249: Chapter 249 The whole nation is shocked! Are aliens behind America?

Elder Wu sat at the head of the table, motionless for a long time.

The light fell down, deepening the lines at the corners of his eyes. The pages of materials on the table were pressed under his hand, as if pressing down half a night's worth of blood and chill.

After a long while, he finally raised his head.

His voice was low, yet so heavy it made one's heart tighten.

"Send out a notification."

"Level one communication."

"We are holding a National Security meeting tonight."

As soon as these words fell, the people in the room all looked up sharply.

No one knew the weight of these words better than they did.

This was no longer an ordinary internal assessment, nor was it a closed-door meeting for some specific department. Those who could be pulled into this meeting were, in their daily lives, the true top-tier figures in their respective fields.

The secretary's Adam's apple bobbed, and he immediately asked:

"How should we define the scope?"

Elder Wu looked at the materials on the table, his gaze as cold as iron.

"The intelligence sector, equipment sector, aerospace sector, electronic warfare, strategic assessment, and those above who should know—call them all."

"Those who can attend, attend tonight."

"Those who can't, connect them via a dedicated line."

Speaking to this point, he paused for a moment and added:

"Invite Lu Li over as well."

The people beside him were obviously stunned for a moment.

Inviting Lu Li to a meeting with this level of secrecy meant they had no intention of keeping it from him.

Before anyone could respond, Elder Wu continued:

"Tell him he can come wearing his steel Battle Armor today."

The room fell silent for two seconds.

Several gazes lifted almost simultaneously.

It was clear what this meant; it meant the current situation was extremely dangerous.

It could not be ruled out that the opponent had large-scale weapons of mass destruction and might very likely launch a "decapitation strike" against Lu Li.

The secretary's expression turned solemn.

"Understood."

...

Mingzhu City, Lu Li's villa.

The late-night wind swept past the villa, carrying a bit of the chill unique to a winter night.

In the courtyard, the silver-white Battle Armor had already finished deploying, the arc reactor on its chest glowing with a faint blue light in the night. The next second, Lu Li was rapidly enveloped by nano-metal, the faceplate closed, the thrusters emitted a low hum, and he turned into a blinding streak of light, shooting straight into the night sky.

He was so fast, fast as a meteor flying in reverse.

On the third-floor balcony, Su Qingxue was draped in a light-colored coat, holding a hot coffee with both hands, looking up quietly as that light grew further and further away until it completely disappeared at the edge of the night.

She did not make a sound.

But in those eyes, originally cool and detached, deep emotions were churning.

The words Lu Li said before leaving were still echoing in her ears.

The Alien.

The sudden technological explosion of the United States this time actually involved an alien civilization behind the scenes.

It sounded as absurd as a science fiction movie.

But upon careful thought, it was chillingly logical.

Otherwise, it couldn't be explained at all why the other side could suddenly produce so much technology far beyond the era in such a short time; nor could it explain why they could even find an entry point into Guanghui Technology's Virtual Helmet and Robot.

Su Qingxue lowered her head and took a sip of coffee; the steam swirled around her face but did not dissipate much of the chill in her heart.

She was worried about Lu Li.

Even though she knew full well that the man was now wearing a steel Battle Armor capable of suppressing this entire era.

A moment later, she turned and walked back to the bedroom, opening the wardrobe.

Deep inside the wardrobe, a set of pink Battle Armor stood quietly.

The lines were slender, the shape more suited to a female physique, and the light falling on the metal surface cast a soft yet cold glow.

This Battle Armor was made bit by bit by Lu Li a while ago, based on the blueprints available at the current stage, combined with core technical components. Technicians from the state had even participated in the debugging process.

However, compared to the Mark 45 that Lu Li wore, it was ultimately a cut below.

But even so, placing it in the current world, it was still a super weapon that would drive countless countries crazy.

This was the trump card Lu Li left for her.

It was also the sense of security he gave her.

Plus, the Number 18 left behind; the mysterious Number 18 also brought an incomparable sense of security.

Su Qingxue reached out, her fingertips gently brushing over the cold metal on the hand of the Battle Armor, her expression softening bit by bit.

Just a moment ago, Lu Li had wanted to leave his Mark 45 for her.

She didn't agree.

Because she knew very well that the Battle Armor meant more to Lu Li.

With the current industrial capacity of Blue Star, even with complete design blueprints, many key materials were still unobtainable. At least in the short term, it was impossible for a weapon capable of instantly killing a science fiction creation like the Mark 45 to appear.

So she preferred to take a step back.

At least, Lu Li needed that strongest Battle Armor more than anyone.

"Don't you dare try to be a hero for me..."

She looked at the pink Battle Armor in the wardrobe and whispered softly, her voice very low, as if speaking to the armor, and also as if speaking to the person who had gone far away.

...

Meanwhile, inside a heavily guarded meeting center at the hub of Jingzhou, the National Security meeting had been convened on short notice.

The conference room was large, but the lights were kept very low.

Sitting on both sides of the long table were almost all figures who usually only appeared in news reports and top-secret documents. The military, aerospace systems, national security systems, and scientific research departments were all present.

Even Lu Li had been invited to the scene.

More accurately, he had been invited by Elder Wu personally by name.

Elder Wu had even said only one sentence on the phone—

"The situation is special tonight, you can come wearing your Battle Armor."

So Lu Li couldn't be bothered to think too much and flew over directly.

At the end of the conference table, Elder Wu spoke slowly, laying out all the intelligence currently grasped one by one.

From the recent technological explosion in the United States, to the abnormal actions at Area 51, to the source of the materials that clearly did not belong to the existing Blue Star technology tree, the clues were pieced together layer by layer, ultimately pointing to an answer that made many people's scalps tingle.

It was highly possible that remnants of an alien civilization really existed at Area 51, and it could not even be ruled out that the United States had long ago begun limited cooperation with some kind of extraterrestrial life form.

The conference room was quiet for a brief moment.

Immediately after, the faces of several people who had not originally known the inside story of Area 51 changed on the spot.

"In other words, this great technological leap of the United States was not a breakthrough they achieved themselves?"

"If an alien civilization is really involved, to what extent have they grasped it?"

"Could it be more than just a simple exchange of technology?"

Question after question was thrown out, and the atmosphere in the conference room became heavier and heavier.

Elder Wu clasped his fingers together and said in a deep voice:

"The most troublesome thing now is not just what they have obtained."

"It is that we have no idea how far their cooperation with The Alien civilization has progressed."

"If they only obtained partial residual technology, that would be the best result."

"But if the other party is still alive, and can even send signals to its home civilization—"

Speaking to this point, he paused.

Many people in the conference room darkened their faces.

Everyone understood what this sentence meant.

It was no longer a competition between certain countries.

It was that the entire Blue Star would be dragged into an unknown and terrifying variable.

A white-haired expert spoke slowly, his voice a bit strained:

"Based on current projections, The Alien civilization has at least mastered mature space travel technology. Even if their conventional flight speed is only 0.5 times the speed of light, as long as the distance is close enough, or they have mastered hibernation technology... it is only a matter of time before they arrive at Blue Star."

The air in the conference room suddenly grew even colder.

A civilization far more advanced than Blue Star.

Technology capable of interstellar travel.

Any one of these terms, if brought up, would be enough to keep people awake at night.