Chapter 131: Dance on the Palm of My Hand |
Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense
131 – Dance on the Palm of My Hand
The Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, New York.
Famous for the ‘Plaza Accord’ in 1985, where the finance ministers of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan gathered to end Japan’s bubble era, this hotel was once again about to host a meeting to change the course of history.
The main agenda of the meeting was, of course, the recent bombshell declaration by the Liberal Clan that had turned the world upside down.
The emergence of a person capable of completely shattering the existing concepts of ‘defense’ and ‘security’ was forcing the governments of various countries to deliberate on countermeasures.
“The technology and assets possessed by the Liberal Clan play a crucial role for humanity in the Gate Era. However, even considering all that, we cannot overlook the threat that could topple the order humanity has built so far.”
Xi Runfeng, the President of the Republic of China, passionately addressed the heads of state attending the meeting.
He emphasized that if Myung-jun decided to, he could eliminate the president of any country at any time, and currently, no government had the means to stop him.
“The Liberal Clan has clearly grown into an entity that poses a threat to global security. Seeing him now, it is understandable why Director Moon Hee-cheol once tried to detain him. Director Moon probably recognized the danger inherent in Cha Myung-jun’s abilities and intended to control his growth.”
Upon hearing Moon Jun-yeol’s argument, which subtly rationalized Moon Hee-cheol’s actions, President Watt Rung of France expressed his opposition.
“But in the end, it resulted in threatening Han Soo-jeong’s life and further provoking Cha Myung-jun. The same goes for the enforcement of the Awakener Management Act pushed by Korea afterward. If Director Moon Hee-cheol had not forcibly pressured the Liberal Clan, they would have remained in Korea.”
Among the countries participating in the meeting, the European nations—France, the United Kingdom, and Germany—showed a favorable attitude towards the Liberal Clan.
Of course, they couldn’t rule out the possibility that Cha Myung-jun and the Liberal Clan’s existence could pose a threat to national security, but they judged that there was no need to antagonize them unnecessarily.
Conversely, the major Asian powers, excluding Japan, such as China, Korea, and Russia, maintained a hostile stance towards the Liberal Clan.
“Power, the stronger it is, must be managed and controlled. The Liberal Clan is like a tamed tiger. For now, it listens to its master, but one day, when the food runs out, it will turn into a wild beast. By then, it will be too late to act.”
When President Putin of Russia spoke, President Joe Biden of the United States opened his mouth.
“In my opinion, it is already too late.”
The representatives of other countries looked at him with serious expressions, shocked by the statement from the head of the country with the world’s strongest military power.
“What do you mean by ‘already too late’…?”
“In fact, the U.S. Department of Defense secretly conducted a war game simulation to predict the outcome if the U.S. military and the Liberal Clan went to full-scale war. And the result was…”
As the sound of dry swallowing filled the room, Biden continued.
“It’s exactly as Cha Myung-jun declared. Within a day of the war’s onset, the White House was destroyed, the national operating system was shattered, and the Pentagon disappeared from the surface on the same day.”
“Is that even possible?”
“The clan possesses cloaking technology, not just stealth that can’t be detected by radar or even the naked eye. If they genuinely targeted only the leadership, there would be no way to stop them. If they quietly infiltrated the airspace above the White House and unleashed their firepower, even the nuclear bunker beneath the White House wouldn’t be able to withstand it.”
“Isn’t it a serious problem that even the U.S. military, said to be the strongest in the world, can’t stop them?”
“The problem is that there are many others who could do similar things, not just the Liberal Clan.”
Biden stated.
The existing national defense strategy, designed solely to counter the ‘military’ of other countries, found it difficult to deal with Awakeners who could produce nuclear-level destructive power on their own.
Therefore, the final conclusion reached by the U.S. government was that the only way to counter Awakeners was to cultivate strong Awakeners.
‘The problem is how to cultivate an Awakened stronger than Cha Myung-jun…’
That was a problem with no clear solution.
Even the currently trained Awakeners were struggling with the rapidly strengthening gate conquests, making it seem nearly impossible for any country to independently cultivate an Awakener stronger than Myung-jun.
Then, Prime Minister Ishida, who had been silent until now, cautiously opened his mouth.
“I believe that, for now, we should leave the Liberal Clan as they are.”
“Of course, that would be Japan’s stance. Japan stands to gain the most from the Liberal Clan’s presence.”
Despite Xi Runfeng’s sarcastic remark, Ishida’s expression remained unchanged.
Instead, he calmly explained his thoughts.
These were not Prime Minister Ishida’s own thoughts, but a plan that Myung-jun had shared with him.
“First, the Liberal Clan has expressed their desire to deliver 200 Marine-type Knights used in the recent gate subjugation operation to various governments. Half of them, 100 units, will be given to the Japanese government, and the remaining 100 units will be distributed to ten selected countries, with each receiving ten units.”
“Is that true!?”
“To be precise, they announced that they would provide a modified version for land use rather than the Marine type, which, in my opinion, seemed even better.”
When Ishida signaled, his aide handed out tablet PCs they had been holding.
Displayed on the tablets were images of the Marine-type Knights redesigned for land use by Soo-jeong.
‘This is the Knights…’
The representatives of each country immediately understood why Ishida had said, ‘this seems better,’ upon seeing the specifications revealed on the tablets.
Unlike the original Marine-type Knights, which consumed a massive amount of crystal energy to withstand deep-sea pressure, the land-modified Knights were focused on ‘firepower’ to combat high-grade monsters.
“Although the types provided may vary slightly by country, according to the explanation, they are generally categorized into assault, general-purpose, and support types. They are called ‘Assault Striker,’ ‘Universal Striker,’ and ‘Support Striker,’ respectively.”
“They are not called Knights?”
“It’s a new name given to distinguish them from the 20-meter-tall robots that Cha Myung-jun pilots.”
The new robots, conceived by Myung-jun and manufactured by Soo-jeong, had various armaments and specifications tailored to their respective roles.
The ‘Assault Striker,’ which could withstand attacks from powerful monsters of rank 8 or higher and sweep them away with close-combat weapons on the front lines.
The ‘Universal Striker,’ which could adapt to various battlefield environments, sometimes engaging in close combat and other times in long-range battles.
Lastly, the ‘Support Striker,’ which handled long-range firepower and utility, performing support tasks for the other Strikers.
The Liberal Clan’s proposal to provide ten units of such powerful equipment, capable of changing the grade of gates that could be conquered with just one unit, and to do so free of charge, aroused greed in the eyes of all the national representatives participating in the meeting.
They repeatedly flipped through the pages on their tablets, imagining the giant robots emblazoned with their national flags.
However, the Liberal Clan’s proposal did not end there.
“And if the respective countries wish, they will also send blacksmith-type Awakeners to each country to provide training on the maintenance and modification of the Strikers.”
“Is it possible for the Republic of Korea to be included in that list of countries?”
Seeing Moon Jun-yeol’s expression, filled with the intention to completely change sides if he could get a ‘yes’ answer, Ishida felt a cold sweat run down his back.
The attitudes of the leaders of the great powers in front of him.
Everything was aligning precisely with what Myung-jun had predicted and told Ishida.
Ishida nodded and answered Moon Jun-yeol.
“Yes, that’s correct. With Director Moon Hee-cheol’s death, the enmity between the Republic of Korea and the Liberal Clan is considered to have disappeared.”
“In that case, the Republic of Korea agrees with the opinion to maintain the Liberal Clan.”
“What is the stance of the Chinese government?”
“The Chinese government also agrees with the opinion to maintain the Liberal Clan. However, we believe that the 100 units promised to the Japanese government are excessively numerous. For the sake of global stability and peace, how about selling some of the Strikers promised to the Japanese government to other countries?”
Listening to Xi Runfeng’s proposal, which carried an implicit threat of ‘accept this if you want our agreement,’ Prime Minister Ishida recalled his conversation with Myung-jun.
“We plan to give the Japanese government about 50 units, but in the meeting, say that we will receive 100 units.”
“Why?”
“If we say from the beginning that we will receive 50 units and distribute 15 units each to 10 countries, they will pounce on us saying even 50 units are too many. They won’t ask for the Strikers, which are worth more than 1 trillion won each at the current market price, for free. They will probably ask to buy them.”
“If that happens, what should we ask for in return?”
“Ask for crystal stones and high-grade monster materials. At the current market price, 1 trillion won worth per unit.”
“What if they don’t agree to the market price or demand payment in dollars, yuan, or euros?”
“Just say you can’t sell them at that price. Also, insist that all future transactions with the Liberal Clan must be conducted using crystal stones and monster materials, so the payment for the units must be in crystal stones.”
In the end, Myung-jun’s plan was essentially to sell 50 of the 200 Strikers through the Japanese government.
‘He anticipated this far…’
Hiding the smile that kept trying to surface on his lips, Prime Minister Ishida spoke to Xi Runfeng.
“Ten units might be possible, but fifty units… that’s a bit much…”
“It’s not about asking for them for free, we are talking about purchasing them at a fair price, aren’t we? Since we are all gathered here, we should decide right now how many units each country will be allocated.”
Thus, today’s meeting, initially convened to discuss international sanctions against the Liberal Clan, was completely transformed into a giant robot auction by Myung-jun’s scheme.
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Amid rebuttals, shouting, threats, and persuasion, the final allocation of the Strikers was decided.
Japan would receive 50 units, the United States 30 units, China 18 units, Russia 16 units, France and Germany 13 units each, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Canada, and Australia 10 units each, and the remaining 20 units would be distributed to the countries that could not attend the meeting.
The reason for distributing the remaining 20 units to the other countries was to prevent international criticism that might arise if only the countries attending today’s meeting received the Strikers.
The gate crisis was a global catastrophe, and the Strikers would be the most powerful weapon to combat such a disaster.
Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East…
There were countless countries in need of Strikers, and some share had to be allocated to them as well.
Once the distribution ratio was decided, Prime Minister Ishida, representing the Japanese government, conveyed Myung-jun’s next directive.
It was to create an international agreement stipulating that the distributed Strikers must not be used as weapons of war under any circumstances.
This agreement would also apply to any new equipment reverse-engineered from the Strikers in the future.
“That was also one of the conditions for the distribution of the Strikers. Myung-jun stated that if any equipment utilizing the technology applied to the Strikers were mobilized for war, the Liberal Clan would personally intervene to destroy the equipment and hold the using country accountable.”
It was an audacious statement that bordered on arrogance, but no one gathered in this hotel thought it was mere bluff.
The Myung-jun and the Liberal Clan they knew had the capability to erase any country that mobilized the Strikers for war from the map if they so desired.
Despite the explanation from Prime Minister Ishida, the U.S. government, which was allocated the most Strikers, expressed dissatisfaction, but President Biden’s complaints were not accepted.
The overwhelming majority of countries did not want the U.S. government to use the new weapons they were allocated for military purposes.
In the end, even the U.S. government agreed to the terms, leading to the formation of the ‘Second Plaza Accord.’
This new international agreement, suitable for the Gate Era, included the distribution of Strikers, their future operational methods, and the elevation of the Liberal Clan’s status to that of an independent nation.
