Chapter 1513: The Uncertainties in March

Unexpectedly, the technical barrier that prevented the development of Himalia’s natural gas resources was solved on Himalia.

Jiang Chen could foresee an energy revolution taking place in the distant Himalia, which started with this black solid.

It was undeniable that the Global Grid has to some extent suppressed the demand for fossil fuel. However, Jiang Chen was aware that even if the Earth entered full electrification, fossil fuel would not be eliminated. Long ago, Celestial Trade developed a petroleum crop to replace some imports of oil and natural gas, however, Xin did not stop importing energy.

Jiang Chen was certain about one thing based on the discovery of the black alkane.

After the completion of the Himalia colony, countless natural gas companies would go bankrupt. This kind of situation was similar to the Global Grid’s impact on the local power stations. The neighboring countries of Xin such as Malaysia, New Guinea, and Nippon had almost completely demolished their power stations.

However, this time, he planned to take a gentler approach. He would allow those powerful gas mining companies to participate in the development of Himalia while they controlled and supported several Xin energy companies, then they would bring the old energy giants onboard. Celestial Trade would only be responsible for transportation and black alkane synthesis, while Future Heavy Industries would sell the extraction equipment. Even if Celestial Trade ate all the meat, it was important to leave some soup for others.

As for those companies without the capability or means to compete in the development of outer space resources, it was better for them to close as early as possible.

“As long as the bacteria are genetically modified to a certain extent, and then artificially propagated on a large scale, the methane and ethane on Himalia can be biochemically reacted to synthesize into black alkane before being transported! For the same volume, now we can transport twice as much as before!” Kelvin said in excitement.

“I think so too.” Jiang Chen nodded, and after he deliberated for a moment, he continued “Let the researcher at the outpost scan the DNA of the MW1 bacteria into the database, and let the Special Projects Institute participate in the research.”

“I’ll go assign the task!” Kelvin nodded and walked out immediately.

As he looked at the holographic image that floated above the touchpad, he slowly rotated the “black alkane” like it was black gold.

A curvature formed by the corner of his lips as they turned up.

He was very much looking forward to the Space Colonization Summit a week later, and the reaction on the faces of the representatives of the member states and the members of the Earth Defense Alliance Committee.

He believed that their expressions would be quite exciting.

…

In the past few days when Jiang Chen returned to Xin, many major events happened internationally.

First from the continent of North America.

Trump, who had managed to stabilize the political landscape, nominated new cabinet members. Mike Pence’s cabinet team was almost completely replaced, and the entire Rainbow Mansion was completely changed. For example, Admiral Brian, who brought back Trump, was appointed as the new Secretary of Defense.

Well, after all, it was Admiral Brian who piloted the Mustang fighter to bring Trump back from the small island. The friendship between the two was certainly something the UA people could understand. However, to the surprise of almost everyone, the choice of secretary of state was actually Joseph Kennedy!

A Democrat?!

Not only that, he was once his opponent.

In the election campaign, Mr. Kennedy was at an advantage at one point. If it were not for Morgan and Rockefeller’s intervention behind the scene, it would be hard to say whether Trump could be the president-elect in the end.

The nomination of the opposition party as a cabinet member was not without precedent. For example, Clinton and Obama both chose Republicans as the Secretary of Defense. However, it was out of the consideration of balance and compromise when the Republican Party occupied a dominant position in Congress.

Now that the Republican Party still controlled Congress, Trump’s choice of Joseph Kennedy as his cabinet member was confusing. Not to mention, it was the important Secretary of State.

What surprised outsiders, even more, was that such a list was passed in Congress…

Regardless of whether most of the people in the UA were willing to accept this outcome or not, a regime with the intention to please the victorious country was established in North America. Typically, there would definitely be opposition, and indeed many protests took place in many states. However, in fact, most of the people chose silence.

The depreciation of the dollar led to the return of overseas factories back into the UA, and the return of manufacturing created employment. The start of the millennial project —the Bering Strait Tunnel was equivalent to a disguised relief for work, just like the Tennessee River Basin Project during Roosevelt’s time, countless jobs were created.

Although the scars left by the orbital airborne brigade in Capital, Nouveau York, P City… still made many people feel pain, what puzzled everyone was that most people’s lives were not impacted. Although Celestial Trade took away their gold, the Xin New dollar issued because of the gold returned into the hands in the form of loans.

The most ironic situation was that the unemployment problem that neither party could solve was fixed because of a defeat. The historians were troubled by how they should correctly evaluate President Pence’s “contributions.”

On the other side, in the far Middle East, the succession war in the Saudi Royal Family welcomed a new turning point.

Prince Yerif that more than 10,000 Madagascar mercenaries marched into Riyadh and defeated the 50,000-strong army gathered in the suburbs. In less than three days, the siege of Riyadh ended. Surrounded by foreign mercenaries, Yerif stepped into the palace he dreamed of as a victor.

This result was not unexpected.

After all, the strength of the Saudi army was obvious to all. Based on the historical past that the allied force composed of ten nations could be defeated by the Hussein armed forces, and it was on the condition that they possessed absolute air superiority. The force actually did a good job based on the fact that they managed to resist for over half a month.

Under the desperate protection of personal guards, the young Suliman fled to Dubai, where he sought political asylum. The former Minister of Intelligence Itami was captured by soldiers loyal to Prince Yerif while he was fleeing to Sudan, and then sent to Jeddah Port Prison.

Crowded by his supporters, Yerif quickly ascended to the throne.

While Yerif purged the conservatives who supported the young Suliman in the name of the War of Succession to the throne and made room for his supporters, he also actively established diplomatic relations with Xin with the purpose to join the Earth Defense Alliance as a secondary member.

Yerif was indeed very lucky, because not only did he gain the support of Celestial Trade, but also because he ended the war over succession before April.

Although it would take two months to approve the alliance member, Saudi Arabia, as a country that expressed intent, received a report on the “prospects and feasibility of the colonization of Himalia”, which was reissued by Celestial Trade, and an Invitation letter to the Space Colonization Summit.

Just like that, time soon reached the end of March.

As the focal point for everyone, the Space Colonization Summit focused on the expedition of Himalia finally took place in Celestial City…

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