Chapter 19 015 Agitated Public Opinion (Part 1)
Bai Zhongqi listened to these words and pondered on his own. The spokesperson spoke with an air of righteousness, but Bai Zhongqi could immediately see through the intricacies and twists embedded within.
Claiming that the people of the whole world have the right to know, not to conceal facts, but in actuality, Country C itself had initially covered up the truth. Saying things like it took several hours of analysis and judgment, but that was just an excuse. Now that the truth could not be hidden anymore, Country C was the first to throw out the truth due to deep political considerations.
The first point is that Country C is also afraid. Although Country C has risen to be seen as a challenger to the United States' power, its real military strength is still significantly less than that of the United States, enough for self-preservation but not enough to pose an offensive threat.
And with such advanced technological capacities, the United States was still rendered helpless by one of the opponent's warplanes. It's worth noting that this was a whole fleet—how powerful their warships must be!
The second point is that Country C believes relying on Earth's military forces to confront these extraterrestrial forces might be futile. Hence, Country C advocates that Earth as a whole should negotiate with the extraterrestrials, at least to find out what their intentions are. If negotiations are possible, then everyone should talk.
Although Earth might be at a disadvantage, it's better than waging wars that result in devastation and loss of life.
The third point is that Country C's move is actually a cunning one. In the space industry, Country C has long been restricted by major players such as the United States, Europe, and Russia. Country C's request for a union might not be without an ulterior motive to benefit from this cooperation.
Furthermore, Country C is not sure what the Americans have done, but believes that it's irrational and dangerous for the United States to fire first before the opponent had opened fire. The United States would have to take the blame, and if things got out of control later, the United States would bear the primary responsibility.
Thus, Country C jumped ahead to place the blame on the United States, to prevent the habitual shifting of blame by the Americans onto others later. Lastly, the Americans have always complained that the Celestial Empire lacks transparency, concealing the truth from the people.
Well, Country C will give the Americans a taste of their own medicine and force the United States to acknowledge the situation. If they do not, wouldn't it indirectly imply that NASA's technological level is inferior to that of Country C's space agency? Would that not mean that the billions of dollars invested over many years have been wasted?
As for whether there are other considerations, Bai Zhongqi is not a high-ranking official in Country C, so he cannot be certain. Nonetheless, at this time, Country C's disclosure of the extraterrestrials' existence has little practical significance and is more symbolic.
Following that, the spokesperson showed some rather blurry images of alien warships. Bai Zhongqi stared intently at his computer but could only discern a rough outline at most. Capturing something next to the Sun isn't an easy task; the intense sunlight and its size make everything else difficult to capture.
Beside him, Han Jiaxue was curled up on Bai Zhongqi's sofa, holding a small cushion, her bare white feet causing Bai Zhongqi to blush a bit. The junior was watching the video, her mouth agape in astonishment, and said to Bai Zhongqi, "So there really are extraterrestrials."
Bai Zhongqi didn't know how to respond; his mind was also in disarray.
Han Jiaxue, holding onto Bai Zhongqi's sleeve—which was partially torn as he had ripped a piece off earlier to make face masks for them—asked worriedly, "Senior, do you think the extraterrestrials will really invade us?"
"I hope not," Bai Zhongqi tried to appear calm, knowing his emotions could affect Han Jiaxue's. The last thing he wanted was to see her scared and worried.
"Based on the behavior of that alien warplane, its desire to attack doesn't seem strong. It only retaliated after the F-22 attacked it, and after it shot down the F-22, it didn't attack the people on the ground but instead directly flew away. So, they might not necessarily be here to invade Earth.
It's just the Americans who are habitually brash and initiated the conflict by attacking the other side first," Bai Zhongqi explained to Han Jiaxue.
Han Jiaxue did not know that Bai Zhongqi's analysis was merely comforting words, and instead felt that Bai Zhongqi made a lot of sense. Now, she almost wholly believed in Bai Zhongqi, so his words greatly reassured her.
Having gone through such a disaster, Han Jiaxue was somewhat exhausted. Bai Zhongqi cleaned up his room, changed to new bed sheets and duvet covers, and let Han Jiaxue rest. Han Jiaxue blushed slightly but did not refuse. She was indeed very tired, mainly from mental exhaustion, and needed some rest.
Bai Zhongqi still sat in the living room, continuously searching for useful news. At this time, most people online were like him, seeking comfort in various purported authoritative statements—no one wanted the world to end.
Bai Zhongqi was not accustomed to using BBS and forums, so now his browsing was casual, searching both Chinese and English sites. Regardless of the forum topic, at this time, everyone was discussing this very event, which, like the San Francisco incident, made everyone stop their work and even forget to eat and sleep to understand and express.
Bai Zhongqi logged into a very famous North American science-fiction website. The pinned post was flashing, posted by a moderator. Bai Zhongqi clicked to read, and the moderator "Second Entry" had written a short post condemning the impulsive United States Air Force.
"These idiots are a disgrace to humanity, incurably stupid. Did they think extraterrestrial life would be as frail as Afghanistan's guerrillas or Saddam? Foolish! They almost ruined any possibility of friendly relations with an alien civilization.
This interstellar visitor, having traversed vast distances from one end of the Universe to the Solar System, arrived with goodwill, only to face brutal violence. However, how could a civilization capable of interstellar travel be weaker than the arrogant United States military?
Advanced shielding technology and powerful light beams severely taught the barbaric and ignorant United States Air Force a lesson. But now, we have to worry whether the provoked alien friends might implicate the innocent."
"The United States military indeed are idiots, bullies who strut around based on lies and bullying the weak but fearing the strong. Sooner or later, they will encounter a bully mightier than themselves."
"I'm so worried, do we really have to pay the price for the stupidity of the United States military?"
"I used to be proud to be an American, but today I wish I could move somewhere else immediately, this country disgusts me."
"What do you guys think, how did the aliens come to the Solar System, and what kind of propulsion did they use? Did they achieve faster-than-light travel?"
Here, the thread might have gone off-topic a bit, but Bai Zhongqi saw many innocently believed these alien visitors might have just come to make friends. Many here were geeks and eccentrics who dreamt of UFOs and crop circles, for them, the always secretive government was forever evil, and aliens were mostly kind and friendly like ET.