177: Chapter 177 Ironclad Evidence Reveals the World, Myanmar Settles the Tide

Zhang Cheng spoke into the microphone: "Night Owl, close the net. Teams A and B, start the arrests. Remember, I want them alive, and I want confessions—they must confess in front of the cameras."

Inside the cold storage, "Gray Wolf" and "Lynx" watched the surveillance screens (they had hacked into nearby traffic cameras), their faces turning pale.

"They were all intercepted... How is this possible?" Lynx muttered.

"We've been set up!" Gray Wolf suddenly realized. "Retreat, now! Through the sewers..."

Before he could finish, the iron door of the cold storage was blown open. Through the smoke, six Shadow Blade members rushed in, their muzzles locked onto the two men.

"Don't move! Drop your weapons!"

Gray Wolf instinctively reached for the pistol at his waist, but Night Owl was faster. A rubber bullet accurately struck his wrist, and the pistol went flying.

"Cuff them and take them away," Night Owl said coldly.

The same scene played out at the second warehouse. The two agents there tried to resist, firing submachine guns, but the Shadow Blade members' Ghost-2 exoskeletons provided superhuman reaction speeds—they dodged the bullets with incredible agility and then subdued the targets with tasers.

The third warehouse was empty, but the equipment was seized intact.

At exactly nine in the morning, as the bells of the Parliament Building rang, the six CIA agents were brought to the square in front of the building. Global live-stream cameras were aimed directly at them.

Zhang Cheng stepped out of the building and into the center of the square. He held a tablet computer displaying the confessions just extracted (using some "special methods," the agents had talked quickly).

"To all friends watching the live stream, I am now going to show you something interesting." Zhang Cheng faced the camera, his voice calm but powerful. "These are the drones that just attempted to attack the Parliament Building. And these are the terrorists who operated them—or more accurately, agents of the USA's CIA."

He pulled up the data on his tablet: "This one, code-named 'Gray Wolf,' real name Robert Jensen, a senior agent in the CIA's Directorate of Operations, has participated in secret operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. This one, 'Lynx,' real name Lisa Chen, of Chinese descent, fluent in Mandarin and Burmese, responsible for the Southeast Asia intelligence network..."

Name after name, code name after code name, and past records of service were publicized in detail.

The live stream's bullet chat exploded:

"They really are CIA?!"

"The USA is too despicable! Actually carrying out a terrorist attack!"

"How did Zhang Cheng get this information? He even has their real names..."

Zhang Cheng continued: "What's even more fascinating is that these agents have already confessed. They admitted that under direct orders from Washington, they planned to blow up the Parliament Building today to create chaos and sabotage Myanmar's peaceful unification process. Furthermore—"

He paused and played an audio clip. It was Gray Wolf's voice, voice-modulated but clear in content: "...If conditions permit, blow up the Dragon Country's special envoy as well and frame Zhang Cheng..."

These words were like a nuclear bomb detonating in the field of global public opinion.

The White House, Situation Room.

When Jin Mao Pu saw this live stream, he spat out the coffee he had just sipped.

"Damn it! Damn it!!" The President flew into a rage. "How dare Zhang Cheng?! How did he get this intelligence?! And those agents, are they all useless?! How did they confess so quickly?!"

Haspell's face was ashen. "Mr. President, our plan... is completely exposed. Now the whole world is watching us like we're a joke..."

"Shut down the live stream! Tell all media to delete this!" Jin Mao Pu roared.

"It's too late..." Pompeo gave a bitter smile. "CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera... all major global media are broadcasting this. On Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, the view counts for related videos have already surpassed a hundred million. We... have completely lost this war of public opinion."

It was more than just a loss; they were being ground into the dirt. The CIA conducting a terrorist attack, attempting to frame someone, and even planning to kill the Dragon Country's special envoy—if these charges stuck, the USA would become a "rogue state" internationally. Who would ever believe them again when they tried to criticize others?

"No, we can't admit it!" A flash of madness crossed Jin Mao Pu's eyes. "Issue a statement saying it's all forged by Zhang Cheng! The agents are fake, the recording is synthesized, and the drones were a self-inflicted 'bitter meat' trap set by Zhang Cheng himself!"

"Mr. President, this..." General Milley tried to dissuade him, but was glared back by Jin Mao Pu.

"Go issue it! Now! Immediately!"

An hour later, the White House statement was released. The content was exactly as Jin Mao Pu had said: a total denial and a counter-accusation, calling Zhang Cheng a "conspiracy theorist who directed and acted out his own play."

But this statement appeared weak and powerless in the face of the mountain of evidence in the live stream. Even the USA's own media didn't believe it—The New York Times directly published an article questioning: "If Zhang Cheng really directed and acted this out himself, how could he obtain the real identities and past service records of CIA agents? These are top-secret files!"

Even more of a slap to the face, the Dragon Country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs subsequently issued a statement: "We sternly condemn the terrorist acts of certain countries in Myanmar and firmly support the Myanmar people's independent choice of development path. At the same time, we express high appreciation for General Zhang Cheng's actions in thwarting the terrorist attack and protecting the safety of various national envoys."

This was the first time Dragon Country had publicly taken a side for Zhang Cheng, and its significance was immense.

Naypyidaw, Parliament Building.

The atmosphere today was more bizarre than any time before.

If the previous flames of war were a physical head-on collision, then today's meeting, titled the "National Reconciliation and Development Conference," was a sugar-coated arsenic trap.

In the conference hall, the air conditioning was running high, but many people still had fine beads of sweat on their foreheads.

None of those sitting here were easy to deal with. Besides Zhang Cheng's core team, the remaining hundreds of people were all "local snakes" who had crawled out from every nook and cranny of Myanmar.

There were old warlords controlling several important southern ports, chieftains who ruled as lords in the Shan State mountains, and representatives of financial magnates who held sway in the Yangon business world with complex backing.

They were either former guests of Min Aung Hlaing or local emperors in their own right. When Zhang Cheng fought his way into Naypyidaw, these people had retracted faster than turtles, but now that the situation had stabilized slightly, they were poking their heads out again.

Why? Because it was time to divide the cake.

Zhang Cheng sat on the rostrum, dressed in a sharp Zhongshan suit, looking expressionlessly at this group of people, each with their own hidden agendas. He held a fountain pen and lightly tapped it on the table; it was the only sound.

"Everyone."

Zhang Cheng spoke; his voice wasn't loud, but it was transmitted clearly to everyone's ears through the microphone. "I won't bother with pleasantries. Since we are sitting together, it is for the future of this country."

He gave a look to Li Lanzhi beside him.

Li Lanzhi stood up and projected a thick document onto the large screen.

"This is the 'Draft of the New Federal Constitution.'" Li Lanzhi's voice was crisp and efficient. "The core content consists of three points: first, the abolition of independent command over all local armed forces; the Defense Forces will be centrally deployed by the central government, and no one may privately recruit troops. Second, the cancellation of administrative autonomy for all states; provincial and state governors will be directly appointed by the central government, and all tax revenues will be handed over to the national treasury for central redistribution. Third, the implementation of a unified system for law, currency, and education."

As soon as these words were spoken, the room below instantly erupted into a chaotic clamor.