At 9:30 that evening.
Having just stepped off Black Lady One, Lü Yongchang naturally had no idea what had happened in the United States.
Of course, if he had known how pessimistic Albert and the others were feeling, he probably would have grinned from ear to ear.
This was a classic case of a gap in information leading to a mistaken perception.
Although Black Lady One boasted formidable performance, its current airframe design made it completely incapable of carrying weapons.
Never mind missiles-it could not even release a simple tungsten rod.
Besides, Black Lady One's primary mission at present was not combat, but traveling to the moon to conduct scientific research.
For that reason, Lü Yongchang had no plans to modify its airframe in the short term.
Simply put, aside from being exceptionally good at running away, Black Lady One was currently all show, with no combat capability whatsoever.
At 11:30 p.m., Xia Country time.
In Senator Li's office in Capital City.
With a grave expression, Senator Li handed Lü Yongchang the latest document from the United States.
"Yongchang, take a look at this document."
Lü Yongchang took the still-warm sheet of A4 paper. The moment he saw the headline, his eyebrows shot up.
"The United States has announced that NASA's funding for this year will increase to five hundred billion dollars?"
"Whoa!" A flicker of amazement crossed Lü Yongchang's face. "Albert really is willing to splurge! That's ten times the funding of previous years!"
Senator Li nodded solemnly. "This news just came in. Black Lady One must have given them quite a shock."
"That's precisely what worries me. If we launch the Moon Palace Project now, the United States might react even more strongly!"
"What Xia Country needs most right now is a period of stable development."
Lü