civilwarnovels Chapter 4410 Project Farstar (28)
Chapter 4410 Project Farstar (28)
Chapter 4410 Project Far Star (Twenty-Eight)
The impact of this action was far greater than the tsunami that struck the coastline, and the chain reaction triggered by the simultaneous occurrence of several events nearly ignited the entire planet.
First, photos of Martian cities sparked widespread discussion. While the existence of extraterrestrials on Earth in this universe isn't particularly surprising, the idea of aliens being so close and constantly watching them is certainly unsettling.
From a cosmic perspective, Mars and Earth are practically touching. Even with our technologically underdeveloped world, humanity could somehow manage to send something to Mars. For any civilization capable of leaving the Earth's surface, a single misstep could easily lead to a rear-end collision. Calling them neighbors isn't quite accurate; they're more like roommates. At least roommates have a doorway, but there are no barriers between Earth and Mars.
Such close proximity is enough to cause panic among humans, not to mention that this Martian civilization appears far more advanced, having visited Earth thousands of years ago, and that many of its inhabitants are still hiding among them. This fact alone has already caused widespread anxiety.
Immediately afterwards, the Martian-built space station was quietly launched into low Earth orbit. This meant that the Martian infiltration was far more terrifying than they had imagined.
Most people are unaware of Victor's existence, and even those who are aware are largely unaware of his ability to create things out of thin air. Therefore, they imagine that building such a space station would require an extremely complex industrial chain. This implies that most of the higher-ups in this chain have likely been infiltrated.
The aerospace industry is a comprehensive field encompassing materials science, engineering, dynamics, mathematics, physics, astronomy, and virtually everything else. The human and material resources required to launch a space station are unimaginable. For such a thing to fly and operate successfully, even most scientists are probably Martians.
And they were unaware that Green Lantern, his girlfriend, and his father-in-law happened to be top figures in the industry. Wayne poured money into it, and the personnel involved in each approval process didn't even bother to look at what the device was; it was launched smoothly. The entire process was completely legal and compliant. This proves that the oversight process was utterly ineffective.
From these three perspectives, the Martians' control and infiltration of human society has reached an extremely dangerous level. If the previous discovery of Martian cities caused public anxiety, then the launch of the space station has given humanity's leadership a small shock.
Then, three nails were driven into the ground, extinguishing humanity's last shred of hope. Especially when even Superman couldn't pull them out.
They also imagined that perhaps Martian technology wasn't that advanced. It's just a space station, right? Anyone can build one. Even if a city looks advanced, it might still have underdeveloped areas, so it can't be considered strong evidence of technological advancement.
But once these three nails were laid, everyone had to admit that the Martian civilization's technology was indeed very advanced, and the things they created were unshakeable by humans, not even Superman.
Finally, the revelation that the murderer in the Luther Manor murder case was suspected to be a Martian shattered humanity's last remaining illusion—that Martians were hostile to humans and that the two sides could not coexist peacefully.
The Martian's subsequent speech revealed a crucial fact: while Martians are not perfect beings and suffer from reproductive difficulties, the solution to this weakness lies on Earth. This implies a life-or-death struggle between the two civilizations, a zero-sum game with no possibility of reconciliation.
For American politicians, especially those in the federal government, the most terrifying aspect of this Martian invasion is that they are not launching a large-scale military war, but rather fighting in a way that the United States fears most.
For politicians and the military, armed war is not entirely a bad thing. Otherwise, they wouldn't be igniting conflicts around the world. War provides them with a perfectly legitimate excuse to oppress the people. As long as war is declared, it's reasonable for the people to tighten their belts, and they can even intensify their efforts to squeeze even more resources out of them.
Resisting aggression and suppressing internal conflicts are good things for both politicians and the military. In any case, if a war breaks out, it's either ordinary people or the Justice League that will suffer. Even if they can't win, they'll be the last ones to die.
However, infiltration warfare would be extremely dangerous. Especially since human technology is completely incapable of identifying Martians, anyone could be one.
This would lead to the last thing these politicians want: they wouldn't be able to find the enemy. Without a trace of the enemy, they can't shift the blame. And once completely infiltrated, everyone will face the most tragic end.
For the Anssa people, death is not the most terrifying thing. It's not that they are not afraid of death, but in their cultural system, there is something far more terrifying than death: becoming a slave.
For some countries, slavery may be a distant memory, but for others, it is a thing of the past. Even cloaking it in the guise of a modern democratic society cannot change its fundamental nature.
The vast majority of policies and laws in Western countries are essentially warnings to people never to become slaves. Even if it means selling one's dignity, health, or life, one must never be reduced to the lowest class. Even if it means being at the mercy of exploiters, even if it involves enduring extreme suffering, it is far better than being a slave.
To this end, they created slaves and subjected them to utter misery as a deterrent and warning to others that such a life was worse than death. This ideology and atmosphere not only prevailed among the lower and middle classes but also profoundly influenced the upper class.
Many describe the American upper class as being like angry little dogs. Faced with many issues that could be resolved peacefully and without any need for anger, they instead act like stressed, rabid dogs. This is essentially a product of their culture. The cultural environment doesn't allow for weakness; you must appear strong, even bluffing. Behind this excessive behavior lies a deep-seated fear of being "left behind."
Only those living in such a society can realize the hellish existence they would face if they became second-class citizens of Earth. Because hell is always around them, the torment of those suffering souls is too close. Therefore, when this possibility arises in their minds, the pressure explodes instantly.
Since the three spikes were simultaneously driven into the vicinity of three of the most densely populated continents, encompassing countries in both the East and the West, the reaction speed of Eastern countries was relatively slow in comparison.
While they were still trying to figure out what the Martians were up to, and many hadn't even realized the consequences, the major Western powers across the ocean had already gone mad.
They knew better than anyone the miserable plight the natives would suffer after being usurped, what they would be like enslaved by the Martians, and they feared defeat more than anyone else. They had to win this battle.
This move has essentially stepped on the tail of Western politicians. What they fear most is not confrontation, but being replaced.
The initial actions taken by Eastern countries were nothing more than exploration, research, and assessment, followed by attempts to communicate. They would first dispatch engineering vessels and submarines to collect various data and test the strength of materials, while simultaneously reassuring the public and preventing panic. The most radical approach was simply to use the military to improve public order and prevent anyone from going insane.
Meanwhile, the Western countries on the other side had entered a state of full-scale war. Politicians kicked those long-time idiots out of their shells one by one, forcing those lazybones who usually just laze around to find solutions as quickly as possible.
Without any warning, they went straight into a frenzy. The same furious roar echoed across all the country's communication channels: "Get that thing away from us!!!"
Activating the tower could accelerate Martian reproduction, meaning that for every second it stays there, a new Martian baby might be born. Since it's impossible to distinguish them, and killing all the newborns would be impossible—that would wipe out humanity—the best solution is to dismantle the tower as soon as possible.
The entire Earth now seems to have turned into a MOBA game's Rift, with everyone shouting "Push the tower! Push the tower!" and every now and then you can hear "Let's group up!" or "Help me! Help me!"
The military delegation naturally consisted of both aircraft carriers, fighter jets, and submarines. The equipment didn't need to be new; as long as it was effective, that was enough. The carrier strike group sailed majestically toward the Atlantic, but neither the bombing raids by the fighter jets nor the torpedoes launched by the submarines could even scratch the nail's surface or damage its paint.
The politicians' team deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles. Initially, they weren't equipped with nuclear warheads, rendering them useless. Later, even with nuclear warheads, they still failed. Even with Green Lantern's intervention to prevent radiation from spreading into the city, Aquaman's cursing was quite unpleasant.
Even if they disregarded the Justice League's opinions and abandoned environmental and human rights constraints, they still couldn't do anything about this thing. They used everything they could find: heavy engineering machinery, underwater drilling equipment, and various high-powered cutters.
Even in the later stages, when everyone was out of ideas, they would try anything that came up with, regardless of whose equipment or technology it was. Despite the combined efforts of Asia, America, and Europe, it just didn't work.
Superhumans did try, but it had little effect. On one hand, the thing was stuck too deep and couldn't be pulled out forcefully, otherwise the entire Earth's crust would crack, potentially resulting in a repeat of the Pangaea scenario. On the other hand, cutting rays usable on Earth couldn't cut through it, and the ultimate ray that Clark used to attack Doomsday couldn't be fired at the surface, otherwise it would become another repeat of the dinosaur extinction scenario.
In short, humanity is at a loss. In just one week, more than a dozen members of Congress were rushed to the hospital, and even a seasoned general suffered three strokes and two cerebral hemorrhages.
Most importantly, both parties finally stopped discussing the vote. They held over 70 meetings in a week, without mentioning the ballot once; everyone was focused on removing the nail.
After abandoning the most important democratic process—the general election—the brilliance of democracy finally shone again in America. As the veins hidden beneath the earth were pierced, the pristine coastline was stained crimson, and the Atlantic Ocean, like drops of holy blood falling on a field of blood, proclaimed the death of Jesus Christ and foreshadowed the coming new life.