48: Consultant Jiang, you really don't know about this in Shanghai?

12:01 AM.

The Huangpu River water, which had been forcibly pushed aside by that terrifying sword qi, crashed back into place under the force of gravity!

Tens of thousands of tons of river water surged frantically from both sides toward the center, colliding violently at the riverbed's core, kicking up a colossal wave even more rabid than the last.

Boom—!!!

Carrying destructive power, the giant wave slammed hard against both banks of the Huangpu River.

On The Bund's viewing platform, the sturdy flood wall let out a tooth-gritting groan as countless cracks instantly spread; the river water crested over the dam, swallowing the entire Riverside Avenue.

Piercing alarms rang out across the entire Bund at the same moment.

Chaos, screams, cries.

The crowd, which had just been immersed in boundless shock, was instantly dominated by survival instincts, fleeing inland like mad.

Only thirty seconds.

Within thirty seconds of the incident.

All social media platforms in China were instantly ignited by three hashtags.

#Magic Capital Sword Immortal#

#One Sword Splits the River#

#Bring in the Wine#

...The speed of propagation and the impact of this supernatural event, occurring in the heart of the world's premier metropolis, were far beyond anything that had come before.

Tens of thousands of witnesses on the scene were tens of thousands of mobile signal sources.

Weibo.

TikTok.

Bilibili.

Almost in the same second, countless angles and versions of on-site videos were uploaded.

The clearest among them was 4K ultra-high-definition footage captured by a photography enthusiast with the username "Flying Fatty" using a DJI drone.

The video began with a white-clothed figure appearing out of thin air at the tip of the Oriental Pearl Tower.

He floated 350 meters in the air, his robes fluttering.

Using his sword as a brush, he wrote three bold, flowing cursive characters in the night sky.

——Bring in the Wine.

Then, that hundred-meter sword qi that tore through the night and split the river was presented on everyone's screens with indisputable clarity.

Within just one minute of being uploaded, the video surpassed a million shares.

The comments section completely collapsed.

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! I fucking don't know what else to say besides holy shit!"

"I'm right here at The Bund, just crawled out of the water! It's real! It's all real! The river water backflowed!"

"This isn't special effects! This isn't a holographic projection! When that sword qi struck down, I felt all of Lujiazui shaking!"

"Bring in the Wine... Do you not see the Yellow River's waters coming from the sky... Is this Li Bai?! It's the Poet Immortal Li Bai!"

"The Crow God controls nature, but this is pure attack! Pure destruction! Are these even on the same fucking dimension?!"

Panic and fanaticism intertwined; skepticism and worship coexisted.

The internet in China completely boiled over that night.

And this was only the beginning.

When these videos were moved to global social media like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook, a cognitive earthquake affecting all of humanity officially erupted.

An Eagle Sauce netizen with blonde hair and blue eyes retweeted the video on Twitter and commented in all caps:

"OH MY FUCKING GOD! Is this China's latest secret weapon? How did they do it? This is a show of force to the whole world!"

Below this tweet, a user from Sakura Country replied: "No! This isn't a weapon! Look at his clothes, listen to that recitation! This is more like... a myth descending! It's the 'Sword Immortal' from Eastern legends!"

On YouTube, the most popular video title was translated into dozens of languages.

《SHOCKING! Chinese Immortal Appears in Shanghai, Splits the River with One Sword Strike!》

Below the video, comments from all over the world refreshed at an unprecedented speed.

"This is the most badass movie trailer I've ever seen. Please tell me the movie's name; I'll definitely buy a ticket!"

"Wake up, person above. No movie company has claimed responsibility for this, and have you ever seen a trailer that could cause floods and an official lockdown?"

"I am a physicist, and I can swear with my life's work that everything in the video defies all known laws of physics. How is that person floating? What form of energy is that sword qi? Why can those three Chinese characters stay in the air? It's impossible!"

"After the 'Crow God', another miracle... no, this time it's divine punishment! What is happening to the world?"

If the "Crow God" only shook the foundations of science for the global elite.

Then this "One Sword Splits the River" was a resounding slap across the face of all humanity.

It used the most violent, direct, and indisputable way to announce to the world:

Myths are not fiction... Magic Capital.

At the command center of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, the emergency liaison office of the National Security Department.

All phone lines were ringing off the hook.

Piercing rings rose and fell, but the operators were all pale as ghosts, holding their receivers, not knowing how to respond.

Report?

How to report?

Say an ancient Sword Immortal descended upon the Magic Capital and split the Huangpu River with one sword strike?

If such a report were submitted, would they be sent to a mental hospital first, or arrested as an enemy agent first?

All frontline personnel, facing an event beyond the scope of understanding, fell into a collective state of speechlessness.

The only thing they could do was deploy all police forces, set up the strictest cordon, urgently evacuate the crowd, and then report the highest-level alarm up through the ranks... Ninth Bureau, Command Center.

On the giant electronic screen, the section representing the Magic Capital area was completely covered by a glaring red alarm.

"Highest Alarm! Source: Magic Capital!"

"Event Level: Unassessable!"

"Phenomenon Description: Suspected supernatural entity appeared, causing large-scale physical destruction and social panic!"

Encrypted messages flashed across the screen frantically.

Chen Jianguo stood before the command console, staring intently at the real-time footage being transmitted back by a military drone in the center of the screen.

In the footage, the Huangpu River was a mess, with blackouts on both banks and countless police lights flashing.

Chen Jianguo's fingers unconsciously tapped on the control panel.

His brain was working at high speed.

This wasn't Jiang Ming.

Absolutely not.

Jiang Ming's abilities, whether it was ravens, plants, or the weather, all carried a sense of "control" and "transformation." All his actions were like a calculating artist creating his own work.

But the one in the footage was pure, undisguised, sharp aggressiveness.

One sword splits the river.

This destructive power had already far exceeded everything Jiang Ming had shown so far.

A most terrifying thought flashed through Chen Jianguo's mind.

There was more than one anomaly in this world.

The definition of the unique, controllable target a-001 was wrong from the start!

Now, a new, completely unknown existence had appeared, with aggressiveness and destructive power far exceeding Jiang Ming's.

If Jiang Ming was a fierce tiger that could be communicated with.

Then this newly appeared "Sword Immortal" was an unpredictable, uncommunicable prehistoric Tyrannosaurus Rex!

Jiang Ming's status must be confirmed immediately!

His stance must also be confirmed immediately!

Did he know about the existence of this "Sword Immortal," or was he completely unaware?

Was he our ally, or... was all of this planned by him?

Countless thoughts exploded in Chen Jianguo's head, making him feel a sense of suffocation.

Chen Jianguo no longer hesitated; he turned abruptly and took out the black encrypted phone from his coat.

He pulled up that unique number and dialed it directly... Meanwhile.

Magic Capital, Tomson Riviera, top-floor Skyline Villa.

Before the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, Jiang Ming's original body stood quietly.

Beside him was the invisible Invisible Puppet No. 2.

Jiang Ming looked down at the chaos he had personally directed; police lights flashed and voices buzzed, like an overturned ant nest.

In his mind, the numbers on the system panel were constantly rising.

[emotion points +1,245,890]

[emotion points +2,011,455]

[emotion points +3,547,110]

...In just a few minutes, the cognitive impact on a global scale had brought him over five million emotion points in gains.

And this number was still rising.

The first act of the "Holy Grail War" was working better than imagined... Yuzhang City, Xishan Nursing Center, Villa No. 7.

On the large bed in the master bedroom, Mirror Image No. 1, playing the role of "Jiang Ming on vacation," was maintaining a peaceful sleeping posture.

Suddenly.

On the nightstand, the black encrypted phone let out a low and urgent vibration.

The screen lit up, and the caller ID showed only three words.

Chen Jianguo.

Mirror Image No. 1 slowly opened his eyes.

He adjusted his sleeping position to make himself look more like he had been woken up.

Then, he reached out for the phone and swiped the answer button.

From the other end of the phone, Chen Jianguo's rapid breathing, suppressed with great emotion, immediately came through.

Mirror Image No. 1 didn't speak first, but just held the phone to his ear, using a tone of laziness and dissatisfaction that was just right for someone who had just been woken up:

"Hello?"

Silence for a second on the other end.

Then, Chen Jianguo's incredibly grave voice came through, word by word:

"Consultant Jiang, what just happened in the Magic Capital—was it your doing?"