Chapter 81 Weather Forecast

Nevada, secret air base.

Dead silence.

In the Command Center, on the massive main screen displaying the global tactical situation, the light dot representing the TR-3B "Black Triangle" had been gone for a full ten minutes.

No one dared to move, no one dared to speak.

The air seemed to have solidified, carrying a cold, suffocating fear.

"Report... preliminary conclusions from the accident investigation team."

A technical director's voice broke the deathly silence. His voice was dry and hoarse, as if rubbed with sandpaper, "We have ruled out all known mechanical failures, electronic malfunctions, and human operational errors."

" 'Lone Wolf' and 'Viper' are our top pilots; it is impossible for them to have made any amateur mistakes given their psychological fortitude and flight experience."

"The TR-3B's life support system, propulsion system, data link... in the last millisecond before disappearing, all data showed as... perfect."

When he said the word "perfect," his voice trembled uncontrollably.

"And so?"

The base Commander, a silver-haired, sharp-eyed Air Force General, slowly stood up from his chair. His voice was terrifyingly low, "What are you trying to tell me? My two ace pilots, flying our most advanced reconnaissance aircraft worth over two billion dollars, suddenly evaporated during a perfect flight?"

"No... not evaporated, General."

The technical director's face looked worse than a dead man's. He pulled up another data report, which displayed only a bizarre graphic resembling ECG noise.

" 'Keyhole'-17 satellite captured a... spatial gravitational anomaly lasting no more than 0.1 seconds in that airspace at the exact moment the target disappeared."

"Spatial gravitational anomaly?" The General frowned.

"Yes, General." The technical director swallowed hard, "We have no matching records in our database for this kind of anomaly. It does not resemble any known physical phenomenon. It... it is more like..."

He didn't know how to describe it.

Just then, an expert specifically responsible for analyzing the "East Sea Dragon King" incident suddenly rushed over from his seat as if he had seen a ghost!

He pointed at the bizarre waveform on the screen, his voice becoming sharp and piercing due to extreme fear!

"It's it! That's it! The 'God Signal'!"

"This waveform! It has over 99% similarity to the 'God Signal' we captured two months ago in the East Sea, near that Little Sun submersible!"

This sentence exploded in the entire Command Center like a detonated nuclear bomb!

Everyone's brains went "buzz," and instantly went blank.

East Sea... Dragon King...

Black Triangle... Mysterious disappearance...

Two seemingly unrelated, yet both metaphysically strange, bizarre events were, at this moment, linked together by an equally bizarre "God Signal"!

The General's body swayed violently; he quickly steadied himself against the table to avoid collapsing on the spot.

A conclusion emerged in his mind that he felt was absurd to the extreme, yet impossible to refute.

Daxia...

They truly possess some kind of... power that only gods have.

A power of... divine punishment that can ignore distance, ignore physical laws, and erase an aircraft out of thin air!

A chill, cold to the bone, instantly spread through his entire body.

He knew that from this moment on, the nature of war had completely changed.

Eagle Sauce, having maintained global technological hegemony for nearly a century, was completely... shattered before this crisp "Dragon Roar" from the East.

"Lockdown! Seal off all information immediately!" the General roared with all his might, "Announce to the outside world that the TR-3B encountered unpredictable extreme high-altitude turbulence, resulting in the destruction of the aircraft and loss of life! Posthumously award the Congressional Medal of Honor to 'Lone Wolf' and 'Viper'!"

"Initiate the highest level of... 'Silent Protocol'!"

...

In stark contrast to the gloomy, fearful atmosphere on the Eagle Sauce side.

In Daxia, within the underground Command Center of the "scavenger" project, there was an irrepressible, triumphant celebration.

"Hahahaha! Beautiful! That was beautifully done!"

Chen Weiguo watched the light dot on the screen vanish into thin air, and unable to control his emotions any longer, he let out a thunderous, exhilarating laugh!

He laughed, and all the generals and staff officers in military uniforms around him followed suit.

They laughed loudly, laughing until tears streamed down their faces.

In this laughter, there was the joy of victory, but more so, it was a complete release of the pent-up frustration and anger from being technologically suppressed and having others trample all over them for far too long!

How many years has it been?

From the Yinhe incident to the embassy in Yugoslavia, to the South Sea collision...

How much humiliation have they suffered? How much blood and tears have they endured?

Just because their technology was inferior, and their fists weren't as hard as others'!

And today!

They used a method the other side couldn't even comprehend, a dimensionality-reduction strike bordering on "divine punishment," to cleanly and thoroughly erase the other side's most prized "Black Triangle" from this world!

That breath of air—letting it out felt so damn good!

"Good lad! Good lad!" Academician Wang, his face flushed with excitement, patted Lin Yuan's shoulder hard, "You call this swatting a mosquito? You've just ripped their scalps right off!"

Lin Yuan sat in the connection pod, watching this group of usually stern generals and experts laughing and crying like children, and an unprecedented sense of achievement welled up in his heart.

"Chief, Academician Wang, this is just the beginning." Lin Yuan's voice rang out over the broadcast, carrying the unique arrogance and confidence of a young man, "When our 'nantianmen no. 1' truly takes flight, I'll fly it right to their doorstep and ask them what 'freedom of navigation' really means!"

"Hahahaha! Good! Well said!" Chen Weiguo laughed again.

After the celebration came calm reflection.

"The news, Eagle Sauce will definitely seal it off tightly." A Major General responsible for intelligence analysis said in a deep voice, "They can't afford to lose face like this. But secretly, they will definitely act like mad dogs, investigating us at any cost."

"Correct." Chen Weiguo nodded, his eyes becoming sharp, "The more they want to know, the less we must let them know. We need to add more fuel to the fire, let them guess, and let them fear."

He picked up the red encrypted phone and connected to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' highest office.

"This is Chen Weiguo. I need you to issue a statement..."

The next day.

At the regular press conference of the Daxia Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The spokesperson faced the global media and, with a nonchalant yet slightly mysterious tone, issued an official statement that could be called the "riddle of the century":

"According to monitoring by our airspace management department, recently, there has been an unstable 'local high-dimensional spatial turbulence' phenomenon in some parts of our Northwest airspace. Our scientists are actively researching the cause of this phenomenon. To ensure the flight safety of aircraft from all countries, we hereby remind everyone that any unauthorized aircraft should not intrude into the relevant airspace without permission. Otherwise, all consequences will be borne by the offending party."

"Local high-dimensional spatial turbulence"?! This unheard-of, sci-fi-sounding term instantly ignited the entire room!

All the reporters went crazy!

"Spokesperson! What is 'high-dimensional spatial turbulence'? Does this have any relation to the announcement yesterday that an Eagle Sauce reconnaissance aircraft crashed in the nearby airspace?"

"Does this mean that Daxia has mastered some kind of super-technology that can affect space itself?"

Facing the blizzard of questions, the spokesperson merely revealed a signature, inscrutable smile.

"Regarding this question, I can only say that our Northwest region has, since ancient times, been a place full of myths and legends. As for what exactly happened, perhaps... only heaven knows."

This "weather forecast" spread throughout the world in just a few hours.

All global intelligence agencies, think tanks, and physics laboratories were in an uproar.

"High-dimensional spatial turbulence? What the hell is that? Is it a new physical phenomenon? Or some kind of... weapon codename?"

"The Daxia people must be bluffing! They are lying!"

"But how do you explain the disappearance of the TR-3B? And the 'Dragon King' incident in the East Sea? Both of these events are full of 'metaphysical' elements that cannot be explained by science!"

"Could it be... that Daxia has truly mastered some kind of 'metaphysical deterrence' that we cannot comprehend?"

For a time, all kinds of speculation ran rampant.

And "metaphysical deterrence," a term filled with Oriental mysticism, appeared for the first time in the highest-level briefings of The Pentagon and the CIA.

They were afraid.

Because the opponent they faced was no longer one that could be calculated or analyzed.

It was a... "mage," completely beyond their understanding and full of the unknown.