NOVEL NEXT 113 – Selling Alien Technology Cheaply
In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, 2,000km away from Tokyo, the capital of Japan.
The sea, which usually only had the flagship of the Liberal Clan, the Liberator, floating on it, was bustling with activity after a long time.
The sight of aircraft carriers from several countries gathered in one place could give the impression, when viewed from the side, that it was not just a gathering of aircraft carriers in the middle of the sea, but perhaps even an aircraft carrier expo.
However, the view from the air showed the opposite; the satellite image of the aircraft carrier formation looked like a global fleet joining forces to surround a central alien spacecraft.
Literally, dozens of ships were clustered within artillery range.
However, on the deck of the Liberator, at the center of the encirclement, Myung-jun’s expression showed not a single trace of fear as he enjoyed the cool sea breeze.
With the removal of both Banara and Leviathan, Myung-jun now possessed the ability to annihilate all the warships gathered here in an instant if he so desired.
Furthermore, to prevent any potential trouble, Myung-jun had already sent a warning message to the governments of each country.
“Arming yourselves is freedom, but if force is used, I will sink the entire fleet immediately.”
When Captain Chris Martin of the CVN-76 Ronald Reagan received the message for the first time, he couldn’t contain his anger.
The contents of the short message contained an attitude so audacious that it was hardly believable that it was sent to the world’s strongest fleet, the US Seventh Fleet, and specifically to the Reagan, the largest aircraft carrier among them.
However, upon seeing the Liberator floating in the middle of the Pacific with his own eyes, he could immediately understand why the other side could send such an arrogant message to the US Seventh Fleet.
Even he would have thought that he could easily sink the US Seventh Fleet if he were aboard such a massive ship.
The Liberator.
Even when it was on land, it was hailed as the flagship of the Awakener Clan, known as the strongest in the world, and the ship had a size that was twice as large as the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the Reagan.
And Martin, upon seeing the massive ship for real, wondered whether he should even call the object in front of him a ship.
The appearance of the Liberator he saw did not resemble any other ship on Earth.
With a puzzled expression similar to his own, he turned to the officer next to him who was also staring at the massive ship.
“How does that look like to you?”
“A ship… it’s not. If I had to say, it looks like a space battleship.”
“How on earth is it floating on the water with that structure?”
“I don’t know. Actually, just looking at that form, it feels more like it belongs in the middle of outer space than on the ocean. Honestly, even if that ship were to float up into the sky and fly away somewhere right in front of my eyes, I don’t think I would find it particularly surprising. I’d probably think, ‘Ah, so it could fly after all.'”
“I feel the same way.”
The strangeness was not just in the appearance of the ship.
After a while, the presidents of various countries who had descended onto the deck of the Liberator couldn’t help but be amazed when they saw the giant robot displayed on the deck.
It was the original Knight that Myung-jun had deliberately placed on the deck for air superiority.
“That thing, it’s not just for decoration, is it?”
As the president Biden muttered upon seeing the cartoon-like figure, an aide standing nearby responded.
“It probably isn’t. It might be the secret behind the giant traces found in the Amazon.”
“But wouldn’t bipedal combat weapons have diminished utility as weapons? With such a size, wouldn’t it be easier to be attacked?”
“Sometimes a sword is mightier than a gun, isn’t it? It’s not an era where people shoot with their hands. We shouldn’t evaluate the equipment of the Liberal Clan based on conventional wisdom. They are literally ‘characters that could come out of a comic book.'”
“Is the Knight Marine Type depicted in the catalog a miniature version of that? If so, does that mean if we have its design plans, we can also build it?”
“We would have to show the actual design plans to DARPA engineers to confirm, but it might be difficult. Even if we can obtain the design plans for the Marine Type, the proportions of the alloys used and the manufacturing methods of the core components would be kept secret.”
“Then if the US government commissions the production of the core components? Or if we put forward additional conditions, even if it’s just one, can’t the US government obtain that giant robot?”
The aide, who was about to say that it might be impossible, closed his mouth as he looked into the greedy eyes of the president.
Then, he bowed his head.
“I’ll see if negotiations for those conditions are possible when additional negotiations take place.”
Upon seeing the Knight, it wasn’t just the US government whose eyes gleamed.
The President of France, who had come aboard the Liberator to negotiate as the representative of the European Union, couldn’t hide his excitement when he saw the giant robot in front of him.
“May I touch it?”
When he spoke to the man who looked like a step of the Liberator, the man nodded.
Immediately, Watt Rung, who rushed to the Knight, touched the towering metal mass with trembling hands.
“Wow… Wow…”
How great would it be if he could obtain such a robot just once and carve the French flag into its massive breastplate.
Unfortunately, today’s deal was not with the giant robot in front of him but with a small robot that was only half its size.
Feeling disappointed, Watt Rung, guided by the staff, continued to look back at the robot standing on the deck.
“I thought they only had the ability to produce exceptional Awakener equipment, but their actual capabilities surpass imagination. I have no idea how advanced their technology is.”
If this is what they’ve shown, then the hidden aspects must be even greater. This was the common thought among all the leaders participating in the negotiations.
And among them, the one who showed the most interest was Xi Runfeng, the Secretary-General of the People’s Republic of China, who participated in this bidding independently rather than as part of the Union.
“If we can obtain this power, it will be child’s play for China to dominate the world.”
The 20-meter-tall giant steel giant in front of him.
Xi Runfeng knew. If that steel giant, made by none other than the Liberal Clan, wasn’t just a larger scrap metal.
Believing that tremendous technologies surpassing human imagination and knowledge were hidden inside it, Xi Runfeng began to seriously contemplate how he could get his hands on this ship and the giant robot altogether.
However, no matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t come up with a way to surpass the Liberal Clan and outbid competitors from around the world.
Giant ships and robots made with technology from a future humanity had yet to reach.
Their value was so immense that it would be insufficient even if all of China were sold off.
Xi Runfeng had no choice but to focus on what he could obtain now.
“For now, let’s concentrate on the public bidding. Since they’ve decided to hand over the design and manufacturing technology at once, if we analyze and research it, we might be able to fill in all the gaps that China has had until now.”
Beside Xi Runfeng, there was a man looking at the Knight in front of him with an expression of tremendous shock.
He was the man who had recently single-handedly subdued an overflow in the Gobi Desert.
He was the pride of the People’s Republic of China and, except for Myung-jun, was known as the strongest Awakener in the world.
Poison Emperor Zhai Tianlin.
He had come to the Liberator to ensure the safety of the Chairman, but until he saw the Knight, he had been imagining something like this in his head.
If there was ever a moment when he saw an opportunity to suppress Myung-jun and take control of the ship, even if it meant killing everyone here except the Secretary-General, he would have to suppress Myung-jun.
Honestly, he believed he could.
He had stopped the overflow in the Gobi Desert at a faster pace than Myung-jun had subdued the overflow in Brazil.
However, the moment he saw the Knight in front of him, his fantasies shattered like glass into pieces.
A 20-meter-tall steel giant clad in a metal armor whose thickness was unimaginable.
Even with his strongest venom, which could melt steel, he doubted whether he could even scratch the armor of that giant.
As Zhai Tianlin touched the Knight’s gauntlet with his hand, unnoticed by others, he gnashed his teeth.
‘I heard it was strong, but this… is this what they mean by ‘a power above all powers’…’
As Zhai Tianlin, with a mixed expression of self-reflection, touched the Knight, President Xi, out of curiosity, looked around discreetly.
He wondered if someone had accidentally dropped a tool being serviced or special equipment.
But since the area around the robot was as clean as if not a speck of dust could be seen, Xi stopped his action of looking for something to pick up and, along with Zhai Tianlin, followed the staff’s guidance inside.
President Joe Biden of the United States, President Watt Rung of France, Chairman Xi Runfeng of the People’s Republic of China…
It was somewhat natural for leaders of major powers recognized worldwide to gather in one place like this.
Simply sending representatives wouldn’t guarantee victory in the fiercely competitive bidding where the bid price could soar to an unpredictable extent.
The moment they saw the ‘Knight’ deliberately placed on the deck by Myung-jun, the heads of the union representatives participating in this bid could not help but think that they must somehow negotiate better conditions than the opponent and ensure the contract was completed unconditionally.
At that moment, Keeper’s voice echoed in Myung-jun’s ears as he watched the representatives entering the ship from the deck.
Then, Myung-jun responded to Keeper’s words in his mind, so that no one else could hear him.
‘Well, no one will doubt that the Knight belongs to the Liberal Clan, especially since they revealed the Marine Type. There’s no point in hiding its identity anymore. Now is actually a good time to show off our strength.’
‘Someone might have arrogant thoughts like ‘Let’s drag them into our country by any means necessary and then crush them with our power.’ It means they know that the person they have to deal with has considerable strength.’
Myung-jun liked that Keeper referred to the Liberal Clan as ‘us’.
It seemed that Keeper now acknowledged that they were comrades riding on the same ship.
With a smile on his lips, Myung-jun casually rolled his foot, and the panel beneath his foot descended rapidly like an elevator, carrying him into the ship.
Waiting for Myung-jun at the arrival point was Soo-jeong, who had been waiting at the destination and monitoring through the camera.
“How was it?”
“You saw it through the camera, didn’t you?”
“It’s hard to convey the feeling through the video. I’m curious about your impression.”
“Hmm… Maybe everyone is thinking like this. ‘If I had a gun in my hand right now, I’d kill all the competitors and take everything for myself.'”
Hearing Myung-jun’s words, Soo-jeong burst into laughter.
The expressions of the national leaders she had seen on the camera matched exactly with what Myung-jun had described.
Waiting for her laughter to subside, Myung-jun slowly raised his hand.
“Shall we go then?”
With a bright smile, Soo-jeong took Myung-jun’s hand and thought to herself that there might never be a dull day as long as she was with this man.
So, the two of them started moving toward the grand hall on the floating panel.
Heading toward the place where the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations and Awakener individuals of world-ranker level gathered, eagerly awaiting their arrival.
It was literally a place where all the power and influence of the world converged, but there was not even a trace of fear on Soo-jeong’s face.
After all, wasn’t she with the ‘world’s strongest man’?
Looking at her boyfriend, who could easily overpower all the Awakener individuals gathered in the room in an instant, Soo-jeong lightly waved her hand left and right.
Then, the giant door leading to the grand hall automatically opened to welcome them.
With dozens of eyes eagerly awaiting only their appearance.
The crucial deal for the future of the Liberal Clan was about to begin at this moment.
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