63: A gift for the Dragon Kingdom!!!

On the Dragon Country Square, there was an orchestra composed of hundreds of people.

They began to play a stirring piece of music.

Amidst the music!

Elder Sun and the other Ten Elders slowly ascended the Red Tower of the Dragon Country Square.

Elder Sun stood in the very center.

Upon the massive Dragon Country Square,

flowers were blooming everywhere now.

The crowds surged; as far as the eye could see, it was filled with citizens of the Dragon Kingdom who had come to celebrate their motherland's birthday.

Excited smiles rippled across their faces.

Elder Sun looked at the flag-bearer not far away.

He gave a slight nod.

The next moment!

The grand and stirring national anthem of the Dragon Kingdom began to resonate.

Without any warning,

without any rehearsal or practice,

everyone in the Dragon Country Square spontaneously began to sing.

Jiang Changgui and his family were in the spot closest to the Red Tower.

His expression was solemn.

The instant the national anthem played,

he faced the direction of the national flag and gave a standard military salute with his only remaining right hand.

His empty left sleeve swayed gently in the wind,

as if recounting a soul-stirring past... Beneath the national flag!

The flag-bearer stood beneath the flagpole with his head held high, chest out, and a solemn expression.

With one hand, he tossed the flag upward.

With a snap!

The national flag was slowly raised.

The national anthem of the Dragon Kingdom drifted far and wide.

Even far away from the Dragon Country Square,

one could seemingly hear the faint sounds of the national anthem playing.

Many people stuck in traffic

spontaneously rolled down their car windows.

Quite a few people stepped out of their cars.

They stood where they were,

looking toward the direction of the Dragon Country Square.

Even though their eyes could only see a long, seemingly endless line of traffic,

it did nothing to dampen their current mood.

Instead, they began to sing the national anthem.

At this moment, it seemed as if the song was etched into their very bones.

A middle-aged man also got out of his car.

His eyes were rimmed with red.

The national anthem flowed naturally from his mouth.

This scene was witnessed by his son, who had been listening to music.

He looked completely bewildered,

yet his heart was also somewhat shaken by the current behavior of the people.

Everyone was singing together; what exactly was it that gave them such a sense of shared identity?

Was it love for the Dragon Kingdom?

With such questions in mind,

the son opened a video website on his phone.

Inside, it was live-streaming the flag-raising ceremony at Dragon Country Square... The national anthem finished playing!

Elder Sun took a gentle step forward.

A microphone stood before him.

Elder Sun began to speak.

"Today!"

"Is our Dragon Kingdom's National Day!"

"It is also the 100th year since the founding of our Dragon Kingdom!"

"Here,"

"I sincerely wish the citizens of the Dragon Kingdom"

"happiness and health!"

"I wish that the Dragon Kingdom may prosper for all eternity!!"

As soon as he finished speaking,

the nine Elders behind him began to applaud.

Then, the applause began to ring out continuously.

The entire square also began to applaud.

A moment later,

the applause resounded like muffled thunder.

The Great Elder's speech this time was very brief,

as usual.

Then, the sounds of orderly marching and shouting began to rise from not far away.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Four!"

A neat formation of infantry began to goose-step across the Dragon Country Square.

Passing the Red Tower!

They performed a salute by looking toward the Great Elder on the Red Tower.

Then came the artillery and the rocket corps.

This military parade was very simple.

If compared to the 90th-anniversary parade,

it was even a bit too brief.

The military parade lasted less than an hour before it was completed.

Even the citizens who had come to observe the parade didn't feel like they'd had their fill yet.

Is that it?

The audience watching the live broadcast in front of their televisions was also completely dazed.

Is this really the 100th National Day???

...In the backstage of a broadcasting studio,

Xia Fei was having her makeup done.

In tonight's National Day Gala performance,

she had a segment.

Xia Fei would be a guest singer for the gala, performing her breakout hit.

At this moment, a tablet computer sat before her.

The Manager beside her was quietly telling her the upcoming schedule.

"Xia Fei, after you finish your song,"

"you still need to wait backstage."

"A very mysterious big shot will be coming to the gala in a while."

"A mysterious big shot?" Xia Fei asked casually while watching the National Day celebration broadcast on the tablet.

"Yes!" The assistant nodded.

"Our company only received a notice"

"saying that we all have to wait on-site."

"Once this big shot arrives,"

"we will all sing a song for him together."

"Then the gala will conclude."

Xia Fei seemed to have thought of something,

and her expression grew somewhat excited.

"That big shot goes without saying,"

"it must be an Elder of the Dragon Kingdom!"

The makeup artist standing beside Xia Fei, whose hands never stopped moving,

also added with a smile,

"If it really is an Elder coming,"

"then I'll really die of excitement."

"I must wait on-site for the big shot's arrival."

The assistant on the side also nodded excitedly.

"I want to see The Elders too!"

Then Xia Fei said with some confusion:

"This year's 100th National Day seems so plain."

The makeup artist also stopped her movements

and agreed:

"Indeed!"

"Look, from the start until now, barely an hour has passed!"

"It's too short!"

"Yeah! The parade was also so short."

The conversation between the three resonated with many others in the dressing room.

They all started clamoring:

"Exactly!"

"I haven't seen nearly enough."

"I originally thought our Dragon Kingdom would have a super massive military parade for the 100th anniversary."

"Who would've thought it'd be like this?"

The assistant of one star said in a low voice:

"Do you think our Dragon Kingdom is currently conducting some secret operation?"

"So they couldn't call over the people for the parade?"

This unprovable theory seemed to catch everyone's attention.

Some disagreed,

while others felt a tinge of doubt.

The main thing was that it was too unusual.

Was the 100th-anniversary celebration really going to be this brief?

Just then, from Xia Fei's tablet,

the Elder's voice rang out again.

He was as steady and full of vigor as ever,

but this time, his voice seemed to carry a faint, unusual hint of excitement.

Everyone in the dressing room, including many stars who were still being made up, crowded around.

Everyone couldn't help but hold their breath.

On the Red Tower of the square,

a smile naturally bloomed on the Elder's face.

He said loudly:

"Dear citizens of the Dragon Kingdom."

"On this 100th birthday of our motherland,"

"on this day when all the citizens of the Dragon Kingdom are immensely happy,"

"we shall present a grand gift to our great motherland."

...As his voice fell, the first to react were those people on the Dragon Country Square who had come from afar.

They looked at each other in confusion.

They didn't know what the gift The Elders mentioned meant.

Could it be that there was another military parade coming from afar?

Or was it some newly developed high-tech weapon?

Just as everyone was bewildered and looking up at the tower,

The Elders said no more.

He looked up into the sky.

The nine Elders behind him also looked up into the sky.

But the sky remained as clear and blue as if it had been washed.

Aside from the occasional drifting white clouds,

there was nothing.

The next moment!

"Wait!"

"What is that!!"

Everyone stared with wide, astonished eyes,

their mouths agape to an incredible degree.

The elderly Jiang Changgui raised his right hand to his forehead,

shielding his eyes from the piercing sun as he looked into the sky.

High up in the vast sky,

a massive, dazzling curtain of colorful light suddenly bloomed.