147: Chapter 147: The Tomahawk Wreckage Exhibition, the Furious President's Face Slapped in the Face by a Global Live Broadcast

Even more eye-catching were the surroundings of the square—neatly arranged were the wrecks of over thirty "tomahawk" cruise missiles.

Some were only half-bodies, some were scorched black, and some were surprisingly relatively intact, save for twisted tail fins.

Next to each wreck stood a sign, written in Chinese, English, and Burmese: "Made in USA, produced in 2024, unit price 2 million USD, thanks for your patronage."

When Zhang Cheng stepped onto the podium, tens of thousands of Mandalay citizens had already gathered around the square.

At first, they were timid, but seeing those legendary "demon weapons" piled up like scrap metal, their courage gradually grew.

"Fellow elders and folks of Mandalay, and global viewers watching this livestream." Zhang Cheng spoke into the microphone, his voice carrying far through the loudspeakers around the square, "Early yesterday morning, certain countries—I won't name names—fired 324 cruise missiles at our city."

He turned and pointed to the pile of wreckage behind him: "There, these are the things. They said this was 'humanitarian intervention,' that it was to 'protect civilians.' I want to ask everyone—"

Zhang Cheng looked at the citizens below the stage: "Who among you was protected by these 'humanitarian' missiles yesterday?"

Suppressed laughter came from the crowd.

A bold old man shouted: "Protection my ass! If it weren't for General Zhang's troops being so capable, we would have been blown to ashes long ago!"

"Well said!" Zhang Cheng laughed, "So today, I deliberately put these 'gifts' on display to let the whole world see—that the 'humanitarianism' of certain countries is just a rain of steel worth 650 million USD, just an attempt to wipe these 300,000 civilians and our home off the map."

He walked over to a relatively intact "tomahawk" and patted the missile body: "This thing, the people of the USA have been bragging about for over thirty years, calling it some kind of 'precision strike artifact.' And the result? In front of our 'Sky Dome' system, it's about the same as a firework rocket."

A louder burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.

"Of course, we can't let this go to waste." Zhang Cheng raised his volume, "I have decided that tonight at eight o'clock, by the Irrawaddy River, we will set off these missile wrecks like fireworks! To celebrate the victory of our defense of Mandalay! Everyone is welcome to come and watch!"

"Boom!" The square erupted.

The citizens clapped, cheered, and whistled.

A little over a month ago, they were still living under the rule of the Myanmar Army, living in fear of being conscripted or shelled.

Now, this young warlord named Zhang Cheng had not only driven away the corrupt garrison but had actually blocked the attack of the Western coalition forces.

The livestream signal was transmitted globally via satellite.

The footage switched between the missile wrecks, the cheering citizens, and Zhang Cheng's confident smile.

The voiceover was the incredulous commentary of a CNN reporter: "...We cannot confirm that all the wreckage displayed by Zhang Cheng is authentic, but if it is true, this means that the largest cruise missile attack in history launched by the USA Navy last night was indeed completely intercepted..."

Washington, Situation Room.

The President stared at the livestream on the big screen, his complexion changing from red to white, then from white to green, and finally turning a liver-colored purple.

"What is he doing?! He is humiliating us! Humiliating the great USA!" He grabbed the documents on the table and threw them fiercely onto the floor, "650 million USD! Over three hundred missiles! Not a single one hit?! That bunch of trash at the Ministry of Defense! That idiot Harris!"

The Chief of Staff said cautiously: "Mr. President, Lieutenant General Harris reports that Zhang Cheng possesses an unprecedented electronic warfare system that can interfere with GPS, terrain matching, and scene recognition across all frequency bands..."

"I don't want to hear excuses!" "I only want results! The result is that we have lost all face in front of the whole world! Look at Twitter! Look at those comments!"

He grabbed a tablet and scrolled across the screen with trembling fingers.

Twitter trending topics were all about Mandalay:

#ZhangChengMissileFireworkShow

#USA600MillionDownTheDrain

#TomahawkBecomesFireworkRocket

#NewMilitaryRevolution

#IsThePresidentFaceHurting

Opening the first one, the hottest tweet was posted by a military blogger: "Just did the math: Zhang Cheng intercepted 324 tomahawks. Even using the most expensive anti-aircraft missiles, with a unit cost of 2 million USD, the total cost is 648 million. The USA launched 324 tomahawks, unit cost 2 million, total cost 648 million. So, in the 45 minutes last night, both countries burned a total of 1.3 billion USD—equivalent to burning 28.88 million USD per minute. This isn't a war; this is a money-burning contest! [Laughing/Crying]"

Below it were over 50,000 comments:

"Zhang Cheng: Thanks to the USA for the rocket boost!"

"Shouldn't the President award Zhang Cheng the 'Best Defensive Player' award?"

"I now believe Zhang Cheng really has alien technology..."

"To the person above, it could also be a certain major power that wishes to remain anonymous testing new weapons [Dog Head]"

"Am I the only one who cares about the fireworks show at eight tonight? I really want to go to the scene to watch..."

The more the President read, the angrier he got, and he smashed the tablet against the wall, shattering the screen.

"Get Twitter ready for me! Now! Immediately!"

"Sir, what do you want to post? Should we let the writing team first..."

"I'll write it myself!" The President snatched the secretary's phone, opened the Twitter app, and tapped furiously on the virtual keyboard:

"Just saw fake news! Those 'missile wrecks' Zhang Cheng displayed are all fake! They are props! They are special effects props produced by a Dragon Country movie studio! Our heroic USA Navy successfully struck multiple military targets last night and achieved significant results! Zhang Cheng is lying! The media is lying! Only I am telling the truth! #FakeNews #MakeUSA_GreatAgain"

Click send.

As he expected, this tweet instantly exploded—but in a direction different from what he had imagined.

Three minutes later, Zhang Cheng's official Twitter retweeted this tweet and attached a ten-second video.

In the video, Zhang Cheng crouched next to a "tomahawk" wreck, tapped the missile body with a wrench, and it made a dull metallic sound.

Then he pointed to a clear English inscription on the missile body: "Raytheon, Tucson AZ, Lot No.2024-087". The camera zoomed in for a close-up.

Caption: "Mr. @realDonaldTrump, when did Raytheon switch to making movie props? Also, could you reveal the address of the 'prop factory' in Tucson, Arizona? I'd like to buy some wholesale."

This tweet received two million likes and 1.5 million retweets within ten minutes.

When the President saw it, he spat out the water he was drinking.

"He... he dares to...!"

"Sir, a call from the Ministry of Defense, emergency meeting..."

"Don't take it! Tell them I want results! I want to see Zhang Cheng's command center blown to the sky! I want to see Mandalay turned into a sea of fire! No matter what means are used! B-2, F-22, hypersonic missiles—use them all!"

The President's eyes were bloodshot: "Tell Harris, if he fails again, he can write his own resignation letter! No, he can jump into the sea and swim back himself!"