Chapter 257: 72-Hour Countdown! Landing

The Xuan-Gui's loudspeaker broadcasted in standard Japanese: "Please return to your berth. Repeat, please return to your berth. If you do not cooperate, we will take mandatory measures."

"What are mandatory measures?" a young sailor asked, trembling.

The Xuan-Gui's mechanical arm pointed to the patrol boat next to it that had been squeezed out of shape.

The sailors scrambled back to the cockpit and obediently drove the boat back.

At 4:00 AM, psychological warfare began.

This was Wang Hao's home field.

"Is the recording ready?" Feng Yan asked.

"Ready long ago!" Wang Hao proudly pulled up the audio file, "I recorded three versions: arrogant, cold, and one with a bit of humor—finally chose the cold one."

He pressed the play button.

Wang Hao's voice came out of the loudspeaker, processed by a voice changer, deep and cold:

"Attention, citizens and armed personnel of Foot-Basin-Chicken."

"This is the final warning from the Longguo Dongfeng Operation Command."

"Within 72 hours, lay down all weapons and stop all resistance."

"After 72 hours, we will flatten every inch of resisting land."

"Surrender, or perish."

"Selection time: counting down now."

The recording ended.

Chen Guang pushed up his glasses: "'Flatten every inch of resisting land'... isn't that too straightforward?"

"Straightforward is what we need!" Wang Hao put his hands on his hips, "To talk to madmen, you have to use a language madmen can understand."

Li Yang nodded in agreement for once: "Haozi is right this time. Deterrence requires the most direct expression."

Feng Yan made the decision: "Use this one. Chen Guang, start playing."

At 4:01 AM.

All screens in Foot-Basin-Chicken that could still light up—street advertising screens, shop TVs, subway station displays, and even some old-fashioned radios—were simultaneously forced into the same channel.

Wang Hao's recording began to play in a loop.

After each playback, a giant countdown number would appear on the screen or speaker:

【71:59:58】

【71:59:57】

Ginza, Tokyo, in front of a giant street advertising screen.

Dozens of office workers who had just finished overtime stared blankly at the screen, listening to the cold warning.

A middle-aged man wearing glasses muttered: "This time... Longguo is serious."

The young girl next to him was about to cry: "What should we do? Is the war really coming?"

"No," the middle-aged man shook his head.

He pointed to the line "Lay down weapons" on the screen:

"This is an ultimatum."

At 6:00 AM, it was dawn.

But the day in Foot-Basin-Chicken was even more desperate than the night.

Power was not restored, communications were not restored, traffic was paralyzed because the traffic lights were all out, and major roads were blocked by crowded vehicles.

Long queues formed at supermarket entrances, people scrambled for water and food, but the electronic payment system didn't work, cash was insufficient, and bank ATMs were also paralyzed.

And on the Longguo side, the style was completely different.

East Third Ring Road, Yanjing, food delivery station.

Li Qiang drove a Feiyu mech, nimbly jumping over the morning rush hour traffic, and delivered breakfast precisely to the customer's windowsill.

The customer opened the window to take the bag and asked: "Little brother, have you seen the news? It seems like a fight started over in Foot-Basin-Chicken?"

Li Qiang grinned: "Saw a bit. But we still have to deliver food, if your order is late, money will be deducted."

"That's true," the customer added before closing the window, "Be careful!"

"Rest assured! My mech is bulletproof!"

Equally normal were construction sites, factory workshops, schools, and hospitals...

The lives of Longguo citizens were almost unaffected, at most they would brush the war report live broadcast during lunch break and leave two comments:

"Yo, Foot-Basin-Chicken is having a nationwide power outage? Can we see the stars at night then?"

"Suggest broadcasting the night view of Tokyo, it must be very 'romantic'—pitch black kind."

"They are scrambling in supermarkets? Pork prices dropped here today."

"Suddenly feel it's great to be born in Longguo..."

This contrast was made into a special report by Longguo media: "A Day in a Parallel World."

Left screen: Foot-Basin-Chicken citizens queuing to receive humanitarian aid packages airdropped by Longguo, limited per person per day: one bottle of water, two compressed biscuits, one pack of vitamin tablets.

Right screen: Longguo citizens picking fresh vegetables at the farmers' market, delivery mechs shuttling back and forth, children going to school normally.

The commentary was very brief: "Technology should make life better, not worse."

At 12:00 PM, Longyin Control Center.

"Phase one summary," Chen pulled up the data.

"Power system paralysis rate: 94%"

"Communication system paralysis rate: 97%"

"Military stronghold disability rate: 91%"

"Maritime blockade rate: 100%"

"Public panic index: 78 (out of 100)"

Feng Yan looked at the screen: "What about resistance forces?"

"Organized resistance has collapsed," Chen pulled up the thermal imaging map, "But small groups of extremists are still active, mainly concentrated in underground facilities in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya."

"How many are left?"

"Estimated no more than five thousand, equipment is crude, but... they are all die-hards."

Wang Hao interjected: "Then ground cleanup. My missiles can't wait!"

"No rush," Feng Yan looked at the time, "72 hours haven't passed yet. Give ordinary citizens a little more time to evacuate, after all, they will all be incorporated later."

He paused: "Also, let the Penglai fly lower."

"How low?"

"Just five hundred meters from Tokyo Tower."

At 2:00 PM.

The massive shadow of the Penglai appeared over Tokyo at an altitude of only five hundred meters.

At this distance, people on the ground could clearly see the seams of every armor plate on the hull, the mechs waiting on the deck, and the electromagnetic railgun on the bow that had already been disarmed.

The oppression was physical.

Some Tokyo citizens filmed videos and posted them online; although they couldn't be sent out, they existed on their phones.

In the video, the Penglai flew slowly across the sky, blocking out the sun.

The cameraman's hands were shaking, whispering in Japanese: "Is... is this the power of Longguo?"

In the last few seconds of the video, the bow of the Penglai suddenly turned, aiming at the Ministry of Defense building.

Although it didn't fire, everyone understood the meaning of that action.

At 6:00 PM, the countdown entered the final 18 hours.

The Foot-Basin-Chicken interim government finally "restored" partial communications—actually, Torch Dragon-3 had opened an encrypted dedicated line for them.

Prime Minister Ishihara's video request was connected to the Longyin Control Center.

In the holographic projection, Prime Minister Ishihara was sitting in his office, his face gray and his eyes sunken.

"President Feng..." his voice was hoarse, "We... we are willing to surrender completely. Please stop the operation..."

Feng Yan looked at him and said slowly: "72 hours is the time for ordinary citizens to evacuate, not for you to bargain."

"But—"

"No buts," Feng Yan interrupted, "Surrendering now is already too late."

"Then... what exactly do you want?"

Feng Yan paused and said word by word:

"I want your country to disappear from the map."

The communication was cut off.

Ishihara sat blankly in front of the camera, the image frozen.

At 10:00 PM.

Chen Guang suddenly looked up: "Torch Dragon-3 detected an abnormal signal."

"What?"

"From... the Kuiper Belt," he pulled up the deep space monitoring map, "Proxima Centauri's luminosity fluctuations have intensified, and... we just captured a high-dimensional space disturbance signal."

Li Yang frowned: "Harvesters?"

"Not sure, but... the probability is very high," Chen marked the data, "The disturbance source... is facing the solar system. And the speed... is at least 30% faster than expected."

Feng Yan was silent for a few seconds, then pressed the communication button:

"Notify all units."

"The 72-hour countdown ends early."

"Landing operation—"

He looked at the pitch-black night sky in the east:

"Starts now." ===== CHAPTER 258 =====