Light Speed ​​War

Chapter 258: Ballistic Missiles

“Madam, they will take you to the Ministry of State Security. You must remember the way. Starting tomorrow, you will have to drive there yourself. Sir, we are going to the Academy of Sciences. Starting tomorrow, you will also have to drive there yourself. This place is not far from the Academy of Sciences. You can take a shuttle bus. The shuttle bus is just ahead and departs at 8:10.” Carlo pointed and Zhou Yuan saw a luxury bus parked in the community, near the west gate, with more than a dozen people sitting on it.

"Understood." "Okay." Chu Xiaolu and Zhou Yuan responded respectively.

Chu Xiaolu waved to Zhou Yuan and got into the back seat of the red sports car. Zhou Yuan got into the back seat of the blue sports car, took out his work ID from his briefcase, and hung it around his neck. The blue sports car followed the red sports car, exiting the west gate of the residential area. The red sports car roared to life and sped away. After passing through two checkpoints, the blue sports car drove into the gate of the Academy of Sciences. Carlo's companion parked the car, and the three of them got out. The luxury bus at the west gate of the residential area was undergoing inspection at the gate of the Academy of Sciences. However, Zhou Yuan noticed a line of text displayed on the large LED screen at the top of the building: "Warmly welcome outstanding students from universities across the country participating in the summer training camp!"

Carlo led the way, guiding Zhou Yuan, with Carlo's companion following behind. The three of them arrived at the elevator entrance, took the elevator, and arrived at the 22nd floor.

After exiting the elevator, Carlo led Zhou Yuan into a huge fan-shaped conference center. At the front of the conference center was a stage, and at the back were fan-shaped tiered seats. The tiered seats were already occupied by many people, mostly young and middle-aged, presumably employees of the Academy of Sciences. There was an area of ​​the tiered seats that was empty, which Zhou Yuan guessed was reserved for a certain group.

Zhou Yuan had already noticed a row of nameplates, about eighteen or nineteen in total, placed on the platform. No one was on the platform yet. Carlo walked up the steps and followed Zhou Yuan to the platform. Zhou Yuan was immediately struck by President Thomas's name being listed, centered in the middle. To Thomas's left was NASA Director Peak, and to his right was the Academy of Sciences President Lofi. Zhou Yuan looked up at the large banner above, then looked back; another large banner hung on the wall behind them, both bearing the same message: "Wishing the Horizon Landing Mission a Complete Success!"

Zhou Yuan learned from the flagship last night that the Western Tu Kingdom had landed on Horizon Planet, located west of Earth, around 10 a.m. today. However, in front of Carlo, Zhou Yuan still feigned surprise, "Carlo, am I seeing things? Landing on Horizon Planet?"

“Yes, sir, you’re not mistaken.” Although Carlo showed respect to Zhou Yuan, his pride was undisguised.

Zhou Yuan stared wide-eyed at Carlo, looking utterly incredulous. Carlo smiled at Zhou Yuan and gestured for him to proceed. Zhou Yuan looked closely and saw that his seat on the stage was four people away from Dean Luo Fei's seat, and there were three people to his right. Judging from the seating arrangement, Zhou Yuan could be considered a "lucky one."

"Mr. James, please have a seat and rest for a while. The event will officially begin at 8:40, so there are still 20 minutes to go."

Zhou Yuan nodded, and Carlo brought him a cup of coffee, handing it to him. Zhou Yuan thanked him, and Carlo left. Zhou Yuan was the first person to arrive at this seat on the stage.

Zhou Yuan is only 23 years old this year, which can be said to be very young. After Zhou Yuan sat down, a series of whistles and screams rang out, many of which were women's voices.

Zhou Yuan stood up, bowed to everyone, and this action caused a sensation, followed by a round of enthusiastic applause.

Suddenly, a young, beautiful, sexy, tall blonde woman stood up from her seat, rushed down the steps, and strode onto the stage. She ran up to Zhou Yuan, holding a notebook and pen, and said, "Mr. James, could you do me a favor?"

Zhou Yuan stood up and quickly asked, "Miss, how can I help you?"

"Mr. James, could you please sign your name here?"

Zhou Yuan smiled, and whistles and screams erupted from the audience again. Someone even shouted, "Kiss him, kiss him, kiss him..." The blonde beauty turned around, stuck out her tongue at everyone, and made a face.

Zhou Yuan took the notebook and pen and quickly signed the notebook's title page.

The girl took the notebook and pen, her eyes fixed on Zhou Yuan. "Mr. James, there's something I'm not sure if I should say?"

Zhou Yuan smiled, and the girl leaned her head closer to him. Zhou Yuan thought she wanted to whisper something to him, so he turned his head and put his ear close. Suddenly, the girl's eyes flashed, and Zhou Yuan thought, "Oh no!" Sure enough, the girl gave Zhou Yuan a big kiss on the cheek. The audience burst into laughter, followed by enthusiastic applause.

Zhou Yuan looked at the girl in surprise. The girl smiled slyly, a smile like a child's final victory. Zhou Yuan smiled back.

"Thank you, Mr. James." The beautiful woman turned around, opened her arms, and drew another round of applause from the audience.

This little interlude, however, broke the silence in the conference center. Just as people began to chatter and whisper among themselves, three middle-aged people—two men and a woman—entered, followed by a group of young men and women. The men in front led the line of people toward the empty seating area; the line probably numbered over seventy. The conference center fell silent instantly, everyone watching the group of young people, Zhou Yuan included.

These people seemed to notice someone sitting on the platform as well, and couldn't help but look towards it. After the group had passed more than halfway through, Zhou Yuan spotted a familiar figure in the distance. Zhou Yuan considered whether to hide, such as by lowering his head, but after thinking about it, he decided it was pointless and continued to watch the group.

A stunningly beautiful woman looked towards the podium, and upon seeing her, she was stunned. Zhou Yuan smiled at Pan Na.

Panna rubbed her eyes, thinking she had mistaken someone for someone else. But upon closer inspection, it was none other than Zhou Yuan. Panna tried to calm herself down, then winked and smiled at Zhou Yuan before continuing to follow behind the group, no longer looking at him. Zhou Yuan let out a long sigh of relief.

After the group of young people were all seated, six burly men in black entered through the door, followed by a spirited man with brown curly hair. Behind him was a large group of people, including the president of the Academy of Sciences, and four men in military uniforms with gold five-pointed stars shining on their shoulders.

The group climbed a few steps and walked towards the stage. Zhou Yuan stood up, and the audience below was already applauding enthusiastically.

Perhaps to show friendliness, the brown-haired man came directly to Zhou Yuan. Dean Lofi quickly introduced them. It turned out that the brown-haired man was Thomas, the powerful president of the Western Turks on this planet. When Lofi introduced Zhou Yuan to President Thomas and others, she was also very clear, saying that Zhou Yuan was one of the smartest people in the world, which made Zhou Yuan feel embarrassed.

Zhou Yuan knew that in addition to President Thomas and Dean Lofi, there were also Space Agency Director Peak, the Western Turk Defense Minister, the Commanders-in-Chief of the Western Turk Army, Navy and Air Force, and a group of outstanding scientists.

After Thomas sat down, everyone else took their seats in turn. Zhou Yuan glanced at the audience and estimated there were over ten thousand people.

Two minutes after Thomas and the others took their seats, the meeting began at 8:40. The president of the Academy, Lofi, presided over the meeting and delivered a speech, expressing gratitude to the president and government for their support of the Academy and hoping that all the scientists and outstanding students present would contribute their wisdom and talents to the great Western Turks. Finally, President Lofi invited everyone to give a warm round of applause to welcome President Thomas and the assembled officials and distinguished scientists.

A burst of enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience, lasting almost two minutes. After the crowd quieted down, Thomas began his speech with a melodious and rhythmic tone.

"Dean Luo Fei, scientists, outstanding students, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today for the purpose of what Dean Luo Fei said: to encourage all scientists and students to serve the country and contribute your wisdom and talents to the great Western Turks. To put it bluntly, our country is at its most dangerous moment, and the country needs each and every one of you!"

Everyone was shocked. Although they already knew that the Western Turks' aircraft carrier battle group was assembling, preparing to attack the Eastern Turks, they didn't take it seriously. They believed that the Eastern Turks' current strength was no match for the Western Turks', and that defeating the Eastern Turks would be an easy task. Who knew that President Thomas would say that this was the most dangerous moment for the Western Turks?

"Today is Monday. At 5:00 AM on Monday, August 2, 1982 in Xingyuan, which is 1:00 PM on August 2 in Dongtu Kingdom, Dongtu Kingdom suddenly attacked us. They launched two ballistic missiles, one heading towards the East China Sea and the other towards the South China Sea. Unfortunately, our two destroyers, which were traveling at high speed in the East China Sea and the South China Sea respectively, were hit by these two ballistic missiles."

This shocking news was like a heavy bomb hitting the ground. Zhou Yuan could see that the people of the Western Lands were utterly astonished, speechless, and their faces showed disbelief. The two ballistic missiles launched by the Eastern Lands seemed to have instantly shattered the already inflated confidence of the people of the Western Lands.

Zhou Yuan secretly calculated that his compatriots had probably received the shortwave radio signal he transmitted at 11 pm the day before yesterday. However, things seemed a bit strange. Why would his country launch missiles to actively attack a Western Turkic destroyer? Zhou Yuan thought about it carefully. It was also possible that the two destroyers had gone together, and the Western Turkic country's purpose was naturally to find a pretext for war, incite nationalistic sentiment, occupy the moral high ground, and control the direction of public opinion.

As expected, Thomas said, "Although the Eastern Turks have repeatedly emphasized that it was a missile misfire and have apologized, we cannot tolerate such barbaric behavior. I hereby announce my decision: a 25-carrier battle group will launch cruise missiles intensively towards the coastal cities of the Eastern Turks in the East China Sea and South China Sea. The launch time is 1 p.m. today!" Thomas set the launch time at 1 p.m. (Western Turks time), which was nothing more than an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

Everyone seemed to realize what was happening, and they were filled with rage. Many shouted, "Kill them all!" "Kill them all!" "Kill them all!" Four-fifths of the people on the tiered seats were waving their fists and chanting in unison, "Kill them all!"

Thomas nodded and pressed his hands down to signal everyone to be quiet.

Sitting in the third row of the audience, Panna kept an eye on Zhou Yuan. When she saw Zhou Yuan frown, she felt a mix of emotions. Emotionally, she did not want the Western Kingdom and the Eastern Kingdom to go to war.

A full-scale war between the Western and Eastern Turkic kingdoms seems imminent.