134: Chapter 134 Until that day, the space carrier blocked out the sun.

Across the ocean, the laughter in the studio continued.

Jack, the sharp-tongued talk show host, was holding a pointer, gesturing at the concept art of the "luan niao starship" on the big screen behind him, delivering his final, ruthless mockery:

"Look at this streamlining! Look at those massive cannons!"

"I have to say, the artistic talent of the Dragon Kingdom is world-class. If this were a trailer for a sci-fi movie, I would buy a ticket without hesitation."

"But unfortunately, this is a press conference from the Ministry of Defense."

Jack shrugged and made an incredibly exaggerated grimace:

"Perhaps they are hoping this 'paper-mache' spaceship can, like a magician's dove, 'poof' into existence and scare our satellites right out of the sky?"

The audience below roared with laughter, and applause thundered.

However.

Just at the moment when the joyous atmosphere reached its peak.

The director behind Jack suddenly let out a terrified scream, a sound that, through the still-open headset, pierced through the entire venue:

"Cut the feed! Cut the feed now!"

"My God... what is that?!"

...

Meanwhile, in Tianhai City, Dragon Kingdom.

Noon, twelve o'clock.

This should have been the brightest and busiest time of the day. In the CBD office buildings, white-collar workers were holding coffee and looking out the windows; on the school playgrounds, students were sweating; on the viaducts, traffic flowed like a river.

Suddenly.

Without warning, it went dark.

It wasn't the gradual darkening of thick clouds, nor the slow shadow of a solar eclipse.

It was an incredibly abrupt, incredibly overbearing darkness.

It was as if an invisible giant hand had suddenly switched off the light bulb named "Sun."

"What's going on? Is there a rainstorm coming?"

Pedestrians on the side of the road stopped in their tracks, looking up in confusion.

"The weather forecast didn't say anything about rain. It was sunny just a moment ago."

"How can the clouds move so fast? And... why are these clouds silver?"

In front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of a CBD building, Manager Li, who was drinking coffee, suddenly felt the cup in his hand tremble.

He squinted, looking through the reflection of the glass at the sudden shadow overhead.

At that moment.

He saw the most incredible, soul-shaking sight of his life.

It wasn't a cloud.

It was a piece of... iron.

A giant metal continent, floating nine heavens above, blocking the sky, with no end in sight!

It was pure silver, its streamlined armor appearing and disappearing among the clouds, reflecting a cold, chilling light. The massive hull hovered silently over the city; there was no roar of jet engines, only a low, heartbeat-like humming sound that vibrated through the air and into everyone's chest.

The sunlight was blocked behind it.

A huge shadow cast down, enveloping the entire center of Tianhai City in a murderous twilight.

"Hum —"

The city's streetlights automatically turned on due to the light sensors.

But under the pressure of that giant ship, these lights seemed so weak, so insignificant.

Deathly silence.

The entire population of twenty million in Tianhai City seemed to lose the ability to speak in that single second.

Everyone was doing the same thing:

Looking up, mouths agape, pupils shaking.

"My... my God..."

The coffee cup in Manager Li's hand dropped to the floor with a "clatter," brown liquid splashing onto his pant leg, but he didn't even notice.

With trembling hands, he pointed at the floating steel beast outside the window, stuttering:

"Is... is that... an alien?"

And higher up.

Inside the spacious command hall of the "luan niao starship."

Jiang Chen stood with his hands behind his back, standing before the massive panoramic porthole, looking down at the city below that looked like a miniature model.

Clouds flowed beneath his feet, and the sunlight gilded his back.

This feeling was like being the King of Gods standing above the clouds.

"Boss, altitude 3,000 meters, hovering stable."

Zhao Gang stood in front of the console, his voice, though restrained, still carried an unhideable excitement and tremor, "Anti-gravity Engine output at 15%, energy shields on standby... we really flew!"

"Hmm."

Jiang Chen responded faintly.

He reached out his hand, through the glass, as if wanting to touch the tiny buildings below.

"Old Zhao."

"Do you think the people down there are wondering... who am I?"

"They are probably wondering... if this is a dream."

Zhao Gang glanced at the dazed crowds on the surveillance screen and spoke the truth.

"Then let's wake them up."

Jiang Chen's mouth curled into a mischievous smile.

He turned around and snapped his fingers at Academician Chen Shuyin:

"Old Chen, turn on the holographic projection at the bottom."

"Let's say hello to our 'folks back home'."

"Hum —!"

In the sky, the bottom armor of that giant ship suddenly lit up.

A massive holographic light screen, large enough to cover half the city, unfolded in the air without warning.

On the light screen.

Appeared Jiang Chen's handsome face, magnified countless times.

He was wearing casual clothes, with the sci-fi-feeling bridge command room in the background. He looked at the camera, and thus at the twenty million citizens below, and gave a bright and friendly smile:

"Hello, friends in Tianhai City, good afternoon everyone."

"I am Jiang Chen."

"The weather is a bit hot today, and the sun is a bit blinding."

"So I brought this thing out to... provide some shade for everyone."

"By the way, also for some friends who are watching the live broadcast..."

Jiang Chen's eyes suddenly became sharp, his gaze seeming to pierce through the screen, stabbing directly across the ocean:

"Take a good look."

"Is this... what you called sci-fi fiction?"

The scene cut back across the ocean.

In the studio of "Tonight's Laughs," it had now become a silent movie set.

On the big screen, the original concept art had been replaced by a real-time satellite feed.

It was a high-definition, uncensored, and despairingly real live signal.

That silver-white giant ship was like a Sword of Damocles hanging over humanity, the overwhelming pressure so intense that even the camera lens was slightly trembling.

Host Jack was still holding that exaggerated grimace.

But the smile on his face had completely frozen, looking ridiculous and twisted.

The coffee cup he had intended to use to soothe his throat.

"Clatter."

Slipped and fell.

It shattered into pieces on the desk.

Hot coffee splashed onto his face, but he didn't even blink.

He just stared blankly at the screen, watching the young Eastern man smiling at the whole world, a sound similar to choking "gurgle" coming from his throat.

The audience below was no longer laughing.

Everyone had their mouths wide open, eyes hollow, as if their souls had been sucked away by that steel giant.

This wasn't special effects.

This wasn't a model.

This was... real.

The "pie in the sky" they had mocked for an entire day, the sci-fi product that military experts had asserted "could not be built within fifty years."

Now.

At this very moment.

It was hovering on the other side of the Earth, blocking the sun, and also blocking the pride and dignity of what they called a "superpower."

"This... this script..."

Jack's lips trembled as he finally squeezed out a sentence:

"This isn't right..."

Yes.

The script was wrong.

At this moment, the hegemony of the old era, along with that shattered cup of coffee, lay in pieces on the ground.

And the shadow of the new era.

Had already enveloped the world.