Even with the external threat facing all of Human Civilization, its status as the international leader and Blue Planet's policeman was absolutely unshakable.
Anyone who showed the slightest intention—or even the faintest sign—of shaking that status had to be stamped out.
The one nearest the water gets the moon first. That saying was no joke.
Even if Huaxia resorted to force when the time came, with their logistical bases and complete industrial chain behind them, they could use the weapons produced by those industries as disposable tools. They could simply pile them up until they overwhelmed them.
And by then, regardless of how Huaxia obtained the technology from those iron-armored men, America's position would be seriously threatened.
The external monster's threat made things manageable for now, but once that external threat was completely eliminated, America would be the next to be eliminated.
Especially the major capitalists parasitizing America from behind—they absolutely would not allow that. They did not want to be hung from streetlights!
Therefore, this was something they absolutely could not and would never allow to happen.
They would rather use nuclear missiles to wipe out those people than let anyone else obtain them!
"Order the Defense Department to make preparations. Once the situation becomes irreversible, have the submarines stationed in Okinawa and wandering around the Asia-Pacific region prepare for a nuclear strike!"
"But, Mr. President! That is another country's territory, and it is right in the heart of a prosperous city. Besides, back then, we had already..."
"You shut up!" The president slammed the table and roared. "What kind of place is that? It's a dog of our great America. Every moment, they're thinking about breaking free from our chains and biting us in return! If our great America declines, they will certainly leap out and tear into us the hardest. I'm still furious that those presidents back then didn't drop all the nuclear missiles on them!" As he spoke, he seemed still unsatisfied. He quickly went to the man and grabbed him by the collar.
It was hard to imagine that a man in his fifties or sixties could possess such strength—enough to lift a six-foot-tall middle-aged man completely off the ground.
"What we have to do now is take this opportunity to strangle them in the cradle!" The meaning in his gritted teeth and eyes made the congressman tremble.
"Yes, Mr. President!"
The president released his grip on the collar. His expression changed as quickly as a page turning, and he gently smoothed the wrinkled collar, then said as if complaining, "Also, notify the United Nations! In the name of helping Pp DC eliminate the monster, we will launch one or more nuclear missiles with varying yields!"
"Understood!"
Meanwhile!
In a remote mountain range, a sealed gate slowly opened. As the bionic electronic trees moved, the runway hidden beneath them gradually came into view.
"Faster, faster! You have only fifteen minutes. We need to take off quickly while all the satellites are in Edo. The moment any satellite passes overhead, it will discover this place's secret with ease. So hurry up!"
Inside the base in the remote mountains, a huge, round, plump aircraft sat on the pitch-black runway.
All the engineers who had been conducting inspections had also left the runway by now.
As the beacon's signal turned green, the huge aircraft began accelerating and shot off the runway in just thirteen minutes.
Once its massive body rose into the air, it slowly climbed higher. It did not even have time to circle around and check whether the aircraft had any problems. It immediately adjusted its direction and sped toward its destination without stopping!
At a speed of eight hundred kilometers per hour, it covered ten thousand meters in the blink of an eye.
Less than twenty minutes after the aircraft took off, several fighter jets also slowly took off from military airfields in various locations that were visible on the surface.
Among them, more than ten J-series aircraft, ranging from fifth-generation to fourth-generation models, took off one after another.
"Report! America has issued a statement at the United Nations. In order to help Pp DC, they have prepared nuclear warheads with a yield of five hundred kilotons..."
The reporting officer wanted to continue reading, but the old man waved a hand. Calmly watching the live broadcast on the screen, he said, "Tell the United Nations that to ensure Pp DC can completely eliminate the monster, we will also prepare nuclear warheads with yields exceeding five hundred kilotons."
The moment he said this, the reporting officer was stunned, but he still followed the order and went to deliver the message.
At the same time, the Russians also began issuing a statement at the United Nations. In order to help Pp DC completely eliminate the monster, they too would prepare nuclear warheads with yields exceeding five hundred kilotons.
America was left awkwardly frozen in place.
Its original plan had been that once the situation became irreversible and every other method failed, it would use nuclear warheads to physically eliminate those iron-armored men.
If those iron-armored men ran far away, then at worst, it could use the excuse that the monster's interference had caused the missiles' positioning systems to malfunction.
It was an old excuse. They had used it many years ago.
But who would have thought that everyone would pull the same trick!
There was still one prerequisite, however!
Could those iron-armored men run far enough on their own?
If, by the time the nuclear explosion reached its end, they still had not escaped the blast radius—
Then, well, that would be unfortunate. After all, no matter how far someone twisted the explanation for their nuclear missile, it could only deviate by so much.
But their own missile had deviated all the way to directly above the other side's base. That was quite a large deviation.
So everything depended on those iron-armored men!
At that moment, inside the underground fortress in Fusang, both the emperor and the congressmen who had received the news were furiously staring at the news displayed above them.
"Are they trying to destroy our Nuclear Nation? Those bastards! One day, sooner or later, I'll rob them all, kill them all, and burn them all!"
One congressman roared, his face twisted into a terrifying grimace.
The others also whispered among themselves. Only some of them, along with the emperor, turned their eyes toward the Prime Minister.
"If it really comes to the final moment, then release those monsters from the base! Stop those iron-armored men! That will also give the Americans an explanation!" As he spoke, the Prime Minister closed his eyes in pain.
"But our research on those monsters hasn't reached the point where we can control them. If we act so rashly..." A bespectacled female congresswoman stammered out an explanation.
But this time, the Prime Minister did not get angry. Instead, he calmly waved his hand and said, "The blood and flesh of the people killed by the monsters will remain on this land and nourish it. We will still have a chance to continue living here in the future. But if nuclear missiles fall, not only will our flesh and blood fail to remain here, we will also never have another chance to survive on this land."
As he spoke, he turned his head and calmly looked at the female congresswoman. "May I ask... which is more important?"
An extra chapter.