Chapter 161: There is No Feast That Doesn't End - Part 1

The series of actions taken by Lunar City caused an uproar around the world, followed by a flurry of curses at their methods.

Some even said that they should be charged with the crime of "traitors to humanity"!

The representatives from various countries in the PDC just chuckled to themselves, thinking that to press charges, they would first need to catch them!

Some politicians began to speculate whether Bil had premeditated this all along?

Of course, they were just suspecting that Bil had made plans to hold out for a better position, which was why he severed the traffic between Earth and the Moon.

Nobody doubted the authenticity of Mars' intelligence signals; Jiang Yu's previous actions had completely bamboozled everyone, and all believed that an advanced intelligent life form or group had come to Mars.

Since they couldn't take a hard approach, they had no choice but to negotiate.

Bil had three conditions, the first being the high degree of autonomy for Lunar City, recognizing it as part of the human world but not any political entity within the human world.

The second was that the territory of Lunar City extended for two hundred kilometers in every direction.

The third was that the PDC could not retaliate, and must continue to provide supplies and research funding to Lunar City.

The second and third conditions were acceptable, but the first one was unacceptable to everyone as it would easily become a precedent in the future.

The two sides went back and forth for over a week, and Bil gave in a little by promising that Lunar City would relinquish military rights, but the PDC must not interfere with Lunar City's internal affairs!

The representatives from various countries wanted to continue bargaining, nursing the same thought; Lunar City was not yet self-sufficient, and stalling for some time would make Lunar City bow to the PDC.

But none of them expected Bil to simply announce that Lunar City was prepared to land on Mars itself in search of the Martian intelligence signals.

As everyone knew, the current supplies on the Moon were sufficient to last until the launch of the Martian spacecraft two months later.

The representatives of the PDC countries were a bit panicked; they definitely could not allow Lunar City to act alone.

If Lunar City acquired a technological upgrade from a higher intelligence civilization, then Earth would be entirely at a disadvantage.

The PDC could only make concessions and recognize the autonomy of Lunar City.

But at the same time, they declared that the Moon was an indivisible part of the human world, and Lunar City's autonomy was a one-time exception; no country or individual was allowed to engage in Lunar autonomy activities anymore.

After finalizing some details at the negotiation table, the representatives emerged from the conference room to find that it had already turned dark.

A bright moon hung overhead, casting a cold white light.

Upon seeing the moon, it was as though they could see Bil's smug smile after his success.

Now the PDC simply had no way of handling the people inside Lunar City; the new lunar spacecraft wouldn't be assembled for another three months, by which time it would be too late.

At that moment, the representatives realized how vulnerable humanity was, the Moon was seemingly close at hand yet could easily break away from human control.

Three days later, on the "Qionglou" space station, the PDC and Bil signed the Lunar City Independence Declaration.

Many ambitious individuals on Earth watched the signatories with eyes turning red with envy.

Since entering the information age, the strata on Earth had gradually become rigid, leaving little room for the ambitions of these individuals.

But now, the ambitious seemed to see their own stage in space!

While the public was still cursing Lunar City for taking advantage of a crisis, the ambitious had already begun to actively prepare for the space age.

...

The PDC specially convened a Wallfacer hearing to discuss how to sanction Jiang Yu.

After Tyler's death, the PDC passed the "PDC's Right to Curb the Wallfacer Project Act" in a hearing.

Now the PDC had the power to stop all of Jiang Yu's plans.

Jiang Yu, however, argued that he had legal immunity, was unaware of Lunar City's autonomy, and had not caused harm to human society, thus not meeting the sanctioning requirements of the relevant legislation.

This verbal spat went on for two days, and everyone realized that the existing legislation indeed could not sanction Jiang Yu.

Moreover, Jiang Yu still carried some weight in everyone's minds, having outsmarted ETO and stood up to them multiple times.

Although Jiang Yu had overstepped this time, everyone still fundamentally respected his actions, wondering if this was part of his plan.

After the hearing, Jiang Yu was finally able to return to China, and the PDC's rotating chairman once again took him to the airport, "I hope you can bring permanent peace to the Moon."

Jiang Yu laughed, "You've just signed an agreement, and the Moon is quite peaceful now!"

The rotating chairman added, "Let's not have a next time, or there will be severe consequences."

He wasn't a fool; he couldn't just believe whatever Jiang Yu said.

This was also the main reason Jiang Yu voluntarily gave up Lunar City's military rights; he had never intended to create a confrontation.

Jiang Yu had understood many principles from the modern history of Chinese people.

First and foremost, one must exercise moderation, even if something was not to the other party's liking, it had to be within the range they could accept.

Otherwise, if we completely sour our relationship, there will be no benefit to us.

Another point is the mutual infiltration between us and the enemy that ties their hands, for the enemy cannot simply attack itself, can they?

Therefore, Jiang Yu's main goal was to find an academic sanctuary for the project group serving him, to avoid inciting irrational actions among the public.

In the future, even if some of his plan's findings upset people, they would have to travel by spaceship for two days to reach Moon City to express their discontent.

Very few would accept the cost of doing that.

Furthermore, PDC would definitely infiltrate Moon City, and the two sides would establish a new cooperative mechanism.

As long as there is mutual benefit, the rifts created by this incident will gradually be smoothed over by time.

Even if PDC is not pleased and wishes to take action against Moon City, it would be difficult to initiate any substantial moves when both parties' interests are intertwined.

After returning to his country, the new Minister of Star Defense sought a talk with Jiang Yu, hoping he would restrain his subordinates and expressing the wish to be involved in Moon City's subsequent construction.

Jiang Yu did not agree; the minister clearly did not consider him one of their own, as he was reluctant to keep Jiang Yu's office close by.

Moreover, in this incident, the Star Defense Department had not supported Jiang Yu unconditionally as before but had instead stood in opposition to Moon City.

Through the autonomy incident of Moon City, Jiang Yu had already sensed a subtle shift in the Star Defense Department's attitude toward the Wallfacer Project.

If Chief Ji were still the minister, Jiang Yu would confidently let the Star Defense Department send someone over.

But now, Jiang Yu did not trust the personnel from the Star Defense Department.

In the end, the conversation was not very pleasant, but Jiang Yu did not take it too much to heart. After all, no feast lasts forever, and this step had to be taken sooner or later.

For now, they were only displeased with each other and had not yet reached the point of an irreparable break.

No sooner had Jiang Yu returned to his office than Bil called him on a video call.

Bil was still on the Moon, following a precaution specifically instructed by Jiang Yu.

Don't assume that everything is settled with the signing of the "Declaration"; one must remain vigilant about PDC, who have not only once or twice broken treaties for profit.

Therefore, Jiang Yu had set a strict rule for Moon City: Either he or Bil must be present in Moon City to prevent PDC from exploiting any opportunity.

Behind Bil, the background displayed the white metallic walls of Moon City, and he said cheerfully, "Who would have thought we'd gain autonomy so quickly!"

"Don't celebrate too soon!" said Jiang Yu, "I've already had Feng Yi start setting up a commerce department for Moon City.

"Quickly develop Moon City's commerce; there's potential in tourism as well as selling resources!

"No matter how the industries on the Moon develop, we must ensure they remain at the forefront of space technology!

"If we lose the lead for a moment, PDC might just take us down!"

Bil seriously responded, "I understand. Don't worry about technology; at least with Moon City's autonomy, no one can outperform us in building extraterrestrial colonies!"

Jiang Yu nodded, "Also, not that I don't trust you, but you're not quite suited for managerial work. Better stick to your research. I'll appoint a mayor to handle Moon City's day-to-day management.

"You'll always be the honorary mayor!"

Bil breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good."

He knew he wasn't cut out for that role.

Having discussed the matter at hand, Jiang Yu smiled and said, "Thanks to your relentless efforts, Moon City's construction progressed faster than planned, allowing us to proceed with our plan so smoothly."

According to the original plan from three years ago, Moon City was supposed to take four years to build, and its residents would move in in three separate groups in the fifth year.

But Bil's project team performed exceptionally well, completing Moon City in just two years, and by the first half of the third year, the first group of residents had already moved in. The Mars spaceship also began construction around that time.

Bil laughed, "Once we get past the design stage, construction speeds up."

He then asked, "Beck's Moon City is also nearing completion. Should we just merge them?"

Three years ago, Jiang Yu had presided over the division of the Moon, but afterward, countries only landed on their allocated spots to declare their sovereignty.

They built simple lunar living modules, but they did not immediately construct Moon Cities.

On the other hand, a few businessmen who had purchased lunar land began building small-scale Moon Cities.

Beck was among them, and he obtained the construction technology for free from Bil's project.

He also facilitated connections for Bil, allowing several other businessmen to acquire the rights to use Bil's technology for building their Moon Cities.

This was not a transfer of technology but rather an agreement to let the businessmen utilize Bil's technology.

Beck then undertook the construction, and both parties profited.

Since these transactions all took place on the Moon, PDC was completely unaware.

Jiang Yu, seating himself on a sofa, said, "Let's not expose Beck yet. It's enough that Moon City attracts PDC's attention. Let him 'lie low and bide his time'!"