141: Chapter 141: Now, I'm in Charge
The moment the Peace No. 1 floating island began to detach from the sea surface and rise upward, time seemed to be set to slow motion.
Through the massive domed canopy of the conference hall, the representatives of various countries could clearly see the azure seawater receding further and further away from them.
At first, it was only a dozen meters.
Then, it was tens of meters, hundreds of meters...
They could see the ocean below forming an incredibly vast vortex due to the island's ascent.
They could see those once-arrogant carrier strike groups in the distance growing smaller and smaller from their rising perspective, looking like toy models in a bathtub.
"My God..."
"It... it's flying!"
"This... this isn't an island! This is a... sky battleship!"
After a brief, dead silence, an explosion of unbelievable exclamations erupted in the conference hall.
Everyone stood up, pressing themselves against the transparent dome, gazing up at the constantly changing scenery with faces full of world-shattering shock.
They had thought that creating an island out of thin air was already a miracle.
They had thought that instakilling a destroyer with a single shot was already the limit of power.
But now, they realized they were wrong—outrageously wrong.
Everything before had just been an appetizer.
This was the true trump card of the Xia people, of Jiang Ning!
A flying Sky City, over five kilometers in diameter, armed to the teeth!
The U.S. Secretary of State Gino had completely given up on thinking at this point.
He just stared blankly at the increasingly tiny fleet below, his mind a total void.
Sanctions?
How do you sanction a country that can move its territory into the sky?
Threats?
Can your missiles even catch up to someone's flying city?
Even if they did, could they penetrate a hull made of who-knows-what material?
It was over.
Everything was over.
From the moment this island took flight, the old world order—built upon aircraft carriers, nuclear bombs, and financial hegemony—had... collapsed.
A brand new era belonging to the "God of Infrastructure Construction" had descended.
Meanwhile, inside the flagship Command Center of the United Fleet, things were in utter chaos.
"Report, General! The target is... is climbing vertically! Speed is... Mach 1! Still accelerating!"
"Radar cannot lock on! There is a special energy field on the target's surface that has absorbed all our detection signals!"
"My God! It... it's stopped!"
General MacArthur gripped the railing in front of him tightly, his knuckles turning white from the excessive force.
He raised his head and, through the bridge's porthole, looked up at the massive shadow suspended ten thousand meters in the air, like a black sun.
That shadow blotted out the sun, shrouding the entire sea below in a layer of twilight.
A fear of the unknown and the magnificent, originating from life's most primal instincts, seized his heart.
He knew he was witnessing history.
A history written by someone else, which he could only passively accept.
"General... do we... do we strike back?" a young staff officer asked, his voice trembling.
Strike back?
A smile that looked more painful than crying appeared on MacArthur's face.
Strike back with what?
With our anti-air missiles that can't even reach half the target's altitude?
Or with our carrier-based aircraft, flying up there just to give them a scratch?
"Pass down my orders..."
MacArthur closed his eyes and, as if exhausting all his strength, said word by word:
"All units, shut down fire-control radars, retract weapon systems, and stand by in place."
"Send... send a communication request to 'Peace No. 1'."
"The content of the message..."
He paused, his voice filled with endless bitterness.
"Say... the United States of America expresses its highest respect for the great achievements Xia has made in the field of Psionic Engineering."
"We are willing to engage in... the most sincere dialogue with the Xia side regarding the future development of global psionics, on the basis of peace, friendship, and mutual respect."
...
Ten thousand meters in the air, inside the central conference hall of the Peace No. 1 floating island.
The island had stopped climbing and was hovering steadily above the clouds.
Sunlight poured through the dome onto everyone's faces, yet it could not dispel the chill in their hearts.
Gino and the others had sat back down in their seats, heads hanging like a bunch of defeated roosters, no longer possessing their previous arrogance.
Jiang Ning also returned to the head seat.
She picked up a cup of green tea from the table and took a light sip.
"Now, we can have a proper talk."
Her voice remained calm.
But this time, no one dared to mistake that calmness for weakness.
Gino looked up, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace. "Chief... Chief Engineer Jiang Ning. I think there might... might be some misunderstandings between us."
"Oh? Is that so?" Jiang Ning raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, yes!" Gino nodded like a woodpecker. "Regarding the proposal for technology sharing, we... we didn't consider it thoroughly enough and failed to fully respect Xia's technological sovereignty. We... we withdraw the proposal!"
"Yes, yes, yes! Withdraw!"
"We in the E-Union withdraw it as well!"
"Country R withdraws it too!"
When a wall is about to fall, everyone gives it a push.
The "allies" who had been united in hatred just moments ago now turned their guns around, scrambling to distance themselves from the U.S. proposal.
They were terrified that if they spoke too slowly, their own warships would be the next to be "evaporated."
"Withdraw?" Jiang Ning set down her teacup and looked at them. "Do you think today's meeting is something you can start whenever you want and withdraw from whenever you like?"
Gino's heart skipped a beat.
He knew she was going to... settle the score.
"Then... then according to your wishes..." he asked cautiously.
"My meaning is very simple."
Jiang Ning stood up and walked to the center of the conference hall.
She reached out and made a swipe in the air.
Brand new documents written in Xia characters appeared in front of every delegation in the form of holographic projections.
The title of the document was striking and direct.
"Cooperation Framework Agreement on Establishing a New Order for Global Psionic Infrastructure".
"From today onward, I call the shots on 'Global Psionic Security and Development'."
"You can take a look at this agreement."
"Those who agree, sign your names on it."
"Those who don't agree..."
She paused, her gaze sweeping across the room as she said flatly:
"You can stay on my 'Sky City' and serve as fertilizer for the flowers."