73: Chapter 73 Military: No matter what, this is our Star Destroyer!

The air in the conference room seemed to have solidified into concrete.

" Ex... express? "

General Qin Weiguo clutched his chest; in that instant, he felt the sound of his blood pressure skyrocketing was louder than the roar of the warship's engines.

This iron-blooded general, who usually remained unflappable even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, was now looking at Jiang Chen's earnest face and actually felt the urge to pull out his gun and fire it.

" Mr. Jiang, this is a serious military meeting! "

General Qin Weiguo took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the absurdity in his heart, and pointed at the steel behemoth on the screen that was enough to make the world tremble, his voice even shaking:

" Look at these gun barrels! Look at the thickness of this armor! Look at that Anti-gravity Engine capable of forced hovering within the atmosphere! "

" What is this? This is a heavy weapon of a great power! It is a national treasure! It is our trump card to deter the wolves! "

" And you named it ' express '? How are we supposed to announce this to the whole world? Say we sent an ' express ship ' to maintain world peace? "

The generals around them looked at each other, their expressions colorful and varied.

Some wanted to laugh but didn't dare, holding it in until their faces were red; others frowned, as if considering whether the words " express ship " contained some unfathomable tactical strategy from the Strategic Deception Bureau.

Jiang Chen, however, didn't feel he had said anything wrong at all.

He leaned back in his chair, twirling his pen, and spread his hands with a look of complete justification:

" Old Qin, one must be honest. "

" The manual clearly states that this is a civilian transport ship. Its main cannons are for smashing meteorites to clear a path, and its ejection ports are for delivering cargo. "

" We can't just insist it's a Star Destroyer just because it looks a bit fierce, right? That's too imprecise. "

" Imprecise my ass! "

General Qin Weiguo finally couldn't help but swear, slamming his hand on the table, " Within range, caliber is justice! As long as it flies our Dragon Country's flag, as long as its muzzle is aimed at the enemy, it is a Star Destroyer! Even if it's loaded with sweet potatoes, those are strategic-grade sweet potatoes! "

Seeing that the two were about to get into an argument over " express " versus " Star Destroyer ".

The elderly man who had been sitting at the head of the table, silent throughout, finally slowly set down his teacup.

" Alright. "

The voice wasn't loud, but it carried a majesty like a stabilizing force.

The arguing stopped abruptly.

The old man stood up, paced to the giant holographic screen, and looked up at the silver-white giant ship.

His gaze was deep, as if piercing through the cold metal shell, seeing the vast sea of stars represented behind this ship, as well as the brand-new future that the Dragon Country was about to welcome.

" A name is more than just a code. "

The old man spoke slowly, his tone steady and powerful, " It represents the ambition of a nation, and it represents our expectations for the future. "

" ' express ' may be pragmatic, but the scope is too small; ' Star Destroyer ' may be imposing, but it is too sharp and exposed, not in line with our Dragon Country's tradition of ' valuing peace above all '. "

He turned around, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, finally landing on Jiang Chen, a flash of approval and expectation in his eyes:

" The Classic of Mountains and Seas says: The Queen Mother of the West has a bird, named the luan bird, and when it appears, the world is at peace. "

" This ship is our first step toward the stars, and it is also the divine bird that guards the peace of this land. "

The old man waved his hand, making the final decision:

" Let's call it — ' luan bird '. "

" The full name: ' luan niao starship ' Aerospace Carrier Technology Demonstrator. "

" luan bird... "

General Qin Weiguo chewed over these two words repeatedly, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

It had cultural depth and carried a sense of inviolable majesty. The best part was the suffix " Technology Demonstrator " — it modestly acknowledged that it hadn't fully formed its combat capability (after all, it was broken), while leaving infinite room for imagination for the outside world.

If the demonstrator is this terrifying, what must the official version be like?

This is top-tier strategic deterrence!

" Good name! "

General Qin Weiguo snapped to attention and gave a standard military salute, " Chief is wise! Let's call it ' luan bird '! "

Jiang Chen also shrugged, indicating he had no objections.

" Fine, luan bird it is. As long as you don't make me fix that clogged toilet, it can be called whatever. "

The name was decided, and the subsequent matters followed logically.

Although the main engine of the luan niao starship hadn't been fixed yet and it couldn't fly for the time being, this didn't prevent the military from treating it like the apple of their eye.

Dozens of top research teams moved into the West Suburb Base overnight.

Some studied the armor material that was as thin as a cicada's wing yet could withstand a nuclear explosion; others were mesmerized by the complex Anti-gravity Engine coils; still others tried to crack the shipboard AI's firewall, wanting to see exactly what interstellar star charts were stored inside.

Even just a bit of rust scraped off this ship would be enough to advance Earth's material science by twenty years.

This is dimensionality reduction strike.

This is the confidence that comes with possessing an " alien spaceship ".

By the time the meeting ended, it was almost dawn.

Jiang Chen walked out of the conference room and stretched his back.

" Finally done. "

He glanced at his phone; Jiang Wanqiu over in the Wasteland had sent a few more selfies of herself wearing the new combat armor, asking him if it looked good. Jiang Chen's lips curled up, and he was just about to reply with some smooth talk to tease the Empress.

Suddenly.

On the TV screen at the end of the corridor, a breaking international news segment caught his attention.

The screen showed the scene at the United Nations conference center in Geneva.

The atmosphere was tense.

The American representative was standing at the podium, his face livid, waving a thick stack of documents in his hand, spittle flying, and one could feel that flustered anger even through the screen.

" We have concrete evidence that the Dragon Country is secretly developing ' gravity weapons ' that violate international conventions! That technology, which can paralyze aircraft carriers, is a threat to all of humanity! "

" Furthermore, regarding the company named ' Chenxing Technology ', we suspect its background is extremely complex and that it is suspected of stealing top global technology! "

" In order to maintain world peace and stability... "

The American representative slammed the table hard, looking with sinister eyes at the Dragon Country representative sitting opposite him:

" We have decided to unite with sixteen Western countries to implement the strictest, all-encompassing sanctions on the Dragon Country's high-end semiconductor industry! "

" Effective immediately, the export of any chips below 7 nanometers to the Dragon Country is prohibited! Any company using American technology is prohibited from manufacturing for the Dragon Country! "

" We will make the Dragon Country's technology regress to the Stone Age! "

In the news footage, representatives from various countries were in an uproar.

The representative from the Dragon Country, however, just sat there calmly, twirling a pen, with a meaningful smile on his face, as if watching a clown.

Standing in the corridor, Jiang Chen watched this scene, his previously relaxed expression gradually turning cold.

" Regress to the Stone Age? "

He chuckled softly, a flash of mockery in his eyes.

" Oh, America, your intelligence is too outdated, isn't it? "

" I've already moved my home to the sky, and you're still playing in the mud on the ground? "

" Want to blockade chips, huh? "

Jiang Chen felt his pocket, where a crystal-clear memory chip he had removed from the luan niao starship's main control computer was kept.

That was a Photonic Chip.

" Since you don't want to play anymore, then don't play. "

" Let's... switch tracks. "