Eh? You want to try the humanoid girl's iron fist too?

"They were probably frightened by the war between the five Eastern European countries two years ago and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war."

"Maybe he wants to work harder," Lingyin remarked.

Asuka glared at Rinne, then continued looking at the data and said:

"The same is true for Poland, which plans to increase the number of active-duty military personnel from 17.2 to 40, while also increasing its planned military spending to 4% of GDP."

According to a RAND Corporation report titled "Russian Warfare Style," the goal of building Russia's modern military machine is to minimize combat time, characterized by high intensity, fast pace, and the ability to end battles whenever possible.

"If Moscow believes that conflict is inevitable, it will be the first to 'jump over the wall' and launch a limited blitzkrieg around its own territory, aiming to achieve the main objectives of the war before the enemy's reaction forces can be deployed."

The war that has now ended in five Eastern European countries perfectly illustrates the report's point of view: a nightmare come true.

It is clearly impossible for Poland not to be afraid, so military expansion is an inevitable course of action.

Furthermore, two countries that have historically led to the "absence of Poland" are now, respectively, allies of Germany, which has become a hidden threat, and Slavic people, whom Poles consider barbarians from Asia, who are seen as an external threat.

This is thanks to the widespread dissemination of Gedrozeism in Poland during the latter half of the 20th century, which led Poland to establish, in principle, the importance of Ukrainian independence to its security.

This directly led to Poland becoming one of the most active countries in providing military assistance to Ukraine.

Therefore, during this Russo-Ukrainian war, Poland desperately supplied it with all kinds of Soviet-made weapons.

In addition, it is a major driving force behind NATO's eastward expansion. After all, if Ukraine joins the EU and NATO, Poland can enjoy the protection of the collective security commitment, and Ukraine, located further east on the front lines, can replace Poland as a direct target of Russian attacks in the event of a conflict between the West and Russia.

The idea was wonderful, but Ukraine, blinded by its involvement in the war with the five Eastern European countries, launched a war without a declaration.

Now I feel comfortable, but my dream has been shattered.

Russia has deployed a large number of armed forces, launching offensives in two directions along the Kaliningrad-Kursk-Rostov line, using a combination of long-range low-altitude missiles and ballistic missiles to gradually sever Ukraine's Suvauki corridor and Black Sea lifeline.

The Russian military is making considerable progress and is, in a sense, very difficult to deal with.

Once Ukraine admits defeat, the Baltic states and Poland will become the primary targets of retaliatory strikes.

Therefore, the best course of action right now is to follow Germany's lead in expanding its military and increasing its strategic threat, so as to avoid becoming cannon fodder in the "blitzkrieg" of the Russian-Belarusian coalition.

"Serves you right."

Raphael commented:

"Who told them to write 'committed to NATO expansion to the east and to strengthen and consolidate NATO's military presence in the east' in the Lanzhou-Xinjiang version of the National Security Strategy?"

"When the war ends next year, the Russians in the north will pick up a new big stick. As for who will get hit, that depends on who jumped the hardest during this war."

"Oh... the news has been updated."

Feiniao handed the tablet directly to Raphael, where the headline read, "Poland decides to continue increasing defense spending."

"This is terrible, Europe is turning into a powder keg."

"All that's missing is a pretext to start a war."

Book 1: The World Before the Great War: Chapter 127 The Familiar World is Changing

The CIA agents weren't idiots; after taking the Noveske N4 assault rifle, they also sent two AREX Delta 2 pistols, along with their equipment and ammunition.

The bullets delivered this time were different; they were somewhat different from ordinary 9mm bullets, with a more pointed tip, somewhat resembling the 5.7mm SS190 bullet.

It also came with two backpacks for storing pistols and magazines, which were clearly the same type of backpacks that Raphael had received in advance.

Without any explanation, it was a warning that they needed to be on their guard—the Russians might retaliate.

If they are indeed seeking revenge, it means that the professor they killed last night may have had a significant impact on some research projects, to the point that the Russians are willing to use valuable overseas assets to carry out retaliation.

Of course, it is also possible that the Japanese government has lost the ability to control the nationwide anti-historical movement.

If things really come to this, Raphael can only respond with a wry smile. Such a large-scale movement must have a mastermind behind it; otherwise, ordinary people and cults alone could not have stirred up such a huge wave.

In Japan, an annual salary is generally enough to get by, but one needs to be very careful with money.

It's a bit tight, but it hasn't reached the point where 4200 billion Imperial Marks can't buy bread.

In a fleeting news shot, a group of people were seen kneeling in front of the hotel where the United Nations Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Sites was staying, holding up lotus lanterns. The CIA vibe was too strong.

Whether in Europe or Asia, it's the same old routine.

Raphael switched to the news channel; this time it was serious news: a high-security laboratory belonging to Kyoto University was hacked last night, and their specially appointed professor was missing.

As always, the commentators on the show talked nonsense, rambling on and on about nothing but drivel.

If she hadn't intended to check the news program to see the Japanese government's stance, she would have turned off this lousy TV long ago.

Unfortunately, the two special guests kept repeating themselves, and just when Raphael was getting dizzy, one of them linked the incident to the recent "East" military exercise of the Russian Far East Military District.

"Why is it all just nonsense and conspiracy theories?"

Lingyin couldn't take it anymore. She snatched the TV remote from Raphael and slammed the power off.

"If it weren't for the obvious, their news programs probably wouldn't have lasted long enough to reach the required broadcast time."

Asuka was very considerate and honestly told the truth about the reality of these kinds of TV programs. But it just sounded like the TV stations in Japan were in a really bad situation.

Of course, residents who were forcibly charged television fees by NHK were even more miserable.

They were also asked to pay their NHK TV fees here. Although the CIA staff had already paid in advance, I don't know if the cashier has a problem with his brain, but he still brought an agreement and asked Asuka to sign it.

The bird didn't tolerate him either. After repeatedly scolding him and warning him with Article 130 of the Criminal Law, "the crime of not returning the money," and the surveillance video from the front door of the house, the toll collector never came back.

Those who know when to yield are the wise ones, I understand. If they don't leave, they'll go to jail for three years and be fined.

Although the law requires one to enter before one can leave, it doesn't stop her from using it to scare people.

The toll collector probably decided to stop because Fei Niao was a "minor" and there was surveillance footage.

If they keep harassing us like this, we might get shot.

Disposing of corpses is not a difficult task for professionals. There are hundreds of chemical and physical methods recorded in Raphael's mental space, all of which are the wisdom of his predecessors.

She didn't know where the data came from; it was most likely data scraped during the initial development phase of online learning.

A whole bunch of random stuff was stored up before "Raphael" was born. Fortunately, she wasn't affected by that information, and her personality remained relatively normal.

If they develop some kind of crazy AI, and then DARPA connects it to the military network, things could get really messed up.

Overall, losing internet access isn't actually a bad thing, a point Raphael agrees with.

"Okay, I should go to school now."

She slung the school-assigned backpack over her shoulder, carried her instrument bag in her hand, waved to Suzune and Asuka, and walked out of her house to join the group of students radiating youthful energy.

A few minutes later, Lingyin, who had changed into casual clothes and was carrying a backpack sent by the CIA, also stepped out of her house and into the outside world.

This is her daily work.

Raphael was bound by Director Harry's orders to play the role of a good student when she wasn't working, so Lingyin was in charge of security.

Walking along the streets in April, the air is filled with the fragrance of cherry blossoms. The branches, laden with blossoms, sway gently, and petals occasionally drift down in the breeze.

She picked up a handful of cherry blossoms, took a deep breath, and blew hard until all the petals in her hand were blown into the distant, deep blue sky.

Suzune lowered her hand and observed the surroundings of the cherry blossom path. All those coming and going were students in uniforms.

Raphael stood amidst the falling petals, turned around and looked back into the distance, taking in all of Lingyin's movements.

How could she not know about Asuka and Rin's own arrangements? She knew from the very beginning.

Honestly, it feels really bad to wear a small backpack inside your schoolbag. It makes it easy for people to see what's inside, and it's also inconvenient to take things out.

But if you give her some time to get the weapon, the situation won't be so dire.

"Ding--"

Raphael's phone rang, and he took it out of his purse and glanced at the text message on the screen.

The sender was Feibiao, and the message read, "France announced the retirement of the earliest batch of Leclerc main battle tanks, while transferring the remaining AMX30 series tanks to Ukraine for 1 euro."

Once these stockpiles are cleared out, the French army can accelerate its re-equipment process, filling the gaps in its organization with the more advanced Leclerc rifles.

This is a brilliant plan. It will not only make Ukraine grateful, but also deplete Russia's heavy equipment. Why not?

Europeans are ecstatic right now, sending all the garbage left over from the Cold War to the Russia-Ukraine battlefield.

However, the movements of the Russian army became increasingly clear, and their offensive momentum began to emerge.

Once they achieve their strategic objectives, the Ukrainian army will completely lose its access to external support, thus losing its eligibility to continue fighting.

The attrition warfare, like being slowly chipped away at someone's flesh, was far too painful for the Ukrainian army.

Although the number of casualties in each battle was not large, and most of them were new recruits who were brought in to fill the gaps, continuing to do so forced the Ukrainian army to send newly formed troops from the rear to the front to fill the gaps.

The situation is much better for the Russian army, as the stable front has given them ample time to train their reserve mobilization forces.

The gap gradually widened to the point where simply providing equipment could no longer turn the tide of the war.

Raphael knew that the world everyone knew was about to change.

Volume 1: The World Before the Great War: Chapter 128 Deceiving the Fool (Fixed, refresh to view)

May was already very hot, but the thought of what was to come made Alpha feel so cold, as if his soul was about to freeze.

My hand holding the documents trembled uncontrollably. In the photo, a girl in a sailor uniform stood smiling under a cherry blossom tree, a sight that pierced my heart like a needle.

Who brought this to fool ghosts?

The door to the operations room was kicked open, the metal door slamming against the wall with a heavy thud. The sudden, muffled sound from the cramped space sent a shiver down the spines of everyone inside.

"Who gave the order to recall prematurely?!"

Alpha's roar pierced everyone's eardrums. His expression was ferocious, like that of a wild beast, and his beautiful light blue eyes were now blood red.

"This dubious mission objective file?!"

None of the staff in the operations room dared to confront his anger. They all lowered their heads and continued with their work.

Alpha noticed that everyone was bowing their heads and ignoring him. He walked heavily to the front of the stage and dragged the person sitting in the chair down.

The man was thrown to the ground like a sack of potatoes, and his resentful gaze was cut off by the thick, heavy soles of his shoes before it lasted more than a second.

Alpha mercilessly landed its foot on the commander's face, twisting its body and causing its legs to twist as well.

"This is Alpha. Evacuation operation terminated. The target has been confirmed dead. BEAR team, immediately terminate the evacuation operation. Over."

After several seconds of silence, the BEAR team responded.

“BE

AR received, mission terminated, evacuation in progress.