Chapter 493: Solar System Fleet Joint Conference! Space Robinson Crusoe!
"We belong to the Universal Megacorp, another branch of human civilization."
As Paul spoke these words, he also ordered the Infinity-class Carrier to disengage its cloaking system, appearing openly above Earth's orbit.
Because faster-than-light technology was unusable in the Trisolaran universe, Li Ang had not brought super-sized warships. The Legacy of the Inheritors and the Wanderer Dreadnought, each more than ten kilometers long, had all been left back home.
At five kilometers in length, the Infinity-class Carrier was already the largest ship dispatched by the Megacorp for this mission.
Even though it was one of the earliest warships the Universal Megacorp had built, its sheer size still made people's scalps tingle—at least, that was how it felt to the humans here.
At this moment, Captain John-117 of the Infinity found Paul's order almost unbelievable. They had been hiding perfectly well; why suddenly reveal themselves?
As long as they didn't expose their position, even the Trisolarans' sophons would have difficulty pinpointing them.
"Paul, are you sure about this?" John-117 once again asked for confirmation, verifying whether the command was real.
This legendary figure, who had risen from Master Chief to Megacorp Captain, was in no way inferior to Paul in ability or experience.
In his original plan, his Infinity-class Carrier could have surrounded Earth International in minutes and seized control, standing on equal footing with Fleet International.
Now, exposing their position would undoubtedly throw that plan into disarray.
"Trust me. I have a way to take full control of this Earth without firing a single shot," Paul promised John-117.
He wanted to use the presence of the Infinity as a show of strength, gaining leverage in negotiations with Earth International and, as the Fifth Wallfacer, earning humanity's trust.
John-117's cooperation was the first step in this plan.
After a brief hesitation, John-117 chose to believe Paul's judgment and issued the order: "Disengage cloaking. Enter the atmosphere."
Moments later, a massive shadow fell over everyone's heads. The already gray sky suddenly turned to night.
Guo Zhengming and the policemen behind him looked up to see a warship like a sky-dwelling leviathan tearing through the clouds above them.
It was the largest battleship they had ever seen. When the Infinity-class Carrier hovered over the ruined city, countless underground residents rushed out, staring blankly at the heavens.
The downdraft from the carrier's descent whipped up a brief sandstorm, nearly blinding the people below. At last, Guo Zhengming believed Paul had not lied.
As Paul had expected, the Infinity's descent triggered a sensation across Earth. Especially the underground dwellers—everyone poured outside to gaze at the steel giant overhead.
"Is that our battleship? It looks way bigger than I imagined…"
"Impossible. A stellar-class warship barely reaches a kilometer at most. This monster is at least five thousand meters!"
"Could it be a Trisolaran ship? No way, they shouldn't be here! What's Fleet International even doing?"
"…."
Though the Infinity was an "antique" a century old, after upgrades it remained a backbone of the Megacorp's forces.
With ultra-thick neutron armor plating and cavernous internal space, the carrier looked even larger than its five-kilometer length suggested.
By comparison, the stellar-class warships stationed at Jupiter resembled cheap toys—barely able to compete even with the Infinity's main gun in caliber.
For such a colossal vessel to suddenly appear on Earth stunned the leadership of Earth International and Fleet International alike. They had been so confident in their Jupiter orbital defenses—so how had a mysterious giant ship suddenly emerged right at their home base?
The fleet array, originally mobilizing to intercept the Trisolaran probes at the solar system's edge, immediately halted. Under urgent orders, all ships returned at once to Earth to monitor the Infinity.
In truth, the Trisolaran fleet was still some distance away; Fleet International had no need to rush so eagerly into battle.
But when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Both Fleet International and Earth's populace longed for a decisive victory to finally dispel the two-hundred-year shadow over their hearts.
Yet the sudden arrival of the Infinity-class Carrier shattered that plan, forcing Fleet International's leadership to hurry back, focused now on saving Earth first.
Meanwhile, everyone on the ground was utterly dumbstruck, legs shaking. Many collapsed with megalophobia, rolling their eyes white and fainting on the spot.
This era's humans had indulged in an illusion of strength, their confidence swelling like a hollow bubble. And once the bubble was pierced, their fragile self-assurance crumbled—just like now.
After receiving urgent instructions from above, Guo Zhengming returned to Paul. "I'll take you somewhere else now. From this moment on, you are Earth International's most important protection target."
Paul nodded and followed him quickly to another location—a vast complex in the desert, heavily guarded by elite troops.
Solemn, austere, and iron-willed, the atmosphere weighed heavy.
Guo Zhengming's rank only allowed him to escort Paul here. The rest would have to be handled by others.
"This facility has the best firewalls and anti-virus defenses in the world. Genetic missiles and killer viruses should no longer trouble you here."
He gave Paul's group a salute. "My mission is complete. From here on, you can negotiate with them at your own pace."
"Thank you for your efforts," Paul returned the salute. He then studied the sealed structure before him. Against humans and animals, it was airtight. But against Trisolaran sophons, it was useless.
Soon, a middle-aged European man approached, clean-cut and dressed in a dignified suit—quite different from the shimmering, image-projecting clothes of the underground.
"Hello, I am Ben Jonathan, special envoy of the Fleet Joint Conference. May I ask if you are the representative of that interstellar warship?" By "warship," of course, he meant the Infinity-class Carrier.
"Yes. I've come with goodwill, seeking to talk," Paul nodded.
"Excellent. I too hope we can resolve all conflicts through dialogue." Though Jonathan said this, inwardly his guard never dropped.
Smiling, he led Paul's group into the interior council chamber. In this era, humans applied holographic technology extensively.
Pressing a few buttons, Jonathan caused what looked like a solid white wall to vanish, revealing a hidden passage. And what appeared to be a spacious hall turned out to be just another layer of thick porcelain wall.
These half-real, half-false projections could easily cause any intruder to trigger some hidden alarm switch, exposing their location.
Before long, Paul arrived at the council chamber for the discussion, but to his surprise, there were only two reception staff present — just the few of them in the room.
"Our usual practice for meetings here is remote conferencing. Given the urgency, it's not easy to summon everyone to come in person on such short notice. Please understand."
Jonathan explained this to Paul. At the moment, the commanders of the three great fleets and the leadership of Fleet International were all stationed at the Jupiter base, and it was unrealistic to expect them to return immediately.
So the only option was to hold the dialogue through remote conference.
Paul remained indifferent, patiently waiting for the meeting to begin. A meeting of this level didn't require the Megacorp's governor to personally appear.
He alone was enough to handle it.
In an instant, the chamber filled with people as senators projected their holographic images into the council hall. The majority were officers and leaders of Fleet International.
Only a small number were leaders from Earth International.
In this era, the once-mighty great powers had all declined, leaving only two global political systems.
Within international politics, only Fleet International — which controlled the three great fleets — was humanity's highest ruling authority. Naturally, it was these officers who would lead the dialogue.
This assembly was known as the Joint Solar System Fleet Council.
At this moment, the supreme leaders of the European Fleet, the North American Fleet, and the Asian Fleet all appeared in the hall. They showed great vigilance toward the sudden appearance of the Infinity-class carrier.
With humanity's current level of technology, it was impossible to build such a colossal warship. To bring down that beast, their two thousand warships would have to suffer at least half their forces in losses.
Previously, Fleet International had scoffed at the Trisolaran fleet because both sides had warships of similar size, but humanity possessed several times more ships.
With the advantage of waiting in ambush, it was only natural they looked down on the Trisolaran civilization.
But the Infinity-class carrier had suddenly appeared above Earth, and this unknown brought a chilling fear to every Fleet International leader. Fortunately, Paul was willing to engage in dialogue with them; otherwise, they would have been thrown into complete disarray.
"Who exactly are you people, and why are you here?"
The representative of the North American Fleet was the first to question him — a stern-faced officer whose aggressive tone was more of an interrogation than a question.
"We are representatives of the Universal Megacorp. We have come here to help humanity." Paul replied.
"Where did you come from, and what connection do you have to human civilization?"
The European Fleet's representative followed up.
Who one is, where one comes from, and where one is headed — these three questions apply to every civilization and species. They are also the first things humans would ask upon encountering an alien civilization.
"We were originally funded by a company on Earth to build warships. In response to humanity's call to search for a new home, we left the solar system. Later, we explored several planets and gradually developed into what we are today."
"Now, we only wish to bring advanced technology to aid humanity, which is trapped under the technological blockade of the Trisolaran civilization."
Paul fabricated the lie with a steady face and calm tone. Not only were the sophons monitoring the meeting baffled, but even the humans here wore looks of utter confusion.
From Paul's words, the Megacorp sounded like Uncle Jules who had gone abroad, made a fortune, and returned laden with gold to help his relatives live a better life.
A desperate ship landing on a resource-rich planet, breaking through layer after layer of technological constraints without the sophons' blockade, and developing powerful warships — the story sounded like a fairy tale.
Yet in the cold, cruel universe, it felt strangely out of place.
"So you're saying… you are humans who left during the Great Downfall?"
The Asian Fleet's representative looked at Paul with deep suspicion. In his memory, no expedition team had ever safely left the solar system.
With sophons blocking science, for humanity to attempt space colonization using primitive technology was like cavemen building a crude wooden raft to cross the Pacific Ocean.
It was sheer suicide, an act with zero chance of success.
If there had even been a ten percent chance of success, Fleet International would have tried to escape, instead of preparing for a desperate showdown with the Trisolarans.
"That's right. We were an exploratory fleet built by a Chinese tech company with government backing. We set sail in 2077 AD, and after countless hardships…"
Under Paul's narration, a space adventure that sounded like a Robinson Crusoe tale unfolded, leaving the assembled senators in silence.
No sensible person could believe such nonsense, yet they couldn't point to a concrete flaw either.
The Great Downfall, which lasted from 2044 to 2133, had been a chaotic era. Countless records had been lost amid wars and uprisings.
Even if such a thing had truly happened, there would now be no way to investigate it.
"The information you claim is long lost. We cannot verify your true origins. Now tell us: with the navigation technology of that time, it was impossible to reach another habitable star system."
"How did you resupply your voyage, and how did you manage to reach a habitable planet to develop technology?"
Fleet International's leaders knew Paul wasn't being honest. Since he wouldn't reveal his true origins, they tried setting a trap from another angle, hoping to catch a flaw.
But Paul had already rehearsed the story countless times in his mind. With the Red Queen AI providing corroborating historical data, the tale he wove could easily pass for truth.
"With the navigation technology and supplies we had at the time, a colonization mission was indeed impossible. But on our journey, we encountered a shattered warship and inherited all of its supplies."
"From its remaining databases, we found…"
It was the same old cliché of a hero falling off a cliff only to discover treasure. Yet the senators couldn't find any fault in it.
After all, what if they really had stumbled upon such luck?
Even the Trisolarans had randomly encountered Ye Wenjie in the vast sea of stars — a perfect guide for them. So was it really so absurd for Earth's runaways to have found the wreckage of an alien ship, along with its supplies?
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