With Li Anguo's proposal, the room fell silent. The officers exchanged glances, and the air quickly thickened with tension.
"No, no, no! I believe our Second Military District is the strongest for field operations," countered General Cao Zimo, the commander of the Second Military District.
"I think the Fifth Military District is more suitable."
"What does a navy officer know about this?"
"What's wrong with the navy? What if the other side is all water?"
"Ha! Preliminary investigation data shows that the area around the portal is a forest," The other generals glared at this shameless fellow.
"I think the Eighth Military District is the best choice. You guys should just step aside."
The tension was mounting, and the nine officers began glaring at each other. If Xuan hadn't intervened in time, these nine men in their fifties and sixties would have started a brawl.
After several rounds of heated discussion, it was decided that each military district would select the twenty best soldiers to form a special task force. This team would gather intelligence about the new world and prepare for future military deployments.
"Now that the exploration mission is set, where should we open the portal?"
The previously calm atmosphere erupted again at Li Zhiguo's question.
"I think we should open it in Donghaizhou. It's close to the East Sea port, which would facilitate material transport."
"Transport? That's a concern for later stages! The initial focus is exploration. Plus, with so many people around, how can you hide a space portal?"
"Exactly!"
"I think it should be in the imperial capital."
"Get lost!"
This discussion became even more heated than the last, with thirty-eight members of parliament joining in, each vying to have the portal opened in their jurisdiction.
In the end, the First Military District, located in the central Cangyun Plateau of Eastern Xia, won out. This area was sparsely populated, meaning that no matter how much commotion they caused, it wouldn't attract foreign attention. Li Anguo was appointed as the military head of the development plan.
After the discussions concluded, everyone signed confidentiality agreements and then left the palace.
Thus, the most audacious plan in history was born!
In a black sedan with a special license plate, Li Anguo reflected on the meeting and the plan, murmuring to himself, "The ridiculous power struggle between the parliament, the cabinet, and capital should come to an end."
The next day, all nine military districts of Eastern Xia held special forces military exercises. This exercise was unlike any traditional military drill; it focused solely on individual capabilities, as if they were selecting the strongest soldiers.
This move left the world baffled. Testing soldiers' individual combat abilities? Was this a joke? In the face of aircraft, artillery, and missile bombardments, the role of individual combat skills seemed minuscule.
Modern warfare emphasizes the integration of land, sea, and air forces. What was this all about?
In no time, Eastern Xia's military exercises made headlines worldwide, even catching the attention of the entertainment-obsessed Selar nation.
Some "anti-Xia" media outlets began their usual routine, proclaiming, "Eastern Xia is confused and on the brink of collapse."
Four days later, the military exercises continued unabated, ignoring external criticism, and some military districts had even reached the finals.
As the competitions progressed, the world grew increasingly puzzled about Eastern Xia's intentions. Why expend such vast resources on what seemed like a pointless military exercise?
Even within the country, doubts began to surface. After all, no matter how skilled soldiers were, there were limits. The government's extravagant spending on this exercise neither deterred other nations nor improved the military's combat capabilities.
This money came from taxpayers!
Just as everyone was watching Eastern Xia's bewildering actions like a circus, a piece of gossip suddenly swept across the internet.
Top scientists from various fields in Eastern Xia had secretly joined a three trillion Xia dollar project!
This was significant. Three trillion? That was the amount spent by the Western Alliance over ten years of oil wars, and Eastern Xia's GDP last year was only five trillion!
The world began to verify the truth of this information, and upon investigation, it was confirmed that Eastern Xia's top scientists had indeed vanished, all disappearing within a matter of days!
Rumors spread that some scientists' families had revealed they were participating in a project.
Then, some connected Eastern Xia's seemingly erratic military exercises with the highly publicized Extreme Soldier Program from two years ago.
Even the Ministry of Finance stepped in to address citizens' concerns, stating that the exercises were necessary for a specific project and not a waste of taxpayer money.
At that moment, it seemed all the pieces fell into place. The military exercises were selecting the strongest soldiers to equip them with the extreme soldier exoskeleton armor that Eastern Xia had likely already developed!
Nations around the world grew tense again. If Eastern Xia's Extreme Soldier Program succeeded, the modern battlefield would see super soldiers capable of leaping into action and flipping tanks!
This brought back memories of the First and Second World Wars. During the First World War, Eastern Xia had leveraged its early development of flintlock rifles, which didn't require burning fuses to ignite gunpowder, to dominate the battlefield.
Once they recovered, Eastern Xia introduced semi-automatic rifles, reigniting the world war and once again overpowering their foes.
Now, the most anxious were the smaller nations surrounding Eastern Xia. Over the years, under the influence of the other five great powers, they had occasionally exchanged barbs with Eastern Xia. If Eastern Xia truly succeeded in its research, no one could save them—not even their parent nations.
Eighty years later, a new arms race had begun.
Recently, the Western Alliance and Nanyang Nation announced a collaboration to launch a three trillion Xia dollar exoskeleton armor project.
They then approached Eastern Xia, urging for calm and dialogue for the sake of world peace.
Tianque Building.
Li Zhiguo watched the swirling speculations about Eastern Xia's actions online, a smile creeping onto his face. Especially regarding the Western Alliance and Nanyang Nation—he couldn't help but laugh at how easily they had been misled by the information released.
Of course, their spies had indeed uncovered two truths, but with a slight twist.
Eastern Xia's mechanical exoskeleton armor wasn't just close to being developed; it had already been completed, with over five hundred sets of extreme soldier exoskeleton armor manufactured! The top scientists had indeed joined a secret project, but it wasn't to research exoskeleton armor.
All the information circulating online had been released by Eastern Xia. No matter how other nations tried to verify it, they would only arrive at one conclusion: it was all true. The release of substantial real information was merely a smokescreen to conceal the development plan.
The primary goal was to provide justification for the mobilization of resources for the development plan. After all, such a massive financial maneuver couldn't go unnoticed.
Underground Base of the First Military District.
This facility had originally been a shelter prepared for nuclear war during the Third World War, but since that conflict never occurred, it was finally being put to use.
An armored vehicle slowly rolled in, carrying the victors from the Fifth Military District.
"Do you think we're going to test the mechanical exoskeletons?" one soldier asked excitedly.
"Probably," another replied.
"I don't think it's that simple. Think about it: if all the top twenty soldiers from each military district are here, that's a total of 180 soldiers. Even for testing exoskeleton armor, we wouldn't need this many," said a soldier with a scar on his forehead, gesturing outside.
"Plus, look at the guards outside—every ten steps, there's a fully armed soldier holding a Justice 5 machine gun."
Hearing this, everyone sensed something was off. Such a heavy firepower setup for guarding a base seemed excessive. Not to mention, this base was within a military district; they shouldn't need such high firepower.
The largest military force in Eastern Xia was right outside. Were they really worried about an invasion?
As the armored vehicle moved deeper into the facility, they noticed that the guards had been replaced by soldiers wearing mechanical exoskeleton armor.
Upon reaching their destination, the soldiers quickly disembarked and formed a line, greeted by General Li Anguo of the First Military District.
"Attention!"
The sound of synchronized footsteps echoed.
"Soldiers! Being here means you are the elite of the elite; calling you 'Kings of Soldiers' is no exaggeration. You are about to undertake a mission with a potential mortality rate of 50%. During this mission, you will become dead men; your records will be erased, and even your names will be forgotten. You can still back out now!"
Li Anguo's sharp gaze swept over the twenty soldiers, but none stepped forward to withdraw.
Then, a soldier beside him handed the confidentiality agreements to the twenty soldiers.
"This is your last chance. If you have any regrets, now is the time."
Without hesitation, the twenty soldiers signed their names. They had already sworn to dedicate everything to their country upon enlisting.
"Excellent! I'm proud of you. You are now dead men; forget your original names. You are now glorious pioneers!"
With a sharp command, the soldiers raised their right fists and struck their chests.
Boom!
"Understood!"
An hour later, the twenty pioneers donned their black mechanical exoskeleton armor, and the firepower they were equipped with left them in awe.
Assault soldiers (ten): Pioneer rifle ×1, grenades ×5, small ammo box ×1.
Snipers (five): Pioneer sniper rifle ×1, micro submachine gun ×1, small ammo box ×1.
Logistics soldiers (five): Micro submachine gun ×1, Sky Eye rocket launcher ×1, large supply box ×1.
Pioneer 001 looked at his gear and said, "With this equipment, I think we could take down the Flower Nation ourselves."
Their load was staggering; even the lightest assault soldier carried nearly 150 kilograms, while the heaviest logistics soldier bore a weight of up to 300 kilograms.
"Isn't this thing basically a cannon?" Pioneer 011 remarked, eyeing the two-meter-long sniper rifle on his back.
"Wonder if it can penetrate a main battle tank."
[Pioneers, please proceed to the portal location quickly.]
"Let's go."
Following the tactical helmet's guidance, the pioneers arrived at a vast open area where hundreds of researchers in lab coats were busy at work.
"Is this the portal?!"
The pioneers were stunned when they saw the portal's true form—a three-meter-high oval-shaped rift in space.
At that moment, Li Anguo approached from a distance, saying, "Your mission is to enter the portal and head toward the setting sun for three days, scouting for any signs of civilization."
"Yes, sir!"
Though they had many questions, they wouldn't ask why; they only wanted to know what the mission entailed. They were the most elite and loyal soldiers selected, embodying the spirit of the development plan—
Willing to sacrifice everything for the revival of Eastern Xia!
Twenty pioneers entered the passageway in an orderly fashion without hesitation and disappeared from sight.