June 20, 1:00 p.m., Tokyo time. Haizaki once again set foot on the Japanese mainland.
This return to Japan made Haizaki feel immense pressure.
If the fighter jet were to suffer a malfunction and crash, even if he successfully ejected, he might end up landing in the open sea.
In the vast ocean, how would he survive and return to the Eastern Union?
To reduce the possibility of a crash and avoid additional risks, Haizaki activated a brand-new fighter jet that had been sealed and unused. He repeatedly checked and verified all the aircraft's data according to the pilot's manual and logistics handbook.
Takeoff. Ascension. Cruising at optimal speed.
The fighter jet carried him across more than two thousand kilometers and landed safely in Japan. In the end, he once again appeared at this U.S. naval base stationed in Japan.
The Yokosuka U.S. Naval Base—the headquarters of the U.S. Navy in Japan, the station of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, and the only port outside U.S. territory with full aircraft carrier homeport functions.
Obtain all useful intelligence that could be obtained.
For the strategic needs of the Eastern Union in the original world, U.S. military secrets were the most effective means for him to gain the Union's trust.
"As expected… it won't work."
Haizaki restarted the base's backup power supply, restoring operations, yet he still could not enter the core areas of the base.
"Beep. Colonel Isaka, please enter the password…"
The identity card passed verification successfully, but when faced with further password input, fingerprint scanning, and retinal recognition, he had no solution.
So he had to find another way.
"Boom—"
Haizaki found explosives and forcibly breached the doors.
A violent explosion rang out. The base alarms blared continuously, red warning lights flashing.
Haizaki paid no attention and continued blasting.
"Boom—"
The alloy door was destroyed, and he successfully entered, but…
Faced with the central computer system that stored data and intelligence, he was completely helpless.
"If only I knew hacking."
He was standing before a treasure trove yet unable to excavate it. Completely ignorant of computers and hacking, he could not obtain classified intelligence from the central system.
"All I can do is take photos."
He photographed important paper documents and took pictures of everything critical inside the base—aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, carrier-based aircraft, and other major military assets.
The photos included external panoramic shots as well as internal layouts and equipment.
This was the limit of what he could do.
Even a single exterior photo could reveal key data such as a ship's displacement, let alone a full set of high-resolution images containing internal structures, equipment layouts, and weapon distributions.
These photos would serve as the key to opening the door of trust with the Union.
Using this as a starting point, he could establish relations with the Union and gain its trust.
However, even now, Haizaki had not yet figured out how, after the end of the "Lonely Apocalypse," he should guide the Union and the world in facing the catastrophic apocalypse that would arrive two years later.
The ultimate goal was to unite all of humanity, harness the strength of mankind as a whole, and overcome this world-ending catastrophe.
But achieving the lofty goal of "uniting all humanity" was unimaginably difficult.
In his previous life, when facing the catastrophic apocalypse, nations still failed to unite quickly.
Only after suffering massive losses and being forced into a desperate situation where unity was the only way to survive did countries finally abandon old grudges, share resources and intelligence, and jointly face the disaster.
Not to mention the current international political climate, where conflicts between nations stem from national interests—under such circumstances, expecting countries to unite?
Difficult.
Even the secondary goal—gaining the trust of the Eastern Union alone—was fraught with obstacles.
A national organization determines that its attitude toward any matter must involve comprehensive, multi-layered investigation and verification. Groundless claims would never earn trust.
Any national-level policy affects the future of 1.5 billion people.
Even the smallest mistake, multiplied by 1.5 billion, is no small error.
Without ironclad evidence, the Union would never trust him.
He might even be taken away by relevant authorities for spreading doomsday claims.
Even if he were not detained, once exposed to the Union's attention, he would be placed under surveillance.
This was extremely dangerous.
He could trust the Union, but he could not trust every individual within it.
Betrayal for personal gain—betrayal of the Union and of belief—was not impossible. He did not want to become a priority target on the watchlists of intelligence agencies worldwide.
To better achieve the ultimate goal of overcoming the catastrophic apocalypse, he needed to solve three problems.
The first was how to gain the trust of the Eastern Union and other nations, convincing them that a global catastrophe would occur two years later.
The second was how to enhance the world's overall combat readiness, giving humanity the strength to defeat the apocalypse.
The third was how to ensure his own safety.
He possessed the "Trans-Spatiotemporal Human Civilization Salvation System," but to what extent it could function and what it could provide were things he still did not know.
Only through continued exploration and increasing system permissions could he obtain more information.
On that foundation, he could then guide the world toward achieving the goal of defeating the catastrophe, based on his actual capabilities.
Thinking this far, Haizaki shook his head and stopped.
Overthinking long-term plans at this stage served little purpose.
...
"Click, click…"
The sound of the shutter rang out repeatedly.
Holding a DSLR camera, Haizaki continuously pressed the shutter, photographing everything he deemed necessary.
Before leaving Wuhua City for Japan this time, he had informed Utaha in advance, stating that he would be away for five days to handle some matters.
If this had been before their conflict erupted, such a sudden trip would have surprised and intrigued her, but she would not have said much. But now…
They were in the midst of a cold war following the conflict, and his proposal to leave Wuhua City for five days was bound to make the girl overthink and develop unfavorable assumptions.
"Don't think too much. I'm just going out to handle things you shouldn't know about…"
Haizaki looked up at the clear, soothing blue sky.
This return to Japan—and its purpose—had to be kept secret from Utaha.
Once discovered, he knew the intelligent girl could connect many dots.
Even though, after the end of the "Solitary Apocalypse," the girl would lose all memories of this world, that did not mean Haizaki could tell her everything now.
Secrecy.
This was his method of self-protection. Only by maintaining secrecy at all times—engraining it into instinct, into bone—could he minimize the risk of exposing secrets and triggering crises.
...