Chapter 98 The Arrival of the "Luan Bird"!

The wind stopped.

This stretch of sea fell silent.

The roaring steam catapults, the thundering F-35C engines, and even the white noise of waves slapping against the hull—all were forcibly erased in that instant by some higher-dimensional power.

On the surface of the Pacific Ocean, it was so quiet that one could hear cold sweat sliding down foreheads and hitting the polycarbonate panels of the consoles.

Drip.

Two hundred and seventeen giant steel warships now floated stiffly in the deep blue medium, like insect specimens preserved in amber.

No one dared to move.

No one even dared to breathe loudly.

Everyone's neck seemed locked by hydraulic clamps, forcing them to maintain their upturned posture, staring fixedly at the obscured sky above.

There was no sun there.

Only an inverted steel continent.

On its silver-black armored surface, deep blue energy circuits pulsed like breath; with every flicker, they branded the word "Despair" onto the retinas of the tens of thousands of soldiers below.

It was a true miracle.

It was also a true nightmare.

"What… on earth is that thing?"

In a corner of the bridge of the flagship "Ford", a radar operator's lips turned blue-purple, the sound of his chattering teeth jarringly sharp in the deathly silence.

No one answered him.

The Captain, the First Officer, the staff officers—everyone's brains were filled with cement; their thoughts had stalled, their logic collapsed.

Aliens?

God?

Or a projection from some chaotic parallel space-time?

"Si… Sir."

An old voice broke the frozen silence.

It was the ship's intelligence technical expert, who was currently hunched over a tactical console that had long since gone black, holding a spare military optical telescope.

His hands were shaking as if electrified.

In the lens, on the flank armor of that behemoth, there was an inconspicuous insignia.

But under high magnification, that splash of color was blindingly vivid.

"That's not an alien."

The old expert's voice sounded as if it had been harshly sanded, dry, hoarse, carrying a sob of collapsed faith.

"Look at that emblem… on the port flank…"

The Five-Star General turned his head stiffly and snatched the telescope.

The lens focused.

His gaze pierced through the turbid atmosphere and locked onto that silver-black armor plate.

A touch of red.

Vivid, upright, magnificent red.

It was a five-pointed star.

It was the red star of Daxia.

"Clang!"

The expensive Zeiss military telescope hit the floor; the sound of the shattering lens was like the echo of the General's proud heart cracking.

How is that possible?

These four words collided wildly in his mind like a herd of crazed bison.

That country?

The country that had to spend years tackling the steel for ballpoint pen tips?

The country whose high-end chips were locked at 14 nanometers, forced to rely on low-to-mid-end manufacturing for foreign exchange?

The country that, in his war simulations, could only rely on land-based missiles and a massive population base for asymmetric defense?

How could it possibly build something like this!

This… this is an interstellar warship that should only appear in Hollywood's craziest sci-fi films, only in that distant 25th century!

"This is cheating!"

The General grabbed the edge of the console violently, his fingernails breaking against the hard alloy, dripping with blood.

"They are cheating! This is absolutely not technology that Earth civilization should possess!"

His worldview shattered.

The technical hegemony that the Eagle had maintained for nearly a century, that arrogance and superiority rooted in the bones of every Western soldier, was at this moment trampled underfoot by that red five-pointed star and ground into powder.

Above the clouds.

12,000 meters high.

Unlike the mourning atmosphere below, inside the bridge of "luan bird one", a cold and precise sense of order flowed.

There were no cheers, no jubilation.

Only the short sounds of command confirmations and the streaming light of holographic interface switches.

This group of Daxia's top soldiers was operating the greatest war machine in human history with a near-cold professional competence.

"Report, Commander."

Liaison Officer Li Na stood on the left side of the command console.

Her crisp, dark blue crew uniform outlined her figure like a javelin.

On the holographic sand table in front of her, more than two hundred red dots were flickering with weak light; that was the once arrogant allied fleet below.

" 'luan bird' has arrived at the designated attack position, altitude locked, relative velocity zeroed."

Li Na's voice was steady and powerful, her eyes burning with a scorching light.

"All ship weapon systems unlocked, main cannon charging progress: 100%."

"Passive 'Shenwei' electromagnetic suppression system operating normally. Enemy fleet radar, communication, and navigation systems confirmed to be completely paralyzed."

She looked up, her gaze cast toward the back of the figure sitting in the Captain's chair in front.

"A total of two hundred and seventeen enemy fleet combat units have been included in the fire control system lock list."

"Just say the word."

Li Na paused, a curve belonging to a victor hooking at the corner of her mouth.

"Within three minutes, this fleet's designation will no longer exist on the Pacific."

This was the confidence.

This was the backbone of Daxia today.

Lin Yuan sat in the spacious Captain's chair, his fingers gently tapping on the armrest.

Is this the feeling of looking down from above?

He looked at the real-time monitoring footage on the main screen, which was divided into hundreds of small windows.

The panicked American soldiers on the deck, the ground crew scurrying around with their heads in their hands, and that Five-Star General standing on the bridge, his face ashen.

Once upon a time, these people sailed their warships to his doorstep to show off their power, constantly shouting "Freedom of Navigation".

Back then, Daxia could only endure.

Swallowing blood into their stomachs, holding back tears in their eyes, using protests and condemnations to defend their last bit of dignity.

But today.

The roles have reversed.

"Well done."

Lin Yuan nodded slightly, leaning back to find a more comfortable position.

An unprecedented sense of exhilaration rushed up his spine to his crown, making every pore of his body relax.

"Damn it."

He cursed softly, but with a smile.

"You guys used to love hanging around here, calling it 'Freedom of Navigation'."

"Fine, this time I'll let you have enough 'freedom' all at once."

He reached out and grabbed the all-channel broadcast microphone to the side.

His finger pressed the red call button.

At that moment, his eyes changed.

No longer that grinning scrap yard owner, but a Captain who truly held the power of the stars.

"Connect to the enemy flagship."

Lin Yuan ordered.

Buzz—

The "Ford"'s long-dead broadcast system suddenly emitted a sharp crackle of electricity.

All noise was forcibly filtered out.

A young, calm, and even slightly lazy Daxia-language voice pierced through the heavy armor and exploded directly on the eardrums of every American sailor.

It was a global broadcast translated in real-time by the "pangu system".

"This is Daxia, 'luan bird'."

The voice was not loud.

There was no desperate roaring, no hysterical threats.

It was just like a neighbor notifying you to move a car parked haphazardly.

But it was precisely this calmness, this condescending indifference, that made everyone's heart skip a beat.

"Now, I order you."

"Immediately disengage all weapon safeties, evacuate all personnel to the deck, stand by in place, and accept boarding inspection."

"I repeat."

"Immediately, disengage weapons, stand by in place, accept inspection."

In the deathly silent bridge, Lin Yuan's voice continued to echo.

"You have sixty seconds."

"Timing starts now."

Slap!

The Five-Star General's palm slammed hard onto the tactical table in front of him.

Excruciating pain.

But more painful than his palm was his face.

It was his face, being rubbed into the ground in front of the whole world!

Humiliation!

This was an unprecedented, disgraceful humiliation since the founding of the American Navy!

Who was he?

He was the supreme Commander of the most powerful armed force on this planet!

He was the power-wielder holding the nuclear button!

Now, he was actually being ordered to surrender by some greenhorn from Daxia who had crawled out of who-knows-where, flying some inexplicable big spaceship, using a tone like giving alms to a beggar?!

And accept an inspection?

This wasn't just losing a battle; this was forcing him, forcing the entire Eagle, to kneel on the ground and chew up their dignity before swallowing it!

"Bastard!!"

The General's eyeballs instantly bloodshot, red enough to bleed.

Reason?

That thing had already evaporated the moment he heard the four words "accept an inspection".

"Who do you think you are? God?!"

"You're just driving a slightly larger tin shell! Playing god!"

Like a mad dog backed into a corner, he shoved aside the missile operator next to him and lunged at the anti-aircraft weapon console.

The red launch cover was violently flipped open by him.

"Go to hell! Yellow-skinned monkey!!"

He roared, his whole face twisted into a hideous mass of rotting flesh, his fist slamming hard onto the launch button.

Boom—!

On the front deck of the "Ford", a plume of thick smoke suddenly rose.

A "Standard-6" long-range anti-aircraft missile was forcibly ignited.

It trailed a long, orange-red exhaust flame, tearing through the solidified air, carrying a sharp shriek like a desperate viper, baring its fangs at the silver-black god ten thousand meters in the sky.

This was the final madness of this former maritime hegemon.

It was also its final elegy.

"luan bird one" bridge.

On the main screen, that red dot was rapidly enlarging; the system automatically marked its trajectory and estimated time of impact.

Thirty seconds left.

Lin Yuan watched the missile, his face expressionless.

It was like watching a wasp that, out of fright, was trying to sting an elephant with its insignificant stinger.

"It seems communication is ineffective."

He shook his head and sighed softly.

In that sigh, there was no nervousness, no fear.

Only a kind of helplessness in the face of a mischievous child, and a trace of annoyance at having his mood disturbed.

He didn't even move a finger.

Nor did he issue any tactical orders for evasion or interception.

He just tilted his head slightly and ordered Li Na, who was standing to the side, indifferently.

"Li Na, notify the point defense system."

Lin Yuan cast his gaze back to the screen, looking at the missile rushing up with a determined momentum, his eyes cold.

"Swat that buzzing fly."