140: Chapter 140: Flipping the Table? I'll Flip It for You
"I object."
These three words, spoken by Jiang Ning, were understated yet felt like three massive mountains crashing down upon the hearts of everyone in the conference hall.
There was no long-winded rebuttal, no debate citing classics, and not even a trace of anger.
It was the simplest, most direct, and most indisputable refusal.
Secretary of State Gino of Country M felt his blood pressure soaring.
He had imagined countless reactions from the Xia Country side.
They might argue their case, they might haggle, or they might try to trade other interests.
But he never expected the other party's response to be so... crude.
Leaving not a single inch of room for maneuver.
This was no longer diplomacy; this was blatant humiliation!
"Chief Engineer Jiang Ning!" Gino stood up abruptly, his voice cracking with agitation. "What kind of attitude is this! You are making an enemy of the whole world! You are dragging your country into an abyss of isolation!"
"You must understand that our proposal represents the mainstream voice of the international community! Your unilateral refusal is invalid and unacceptable!"
The representative of the E-Union also stood up, his face ashen. "Ms. Jiang Ning, I must remind you that we have prepared a comprehensive package of sanctions. If your side insists on pursuing the path of technological monopoly, then starting tomorrow, all science, technology, finance, and trade cooperation related to Xia Country will face the most severe and comprehensive sanctions!"
"Our United Fleet is only a few dozen kilometers away." A Country R representative with a military background threatened even more blatantly. "We came for peace. But if peaceful dialogue cannot resolve the issue, we do not rule out using 'all necessary means' to maintain the global strategic balance!"
The daggers were out.
Coercion, bribery, intimidation...
These countries had finally torn off their last shred of decency, revealing their primitive, bandit-like faces.
The atmosphere in the conference hall instantly became tense to the extreme.
The air seemed thick with the smell of gunpowder.
The officials on the Xia Country side clenched their fists, glaring at their counterparts.
Director Zhao Lixin was about to stand up and deliver a righteous rebuttal.
But Jiang Ning raised her hand and stopped him.
She looked at the representatives of the various nations, who were shouting with stern countenances, and a... playful smile actually appeared on her face.
"Sanctions? Fleets? All necessary means?"
She repeated the words softly and then shook her head.
"It seems you still haven't figured out the current situation."
As she spoke, she snapped her fingers.
Snap.
A crisp sound.
Suddenly, a flash of light erupted from the circular jade table in the center of the conference hall.
A massive, three-dimensional holographic image appeared out of thin air.
The content of the image was a real-time view of this sea area.
They could clearly see the dozen or so carrier strike groups forming a massive fleet dozens of kilometers away, surrounding this small floating island like a pack of steel behemoths.
Missile launchers on the warships were already raised.
Carrier-based fighters were making final preparations for takeoff on the decks of the aircraft carriers.
War seemed imminent.
"Do you see that?" Gino pointed at the image and sneered. "This is our confidence! This is 'all necessary means'! Jiang Ning, I will give you one last chance. Accept our proposal, or else..."
Before he could finish his sentence.
He saw that the "Peace No. 1" floating island where Jiang Ning was located suddenly underwent a change in the image.
At the edges of the island, the warm, jade-like white ground slowly split open like flower petals.
Enormous cannon barrels shimmering with a metallic luster slowly rose from beneath the ground.
The design of those barrels was extremely sci-fi, with visible blue electric arcs swirling around the muzzles.
At a rough count, there were over a hundred such barrels, arming the entire island into a... sea fortress with three hundred and sixty degrees of coverage!
"What... what is this?"
Gino's eyes instantly widened.
The military advisors were even more dumbfounded.
"Energy weapons? Is it... an Electromagnetic Railgun? Or a High-Energy Particle Cannon?"
"Impossible! With such a large caliber... how terrifying would its power output be?"
"Can our fleet's shields last even a single second in front of such a weapon?"
While they were filled with doubt and alarm.
Jiang Ning's voice rang out again, still just as indifferent.
"These are the 'fireworks' I prepared for you. Originally, I planned to show them to you after the summit ended. But now it seems you're a bit impatient."
As she spoke, she reached out her finger and tapped lightly in the air.
In the image, one of the cannon barrels moved.
It silently adjusted its muzzle and aimed from afar at a Country R destroyer on the outermost edge of the United Fleet.
"Don't!" The representative of Country R was scared out of his wits and screamed in terror.
Hum—
A faint sound, like a surge of electric current.
A blue-white beam of light, more dazzling than the sun, erupted from the muzzle!
The speed of that light beam surpassed the limits of human vision.
Everyone present felt their vision blur for a moment.
The next second.
In the image, the destroyer "Yukikaze," with a displacement of nearly ten thousand tons and representing the highest technological level of the Country R Navy, was like a punctured balloon.
From bow to stern, it was instantly pierced by that beam of light.
There was no explosion, no flames, and not even much sound.
Right before everyone's eyes, that destroyer had a perfectly smooth circular hole with a diameter of over ten meters "evaporated" right through its middle by the light beam.
Seawater rushed in frantically.
In just a dozen seconds, this steel behemoth sank slowly into the dark depths of the sea, carrying its indignation with it.
An instant kill!
One shot, one kill!
The entire conference hall was dead silent.
The same word was written on everyone's faces—fear.
They looked at the wreckage of the sinking warship in the image, then at the woman in the main seat who hadn't even moved a finger, feeling their worldview completely overturned.
How... how could they even fight this?
In her eyes, their fleet was just a bunch of... sitting ducks!
"Now," Jiang Ning withdrew her finger, her gaze sweeping across the stunned faces, "who else wants to talk to me about 'all necessary means'?"
No one dared to speak.
The representative from Country R felt his legs go weak and collapsed directly into his seat, his face as pale as death.
"Very good." Jiang Ning nodded, seemingly satisfied with the result.
"It seems that reasoning with you doesn't work."
"Since you like flipping tables, then today, I'll help you flip this table once and for all."
As she spoke, she snapped her fingers again.
Rumble—
This time, the entire island began to tremble violently!
Everyone felt the ground sway beneath them and nearly fell.
The starry sky image on the conference hall's dome instantly vanished, replaced by the real scene outside.
They watched in horror.
The entire island, this behemoth with a diameter of over five kilometers, was... slowly breaking away from the sea surface and rising upward!