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"That's about it. You can handle it as you see fit. We're going to outer space in two days, and you'll be in charge of everything on Earth then."

After saying goodbye to Shinjo, Aquawit and Sakata Yusuke went to the smoking room, where they each smoked a cigarette.

"Boss, you've given us a tough challenge," Aquawit said with a headache. "This security team is a mixed bag, and finding a suitable team to guard the house won't be an easy task."

"Really?" Sakata Yusuke exhaled a smoke ring. "Aren't you going to tell me the truth? If I remember correctly, you've cultivated a group of loyal followers, those people should be your colleagues, right?"

“Aren’t you the same!” Aquawit sneered, the Australian saying somewhat angrily, “You were the ones who started forming cliques first, you were the ones who banded together first.”

“I didn’t mean to criticize you.” Yusuke Sakata rolled his eyes. “What I meant was, let these people guard this island.”

“My God, are you sure?” Aquawit asked, frowning. “Seriously? To be honest, I haven’t even considered it.”

Are you worried about your agents?

“As you know, they seem to have their eyes on this base and the technology inside.” Aquawit shrugged helplessly. “Some of them even got support from their former employer, since that kind of drug can only be obtained here.”

"Let them try it then. Anyway, I have a lot of confidence in the boss's security measures," Sakata Yusuke said with a smile.

That drug has recently caused quite a stir, with many forces vying for a piece of the pie. However, by the time they received the news, it was too late; some had already divided up the spoils and begun research. Moreover, it's said that they've already achieved some research results.

In these kinds of situations, the biggest fear is starting too late. Getting information directly from the buyers is no longer realistic; those guys won't give in easily. Now, the only option is to get the information from the sellers. Naturally, the forces led by New City and its organization have become targets.

Aquawit had heard that the European side had agreed to the organization's conditions, on the condition that they hand over drug information and development data.

That evening, Yusuke Sakata selected 30 men from the security team and sent them to North America on a cargo ship. Along with them were four containers of weapons and ammunition, enough for them to cause trouble in North America for a long time.

They originally thought no one would be willing to go, but when the security team heard that it was going to be against Gin and the pay hadn't even been mentioned, more than a hundred people eagerly signed up, and at least half of the remaining people were also quite interested.

This put Sakata Yusuke and Aquavit in a very difficult position. These guys had been recruited for some time, yet they still clung to their former master, which meant there was something wrong with their training methods.

Shinjo also received this information, but he was busy with the launch of the Atlas and had no time to deal with such trivial matters.

Before they knew it, the day of the Atdis's takeoff arrived. The side of the sea facing Jiuliang Island was camouflaged, and a deep cave appeared directly on the mountainside.

Inside the driver's cab

“The visual stealth module is activated. You have fifteen minutes to take off,” Karen said.

"Okay, okay, this isn't the first time you've operated something this big. Are you a little nervous?" Shinjo replied to Karen while rapidly operating the buttons in front of him.

Okakura Masaaki, standing to the side, was also somewhat flustered, his forehead already covered in sweat, while Haibara Ai stared at the various values ​​displayed on the instrument in front of her.

After a few minutes

"Charging is complete." Ai looked up and asked, "Can we take off now?"

"I've finished checking everything here. All systems are normal, no abnormalities." Masaaki Okakura put down the checklist and looked at Shinjo.

"Wait, wait, give me two more minutes," Shinjo said with a dark face.

I should have practiced more. Now I've let two amateurs get ahead of me. I'm sure Karen will laugh at me later.

"I've finished checking the operating system on my end," Daigo said, looking up. "No abnormalities found."

"Weapon systems check complete, all systems check complete," Shinjo replied a minute later. "Ready for takeoff!"

Chapter 350 Turmoil

As the new city gave the order, the Atedis spewed out a huge flame from its stern, and the electromagnetic catapult launched the Atedis directly.

"Begin attitude adjustment," Daigo said nervously, gripping the control stick. "Attitude adjustment complete."

"Beautiful!" Masaaki Okakura slammed his fist on the control panel. "Finally, we've taken off!"

“You seem quite excited.” Shinjo stared at Masaaki Okakura.

“Uh…” Masaaki Okakura also realized his lapse in composure.

“Mr. Okakura has been staying on the Atlas these past few days, just waiting for this day,” Daigo said with a smile.

"Boss, just how powerful is that cannon on the Atdis?" Masaaki Okakura asked, scratching the back of his head. "Um, could you give me a chance to fire it? The Texas cannon on Unit 2 hasn't even been fired yet."

“I didn’t expect you to be such a destroyer.” Shinjo shook his head. “The Draco Cannon is out of the question. The energy it carries this time is only enough for the Atdis to fire one shot. However, the Texas Cannon on Unit 2 still has a chance. Once we get to the moon, you can fire as much as you want.”

"Really?"

"real."

NASA office

At that moment, an employee was playing Spider Solitaire on his computer, while next to him, a monitor displayed NASA's live stream, showing footage taken from space of the spacecraft's wreckage.

It's a very boring job, at least that's what Johnson thinks; his job is to keep an eye on the live stream.

Of course, I'm not referring to the content within the live stream, but rather the comments from the viewers. Those making outrageous statements need to be immediately muted. Because this spacecraft appeared near low Earth orbit, many people have recently started hyping it up as extraterrestrial beings, claiming they are invincible, or advocating for expanding military capabilities and establishing a human space army, and so on.

The former is most likely a traitor, while the latter is simply an idealist. They don't even look at how big the fiscal deficit has been in recent years. How could a project like space exploration, where the revenue is far less than the investment, possibly be taken seriously?

Just as Johnson finished collecting his cards, the live stream chat suddenly started flooded with messages, the dense barrage of comments like a wall, giving Johnson a headache.

He looked up at the large screen, and then he saw a huge shadow looming over the wreckage of the spacecraft, blocking out even the sunlight. As the shadow receded into the distance, its true form gradually emerged, its futuristic design completely different from Earth's modern mainstream.

Johnson felt like his worldview was about to be shattered. What was going on? So aliens really existed in this world, and now these aliens were right on his doorstep.

The massive warship, like a sledgehammer, shattered the peace of NASA and society at large. News headlines such as "[There really are aliens]," "[Aliens have sent warships to attack Earth]," and "[Aliens say they lost two soldiers on Earth]" quickly became trending topics.

When Kudo, who was browsing the web, saw this news, he felt a bit dumbfounded. After reading the news, he thought to himself that it was outrageous.

Now he was starting to regret not getting on that ship, and he wondered what those people would think after seeing that cannon fire.

In the live broadcast room

"Damn it, what are they planning to do?"

"That looks like a cannon!"

"Are these aliens really that barbaric? They don't even bother with negotiations, they just start fighting!"

"No, the direction of the cannon muzzle seems to be that wreckage."

The next second, a dazzling light began to converge at the muzzle of the Drak cannon, and a dozen seconds later, a beam of light blasted the wreckage of Unit 1 and a satellite in its firing orbit into dust.

This action instantly caused a huge uproar around the world. Everyone could see that this so-called "alien civilization" was destroying the wreckage of its own spacecraft. But the problem was that Earth was also in the other party's firing path. Did this guy not see Earth or what?

The United States reacted the most strongly, because the beam of light landed right next to a hidden military base.

A crater more than 60 meters deep and 300 meters in radius was blasted into the ground. Some of the sand and soil at the edge of the crater even showed signs of crystallization. At this temperature, it would be impossible for any life to survive.

"Do we have the means to retaliate?" an officer asked the pilot beside him.

"I only deal with things inside the atmosphere. As for things outside the atmosphere..." the pilot shrugged helplessly. "Of course, if our arms manufacturers could come up with a weapon to counter our adversaries, I could give it a try. The fact is, they can't even maintain their current air force size, let alone outer space."

The location where the beam struck was quickly placed under military control, but some resourceful reporters still managed to capture several extremely clear images, which were then published online.

Suddenly, the idea that aliens were going to invade Earth made headlines, and a bunch of netizens with nothing better to do started discussing the possibility of forming an aerospace force.

On the Atedis

Masaaki Okakura and Ai Haibara were in the cockpit. Ai was helping Kallen process the data detected by various instruments, while Masaaki was on duty. The Atlas was located quite close to low Earth orbit, where there were various sizes of meteorites and man-made space debris. Some of these needed to be destroyed, while the larger ones needed to be avoided in advance.

Just then, the driver's side door opened, and Daigo walked in from outside carrying a cup of coffee.

"There are still 6 hours until your shift ends. Are you sure you don't want to go get some sleep?" Masaaki Okakura asked Daigo with some doubt.

“You have to understand that it’s very difficult to fall asleep in a weightless environment,” Daigo said somewhat seriously. “I haven’t been able to sleep since I got back; I’ve been surfing the internet at high intensity.”

"Then what are you doing holding that coffee?"

“Mr. Shinjo said coffee has sleep-aiding properties and can help me sleep better.” Daigo took out another can from his pocket. “Would you like some?”

“I think I’d better not.” Masaaki Okakura shook his head, then asked, “The world must be in an uproar right now. Besides such a huge incident, I heard that the coordinates of this strike landed on the continental United States.”

"It's in an uproar, but so far, no one has taken any concrete action." Daigo took a sip of coffee. "They're just unwilling to accept it, but there's nothing they can do because they can't hit us right now. They do want to communicate with us, they've tried radio channels and binary light signals, but we haven't responded."

"Does it mean they want to communicate with us and then cooperate with us?"

“That possibility cannot be ruled out. After all, the technology that the boss brought out was too amazing.” Daigo looked at the starry sky on the electronic display screen. “It’s so beautiful. I’ve always wanted to go to space to see it.”

If anyone is the most nervous right now, it has to be the people on the space station. They are the closest beings to the "aliens." They can see clearly that, besides the terrifying main cannon, the Atdis has hundreds of other cannons of various sizes and types.

The cannons would occasionally fire, shattering meteorite fragments or space debris that threatened the spaceship. Once hit, those objects had only one outcome: they were reduced to dust.

“It’s simply a miracle,” one astronaut said, staring at the Atlas. “Do you see that? Every time those cannons fire, they hit their target. Is that even possible for a human?”

“It’s almost always accurate.” Another astronaut asked, somewhat puzzled, “How do you know it was made by a person? What if it’s a computer or something?”

"Computers, even computers are amazing."

"By the way, it seems we've been sending them signals, but they haven't responded. Guess what they're doing? Why are they stuck here?"

“Is it possible that they are collecting some kind of data?” said one of the older astronauts. “Before the war begins, scouts on both sides will collect data, including hydrological and topographical information, to facilitate the deployment of the main force after its arrival.”

"You mean they're also gathering information right now? But what information can be gathered from space?" the space station's commander asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Do you think it’s possible that they’re collecting data that we don’t yet know about?” a younger man said. “I mean, something like space travel. After all, they suddenly appeared in front of us. It’s possible that they arrived around Earth through a space travel method similar to that in science fiction, and then collected some kind of data, trying to open a long-term, effective space passage to facilitate their invasion.”

"Damn it, this is a nightmare!"

"I don't want to fight aliens!"

The elderly astronaut was responsible for transmitting this hypothesis back to Earth. Preparations had to be made as soon as possible, because if things really turned out as that kid said, disaster was imminent for Earth.

A few hours later, the incident was leaked online by a staff member, and somehow the speculation became reality, causing panic to spread.

When Shinjo got to the driver's seat, Daigo and Masaaki Okakura were as anxious as ants on a hot pan.

"What are you two doing?" Xincheng asked, frowning. "Why aren't you sleeping? Are you planning to suddenly die in space?"

“They’re worried that we’ll make too much noise and then we won’t be able to handle it,” Haibara said, looking up. “The situation is indeed quite serious. Even the Middle East has stopped fighting now, and I heard that the United Nations is preparing to hold a general conference to discuss the matter.”

“This…” Xincheng opened his mouth, then said helplessly, “Since things have come to this, let’s give them some drastic measures.”

“We’re already like this, why are you still taking drastic measures? If we take any more drastic measures, they might just come looking for us.” Masaaki Okakura shook his head desperately. “What if they recruit hundreds of astronauts, carrying automatic rifles, and climb onto the Atlas?”

"Is that possible?" Xincheng looked at the big screen.

“It’s not just a possibility, it’s that they will definitely do it.” Karen opened a document directly. “I’ve found their battle plan.”

Daigo and Masaaki Okakura both looked at Shinjo, awaiting his decision. If the astronauts actually climbed onto the Atlas and opened the emergency exit, the situation would be quite bad.

"As expected, Daigo, come with me." Shinjo picked up a flight helmet from the side and tossed one to Daigo.

"What are you doing?" Daigo asked, somewhat bewildered.

“Pilot Unit 1 and teach them a lesson. Didn’t they want to know what the wreckage of Unit 1 looked like? This time, we’ll show them clearly.” Shinjo pointed to the space station not far away. “We’ll show it to the people over there.”