The Sichuan Emperor's defense is broken! We must catch up with Daxia!

Pretty Country, White House, President's Office.

Mr. President's mood had been very bad lately, extremely bad.

He hadn't logged into his social media account to give his opinions on world affairs for two whole days.

For an internet-addicted President who treated social media platforms like his personal friend circle, this was simply unimaginable.

The reason was none other than the sudden grand military exercise by the Great Xia, which had thoroughly trampled the Pretty Country's long-held global hegemony, making him feel as though his face had been slapped raw.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got, and Emperor Chuan felt his blood pressure continuously soaring.

He slammed his hand on the table and summoned all of the Pretty Country's high-ranking officials for an emergency meeting.

Soon, a group of Pretty Country officials and military brass filed in, sitting upright in the conference room, not even daring to breathe loudly.

They all saw it; today's Mr. President was a powder keg with its fuse lit.

"Who can tell me what in the world is going on?!"

Emperor Chuan's roar echoed in the conference room, making the chandelier on the ceiling tremble slightly.

"Why! Do we have absolutely no intelligence on those monstrous things Great Xia displayed this time?!"

"Are your intelligence departments taking hundreds of billions in taxpayer money every year just to drink coffee and watch talk shows?!"

The head of the intelligence department shivered, cold sweat instantly soaking his shirt.

He hastily stood up and tried to explain: "Mr. President, Great Xia's secrecy work is too good, their counter-espionage network..."

"I don't want to hear any excuses!" Emperor Chuan rudely interrupted him, "I only look at results! And the result is, we've been played! You, are fired, now get out!"

The intelligence chief's face turned ashen, and he left the conference room in a daze, "escorted" by security personnel.

The atmosphere in the conference room grew even more oppressive; everyone else buried their heads deeper, fearing they would be next.

Emperor Chuan's gaze swept over the silent generals, finally settling on a four-star general.

"You, tell me, with the strength Great Xia has displayed now, does our Pretty Country still count as the world's number one?"

The general stood up, his military posture impeccable, but fine beads of sweat also seeped from his temples.

He deliberated for a moment, then spoke with difficulty: "Mr. President... do you want to hear the truth, or a lie?"

Emperor Chuan's face turned a livid liver color with anger: "F*ck! What do you think I want to hear?!"

"Uh... Mr. President, the lie is... our Pretty Country currently still has a slight leading edge compared to Great Xia." The general felt it was safer to say something pleasant at a time like this.

"Oh?" Emperor Chuan's anger seemed to subside a little; he leaned forward and pressed: "What about the truth? Is the truth that we are actually still far ahead?"

A glimmer of hope ignited in his heart.

The general's Adam's apple bobbed; he dared not look into the President's eyes, only staring at the tabletop, and said in an almost inaudible voice: "Mr. President, I regret to say, you are overthinking it."

"The truth is, even that so-called slight lead no longer exists."

"With the strength Great Xia has currently displayed, they are already... far ahead of us."

At this point, he paused, then delivered the most fatal blow.

"Conservatively estimated, at least ten years ahead of us!"

Boom!

These words were like a heavy bomb, exploding in Emperor Chuan's mind.

His vision went black, his body swayed, and he almost fell out of his chair.

"Mr. President! Are you alright?!" The secretary next to him was quick-witted, rushing forward to support him.

Emperor Chuan was helped back into his seat, breathing heavily, pointing at the general, his lips trembling for a long time before he managed to squeeze out a complete sentence.

"Do... do I look alright?!"

"F*ck! F*ck!!"

"Our great! Invincible! Pretty Country! Has actually been left behind by others for ten years?!"

He violently swept all the documents on the table to the floor, roaring hysterically.

Everyone else present turned into ostriches with their necks tucked in, not daring to breathe loudly.

After venting for a while, Emperor Chuan slowly calmed his breathing.

He sat back in his chair and ordered in a somber tone: "From now on, we must spare no effort to once again overtake Great Xia!"

"No, not overtake again, but now! Immediately! We must overtake them right away!"

Hearing this, everyone was stunned.

Overtake Great Xia now? What kind of international joke is that?

They are ten years ahead; how are you going to catch up?

Emperor Chuan seemed to see through their confusion, and a strange arc curved at the corner of his mouth:

"Doesn't Great Xia have a new generation of fighter jets and aircraft carriers?"

"It's simple! We will immediately announce to the world that the equipment currently in our service has actually already reached the new generation standard!"

"Pretty Country was just being modest and hadn't announced the true performance parameters until now!"

The four-star general's mouth twitched after hearing this, and he couldn't help but question: "Mr. President, this has no practical use; it's just self-deception..."

Emperor Chuan's face instantly darkened, and he stared coldly at the other party: "Are you questioning my decision? Or do you want to be President?"

The general was startled, and quickly bowed with a forced smile: "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare! Mr. President is brilliant and mighty; this decision is simply a stroke of genius!"

And so, this absurd order was set.

"Oh, and also, impose even heavier tariffs on them!"

"As high as they can go!"

"I want them to pay for today's actions!"

Emperor Chuan still felt unsatisfied and thought of his traditional skill.

Those present found this decision, which resembled a three-year-old's tantrum, to be highly inappropriate.

If you target them so unreasonably, won't Great Xia retaliate against you?

This was purely a foolish move that would harm the enemy by eight hundred but yourself by a thousand!

But at this moment, Emperor Chuan was clearly in a fit of pique, and no one dared to stand up and object again to incur his displeasure; they could only nod in agreement.

Just then, the secretary, who had been standing by, suddenly spoke: "Um... Mr. President, please calm down first."

"I have a new piece of intelligence about Great Xia here; would you like to take a look?"

"New intelligence?" Emperor Chuan's attention was caught: "What is it?"

"It's a promotional video released by Great Xia's official channels, about their future development outlook." The secretary's expression was a bit strange, "But its content... is very bizarre."

"Forget it, just project it onto the screen, let everyone see what kind of trick Great Xia is up to now!"

"Alright."

The secretary quickly projected the video onto the large screen in the conference room.

And so, all the high-ranking officials of Pretty Country present watched the concept video, which was full of mythological colors, utterly bewildered.

The jade palaces and towers shrouded in mist, the faint golden Dragons, looked in no way related to technological development.

"What??" Emperor Chuan was the first to say he didn't understand, "Are you sure you didn't play the wrong thing? Is this not a trailer for some Eastern mythology movie?"

"Mr. President, I'm very sure; it's not the wrong one." The secretary replied affirmatively.

"That's why I said it's bizarre."

"Our analysis department completely fails to understand what message Great Xia wants to convey through this promotional video."

"What about you? Any thoughts?" Emperor Chuan scanned the crowd.

After a moment of silence, the four-star general who had just almost been dismissed, his eyes lit up; he found an excellent opportunity to redeem himself.

"Mr. President, in my opinion, this precisely proves the insidious nature of the Great Xia people!" He stood up and confidently analyzed: "This is a typical strategic deception and psychological tactic!"

"They first use absolute hard power to intimidate us, making us anxious and panicked."

"Then they throw out this ethereal, completely irrelevant stuff, aiming to confuse our senses and interfere with our judgment!"

The more he spoke, the more he felt he had grasped the truth: "They successfully used this method to cover up their rapid progress in strength over the past decade!"

"Now, they want to repeat the trick!"

"This incomprehensible concept video is their smokescreen to mislead us!"

"Hmm, yes, that's what I think too!" Another official immediately echoed, as if he had found his organization.

"Great Xia is truly too despicable and sinister!"

"They actually attempt to deceive our great Pretty Country through such means!"

"But they underestimate us too much! Such a clumsy trick, and they think they can interfere with our judgment? It's simply a pipe dream!"

"So, the content of this video has no analytical value for us, right?" Emperor Chuan concluded.

"Yes, Mr. President!" The general answered emphatically: "Our current focus must be entirely on those terrifying weapons they displayed!"

"If we can crack the secret of their weapons, or even... steal the core technology, then our Pretty Country's return to the Peak will be just around the corner!"

"After all, our foundation and technological base are still the world's number one!"

"You make sense!" Emperor Chuan was overjoyed to hear this, and his spirits suddenly lifted.

"Then go do it quickly! Whatever means you use, you must make our Pretty Country great again!"

"If you can't do it, then write your resignation letters and get out!"

"Alright, I still have golf this afternoon, meeting adjourned!"

Emperor Chuan waved his hand, and this hasty and absurd meeting thus ended abruptly.