Kang De's baton

"Mr. President, we need to make a decision and respond as soon as possible."

A Chuan chased all irrelevant people out of his office and sat there drinking cola, deep in thought. Twenty minutes later, the defense minister still pushed open the door to persuade him, his face full of conflict.

The president said with dissatisfaction, "Didn't Kang De say there would be a temporary ceasefire? Let me think about it some more."

"A ceasefire is a ceasefire, but he..."

"But what happened to him?"

The defense minister looked like he'd just eaten shit. "He forcibly dragged all the officers from the Tripwire Base into an armory, pulled the pins on five thermite grenades in front of them, and then juggled these five fireballs, each exceeding three thousand degrees, around in front of the officers like a juggler, forcing them to applaud and cheer..."

A Chuan also showed a look of disgust.

With the emergence of extraordinary abilities, more and more awakened individuals wielding supernatural powers have appeared around the world. Various countries attach great importance to this, and A Chuan has personally met with many of them. Before their awakening, these extraordinary individuals were just ordinary people, but they gradually became confident, and their mental state continued to change.

Some people became greedy, some became dissolute, some became extreme, and some became narrow-minded. Or rather, the sudden acquisition of great power amplified the dark side of their hearts, making it increasingly difficult to control and utilize them. A Chuan also constantly received troublesome reports about "problematic superhumans."

... But to be as extraordinary as Kang De is truly unprecedented.

"Damn!" A Chuan cursed, "This bastard is nothing like China person! Aren't China people usually introverted, shy, weak, quiet, and always used to suppressing their own feelings and pleasing others?!"

The defense minister sighed, "Sir, the situation may be a little different now."

Although he did not speak with Kang De personally, he had been negotiating with the China side, and just today, he was yelled at by China official.

The other party's arrogant attitude made him feel a little unreal, as if the script had been reversed—it was said that Secretary of State Zhu Tianpeng was still furious.

However, compared to China's attitude, the actions of the China people are far more dangerous.

The China government's political negotiations and pressure, and even Kang De's disruptive and reckless actions at the Tripwire Base, all clearly expressed the China's position—they wanted to get involved in the Titan incident.

If you disagree, I'll ruin everything for you.

If only the China government were to make this claim, the American Empire could simply laugh it off... After all, this is a matter on its own doorstep, and there's only one person in charge in the entire Americas —the America. China if the American Empire had the power to intervene in the North America Continent affairs, it could already be preparing to pay tribute.

... But China was the first to use Kang De.

This bastard, posing as Africa private entrepreneur, is here protesting with a property certificate. He can't be driven away, he can't be beaten, and when he tries to talk things over, he makes outrageous Tripwire Base as a reminder of his motives and malicious scheme—"I'm going to annoy you all to death today."

Having such an annoying creature wandering Lake Huron could cast a huge Shadow over the US military's upcoming operations, and even make it impossible for any work to proceed normally.

--I've taken your tanks, broken your planes, set your armory on fire, and dumped you in the toilet. Moving won't help; I'll follow you wherever you go.

The president and the defense minister looked at each other, feeling a tremendous sense of powerlessness.

"Fuck!" A Chuan said unhappily, "This China boy has stolen the essence of how we Amerikkka do things!"

He had a vague feeling that Kang De, and even China, had already grasped the core essence of participating in international affairs.

In other words, if I want to cooperate with you to make money, what I need to do is not to offer money and sincerity to impress you, nor to grovel and compromise to ask you to treat me well, nor to prove to you how rich or capable I am, or how much benefit I can bring you once I join.

Rather, if you fucking won't let me join, I'll wreck your whole place.

Kang De has now fully proven that he has this ability.

The tables have turned, and now the American Empire, powerless to do anything about it. They have been defeated by their own magic.

The two pondered for a while but were completely at a loss, because Kang De's plan was based on absolute military force... As long as the American Empire's extraordinary power was insufficient to counter Kang De, this bastard's plan would always be effective, just like how the American Empire could keep printing money and enjoying itself as long as its military advantage was maintained.

"This matter is unlikely to be resolved peacefully," the Defense Minister sighed. "China's resolve is very firm; they cannot afford the serious consequences of us capturing Titan, so they have adopted a radical interventionist stance."

A Chuan pondered, "Is it impossible to force China to back down and make concessions?"

The defense minister glanced at the president but said nothing.

--Damn it, you've used up all the cards the Amerikkka had in their hands during this trade war, and they still haven't made China bow China. What's the point of saying this now? How are you going to get China to compromise?

The situation is now at a stalemate. If China's demands for intervention are not met, Kang De will cause trouble to the end. Not only will he not be able to mobilize troops to fight the Titan, but once the army Lake Huron, it will be plowed up by Kang De, and the tires of the Stryker tanks will be punctured and deflated.

At that time, the American Empire military will be unable to fight and will be able to only watch helplessly as Titan conducts unexplained activities at the nuclear power plant. If a nuclear leak occurs, both the US and Canada will suffer heavy losses.

Kang De could just pack up and leave; this wasn't his home anyway.

Damn it, that's awful.

So... what should we do?

Amidst his jumbled thoughts, the defense minister suddenly felt a vibration in his pocket. A thought struck him, and he nodded, saying, "Sir, I'll go and check on the situation at the front again."

A Chuan sat behind his desk like a statue, deep in thought with a wise expression, and waved his hand when he heard this.

The defense minister turned and left the office, took out his phone, and answered the call.

It was a call from his good friend—who represented his friends, who in turn formed a huge alliance of interests that had grown from the Cold War era to the present day.

"Hello?" the defense minister asked succinctly, "What do you mean?"

The other party replied, "Persuade A Chuan to negotiate with China. Kang De must Titan the Titan incident and work with us to capture that behemoth. In return, we can share deceleration technology with the Chinese."

The defense minister exclaimed in surprise, "Sharing technology with the China? This... how can we give something like this to the China?"

"Is there any other way?" the voice said calmly. "They are frightened by the destruction of the London Round Table. A supernatural war cannot break out before they find out Kang De's background."

The defense minister stammered, "Then we should destroy Titan —destroying Titan would prevent either side from obtaining the deceleration technology, but the Amerikkka military would still be stronger than China's, so we would still have the advantage internationally. But if we shared the deceleration technology..."

"--Destroy Titan? Your plan has been taken seriously by the entire Union. We've gone to great lengths to bypass Congress for secret operations, leveraging our connections, mobilizing resources, advancing the campaign, and developing weapons. Now our partners are eagerly anticipating that technology, and you're telling me to destroy Titan?"

The voice rose several octaves. "Then what's the point of spending so much money?"

The defense minister is, after all, a national official. Even with his excellent relationship with Raytheon Company, given his position, he would always consider the country's interests. He said, "But letting the China obtain that technology..."

"What's wrong with that?"

The voice said indifferently, "If China people also had our products, our orders would increase, instead of our production lines being shut down, or even struggling to restart now."

The defense minister's body jolted, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.

"Mark," the voice said meaningfully, "We like war, but only the kind of devastating war that crushes the weak. We don't dwell on the war with Russia, and we especially dislike the war with China... but we do like the war preparations targeting these two countries."

"We will always like and sincerely hope that their military industry and weapons technology can make great strides and compete effectively with us. Therefore, if there is no other way, we don't mind China getting their share... but they must also contribute."

He paused, then asked, "Did you understand?"

The defense minister remained silent for a long time before saying softly, "Okay, I understand."

"Well then, let's try to persuade our president," the voice sighed. "He's getting more and more disobedient... Hopefully, this idiot will be a little wiser this time."

"... I'll try my best."

The defense secretary hesitated for a moment, then said, "I must emphasize that because I have done many things against his wishes this year, his resentment and prejudice against me are growing. I'm afraid I will be fired no later than after the election. You need to be prepared."

The voice chuckled, "Your position at Raytheon Company will always be reserved for you, Mark. We never mistreat our friends; you can enjoy our rewards after you leave."

"No, I believe in your sincerity. What I wanted to say was not that, but rather..."

The defense minister glanced around and slowly said, "Are you prepared to tolerate him for another four years?"

After he finished speaking, he hung up the phone, closed his eyes, and gently exhaled.

Then, calming himself down, he smiled and pushed open the door.

They were preparing to persuade this stubborn president to accept reality and agree with his views.

As soon as he entered, he saw A Chuan yelling at him, "This is indeed a big problem—it's come to this point, we have no choice but to use nuclear weapons! Connect me to the North America Strategic Command!"

The defense minister looked alarmed, strode forward, and shouted, "Sir, what's wrong now!"

"I still suspect Kang De is behind this, although I can't figure out what he's up to—but if this is all part of his conspiracy, then he must have something big planned!"

A Chuan declared decisively, "Therefore, let's use nuclear weapons!"

The defense minister hurriedly tried to grab the phone, shouting as he did so, "But what does this have to do with using nuclear weapons?"

"If Titan is behind this Kang De incident, then even if I use a nuclear bomb, he can only get one nuclear bomb at most, just like with the sea monster—" A Chuan shouted, "And no matter how powerful the nuclear bomb is, if he steals it with his teleportation skill, he can only use it once!"

He struggled and roared, "I may not know what this little China bastard is up to, but I absolutely cannot tolerate him profiting more from these Amerikkka! The tone of his voice on the phone reminded me of those bloodsuckers in Europe and Asia! Those scumbags all want to take advantage of United States! I will never allow it!"

"Who would understand this!"

The defense minister had absolutely no idea what A Chuan was talking about! What a joke! How could Titan possibly be related to Kang De? There's no reason to give away such technology to an enemy country for research!

"Mr. President! Please calm down!"

The defense minister grabbed A Chuan by the shoulder, pressed him back into his chair, and shouted, "Do you want to become the first president in Amerikkka history to drop a nuclear bomb on an allied country?"

"I don't fxcking care!"

A Chuan struggled, saying, "It's all for the sake of China! China! China!"

The defense minister roared, "Do you even want to be re-elected?!"

The furious A Chuan suddenly fell silent.

"News can be blocked, regions can be blocked, but a mushroom cloud cannot be blocked." The Secretary of Defense took a deep breath. "If you use nuclear weapons, both domestically and internationally, people will think you're crazy. Many voters will fear you'll drag the United States into the Shadow nuclear war and abandon you—remember, many people who lived through the Cold War are still alive! Many of them are your supporters!"

A Chuan's forehead was furrowed into a deep frown.

In his mind, neither Kang De nor Kant mattered as much as China re-elected.

The president asked reluctantly, even pouting slightly, "Then what should we do?"

"Things have come to this point, we have no choice but to talk to China."

The Defense Minister controlled his tone. "First, we need to stop Kang De from causing trouble; second, we need him to help us capture Titan. In exchange, we can jointly study Deceleration Field with the Chinese."

As he said this, he glanced cautiously at A Chuan's expression, fearing that the president might resolutely refuse China share this great power with the American Empire.

To everyone's surprise, A Chuan seemed completely unconcerned. He pondered, "If things develop this way, what can Kang De gain from it? What interests and purposes is he hiding?"

--Damn it, if you like Kang De so much, why don't you go work at AWSL after you step down!

"The joint research site for Titan must be located within the American Empire, allowing Chinese researchers and even military personnel to be stationed there, and agreeing that Kang De can supervise and confirm it at any time... Of course, this is the bottom line, and we can negotiate it little by little during the negotiations." The defense minister tried his best to instill his ideas in A Chuan.

A Chuan frowned and said, "Our country's diplomats are all used to winning battles. Are you sure they won't get beaten to a pulp negotiating with China in this environment?"

The defense minister paused for a moment, then said, "This... you should have confidence in your government employees."

A Chuan thought for a moment, his eyes flickering. "The key point is still Kang De. I've thought about it for a while, but I can't figure out what he really wants to get from the Titan incident—if I had to say, it's the ambition he showed me before."

"He wants to seize this opportunity to interfere in international affairs, using his military superiority to gain capital and profits from extraordinary global events, and to fight for his country and reap political benefits..."

Although the defense minister detests the president's neurotic behavior of constantly China Kang De, the problems that A Chuan mentioned do exist and deserve attention.

He thought for a moment and said, "Then in the negotiations, tell China that we want to establish an international organization to handle supernatural events, and we want to invite Kang De to take on a key position. In short, we want to find a way China bind China with rules and make full use of our allies and international advantages..."

A Chuan retorted, "Allies? What good is Dio to them!"

Regardless, given Kang De's overwhelming influence, the American Empire still had to grit its teeth and engage with China.

Discussing matters.

The government was both surprised and delighted, and relayed this good news to Kang De.

Kang De was in the armory, dismantling several boxes of artillery shells, pouring out all the explosives, and piling them like sand on a sand table made of C4 clay, so that the American Empire officers could build sandcastles.

"Hurry up!" Kang De shouted, "Build me a Statue of Liberty! If it's not done well, each of you will smoke five cigarettes here!"

The phone rang, Kang De took out his phone. He turned to look at the other side, where several school officers were trembling, surrounding a blazing gasoline drum, nervously brushing seasoning onto skewers.

"Hurry up!" Kang De shouted, "If there's even a tiny bit of fat on it, watch your skin!"

As he said this, he pressed the answer button, "Hello?"

Senior Colonel Tian said, both amused and exasperated, "Look what you've done!"

Kang De innocently replied, "What's wrong? I'm asserting my rights."

"Even the American Empire have come begging for mercy, saying they want us to help capture Titan and research the technology." Senior Colonel Tian sighed, "It's truly unbelievable; they've finally met their match."

Kang De smiled and asked, "What are the conditions?"

"You'll have to put in the effort. Also, the research institute needs to be located within the American Empire, but we can send people to supervise it."

"Dream on." Kang De rolled his eyes. "I'm just a consultant. If you want money, give me more. Also, the research institute should be set up in China. Let them send researchers here."

"Money is a small matter, but they definitely won't agree to this from the research institute."

"Negotiations are nothing more than asking for an exorbitant price and then haggling over it."

"So, Comrade Kang De, what are your thoughts?"

Kang De smiled and said, "If not in United States, and not in China, then let's do it in Zhuerban."

"I don't think that will work." Senior Colonel Tian laughed as well. "What's the difference between Zhuerban and China? Besides, there are people from Russia, France, and Britain in Zhuerban; we can't share this with them."

"I see." Kang De thought for a moment, "Then let's do it within the territory of Can*da."

Senior Colonel Tian asked in surprise, "This..."

"Because it's in the North America Continent, within the sphere of influence of the American Empire, they'll feel more at ease setting it up in Can*da. We're at a disadvantage; in exchange, the research site for Titan must be on my territory."

Kang De casually remarked, "AWSL Company will establish a secret research institute in a location agreed upon by both countries, with Chinese and American researchers participating, managing it jointly, and sharing the results, just like the Zhuerban Hive."

Senior Colonel Tian hesitated for a moment and said, "This..."

Kang De laughed and said, "If the American Empire aren't comfortable with it, they can station troops there. If they're really worried, they can even keep it within the American Empire territory, but the daily operation and ownership of the research institute must be handed over to me. They can station troops, monitor, and protect it as they please. Anyway, with me here, we can teleport a large army over at any time."

"I see, I think I understand now."

Senior Colonel Tian said in a complicated tone, "Unexpectedly, now it's the American Empire's turn to care about face, while we're the ones seeking substance."

Kang De said meaningfully, "A win-win situation."

"I will report this to my superiors. If they have no objections, then the subsequent negotiations will proceed on this basis."

OK.

"There's one more thing, Comrade Kang De."

"Um?"

"The American Empire has expressed strong opposition, saying you've killed someone this time."

"Yes, that's right. One was killed," Kang De said calmly. "The one I sent you."

Senior Colonel Tian said, "That was a bit impulsive... When it comes to people's lives, things can get very complicated."

Kang De pondered for a moment, "I wonder why I used such force?"

"I can probably guess, but..." Senior Colonel Tian said with a wry smile, "There's no need to be so extreme and domineering. After all, so many people immigrate every year, and since the founding of the Jianguo, overseas Chinese have done a lot for the country..."

"I'm not hostile towards immigrants."

Kang De interrupted him, "Immigration is merely leaving one's own country, a personal choice. As long as one does not commit any crimes against China or harm China's interests in the process, whether or not to immigrate is one's freedom. I don't care, much less be hostile. If, after immigrating, one still holds identification with and goodwill towards China, and can help China to the best of one's ability, then we are still descendants of Yan and Huang."

"But joining the U. S. military is a different matter."

He calmly stated, "This means that when he made the decision and took the oath, he was prepared to fight China in the future. The thought that if war breaks out between China and the United States, such a person might use his appearance, language advantage, and knowledge of China to deceive and harm my fellow soldiers, just like the American soldier Lü Chaoran during the Korean War—even the slightest possibility—is intolerable to me."

"Judging from his previous attitude towards me, his tone of voice, the contempt and disgust in his eyes, and his language and behavior that were even more rude than those of foreigners... I felt he would definitely do this."

"So once I saw them, I killed them without hesitation."

Senior Colonel Tian simply gave a wry smile.

"When A Chuan and I argue, he doesn't mention this at all. It's only because you guys feel sorry for him that he doesn't care. But it's okay, I'm just an extreme nationalist, I don't care."

Kang De said, "Alright, that's my reason for taking action. If there are no further questions or opinions, please get back to your business."

After hanging up the phone, Kang De glanced at the terrified American Empire officers not far away.

"Get out!"

Holding a bunch of meat skewers, and watching the soldiers flee, Kang De slipped inside the Titan: "Authentic American BBQ, have a taste."

The Parrot snatched a handful, took a bite, and exclaimed, "Damn, they had a good time!"

"It's almost settled. After the initial progress in the negotiations, I will actually gain the power to command the US military and offer military advice. The strongest military force on this planet will dance to my command. Griffin's war will begin in the next few days, so according to Griffin's tactics, I can appropriately influence the US military..."

The Parrot suddenly burst out laughing, and the meat in its beak shot out.

"Disgusting," Kang De frowned. "What's wrong?"

"The US military dances to your tune..."

The Parrot glanced sideways at Kang De's lower body. "If it were this conductor's baton, the scene would be truly..."

"Hey! We're eating!"