186: put all one's eggs in one basket

In the Pentagon's emergency war room, Trump slammed his coffee cup onto the electronic sand table: "Ten countries! The armies of ten whole countries withdrew overnight!" He tore off his painfully tight tie and pointed at the red markings on China's coastline on the satellite map: "These cowards don't understand that if China could really summon gods at will, it wouldn't have been invaded a hundred years ago."

General Mountbatten of The Sun Never Sets Empire nodded: "That makes sense. We've assembled such a large army. If China could really control gods, they would have attacked us already. So far, the Chinese God has only attacked Tokyo, which means this God's ability is limited, or there are restrictions."

Other countries agreed: "Makes sense! What are we waiting for! Let's attack!"

And so, every country went all in!

They almost emptied their coffers, sending out most of their armies, warships, and fighter jets. Time was of the essence!

They had to destroy China in one fell swoop!

In the Pacific, the iron torrent of the twenty-nation coalition was assembling.

Satellite images showed a massive fleet of over 300 warships of various types carving dozens of white wakes across the azure sea.

On the deck of the USS Ford nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, carrier-based aircraft were undergoing final pre-flight checks, and the signal wands in the hands of the ground crew cut dazzling red light in the Morning Light.

"Gentlemen!" US Commander Howard tapped the electronic sand table, and a holographic projection displayed a three-dimensional defense map of the Chinese coast. "The Seventh Fleet has blockaded the strait, and the USS Ronald Reagan battle group is in position east of the coast."

Australian Commander MacDonald slammed his hand on the table and stood up, the medals on his uniform clinking: "My grandfather fought the Chinese on the battlefield—" He pulled out a rusty bullet casing and slapped it on the table, "—with this trophy, I bet the Sydney Opera House that within a year, we'll have our flags planted all along the Chinese coastline!"

General Mountbatten of The Sun Never Sets Empire sneered: "Naive! We only needed a few sailing warships to make China beg for mercy back then. I bet, within half a year at most, I'll be having afternoon tea on the Great Wall!"

Canada Naval Commander Williams pulled out a maple leaf flag: "I bet one month!"

US Commander Howard laughed heartily: "You all lack imagination. I'll give you a number: one hour and 22 minutes to take down China!"

Ding! Ding! Ding!

The alarm blared, cutting through the quiet of the command center like a knife, and the red dots on the radar screen flickered frantically.

"Something's broken through! Less than five nautical miles from us!" The radar operator's voice was distorted.

The sailors on deck immediately went into battle stations, but through their binoculars, the sea surface was as calm as a mirror.

"Damn it, where is the enemy?" The first mate muttered, wiping cold sweat.

Someone whispered: "Could it be a nuclear submarine?"

Suddenly, General Williams of Australia's binoculars clattered onto the deck. His face was pale, and he pointed a trembling finger at the sky: "It's... it's up there!"

Everyone looked up to see a man shrouded in black mist, his face completely obscured, floating silently three hundred meters in the air, his clothes fluttering in the wind.

The sight was so eerie it made people's legs weak—no parachute, no aircraft, just standing on an invisible step.

"Open fire! All units, open fire!" Commander Howard's roar echoed through the entire fleet via radio.

In an instant, the entire sea area erupted.

The Phalanx Close-In Weapon System on the US aircraft carrier was the first to fire, its six 20mm Gatling guns spitting fire at a rate of 4,500 rounds per minute, weaving a deadly net of fire.

The Sun Never Sets Empire's Elizabeth fighter jets roared into the sky, missiles under their wings glinting coldly as they locked onto Lu Chen.

The little japanese destroyer's 127mm main guns roared continuously, shells arcing in perfect parabolas towards Lu Chen.

Australia's "Hobart" vertical launch cells all opened, and 32 "Standard-2" anti-aircraft missiles trailed long plumes of exhaust as they shot skyward.

The French frigate's missile Systems all locked onto Lu Chen, and Canada's Harpoon anti-ship missiles also joined the attack sequence. The sea surface was instantly covered with the white wakes of missiles.

Facing missiles and bullets from all directions, Lu Chen merely raised his hand slightly, and all the bullets and shells suddenly stopped in mid-air as if hitting an invisible wall.

Machine gun bullets trembled ten meters from him, missile tail flames still burned but couldn't advance an inch, and suspended shells looked like specimens pinned in the air.

"This is impossible..." The little japanese destroyer captain collapsed in his command chair, watching in disbelief as the missiles he had launched froze in mid-air.

The radar operator frantically hammered the keyboard: "All munitions have lost power! But the fuses are still active!"

The next second, Lu Chen flipped his palm, and all the munitions suspended in the air turned around.

Machine gun bullets returned along their original path like a swarm of bees, missile navigation Systems eerily re-locked onto the warships that launched them, and shells made sharp, physics-defying turns in the air.

"Quick, take cover—" The Sun Never Sets Empire captain's warning was cut short as the sea erupted.

The Standard missiles launched by the US precisely drilled back into their vertical launch cells, triggering a chain of explosions inside the hull.

The main gun shells of the French frigate directly hit the gun turret, blowing the entire weapon platform sky-high.

Most eerily, the machine gun bullets, as if they had eyes, specifically targeted the operators, accurately hitting each gunner through the gaps in the observation windows.

With a deafening roar, Canada's frigate was the first to become a fireball, cut in half by its own Harpoon missiles.

The US destroyer was flipped like a toy, its stealth hull twisting and deforming in the explosion.

In a series of bombings, dozens of warships and fighter jets were lost in an instant.

The commanders were stunned.

"Is this the Chinese God?!"

Canada Naval Commander Williams cursed loudly, blaming the US: "It's all your fault, didn't you say China couldn't control gods?"

Williams quickly knelt and begged for mercy: "Great Chinese God, we were forced by the US, we will retreat now."

The Sun Never Sets Empire also quickly knelt: "We were also forced by the US, we swear by the Queen's name! We are willing to sign a permanent peace treaty with China."

Other countries also knelt one after another. Facing unknown power, people instinctively felt fear.

Rumbling, the sea suddenly surged into a three-hundred-meter-high wall of water. It wasn't an ordinary tsunami—the entire ocean seemed to be lifted by an invisible giant hand, billions of tons of seawater defying fluid dynamics and solidifying in mid-air.

The sky, moreover, split open with a huge fissure, as if an eyeball was peering at Lu Chen!

As Heavenly Dao, Lu Chen felt a warning pressure from a superior being.

Lu Chen knew, Earth-gege was angry again!

After all, these were the strongest forces of Earth's strongest nations. If Lu Chen destroyed them all, the entire Earth would lose its balance.

Earth seemed to dislike overlords who unified the planet.

Lu Chen didn't dare to directly intervene anymore, but a smile played on his lips. He could, however, sow discord: "Very good, since you were all forced by the US, then I'll give you a chance: unite and destroy the US fleet and army. If you can defeat the US, I will spare you; otherwise, I will descend directly upon your countries and destroy you."

Lu Chen pointed casually, and a distant island directly vanished into thin air.

Such Divine Power completely terrified all the commanders. To be an enemy of a God meant annihilation, but to be an enemy of the US still offered a glimmer of hope!

Thus, the coalition instantly broke with the US, engaging in a great battle at sea, jointly attacking the US.

No matter how powerful the US was, it could not withstand the twenty-nation coalition, suffering repeated defeats, with both sides incurring huge casualties, almost the entire army wiped out.

Lu Chen floated in the air, watching this carnival he had personally orchestrated.

He believed that after this battle, no country would dare to covet China again!

Hmm?

Lu Chen frowned. There were still flies!

On China's icy border, A-san actually had two hundred thousand troops pressing in. Were they crazy?!