149: Good heavens! The five permanent members of the UN Security Council held a meeting and discovered that they had been completely outmatched!

The real world, Sakura Country, Yokosuka Port.

Docked here, the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan was currently hosting an emergency closed-door meeting that would decide the future of humanity.

In the meeting room, smoke filled the air.

American Secretary of Defense Mark Thompson was the first to break the suffocating silence.

"Everyone, we are facing three major problems."

"First, the loss of global positioning; second, the loss of beyond-visual-range communication; and third, the loss of space-based reconnaissance."

"In this new world, we have become a group of blind and deaf people."

Thompson looked around, his gaze sweeping over the bald general representing Russia, the elegant middle-aged man representing the Chinese Representative, and the diplomats from John Bull and France.

"However, America never fears a challenge."

He pressed a button, and a 3D model of a familiar heavy rocket appeared on the screen behind him.

"I propose that we initiate the 'New Space Race' plan."

"We will immediately mobilize all resources to transport the components of the 'Falcon' Heavy Rocket into the Mirror World in batches, right here in Tokyo, to be assembled and launched on-site!"

"Our goal is to redeploy a minimum GPS and communication satellite network for that dark Earth in the shortest time possible. At least thirty-two satellites to cover the globe!"

His voice was full of unquestionable confidence, as if he were announcing an established fact.

However, as soon as he finished, the Russian general sitting opposite let out a disdainful sneer.

"Secretary Thompson, your plan is very imaginative, just like a Hollywood sci-fi movie."

The general took a tablet from his assistant and slid it to the center of the conference table.

"But war is not a movie."

On the screen, rows of dense data and model charts began to scroll.

"According to the preliminary deduction of our General Staff Strategic Research Institute, your 'New Space Race' would require at least a year of preparation just to complete the transport and screening of components."

"To complete assembly and testing in that empty city of Tokyo, which has no industrial base, and then build a launch site capable of launching heavy rockets—the most optimistic estimate is that it would take two years."

"A total of three years, and that's only if everything goes smoothly."

The general looked up and stared straight at Thompson.

"The budget for these three years is preliminarily estimated to exceed three trillion dollars, and that's just the beginning."

"The most critical issue is that no one can guarantee that the physical parameters of that Mirror World are exactly the same as ours."

"Orbital mechanics, the intensity and range of the Van Allen radiation belt, the solar wind intensity outside the atmosphere... any slight difference in any parameter will cause your multi-trillion-dollar fireworks to turn into a pile of expensive space junk on the way up."

The Russian general leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.

"Secretary Thompson, are you willing to bet America's national fortune on a miracle with a success rate of less than one percent?"

The meeting room fell silent again.

At this moment, the polite representative of John Bull cleared his throat, trying to ease the atmosphere.

"The general's concerns are very reasonable. Perhaps we can consider a different approach."

He proposed Plan B.

"We can use the 'Zephyr' series of ultra-long-endurance drones, which can stay in the stratosphere for months."

"We can use Tokyo as the center and radiate outwards, using a 'Leapfrog' relay method to let a swarm of drones form a mobile low-altitude communication network. They can serve as communication relay stations and carry high-precision cameras for continuous aerial mapping of the ground."

"This way, we can step by step, steadily and surely, redraw the map of the new world."

This plan sounded much more pragmatic and clever than America's plan.

However, the Chinese Representative, who had been looking down at documents, slowly raised his head at this time.

"A very good tactical concept, but unfortunately, it has no strategic value."

"Without space-based relay stations, relying solely on drones for 'Leapfrog' relays, the maximum signal transmission distance will not exceed one thousand kilometers."

"One thousand kilometers, what does that mean?"

The Chinese Representative extended a finger and lightly drew a circle on the table.

"It means we can't even fully cover the whole of Sakura Country. To map the entire Eurasian continent this way would probably take at least fifty years."

"Fifty years."

He repeated the number and then stopped speaking.

But everyone understood his unspoken implication.

Fifty years—by then, the opportunity would be long gone.

This plan was also rejected.

The atmosphere in the meeting room became increasingly oppressive.

Just then, the silent representative of France suddenly spoke in a tired tone.

"Perhaps... we are all thinking too far ahead."

"Since we cannot explore far away, why not focus on what's right in front of us first?"

"The entire Sakura Country is right under our feet. It's an undeveloped, vast virgin land of resources. Why don't we first concentrate all our strength and use existing technology to conduct a carpet-style resource exploration of the entire Sakura Country?"

"Ensure the first batch of profits is secured first. Isn't that more practical than those unreachable global strategies?"

His words caused everyone present to fall into a long silence.

This time, no one refuted him.

Because the words of the French representative tore off the final disguise of all the major powers, laying a reality they were unwilling to admit but had to face, bloody and bare on the table.

They, Five Permanent Members who possessed enough power to destroy the world dozens of times, found that after losing the space infrastructure they were so proud of, their true effective control range was actually compressed to a pathetic, tiny Sakura Country.

One hour.

For a whole hour, you could hear a pin drop in the meeting room.

No one spoke.

This was the first time since humanity entered the space age that the five great powers had realized so clearly and painfully how fragile and vulnerable the global information warfare system they had spent generations of effort and trillions of dollars to build was in the face of true, higher-dimensional power.

Finally, Thompson spoke first.

"...I agree with the French representative's proposal."

"Until we find a truly effective global solution, all troops will hold their current positions."

"Seconded," the Russian general said succinctly.

"Agreed," the Chinese Representative nodded.

The representatives of John Bull and France also expressed their agreement one after another.

The meeting ended without results in an atmosphere of humiliation and helplessness... Meanwhile.

Tokyo.

The giant screen broadcasting the world-shaking battle between Newton and Uchiha Madara slowly dimmed and finally went out after announcing Rider's victory.

However, in the next second.

Next to the first screen, a second screen slowly lit up!

A new image appeared before billions of people around the world.

It was a magnificent, classical-style white domed building that everyone recognized as Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., in the Mirror World.