Chapter 4 - Chapter 4: Gift

The fighter jets above the aircraft carrier flew away.

But that didn't mean the Beautiful Country was willing to give in, especially when their think tank analyzed that the Theodore Roosevelt was likely heading towards Summer Country. The Beautiful Country's government immediately declared a Level One wartime status and issued a stern diplomatic warning to Summer Country.

"We warn the Summer Country government, don't play with fire..."

In response, the Summer Country's foreign ministry spokesperson adeptly deflected, stating that Summer Country doesn't encourage violence with violence and urged the hijackers not to harm the Beautiful Country's officers. If there was any need, Summer Country would provide humanitarian aid based on proximity principles.

This statement from the spokesperson was met with approval from Summer Country's netizens, who commented:

"Proximity principles, hijacker bro, take note!"

"Summer Country's humanitarian aid, you deserve it!"

"I heard our fleet has set sail, yeah, probably to protect the Beautiful Country's officers, but they should first pay for the fuel."

"Absolutely, but what if the carrier takes on water? Shouldn't we tow it back first?"

...

Zhou Lin never intended to hand over the Theodore Roosevelt to the Summer Country military. Not only was it his lifeline in the apocalypse, but even if he wanted to, there simply wasn't enough time.

If possible, Zhou Lin also wanted to inform his family, to prepare them. In his previous life, his biggest regret was focusing entirely on that wretch Ai Bing after the disaster struck. By the time he remembered his family, communication and roads were cut off. He died not knowing if his parents and sister survived.

"I won't be foolish this time. You must wait for me."

The Theodore Roosevelt had powerful mobile communication capabilities, but Zhou Lin couldn't contact his family now. In less than three minutes, all his information would be on the desks of world leaders! He might not be afraid, but his family would certainly be in danger, possibly even captured to threaten him.

People's hearts can't withstand tests.

Fortunately, Zhou Lin remembered that in the early stages of the disaster, first, the volcanoes in the island nation and the Beautiful Country erupted, followed by continuous strong earthquakes in the nearby plates, and then tsunamis struck the Pacific coast cities, with volcanic ash causing air pollution... These did not severely damage areas outside the disaster zones, so social order could still function normally in his hometown, making it likely that his family would be safe in the first few months.

As long as Zhou Lin could return in time, with the Theodore Roosevelt and his knowledge of the disaster, leading his family to survive should not be a problem.

After midnight, bright colorful auroras appeared over the island nation. Some experts said it was auroras, but others believed it was a prelude to some disaster. Unfortunately, hardly anyone believed this theory, and even those who did, didn't think the island nation's disaster would affect the Summer Country.

Meanwhile, the Beautiful Country's presidential office received warnings from research institutions about unusual activity in their domestic supervolcano, advising the office to take precautions.

But now the presidential office had no time for this, with all attention on the Theodore Roosevelt.

At 1:30 AM, at a Beautiful Country military base in the island nation.

A transport plane taxied onto the runway, ready for takeoff. Inside, twenty-four fully armed Marines made final preparations. Their superiors told them that medals, victory celebrations, and girls awaited their triumphant return. Their mission was to retake the Theodore Roosevelt at any cost!

At 5 AM, the transport plane skimmed over the sea, ahead of the Theodore Roosevelt's course. The hatch opened, and twenty-four soldiers parachuted into the sea in a near-suicidal maneuver, then used three propulsion devices to approach the Theodore Roosevelt's path.

Everyone thought this meticulously planned action would be undetected. However, at the crucial moment, the Theodore Roosevelt slightly changed course—a small deviation with significant impact.

"Is this it? Do they think my radar is for decoration?"

In the captain's cabin, Zhou Lin shook his head, then sent a video over the public frequency. The video showed the Beautiful Country officers lying in disarray, with a voiceover:

"Our patience is limited. Beautiful Country, take caution. If there's a next time, we'll randomly send fifty lucky ones to heaven, and we'll broadcast all secret information of the Theodore Roosevelt to the world."

"Madman!"

"How dare he?"

"Stop all actions..."

The reactions in the Beautiful Country were mixed, while almost everyone in the Summer Country eagerly anticipated the Beautiful Country's next move.

"Come on, can't you do it?"

"Don't be a wimp."

"Aren't you a world power? Face them head-on!"

...

This strategy was effective; the Beautiful Country didn't dare act rashly in the short term.

At 2 PM on June 29, a sudden earthquake struck Honshu Island. Though not strong, it terrified the world! If the midnight auroras didn't mean anything, then the earthquake was undoubtedly a final warning before the island nation's largest volcano erupted!

This time, experts didn't need to explain; as soon as the earthquake ended, people, especially those near the volcano, began evacuating madly. The wealthy on Honshu Island quickly took private jets to the Beautiful Country or Europe.

Countries began evacuating their personnel from the island nation, informing their citizens to leave promptly. The Summer Country even dispatched a fleet from Haishi that could accommodate 200,000 people to execute the evacuation mission!

After receiving news of the earthquake, Zhou Lin got busy.

As a Summer Country citizen, although he couldn't give the Theodore Roosevelt to his country, he could collect valuable information from it to hand over.

From various material data to manuals for using and maintaining aircraft and early warning systems, control software for nuclear reactors, and management system software, etc. These were invaluable treasures for Summer Country, filling technological gaps and improving overall technological standards.

When Zhou Lin died in his previous life, the Summer Country's government was still doing its utmost to ensure the survival of its people. The information from the Theodore Roosevelt might be crucial in dealing with future apocalypses.

"I'm contributing to the survival of Summer Country and all humanity," Zhou Lin thought proudly as he finished collecting a box of hard drives after four hours of work.

The box for storing the hard drives was specially made, similar in performance to an aircraft's black box, ensuring their safety.

Finally, Zhou Lin placed the box in an unmanned underwater vehicle.

At 10 PM, the Theodore Roosevelt, now 100 kilometers from the Summer Country's evacuation fleet, began to slow down. Zhou Lin sent a clear message to the fleet:

"This is the Theodore Roosevelt. Good evening, Summer Country evacuation fleet. Have you eaten? We are about to release Beautiful Country officers into your course. Please exercise humanitarian spirit and rescue them."

"This is the Summer Country evacuation fleet. Just had a late-night snack... We will rescue those in the water... Anything else?"

The Summer Country fleet's response was witty. Zhou Lin almost laughed. To be extra careful, he replied, "Good. We trust the quality and credibility of Summer Country soldiers, but for God's sake, please be thorough when rescuing to avoid missing anyone."