257: Chapter 257 Kneel Down, or Rust

Lu Chen pressed one hand against the bulletproof glass.

He looked down at the chaotic steel warships below.

"I want to completely reset this sea area to zero," Lu Chen ordered, word by word.

"Old Wu, push to max."

Wu Dong took a deep breath, and slammed both hands onto the enter key for full power output.

"One hundred percent power, full load, let's go."

At the bottom of the pure black inverted triangular chassis, a circle of blinding deep blue energy rings suddenly contracted, then swept outwards. A visible blue energy arc skimmed across the sea surface and instantly rippled out.

The coverage radius was a full three hundred nautical miles.

The physical laws of this sea area were completely rewritten in that tenth of a second.

Directly below, on the sea surface, General MacArthur sat slumped on the deck of the Ford. He had just opened his mouth, but before any sound could come out, the entire aircraft carrier emitted a teeth-grinding screech of metal tearing.

The ten-thousand-ton nuclear-powered aircraft carrier saw its deck curl inward from the middle. The thick special steel plates on both sides were dragged together by a terrifying internal magnetic pulling force. The island command tower snapped at the base, toppled over, and smashed through the flight deck.

On the water, all eighty-one main battle ships were hit.

Anti-aircraft missile silos were crushed into flat iron boxes. The thick main gun barrels were twisted and bent by the immense force, pressed tightly against the deck. Several gun barrels were entangled and twisted together. All propellers lost power, and the underwater steering gears jammed.

No gunfire could be heard on the sea, only the pure, continuous, deafening sound of metal snapping.

In less than ten seconds, every ship in the allied fleet of fourteen nations had, without exception, turned into twisted, deformed maritime wreckage. They lost all power and combat capability, left only to drift with the waves.

General MacArthur clutched a bent railing, staring at the devastated steel wreckage all around. He couldn't say a word, his hollow eyes fixed on the black iron plate blotting out the sky overhead.

This scene was transmitted in real-time via military satellite signals from various countries back to the fourteen supreme command centers on the other side of the globe.

The White House underground war room.

The President of the United States stared fixedly at the giant screen. The entire room was deathly silent. The coffee cup in the hands of Secretary of Defense Smith fell to the floor and shattered into pieces.

"Communications are cut, the General is out of contact."

The intelligence officer broke the silence, stuttering.

"Our eighty-one main battleships... are gone."

The President pressed both hands onto the desk, veins bulging on the back of his hands.

"Can someone tell me, what kind of technology is that?"

No one answered; no one could comprehend a means of attack that disregarded basic physics.

The satellite image on the big screen flickered, and the twisted fleet disappeared.

In its place was the upper body image of Lu Chen sitting in an old office chair.

Wu Dong was typing at the console.

"Boss, the underlying channel for the emergency video conference of the fourteen nations' leaders has been hijacked. They can only hear you now."

Lu Chen picked up his enamel mug and took a sip of water.

"Good morning, everyone."

Lu Chen spoke into the microphone in front of him.

"I don't like small talk. Your fleet is now a pile of scrap metal. Old Wu, send the document over."

An electronic document titled "New Pacific Ocean Treaty" bypassed all firewalls and popped up on the screens of the President and the other thirteen supreme decision-makers.

"I'll give you one hour."

Lu Chen's tone was calm.

"Sign this treaty. If you don't, I will drive this hunk of iron over to your homelands, and turn all your land-based missiles and underground military districts into what you see just now. Kneel, or rust—you choose."

The President immediately lowered his head to read the treaty content. He only read the first three articles before his blood pressure spiked, and he almost couldn't stand.

Article 1: The fourteen nations unconditionally acknowledge Chenguang Group's absolute freedom of navigation in global oceanic shipping lanes; any interception will be considered a declaration of war.

Article 2: The fourteen nations shall fully open all high-value mineral resources within their territories to tax-free mining rights for Chenguang Group.

Article 3: The fourteen nations shall pay a total of 500 billion USD in mental compensation to Chenguang Group for the assembly of this joint fleet, to be received within twelve hours.

"This is absolutely impossible!"

The President roared at the screen.

"This is not a commercial treaty at all; this is a unilateral predatory agreement. You want to strip us of our national sovereignty!"

Lu Chen chuckled on the screen.

"You're talking to me about sovereignty now?"

Lu Chen leaned back in his chair.

"When you blocked my gate with aircraft carriers and cut off my food supply, did you talk to me about rules?"

"Lu Chen, don't be too arrogant. We still have nuclear submarines, we still have near-Earth orbit weapons."

A Prime Minister from a country on the other side of the ocean interjected in the split-screen video, his words fierce but his spirit weak.

Lu Chen didn't even glance at that split-screen.

He raised his hand to look at the chipped Casio watch on his wrist.

"You have fifty-eight minutes left."

The screen cut off unilaterally, turning into a black screen.

The White House basement fell into a heated argument.

"We can't sign. If we sign, we will completely lose our global hegemony."

Smith slammed the table.

"What if we don't sign? He really dares to drive that thing over here."

The Secretary of State was covered in sweat.

"Our close-in defense systems are ineffective against him. If he just parks over Washington and sweeps with that blue light, our state apparatus will be paralyzed."

The President sat back down in his leather swivel chair, dejected. He looked at the blacked-out screen. Signing meant the prestige of a great power would be swept into the dust; not signing meant the country would essentially be disarmed in an instant.

Thirty-five minutes passed, and no one made a statement. All fourteen countries were waiting, waiting to see who would be the first to break.

Jiangcheng.

Aerospace Carrier chassis control room.

Lu Chen tapped the tabletop.

"Too slow."

Lu Chen spoke.

"These people won't shed tears until they see the coffin. Old Wei, descend to eight hundred meters, preheat the chassis propulsion engines."

Wei Jianguo immediately pulled the lever.

"Engine preheating complete, ready to move at any time."

"Old Wu, open the energy-gathering array muzzle at the front of the chassis, charge it, coordinate lock on the United States East Coast."

Lu Chen stood up, staring at the clouds outside the bulletproof glass.

"Energy-gathering array activated, target locked, charging countdown ten seconds."

Wu Dong entered the final command on the keyboard.

At the very front of the mothership chassis, three huge armor plates slid to the sides, revealing a massive, eerie blue muzzle with a diameter of twenty meters. High-dimensional energy gathered crazily at the muzzle, causing the surrounding air to distort violently due to extreme heat.

The alarm in The White House instantly soared to the highest decibel.

"President, near-Earth satellites have detected an ultra-high energy heat source reaction, target trajectory locked on Washington D.C."

The intelligence officer scrambled into the war room.

"It will cross the Pacific Ocean and strike within ten minutes at most."

The President stood up abruptly, pushing his chair away, cold sweat soaking his shirt.

He couldn't gamble. Faced with dimension-reducing technology, all pride was futile.

"Connect the dedicated line to Jiangcheng."

The President ordered in a hoarse voice.

Three seconds later, communication was re-established.

The President looked at Lu Chen's calm face on the screen. He clenched his back teeth, his Adam's apple bobbing a few times.

"We accept all terms of the treaty."

The President lowered his head; saying this sentence seemed to use up all his strength.

Lu Chen nodded.

"A very wise choice."

The first domino had fallen. Even the most powerful United States had chosen to compromise, and the remaining national defense lines collapsed instantly.

Within a short ten minutes, the leaders of thirteen other countries, including the UK, France, and Japan, dialed the dedicated line one after another.

"We agree to sign."

"We accept."

"Terms confirmed as correct."

Voices echoed in the master control room in turn.

Da Biao grinned wide on the side.

"Boss, this bunch of grandsons are still afraid of getting beaten. Should have done this earlier and it would have been settled."

Zhang Qiang crossed his arms and snorted coldly.

"Their bones aren't hard at all, really boring."

Lu Chen ignored their teasing. He looked at the electronic signature confirmations coming back on the console. Once this document was implemented, all high-value resources on the Earth's surface would be unilaterally and transparently open to him.

This day would later be named by historians as the Day of Magnetization. It marked the complete disintegration of the old national hegemony system in front of this underground factory director, and a new era where corporate power surpassed the state apparatus had officially begun.

Jingcheng.

Top-secret strategic command center.

The Old Chief stood before the giant sand table with his hands behind his back. Several generals beside him stared dumbfounded at the big screen in front, which showed the real-time battle report of the fourteen nations signing the treaty.

"Chief... is it over just like that?"

A general was full of disbelief.

"Without firing a single shot or bullet, the fourteen-nation fleet was scrapped, and they were forced to sign that harsh treaty?"

The Old Chief exhaled a long breath slowly.

He took off his reading glasses and wiped them with a cloth.

"The times have truly changed."

The Old Chief put his glasses back on, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes.

"Our Factory Director Lu is now the true person in charge on Earth. Notify the three major coastal military regions to lift the first-level combat readiness, and resume merchant shipping."

The Old Chief turned to look out the window.

"This world will have to run according to Jiangcheng's rules from now on."

Above the Aerospace Carrier chassis.

The energy-gathering muzzle on the front of the chassis slowly closed.

Lu Chen sat back down in his chair.

"Old Wei, turn around, let's go home. We've seen enough of this show."

"Understood, course set for the pit in the north of Jiangcheng."

Wei Jianguo quickly adjusted the data on the console.

The huge black iron plate turned steadily in the air, stirring up a visible air wave, and flew toward the mainland.

Just when Lu Chen was about to light a cigarette to relax.

A dozen urgent red-framed warnings suddenly popped up on Wu Dong's screen, and ear-piercing alarms rang out rapidly inside the master control room.

Wu Dong's face changed drastically. He typed frantically on the keyboard, pulling up the monitoring network data from within the country.

"Boss."

Wu Dong turned his head, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

"Our backyard is on fire."

Lu Chen's hand holding the lighter stopped in mid-air.

"Explain clearly."

"The secret families that have been hiding underground in the country have made a move."

Wu Dong moved the three split screens to the central big screen.

In the images, three large logistics warehousing centers controlled by Chenguang Group on the outskirts of Jiangcheng were engulfed in flames.

"They took advantage of our chassis going out to sea and our weak defenses to directly unite and cut off all our funding nodes on the outskirts of Jiangnan Province, and even smashed a dozen of our important raw material operation centers."

Wu Dong spoke very quickly.

Da Biao suddenly pulled out the shock battle saber on his back.

"A bunch of rats dare to touch our nest? I'll take the brothers back and chop them up."

"It's not that simple."

Wu Dong continued to report.

"I just intercepted the monitoring of the factory's South Gate. Several unidentified armed squads equipped with high-precision thermal weapons are trying to infiltrate the employee residential area of the factory. They want to capture the one million workers taking refuge there as hostages."

Lu Chen threw the double happiness on the table.

His eyes became extremely cold.

Having just solved the external military threat, this group of domestic old foxes thought they had found an opportunity and wanted to reach into his core plate to fish for benefits.

Lu Chen picked up the red communication microphone on the table.

"Full power acceleration for the whole ship."

Lu Chen stared at the flames on the screen.

"Within five minutes, I want to see the factory gate."