My Apocalypse System Arrives 10 Years Early

Chapter 432: Chapter 285: A Carrier Silently Taken into a Mustard Seed, Gathering Heaven and Earth for the Ice Age (Part 2)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed that multiple agricultural states in the Midwest have suffered massive theft of agricultural products, with total losses exceeding twenty million tons. The exact figures have not yet been fully compiled.

Rare crops such as wild blueberries from Michigan and American Ginseng from Wisconsin were also completely plundered.

The Pentagon further disclosed that a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier under construction at Newport News Shipyard (337 meters long, power system already installed) had vanished into thin air. Surveillance footage only captured a ”spatial ripple.” The FBI has classified the incident as a ”national-level supernatural crime” and is offering a ten million US Dollar reward for any leads.

Think tanks suspected the Chinese Side was responsible, but they lacked any hard evidence.

With the rise of the Eastern Great Power, they could no longer be pushed around without concrete proof. A reporter who raised the question at a press conference held by the Chinese Side was met with a harsh rebuttal.

A CNN special report stated: ”This is a dual catastrophe for both wildlife and the military-industrial complex.”

Predators such as grizzly bears from Yellowstone National Park, cougars from the Rocky Mountains, and alligators from Florida were hunted with precision. Some of the carcasses showed signs of being impaled by rock spikes.

Since some of the animals weren’t very tasty and their pelts were mediocre, Li Xiang didn’t take everything.

From the bears, for example, he only harvested the gallbladders and chopped off the paws.

Even more shockingly, the armories of several military factories were cleaned out. Cutting-edge equipment, including GBU-12 laser-guided bombs mounted on MQ-9 drones, Boston Dynamics robotic dogs, and their accompanying 6.5mm Creedmoor rifles, all vanished without a trace. A military expert called it ”a humiliating breach of North America’s defense systems.”

An editorial in the Washington Post read: ”What are we facing? Superpower Users or alien technology? Where are our superheroes?”

The United States Department of Defense held an emergency hearing, demanding the reinstatement of the budget for the ”Supernatural Defense Initiative,” but was criticized by some congressmen for ”diverting public anger from the agricultural losses.”

「Global Netizen Discussions」

United States Reddit Forums.

”The great agricultural power? Now we’re ’The Great Plundered Power’!”

One netizen lamented: ”My dad’s farm surveillance captured the wheat disappearing in waves... What the hell is this, a robber from an Inception x Avengers Alliance crossover?”

A popular comment from a Chinese-American netizen joked: ”I suggest the federal Department of Agriculture switch to writing fantasy novels. Title: *That Time My Wheat Got Confiscated by the Local Land God*.”

An Indian netizen commented: ”Haha, we’ve been saying it all along. It’s an emissary of our Shiva God and Snow Mountain Goddess.”

Unfortunately, no one paid them any mind.

’The White Elephant is no good at being a scapegoat,’ Li Xiang thought. ’Their attitude is great, though; they seem perfectly willing to take the fall. Too bad nobody’s willing to believe them.’

Another proud and superior-sounding netizen from New Delhi posted photos of a King Cobra and a Bengal Tiger: ”North American beasts are too weak. Our snakes can take on ten of them! Our tigers would thrash their cougars and jaguars.”

A Mumbai netizen added insult to injury: ”I suggest the United States import Indian bison. After all, if even the ’Ox Demon King’ can be killed with a single punch, your lions and tigers are nothing special.”

Trending on European Twitter.

”European Parliament emergency proposal: Establish an ’Anti-Superpower User Alliance’.”

To be precise, an anti-China alliance.

A netizen from Berlin mocked: ”Topic for the next NATO summit: How to defend against teleporting groundhogs?”

An art blogger from Paris Photoshopped an image: The top of the Eiffel Tower was fitted with an ”Anti-Spatial-Tear Device,” captioned, ”France’s technology, the ultimate cure for defiance.”

Japan’s 2ch Forums

”The truth is out: The United States’ aircraft carrier was turned into sushi!”

A delusional netizen deduced: ”Nuclear power = infinite energy. The Superpower User stole the carrier to open a revolving sushi bar in an Underground City! The hull length is the perfect size for a standard sushi counter. The evidence is conclusive!”

A tech nerd retorted: ”Obviously it was to charge a Gundam!”

However, they were actually pretty close to the mark. Of course, Li Xiang wasn’t opening a sushi restaurant, but he did do it for a stable and convenient energy source.

’Who would’ve thought the Japanese understood the Chinese best?’

South Korea’s Naver Trends

”Shocking! The Mysterious Man is of Korean descent!”

A Seoul netizen listed the ”evidence”: ”Only the land of the universe’s number one nation, South Korea, could produce an Earth Superpower! The United States’ black soil was stolen from the mud of the Han River during the Korean War!”

A food blogger from Busan jumped on the trend: ”The stolen wheat must be for making authentic Korean-style cold noodles!”

Latin American Netizens Join the Memes

A Brazilian netizen made a short video: The Christ the Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro held the aircraft carrier like a surfboard, with ”Despacito” as the background music. Hashtag: #WrathOfGod2.0#.

A Mexican netizen snarked: ”Next time you rob the White House, remember to patch up the wall. A certain very reliable someone will thank you!”

A tycoon from Dubai tweeted: ”Offering a ten-ton gold reward for the Superpower User’s contact information. I want to convert the aircraft carrier into a floating Mosque.”

A Saudi netizen reposted: ”To the poster above, Allah says the aircraft carrier is too big. It won’t fit in Mecca.”

A netizen from Toronto, Canada, said self-deprecatingly: ”Count your blessings, Americans. He only stole your agricultural products! If he came to Canada, he probably wouldn’t even leave us our snow and maple syrup!”

An environmentalist from Vancouver pleaded: ”Could the Superpower User please steal Alberta’s oil sands while you’re at it? Save the polar bears!”

A pragmatic Kenyan netizen from Africa left a comment: ”Are you selling the alligator skins? Price is negotiable, with a discount for bulk orders.”

The Minister of Agriculture of South Africa jumped on the bandwagon: ”Our beef has a far superior texture to North American bison. We support a group buy for the Superpower User, with free shipping to anywhere south of the Sahara!”

Someone replied: ”Don’t get cocky. That guy is famous for his ’zero-dollar shopping sprees.’ Be careful or he’ll plunder you too, and then you’ll be the one crying.”

”Huh? ’Zero-dollar shopping’? Isn’t that an American thing?”

...

The outside world was in an uproar, and the entire internet was buzzing. After all, even the great global leader, the Lighthouse Country, had been plundered. The whole nation was subjected to a ”zero-dollar shopping spree,” and they had even lost a vital national asset that cost 14 billion US dollars to build. Countless spectators were enjoying the show.

Meanwhile, Li Xiang was by the foot of Mount Fuji, enjoying the gentle comforts of a private hot spring room at Snow’s Inn.

Cherry blossoms drifted like clouds of mist. Twelve Bronze Wind Chimes swayed gently from the eaves, sweeping the falling petals into a swirling dance of pink snow. Li Xiang lay back on the cobblestone edge of the open-air bath, the rising sulfurous steam condensing into crystalline droplets on his firm chest muscles.

Chiba Yuki knelt on a cypress wood deck, shaded by weeping cherry trees. She dipped her slender, pale fingertips into cherry blossom essential oil and massaged it along the muscles of Li Xiang’s shoulders.

The hem of Shikigami Red Wisdom’s scarlet kimono was dipped in the hot spring. With a gentle wave of her Karma Fire Folding Fan, she startled several Glazed Phoenix Butterflies that had been resting on its surface.

Li Xiang had been running around for so many days that he had come here for a short rest. His mind, however, was busy mulling over lines of poetry.

’Can’t be helped, I’ve gotten obsessed with it recently. I want to show off my poetic talent.’

He racked his brain for a long time, burning countless brain cells, before finally composing a poem titled ”North American Sketches”:

”Black earth churns with the Earth Escape’s might,In Kansas, golden waves roll out of sight.Winter wheat tides to a strange vault flow,Durham’s white fields to the Profound Sect go.The Ginseng King Breathed for thirty years’ grace,An Amber Flowing Light for sixty years’ space.The carrier shrinks to a mustard seed’s size,For the coming ice age, Heaven and Earth I prize.”

Li Xiang was particularly satisfied with the last two lines. The first one referred to storing strategic resources, and the second hinted at the deeper meaning of his preparations for the Apocalypse. The whole poem had a grand, majestic feel, as if spanning Heaven and Earth.

Of course, that was just his own opinion. In reality, it was just so-so.

”Master, your talent is unparalleled. Yuki is truly in awe. Master, please look—”

Chiba Yuki suddenly leaned forward, her breath as fragrant as an orchid as she pointed to the edge of the pool.

A bamboo fountain clacked against the rock wall, and the dislodged cherry blossom petals coalesced in mid-air, forming the lines of the poem ”North American Sketches.”

Red Wisdom’s Folding Fan gave off a purple glow, coating each inky character in a flowing, mirage-like light.

”Yuki will be sure to copy it down, frame it in my bedroom, and recite it every night before sleep.”

’Damn, what a suck-up,’ Li Xiang thought, feeling giddy with pleasure.

”If Master is interested, you could also compose a poem on Yuki’s body,” Chiba Yuki said, lowering her gaze shyly.