Chapter 143: Chapter 126: Crisis Lurking and Hidden Movesi
Translator: 549690339
The Hornet Ship rose into the sky again, heading towards Freedom Town.
In the space station orbiting Earth, a closed-door meeting was being held in the central command room.
After a brief period of chaos, these powerful figures quickly regained their composure.
However, for the 10 billion people on Earth, not everyone had the psychological quality of these elites.
Unrest was spreading globally, as everyone felt a vague sense of loss in their hearts.
Nothing had changed on the surface, but there was a faint feeling of emptiness.
They subconsciously felt that some of their beliefs were shaken, and some fundamental concepts were being subverted, but they couldn’t pinpoint the specific changes.
Everyone felt a layer of foggy panic in their hearts, not too strong, but objectively existent.
Fortunately, the higher-ups reacted quickly, issuing one directive after another from the closed-door meeting room.
In this era of rapid information dissemination, large strategic policies were quickly broken down into countless detailed instructions for various fields, further broken down into specific notices for each individual.
In less than five minutes, the chaos affecting the entire globe and humanity was wiped out.
Having dealt with the global situation, the leadership’s focus returned to the most pressing issue at hand.
And that was Harrison Clark’s betrayal.
The military also reacted swiftly, adjusting themselves and maintaining the existing formation before receiving new orders.
The well-trained soldiers performed admirably, their determination to carry out orders unwavering.
But the result was disappointing—Harrison escaped.
Harrison’s personal strength had repeatedly exceeded expectations.
No one had anticipated this, not even the central Al system.
“We should re-examine Nora Camp’s proposal,” one of the leaders said, scribbling on the holographic screen in front of him. “According to my calculations, there’s a 31.8% chance that the situation described in the proposal is true.”
The speaker, a technocrat who once headed a humanities research department in the Flamingo Institute before joining the Executive Committee, still had some weight in his words.
His opinions were always well-founded, based on extensive data analysis and statistics.
Within those few minutes, he had collected much data and built a calculation model through the researchers at Flamingo Institute.
Although the time was short, and the samples were not rich and comprehensive enough to reach a definitive conclusion, the mindset of the human leadership had been somewhat shaken.
This wavering was not based on emotional judgments but rational conclusions formed through investigation and facts.
“Hmm, there’s some merit in the argument. But a 31.8% probability isn’t enough to base a decision on. Let’s have a vote,” said the Executive Council’s rotating leader.
Voting has been the core decision-making method for humanity since ancient times.
Indeed, despite technological advances, with Al systems replacing over 90% of human brain work, core decisions could still only be made by humans.
A militarized government indeed dictates.
But this dictatorship was not the narrow sense of an individual but the collective dictatorship formed by the present Executive Committee.
Thirty seconds later, the voting was complete.
There were nine in favor of Nora Camp and eighteen against.
3333% support rate.
If there was another vote, these numbers would change, either lowering or increasing, but that would take time.
A new directive was issued.
Try to capture the three alive if possible, attempt to bring them into the fold with impunity, but if they still resist, use lethal force.
War was imminent, and humanity didn’t need that many variables and oddities.
They could reconsider Nora Camp’s proposal, but that didn’t mean to indulge Harrison Clark in causing even more chaos.
The Hornet Ship was not far from Earth’s headquarters when it received a one-way communication request.
Martha Owen said, “They want to talk to us.”
Harrison pondered, “Will accepting the call give them control over the Hornet Ship?”
“No, the Hornet Ship is under manual control in offline mode, and they’re contacting an emergency communications system entirely separate from the main system,” she answered.
Harrison nodded, “Okay, let’s talk.”
During the call, the military offered many favorable conditions.
Not only would they overlook Harrison and Martha’s actions today, but Nora would also be reinstated, and her proposal would be seriously considered and brought up for a referendum at the next national assembly. If passed, it could be implemented.
However, Harrison rejected their offer and immediately asked Martha to hang up.
Nora asked, “Why did you refuse? I think their terms were very generous.”
Harrison replied, “It’s useless.”
“Are you worried they might be tricking us?”
“No, I believe they are sincere now. But as they said, our proposal will only be seriously considered, and the outcome will be in vain. Enough, let’s not talk about it anymore. There’s a fleet ahead. Get ready for a forceful breakout!” Martha once again activated the Hornet Ship’s extreme performance mode, and Harrison switched places with her to take control.
As the saying goes, the third time’s a charm.
Harrison had tripped several times in the same pit.
Every time he got back, he was annoyed by the same situation.
Except for Nora and Martha, he had hardly any trust in anyone else..