256: Chapter 256 The Reliable One Panics: There Must Be Aliens Helping China!

It wasn't until these past two years that Dragon Country's technology suddenly exploded.

Lithography Machine, batteries, AI, Robot, Virtual Helmet, realistic imaging projection...

One technology after another that shouldn't appear in this era kept emerging from Dragon Country's hands.

When President Trump first saw the intelligence report, he shattered the coffee cup in his hand.

He didn't believe it was normal development.

He believed even less that a country that had been blockaded by Western technology for so many years could break through so many key fields in just a few short years.

There was only one reasonable explanation.

Dragon Country had also come into contact with an alien civilization.

Moreover, they had very likely already reached a cooperation agreement with some alien lifeform.

This judgment made the upper echelons of the United States unable to sit still.

Half a year ago, the long-sealed "Project Prometheus" was restarted.

They transferred the test subjects.

Reinforced the base defenses.

Restarted those technology projects that had been sealed because of high risk.

The pure black heavy-duty Robot was one of the results.

But President Trump didn't expect that, even so, the defense line of Area 51 was still torn open by Lu Li.

"Mr. President."

An elderly military officer with graying hair broke the silence, his voice low.

"The people of Dragon Country have already obtained part of the spaceship logs."

"They very likely already know that The Alien is still alive."

The air in the conference room instantly became oppressive to the extreme.

President Trump slowly raised his eyes.

"Confirmed?"

The old man's Adam's apple bobbed.

"Not one hundred percent confirmed yet, but judging from Lu Li's movement trajectory, he didn't stumble in by mistake."

"He is looking for something."

"And he knows very clearly what he is looking for."

President Trump's fingers tapped heavily on the tabletop.

Once.

And again.

In the entire conference room, only the dull tapping sound remained.

At this moment, the female scientist sitting to the side raised her head.

She was wearing a white research coat, her expression weary, but her eyes were very clear.

Elena Walker.

The current chief researcher of "Project Prometheus."

"Mr. President, I must remind you."

She spoke cautiously.

"The current level of cooperation from the test subject is indeed much higher than in the past."

"But that is not trust."

"He is just waiting for an opportunity to escape."

As her voice fell, the expressions of several military officers in the conference room changed.

President Trump, however, just sneered.

"That is why we must keep changing locations."

"Keep isolating him."

"Keep monitoring him."

He leaned forward slightly, his gaze pressing over like a blade.

"But we cannot continue like in the past, relying only on a group of linguists to guess those strange symbols."

No one refuted this.

Because this was exactly the biggest dilemma of Project Prometheus.

The United States had obtained the spaceship.

Had obtained the technical data.

And had dug out countless things from The Alien that were enough to change the era.

Yet they had never truly grasped it.

The language system of The Alien civilization was too complex.

Many technologies, they could see the outline, but couldn't touch the core.

It was like seeing gold piled up on the other side through a thick layer of glass, but only being able to scrape at it bit by bit with one's fingernails.

Over these years, the United States had indeed enjoyed the dividends.

Yet they had never learned how to turn that spark into a sun.

Until half a year ago.

After Project Prometheus was restarted, President Trump personally changed the strategy.

He did not continue with brutal interrogation.

Instead, he dug out all the old files and pushed all the blame from back then cleanly onto the previous President Lin.

Imprisonment.

Experiments.

Sample extraction.

Forced memory extraction.

Psychological stimulation tests.

Those bloody records sealed in the files, in President Trump's words, all became "mistakes left behind by the previous administration."

He told The Alien that the United States had changed to a new President.

The new government was willing to renegotiate terms.

A safer living environment.

Fewer forced experiments.

Repairs to some damaged equipment.

And even, at some suitable time in the future, helping him send limited information to his home planet.

How much of these promises were true and how much were false, President Trump knew best himself.

But for a life that had been imprisoned for decades, this was already the only crack through which light shone into the darkness.

Soft tactics.

Enticement.

Concessions.

Plus a bit of well-timed threats.

In the end, The Alien agreed to limited cooperation.

From that day on, the progress of Project Prometheus began to skyrocket.

Many symbols that had plagued the research team for over a decade were quickly translated.

A large number of projects that had been labeled as "too high risk," "impossible to replicate," or "missing theoretical models" were also reopened.

Energy.

Materials.

Neural interfaces.

Space folding.

Interstellar communication.

Each item was like a spark fallen from mythology into the human world.

It was precisely because of this that President Trump was even more convinced—that over in Dragon Country, someone must be helping them too.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for Lu Li to bring out those era-surpassing things time and again.

And it would be even more impossible for Dragon Country's technology to advance so fast that even the United States began to feel suffocated.

President Trump lowered his head, looking at the codename on the file cover.

Prometheus.

The Fire Thief.

Back then, they had stolen the first spark from The Alien civilization, igniting the United States' hegemony for decades.

And now, this spark had been dug out from the ashes by them once again.

Only, beside the flame, it was no longer just the United States.

Dragon Country had caught up.

No.

Most likely, they had already walked ahead of them.

President Trump slammed the file shut.

Clap!

The dull sound made everyone in the conference room tremble.

"Continue to push forward with Project Prometheus."

His voice was as cold as iron.

"If he is willing to cooperate, give him a little sweetness."

"If he wants freedom, let him see the shadow of freedom."

"If he wants to go home, let him believe that we have the ability to send him back."

Elena's expression changed slightly.

"Mr. President, if he discovers that we have been guarding against him all along, the cooperation will very likely be interrupted."

President Trump raised his eyes and glanced at her.

That glance made Elena's back turn cold.

"Dr. Walker."

"I have never trusted him."

"What I need is the technology in his brain, not his friendship."

The conference room was deathly quiet.

President Trump stood up, his gaze slowly sweeping over everyone present.

"Dragon Country is already standing behind us."

"Any slower, and they will stand in front of us."

"The United States cannot lose its position as the hegemon of Blue Star."

"Therefore, no matter what the cost, we must master true interstellar technology before Dragon Country."

He paused for a moment, his eyes suddenly becoming cold and sinister.

"As for that alien—"

"He can be appeased."

"He can be promised."

"He can be utilized."

"But he must never be allowed to lose control."

"And even more, he must not be allowed to fall into the hands of Dragon Country."