Homo Sapiens

April 27, ’22.

Twenty-four hours had passed since the Kela Sunrise incident.

A coastal city in Persia.

A conference hall and the necessary hotel accommodations had been hastily arranged.

The American representatives sent over were Marianne, Edward Jackson (from the Pentagon), and Victor, who had previously been recalled to Black Ship Headquarters.

The representative from Homo Sapiens Company was Carmen Lopez, who had just flown in from New York.

10:00 AM.

The airport.

A large crowd of news media had already gathered at the airport entrance, along with many curious onlookers.

Fearing trouble, the local authorities had mobilized a large number of security personnel and placed the airport under complete lockdown.

Someone pointed to the distant sky and shouted, ”Here it comes!”

A Golden Roc Transporter circled in the air, escorted by four fighter jets dispatched by Persia.

Guided by the airport’s control tower, the Golden Roc Transporter slowly landed on the runway, and the escorting fighter jets immediately peeled away.

The news media’s video and still cameras furiously snapped pictures of the Golden Roc Transporter.

A mobile staircase was connected to the transporter’s side hatch.

After taking a few photos, a reporter from a certain ”Times” newspaper didn’t keep her eyes on the stairs but instead looked at the markings on the transporter’s fuselage.

Although the Golden Roc Transporter was painted a matte silver-gray, it bore a special string of abbreviated letters: ZRGS—NQ

’ZRGS—NQ? What could that mean?’

Many of the reporters present also noticed this string of letters.

The hatch slowly opened.

A young woman in a black work jumpsuit stepped out of the cabin. Her dashingly short hair, thin lips that gave off a cold feeling, and sharp yet placid eyes sent an involuntary chill through the onlookers.

Following closely behind her was a middle-aged man with a professional smile on his face, also dressed in a black work jumpsuit.

Persia’s Bartley quickly stepped forward to greet them.

”Ms. Bai Yalan, Mr. Mang Wenshan, I am Bartley. Welcome.”

”You’re too kind, Mr. Bartley,” Domino replied with a calm smile, shaking his hand.

Mang Wenshan was also beaming.

After a few pleasantries, they posed for a group photo in front of the media’s cameras.

A reporter from a certain television station was the first to ask, ”Excuse me, Ms. Bai, who are you representing in these negotiations?”

Domino replied calmly, ”I am here solely on behalf of Homo Sapiens Company. This time, I will be representing Homo Sapiens Company and will be fully responsible for the negotiations with America.”

The reporter’s eyes widened.

But the second reporter to get a question, from Fox News, couldn’t wait to speak up. ”Your blockage of the Malacca Strait caused immense losses due to the disruption of global shipping. Will you offer compensation and an apology?”

Mang Wenshan shook his head with a smile. ”Block the Malacca Strait? NONO... It was all an accident. Our company’s transport ship saw the imposing might of the Seventh Fleet and accidentally hit the seacock valve switch, which led to this tragedy.”

”An accident...” The Fox News reporter was disgusted.

Mang Wenshan spread his hands. ”Besides, let’s set the facts aside for a moment. Don’t you think America bears some responsibility in this? If America hadn’t stationed the Seventh Fleet at Changi Base, our company’s cargo ship wouldn’t have been so nervous. If it wasn’t nervous, it wouldn’t have accidentally hit the emergency switch. When you get right down to it, the fault lies with America.”

’What the fuck? Why does that logic sound so familiar?’

The BBC reporter, Robert, ignoring the flushed face of the Fox News reporter, cut in with a question: ”Excuse me, when did your company develop nuclear weapons? And how many warheads do you currently possess?”

Mang Wenshan glanced at Robert. ”No comment.”

The third reporter to ask a question—the one from the ”Times”—quickly recovered and inquired:

”Will your company join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty? And the International Atomic Energy Agency? What about the Outer Space Treaty?”

”That depends on today’s negotiations,” Mang Wenshan replied with a chuckle.

Next was a question from an Asahi Shimbun reporter. Compared to the snide BBC, the furious Fox News, and the by-the-book Global Times, Asahi Shimbun’s question was rather unconventional.

”Excuse me, when will your company open the Kra Canal?”

Mang Wenshan’s smile grew even wider. He hadn’t expected the people from East Japan to have caught on to the Kra Canal issue so quickly. He didn’t hide anything:

”Asahi Shimbun has asked an excellent question. The Kra Canal will officially open in three days. If you’re still concerned, you can also take the Salween-Dangweng-Mae Nam Canal, which can accommodate ships up to 30,000 tons.”

”Nani?” The Asahi Shimbun reporter was overjoyed. He hadn’t expected to get such a huge scoop.

The surrounding reporters from the West Asia Region also showed pleasant surprise on their faces. This was definitely good news.

More than twenty minutes later, all eight media outlets that had been granted interview access had finished their questions.

Bartley then arranged a special convoy to escort the group to the hastily prepared conference venue.

However, the meeting had not yet begun. Mang Wenshan’s answers to the media’s questions had already sparked heated discussions across the international internet and triggered fluctuations in the global financial markets.

On the internet.

A certain TV station’s channel quickly posted an unedited video titled ”[Southeast Asia in Upheaval: Crowned King Homo Sapiens Company...]”

The comment section below the video immediately lit up.

[Sichuan_Pepper_Who_Loves_Cats: Terrifying... Is this what a Universal Giant Corporation is like? This is horrifying.]

[Uncle_Sams_Cherry_Blossom_Axe: Using a nuke to dig a canal? Russia would call them experts.]

[Little_John_Khan: I can get 10 more videos out of this.]

[Tongliao_Historian: @Little_John_Khan, get back to updating! *whip crack*]

[Geography_Teacher: Holy shit! I just checked the newly updated Google Maps for Southeast Asia and found that the Kela Isthmus has actually been cut through! And the channel is super wide. Could they have dug it in advance?]

[Xinmens_Top_Disciple: For real?]

[Black_Cat_Heavy_Industries: Badass!]

[Dihydrogen_Monoxide: Heh... what a load of bullshit. The Dangweng River and the Mae Nam River are separated by the Tannantawong Mountain, with twenty to thirty kilometers of mountains in between. Are they going to use another nuke to blast through the mountains?]

[Little_Girl_Selling_Despair: @Dihydrogen_Monoxide, on the newly updated Google Maps, the Tannantawong Mountain has already been cut open.]

It wasn’t just the internet that was buzzing.

The topic was being hotly debated all over the world.

On Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook, topics related to Southeast Asia quickly shot into the top ten.

However, under the manipulation of Western media, public opinion regarding Homo Sapiens Company, Luzon, Siam, and Hongsawaddy was overwhelmingly negative.

But this didn’t stop Homo Sapiens Company’s fame—or perhaps, its infamy—from spreading far and wide.

Although Tianzhu had been warned by America not to leak any details about the naval battle in the Badu Strait, the Indians’ ability to keep a secret was, to put it mildly, abysmal.

It wasn’t long before someone exposed the details of the Badu Strait naval battle online.

However, America was prepared. The major internet giants moved quickly to censor content and topics related to the incident.

This prevented the story of the Badu Strait naval battle from spreading widely across the international internet.

After all, the incident was a humiliation for America. If the North American public found out, the negotiations with Homo Sapiens Company would undoubtedly face severe domestic pressure.

Under the watchful eyes of the entire world, the talks in Persia officially began.