Chapter 531 - 520 Threat_1

"Throughout the entire 20th century, we didn’t see any trace of you, but now the situation has completely reversed."

In the auditorium, Wu Yunfeng, after listening to Bob Roster’s lament, kindly reminded him:

"It’s not that there weren’t any, right over there Frank Yang and many others have left their names, but indeed there are relatively few."

Bob: "You really are... quite remarkable. I’m not unfamiliar with this field and understand what a huge step this is. Now I’m fully convinced that you have the ability to turn TEPA into reality. Fermi Laboratory will definitely spare no effort to provide support!"

"..."

The moment Ye Changsi announced the successful first flight of ’Cloud Ascend,’ the afternoon’s agenda got completely disrupted, as everyone wanted to hear what this aero-space plane was all about.

Thus, Ye Changsi had no choice but to explain using some images and data from his mobile phone; Cloud Ascend and Xuehu were different. Although technically more advanced, it was an open project, and it was beneficial to disclose some information appropriately.

When the specific appearance and power structure of Cloud Ascend were revealed, the audience of tens of thousands gasped in amazement, struck by the ingenuity and boldness of its design.

The High Energy Physics Institute, despite having many talented individuals, had limited achievements; now the aerospace sector had helped them regain initiative, making everyone clearly recognize China’s technological strength, thus no longer viewed with the same touch of disdain as before.

The entire afternoon, a three-hour discussion off the main topic, revolved around aerospace. When some scientists heard the phrase "as cheap as planes for transportation," they even proposed the concept of constructing physical experimental facilities in space, which immediately gained a bunch of supporters. Afterwards, various far-fetched ideas emerged, and the afternoon passed in a noisy clamor.

By the time they left the venue still full of ideas, Cloud Ascend had already passed over America for the second time.

...

Presidential Palace.

When Sullivan pushed open the door to the President’s office, he immediately sensed the unusually quiet atmosphere, and seven or eight people were standing by the table, heads bowed, doing nothing.

John, who had been looking down at the fax, lifted his head and said calmly:

"Go call McMaster and Kelly, ask them to come here."

"They are already on their way, sir."

John nodded without saying anything more and then swiveled his chair 90 degrees, staring blankly into the corner of the room.

After what might have been a few minutes, hurried footsteps came from outside, and McMaster and Kelly entered one after the other.

The entire office was filled with a pressure that made it difficult to breathe, and the surrounding air was so void of sound that McMaster thought his own breathing sounded as loud as a vacuum cleaner.

"Mr. President..."

"Close the door."

John interrupted him, and only after the thick solid wood door was closed did he take a deep breath, clutched the fax papers with trembling hands, and then suddenly slammed them onto the ground.

Pieces of paper fluttered down onto the expensive carpet, making a rustling friction sound.

"Gentlemen, do you know what has happened?!"

John’s voice was not very loud, but almost every letter was squeezed out from between clenched teeth with dissatisfaction, contorting the muscles on his face.

"Raymond, tell me, why didn’t we receive any message."

McMaster stepped forward and explained awkwardly:

"Uh... since 2015, they have placed a lot of emphasis on the secrecy of their space operations, and ’Cloud Ascend’ itself is a highly classified project. Apart from public data, we have no reliable channels."

"Yes, but look at their reports, 26 top research institutes, over 700 enterprises involved, more than half of which are private companies. It’s not like the old days anymore. Didn’t you find anything unusual at all?"

John questioned everyone present, even beginning to doubt whether the America he took over was real.

Intelligence was unreliable, and technology was unreliable; he failed to sense either of the two greatest leading advantages.

He even suspected that the only reason he’d been brought in was that everyone else had seen the mess and deliberately chosen someone inexperienced to shift the blame!

The shadow of "Thunderstorm" still lingered over the skies of the western Pacific Ocean, and now there came "Cloud Ascend." It wouldn’t be long before they shot a rocket into space that weighed as much as a Long Beach-class nuclear cruiser. What couldn’t the Chinese people do?!

In contrast, NACA not only narrowly averted a disaster with its moon landing but now seemed to be lagging further and further behind its opponent, having done almost nothing. Had they really just wasted funds that were several times more substantial than their rival’s?

"Fred, you’re in charge of the Air Force, tell me if there are aliens at Area 51."

"Uh... sir, there really aren’t any. If you truly don’t believe it, you can visit for yourself."

"Good."

John scanned the room:

"Then would you all tell me, how should we deal with the aliens supporting them on our own?"

"..."

Seeing no one spoke up, John simply lowered his head and began to gather the scattered papers, and the others immediately helped him organize them before handing them back.

"Let’s see... FATS, our nuclear-powered aerospace plane is expected to make its maiden flight in March next year. The good news is Boeing has restored their STS launch system’s manufacturing capabilities, and next year it will be able to support both Artemis III and the Endeavour, which is great;

MSP, why hasn’t the testing for the air-launched small spacecraft begun yet? Haven’t several Dream Chasers already been produced?

And what’s this, NOVA, Saturn VII Rocket still has nothing, while the Starship is preparing for its third flight. Okay, we all know that New Yuan No. 3 is about to be retired.

..."

John listed all the projects spawned to confront the challenge, only to find that the quickest would still take half a year, while the slowest hadn’t even begun design planning, a terrifying extent of backwardness.

And during the time they tried to catch up, their opponent kept making constant progress, faster and faster. At this rate, the gap would only widen.

This outcome left everyone even more speechless, for although it was the truth, saying it out loud was still difficult to accept.

And at this moment, Sullivan added fuel to the fire:

"These are just scientific achievements. Now they’re winning over hearts and minds. The supercollider might cost a lot, a lot of money, but for them, the cost isn’t as high as one might think, perhaps even less than the LHC.

Scientists from all over the world support them, regardless of nationality. That’s a very dangerous signal, indicating that top talents might gradually drain towards them.

Though cutting-edge physics isn’t immediately useful, the scientists researching it are truly priceless treasures."

This conclusion touched upon America’s most significant advantage: the congregation of top talent.

Due to both infrastructure and the abundance of leading scientists, if they began to waver, it would be a devastating blow.

"Then we’ll build a collider too, a bigger and better one. We can get Europe involved as well; surely we can make it bigger than what the Chinese have!"

McMaster said, immediately drawing mockery:

"The federal budget isn’t infinite! Do you want to bankrupt the federal government?"

"Alright, calm down, gentlemen."

John stopped several men who showed signs of erupting, solemnly knocking on the oak table:

"We will not give up, we will not accept this disgrace. Now we have reached the most perilous moment. We need to tell the public, tell the congressmen, let democracy make the decision!"