The spacecraft successfully arrived at Ruyi City, and naturally, Chancellor Bai Zhongqi couldn't accompany the members of the negotiation inspection team on their travels. Despite having no particular business, his status precluded the breach of formality and etiquette.
However, Bai Zhongqi kept a constant eye on every move of the negotiation inspection team; his ears and eyes were everywhere in Ruyi City. Yet, this form of "peeping" might slightly border on being haughty.
At this moment, Bai Zhongqi was more concerned not with Xiang Fei's negotiations on smog removal cooperation but with the military delegation from Country C's visit.
The military component made up over a fifth of the visiting delegation. It was clear that obtaining advanced military technology from Iridium Star was an urgent need among the many requirements of Country C.
Within the framework Bai Zhongqi proposed for the Star Alliance, Iridium Star promised not to interfere in the internal issues of Earth's nations unless it pertained to Iridium Star itself. However, the security environment facing Country C at this time wasn't very optimistic. The encirclement by the Eagle Sauce Family still caused considerable negative effects.
Although joining the Star Alliance marked the dawn of a vast era of space travel for Country C, this allowed them to broaden their horizons beyond the confines of Earth. Still, since Country C originated from Earth, with interests spread globally, it wasn't possible to just relinquish them.
Relatively speaking, Country C was indeed looking forward to gaining more advantages on Earth after acquiring stronger power.
All of this was based on the economic and military power of Country C.
The military personnel who came to Ruyi City this time had two main tasks. The first was to negotiate military cooperation with the Star Alliance and address issues concerning the establishment of the Star Alliance Universe Army; the second was to inspect and observe the so-called "atmospheric defense weapons" that Iridium Star was providing to Country C.
For the first task, the people from Country C were quite clear, and there wasn't much room for negotiation, as all the ships and weapons for the Star Alliance Universe Army were provided by the United Empire of Iridium Star, and training was to be handled by the Iridium Star Universe Army.
The negotiations were primarily about the details, such as how many people Country C would send to join the Star Alliance Universe Army, how to enlist soldiers, and how to share the costs. In principle, Country C also hoped to send more people, as having more from Country C in the Star Alliance Universe Army would naturally give them more weight in discussions.
Although this was somewhat wishful thinking on their part.
As for the second task, Country C actually regarded it with higher priority. This was because these weapons were generations more advanced than the existing military technologies on Earth, and once the military of Country C mastered and developed combat capabilities with them, they would be dominant worldwide.
Whether or not space development brought many benefits, merely becoming the rule-maker on Earth and establishing an international order favorable to Country C would be exhilarating enough.
In this regard, Bai Zhongqi was actually aimed at secretly strengthening Country C. Even if, after some time, the Star Alliance was opened up for other Earth nations to join, Iridium Star wouldn't provide much weaponry anymore, and what other countries received would still lag behind that of Country C, maintaining the lead of Country C within Earth.
Before the official commencement of the military cooperation negotiations, the Iridium Star representatives had already taken the Country C group to inspect the weapons prepared for support. These weapons, as their name "Atmospheric Defense Weapons" implied, were intended for combat on planetary surfaces. Technologically, they were incomparable to the current mainstream weapons of Iridium Star.
This batch of weapons had varying levels of technology; some were only three generations ahead of the current weapons of Country C, while others were ahead by more than a thousand years.
(Here, a generation is defined by the absolute superiority of a new generation over an old one, with reference objects being the F-22 compared to the Jian-8, or the Type 99 main battle tank compared to the Type 59 tank)
A group of high-ranking military officers from Country C, filled with various anticipations, followed the Iridium Star personnel to the Weapon Testing Ground. This testing ground was constructed within Ruyi City, and it couldn't actually deploy the full power of the weapons; it mainly used simulated systems to demonstrate the potency of the weapons and carried out static tests on them.
Major General Tang Xinhua from the Air Force Equipment Department, with eyes gleaming and in high spirits, joked with Major General Su Guokai from the Joint Staff Department standing nearby, "They're starting us off with the real deal, old Su, guess which equipment they'll show us first. I bet it's our Air Force's equipment."
Su Guokai, also a friend of Tang Xinhua and a bit slight in stature but extremely talented, rolled his eyes and said, "Whatever it is, as long as it contributes to the development of our People's Army, it's good stuff."
Tang Xinhua laughed and said, "These Iridium Star folks could probably let anything slip through their fingertips, and it would still be killer-level equipment for us."
At this moment, Army Commander Wang Peng chimed in, patting his seat and saying, "Never mind the rest, just by getting the technology for these levitating vehicles, I reckon all the tanks in the world are about to be obsolete."
They were riding in a hover vehicle, which was the simplest thing on Iridium Star, but it still left the military leaders from Country C amazed. They fully appreciated how disruptive this technology could be if introduced to Earth.
Terrain passability had always been a limiting factor for tanks, which is why Country C had developed new light tanks to adapt to the muddy terrain of rice paddies and road bridges in the south, and to the jungle and plateau landscapes of southern borders.
If they could mount cannons on these hover vehicles, regardless of terrain, the vehicles could fly over it, even cross seas on water surfaces, and engage in amphibious warfare. The value of this to an army was self-evident.
Excitedly discussing among themselves, the hover vehicle had already landed, and they had arrived at the Weapon Testing Ground.
The Iridium Star guide, actually a bionic human—which was unavoidable as the Iridium Star population was too small to spare real humans for such tasks—had been made to look the part by assigning it the rank of lieutenant colonel, making the military bigwigs feel they were dealing with a mid-level technical officer from Iridium Star.
"The first weapon I am going to show our guests here may feel very familiar to you, but believe me, its internals are completely different from what you know. One of you can have a hands-on experience with this weapon platform," said the bionic human.
This statement sufficiently whetted everyone's appetite as they eagerly awaited to see what this familiar thing was.
As the doors of a warehouse at the Weapon Testing Ground slowly opened, a fighter jet rolled out from within the darkness of the warehouse.
The jubilant Air Force Major General Tang Xinhua smiled, "See, it's our Air Force's equipment after all."
But as the fighter jet emerged from the shadows, fully exposed under the simulated sunlight of Ruyi City, Tang Xinhua was dumbfounded.
"This—this isn't our Jian-20, is it?"