Lin Feng's will, like a divine decree, spread to every corner of the Star Kingdom within just a few hours.
Operation Thunder Search and Rescue began operating at an unimaginable speed.
The empire's propaganda machine is running at full speed.
Whether it's the giant light screen in Chengtian City, the holographic projection in the Beiwangcheng Indoor Ecological Park, or the information terminals in ordinary people's homes, they are all playing the same heartbreaking and infuriating news on a loop.
The news footage showcased the "Dawn" geological exploration team, comprised of twelve young scientists and engineers, with their photos and biographies displayed. They were the pride of the empire, heroes who dedicated themselves to exploring the unknown.
The narrator, in a sorrowful yet impassioned tone, recounted how they suddenly lost contact with the kingdom while conducting scientific research in the eastern seas.
The coordinates of their disappearance point to that newly emerged, mysterious land called "Dongjin".
"Our heroes, our finest sons and daughters, are now in grave danger! They may very well be imprisoned by a group of barbarians of unknown origin, suffering unimaginable torture! This is the most shameless provocation against our Star Kingdom! The most vicious insult to our seventy million citizens!"
"His Majesty has issued the supreme order! The Imperial fleet will set sail! The Imperial army will embark on its journey! We will not invade, we will not plunder! We only seek to find our compatriots! We only defend the dignity of the Empire!"
"Fellow countrymen! Let those unknown enemies see the consequences of daring to touch the Star Kingdom's sore spot!"
"For His Majesty! For the Empire! For Glory!"
These inflammatory words instantly ignited the entire kingdom.
Hatred is the most effective tool for uniting people. And "saving compatriots" and "defending dignity" are the most perfect pretexts for war.
Since its founding, the kingdom has been in a period of rapid development and peace, and its people enjoy an unprecedentedly prosperous life. However, deep down, the ferocity and belligerence they developed from struggling to survive the apocalypse have never disappeared.
At this moment, this long-suppressed, primal fighting desire was completely unleashed.
The entire kingdom, from top to bottom, was permeated with a fanatical warlike sentiment.
Within an hour of the mobilization order being issued, the gates of the conscription office were packed with people.
Countless young people, their blood boiling with enthusiasm, came to enlist in the army. They did not do so for military merit or wealth, but only to respond to His Majesty's call to "save" their "compatriots" whom they had never met.
The people's hearts are willing to be won over, and the military's morale is already high.
The empire's war machine began to operate at full speed with terrifying efficiency.
Inside the secret naval base located in Chengtian New Port, alarms blared throughout the sky.
One after another, massive warships, with their menacing beauty, slowly sailed out of the dock.
These are the backbone of the Imperial Navy—the "Zhenhai" class heavy cruisers.
They are over 300 meters long, with hulls made of the strongest titanium-tungsten alloy, and their main guns are triple-mounted 200mm electromagnetic railguns, capable of launching 10-kilogram tungsten-core armor-piercing projectiles at ten times the speed of sound to a distance of 500 kilometers.
The fleet's flagship consisted of two even more formidable "Overlord"-class battlecruisers.
They are sister ships of the Poseidon, and also possess miniaturized nuclear reactors and the Doomsday missile system capable of destroying a small city.
The whistling sound was incessant in the sky.
Squadrons of "Dragon Fang" hypersonic fighter-bombers, resembling black bat wings, took off from the air force base and flew eastward at astonishing speed.
On the ground, countless armored trains, fully loaded with Imperial Army soldiers clad in black power armor, as well as the "Tyrant" main battle tanks and "Giant" self-propelled artillery, which resembled steel behemoths, rolled along the newly built eastern coastal railway toward the designated assembly point.
The entire eastern part of the empire has become a huge, bustling outpost.
It only took forty-eight hours.
A massive "First and Second Joint Expeditionary Fleet," consisting of two "Overlord"-class battlecruisers, twelve "Zhenhai"-class heavy cruisers, thirty-six "Qulang"-class destroyers, and hundreds of various auxiliary ships, was assembled.
Under the personal command of General Qin Lan, this invincible fleet, raising its black dragon flag, sailed majestically towards Dongjin, cutting through the waves.
at the same time.
Dongjin, a city that has just begun to recover from the dramatic changes in time and space, is now plunged into a state of great confusion and panic.
Prime Minister's Residence.
The emergency cabinet meeting had been going on for 36 hours, and everyone's face was filled with exhaustion and anxiety.
Prime Minister Masao Suzuki, an elderly man in his sixties with gray hair, tapped the table in a hoarse voice.
"Everyone, I think you are all aware of the situation."
"We are no longer in our original world. We have been transferred, along with the entire Kanto Plain, to a completely new and unfamiliar planet by some unknown force."
"All our satellites have lost contact. All our undersea fiber optic cables have been severed. We have become an isolated island."
This fact weighs on everyone's heart like a boulder.
"What about the military's report?" He looked at Defense Minister Yuichi Watanabe.
Yuichi Watanabe, a middle-aged general with a resolute face, stood up and said solemnly, "Reporting to the Prime Minister. We have dispatched all our reconnaissance aircraft and ships to conduct preliminary reconnaissance of the surrounding seas and land. This world... is extremely dangerous."
“In the ocean, there are enormous creatures that we have never seen before. One of our Oyashio-class submarines was attacked by an unidentified creature while diving for reconnaissance and lost contact instantly.”
"On the western continent, the vegetation is lush, but it is also full of danger. A reconnaissance team composed of special forces was attacked by a pack of giant wolf-like creatures less than ten kilometers inland. In the end, only three people escaped alive. The video footage they brought back showed that ordinary rifle bullets could not effectively harm those creatures."
A collective gasp filled the conference room.
“In other words,” Suzuki Masao’s voice was filled with bitterness, “we are trapped in a world of myths and legends?”
“That’s one way to put it, Prime Minister,” Watanabe Yuichi said in a deep voice. “What’s worse is that our resources are extremely limited. Without external input, the oil, natural gas, and various mineral resources in Higashitsu’s reserves can only sustain the entire city for a maximum of three months.”
"Three months from now, we will face a desperate situation of energy depletion, industrial shutdown, and food shortages."
Despair, like a plague, spread through the conference room.
Just then, a secretary rushed in looking flustered, forgetting to even knock.
"Prime Minister! Defense Minister! Urgent intelligence!"
"What's wrong? Why are you in such a panic!" Watanabe Yuichi shouted.
"The sea...the sea! A...a huge, unidentified fleet has appeared!" the secretary stammered, his face filled with fear.
He connected his tablet to the large screen in the conference room.
On the screen, real-time images transmitted from coastal radar stations and high-altitude sentry aircraft appeared.
On the sea less than 100 kilometers from Dongjin Bay, an unprecedentedly large and overwhelming fleet was slowly approaching in an extremely imposing formation.
The design of these warships is filled with a violent aesthetic that they cannot comprehend.
The ship's jet-black hull, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen, resembled a colossal beast awakening from the deep sea. Its disproportionately large cannons, like the beast's fangs, gleamed with a chilling light of death.
Above the fleet, the black banners embroidered with giant black dragons fluttered, exuding an aura of evil and dominance.
"What...what is this?"
"How could their ships be so big? Those two leading ones are more than twice the size of our largest helicopter carrier!"
"My God... what country's fleet is this? Their technology... how could it be..."
In the conference room, all the cabinet ministers stood up in shock, their faces filled with disbelief.
Masao Suzuki stared intently at the screen, his hands trembling violently.
He knew that the thing that worried them most in this world had happened.
They are not the only intelligent civilization on this planet.
Moreover, the other party clearly had ill intentions.
"Watanabe-kun!" he shouted sternly, "Immediately order the naval and air forces to enter a state of maximum combat readiness! Order all shore-based anti-ship missile units to disengage their safety mechanisms! Prepare to engage!"
“But Prime Minister…” Watanabe Yuichi’s face showed extreme struggle, “The enemy’s strength far exceeds our imagination. Once war breaks out, we…”
"We have no choice!" Suzuki Masao interrupted him, a resolute glint in his eyes. "Dongjin is the last spark of hope in Yingzhou! We cannot surrender without a fight!"
"Contact them immediately! Ask them why they're here!"
The order was quickly relayed.
In Dongjin Bay, alarms blared. Military ships rushed out of port, forming a fragile defensive line at the bay entrance.
In the sky, F-15J and F-2 fighter jets also took off urgently and circled in the distance to keep watch.
Soon, an encrypted international radio communication was sent out.
"This is the Dongjin government. Please state your identities and purpose. You have entered our territorial waters. Please stop immediately, or we will take all necessary countermeasures."
The communication went unanswered, with no response whatsoever.
The black fleet continued its unhurried approach.
That silence was more terrifying than any clamor.
Five minutes later.
A plaintext, unencrypted communication, carrying strong electromagnetic interference and imbued with a condescending tone, was transmitted across all of Dongjin's public channels.
The communications were in a language they had never heard before, but could barely understand through translation software.
“Listen up, natives of Dongjin.”
A cold, emotionless female voice resounded through the sky. It was Qin Lan's voice.
"We are the great kingdom of stars, the sole masters of this planet."
“One of our research teams has mysteriously disappeared in your waters. We have reason to believe that you have detained our citizens.”
"Now, I, General Qin Lan, the supreme military commander of my Star Kingdom, hereby issue this final ultimatum to you by the decree of my lord, the supreme monarch, His Majesty Lin Feng."
"Immediately hand over our citizens and surrender to us unconditionally, accepting the judgment of our Lord."
"You have thirty minutes to consider."
"If our requests are not met within thirty minutes..."
"We will flatten your cities, crush your armies, and turn your civilization to dust."
"Timer, start."
This domineering, unreasonable, and utterly irrational ultimatum plunged the entire Dongjin into a deathly silence.
Inside the Prime Minister's official residence, everyone was stunned and speechless by these words.
"What? Missing citizens? When did we detain their citizens?"
"This...this is utterly baseless slander! It's a blatant pretext for aggression!"
"The Kingdom of Stars? His Majesty Lin Feng? Do they...do they consider themselves gods?"
Suzuki Masao's face had turned a deep purplish-red. He was trembling with rage.
He had been a politician his whole life, wielding power for a lifetime, but he had never seen such arrogant and unreasonable "diplomacy."
This isn't diplomacy; it's clearly a robber making a perfunctory shout before actually robbing someone!
"Watanabe-kun!" he roared with all his might.
"exist!"
"Prepare for battle! Let these arrogant and conceited invaders taste the might of the Yingzhou warriors!"
"Even if we fight to the last man, we will never surrender!"
"Hi!"
With the order given, the will to fight finally replaced panic.
Thirty minutes passed in the blink of an eye.
When the countdown reaches zero in the last second.
Qin Lan's icy voice rang out again.
"Time's up. It seems you've chosen the most foolish path: a dead end."
"So……"
"In the name of my lord Lin Feng, the trial begins!"
The moment the words fell.
In the distant black fleet, the twelve "Zhenhai"-class heavy cruisers roared simultaneously from their broadside main guns!
Thirty-six beams of light, visible to the naked eye and crackling with blue electric arcs, tore the sky apart!
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