206: Chapter 206 Showdown of Hegemony, Lies as Cover-ups

Douglas Hawthorne, the Permanent Representative of the Lighthouse Country to the United Nations, sat in the Lighthouse Country's seat at the circular conference table, his hands crossed and resting on the dark brown leather folder in front of him.

After waiting for the preceding Brazilian representative to finish a routine initiative on sharing astronomical observation data for the Southern Hemisphere, he leisurely opened the document in front of him marked "Global Science and Technology Defense Cooperation Initiative".

His tone was steady and calm, sounding like he was reading a diplomatic communiqué that had been repeatedly polished countless times.

"The United States of America is willing to share advanced technological weapon systems used to defend against the Zeta Star expeditionary fleet with all member states possessing technological absorption capabilities under the multilateral framework of the United Nations."

He turned past the first page of the proposal, raised his eyes, and swept a gaze across every face around the circular conference table that was gradually shifting from confusion to vigilance.

Then, he continued in a completely unadorned and bland tone,

"The premise for sharing is: member states receiving aid must accept the uniform rules formulated by the United States of America in all aspects, including technological security reviews, technology usage supervision, follow-up research and development authorization, and supporting industrial transformation."

"Any behavior violating the above rules will be regarded as an automatic withdrawal from this cooperation framework."

The entire conference hall fell silent for several seconds at that moment.

Representatives from the John Country, Gaul Country, India, Sakura Country, and others swiftly exchanged glances in the silence.

Relying solely on the subtle body language of diplomats on the surface, they completed a tacit mutual confirmation of consensus.

They were all smart people and did not need Hawthorne to spell things out any clearer:

On the surface, the Lighthouse Country was sharing technology, but in reality, it was redefining the rules of world hegemony using the allocation rights of advanced technology.

Once this framework was accepted, they would be dictated to from then on.

But being dictated to in itself was not a big deal to them.

The previous world hegemony also belonged to the Lighthouse Country, and there was no essential difference between now and then, other than this hegemony being slightly stronger or weaker than before.

More importantly, the John Country and Gaul Country had achieved their established goal of "getting a piece of the pie".

Sakura Country gained hope of surviving under the million-fleet Black Hole Bomb.

India gained bargaining chips to simultaneously alleviate external threats and internal collapse.

As for the technology shared with them by the Lighthouse Country, it would certainly be attached with all sorts of restrictions:

Complicated approval processes, lengthy technology verification cycles, deliberately raised entry thresholds...

They were all fully aware of these things.

What they wanted in the first place was not technology itself, but a hope, an opportunity, and a decent explanation to their domestic citizens and parliamentary opposition.

Advanced technology itself turned out to be the smallest part of it.

But at this juncture where this almost subtle collective tacit consent was about to drown out all opposing voices,

Voronov, the Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations, stood up from his seat.

He closed the proposal in front of him—which had been punched into a dent by him earlier—and braced his hands on the edge of the table, an undisguised sarcastic smile hanging on the corners of his mouth.

"A few days ago, your esteemed country repeatedly echoed in this conference hall:"

"You didn't know what the Deep State is, didn't know what the Longevity Faction is, didn't know what the Tech Faction is, and never received technological assistance from an unknown source of advanced civilization."

"The expression of Mr. Hawthorne, your country's representative at that time, and his expression right now sitting in the same chair announcing that he wants to 'share advanced technology', are simply like two different people."

Voronov slowly withdrew the hands bracing the table, placed them before him, and crossed his fingers, his tone switching from sarcastic to bone-chillingly cold,

"Your esteemed country's words contradict each other and you have zero credibility whatsoever. How do you have the face to set up some hegemonic framework for sharing technology here?"

Hawthorne slowly closed the proposal in front of him and placed it on the corner of the table. His tone remained as steady as a stagnant lake that never rippled:

"The United States of America maintains its previous stance."

"We do not know what the Deep State is, nor have we ever received technological assistance from an unknown source of advanced civilization."

Voronov was almost choked to the point of laughing out loud by these words.

He made no effort to conceal the sarcasm and mockery in his tone:

"You didn't receive technological assistance from the Deep State? Then did these weapons of yours that can fight Aliens fall from the sky?"

Hawthorne slightly tilted his head, meeting Voronov's gray-blue eyes filled simultaneously with mockery, anger, and calculation. His tone was calm and resolute:

"The reason why the Lighthouse Country currently possesses advanced technological weapons capable of resisting the Zeta Star's million-strong fleet is because of the existence of a hero scientist."

Voronov's brows twitched slightly, and he did not reply immediately.

Representatives from countries like the John Country, Gaul Country, India, and Sakura Country also simultaneously focused all their gazes on Hawthorne's diplomatic bureaucratic face, which from start to finish had never revealed a single flaw.

They had just been busy calculating how many leftovers their respective countries could carve out under the Lighthouse Country's hegemonic framework,

and as for how this advanced technology actually came about, it wasn't that they didn't want to ask, but that they didn't dare to ask.

Having tacitly submitted to the Lighthouse Country's hegemonic framework, they were merely someone else's underling, automatically a notch lower, and thus lacked the courage to probe into the source of the big boss's trump cards.

But Russia was different.

Voronov voiced out for them what everyone was suppressing in their hearts but dared not utter themselves.

Therefore, representatives from the John Country, Gaul Country, India, Sakura Country, and other nations now all focused their attention on Hawthorne,

waiting to see how he would explain where the advanced technology capable of resisting a million alien fleets comes from,

and what exactly was going on with this "hero scientist" whose name sounded like the protagonist of a cheap sci-fi novel.

Facing everyone's gaze, Hawthorne's tone was unprecedentedly solemn and steady:

"The true identity of this hero scientist was originally top secret to the United States of America."

"But since everyone present has repeatedly questioned it, I, as the Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, am making an exception here to disclose this confidential information to all member states, which has never been made public before."

Voronov slowly untwined his fingers crossed in front of the table, placed them on the armrests on both sides, said nothing, and merely used an extremely cautious gaze to lock onto every trace of muscle change on Hawthorne's face.

The John Country representative flipped the notepad at hand to a blank page and removed the pen cap.

The Gaul Country representative leaned forward slightly.

The Sakura Country representative gently raised their hand from under the table and rested it on their knee.

The India representative pushed the agenda folder that had been pressing down in front of them to the side.

All eyes were waiting for Hawthorne to continue.

Hawthorne opened the document marked "Top Secret: Hero Scientist File Summary", his tone steady and solemn:

"The name of this hero scientist is Sophus Tesla."

"He is a descendant of Nikola Tesla."

"Who are you trying to fool!"

Voronov slammed a palm onto the table, shaking the agenda folder of the nearby India representative so that it slid out several inches.

His voice shot straight up to a level he couldn't suppress at all,

"The whole world knows Nikola Tesla had no descendants!"

"He was unmarried for life, had no children, and had no direct bloodline whatsoever!"

"Your ability to make up stories is simply too outrageous! Do you think everyone present is an elementary school student?!"

"Using a completely non-existent character to prevaricate the United Nations General Assembly! Do you treat the Security Council as your own circus tent!"

Hawthorne did not rush to refute. He merely turned the page of the file in front of him gently, and looking at Voronov, said in a leisurely, calm tone bordering on indifference:

"The news that Nikola Tesla had no descendants is precisely what we deliberately let the outside world see."

"The real secret is something you will never know."

He paused for a moment, his gaze slowly shifting from Voronov's face to the other representatives of various countries around the circular conference table who were holding their breath and waiting for the rest,

"If Representative Voronov feels that you know more than I do, you can speak on my behalf."

"Please."

"Explain to the representatives of various countries present here where on earth our Lighthouse Country advanced technology capable of resisting a million alien fleets comes from."

Voronov opened his mouth, his jaw muscles clenched tightly. After holding it in for a long time, he finally let out a "hmph" and sat back down into his chair.

But after sitting down, he immediately crossed his arms over his chest and added in a disdainful tone of "I knew you guys would pull this stunt":

"I only know that you are lying."

"As for how exactly you are lying, sooner or later I will put the evidence in front of all of you."

The conference hall fell briefly silent for a moment.

Then some principal administrative officials related to the United Nations General Assembly began to low-key urge Hawthorne to continue.

However, Hawthorne merely closed the file in front of him, crossed his hands and placed them on the table, his tone returning to the mechanical and flawless steadiness it had at the beginning:

"In view of the Russian representative repeatedly interrupting my speech, if similar disruptive behavior occurs again next time, then this confidential file regarding the hero scientist might as well not be mentioned."

Several United Nations officials serving as rotating chairmen and meeting coordinators began to shuttle and mediate between Voronov and Hawthorne.

They said to Voronov:

"If you have objections, you can raise them collectively after the Lighthouse Country representative finishes speaking. After all, everyone present is still waiting to hear it."

The John Country representative also spoke up:

"An interruption affects not just one person, but all delegations present waiting for this confidential data."

The Gaul Country representative gently raised their hand resting flat on the table, spread it open, and echoed behind:

"Repeated interruptions are meaningless. Listen to the whole thing before making a judgment."

The India representative also chimed in closely:

"Observatories around the world are currently synchronizing and refreshing the jump trajectory of the Zeta fleet. The time window is running low, and every round of diplomatic dispute will eat into the progress bar of all windows."

The Sakura Country representative spoke last. Their tone was still that tame and restrained etiquette template, but the wording was exceptionally clear:

"After we finish listening to the hero scientist file, we must submit the first feedback report regarding the technology-sharing framework to the government. All interrupted time is delaying the technological authorization milestones of all member states."

Looking at those faces turning toward him simultaneously, Voronov slammed his arms—which were crossed over his chest—down hard and placed them on the edge of the table, still stubbornly saying:

"I didn't interrupt anyone; I was merely correcting a public lie."

"If you want to listen to a fabricated fake person, go ahead and listen, but I'm putting it out here:"

"Not a single word of this story from beginning to end is true!"

"Every word you believe is carving a scar into your future international reputation!"

After saying this, he leaned his back heavily against the chair and truly quieted down quite a bit.

He could disregard the diplomatic pressure from any single country present,

but under the watchful eyes of the public, he wasn't so foolish as to openly incur public anger.