19: Chapter 19 The Five Permanent Members Meeting

At 9:00 AM, the comment section of President Trump's latest tweet was completely blank for the first thirty seconds.

Then, like the first drop of rain on a parched riverbed, the first reply appeared. Then the tenth, the hundredth, the ten-thousandth.

Twitter's servers began to lag at the third minute, users in some regions were unable to refresh by the fifth minute, and by the seventh minute, the #Trump tag had surged to the number one global trend.

At the eleventh minute, Elon Musk replied with three fire emojis under that tweet, and SpaceX's stock price began a nearly vertical ascent at that moment.

"I knew it! I knew our President would protect us! Where are those people who mocked him now?"

"Wait. So the alien fleet stopped because he 'negotiated'? What did he rely on? Nukes?"

"Fake news! Everything you see is fake news! The President said it was his tough negotiation!!!"

"I am an astronomy enthusiast in Switzerland. My telescope is still pointed at the Kuiper Belt. The fleet has indeed stopped. I don't know who made them stop, but they have stopped. I don't care whose credit it is. I only care that they have stopped."

"Manhattan is still burning. My apartment building was looted yesterday. Now you tell me 'no one understands aliens better than me'? I hope you really do understand. I sincerely hope so."

"'At my request, they have stopped advancing.' Have you guys wondered why the aliens would listen to his request? Just because he is President Trump?"

"Alien: Travel hundreds of light-years to reach the Solar System."

"President Trump: No one understands you better than me."

"Alien: We're leaving."

"I'm dying of laughter, the whole world is about to be destroyed and you guys are still making memes."

"Should we cry instead of making memes? Tears can't repel the alien fleet."

"Elon Musk replied with three fire emojis under that tweet!!! He never replies with fire emojis for no reason!!! What is he hinting at??? Is SpaceX going to be involved in alien technology???"

"I just put all my money into buying SpaceX. I'm not joking."

"Are you crazy?!"

"Maybe, but if it's true, I'll never have to work again."

"I've worked in the diplomatic system for thirty years. I've seen many types of negotiations. But never one achieved when the other side has absolute force and our side has no leverage."

"The President said he 'negotiated toughly.' I'm very curious, what leverage do we have in our hands?"

"The leverage is our President! No one understands negotiation better than him!"

"That's not leverage, that's faith, and faith is not leverage."

"How is faith not leverage? If the aliens dare to come, I'll learn from the East and fight them in urban warfare! Although they have advanced weapons, we have an iron will!"

"I don't care about politics. I don't care about the stock market. I just want to know if my three children can go to school alive tomorrow. This tweet makes me feel like maybe they can. Maybe."

"Me too. I held my children and watched the President's speech, and I cried all night. This morning he asked me, 'Mom, do aliens eat people?' I didn't know how to answer. This tweet at least gives me an answer to give him."

"There are no aliens at all! You've all been played by President Trump! He just did it to crash the stock market first, then buy low and sell high, same old routine!"

"In ten minutes, SpaceX stock skyrocketed by 400%. I've never seen such a rise in my life. Did aliens save the stock market???"

"It's not the aliens that saved the stock market. It's President Trump's tweet that saved the stock market, just like every time before."

"ABC Radio: While the President announced on Twitter that he saved the world, emergency shelters in New York City are packed with homeless people."

"They were paying rent yesterday, today their apartments were looted, burned, and blocked off by the army. You saved the world. Very good. Now who is going to save them?"

"Well said. The alien fleet stopped, but New York is still burning. Can we save our own people before celebrating?"

"President Trump: The fake news media is attacking me again. They would rather see the world destroyed than admit I saved the United States. Pathetic!"

In a small, windowless conference room in the West Wing of the White House.

President Trump finished posting the tweet, then placed his phone face down on the table.

He leaned back in his chair, hands crossed over his lower abdomen, looking at the giant LCD screen on the wall.

On the screen, five faces were looking at him from five different time zones.

They were the East, the Leader of Mao Xiong, the France, John, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Five windows, five faces, five different degrees of fatigue, and the same degree of tension.

"Where were we just now?" President Trump said.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations leaned forward slightly: "You just said that you discovered an envoy sent by the aliens."

"Right." President Trump moved his hands from his lower abdomen and placed them flat on the table: "He showed us his ability to stop the alien fleet in space, so our expert team believes there is a 90% probability that he is truly an alien envoy."

The Leader of Mao Xiong gave a cold snort: "What is the purpose of this envoy coming to Blue Star?"

President Trump looked at him and spread his hands: "He wants all of us to unconditionally accept the rule of their so-called Guga Planet."

The five faces on the screen froze for an instant.

"Impossible. The East will never agree to this condition." The East spoke up first, asserting its dominance.

The Secretary-General nodded: "Then what are the opinions of the others?"

The President of France responded first: "The Republic of France agrees with the East's position. Unconditionally accepting the rule of an external force does not conform to the national interests of France, nor does it conform to the common interests of human civilization."

Prime Minister John followed immediately: "The United Kingdom of John seconds this. Whether the threat comes from inside or outside this planet, the principle of sovereignty is non-negotiable."

The Leader of Mao Xiong crossed his hands on the table: "Mao Xiong also opposes it, but I want to hear first what the United States' own attitude is."

At this moment, all eyes turned to President Trump.

President Trump lifted his hands from the table, palms down, and made a downward pressing motion: "Calm down, guys, isn't that why I came to discuss with you?"

"According to my first round of dialogue with that envoy, under my tough stance, he agreed to make limited concessions."

"But regarding the specific details, I propose to leave it to the United Nations to discuss."

The Leader of Mao Xiong lifted his hands from the table and snorted coldly: "After all these years, you are still so shameless. When good things happen, you talk first; when bad things happen, you dump it on the United Nations. How do we know if you have reached any private agreements with the aliens?"

President Trump's hand lifted from the table, pointing at the face of the Leader of Mao Xiong, just about to retort.

"Enough!" The East stopped this conflict, "What time is it now? With the enemy at the gates, we on Blue Star must not fight amongst ourselves."

President Trump's finger stopped in mid-air, and the Leader of Mao Xiong's mouth twitched, both saying nothing.

"The United States did the right thing this time. This kind of thing must be decided by a United Nations vote. I also take this opportunity to propose again: all war conflicts on Blue Star must cease fire!"

Looking at the East's speech for the greater good, everyone could only nod and indicate no problem.

President Trump watched everyone nod, so he compensated: "No problem, the United States has always strived to maintain world peace."

Everyone was speechless, thinking that you are the one who causes the most trouble!

But everyone was too lazy to expose him, giving him some face.

The Secretary-General lifted his gaze from the table: "Then next Monday, I will hold a general meeting at the United Nations Headquarters."

President Trump nodded: "By the way, according to our previous conversation, plus the speculation of our expert team, this alien seems to value our civilization itself very much."

"You can let your think tanks ponder this later. After all, this might be the only leverage we have on Blue Star!"

Everyone had a grave expression, and the five windows on the screen went dark one after another.