499: Chapter 498 - Reservations are open only to Chinese citizens!

Especially.

When the four core technological achievements of "Yuegui City", "Kunlun Armor", "Nanke Dreamscape", and "Haori Heavenly Court" were presented before the entire world in an irrefutable and complete manner,

The sliver of luck remaining in Xu Siyun's heart was also completely crushed.

"Stop arguing."

Xu Siyun spoke hoarsely.

The living room instantly fell silent.

Everyone looked at him.

Xu Siyun picked up the remote control.

He pressed the pause button.

The screen froze on the screenshot of the "Huaxia Future" app's download count, which had broken 700 million.

"Everyone."

"Do we really... still need to deceive ourselves?"

He looked around at everyone.

His face was full of bitterness and self-mockery.

"Look at this download count, and then look at the reactions of those people on Huaxia social media!"

"If it were fake, would they be this crazy?"

"Are 1.4 billion Huaxia people all fools?"

"If they aren't..."

"Then who is?"

Xu Siyun's voice suddenly rose.

It carried a hint of hysteria.

"It's us!"

"We are the real fools, damn it!"

"We abandoned our own country and betrayed our own compatriots."

"We ran to this godforsaken place."

"But what was the result?!"

He pointed out the window.

The once-prosperous Los Santos.

Now, people twitching on the ground due to the crazy laughter disease could be seen everywhere on the streets.

Shops were closed.

Factories had stopped production.

The "free market economy" they were once so proud of was on the verge of collapse.

These so-called "elites" like them could do nothing but hide in their mansions and amuse themselves.

"What have we gained?"

"Have we gained the 'freedom' of living in fear every day, watching society step by step descend into the abyss?!"

"And what about the country we abandoned?!"

Xu Siyun pointed to the TV again.

"Their people are marching toward the stars and the sea!"

"They are about to possess a second life!"

"They are witnessing the dawn of a new era!"

"But we took a ticket to heaven, tore it to shreds with our own hands, and then triumphantly jumped into hell!"

"We are not elites."

"We are the biggest joke of this era!!"

Xu Siyun's words were like a loud slap, striking everyone's face hard.

The economics professor's face turned deathly pale, his lips trembling, unable to say a single word.

The lawyer slumped on the sofa, his eyes vacant.

That's right!

The things they were once so proud of, those theories, logic, and data used to attack Huaxia, seemed so pale and ridiculous in the face of absolute, overwhelming reality.

Just then, the phone of a young girl studying abroad in the US rang.

She answered the phone with trembling hands.

It was her parents, who were still back in the country.

She put the call on speaker.

Her mother's excited and joyful voice clearly spread throughout the deathly silent living room.

"Daughter!"

"Did you watch the Spring Festival Gala? Oh my god! Our country is too amazing!"

"Your dad and I have discussed it; as long as we get a lottery number, we'll buy you a top-tier Space Exploration Edition!"

"When you come back, you'll be able to use it right away!"

"And that Nanke Dreamscape, it sounds so interesting; we can all reunite inside it when the time comes!"

"Did you make a reservation yourself?"

"I don't know what's going on. I wanted to help you reserve one, but the app keeps popping up a window — Reservation restricted to Huaxia citizens only."

"You haven't renounced your citizenship, have you?"

"It's really strange. Is it a system issue, or have they placed restrictions on overseas students?"

"I'll call to ask about it tomorrow during the day..."

Hearing this, the female student's tears instantly burst forth.