The Spell's Range Covers the Entire Territory of China? Hand It Over to the Nation

17: Chapter 17 The Confidence from Kunlun Palace! Commander Lin:Commander Lin:

Combat Information Center of the Zhenhai.

To supply every bit of energy to the propulsion and damage control Systems, all non-essential equipment was shut down.

Sweat slid down the first mate’s rough cheeks, dripping onto the chart table, blurring into a dark blue ink stain.

Lin Weiguo sat in the command chair, gripping a black pen, the tip hovering over a letter, trembling slightly.

There were only two short lines on the paper:

”My wife Xiulan, seeing this letter is like seeing me. The password to the family savings account is your birthday. In the lining of the old leather jacket on the top shelf of the wardrobe, there is 20,000 yuan of secret money. I originally wanted to buy you a new bracelet, but now...”

Lin Weiguo stopped.

He was a rough man who led soldiers into battle. He feared two things most in his life: first, his old superior getting angry, and second, his wife shedding tears.

If he wrote anything sentimental now, who knew how much the woman would cry. He could even imagine the scene where the woman in an apron received this letter, looking like the sky was collapsing.

”Commander, two minutes left.”

The radar officer broke the silence.

On the screen, the huge light spot representing the poseidon was like a deep-sea beast devouring everything, ignoring all warnings, arrogantly pressing towards the invisible red line.

Twelve nautical miles.

This was not just a number; it was the bottom line, the dignity, and the guarantee of a peaceful night’s sleep for the 1.4 billion people behind them.

Lin Weiguo gritted his teeth, the pen tip slashing fiercely across the paper, piercing through it: ”That is my coffin money, take it and buy some meat to eat, don’t scrimp!”

After writing the last exclamation mark, he slapped the pen onto the table.

”Power up the whole ship!”

Lin Weiguo grabbed the broadcast microphone: ”Brothers, I am Lin Weiguo. I won’t say any nonsense. For those with elderly parents or young children at home, I owe you in this life. In the next life, if fate allows, we will be brothers again, and I will be the horse for you to ride! We might not be able to cross this hurdle today. Are you afraid?”

”No fear!”

The replies from the broadcast were uneven; some voices cracked, some were choked with tears, but no one said the word ”fear.”

”Good! Let these foreign devils see how tough the bones of us Dragon Summer people are!” Lin Weiguo stood up abruptly, reaching out to press the red combat alarm button.

Just as his calloused fingers were less than two centimeters from the button...

Ring-ring—!

An abrupt telephone ring sounded.

Everyone on the bridge froze, dozens of eyes staring in unison at the telephone.

Lin Weiguo’s action stiffened in mid-air, his brows knitting into a ”chuan” shape. At this time, who would make this call? If it was the top brass trying to persuade him to endure humiliation for the big picture, then he...

He grabbed the receiver and said in a deep voice: ”I am Lin Weiguo! This place is about to become a meat grinder. If you have any instructions, say them quickly. If you are trying to persuade me to retreat, save your breath! I won’t be a coward!”

There was a silence of about one second on the other end of the line.

Then, a mocking voice came through: ”Yo, your temper is quite big, huh? Let me guess, are you busy writing your will? Which part have you written to? Is it about the secret money hidden in the leather jacket, telling your wife not to scrimp and to buy more meat to eat?”

Lin Weiguo was stunned for a moment, the tight string in his brain almost snapping.

Back in the recruit company, it was the owner of this voice who kicked his butt and forced him to run an extra five kilometers cross-country; later, when he became a regiment Commander, it was also the owner of this voice who pointed at his nose and scolded him for being ”too soft to lead troops.”

”Old... Old Squad Leader?” Lin Weiguo’s aura of certain death dissipated by half, but the anxiety in his eyes intensified. ”Superior! Dragon One! This is really not the time for jokes! The fleet of the Eagle Federation has their faces almost pressed against my nose! Those bastards have turned on their magic shields, and conventional artillery is useless. I only have this one life, plus this ship; even if I trade it for one of their research vessels, it’s not a loss!”

”Loss! A huge loss!”

Dragon One’s confident voice came through the receiver: ”If I were you, I would tear up the will; save the paper to wipe your sweat. By the way, cancel your ramming order.”

”Cancel it?” Lin Weiguo said anxiously, ”Superior, we can’t be cowardly! The whole world is watching! If we take a step back now, how can we hold our heads high at sea in the future? If this spine bends, it will be hard to straighten it again!”

”Who told you to retreat?”

Dragon One chuckled: ”Someone is going to make a move.”

Lin Weiguo was stunned: ”Someone is making a move? Who?”

”Who else could it be? The immortal who made you slap your thigh and cheer while watching the live stream, the ’National Scholar’ you’ve muttered about eight hundred times in your heart.” Dragon One paused, his tone becoming meaningful. ”Comrade Su Yun said, your mission now is not to be cannon fodder, but... to play the part well.”

”Acting?”

”Yes, lure the enemy deep, make them think we are afraid, make them think we are paper tigers. Once they step in...”

The other end of the line didn’t continue, only a nonchalant ”Heh heh” came through.

But this laugh made every hair on Lin Weiguo’s body stand up.

He had served as a guard for Dragon One for so many years and knew this old superior too well. This kind of laughter usually only appeared before some unlucky bastard was about to suffer a huge misfortune, a misfortune where even their underwear would be lost.

”Understand?”

”Understand... my ass!” Although Lin Weiguo was still putting on a brave front, his hand had already left the red button. Looking at the giant ship pressing over like a mountain outside the window, his heart was churning. ”Superior, are you sure that person is a True God? If this goes wrong and we let the foreign devils walk in and out swaggering, I will really become a sinner through the ages!”

”Rest assured.” Dragon One’s voice became serious. ”You just follow the plan—from now on, don’t think of yourself as a Commander, just think of yourself as an old man staging a fake accident on the road, understand?”

Staging a fake accident?

A dignified Navy Commander, staging a fake accident?

”This... fine! Order received!”

Hanging up the phone, Lin Weiguo stood there, panting heavily.

The tragic feeling of certain death was blown away by this phone call, replaced by an absurd sense of disparity. He looked down at the blood-stained will on the table, feeling a toothache no matter how he looked at it.

”Commander... what do we do?” The first mate leaned over, ”Are we still ramming?”

Lin Weiguo grabbed the will, crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it into his pants pocket. ”Ram my ass! Are you hoping for me to die so you can inherit my debt?”

First mate: ”Huh?”

Is this something you would say, sir?

”All hands, listen up!” Lin Weiguo straightened his uniform, adjusted his hat. The expression of being ready to die disappeared from his face, smoothly transitioning into the cunning and rascal nature typical of an old soldier.

”Cancel the ramming alert!”

”Shut down all fire control radars!”

”Everyone, drink tea if you want, crack melon seeds if you want. Also...”

He pointed to the deck: ”Bring me a chair, a master chair is best, if not, get a comfortable backrest chair, put it in the most conspicuous position on the front deck for me! And brew me a pot of tea!”

”Commander, this... what is this for?”

”What for?” Lin Weiguo walked to the command console and picked up the broadcast microphone. This time, he turned on the full-band public broadcast, the kind that even the Eagle Federation on the opposite side could hear.

He cleared his throat and said:

”Staging a fake accident!”

...

Sixteen nautical miles away, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier ”poseidon”.

General George was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, swirling a red wine glass.

”How long until contact?”

”Report, General, expected to enter ramming distance in six minutes.” The adjutant looked at the data, ”The opponent has no evasive maneuvers, course locked, fire control radar seems... shut down? It seems they really intend to use thousands of tons of scrap iron to test the hardness of our ’Aegis of Athena’.”

”Courageous, but extremely stupid.” General George took a sip of wine, ”What about the Longxia Country side? Still no movement?”

”No energy fluctuations detected.”

”Hmph, I knew it.” General George’s wariness dissipated, and he sneered, ”In international waters where the rules are ambiguous, their hands can’t reach this far. Furthermore, this is the great Eagle Federation fleet. Prepare the champagne, we will send those poor Oriental sailors to see God due to an accidental collision. This will be a—”

Static—!

Just then, the noisy public channel broadcast suddenly cut into the command room’s audio System.

A loud Longxia voice with a thick accent rang out:

”Hello, hello, hello? Sound check, one, two, three... ahem, who is that, can you hear me? Can the people opposite hear me?”

”That... brother driving the big ship opposite, take a piece of advice from your uncle. Your ship is too big, the inertia is huge, and the brake pads probably aren’t working well, right? Definitely don’t slow down! Hear me? Definitely don’t slow down! Step on the gas to the bottom and charge at me!”

General George frowned: ”Translate! What is he saying?”

The translator’s face was strange, stammering as he translated: ”He said... let us not slow down.”

General George: ?

Did he hear wrong?

Before General George could react, the voice on the broadcast suddenly became high-pitched:

”Come, come, come! Ram here! Ram at the bridge!”

”I’m worried about no reason to scrap this broken ship! It’s been in service for thirty years, the air conditioning doesn’t even cool, and they won’t give me a new one. Today, I’ve met a noble person! With this collision, I can just take the pension and go home to hold my grandson, and I can save the country a dismantling fee!”

”The one driving the ship, is your aim any good? If not, should I turn on a navigation light for you? Hurry up, I’ve already peeled the melon seeds here, just waiting for your nudge!”

Meanwhile, the screen on the big display changed.

The ”Zhenhai,” which was previously full of Killing Intent, suddenly slowed down on the sea, even turning around in place, turning its hull sideways, exposing its most vulnerable side to the joint fleet’s route without any defense.

Even more absurdly, there was an extra chair on the front deck.

A figure in a navy uniform was sitting there with his legs crossed, holding a large tea mug, blowing on the hot tea while huffing and puffing, pointing at this side while doing so. That posture was exactly like an old man waiting at the entrance of a village to watch the excitement.

In the command room of ”poseidon,” everyone was dumbfounded.

The epic feeling of ”two armies facing off, life and death on the line” just a moment ago shattered into pieces. An absurd feeling that made people unable to figure it out spread out.

”What... what tactic is this?” The adjutant opened his mouth wide, ”Empty City Strategy? Or some ancient Oriental curse ritual?”

General George was also somewhat suspicious and uncertain, his face gradually darkening.

He had studied countless Dragon Summer military tactics, from The Art of War to guerrilla warfare, and had even studied the personality profiles of every Dragon Summer Commander.

In his files, Lin Weiguo was clearly a tough guy with a fiery personality who would rather break than bend.

But at this moment, what he saw was an out-and-out hoodlum.

If the opponent were prepared to die, it would mean they were at their wit’s end and had no choice but to fight to the death.

But now, the opponent was not only not fighting to the death, but even opening their doors and begging to be rammed. This could only mean one thing—it was a trap!

”This is impossible...” General George stared at the figure leisurely drinking tea on the screen, his brain racing.

A Commander prepared to sacrifice himself would never be in this state.

The only explanation was that their reinforcements had arrived, or rather... the ”thing” that gave them such confidence was already in place.

That mysterious Eastern weapon!

”He is baiting us into attacking!” General George suddenly realized, a layer of cold sweat instantly breaking out on his back.

”This is a trap! If we ram into them or open fire, we will trigger a counterattack mechanism at the ’rule’ level!”

Think about the fate of the F-22, think about the instant noodles in the pilot’s mouth.

General George’s hand trembled, and a few drops of red wine spilled.

He was well aware of the terror of that kind of power.

It was an absolute forbidden zone of the gods.

If it were just an ”accidental intrusion,” perhaps he could still use diplomatic means to wrangle; but if they actively launched an ”attack,” who knows what kind of punishment it would invite?

”Stop! Stop immediately!”

General George practically roared, his original elegance completely vanished.

”Emergency stop for the entire fleet! We absolutely cannot ram into them!”

Following this order, the massive joint fleet performed a clumsy emergency stop on the high seas, worthy of being recorded in the annals of maritime jokes.

The tremendous sound of twisting steel echoed through the sky like a monster’s groan, and the emergency reversing propellers churned the seawater like boiling water.

Due to the massive inertia, several frigates following too closely behind almost rear-ended their own aircraft carrier, scaring the captains into howling in terror.

The fighter jets on the deck slid due to the violent deceleration, colliding with each other and making sharp screeching sounds.

Coffee, documents, and sailors who hadn’t had time to secure themselves all rolled into a heap at that moment.

Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Zhenhai.

Commander Lin watched the chaotic and panicky scene opposite, paused for a moment, and then slapped his thigh hard: ”Hey! Incredible! These foreign devils are just like donkeys; they won’t move when led, but retreat when whipped! The more I tell them to ram, the less they dare to!”

He picked up his tea mug, took a blissful sip of the tea, and added another jab over the broadcast microphone:

”Hey, hey, hey? Why did you stop? Don’t do that! Move forward a bit more, will you? You’re only ten meters away! Are you out of fuel? How about I throw you a cable and tow you over?”

...

On the poseidon, General George steadied his breathing.

He did not lose his composure in the slightest because of the fleet’s chaos.

However, he knew that brute force wouldn’t work.

Behind the opponent’s damned ”rogue” tactics, there must be a fatal trap hidden.

But he couldn’t just go back with his tail between his legs like this.

”It seems I have to change my strategy.”

Thinking of something, General George looked at the media drones circling outside the window, a smile returning to his face.

Three minutes later.

General George straightened his messy collar, took a deep breath, forced a victimized expression onto his face, and turned to face the Western media livestream cameras already waiting on the side.

”Dear viewers, citizens of the free world, as you can see.”

General George pointed at Lin Weiguo, who was drinking tea in the distance, and said with heartbreaking grief:

”This is the ’professionalism’ of Longxia Country. This is their so-called ’style of a great power’.”

”We came with the wish for peace and the exploration of truth, carrying the hope of scientific progress for all mankind. But what about them? They use this kind of hooligan-like rogue behavior to block the footsteps of civilization!”

”Look at that Commander; his behavior is simply a stain on the honor of the navy! He is provoking! He is attempting to incite war! He is making a joke of the lives of countless young sailors! But we—the warriors of the Eagle Federation—are rational, restrained, and civilized. We will never fall into this kind of low-level violent trap, and we will never let barbarism stain this blue ocean!”

...

General George’s performance of grief, combined with carefully selected camera angles, instantly covered major global news channels via satellite signal.

On screen, on one side was the joint fleet, which, despite its messy formation, was still full of technological appeal; on the other side were three shabby destroyers and the Eastern Commander, who was sprawling on the deck, holding a large tea mug, and sitting in an extremely unrefined posture.

This strong visual contrast, under General George’s infectious commentary, quickly fermented into a storm of public opinion.

The comment sections of Twitter, Facebook, and major Western news websites were instantly overrun.

The uninformed Western public was completely led astray by this scene.

They couldn’t understand what tactical maneuvering was; they only saw a ”civilized” research vessel being unreasonably blocked by ”barbaric” warships.

[My God, is that really a Navy Commander? Look at him, his uniform buttons aren’t even buttoned, sitting on the deck drinking tea? This is too unprofessional! It’s simply a disgrace to the navy!]

[Is this the Eastern land of etiquette? I think they’re just Somali pirates! Look at his provocative eyes; he’s completely insulting the scientists of our civilized world!]

[So disappointing. Can Longxia Country only use this kind of hooligan-like ’touching porcelain’ method to stop scientific progress for all mankind? This is the high seas! The ocean belongs to all mankind, not anyone’s backyard!]

[General George is truly a gentleman! To remain restrained in the face of such unprincipled provocation, preferring to perform an emergency stop and damage his own fleet rather than harm the other side. This is the demeanor a beacon of civilization should have!]

Meanwhile, in Longxia Country.

In the broadcast rooms of major livestreaming platforms, the style of the comments was completely different.

Originally, everyone had their hearts in their throats seeing the standoff at the front line, thinking they would see that frustrating ”stern protest” again.

But when the scene shifted, they saw their own Commander Lin basking in the sun like a boss, even complaining that the other side was too slow.

A sense of satisfaction that made one’s scalp tingle down to their heels instantly ignited the internet.

[Holy crap! Is this really our stern Commander Lin? The style changed so suddenly!]

[Hahahaha! I’m dying of laughter! Begging to be rammed? Trying to commit insurance fraud? This move is so cheeky, I’d like to call it the ’Deep Sea Porcelain-Touching Style’!]

[The person above doesn’t get it; this is called confidence! In the past, we had no choice but to use our lives to fill the gap. And now? We’ve got someone backing us!]

[Blind student, you’ve discovered the key point! Commander Lin was originally in a posture of fighting to the death, and suddenly became so arrogant. What does that mean? It means that big shot has made a move!]

[I’ve imagined a whole drama: The mysterious big shot called Commander Lin and said, ’Old Lin, I heard someone wants to come into my yard to dig a hole? And they brought cameras? Fine, just pull up a chair and watch the show; I’d like to see who dares to touch a hair on your head.’]

[Got it, got it! It all makes sense now! Commander Lin is fishing! As long as the Eagle dares to make a move, in the next second, we’ll probably see the iconic scene of an aircraft carrier flipping upside down!]

[Oh my, I’m so anxious! Why is that General George on the other side such a coward? Ram them! Go ahead and ram them! If you don’t ram them, how can our big shot be embarrassed to come out and slap your face?]

[General George: I’m not stupid; I’ve watched the F-22 livestream, and I don’t want to eat instant noodles.]

Of course, there were also many Dragon Summer netizens proficient in foreign languages who bypassed the firewall to go to overseas websites.

Seeing the double-standard faces of those Westerners, they directly transformed into keyboard warriors, engaging in crazy debates.

[Keep bluffing! What scientific research? Does your scientific research involve an aircraft carrier strike group? Carrying hundreds of missiles? Researching what? Researching how torpedoes blow up fish?]

[Calling us hooligans? You drive warships to someone else’s doorstep to show off, and that’s called civilization? We sit at our own doorstep drinking tea, and that’s called barbaric? Isn’t your standard for civilization a bit too flexible?]

[In the end, if you have the ability, come and crash into us. When our big shot makes a move, starting with time stop, you’ll be in for a world of trouble!]

...

The internet world was ablaze with war, while in reality, in the South China Sea, only the sea breeze whistled.

Lin Weiguo sat on the deck, looking as steady as an old dog, but in reality, his back was already soaked with cold sweat.

As the sea breeze blew, a chill crept up his spine.

In his view, this was a high-stakes gamble.

He was gambling with the lives of hundreds of his brothers on the ship and the face of the Dragon Summer Navy, betting that the young man named ”Su Yun” mentioned by the old chief Long Yi really had heaven-defying abilities.

Watching the massive fleet opposite really stop, and even start playing that whole public opinion war game, the heavy stone in Lin Weiguo’s heart finally fell halfway.

Since they didn’t dare to make a move, it meant they were afraid. Once afraid, the matter was already half successful.

”It seems the old chief didn’t fool me.” He took a sip of tea to calm his nerves, looking at the media lenses frantically shooting at him from afar, a cold smile appearing on the corner of his mouth.

”Want to play dirty? Want to stand on the moral high ground and take a crap?”

”Fine, then let’s drag this out and see if you run away with your tails between your legs or charge right in.”

He picked up the walkie-talkie:

”Pass the order down: maintain the current posture, no one is allowed to move.”

”Since they like to film, let them film to their hearts’ content. Tell the kitchen staff to make the braised pork for lunch extra fragrant; it’s best to bring it out to the deck to eat.”

”We’ll just sit here, eating meat while watching how these bandits ruin this show!”

Long Yi’s goal was actually very simple: to let the entire joint fleet enter the national territory while preserving their three warships.

Lin Weiguo bluffed, successfully making General George believe that as long as they didn’t attack or ram, it would be fine, and then the joint fleet would definitely be unable to resist bypassing them and plunging right in!