The more stubborn the research crew was, the more motivated the Americans were to make them talk.The White House even issued directives—they were to seize the base and subdue and interrogate the entire crew, while confiscating all their equipment, which would be sent to experts for analysis of usage and the like.With orders direct from the White House, the colonel rallied the American forces and began searching the trail the rogue convoy had left behind while exploring the Antarctic.Charlie waited until they were all gone before leaving the Showa Base too. Still, he didn't return to the Norwegian base right away, instead connecting to satellite networks to send Merlin videos of the Americans abusing the Japanese research crew, along with them boarding armored vehicles and leaving Showa Base.Then, he called Merlin and instructed, "Have the AI module gather contact details of major online influencers—preferably emails, and send them the videos through secure links."Naturally,

The press secretary sprang out of bed after getting the call, screaming hysterically, "What?! The Antarctic deployment somehow made the internet?! How the hell did the military commit such a rookie mistake?!"Her outburst jolted her thirtyish husband awake, and he sat up and asked, "What's wrong, babe? You scared me."The press secretary smiled apologetically, "Sorry, emergency. I need to take this—stay in bed, babe."With that, she hurried out of her bedroom with her phone, snapping angrily, "What I want to know is how evidence of a covert operation ended up on the internet!"Her assistant sighed on the other end. "I've made inquiries, while the NSA and CIA also tried to track down the original uploader, but whoever did it covered their tracks well. Everything from the server to the IP address was untraceable, and the base crew can't even tell who recorded those videos and photos."Pacing around anxiously, the press secretary groaned, "Those incompetent losers! Get everyone to t

The agreement in the room was unanimous, so the press secretary continued, "I'll reach the Oval Office in fifteen. Notify every reporter stationed in Washington and have them at the White House press briefing room within the hour. We'll use the extra forty-five minutes to come up with the best possible explanation for the actions exposed in that video.""Yes, ma'am!" Seeing how composed and clear-headed she remained under pressure, everyone seemed to find a sense of direction and confidence.The press secretary then added, "Also call SecDef to come over in twenty—we need to be on the level in the details, including their next steps, whether it's a full withdrawal or remaining at the south pole."And tell him to call the Japanese—the blame will go to them. Whether it's the research station's supervisory agency, the defense establishment, or even the cabinet itself, don't give them any room to refuse." -While the White House made calls, the military was feeling a migraine.They

After Barlin left, he headed straight to Ushuaia and reached the Antarctic with help from Consul Cicero of the Left Military Governorate.Fleur wasn't all that surprised when told—she was the one who told the three high elders to go search for whatever they could to advance their cultivation, and none of them were aware beforehand if the South Pole offered such opportunities.Fleur was herself going for the unexpected. Otherwise, if they kept doing what she told them to do, they were never going to discover anything new.Even so, never could she have expected that Barlin's trip to the South Pole proved so eventful!At the moment, she still didn't know what was really happening there. The only information she had came from the news reports, which said that American forces had landed overnight with weapons and equipment and had even taken action against the Japanese research crew. Worst of all, she couldn't contact Barlin or know for sure if it was the geezer's fault, which made h

Soon, there was a reply from a scholar embedded in the White House, detailing the story behind the US military's deployment to Antarctica.Tarlon hurried back to Fleur, and reported, "My lord… The scholar in the White House reports that the US sent their military to Antarctica because Japan suspects their own research crew of collective treason and large-scale illegal exploration on the continent. As they are unable to send their own military to Antarctica to pacify the rogue research crew, they turned to the US for help."Fleur frowned. "There's no doubt about it now—Barlin must have mind-bent the entire Japanese research crew. But why search Antarctica? I sent him to look for providence and rare mystic treasures, but such things are inconspicuous little objects, and whatever gimmicks they use are unnecessary. He must have been on to something… Something so significant that calling it a 'thing' would be an understatement."Tarlon nodded. "As we speak, the US military has subdued mo