237: Chapter 237 A Close-Up Kill! A Rap Song Controls the American Executives!

"Bang!" The heavy chord strum of the guitar smashed through the microphone's background noise.

Li Li's fingers flew across the strings, the rhythm heavy and fierce.

"If you want confrontation, then we'll go tit-for-tat."

"Meeting at the top floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel."

As soon as those two lines were out, the dense barrage in the livestream paused for half a second.

Immediately after, the entire platform's servers went into alarm.

[Holy crap!!! Mandarin Oriental?!]

[That Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong?!]

[WTF, WTF, WTF! What is he talking about?]

Li Li didn't even look at the screen, his head swaying slightly, his lips moving so fast they were practically spitting sparks.

"In this world, it's hard to avoid people turning their backs."

"With spies in power and agents making mischief."

The simultaneous translation machine on the foreign broadcast channel froze completely.

Foreign netizens on YouTube were utterly bewildered.

[What on earth is he singing? Spies? Agents?]

[Is this a war song from the East?]

[He's provoking us! This is blatant provocation!]

Li Li's fingers slid violently across the fretboard, a piercing slide note tearing through the air.

The rhythm was pushed to the limit.

"This street bloodshed is nourishing habitual criminals!"

"Ambushed in the Hong Kong tunnel!"

"I keep reloading to paralyze them!"

"Even if I burn out my liver and guts, I'll take them down!"

The heavy lyrics hit hard.

Netizens from the East went completely crazy.

[It's confirmed! That video of someone stopping the self-driving car crash in the Hong Kong tunnel really was him!]

[Damn! I've got goosebumps!]

[Who cares about official confirmation! The man himself wrote it into a song for a point-blank ultimate!]

[Didn't the Americans want to watch the livestream? Come on! See it clearly!]

In the foreign CNN livestream, the anchor who had been talking non-stop just a moment ago now had their mouth wide open, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

On the screen, Li Li, wearing a cheap white tank top that cost nine-point-nine including shipping, held a broken acoustic guitar and somehow managed to project the aura of a heavy armored unit bearing down on them.

The rhythm shifted.

Li Li pressed the chords with his left hand and slammed his right hand against the guitar body.

"Let the F18 disengage the safety!"

"Watch as the missiles fill the sky with nowhere to hide!"

The barrage stalled again.

[Wait! F18?]

[Wasn't it the F35 that was lost in Okinawa? Where did an F18 come from?]

[Military fan fact check: The F18 is a Super Hornet! The main carrier-based aircraft of the American navy!]

[Holy crap! How many planes did he steal from the Americans?!]

[Is his zero-dollar shopping supply chain that extensive?]

Li Li leaned into the microphone.

"Three men in Okinawa preparing to flee for their lives!"

"Dangerous missions are triggered at random!"

"I'm flying an F35 in front of you, performing stunts!"

"Look at your expressions on camera, you look like idiots!"

When the last line was spat out in the Sichuan-Chongqing dialect, the servers for Weibo and TikTok crashed simultaneously.

[Hahahaha, morons!]

[What the hell, performing stunts in an F35! Mr. Kim is going to call the police!]

[This is self-destruction! This is taking a dump on the neck of The Pentagon!]

[Dean Li is awesome! I'm putting this song on repeat ten thousand times!]

"The above content was all inspired by the news."

"Under my gunfire, they all look like fools."

The final chord was strummed.

Li Li slapped his hand down on the strings, the lingering sound cutting off abruptly.

He tossed the guitar into the corner.

He stood up and brushed the dust off his backside.

"Alright, the talent show is over. Boss Jiang should be back from training soon, I need to go make dinner."

He shuffled away in his slippers, walking into the kitchen without looking back.

In front of the camera, only a lonely acoustic guitar remained, along with the "???" scrolling wildly across the barrage.

[He's just leaving?]

[You blew up the entire global internet, and then you go to make dinner?!]

[You don't even want to look at the camera for one more second, do you!]

[Now that is what you call running away after acting cool!]

[Brother Li, I want to eat grilled sausages, thanks.]

At the same time.

Across the ocean.

The White House, the Oval Office.

"Bang!"

An exquisite bone china teacup smashed against the wall, shattering into pieces.

President Trump braced his hands on the desk, panting heavily.

On the large screen opposite the desk, the recording of Li Li's "Gunfire" was playing on a loop.

Below it were precise English subtitles.

"F18! F35!"

"He dares to mention the F35!"

President Trump pointed at the screen.

"He is mocking us in front of the whole world! No one understands the feeling of being mocked better than I do!"

Chief of Staff Mark stood to the side, shrinking his neck.

"Mr. President, the official authorities of the East have just issued a statement, claiming that this is just an artistic musical creation and does not represent any actual actions..."

"Bullshit!"

President Trump slapped the table.

"Artistic creation? He even wrote the top floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel into it! He even called me an idiot!"

"Connect me to the CIA Director immediately!"

Thirty seconds later, the holographic image of the CIA Director appeared in the office.

"Mr. Director!"

President Trump gritted his teeth.

"Elevate this guy named Li Li to the Alpha-1 highest-level risk list immediately!"

"Notify all NATO national teams participating in the Oil Championship!"

"No matter what method they use!"

"On the first day of the competition, I want to see this Eastern chef eliminated first!"

The CIA Director nodded.

"Understood. We will have the NATO joint team strangle him in the first round."

"And that female celebrity," President Trump added, "Doesn't the rule say if one party falls unconscious, the other must face the challenge alone?"

"Divert all tranquilizer gun resources to the NATO team!"

"I want that female celebrity to drag him down to his death!"

The feed cut off.

Mark handed over a file.

"Mr. President, this is the first competition venue just confirmed by the tournament committee."

President Trump grabbed the file.

Opened it.

On it was printed a line of bold black text.

Location: South Korea, Jeju Island Film Base.

Codename: "Squid Game".

President Trump slapped the file on the table.

"Squid? Very good. Let him die in the Squid Game."

The next morning.

Hainan Central Training Base.

The reserve contestants on the playground were doing morning exercises.

Lei Zhen was doing squats while lowering his voice.

"Did you watch Dean Li's livestream last night?"

Huo Yan, beside him, punched the air.

"I did! It was so satisfying!"

"I've decided, from now on, he is my only idol!"

Chu Lingfeng was doing pull-ups on the horizontal bar and snorted coldly.

"Don't be happy too soon."

"By doing this, he's effectively drawn all the fire onto himself."

"Those Americans will definitely play dirty in the competition."

Lin Shuyin pushed up her glasses, holding a stopwatch in her hand.

"The probability of the enemy focusing their targeting on him in the early stages of the competition is one hundred percent."

"He is playing with fire."

"So what if he's playing with fire?" Lei Zhen continued his movements, "Dean Li isn't even afraid of terrorists, why would he be afraid of a few people playing a variety show?"

"This isn't an ordinary variety show." Lin Shuyin closed the stopwatch, "This is a competitive match that determines the nation's fate. If our five teams don't perform well, the country will have a very hard time in the next decade."

Upon hearing this, Lei Zhen became even more eager to get into action, never expecting that he, someone who did fitness livestreams, could have a chance to help the country.

Lin Shuyin pushed her rimless glasses and said.

"The tournament committee just announced the codename for the first round's venue."

Chu Lingfeng jumped down from the horizontal bar.

"What codename?"

Lin Shuyin looked up and spat out four words.

"Squid Game."