Chapter 1455: DEFCON 3!
“It depends on whether you want to resurrect the Gaia or the Gaia civilization,” Dr. Amos replied.
“Does it make a difference?”
“Of course, and the difference is quite startling.” Dr. Amos paused for a moment and only continued after Jiang Chen signaled for him to continue with the look in his eyes, “If it is the former, it can be done in theory, but it’ll be incredibly challenging. First we have to find a well-preserved Gaia fossil from the ruins, and try to extract a complete DNA fragment from it, and then we must integrate all the DNA fragments into a complete chromosome, and then merge all the chromosomes into a genome.”
“What about the latter?” Jiang Chen asked.
“The possibility of the latter is practically zero.” Dr. Amos said, “The inheritance of civilization is mainly reflected in the accumulation of knowledge and education for the next generation, not genotype. Let’s ignore if we can find a complete set of DNA information, even if we unearthed the information from the ruins and successfully synthesize Gaia through the culture tank, I bet the Gaia from three billion years ago won’t be much smarter than the chimpanzee in our zoo.”
The last words of Amos suddenly reminded Jiang Chen of a piece of news that he had read a long time ago. The news was that a child raised by a wolf from a young age, even after being discovered and brought back to modern society for treatment, still retained the living habits of beasts; he was unable to integrate into society, and unable to learn human language.
For some reason, Jiang Chen was relieved at this moment.
It was better for an ancient civilization that had been dead for more than three billion years to stay in the tomb for future generations to admire.
If the Gaia did open their eyes one day, it would undoubtedly be a disaster for humans.
Just then, his watch suddenly started to vibrate.
Jiang Chen pulled up his sleeve and glanced at the caller displayed on the screen. After he saw the call was from Ayesha, he excused himself from Amos as he walked out of the lab and pressed pick up.
“The plane had an accident.”
Before Jiang Chen could speak, Ayesha quickly spoke on the other side.
“Plane?” Jiang Chen was taken aback for a second. With a frown, he asked subconsciously, “Which plane?”
After two seconds of silence, Ayesha spoke in a serious tone.
“...the flight that took off this morning.”
...
Wake Island Air Force Base.
It was still dark, but the airport was bustling.
The heavily armed Marine Corps soldiers lined up on the tarmac and quickly assembled next to the Black Hawk helicopter with its propellers roaring. On the other side, on the runway of the air force base, two Boeing F-18 “Hornets” took off immediately and galloped towards the Mariana Islands.
In the command room of Wake Island Air Force Base, the senior military officer stationed at the base stood solemnly beside the radar image as he fixated all his attention on the radar screen. He prayed silently while he waited for any report.
A noisy static sound filled the room, followed by a despairing report.
“This is Worker Bee 1. After searching through the target airspace, Air Force One was not found.”
“This is Worker Bee 2... Air Force One was not found. ”
There was a terrifying silence inside the room.
“Round house.”
All the officers looked at each other and finally turned their eyes to the man standing in the front.
The man was holding the phone in his hand while he stood there quietly.
After a long time, he hung up the phone, turned around, glanced at the other officers in the command room with seriousness. He did not say anything except for two words.
“Round house.”
It was an order from the military command.
The instant they heard these two words, the expression on everyone’s face turned more solemn. Many people’s palms were sweaty, but some people’s eyes showed the spirit to fight and even excitement.
They were well aware of the meaning of this code word.
It meant that the UA was placed in DEFCON 3, and all troops in the country had entered a state of combat readiness. The Air Force was required to mobilize in 15 minutes and wait for the military command for further instructions.
In history, the UA had only entered DEFCON 3 three times.
The closest time to today was September 11, 2001.
And just one month after 9.11, the UA launched the Afghanistan War...
At the same time, in Capital.
In a uniquely decorated single-family house, the sky outside the window was still dim.
With his hair still messy and in his pajamas, Mike Pence sat on the sofa as he stared at the news on TV.
“...At 9:20 this morning, the Boeing 747-200B (Air Force One) boarded by President Trump passed through the Mariana Islands but failed to enter the Wake Island Air Traffic Control Zone as scheduled. After receiving the order from the military command, two destroyers and four anti-submarine frigates docked on Wake Island immediately set off to the target sea area. However, as of now, there is no further information.”
“According to reports sent back by our reporters stationed in Xin, Celestial Trade has urgently dispatched air force and rescue ships to the target waters to assist the UA in search and rescue operations.”
“At present, the military command and the Rainbow House have refused to comment on this matter. A Rainbow House official who did not want to be named stated that the Air Force One may have crashed, and the cause of the accident is still under investigation...”
The hand holding to the cup turned pale because of excessive force, and Mike Pence, who was holding onto his breath, felt his heart pound at an extreme speed at the moment. He couldn’t believe that they used this method to push him to presidency.
He couldn’t believe this happened before he even had time to digest the confidential agreement he signed with the political broker sent by the Morgan Consortium yesterday.
Just then, the phone on the table rang.
After Mike Pence regained his senses, he looked at the table.
The name of the caller ID was John Corning.
He forgot when he saved this number, but he was absolutely familiar with this name. Whether it was because of the identity of the former Republican senator, or because of the current identity, the leader of North America’s largest intelligence agency – FBA.
After Mike Pence picked up the call, he put the phone to his ear.
“Hello.”
“Hello, Mr. Vice President. Allow me to introduce myself briefly. I am the Director of the FBA, John Corning. I will briefly describe the situation now–”
“I’m watching the news,” Mike Pence said softly.
“...Well, it seems you already know that Mr. President had an accident. I know the news is hard to believe, but it has already happened. Our vehicles are already on the way and will arrive at your door in about two minutes. Before Mr. President’s safety is confirmed, we ask you to please go to the Rainbow House to preside the situation.”
John Corning was halfway through his sentence when Mike Pence heard a knock at the door as well as the footsteps of his wife going downstairs to open the door.
“It looks like your people have arrived,” Mike Pence said softly, as he tried to make his voice sound natural, “Can you give me time to change?”
“Of course, but please hurry up.”
After Mike Pence hung up, he leaned back on the sofa and closed his eyes.
Less than half a minute passed.
When he opened his eyes again, behind his cloudy pupils, anxiety and tension were no longer there, and what remained was the confidence of a person in power, as well as ecstasy hidden behind the calmness.
From now on, he would be the president of this country, and he would lead this country, instead of being a mascot that frequently appeared in the public eyes without any power.
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