Chapter 60: Drink First, Even at the End of the World

America cannot back down!

Although post-war America was rife with isolationism, isolation was not surrender.

When someone had already parked their warships right at your doorstep, what path of retreat was left?

Moreover, Britain’s unbridled support for the smuggling of alcohol completely infuriated the massive domestic Prohibition faction!

First, those British bastards had their hands in the Chicago prohibition enforcement farce, and now those same British bastards were stirring up trouble with the East Coast prohibition enforcement. Who do you think you are, the world police, sticking your nose into everything!

Pushed by the Prohibition faction, the United States Department of the Navy issued a sternly worded statement: To safeguard national maritime security and conduct routine training, the main fleet of the United States Navy would immediately set sail for the relevant waters to hold "large-scale combat exercises."

Though the statement did not explicitly state it, everyone knew who the imaginary enemy of this fleet was and where the exercise grounds were located.

At the same time, Capitol Hill, stimulated by the dark clouds of war, dragged the shelved 1916 Naval Act and its subsequent 1919 naval expansion plan back to the table for fierce debate.

If this plan were fully implemented, the United States Navy would possess a massive fleet of up to fifty battleships.

This was going to be the death of everyone!

Countries were already initiating a new round of the post-war naval arms race.

During last year's presidential election, the United States had reverted to its pre-war non-interventionist stance, showing little enthusiasm for continuing naval expansion, which had allowed the other major naval powers to breathe a sigh of relief.

Now, if America were truly provoked into joining a fierce naval arms race, for nations already struggling to bear the exorbitant costs of building warships, it wouldn't mean tightening their belts by just one notch, but by ten notches.

In a certain small island nation in the Far East, the army hotheads and their bureaucratic rivals started a new round of bickering.

In France, the navy began drafting a new massive shipbuilding plan, while the Ministry of Finance started preparing to jump off a building.

In Great Britain, the Royal Navy—which adhered to the "Two-Power Standard," meaning the Royal Navy's strength must equal the combined strength of the world's second and third largest naval powers—updated its budget, leaving the Prime Minister standing on the roof terrace.

Yet there was no way out; the situation had devolved into a game of chicken.

Whoever cracked under the pressure first would completely surrender.

The Royal Navy, the hegemon that had ruled the seas for centuries, would never tolerate any defeat without a fight.

They immediately announced that they would dispatch more capital ships, including battleships, to the "Atlantic Escort Fleet" to "ensure the freedom of trade routes and demonstrate the empire's resolve."

Meanwhile, the United States Navy also announced a corresponding reinforcement of capital ships to participate in the exercises.

As both sides added a battleship here, the other deployed two cruisers there, the gears of the arms race spun into a frantic acceleration.

The two most powerful navies in the world, each commanding their own leviathans of steel, were about to aim at one another in the narrow Atlantic shipping lanes.

With the precedent of previous accidental clashes that left both sides battered, who could guarantee that the next accidental discharge wouldn't be the 380mm heavy guns of a battleship?

The tone of international public opinion shifted instantly.

The European nations, which had previously watched with a somewhat detached, spectator-like mentality, now felt a piercing chill.

The headlines on the front pages of newspapers turned alarming: "Are Britain and America Teetering on the Brink of War?" and "Will a Second Anglo-American War Trigger a New Global Catastrophe?"

Politicians and analysts predicted one after another that the world was once again teetering on the precipice of a world war, and began calling on both Britain and America to keep calm.

Economic panic began to spread, and global stock markets plunged in response.

The American public also gradually sobered up from the initial frenzy of "we must teach those British bastards a bloody lesson."

The prospect of going to all-out war with the world's premier navy was no longer a distant headline in the newspaper, but a palpable, crushing fear.

Panic buying began, especially in the major East Coast cities directly exposed to the muzzle of the Royal Navy's guns. Supermarket canned goods, flour, and white sugar were swept clean, and some families even began evacuating to inland states to take refuge.

Meanwhile, in the Midwest and West Coast, voices supporting and opposing the war collided fiercely.

On the streets, parades waving the Stars and Stripes and shouting "Teach the British a lesson" appeared side-by-side with anti-war demonstrators holding placards reading "No War."

The media was also completely fractured, with hawks and doves arguing endlessly across newspaper columns and radio waves, plunging the entire country into a state of division, anxiety, and unease.

Wait, it felt like something was missing at a moment like this.

Someone suddenly realized that, tracing back to the root, the two primary culprits who could neither escape responsibility nor avoid blame—Chicago and the Sun—were unusually quiet.

What was going on? Did they know how to be afraid after all?

Inquisitive reporters turned their cameras toward Chicago, only to be met with a sight that plunged the entire nation into collective speechlessness once again.

"As God says: Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Following God's guidance is never wrong," Logan said earnestly to Donal.

Donal replied that he had never heard God say those exact words, but admitted it made sense.

Thus, while the rest of the country was gripped by the fear of war, the Irish gang's speakeasies seized the moment to launch a vigorous promotional campaign: "Even if the world ends tomorrow, let's finish this drink first! All drinks seventy percent off, buy ten get one free!"

The mafia quickly followed suit.

The people of Chicago were slightly startled by the overwhelming predictions of a world war, and then expressed their attitude through action: every underground tavern was packed to capacity, and people continued to drink, dance, and live in hedonistic abandon.

The people of Chicago declared: War? We've fought several turf wars right in our own backyards, what's there to be afraid of?

As long as there's booze to drink, everything will turn out fine.

The stability of their mental state and the flawless logic of their language left the entire United States speechless.

And what about the Sun?

The Sun similarly announced a grand event: the newspaper had rented a large luxury cruise liner and would load it full of tourists to head straight toward the face of the "World War"!

"Want to be on the scene to witness the full outbreak of the World War? Want to experience the shocking roar of battleship heavy guns? The 'Voice of Freedom' Radio & The Chicago Sun jointly launch the 'World War Sightseeing Tour'!"

"We will charter the finest luxury cruise liner to sail directly into the core waters of the Atlantic standoff, where you can sip the strongest spirits (strike that), cheer for the dreadnoughts and big guns, and cheer on the end of the world... Limited slots available, grab your tickets fast!"

"Damn it..." Everyone who still possessed a shred of rationality squeezed out the same sentence from between their teeth upon seeing this abstract advertisement: "Only a fool would follow those Chicago madmen to their deaths!"

Yet, unexpectedly, not only local tycoons and adventurers from Chicago, but wealthy and leisurely thrill-seekers from all corners of the United States showed a keen interest in this! Ticket prices were being bid higher and higher!

Americans, currently threatened by war, were utterly bewildered!

So, exactly what bizarre switch had the people of Chicago flipped to make more and more people lose their minds?