Chapter 1627 Back to the Starting Point

"There's no need to show me something like this."

Swiping his index finger across the holographic screen, Li Guangya, who was sitting at his desk, perfunctorily swept a twenty-page application into the recycle bin.

The twenty-page proposal—or petition—was sent from Mars.

And to summarize its core content, it can be summed up in two sentences.

That is, in order to create a supply line for transporting water resources between Europa, the asteroid belt and Mars, the Tiangong city authorities hope to have their own armed defense force.

In short, they hope to build a Mars Defense Fleet in the solar system—or the Pan-Asian Second Fleet to combat the air pirates active between the asteroid belt and the Earthfire route.

To be honest, after seeing such a proposal, Li Guangya was more than amused besides being taken for granted.

As the chairman of Pan-Asia Cooperation, as long as he is not out of his mind, he will definitely not allow such absurd proposal to pass in his hands. Originally, the autonomy of the Mars colony was a long-standing issue left over from history. Now if even the right to defense is granted, those Martians can simply let the Martians directly establish a country.

What's more, it is still unknown whether the sky pirates on the asteroid belt were created by the Martians themselves, or funded with money.

Anyway, as far as he knows, New London of the North Sea Alliance and New Paris of the Iberia-French Alliance have become the largest black market trading centers in the entire solar system, where the robbed goods are basically sold, and even the futures market for stolen goods All got out.

And this is almost an open secret.

"I think we'd better treat this matter with caution," Secretary Wei, who was standing at the desk looking at the chairman who didn't care much, said seriously, "Of course we can't make concessions to this kind of appeal, but if If you refuse carefully, your answer to the colony's appeal may become a weapon for people with ulterior motives to make a fuss about."

"Even you have considered it, of course I know."

After waving his hand, Li Guangya put the knuckles of his index finger under his nose, and after thinking for a while, he spoke.

"Don't worry, I admit that I may have been a little swollen during this period, but I have never been perfunctory about any work... I will reply carefully to this matter. In addition, we have to be cautious about those who think about it Do you have any good advice on this?"

"We can start from two aspects," Wei Song continued after thinking for a moment, "on the one hand, launch military exercises with anti-piracy as the main subject, and on the other hand, deploy additional defense troops to Tiangong City. The colony's concerns about the sky pirates can also strengthen the control of the colony...to prepare for future plans."

The so-called future plan is naturally to take back the autonomy and implement direct jurisdiction.

The Mars colonies including Tiangong City were given autonomy before, mainly because the communication distance was too long to make real-time decisions on the situation of the colonies, so a highly autonomous jurisdiction model was implemented.

However, over the years, with more and more flights to and from Mars, and more frequent economic and trade exchanges between Mars and Earth, this highly autonomous model has become a drag instead.

Especially now that the warp speed technology has broken through, Qinling took the lead in completing the first super-light leap in human history, and the problem of super-light communication will be solved in the near future, which is the last obstacle that hinders Pan-Asian cooperation from taking back the direct jurisdiction of Tiangong City will also be removed soon.

After hearing Wei Song's cryptic expression, a thoughtful expression appeared on Li Guangya's face.

After pondering for a long time, he spoke.

"Convene the military committee. At this time tomorrow, I hope to see everyone in the conference room. You can go and say hello to Commander Sun in a while, and ask the staff to study in advance which combat formation to participate in the exercise and which ground force to send Troop presence would maximize our strategic deterrence on Mars while satisfying their 'sense of security'."

Wei Song said seriously.

"I'll be there in a while."

Li Guangya said: "It's enough to order. This matter is actually not that urgent. The focus of our current work is still on the space elevator and the star gate that is about to start construction. The relationship with the colony is very important. Try to avoid it." It's too stiff to fight with them."

Nodding his head, Wei Song was about to turn around and leave.

However, at this moment, he suddenly thought of something, stopped and said.

"Speaking of which, there is something I have to report to you."

Raising his head again, Li Guangya cast a questioning look at him.

"whats the matter?"

"Recently, several well-known foundations of alien systems registered on Mars have suddenly started to raise funds on a large scale, planning to build colony ships," Wei Song continued after a pause, "especially the well-known exploration funds of the second outer system of the South Gate, Nearly 150 billion credits were raised through pre-sale of tickets and bond issuance.”

"Colonial ship?" Li Guangya frowned slightly, then shook his head and said, "I don't care about financial matters. I'll say hello to the financial supervision department later."

Wei Song smiled wryly and continued.

"The key is not 100 billion...but Academician Lu."

Li Guangya was slightly taken aback.

"Academician Lu?"

"Well," Wei Song continued with a strange expression on his face, "he seems to have left his apprentice behind and went to Mars alone to participate in the art exhibition of the Nanmen Second Colonial Exploration Foundation..."

Having said that, he was silent for a while, then lowered his tone and continued.

"...He might be serious."

There was silence in the office.

After a long time, Li Guangya broke the silence.

"For a great man like him who can influence the course of history, no matter what choice he makes in the face of fate, it is beyond our control."

Sighing lightly, his voice was obviously a bit tired, as if he was facing some kind of problem that was more difficult than the defense of the colony.

After brewing emotions in his chest for a long time, he waved his hand as if giving up.

"You don't need to report this matter to me in the future, let him go."

...

"Ah Choo!"

Looking sideways at Lu Zhou, who sneezed without warning, Ling, who stopped the Mars rover, cast him a questioning look.

"Do you have a cold, Commander?"

"No, I guess someone missed it..." Sniffing his nose hard, Lu Zhou reached out and touched the holographic interface, cleared the mist inside the helmet, and changed the subject, "Are we there yet?"

Ling nodded and turned her gaze out of the car window.

"It's here."

This is an abandoned mine, located in the rift valley one kilometer east of the former site of Hell's Gate, and the place where everything started.

The sign of Hidel Mining is still hanging at the entrance of the mine, but compared to the last time I saw it, the mottled and wind-sand erosion marks of that time are more conspicuous.

Lu Zhou once made a promise with General Reinhardt that he would come back to him when he was done with the affairs on Earth. Although there may be a little time left before the day of departure, preparations are almost ready.

At the same time, he also has many things he wants to ask him about the mystery of the "star gate".

Holding Ling's arm and jumping off the Mars rover, Lu Zhou, who stood still in front of the abandoned mine, couldn't help showing a nostalgic expression on his face.

time flies.

It's been a year and a half in the blink of an eye.

During this year and a half, I not only saw the world changed by my knowledge, but also met so many interesting people, and even met my offspring, who was sent to the future by me...

The Adam's apple moved slightly, and Lu Zhou, who seemed to have something to say, suddenly opened his mouth.

"Ling."

He cast a questioning look at Lu Zhou, and Ling, who was behind him, responded.

"What's wrong, Commander."

Lu Zhou, who originally wanted to say something, suddenly closed his opened mouth for some reason.

After being silent for a while, he looked up at the deep and boundless darkness in the depths of the cave ahead, with a smile on his face.

"It's nothing... lead the way ahead."

The red pupils flickered slightly, like the light of fireflies.

Ling nodded slightly, and stepped forward to stand in front of Lu Zhou.

"As you order, Commander."