Has the Great Summer Palace gone silent? The cherry blossoms are about to burst into champagne!

Time, under the gaze of countless people, began to tick by, minute by minute.

The twenty-four-hour deadline hung heavily in the hearts of everyone following the matter.

At this moment, the eyes of the entire Blue Star (Earth) were focused, as never before, on that ancient land in the East.

Special television programs, real-time live streams on the internet, and detailed analyses on military forums—

Everything was discussing the same topic: What would Great Xia do?

Faced with such blatant, in-your-face provocation from Sakura,

What sharp claws and fangs would this giant Dragon, which had just shown signs of awakening, reveal?

However, more than half a day quickly passed.

The anticipated thunderous wrath did not arrive.

Great Xia’s official channels remained completely silent; apart from that press conference, there was no other sound.

There was no emergency deployment of fleets, no roaring ascent of fighter jets, and not even a single, routine economic countermeasure was announced.

It was as if it had truly gone silent.

The mysterious declaration made earlier seemed like nothing more than a poor joke.

This caused countless Great Xia citizens, who had been anxiously waiting, to start feeling disappointed and restless.

“What are they doing? It’s been over a dozen hours, why is there zero movement?”

“No way, no way. Are they going to settle this with another ‘strong condemnation’? If so, I’m going to lose it!”

“That ‘Divine Dragon Declaration’ sounded so profound, talking about heavenly punishment and divine wrath. Is this all there is? All bark and no bite?”

“Sigh, forget it, forget it. They’re probably going to smooth things over again. I got excited for nothing.”

Online, some people’s patience was wearing thin, and disappointment began to spread.

However, although there was no movement militarily or economically,

another operation was proceeding rapidly and intensely.

That was the emergency evacuation of citizens from Sakura.

Airliners, urgently dispatched and added to the roster, built an uninterrupted air corridor between the two countries.

They continuously took off and landed, bringing back every Great Xia citizen who wished to return to the embrace of their motherland, batch after batch, almost regardless of cost.

This massive operation stunned the entire world.

They couldn’t understand: Great Xia wasn't taking military countermeasures, yet it was spending so much effort to retrieve its own citizens? What kind of maneuver was this?

Showing weakness? Or was there truly another plan?

However, not all Great Xia citizens residing in Sakura were willing to return.

There were always some people who, after staying abroad for too long, genuinely believed the moon was rounder and the air sweeter in foreign lands.

Great Xia, Haizhou City, inside an ordinary residential building.

A middle-aged man, with streaks of gray at his temples, was anxiously holding his phone, dialing an international number repeatedly.

His name was Li Jianguo, an ordinary retired worker.

After seeing the news about the emergency evacuation announced by the country, the first person he thought of was his only son, Li Hao, who was studying abroad in Sakura.

“Doot... Doot... Doot...”

The phone rang for a long time, and just as Li Jianguo thought it would go unanswered again, it was finally picked up.

“Hello? Dad, what is it? I’m busy here.” A slightly impatient young voice came from the other end of the line.

“Son! Have you seen the news?”

Hearing his son's voice, Li Jianguo’s anxiety eased slightly, and he said urgently:

“The country issued a notice, telling everyone in Sakura to return home immediately within twenty-four hours! Hurry up and pack your things, buy the soonest flight back!”

Unexpectedly, after Li Hao heard this, he let out a scoff of disdain.

“Oh, Dad, what’s the big deal? Why are you so panicky? People back home just love to make a mountain out of a molehill.”

Li Hao’s words were full of contempt for Great Xia: “Emergency evacuation? They make it sound like war is about to break out. Relax, Great Xia wouldn't dare lay a hand on Sakura, would they? They don’t have the guts.”

These frivolous and confident words stunned Li Jianguo on the spot.

He could hardly believe that such words would come from the mouth of the son he had always been so proud of.

Before he could get angry, Li Hao on the other end started rambling on.

“Dad, you don’t know how powerful Sakura is. The streets here are so clean, and the people are so polite.

“The social order is impeccable, and the technology is years ahead of ours.

“Since I came here, I’ve finally had my eyes opened and understood what a truly developed country is.

“The gap between us and them is huge.

“Now you want me to go back? To that backward, broken place? I’m not going back.”

This series of statements, elevating Sakura and belittling Great Xia, made Li Jianguo’s blood rush to his head; he was furious.

“You... you scoundrel!” He trembled with rage and roared into the phone: “I worked myself to the bone to send you abroad to study, so you could learn knowledge and skills!”

“Not so you could become a running dog for others, a traitor!

“How did you turn out like this? Has your conscience been eaten by dogs?!”

“Traitor?” Li Hao on the other end seemed amused by the word: “Dad, your thinking is too outdated. Why are you still pulling the patriotism card in this day and age?

“I’m just stating a fact. Is it really that hard to acknowledge other people’s excellence?”

Li Hao’s tone suddenly sharpened, filled with resentment and contempt: “You’re just an old fogey who stayed in the country his whole life and never traveled far. You have no perspective and don’t know how great Sakura is!

“You also don’t understand how good I have it here!

“I’m telling you, I’ve decided. Once I graduate, I’m applying for permanent residency in Sakura, and I’m never coming back!”

“How dare you!” Li Jianguo’s vision swam with anger, and his roar echoed through the living room.

“What is there to dare?” Li Hao replied carelessly: “This is my life; I make my own decisions.”

“Fine! Fine! Fine!” Li Jianguo repeated the word three times, his chest aching so much he could barely breathe.

He gripped the wall, using all his strength to say, word by word: “If you dare to stay there and not return, from this day forward, I no longer have a son!”

“You can pretend I’m dead! We are cutting off our father-son relationship!”

He thought that these most decisive words might awaken even a sliver of familial affection or reason in his son.

However, the reply from the other end of the phone was even colder.

“Whatever you want. Cut it off then.

“Anyway, your little retirement fund won’t help me much.

“That’s it, I’m hanging up. I’m busy.”

Doot... Doot... Doot... Listening to the dial tone from the phone, Li Jianguo could no longer support himself. His body slowly slid down the wall, collapsing onto the cold floor, tears streaming down his face.

Such incidents were not isolated cases.

During those brief twenty-four hours, similar arguments and estrangements played out in many families.

Fortunately, however, the vast majority of citizens abroad immediately and without hesitation embarked on the journey home the moment they saw the motherland’s call.

What flowed in their hearts was the Yan Huang Bloodline, the Dragon’s Legacy!

The twenty-four-hour deadline slowly approached its end amidst the waiting, mocking, anticipation, and worry of countless people.

The world’s attention remained focused here.

Time was up.

In Sakura, the Prime Minister’s cabinet had already prepared celebratory champagne, ready to mock Great Xia for its anticlimactic failure.

Over in Pretty Country, Emperor Chuan was also waiting with interest, wanting to see how Great Xia’s drama would finally conclude.

However, under the gaze of all, nothing happened.

Great Xia still hadn’t taken any substantive action.

Just when everyone thought this was merely another embarrassing farce that would fizzle out,

simultaneously, in Sakura, on Mount Fuji, a streak of golden light tore across the sky without warning and then descended upon the location.