136: Chapter 136: While others are ascending to immortality, we're just creating atmosphere.

The aircraft carrier "Liberty," the combat Command Center of the United Fleet.

Silence reigned here like death, the air heavy with fear, confusion, and an unreal sense of absurdity.

Five-star General MacArthur, an old man famous at the Pentagon for his iron-fisted toughness, now sat motionless. The cigar in his hand had burned down to the end, scorching his fingers, yet he didn't react at all.

Everyone was staring fixedly at the main screen, watching that apocalyptic scene.

Above that green island, which had appeared out of thin air and was absurdly beautiful, a colorful vortex, so massive it defied any meteorological explanation, was spinning frantically.

The center of the vortex was pure darkness, with countless lightning bolts, thicker than a person, darting wildly through the clouds. These weren't ordinary thunderbolts; each burst made the entire sea area blindingly bright, casting a deathly pale light on the faces of everyone in the Command Center.

"What does the meteorological department say?" MacArthur finally spoke, his throat feeling as dry as if he were swallowing sand. "What on earth is that thing? A superstorm? Or some new type of meteorological weapon we don't know about?"

No one could answer.

A chief scientific advisor with graying hair and gold-rimmed glasses tremblingly pushed up his glasses, pointing at the erratic data on the screen, his voice tinged with a sob: "General... all the data is... is useless. The atmospheric sensors, energy detectors... they've all exploded, and three of them even burned out."

"This... this isn't any natural phenomenon we know of. The energy readings... have broken through the measurement limit. Theoretically, this kind of energy burst only occurs at... only at the center of a supernova explosion."

A supernova explosion?

A chorus of gasps filled the Command Center.

On Earth, above the ocean, causing a supernova explosion? Is this something a human can do?

"Then... what about the Xia people?" MacArthur's adjutant, a young major general who was equally pale, asked with difficulty. "Are their ships doing anything? Is this their doing?"

The intelligence officer immediately switched to the surveillance footage of the Xia fleet.

On the screen, those bizarre-looking engineering ships were still quietly parked around the "Immortal Island." No shields were raised, and they hadn't entered combat status; they were just waiting quietly.

"Report, General, the Xia fleet... is showing no movement." The intelligence officer's voice also sounded strange. "They... they seem to be watching a show?"

Watching a show?

MacArthur's mind was in total chaos.

Causing a "supernova explosion" above their own heads, and then their own people are just watching a show on the side like it's nothing?

What the hell kind of plot is this?

"Zoom in! Focus on that island! I want to see that person! I want to see Jiang Ning!" MacArthur roared.

The highest-precision military satellite immediately focused on the center of the floating island.

Passing through the thick clouds and violent energy, after several image sharpening processes, a figure appeared on the screen.

Jiang Ning.

She sat cross-legged at the highest point of the white palace, her eyes closed, her expression as serene as if she were taking a nap.

And the terrifying energy vortex, capable of destroying an entire aircraft carrier fleet, was centered directly above her head.

All the violent lightning, all the energy tearing through space, finally surged into her small body like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea.

She... is she absorbing that energy?

In the Command Center, everyone forgot to breathe.

The scientific advisor, as if recalling some terrifying legend, slumped into his chair, muttering incessantly: "God... this is a miracle... no, this is not a miracle... this is... in Eastern legends... a Tribulation Transcendence!"

"What?" MacArthur turned his head sharply.

"Heavenly Tribulation! General!" The scientific advisor pointed at the screen, his eyes full of madness. "In Eastern mythology, for a cultivator to transform from a mortal into a higher existence, they must accept the trial of heaven and earth! This trial is the 'Heavenly Tribulation'! Using lightning, wind, and fire to cleanse the mortal body and reshape the immortal bones! If successful, one ascends to the heavens in one step! If they fail, they are reduced to ashes!"

"You mean..." MacArthur felt his throat tighten, "that woman... Jiang Ning... she is... evolving?"

"Yes! General!" The scientific advisor shouted. "She used us, used this global summit, to gather the eyes of the whole world! Then, in front of billions of people, she created an island out of thin air, gathering unimaginable 'wish power,' or rather, 'belief'! She is using this power to break through that... boundary between mortals and gods!"

"She... she has succeeded!"

Just as the scientific advisor finished speaking.

On the screen, the terrifying colorful thundercloud exhausted its final strength. All the light and electricity condensed into a final beam—a nine-colored divine lightning bolt, as thick as a pillar of heaven, descended from the sky and struck Jiang Ning directly.

In that instant, the whole world turned white.

All surveillance screens instantly turned to static.

All communication equipment emitted sharp noise simultaneously.

An intense electromagnetic pulse swept across hundreds of kilometers. Inside the United Fleet, countless precision electronic devices instantly malfunctioned, and alarms rang out in unison.

On the aircraft carrier "Liberty," the lights flickered, threatening to go out at any moment.

"What's happening? An EMP attack?"

"Report, General! Half of the fleet's electronic equipment has failed! We... that last hit just now, we are temporarily... blind!"

"Damn it! Damn it!"

MacArthur slammed his fist onto the console, feeling powerless for the first time.

It wasn't that they couldn't fight; it was that... they were simply not on the same level.

Someone is undergoing a tribulation to ascend, and you're driving a tin boat nearby, wanting to reason with them?

This is simply the biggest joke in human history.

After an unknown amount of time, the static on the screens finally dissipated.

The image became clear again.

The sea surface was calm and tranquil.

The sky was cloudless and azure, as if the earth-shattering scene from just a moment ago had never happened.

That green floating island was still quietly drifting on the sea, looking even more vibrant than before, with a faint, five-colored halo surrounding its edges.

MacArthur's hand trembled as he signaled the intelligence officer: "Zoom in... zoom in more..."

The camera focused on the highest point of the island once again.

Jiang Ning had already stood up.

She was still wearing that white work uniform, but everyone who saw her felt that she was a completely different person from before.

If the previous Jiang Ning gave people the feeling of a cold supercomputer.

Then now, standing there, she was this heaven and earth itself.

Her gaze pierced through the distance of hundreds of kilometers, passed through the satellite lens, and landed on everyone in the Command Center.

There was no emotion in that gaze.

No anger, no joy, and no disdain.

Just like a person looking down at a group of ants at their feet.

"General..." the adjutant's voice was tinged with tears, "what... what should we do now?"

What to do?

MacArthur opened his mouth, but couldn't say a single word.

In his mind, only the scientific advisor's words from just a moment ago remained.

Ascending to the heavens in one step, the boundary between mortals and gods.

They hadn't come here to stage some treacherous banquet.

They had rushed over to serve as the background, acting as the atmosphere group for the new god's ascension.