Homo Sapiens

Hongsawaddy.

Yangon.

News of the successful satellite launch quickly spread via television and the internet.

Instantly, the streets and alleys of Yangon were abuzz with discussions about it.

Lai Shengli, who had just left the commodity trade center and was preparing to head back to the Zhongliang Branch Office, ran into Ahaxi, the president of the Persian International Trade Company.

"Lai, long time no see."

"I heard you went back to Persia. You’re back so soon?" Lai Shengli asked with a smile as they walked.

Ahaxi replied vaguely, "Just some family business. It’s all taken care of. I just got off the plane this morning and have been resting for the past half-day."

Suddenly, a group of young Hongsawaddy locals nearby began to cheer loudly.

Ahaxi asked curiously, "Is it some kind of holiday today?"

"They’re probably celebrating Hongsawaddy’s successful satellite launch." Lai Shengli had taught himself some Burmese and could understand some of the words.

"What?" Ahaxi thought he’d misheard. "A satellite? Hongsawaddy launched a satellite? Did they cooperate with your country’s aerospace industry?"

Lai Shengli shook his head. "No."

"’No? They launched it with their own technology?’ Ahaxi was incredulous.

"I have no idea. Maybe it’s some technology they scrounged up from Lucia," Lai Shengli said, shrugging playfully.

"Why don’t we head to the Yangon Grand Hotel? We can talk over a meal," Ahaxi suggested.

Lai Shengli was already off work, so he had no objection. He nodded. "Sounds good."

The group walked to the Yangon Grand Hotel. Along the way, they could hear many people discussing the satellite incident, as well as the Assam War.

Before long, they arrived at the Yangon Grand Hotel, a place they frequented, and found a private room on the second floor overlooking the street.

After ordering their food, Ahaxi opened his laptop and quickly found the news about Hongsawaddy’s satellite launch.

After reading the relevant reports, Ahaxi looked up with a strange expression. "That second, ’failed’ launch... something about it feels odd, don’t you think?"

"Heh... Ahaxi, you might not fully grasp the Eastern style of subtlety," Lai Shengli replied with a wry smile.

"Subtlety? What do you mean?"

"Try replacing the word ’satellite’ with something else. Maybe then you’ll understand."

’Replace it with something else?’ Ahaxi thought for a moment before it dawned on him. "A missile?"

Lai Shengli simply smiled, saying nothing.

Ahaxi said with envy, "That’s impressive technology. To be able to circle the Earth means Hongsawaddy now has global reach."

"The pros and cons are equally obvious. Even if that super cannon is mobile, it must be incredibly slow to move. Their situation is very dangerous." A hint of worry crept into Lai Shengli’s eyes.

Ahaxi was, of course, well aware of the dangerous situation Lai Shengli described.

Hongsawaddy had stirred up trouble in Ceylon, costing financial institutions in Europe and America tens of billions of US dollars. This incident only deepened their animosity toward Hongsawaddy.

America already considered Hongsawaddy’s gold-standard currency a thorn in its side.

Combined with the issues of Ceylon’s foreign debt and the super cannon launching a "satellite," it was bound to further provoke America’s sensitive nerves.

Given America’s ruthlessness, Hongsawaddy’s situation was indeed perilous.

Ahaxi also understood perfectly well from Lai Shengli’s attitude that the relationship between Hongsawaddy and its northern neighbor was limited to commercial cooperation, with very little overlap in other areas.

If that were the case, once America made its move, Hongsawaddy could only rely on cooperation from Ceylon, Siam, and Luzon.

Ahaxi had little faith in this motley crew. America was, after all, the world’s hegemon. Once it was free to act, even ten Hongsawaddys couldn’t stand against it.

This was the prevailing view among outsiders.

The successful launch of a satellite—or an intercontinental missile—did not lead outside observers to believe that Hongsawaddy’s security situation had improved.

Quite the opposite, in fact. The international community’s concerns about Hongsawaddy’s security only intensified.

This anxiety manifested as a wave of panic-buying for specialty drugs and grain.

Orders for Qingye Group’s specialty drugs were already backlogged into 2023, and orders for grain and agricultural products were similarly scheduled out to July 2023.

Clearly, outsiders worried that if Hongsawaddy were to be embroiled in a war, its exports of medicine and food would certainly be cut off.

Although Zhongliang and Hua Petroleum had already been strengthening the transportation infrastructure between Yunnan Province and Hongsawaddy’s Shan State, this was part of the northern neighbor’s strategic preparations. The goal was to both increase their influence in Shan State and prepare for the future. If America were to move against Hongsawaddy, they had to secure the Shan Plateau, even if they couldn’t save all of Hongsawaddy.

Lai Shengli himself had some public relations tasks involving certain individuals in Shan State.

However, his mission was proving extremely difficult. The influence of Hongsawaddy’s three major conglomerates was simply too powerful; any smaller factions had long since been wiped out.

What made the situation even more awkward for the northern neighbor was that the dominant force on the Shan Plateau was none other than the Qingye Group, not one of the other two.

Li Qingye, the founder of the Qingye Group, was an insurmountable obstacle.

The situation was already giving many people a headache.

Of course, this awkwardness and these headaches didn’t affect Lai Shengli directly. After all, he was just the manager of a regional branch office. His primary mission was to maintain the food supply channels in Hongsawaddy; everything else was secondary.

The two chatted for about ten minutes before a waiter arrived, pushing a food cart.

Seeing the delicious spread on the table, Ahaxi said with a smile, "Let’s eat first."

"Then I won’t stand on ceremony," Lai Shengli said, picking up his chopsticks.

As Ahaxi cut into his lamb chop, his mind was racing with possibilities.

To be appointed president of the Persian International Trade Company, one had to have connections. Ahaxi came from a prominent Persian family and was a devoted patriot. His loathing for America was matched only by his hatred for the Kingdom of Judah.

He saw an opportunity in Hongsawaddy’s predicament.

After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend—a principle Ahaxi understood very well.

Therefore, he believed Persia could consider forming a secret alliance with Hongsawaddy. They could turn Hongsawaddy into another "An Nan," and ideally, bog America down in a military quagmire there for eight to ten years.

This would give Persia some breathing room.

As for how many people in Hongsawaddy might die as a result, Ahaxi didn’t care in the slightest. This wasn’t Persia, and in his eyes, the people of Hongsawaddy were not his people.

This was a mindset inherited from certain people in West Asia and Europe: anyone outside their own group was not truly considered their equal.

This could be seen in many ways; people like Ahaxi represented the mainstream view in many parts of the world.

For example, if you were to help such a person, they wouldn’t truly be grateful to you. They would see it as a blessing from God, and their thanks to you would be a mere formality.

Thus, Ahaxi could plot to use Hongsawaddy to buy time for Persia without any psychological burden. In his mind, the people of Hongsawaddy simply didn’t matter.

It was just like how he was acting like a brother to Lai Shengli now; it was merely to maintain a superficial relationship.

The two continued to eat, each hiding their own ulterior motives, while making small talk about various curiosities and strange events.

「Elsewhere.」

Within America, a report from the head of the National Reconnaissance Office had garnered the attention of its backer, the City of the Council.

With the tacit approval of the City of the Council, the Pentagon was given free rein to begin preparing a plan to encircle and hunt Hongsawaddy.

But would things truly go according to their wishes?