At the same time, on the other side of the ocean, the United States.
The Wharton White House, inside the Oval Office.
Albert's face flushed, and his small eyes stared at Defense Secretary Anthony and CIA Director William Blair in front of him.
"William Blair! Don't you want the hat of Director of Intelligence Agency anymore?!"
Albert's roar frightened the two men so much that they trembled all over.
William Blair's eyes twitched slightly: "Mr. President..."
"Shut up!"
Albert grabbed the document on the desk and threw it in front of William: "I don't want to hear any of your excuses!"
"Just tell me what our CIA is doing!"
"Damn it, the Xia country on the other side is already preparing to break out of the solar system, but what about us?"
"We are still repairing electrical equipment all over the country?!"
"Fxxk!!"
William Blair lowered his head to look at the document lying at his feet.
On the document, the words "Moon Palace Project" stung his eyes.
He was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Mr. President, our intelligence agents in Xia Country did not obtain any information about this plan before the meeting began."
"I suspect this is just a smokescreen thrown by Xiaguo."
"Do you remember the Star Wars plan we proposed decades ago?"
As soon as William Blair finished speaking, Anthony on the side also spoke up: "Sir, my opinion is the same as Director William's."
"These three plans of Xia Country... in my opinion, they are simply impossible to achieve!"
The two people's words made Albert's expression slightly relieved.
"You mean... these three so-called space programs of Xia Country are all bluffs?"
"What about that new space agency?"
"Could it be that the newly established department of Xia State is also a bluff?"
"According to the intelligence, Professor Lu Yongchang has a lot of power!"
William chuckled and asked, "Mr. President, would you appoint a 21-year-old to be the director of NASA?"
Albert shook his head without even thinking about it: "What a joke! A 21-year-old kid should be dating in college!"
William shrugged, spread his hands, and looked at the president in front of him with a sneer on his face.
Albert was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, he nodded gently: "I think I know what you mean."
"Then in your opinion, how should we deal with these smoke bombs released by Xia Country?"
"The reaction on Twitter these past two days has not been very good. We must come up with a countermeasure as soon as possible!"
William had a bitter smile in his eyes.
Twitter! Twitter! Twitter again!
How could the United States have such a president!
He sighed softly in his heart, then looked at Anthony beside him for help.
This kind of thing has nothing to do with his CIA!
Anthony pondered for a moment, his eyes flashed, and he said in a deep voice: "Mr. President, I think we need to start the Mars landing plan!"
Albert's pupils shrank slightly, and the expression on his face suddenly became much more serious.
"Landing on Mars?! Are you sure?"
Anthony nodded slowly but firmly.
"Although the authenticity of Xiaguo's three plans is not high, we can draw a simple conclusion from them."
"At present, Xiaguo has attached increasing importance to space."
"In order to secure the future position of the United States, we must take the lead in mastering space supremacy."
…
That afternoon.
The White House held an emergency press conference.
Albert stood at the podium of the press conference and cleared his throat.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the White House press conference."
"The United States suffered extremely serious losses in the solar storm a few days ago."
"However, thanks to our strong national strength, we have returned from the steam age to the modern era in just a few days."
As he spoke, Albert made a funny gesture.
There was a burst of laughter from the audience.
"Okay, okay, let's get back to the point, or my secretary will glare at me again..."
The laughter from the audience grew louder.
After receiving the secretary's cold stare as he wished, Albert straightened his expression and spoke again.
"Everyone! In the pursuit of the future of mankind, the United States has never slowed down its pace!"
"I declare that from now on, the United States will launch a manned landing on Mars!"
"Project code: Pathfinder!"
As Albert finished his words, the press conference fell into silence.
More than ten seconds later, a noisy discussion broke out!
"Mr. President, may I ask, is this decision of the United States due to the three plans just released by Xia Country?"
"Mr. President, does this decision by the United States mean the start of an arms race again?"
"Your Mightiness..."
Looking at the excited reporters in the audience, Albert frowned slightly.
He stretched out his hand and pressed in the air.
The discussion gradually died down.
Soon, the press conference fell silent again.
But the expressions on the reporters' faces were completely different from a few minutes ago!
Every reporter, like a shark that smelled blood, had excitement in their eyes!
Albert glanced at the people in the audience and said in a deep voice: "The purpose of launching the Pathfinder Project is to find a second Earth for mankind."
"Everything the United States does is for the future of mankind!"
"As for Xiaguo's Moon Palace Project and Nantianmen Project, I sincerely hope that they can turn the contents of science fiction into reality."
After saying this, Albert did not pause for a moment, nor did he give the reporters time to ask questions. He simply turned around and left the press conference.
When the president turned and left, there was a slight commotion at the press conference.
"Editor-in-chief, big news! Big news!"
"Believe me, this will definitely be on the headlines of our newspaper..."
While the reporters were still confused, a voice sounded from a corner.
I saw a man in a suit holding up his cell phone with an excited look on his face, talking excitedly while walking quickly towards the gate.
This is...a reporter from the Walton Post!
Many reporters recognized the man's identity.
His behavior also served as a reminder to everyone, and a group of reporters picked up the phone and reported the situation of the press conference to the editor-in-chief!
…
In just two or three hours, the Walton Post took the lead in launching today's latest newspaper.
"Moon VS Mars, who will win in this space race!"
After the Walton Post, other newspapers followed suit, and the headlines in the newspapers were more exaggerated than each other!
The Second Arms Race?!
"Space Hegemony! Xiaguo's ambition is completely exposed!"