Chapter 15
If one were to describe current international relations on Earth in a few words, it would be that things appear calm on the surface, but are turbulent and unpredictable underneath. However, the international community has been relatively peaceful during this period.
The reason is simple: the United States, which spearheaded the unrest, is currently busy with its presidential election. With the leader unable to lead the charge, the underlings naturally quieted down and kept quiet.
However, by 10 a.m., Veran Square in Oakland, England, was already packed with people, as a rally and speech were scheduled to take place there at noon.
The speaker was Alan Walker, who had already won the votes in seven states in the United States. If he could win the votes in three more states before the deadline, he would win the election and be elected president.
The hour of midnight arrived quietly.
Amid cheers from the audience, Alan Walker confidently stepped onto the stage, loudly proclaiming his political stance and the benefits he would bring to everyone.
"True equality and freedom will eventually come to the Eagle Nation! Let us cheer for its arrival!"
The live broadcast cameras clearly projected Alan Walker's image onto the large screen in the square, ensuring that even viewers who were a little further away from the square or in front of the screen could be swept up in the emotions, cheering enthusiastically before casting their precious votes.
The cheers surged like a sea, echoing across the entire square.
However, just as the atmosphere reached its climax, a sudden change occurred.
A short man suddenly appeared out of nowhere next to Alan Walker. No one knew how he appeared, including Alan Walker's bodyguards.
The short man snatched the microphone from Alan Walker's hand and, while he was still stunned, raised his arms and shouted, "Support John Jason! Support National Healthcare Reform!"
All of this happened in an instant; it took less than twenty seconds from the moment the man appeared to the moment he snatched the microphone.
Alan Walker's bodyguard reacted quickly, preventing the short man from saying anything more outrageous. Almost as soon as the short man finished speaking, he pulled out the gun from his pocket.
Without hesitation, he fired a bullet at the short man.
"Bang!"
The deafening gunshots, along with the panicked screams of the crowd, nearly shook the entire square.
As the white smoke from the bullet dissipated, the bodyguard did not see the short man lying on the ground as he had hoped. Where the man had just stood, there was only air and a lonely bullet hole.
"Damn it! Where is everyone?!"
Alan Walker was even more distraught than his bodyguard, screaming and cursing, "He ruined today's rallies! That treacherous John Jason sent people to destroy my campaign rally!"
Everything that happened in Veran was faithfully recorded by the live broadcast cameras and shown to the public watching the live stream.
While the speech venue was in complete chaos, viewers watching the live stream were also stunned by the sudden turn of events.
What happened in Veran quickly went viral on social media across the United States. Whether online, on television, or in person, everyone was discussing Veran's farcical speech and that strange man.
People left comments speculating about the identity of the short man who suddenly appeared.
“Oh my God, he must be a messenger sent by the devil to sabotage Alan Walker’s election speech. His strange posture and rough voice are evidence of his deal with the devil.”
"Nonsense, it's clearly the devil who didn't agree to Alan Walker's participation in the presidential election and sent a demon messenger to stop his speech."
In this country that was once ruled by religion, when people encounter inexplicable events, they tend to attribute them to God or the devil.
But there are other voices as well.
"Doesn't anyone find the blue vortex he appeared in familiar?"
"I know who you're talking about, it's James, right?"
"Yes, I highly recommend everyone to watch James' videos. His pranks have been getting increasingly outrageous lately, and he's already scared three people into going to the hospital."
Following @directions, netizens found James's account. James is a video blogger whose videos mainly consist of filming himself playing various scary pranks and the reactions of those who are scared.
He recently started a new column called "Friendly People in the Dark".
The name sounds harmless.
But the video content is not as gentle as its name suggests.
The main content of "Friendly People in the Dark" is to specifically seek out dimly lit or desolate sections of road, and when people are completely unaware, James, wearing a ghost mask, suddenly jumps out to scare them.
It's low-brow and boring, but because the video is visually appealing and the people who are frightened react strongly, it has attracted a lot of viewers.
And I don't know how he does it, but every time he scares someone, he appears out of thin air behind the person he's scared, then silently taps them on the shoulder, and after they turn around, he starts to make eerie laughter and imitate the babbling of a devil.
Countless poor people walking at night were terrified by him, and some were even hospitalized.
James used this trick to fool countless people walking alone at night, and the number of video views skyrocketed, bringing him huge traffic and revenue.
Besides being furious at James's actions, netizens who came through the internet were most curious about what made him appear out of nowhere.
Through the identical blue vortexes, they could now confirm that James and the short man shared the same source of power.
Fortunately, the netizens' doubts did not last long, and someone soon provided the answer.
"This is a space ring from the Flower Kingdom. With it, you can achieve a space crossing within a straight line of 150 kilometers. So the short man who suddenly appeared in Alan Walker's election speech has nothing to do with God or the devil. It was just his opponent causing trouble."
"A space ring? This is the first time I've heard of this product."
"What an amazing feature! Please tell me how to buy it, I really need this awesome product."
"Achieving space travel? When did Huaguo Technology become so amazing?"
People in the Flower Country, who were all connected to the same network, quickly learned about the trouble that had occurred in the Eagle Country.
Numerous videos of the event and comments from netizens have appeared online.
Netizens discussed how making a fool of oneself is inevitable, and wondered if a spatial ring could be used in this way. They exclaimed, "I've learned something new!" and happily turned the image of Alan Walker's frightened expression into a meme, which spread across the internet.
While Chinese netizens were making fun of the memes, theories about the threat of space rings emerged one after another abroad.
"The space ring technology of the Flower Kingdom will pose a maximum threat to the security of other countries in the world. The existence of the space ring will render national customs and border defenses meaningless. They can go to any corner of the world without any obstacles. Just imagine, my friends, when you are taking a shower or having a sweet time with your lover at night, a Flower Kingdom person suddenly appears. How terrifying would that be! National military bases will become Flower Kingdom tourist destinations, top-secret technologies of companies can be stolen at will, and citizens' privacy will be treated as nothing!"
"The advent of the space ring presents a new challenge for other countries in the world: protecting national security and citizens' privacy."
"The space ring is a 'special weapon' that threatens world security. We urge the United States to stop producing the space ring and share its research and development data."
"I think the Flower Kingdom's response is neither acceptable nor convincing. They claim that other countries' territories are not part of the Flower Kingdom's public area and cannot be traversed using the space ring, but these statements are completely unsubstantiated!"
Alan Walker had been holding a grudge ever since his last speech rally was ruined.
When he saw the huge public outcry caused by the space ring, he knew his opportunity had come.
Alan Walker decisively instructed his subordinates to revise his previous election speech, shifting the focus of his upcoming speech to the space ring.
Hmm, let him think about it.
First, he needs to promote the threat theory of the space ring and the Flower Country. This is not unfounded. As a politician, no one understands better than him the benefits this technology brings to the Flower Country and the threats it poses to other countries.
The second step was to promise voters that once in power, they would use every means to obtain the space ring technology, allowing the people of Eagle Country to have their own space ring, while also curbing the technological development of Flower Country.
It doesn't need to be too complicated; these two steps alone can win him countless votes, regardless of skin color, region, occupation, or wealth.
After all, these two points are everyone's expectations and consensus.
He just needs to act faster; if John Jason gets there first, the results of all his plans will be halved.
He couldn't accept things turning out this way!
While things were in complete chaos abroad, Xia Ke was also very troubled.
Previously, the Space Ring store had also received messages from overseas, but without exception, the language used was Chinese. It's obvious that the people behind them were Chinese with ulterior motives.
But ever since the Space Ring became popular overseas, the store's private messages have been flooded with foreign languages. This has really put Yang Yan, Zhang Fan, and the others in a difficult position. None of them have a high school education and only know the ABCs. They don't know any more difficult foreign languages. Now, asking them to reply to messages from overseas is really too much of a challenge for them.
Left with no other option, he had to ask Xia Ke for help.
Xia Ke's foreign language skills are quite good; her speaking might be a little weak, but her listening and reading are fine.
At this stage, how to respond to overseas clients is not the focus. The focus is on her next course of action. Xia Ke first asked them to ignore this part of the information and contacted Chen Ying.
When Chen Ying left, she left her contact information with Xia Ke and said that she could contact her if needed.
The two had been friends for over two months, and this was the first time Xia Ke had opened the chat window.
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