Chapter 245: Performance

"What a charming sea area, what a charming spaceship. Her hull is so magnificent, so attractive, making one fight for her involuntarily."

Willard, dressed in a majestic military uniform, stood on the deck of the ship, looking at the faintly visible spaceship in the distance, and couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

"Soon, this spaceship will be ours."

Willard said with full confidence. He believed that on the ocean, no fleet dared to fight the Pacific Fleet—not the British, not the Germans, not the French, and certainly not the Chinese or the Russians.

"This will be the opportunity for our America to head into the universe."

"Yes, but you should let the people go first, my dear Mr. Willard."

"Who is it?"

Willard turned around and watched Ye Nan, Magneto, and Daina walk up from the ladder.

"Wait, a ladder? How could there be a ladder here?" Willard rubbed his eyes and looked again at the feet of Ye Nan and the others, but the result was the same: there was a ladder beneath their feet.

"How is this possible? How could there be a ladder here? Could there be a mole?" Willard looked around suspiciously, then immediately denied it himself. "Impossible. There are so many people here; even if there were a mole, they couldn't possibly lower a ladder so brazenly."

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The instant Ye Nan and the others appeared, countless guns aimed at them. If they showed even the slightest inclination to attack, the muzzles would immediately fire bullets and turn them into a sieve.

"Listen, three gentlemen, I don't know who you are, but it's a pity that you have already fallen into my hands. So, please throw out everything you have that might cause a misunderstanding." Willard clapped his hands and walked in front of Ye Nan. "Mr. Ye Nan, as the president of ICQ Company, isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to run here? If the American public finds out, I'm afraid it will cause some misunderstandings."

Willard's smile was smug, as if he were saying: You have already fallen into my hands.

"Do we have a grudge?" Ye Nan asked.

American financial groups and politics have never been separate, and as for the military, they used to be separate, but now they aren't either. Willard ignored the fact that he was being so smug, even arrogant, while knowing Ye Nan's identity. If there wasn't a grudge, Ye Nan himself wouldn't believe it.

"Of course." Willard first admitted it, then revealed a cunning smile and gently spat out two words: "Not really."

"How could I have a grudge against Mr. Ye Nan? I am not a person who engages in favoritism and malpractice." Willard spoke in a very slow tone, so that everyone present could hear clearly.

Ye Nan smiled. He knew Willard's first sentence was for him, the second was for the soldiers, and the third was a supplement.

"But you should be clear about who has the advantage, my dear General Willard." Ye Nan reached out and patted Willard's face a few times. His speed was very fast; everyone only heard a few 'slap' sounds.

Willard froze in place. He was all too familiar with this gesture; it was the kind of slap used only when an elder disciplined a naughty junior.

"Bastard, whose elder are you?" Willard suddenly exploded and roared loudly, "Fire! Fire for me! I want to kill him!"

Willard's angry roar left the surrounding soldiers stunned. One by one, they were at a loss, not knowing whether to fire.

If they hadn't known Ye Nan's identity, they might have fired, but knowing who Ye Nan was, they wouldn't.

They were here to be soldiers, not executioners. A person like Ye Nan, even if guilty, should be sanctioned by the law, not by them.

In reality, American soldiers were not professional at all and were a group of scattered troops. If one were to use Chinese terms, most American soldiers were afraid of death and disobedient; they were not good soldiers.

In fact, many American soldiers treated being a soldier as a job and the military as a company that endured hardship. If they weren't people who couldn't make it elsewhere or were incited, they wouldn't come to be soldiers.

"Fire for me, you bunch of bastard soldiers! I'll take responsibility if anything happens!"

Once Willard's words were out, the soldiers immediately aimed at Ye Nan. Several people had their fingers on the triggers. After all, since they wouldn't have to face a military court, they naturally wouldn't violate orders. Military orders were like mountains; even if they were lazy, they wouldn't disobey.

"Mr. Magneto, it looks like I can see you take action ahead of schedule." Ye Nan stepped back and hid behind Magneto. To outsiders, it looked like Ye Nan was using Magneto as a shield, and even Daina seemed to think so. Only Magneto knew clearly that Ye Nan was observing his power more accurately because he felt the psychic power coming from Ye Nan.

"But this is also good. Showing my power in front of the little guy will save him from feeling uneasy."

Magneto calculated quickly in his heart and immediately took action.

A massive magnetic field suddenly appeared. The entire aircraft carrier was shrouded under his magnetic field. All electronic equipment lost its intended effect at this moment and was paralyzed.

If it were only this, Magneto wouldn't be worthy of calling himself Magneto. One could only see the guns in the soldiers' hands detaching from their hands and floating in the air.

Magneto's move immediately caused panic among the many soldiers.

These soldiers had never seen such power; to them, this power was incomprehensible. In an instant, the soldiers became terrified. Many scrambled to leave, retreating backward. If it weren't for the water all around, they would have jumped down long ago. Even so, quite a few soldiers jumped off the ship, as if the sea was insignificant compared to Magneto.

"What is this thing?" Willard panicked. Magneto had displayed power like a miracle in front of him, making him panic.

No one knew how many extraordinary people were in this world, but he was very clear about the military's series of plans. However, the military's supernatural beings were definitely not as terrifying as this old man before him.

"Who exactly is he? How could he collude with Ye Nan? No, I must go back and tell Mr. Douglas." Willard thought to himself, gritted his teeth, and quietly followed the soldiers as they retreated.

He knew that if he ran today, he would face a military court tomorrow. Even if Douglas protected him, he would never be able to hold his head high in the military. But some things, even knowing they would cost one's future, had to be done.

It was just that while he wanted to leave, Ye Nan wouldn't necessarily let him. Not long after he ran, a sarcastic tone drifted over: "General Willard, Commander Willard, abandoning your own soldiers to run away doesn't seem like something a soldier should do."

Hearing the voice from behind, Willard immediately understood he had been discovered. However, instead of stopping, he ran even faster.

"Daina, catch this cowardly runaway for me." Ye Nan's voice came over again.

"Want to catch me? Wishful thinking." Willard sneered in his heart and immediately jumped off the ship.

Swish!

A sound of breaking air came. Willard felt a tightness behind him. His body, which was about to touch the sea surface, flew upward involuntarily. He only saw the scenery around him changing constantly, then felt a pain in his body, and lost consciousness.

"This coward is really useless." Daina jumped up from below the ship and looked at Willard with contempt. He had grabbed Willard when he jumped and thrown him up, but he hadn't expected Willard to faint after landing. He was truly fragile.

"Alright, since he's fainted, there's no need to worry about him. You come back first." Ye Nan called Daina back, then turned his head to look at the soldiers who looked as if they had seen a ghost.

"Let me explain. My name is Ye Nan, and I am the president of ICQ Company. As for why I came here, it is because someone kidnapped my adopted daughter."

Ye Nan's words caused an uproar among the soldiers. They seemed to understand why Ye Nan had broken into the aircraft carrier.

This was the charm of the world's richest man; no matter what he said, there would be people who believed it, as long as the words weren't too absurd.

"As for this one, he is a tech-augmented human from our ICQ Company. Everyone probably knows about Iron Man Stark, who became a world-famous hero relying on his iron suit." Ye Nan chuckled, giving Magneto a suitable identity.

Iron Man had long since become an American hero, sought after by the younger generation in America, and Iron Man's deeds and data had become must-read material for Americans today.

In the hearts of Americans, Iron Man's success was the success of American technology and the victory of American wealth. He gave Americans hope—the hope of making money, then buying an iron suit, and becoming a superhero.

So, Ye Nan describing Magneto as a tech-augmented human immediately neutralized the soldiers' resentment.

"May I ask, Mr. Ye Nan, will your tech-augmentation technology be applied on a large scale to benefit the American public?" A soldier looked at Magneto with admiration.

Americans all had a hero dream in their hearts. For this hero dream, they could give everything, and Magneto's power happened to match the power of the heroes in their hearts.

"Of course. ICQ Company is a commercial company, and we will naturally open it to the public. However, because of the instability of tech-augmentation technology, it is currently still in the laboratory. After all, we don't want to bring out immature technology to harm people." Ye Nan smiled wittily.

His move was to set a tone for the future appearance of supernatural beings like Spider-Man and the Hulk. He let all the American public believe that ICQ Company had superior technology in human augmentation, so that when more powers were exposed in the future, it wouldn't cause panic among the American public.

In other words, the superheroes under his banner could appear in public openly without causing panic, because in the public's hearts, these people were pioneers—pioneers with noble qualities conducting experiments to help the public gain power.

"But saying so much, I haven't gotten to the point yet." Ye Nan suddenly asked, "Does anyone know where my daughter is? She is with a woman in black leather. Oh, right, with them, there is also a corpse. That is my companion. I originally intended to bring him back to America for burial; that was his dream."

"It's pitiful that those people wouldn't even spare my companion's corpse."

Ye Nan suddenly wiped away a tear. "I came here for a trip with my daughter and friend, but we were attacked. They kidnapped my daughter and friend and even killed one. It's truly hateful."

"Please forgive the heart of a father. After all, my daughter is still young, and being with a corpse, I worry she will be scared and develop psychological trauma."

"We can all understand." A middle-aged soldier replied, "I can understand your mindset as a father. If anyone uses this to accuse you, we will definitely testify for you."

Hearing this, Ye Nan felt a joy in his heart. This was the effect he wanted, so he said: "I don't care about any accusations. At worst, I'll go to jail. Compared to my daughter's safety, going to jail is nothing."

Ye Nan's words immediately earned the respect of these soldiers. No one would show disdain for a great father.

"He's lying." ===== CHAPTER 246 =====