

He turned his head, his gaze sweeping over everyone's face:

"Build Heaven's Punishment. Guard the solar system."

There was silence in the canteen for a few seconds.

Wang Hao suddenly raised his hand: "So... are we still having the victory banquet?"

"Yes!" Feng Yan smiled, "Tonight, extra food in the canteen, my treat. Once we're full, we start tomorrow—"

"The final battle in the stars."

Late at night, Longyin Control Center.

Chen Guang stared at the Torch Dragon-3 interface alone.

The clamor of the surrender ceremony had faded, and the world seemed to have returned to peace.

But in deep space, those signals continued to arrive, and they were becoming increasingly urgent.

The countdown numbers pulsed before his eyes:

【Estimated time of arrival: 1643 days】

Four years and six months.

At this moment, the communicator rang; it was the Moon Base.

"Director Chen, all base modules for Heaven's Punishment No. 1 have been fully deployed!" the engineer's voice was filled with excitement.

"Solar sail power is normal, the laser emission array is calibrated, ready for testing at any time!"

Chen Guang pulled up the real-time footage transmitted back from the moon.

Beside the Guanghan Palace base, that giant ring structure with a diameter of fifty meters had unfolded, like a steel lotus blooming on the lunar surface.

Tens of thousands of laser emission units on its surface shimmered in the lunar sunlight.

"Test postponed," Chen Guang said, "Wait for President Feng's order."

"Understood."

The communication ended.

Chen Guang closed the interface and walked to the window.

The night sky was clear; he could see the moon, and beside the moon, that new star that had just begun to shine with a faint light.

That was Heaven's Punishment.

Humanity's first orbital defense weapon.

And in the deeper, more distant starry sky, the Harvesters were coming.

Faster than expected.

The door to the control room was pushed open, and Feng Yan walked in, holding two cans of coffee.

"Still not asleep?" he handed over a can.

"Can't sleep," Chen Guang took it, opened it, and took a sip, "Time has decreased by another five months."

"Then speed up," Feng Yan stood by the window, looking at the moon with him.

"Construction of the Heaven's Punishment No. 2 and No. 3 modules has already been accelerated. Although the design for Penglai-2 is paused, the technical reserves are all there. Also..."

He paused: "I have approved the final plan for the 'Houyi Project'."

Chen Guang turned his head: "That... stellar-level weapon concept deciphered from the deep space signal?"

"Yes," Feng Yan nodded, "If Heaven's Punishment is the shield, Houyi is the spear. We have to prepare some 'surprises' for the Harvesters."

The two drank their coffee in silence, watching the night sky.

After a long while, Feng Yan said softly:

"Alright, the house is cleaned up."

"Now... prepare to welcome the guests who have traveled from afar."

Outside the window, the moon moved slowly.

And on the far side of the moon, at the Heaven's Punishment base, the indicator lights on those laser emission units lit up green, one after another.

Like eyes opening in the darkness.

Staring into deep space. ===== CHAPTER 252 =====