Chapter 2336: Chapter 2338: A Mess of Feathers
These Western countries, each and every one of them, have their own little schemes, with most of their attention focused on weapons.
As for Huaxia’s attempt at a gold standard currency? They couldn’t care less. The Merrick dollar has been reaping profits globally for ages, and while everyone has to acknowledge the Merrick dollar’s dominance, feeling thankful for it is pure nonsense.
What they hope for most is Huaxia and Mai Nation fighting to mutual destruction, shaking the Merrick dollar’s dominance while preventing Huaxia’s currency from globalizing, allowing them to possibly gain the greatest benefit.
Though they think this privately, they would never say it aloud.
Mai Nation will spare no effort to maintain the Merrick dollar’s dominance.
Leaving aside irrelevant nations like Libya, wasn’t it Merrick’s manipulation that caused the Euro to be sniped so disastrously back then?
They know Mai Nation’s intentions, yet they deliberately avoid mentioning the gold standard.
Some experts even express in the media that although Huaxia’s ambition may be large, its gold reserves are insufficient to support Huaxia’s currency on a gold standard—"unless they’ve robbed the aliens."
These scattered remarks are made under the guise of personal opinions, and Merrick cannot control everyone’s speech.
Most Western media are still focused on Huaxia’s laser weapons.
Some British parliament members have even suggested that Merrick should increase its investment in laser weapons.
Otherwise, with Huaxia’s terrifying production capacity, "maybe in less than ten years, Outer Space will become Huaxia’s backyard".
The parliament member may not have had good intentions; Europa’s troublemaking isn’t just spoken lightly. There are wrong names, but no wrong nicknames; investing more in laser weapons requires far more than just small change.
If Mai Nation really chooses this path, the huge research funding might exhaust Mai Nation’s final ounce of potential, making a recurrence of the former Bear’s disintegration not impossible.
At this time, Ivan Nation starts to sing a different tune, saying that peaceful development of Outer Space should be a consensus among humans, that developing laser weapons is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and costly, suggesting Huaxia and Mai Nation refrain from impulsive arming competition in space weaponry.
Ivan’s words sound like fair speech, but who Mai Nation believes doesn’t include Ivan—back then, it was their "Star Wars" plan that directly led to the disintegration of Ivan’s predecessor Bear.
So rather than saying: if Merrick doesn’t develop laser weapons, can Huaxia develop them?
Anyway, for a time, the international scene is chaotic, with all kinds of opinions...
Merrick is unhappy that no one is focusing on the gold standard.
At a crucial moment, a loyal follower of Merrick appears: Australia. They hope to spearhead and unite several countries to send an investigation team to independently investigate the Taklimakan gold smeltery.
The reason they think an investigation is necessary is firstly because the gold refining process inevitably produces a lot of pollution, which may bring catastrophic impact to the already fragile desert ecosystem there.
Secondly, they’ve heard of human rights issues in the gold smeltery, knowing that the gold refining involves many toxic substances, they’re worried about potential humanitarian disasters.
Near the smeltery, there are reportedly large laser weapons, and Huaxia is willing to invite them to visit if interested; if not invited, they won’t insist.
It’s undeniable that Australia’s suggestion hits the right spot for Merrick—finally, an ally has noticed the gold!
Actually, Australians are not clueless; they certainly know the consequences of Merrick dollar’s dominance, but being isolated, the Eurozone doesn’t include them, and they refuse to integrate into Asia.
There’s a helplessness called "Europa too far, Huaxia too close," so they choose to cling firmly to Merrick’s fatherly thigh.
As for possibly souring with Huaxia, their vital trading partner? Many politicians won’t even consider it; as mentioned, many Australian politicians hold dual citizenship, and their entire government has been infiltrated like a sieve by the Central Intelligence Agency.
Australia’s plan is well-calculated, Merrick is also pleased, but Huaxia completely disregards it—"Investigate as you will, who do you think you are?"
Huaxia’s retort is: speaking of afforestation in the desert, we’re the world’s best. Our determination and capability to transform the desert are visible globally and need no special verification from you.
As for human rights issues, we suggest Australia investigate Mai Nation’s "I can’t breathe" incident, rather than unwarrantedly pointing fingers at Huaxia.
This response doesn’t satisfy Australia, so they emphasize the toxicity of the gold smeltery while urging Huaxia to disclose its gold reserve figures—if you indeed hold substantial gold, global economic disruption may result.
Those words are simply shameless, but the West is accustomed to such thinking, just like Ocean Boulevard’s famous saying—if all 1.4 billion Huaxia citizens lived like Merrick people, Earth could not bear it.
Huaxia over here is starting to feel like Bei Xinluo – no matter who targets me, I’ll just charge at Nan Xinluo.
So the official response is: Mai Nation owns the largest gold reserves in the world. With the global economic turbulence, have they footed the bill?
Meanwhile, in Mai Nation, some are starting to promote the theory that "Gold is not a natural currency."
These maneuvers are truly baffling. Australia is fixated on Huaxia’s gold reserves, while Mai Nation promotes the idea that gold is useless. Those who don’t understand might think these two are about to tear each other apart.
However, this is characteristic of how Western countries operate. Many times, they might not necessarily talk strategy. Often, it’s you saying your piece and me saying mine. It seems contradictory, yet in the end, things still get done, giving people a sense of "a flurry of punches taking down the old master."
Lack of planning? That’s not a problem, as long as the volume is loud enough. Ultimately, it’s all about having control over the narrative in public discourse.
To put it frankly, brute force gets the job done, so why bother about technique?
However, with Australia’s help, Mai Nation seems on track to achieve its goals. At the crucial moment, internal issues arise in Merrick; a senior congressman publicly states: This administration is spending too little on the military, particularly in high-tech research!
The military-industrial complex in Mai Nation has strong interests in defense, wielding significant influence on Capitol Hill. The Euromop agitator spoke out, believing his comments might affect this faction.
By now, someone has indeed spoken up, which should have been expected. It also shows that the party disputes in Mai Nation are much more intense than imagined.
However, this is something that Huaxia Citizens may not quite understand. In fact, there is a jaw-dropping consensus in Mai Nation’s political circles: Party interests outweigh national interests!
Surprising, isn’t it? So it’s perfectly normal for Mai Nation’s people to scold the president – there’s no good to be found in politicians!
This proposal to increase military spending doesn’t have much impact on Mai Nation’s citizens. Some support it, and some criticize it. Supporters are mostly members of associations like the Rifle Association, while detractors are those deeply disgusted by corruption in military procurement.
But then, the Gallic Rooster steps up again, asserting that the large laser weapon project – we, Europa, need it too; otherwise, we’ll be subjected to others sooner or later.
The Gallic Rooster is known worldwide for its unreliable actions, but surprisingly, they themselves remain oblivious, continually immersed in the fantasy of being the "world’s strongest army," feeling as good as can be.
This time, they speak in the name of "Europa," but who doesn’t know it’s the Gallic Rooster self-indulgently starting up again?
Regarding Gaul’s attitude, the Roman country was the first to lash out, saying the biggest issue for the Europa Alliance now is the economy, spending tight funds on an arms race... Could you please wake up?
No sooner had they spoken than Britain took another jab, clicking their tongues, "This quickly defeated WWII victor really has ambition!"
Since Britain has left the Europa Alliance, naturally, they can’t stand to see them doing well.
But these words are too hurtful. Speaking of WWII victors, Western countries unanimously agree that the most undeserving is Gaul, and the Gauls most despise hearing this viewpoint.
Britain’s remarks clearly angered the Gauls, yet surprisingly, the people of Mai Nation were also influenced.
Due to the collapse of the former Soviet Union, Western countries now unanimously agree that the top WWII victor is Merrick; now even Gaul is thinking of developing laser weapons, while we, the top victor, are about to be left behind?
Not all Mai Nation people focus on this topic, but if someone pays attention and is willing to stir things up, heating up the topic is really not difficult at all – even Huaxia’s little internet celebrities know how to create buzz; how could Mai Nation’s powerful capitalists not know?
So, things once again veered off track, rampaging uncontrollably in a wayward direction.
Then Huaxia Citizens oddly noticed, hey, without any guidance from us, they started focusing on those peculiar weapons?
Actually, to speak strictly, many countries have already realized what Mai Nation’s true intentions are, but the world has suffered under the dominance of the dollar for too long. Although they don’t dare openly resist, they are more than capable of fooling around subtly.
And the frustration for Mai Nation lies here; what they truly aim at is the Huaxia currency, but this matter cannot be openly stated. Once spoken, it only proves their insecurity about the currency – some things can be done but cannot be said.
Just like when Mai Nation attacked Babylon, was it really for "weapons of mass destruction"? Don’t be silly; the whole world knows what’s up.
But there’s no choice; the truth cannot be said. Finding any excuse is better than having no excuse, right?
Now, other countries are uniformly pretending to be deaf and blind, ignoring Mai Nation’s real needs, which only says... Mai Nation has been too excessive in the past.
The international situation is ever-changing. Feng Jun originally didn’t want to pay attention to it, but Beauty Lin urged again... The end of the year is approaching; when can the third batch of gold arrive? It’s urgently needed.
As for the reason? It’s very simple, the rabbit’s fur... can no longer cover it up.
