144: Chapter 144 I am Lin Mo, codename "Patriot X"
"I am Lin Mo."
"Codename, 'Patriot X'."
As the words fell, the lingering sound seemed to still swirl and collide beneath the magnificent dome of the East Great Hall, then transformed into an invisible shockwave, sweeping across the world with the National Convention Center as its core.
Inside the East Great Hall.
The silence lasted for about two seconds.
Immediately, like a dam overflowing with floodwaters finally bursting, a tsunami of sound erupted!
"Whoosh—!!!"
Applause! Screams! Excited shouts! Incredulous gasps! All sounds mixed together, almost tearing off the sturdy dome!
In the front row, a white-haired Old Academician, who had personally experienced the arduous pioneering years of the nation, suddenly stood up, tears streaming down his face, applauding with all his might, his lips trembling, unable to utter a complete sound. Beside him, another Military General, with tear-filled tiger eyes, raised his hand and gave Lin Mo on the stage a standard and prolonged military salute.
The media section in the middle and back rows went completely wild. All the reporters stood up, camera shutters clicking like a torrential downpour, flashlights forming a dazzling, blinding white curtain of light. The expressions on the faces of many foreign media reporters were incredibly vivid—shock, bewilderment, horror, frustration, and a hint of powerlessness in the face of absolute fact. Their equipment frantically recorded, and in their minds, they were already conceiving how to use the most attention-grabbing headlines to describe this historic moment.
The global network completely exploded.
The real-time online user curves of major live broadcast platforms soared vertically, and countless servers groaned under the strain.
The bullet comments and comment sections could no longer be described as "screen-filling"; it was a pure information tsunami, a collective roar from billions of shocked souls:
"Ah ah ah ah ah!!! It's really him! Lin Mo! Patriot X!"
"Twenty-two years old! My heavens! I was still playing games at twenty-two! He's already changing the world!"
"Where are those people who said Dragon Country's technology was stolen? Come out and walk a few steps? Does your face hurt?"
"Mom asked me why I'm watching the live broadcast kneeling..."
"This is the true national scholar! An unparalleled national scholar!"
"Long Live Dragon Country! Long Live Lin Mo!"
"From today on, Lin Mo is my god!"
"Are those who wanted to harm him already scared stiff?"
On the public opinion monitoring screen, the curve representing positive emotions and support instantly broke historical records, while the curve representing doubt and negative emotions plummeted, almost to zero. Public sentiment, morale, and national pride converged at their peak at this moment.
Across the ocean, in the White House Strategic Intelligence Room.
A deathly silence, even more profound and colder than the initial two seconds in the East Great Hall.
The President's face was ashen, his lips pressed into a thin line, and his hand on the table trembled slightly, whether from anger or fear. On the carpet in front of him, coffee stains and ceramic cup fragments lay in a mess, untouched.
The Secretary of Defense's eyes were hollow, as if he had aged ten years in an instant, muttering, "Twenty-two years old...Patriot X...all our assessments, all our response strategies...were all based on the wrong benchmark..."
The Acting Director of the CIA had collapsed in his chair, hands covering his face, a suppressed, almost desperate groan escaping through his fingers. North Heaven Gate's own work had completely failed, no, the entire Pretty Country intelligence community's understanding and response to Dragon Country had been utterly crushed by this young man alone. His mind was now not on how to salvage the situation, but on which unlucky scapegoat he would become.
And Dr. Green sat stiffly, like a plaster statue that had suddenly lost all its color. She stared intently at the young, calm, yet seemingly infinitely radiant figure on the screen, and in her mind, those once unshakeable towers of belief—about Pretty Country's technological leadership, about Western rational superiority, about Dragon Country only being able to imitate and catch up—collapsed with a crash the moment "Lin Mo" and "Patriot X" were equated, turning into dust.
It turned out that the one who defeated her, defeated NASA, defeated the entire Western scientific community, was not some massive secret team, not stolen technology, but simply this... an outrageously young face.
"Heh... hehe..." She suddenly let out a low, nervous laugh, but tears welled up uncontrollably, mixed with extreme frustration, the nihilism of shattered beliefs, and a hint of fear and... awe for that pure wisdom and creativity that she herself was unwilling to admit.
A secluded safe house somewhere.
The screen in front of James Craig also froze at the moment Lin Mo began to speak.
He seemed to have been drained of all strength in an instant, or perhaps pierced by a high-voltage current, sitting rigidly in the chair, motionless. Those eyes, once filled with gloom, ambition, and madness, now held only utter desolation and emptiness.
"Lin Mo... Lin Mo... Lin Mo..." He repeated the name, his voice growing lower and more distorted.
The "Patriot X" he had exhausted his efforts for, gambled everything on, and even used his last resort to find and destroy, turned out to be the "unemployed college student" on his initial lengthy suspect list—one he had once underestimated for being too young and too "ordinary," and later was forced to pay attention to due to converging clues?
It was this young man who ruined his plans, ruined his career, ruined the ambitions of the forces behind him, and even... ruined the world order as he knew it?
"Hahahaha... hahahaha!" Craig suddenly burst into a hysterical laugh, uglier than crying, rocking back and forth, tears and snot streaming down his face, "Idiot! I'm the biggest idiot! All of us... are idiots!"
Laughing, he suddenly grabbed an empty wine bottle from the table and smashed it fiercely at Lin Mo's face on the screen!
"Bang!"
The screen shattered, and the image distorted and vanished.
Craig gasped for breath, slumping in his chair, his eyes unfocused, but a crazy smile still lingered on his lips as he muttered, "Good... good... it's public... everyone knows... let's see how you die... let's see how Dragon Country can protect you... 'Doomsday Clock'... it's not over... it's not over..."
His sanity, under the continuous failures and this final, absurd truth, was already on the verge of complete collapse.
East Great Hall of the National Convention Center.
Lin Mo waited for a moment, allowing the historic wave of sound to subside slightly. He spoke again, his voice still steady, yet clearly reaching every corner:
"My age and the fields I am involved in will surprise, and even be unbelievable to, many people."
"But science and contributions are never judged by age. Everything I have done stems from a thirst for knowledge, a love for my homeland, and, when faced with blockades and injustice, the most simple idea of a Dragon Country youth—we should not be stifled, we have the ability to forge our own path, and even... go further."
"Moon Base blueprints, 'Golden Crow' fusion principle, 'Mozi' quantum protocol... these technologies were not created by me out of thin air. They are built upon the solid foundation laid by countless senior scientists, embodying the wisdom and sweat of tens of thousands of Dragon Country engineers and workers. I merely, at that critical moment, was fortunate enough to find the 'key' and unhesitatingly handed it over to my motherland."
"I am honored to walk alongside this great nation and countless outstanding colleagues. I am even more fortunate that my motherland, with the greatest courage and firmest resolve, protected me and transformed these technologies into a powerful force for the benefit of the people and the defense of peace."
His words were candid, humble, yet full of power, without self-congratulation, only gratitude to the nation and respect for the collective. This demeanor, in turn, earned him even more goodwill and respect from everyone.
"Today, I stand here, revealing my identity, not for personal honor." Lin Mo's tone shifted, becoming serious, his gaze sweeping over all the foreign media cameras below, as if looking directly at those with ulterior motives behind the screens,
"but to solemnly warn those who still attempt to steal, sabotage, and threaten Dragon Country's technological progress and national security through improper means:"
"All your conspiracies, all your infiltrations, all your despicable actions, are futile in the face of the Great Wall of steel forged by the nation and its people."
"You have crossed the line."
"And the price of crossing the bottom line, you have already seen, and you will continue to bear it."
He did not name names, but everyone knew who he was talking about. The warning in his words was cold and sharp, combined with Long Zhantian's almost tangible keen gaze behind him, forming a powerful deterrent.
"At the same time," Lin Mo's tone softened slightly, carrying a hint of Outlook, "I also hope that my experience can illustrate that technological progress should be open, cooperative, and mutually beneficial. Dragon Country is willing, on the basis of mutual respect, equality, and mutual benefit, to work with all peace-loving countries and scientists in the world to jointly explore the unknown and address common challenges facing humanity, such as energy, environment, deep space exploration..."
He paused slightly, the hideous outline of the "reaper" and the urgent system task prompts flashing through his mind, but now was not the time to reveal this ultimate threat. He needed to first integrate internally and establish authority.
...and any major issues that may concern the future of human civilization as a whole."
"Dragon Country is willing to shoulder international responsibilities commensurate with its level of development. And I, myself, will continue to contribute all my wisdom and strength to this end."
His speech concluded.
Lin Mo bowed slightly.
"Boom—!"
Even more fervent and prolonged applause and cheers instantly engulfed him! The East Great Hall became a boiling ocean!
Old Chen stepped forward, stood shoulder to shoulder with Lin Mo, firmly clasped his hand, and raised it high!
At this moment, the scene froze:
The young, unparalleled national scholar, hand in hand with the representative of the older generation of scientists;
Behind them, the solemn national flag and emblem;
Beside them, the iron-blooded guardian general;
Below the stage, impassioned compatriots and a shocked world;
And the future, a vast sea of stars and challenges yet to be unveiled.
"I am Lin Mo, codename 'Patriot X'."
This was no longer a simple self-introduction.
It was the declaration of an era.
It was the most brilliant calling card displayed by a civilization on its path to rise.