Life had already been cultivated on Mars.
Within the Solar System, there was now a second planet capable of nurturing life.
The news was like a bomb dropped onto still water, and the conference hall erupted.
Jim stared wide-eyed in disbelief, his face eventually flushing red. Only now did he realize that Chen Mo had known from the beginning what they were trying to pull. Chen Mo had merely been toying with them.
"Impossible! This is fake! You falsified the evidence of the Mars impact incident, and these photos are fake too!"
Jim's voice echoed through the conference hall over the microphone, almost hysterical.
Chen Mo merely glanced at him and ignored him.
"The Outer Space Treaty exists to regulate humanity's future development of space and maintain order and security in space. Since we have joined this treaty, we must uphold its spirit, strictly abide by it, and enforce it."
Chen Mo's faintly mocking tone made Jim stumble, his face instantly turning black as a pot.
"Your evidence is fake. We're withdrawing from the treaty."
Jim interrupted Chen Mo again.
Chen Mo looked at him from the podium, towering above him.
"If anyone fails to abide by the treaty, then as one of its signatories, I have the right to sanction those who violate its rules. If space research organizations outside the treaty attempt to disrupt its order through barbaric means, then as one of the treaty's signatories, I also have the right and obligation to sanction organizations that undermine that order."
Jim's expression turned utterly awful. Chen Mo sounded as though he was delivering a speech, but Jim heard the threat behind his words.
Chen Mo was now the undisputed hegemon in the field of space. Anyone sanctioned by him would face the most terrifying disaster in space research