234: Chapter 234 Mech Pilot Selection?

Yang Tongan leaned back against the sofa and tapped his fingers heavily twice on the coffee table.

"I will instruct the think tank later to completely reshape and refine the plan according to the two suggestions you just made."

Lin Yuan nodded slightly, picked up the teacup in front of him, and took a small sip, his smile calm and certain.

"Then I look forward to the final plan."

With the business settled, the atmosphere in the office relaxed.

Yang Tongan picked up the purple clay teapot and refilled Lin Yuan's cup with hot water.

As the steam rose, Yang Tongan closed his eyes halfway, leaned back on the sofa, and a smile appeared on his face.

"By the way."

"That 'bold idea' you mentioned in passing last time..."

"Regarding the matter of inviting that superhero actor from The Other Side of the Ocean to wear our real battle armor."

"In the past few days, I have already sent people to conduct secret negotiations."

Lin Yuan's movement of drinking tea paused slightly.

He looked up, a strong sense of interest flashing in the depths of his profound eyes, and asked,

"How is the progress?"

"Extremely smooth."

Yang Tongan held his teacup, his coarse voice carrying a hint of playfulness.

"Facing a genuine mecha, the other party has absolutely no reason to refuse."

"Specific details are currently being discussed."

Hearing this, Lin Yuan placed his teacup steadily on the table, a profoundly mischievous smile appearing on his face.

He didn't say anything.

But in his mind, that scene had already unconsciously surfaced.

The sci-fi cultural totem that The Other Side of the Ocean spent billions to create, their proudest superhero actor, would personally discard that fake costume.

Instead, he would don a genuine ultimate armor painted with the bright red flag of Xia Country and, facing the ultra-high-definition lenses of hundreds of media outlets worldwide, smile and say those words—

"Fight for Xia Country."

That ultimate shock of collapsing faith would hit more accurately, more ruthlessly, and more painfully than any missile!

Seeing Lin Yuan's calm and mischievous appearance, Yang Tongan put down his teacup and pointed a finger at him.

"You kid."

Elder Yang shook his head, his tone carrying undisguised teasing.

"You really never stop for a moment, always causing trouble, insisting on rubbing The Other Side of the Ocean's face in the dirt before you're satisfied."

Lin Yuan smiled and waved his hand, his expression humble.

"Elder Yang, you're exaggerating. Not at all."

Elder Yang snorted coldly and exposed him without mercy.

"Cut it out."

"I've already seen that creative idea you replied with on social media this morning."

"Having Iron Man appear on the Spring Festival Gala to sing 'My People, My Country'?"

After saying this, Elder Yang shook his head repeatedly, seemingly amazed by the modern netizens' strange and biting thought processes, as well as Lin Yuan's behavior of fanning the flames as if fearing the world wasn't chaotic enough.

Facing Elder Yang's teasing, Lin Yuan didn't feel guilty in the least.

He smiled frankly, leaned forward slightly, and, dropping his earlier casualness, reported seriously,

"Elder Yang, I was just about to bring this up with you."

"Since it's the simplest wish of the common people, I think this suggestion is entirely feasible."

Lin Yuan's tone was relaxed, not at all like he was discussing an event capable of triggering an international media tsunami.

"Using the sci-fi image The Other Side of the Ocean is proudest of to sing Xia Country's main theme song on New Year's Eve in front of billions of people worldwide."

"This is not just a national celebration, but also the ultimate deconstruction of the enemy's cultural hegemony."

Hearing this, the corner of Yang Tongan's eye couldn't help but twitch slightly.

"You kid!"

Elder Yang couldn't help but point at Lin Yuan.

"You really aren't afraid of those old fogeys The Other Side of the Ocean getting so angry they'd flip the table!"

Hearing this, Lin Yuan laughed calmly.

He leaned back on the sofa, his hands naturally folded over his stomach.

"Elder Yang, they won't."

Lin Yuan's tone was flat, revealing a certainty that saw through everything.

"If they really had the guts to flip the table, they should have done it the day the Chengying Mecha was unveiled."

Hearing this, Yang Tongan put away his teasing expression.

He nodded in deep agreement, a cold sharpness belonging to a battle-hardened soldier flashing in his eyes.

"After all, the cost of flipping the table is too high."

"The Other Side of the Ocean has been the hegemon of the Blue Star for so many years; they're used to being high and mighty."

"Even if our Xia Country's momentum is fierce now, until they truly bleed and hit a wall, the arrogance in their hearts will never allow them to admit they've fallen behind."

Elder Yang sneered, seeing through the other party's hollow essence at a glance.

"Just like the Celestial Empire of the past."

"They have a rich inheritance in their hands now and are used to enjoying it; they won't be willing to truly risk their lives against us, only to let other powers reap the benefits for nothing."

Facing Elder Yang's lament, the smile on Lin Yuan's face deepened.

"If they're not willing to risk their lives now, then they never will."

"Once the south heaven gate is completely established."

"Even if they want to risk their lives then, they won't be able to cause any ripples."

"At that time, their only choice will be to comply with the rules we set."

Hearing this, Yang Tongan looked at the young man before him and laughed heartily.

...

Time passed.

That afternoon, near closing time.

In the real world, traffic flowed like water, and the evening rush hour plunged countless cities into clamor and congestion.

On subways, in buses, and in the crowded elevators of office buildings, countless tired workers were rubbing their sore necks, habitually taking out their phones to seek solace in the online world.

In the virtual world of the internet, the popularity, instead of fading with time, continued to grow explosively.

Hundreds of millions of netizens were still celebrating under Lin Yuan's "landing soon" reply from that morning.

The top ten spots on various forums, Tieba, and Weibo's hot search lists were all firmly occupied by mecha-related topics, showing a terrifying dominance of the rankings.

Countless people anxiously and excitedly refreshed pages, posting their guesses.

"Brothers, God Lin said it's landing soon. How long is 'soon' exactly? I'm so anxious I can't even eat dinner!"

"Based on God Lin's past efficiency, 'soon' might be tomorrow! Or even tonight!"

"A giant mecha! A mecha dozens of meters tall! What does it actually look like? Where is the cockpit? Is it a neural link or manual operation?"

"Do you think if it's really built, ordinary people will have a chance to touch the steering wheel?"

The entire internet was waiting with bated breath.

Everyone was waiting for Lin Yuan's next move, waiting for that ultimate moment when science fiction would become reality.

Just then.

Without warning.

At exactly six o'clock in the evening.

Across the entire Xia Country internet, the official media matrix—National Daily, military mouthpieces, and the official accounts of various authoritative departments...

In the same second, they collectively pinned an announcement.

No warm-up.

No pleasantries.

The title of the announcement didn't even have any embellishments, so blunt it made one's scalp tingle—

"Announcement on the Implementation Plan for the Selection of Mecha Pilots for the Entire Army"!