Chapter 1486 - Project Himalia

“Damnit, can’t you fly slower?” Trump’s blonde hair flew wildly in the wind as he complained loudly.

The cockpit glass was a little leaky, and the wings were also shaking. It was a challenge even for the construction robots of Celestial Trade to repair this ancient plane. The robot even had to 3D print a few parts and made them look old. In the end, it even added two wooden external fuel tanks.

As for why the tanks had to be made out of wood, it was easy to understand.

“Sorry, Mr. President, if the engine speed can’t keep up, we may fall down because of your weight.” Although the admiral piloting the plane looked old too, his expression was rather calm.

“FU*K!”

Trump viciously gestured to him with a middle finger but was ignored by the latter with the same calm expression,

When they arrived in CA State, the fuel was exhausted.

Admiral Brien’s superb piloting skills eventually landed this Mustang-P51 safely on farmland in the suburbs.

When an old farmer saw someone destroy his farm, he walked over aggressively with his double-barreled shotgun. After he made out the two people in the cockpit, the old farmer’s eyes widened, to the point where he couldn’t even hold his shotgun and dropped it to the ground.

“Ahem, hi,” Trump revealed a slightly awkward smile, then fixed his hair that looked like a bird’s nest and pushed open the cockpit cover, “Can you help me? I seem to be stuck…”

“You, you, you are…” The old farmer stared wide-eyed, walked forward quickly, gave Trump a hand, and unfastened the seat belt around his belly. “You are… I know you…”

“Yes, I’m Trump,” he stroked his messy hair, then raised his chin slightly, “Your President is back.”

…

“Unbelievable.”

“What’s unbelievable?” Jiang Chen sat in the living room with a glass of champagne in his hand and asked with a smile on his face.

“You actually won,” as Natasha watched the news on TV, the expression on her face was still full of disbelief.

In the news footage, Celestial Trade soldiers lined up on the lawn in front of the Presidential Palace. Surrounded by a group of diplomats and bodyguards, Xin President Zhang Yaping and UA President Mike Pence met and shook hands. Witnessed by media around the world, the agreement on unconditional surrender was signed and it announced the end of this war.

“I dare you to say that the Kremlin was still discussing whether to send a volunteer army.” Natasha said with emotion, “I didn’t expect you to have finished it by yourself.”

“It’s okay. The Polish volunteers only made it to Canada the day before yesterday. Now they have just got on the ship and are going home.” Jiang Chen smiled lightly and gently sipped the champagne in the glass.

“Are you going to garrison troops in North America?” Natasha looked at Jiang Chen with a weird expression when she saw the well-equipped power armor units in the news.

“Garrison?” Jiang Chen laughed, “Garrison is impossible, and there is no need. Of course, that is the case, but we will still keep about twelve thousand soldiers in important cities such as Capital, Nouveau York, P City, and B City to assist the local police to maintain order until the UA fully fulfills the post-war agreement. Then, the soldiers will leave in batches. This time can be as long as ten years, and as short as three to five years. As for the specific time, it depends on the interim government.”

While Jiang Chen spoke, he looked to the stiff-faced Mike Pence with a subtle and mysterious smile.

Unfortunately, Mr. President would unlikely to see that day.

“Let’s talk about something you might be interested in.” Jiang Chen smiled, “It’s better for the people in the UA to worry about the UA.”

“What is it?” After Natasha took a photo from Jiang Chen, she frowned slightly and said in confusion, “What is this?”

A grey-black planet was in the center of the photo. Against the dark background, it was hard to notice its outline without looking carefully.

“Himalia, a thumbnail.” Jiang Chen put down the champagne in his hand and said with a smile, “We plan to build a colony here to mine the energy and minerals on it, and at the same time provide supplies to the Envoy-class cruising in the Kuiper Belt.”

Based on the current discoveries, three worlds in the solar system have evidences of river systems, Earth, Mars, and the last one was Himalia.

Himalia possessed a relatively complete atmospheric convection system. Clouds condensed and then entered ocean lakes through rainfall. It was the only planet with rivers other than Earth. Of course, what flowed in the river was not water, but methane.

In addition to being burned as a fossil fuel, it was needless to say the value of methane to industries, even in the space age. The cost to colonize Himalia would be much greater than the cost to colonize Mars, but the benefits for the entire Earth civilization would be considerable.

Unexpectedly, this place would become a space colony and the closest large port to the edge of the Solar System.

“Do you plan to build this colony together in the name of the Earth Defense Alliance?” Natasha looked at Jiang Chen incomprehensibly and asked, “Why?”

“Because in the long run, it doesn’t make any difference in what name it is built,” Jiang Chen said with a smile, “and if everyone participated in the construction, it would make it happen a lot faster.”

Since Celestial Trade already proved its rise with the decline of an old hegemony. From the moment the Holy Shield system opened, it could no longer find an opponent in the entire world that threatened its existence. Under such circumstances, it no longer mattered who established the colony.

After the formation of the Earth Federation, the entire world would be shrouded in the influence of Celestial Trade. In that case, it did not matter if the colony was established in Celestial Trade’s name or Earth Defense Alliance’s name, but rather, it could increase the influence of Celestial Trade on the future Earth Federation.

“Is it conditional to participate in this plan?” Natasha asked.

“Of course. There is no free lunch in the world, but our conditions are very simple. Mainly, it’s to safeguard the common interests of all members of the Earth Defense Alliance.” Jiang Chen smiled, “For example, starting from next month, we will consider building astronaut training centers in the major member states and several secondary member states with good aerospace capabilities to train suitable colonists and starship crews.”

Training would of course cost money, but after the colonists obtain qualifications, the colony would arrange jobs for the colonists. The salary standard would be in accordance with Xin labor law. Salary would be at least three times the minimum salary for the same type of work on the Earth, and paid in Xin New dollar.

Considering various subsidies, this salary was quite attractive.

“You go and discuss this with the Kremlin. There are probably Interested people there and I can convey the information for you. I can’t guarantee the result, but it shouldn’t be a big problem.” Natasha put the photo aside, picked up the glass of vodka on the table, and took a sip, “Speaking of which, when are you going to have a party to celebrate your victory?”

“We’ll put the party aside for now,” Jiang Chen laughed, then glanced at Mike Pence in the news on TV. “I plan to go to North America in two days. The last time I visited CA State, I left in a hurry. I think my trip to Capital this time will not have so many people that ruined the show.”