245: Chapter 245 The Net!

However, the carnival on the internet would not stop just because of the panic The Other Side of the Ocean.

On the contrary, after the inclusion of the entry "Spring Festival Gala," a term with distinct Xia Country characteristics, it reached an unprecedented height.

On major social platforms in Xia Country, the number of views on related topics had already surpassed the ten billion mark, and the number was still climbing crazily at a rate of hundreds of thousands per second.

Countless netizens spontaneously created "Spring Festival Gala Program Concept Art," which spread virally across the entire web.

Someone Photoshopped a poster of Tony wearing his armor standing in the center of the Spring Festival Gala stage, with a background of fireworks filling the sky and the bright red national flag.

Someone edited Tony's seven-second video and set it to the intro of "my people, my country"; in just a few hours, the play count broke one hundred million.

Some music bloggers even used AI to simulate the effect of Tony singing Xia Country songs in advance; although the accent was so thick it was hilarious, the comment section was a uniform sea of "My DNA is reacting."

"Brothers, I've already started the countdown. How many days are left until New Year's Eve?"

"Haha, if this program is really arranged for this year's Spring Festival Gala, the viewership ratings might just knock the satellites down!"

"I'm dying of laughter. Tony originally thought he was coming to pilot a mecha and save the world, but the first thing he has to do in Xia Country is take a Mandarin proficiency test!"

"By the way, to all our friends The Other Side of the Ocean, remember to watch the Xia Country Spring Festival Gala live stream together on New Year's Eve. It's free; we won't charge you a cent."

The expectations of the entire nation had been pulled to an unprecedented height.

...

Xishan Base.

Inside the independent suite, the lighting was bright.

Lin Yuan leaned casually on the leather sofa with his legs crossed.

He held his phone in one hand, his fingertips sliding unhurriedly across the screen as he browsed through the overwhelming comments and messages on various platforms.

The curve of his lips turned up bit by bit, and a mischievous, black-bellied smile completely spread through his eyes.

To truly destroy someone's spirit, you had to rely on these netizens who loved watching the chaos unfold.

Just then.

Vibrate— Vibrate—

The specially encrypted phone in his palm suddenly vibrated.

Lin Yuan glanced at the screen; the caller ID showed Lin Jixian.

His expression remained normal as his fingertip swiped lightly to answer the call.

"Brother Lin."

Lin Yuan spoke in a relaxed tone, greeting him first.

From the other end of the phone came Lin Jixian's hearty and energetic laughter.

"Brother Lin, I hope I'm not disturbing your rest?"

Lin Jixian exchanged a few pleasantries and then, without any nonsense, cut straight to the point.

"That matter about the Spring Festival Gala you mentioned before, I've already arranged everything."

"I just spoke with the director's team. That special program will be officially added to this year's Spring Festival Gala program list."

"As for the specific stage design and process plan, the director's team has already set up a special task force and is currently coordinating with Mr. Tony."

Hearing this, Lin Yuan gave a low chuckle.

"Sorry for the trouble, Brother Lin."

"Eh, what trouble is this?"

Lin Jixian dismissed it, his tone extremely relaxed.

"It was just a matter of putting in a word."

He paused, his voice carrying an irrepressible sense of anticipation.

"But seriously, Brother Lin, I'm also extremely looking forward to the performance on New Year's Eve now."

Lin Jixian lowered his voice slightly, his tone teasing.

"A superhero actor from The Other Side of the Ocean, wearing the Iron Man armor that they dream of, singing 'my people, my country' on Xia Country's Spring Festival Gala..."

"Just thinking about that scene, I can't keep my goosebumps down."

Lin Yuan heard this and replied with a smile:

"Cultural export, after all. It's only polite to reciprocate."

"They've exported sci-fi movies for so many years; it's only reasonable for us to return the favor with a program."

The two of them shared a knowing laugh over the phone, both in tacit agreement.

After the laughter subsided, Lin Jixian's tone shifted, revealing a sense of pride from finally being able to hold his head high.

"Alright then, Brother Lin, if there's nothing else, I won't chat with you much longer. I have to get back to work."

"Thanks to you, we've been busy as hell these past few days."

"With that series of big moves you've made recently, you've really rattled a lot of foreign high-level officials. They're running to Xia Country one after another."

"Receptions, coordination, arranging meetings..."

"I wish I could split myself into eight pieces."

Lin Jixian complained, but the pride in his voice was impossible to suppress.

Lin Yuan chuckled after listening.

He naturally knew the reason why those countries were rushing to Xia Country in such a hurry.

"It's been hard on you, Brother Lin."

Lin Yuan replied in a gentle tone.

"It's only right, only right! Haha, I've just never fought such a wealthy battle in my life!"

Lin Jixian laughed heartily, then the two exchanged a few more pleasantries before hanging up.

Beep— Beep—

The busy signal came through, and Lin Yuan put down his phone.

The very next second after the call was disconnected.

In the quiet room, a mechanical electronic voice sounded in the air without warning.

"Sir, an anomaly has been detected."

The voice of the Artificial Intelligence 'Xiao Long' echoed in the dormitory.

Lin Yuan's gaze fell on his phone screen; Xiao Long's AI interface had automatically popped up, with several sets of encrypted data streams pulsing on it.

"Through the global network of the Hidden Dragon System, combined with cross-referencing of major domestic transportation hubs, street surveillance, and surrounding IoT devices, three groups of abnormal entry personnel have been captured in the past forty-seven minutes."

Three split-screen images popped up on the screen.

In the images were three groups of seemingly ordinary tourists, dragging suitcases as they walked along different streets.

"Preliminary assessment: The targets are foreign agents on a mission. Their entry times were concentrated between early this morning and the morning period, entering from three different ports using forged documents."

"Current real-time coordinates have been locked."

Lin Yuan looked at the three red dots pulsing on the screen without a hint of panic.

He even chuckled and shook his head.

"That was quite fast. It seems the people The Other Side of the Ocean are really getting desperate."

However...

Lin Yuan leaned back on the sofa, his tone nonchalant.

"Xiao Long."

"Package and encrypt the full identity information, forged document numbers, entry paths, and real-time coordinates of these three groups of personnel."

"Then, in the name of an 'Enthusiastic Citizen of Chaoyang,' send it to the national security department."

"Remember, don't leave any traces of us."

"Understood, sir."

"Data packaged, sending..."

Xiao Long's mechanical voice paused for less than a second.

"Sent successfully."

Lin Yuan nodded slightly, then withdrew his attention, no longer concerning himself with the follow-up of this matter.

He was very clear about the strength of Xia Country's national security department.

As long as the trump cards and coordinates were fed directly to them, these three groups of elite agents from The Other Side of the Ocean wouldn't be able to cause any waves.

Lin Yuan leaned on the sofa, his gaze fixed out the window.

With the comprehensive rollout of the Hidden Dragon Operating System within Xia Country, countless phones, computers, and smart home devices equipped with the system—even street surveillance cameras and transportation networks—had become part of Xiao Long's massive computing power network.

Xiao Long was gradually weaving an airtight "Skynet."

However.

This Skynet was currently still basically limited to the borders of Xia Country.

To cover every corner of the Blue Planet with this net would still take time and require further frantic expansion of the Hidden Dragon System in the international market.

Lin Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly, a deep sense of anticipation flashing in his gaze as he whispered a sentence.

"Soon."