Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 119 The Great Changes in the Pacific Rim

[Global Times Special Report]

Yesterday afternoon (X month XX day), at 15:00 PM Australian time and 13:00 PM Singapore time, the most bizarre mass meme contamination event in the Pacific Rim occurred on the coastlines of the Sydney Opera House in Australia and the Merlion Park in Singapore—the most bizarre mass meme contamination event in the region since the fall of Edo five years ago. More than a thousand tourists in both locations simultaneously witnessed a hallucination of Manhattan Island and its surrounding islands, including the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island, which appears to be shedding tears of blood.

At the time, in front of the Sydney Opera House, about 500 tourists witnessed an unnatural blood-red haze suddenly appear on the sea surface, followed by Manhattan Island appearing like a mirage less than 100 meters in front of the coastline. Simultaneously, they also saw the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island in southwest Manhattan. The Statue of Liberty's torch burned with an eerie, ghostly green flame, while thick, dark red liquid seeped from the statue's eye sockets, trickling down its cheeks and dripping into the illusory New York Bay.

At the same time, at Merlion Park in Singapore, local witnesses also spotted Manhattan Island in Marina Bay! Keep in mind that Marina Bay is only a few kilometers in diameter, while Manhattan Island is nearly 22 kilometers long! Yet, all four hundred-plus tourists at Merlion Park claimed to have seen Mambaton Island standing in Marina Bay! Furthermore, many claimed to have heard the Statue of Liberty's mournful sound, accompanied by low-frequency, submarine sonar-like pulses. A tour guide's mobile phone video showed the Statue of Liberty's lips slightly moving in the illusion, but audio analysis only yielded a 17 Hz infrasound wave—a frequency known to induce a drop in SAN values.

The Singaporean and Australian governments immediately issued emergency statements, attributing the incident to meme contamination syndrome after testing witnesses.

However, satellite imagery and immediate confirmation from New York residents confirmed that the physical coordinates of Manhattan in the material plane remained unchanged.

Currently, Malaysia has closed its land border with Singapore, and 52 countries, including my country, have issued bans on flights to and from Australia and Singapore.

The Chinese embassies in New Zealand and Austria have urged local Chinese residents not to panic and announced that the Chinese Navy will be dispatched to conduct the evacuation operation in the Pacific Rim region.

Currently, 27 posts under the hashtags "BloodyStatueOfLiberty" and "Manhattan appears in the Pacific Ocean" have been deleted in bulk on YouTube and Facebook.

Currently, the Cambridge University Meme Pollution Cognitive Science Team adheres to the "collective cognitive pollution theory," while in the Oedo Special Ward of Japan, Professor Matsumoto of the University of Tokyo publicly questioned: "What kind of hallucination could allow the brains of nearly a thousand people to accurately reproduce Manhattan, which has been closed for many years?"

[White House Press Office Statement]

At 6:00 AM local time yesterday, the White House issued a formal statement from the United States government regarding the mass sightings reported by Australia and Singapore in the Pacific Ocean:
The U.S. government was informed of the "Manhattan Island and Statue of Liberty illusion" incident immediately. After a joint assessment by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it was confirmed that the incident was a mass hallucination caused by meme contamination syndrome.

White House spokeswoman Linda Taylor said that His Excellency the President emphasized in a National Security Council briefing: "Scientific data clearly shows that the physical coordinates of Manhattan Island have not changed. The American people should trust the facts, not unverified rumors of panic. I swear to God, no one knows more about meme contamination than I do."

Since the memetic contamination incident in 20XX, Manhattan Island and its surrounding islets have been designated a permanently closed exclusion zone (NY-001 exclusion zone), with a Department of Homeland Security task force permanently stationed on Long Island for observation. Environmental monitoring conducted by my country on Long Island for over a decade has confirmed the absence of any signs of human activity.

Linda Taylor specifically pointed out: "Any report claiming to have witnessed the scene in the area is inconsistent with objective reality."

Meanwhile, the United States supports temporary travel restrictions implemented by various countries to control meme contamination, but calls for avoiding overreaction. Singapore's Ministry of Health will send expert teams to Australia and Singapore to assist in assessing the cognitive contamination status of witnesses.

Linda Taylor also stated, "The United States will continue to lead global research on memetic contamination, including by providing an additional $2.5 million in funding to the World Health Organization."

At the same time, Linda Taylor conveyed the following message to the American public through this statement: The federal government has fully upgraded its "Cognitive Firewall" system to monitor the spread of anomalous information in real time. Any citizen who suspects exposure to hallucinations can call the Membrane Contamination Emergency Hotline (1-800-XXX-XXXX).

The White House's accompanying statement included a report from MIT Lincoln Laboratory, which indicated that: anomalies in atmospheric refractive index over the Pacific Ocean may have induced a decline in population SAN values; social media algorithms accelerated the cross-infection of hallucinatory content; and the "blood and tears" depiction of the Statue of Liberty closely matched known symptoms of collective meme contamination in New York.

Linda Taylor concluded by emphasizing, "The United States of America is founded on the foundations of reason and science. We will not be swayed by illusions, nor will we allow fear to rewrite the truth."

At this time, at the Yi Hai Reincarnation Camp.

Yu Tianlun read through all the news reports. The White House spokesperson consistently avoided the question that journalists from various countries were most concerned about: whether the situation in the Pacific Rim would change as a result of this event, and whether there would be any action taken by RAF Amberley, Darwin, and Naval Base Changi.

“A memetic contamination affecting thousands of people—the last time this happened was during the fall of Edo. This proves that the Lost Layer in the Pacific Rim has undergone tremendous changes,” he said, pulling up a black-and-white topological map sent by the Memetic Contamination Monitoring Department. The mosaic-like stain on the Pacific Ocean was a memetic projection of Manhattan.

Xu Yinqiu opened a can of iced coffee, handed it to Yu Tianlun, and said, "The question isn't 'whether it will spread,' but 'when it will land.'"

She pointed to the Malay Peninsula, saying, “Among the witnesses in Singapore, at least twenty have already fallen into the annihilation zone—they insist they ‘remember’ standing on the torch of the Statue of Liberty. This means that the meme pollution in Manhattan will erode Australia and Southeast Asia, which would be a huge threat to our country.”

Yu Tianlun's expression turned grim: "When more than 0.7% of the global population shares the same meme pollution hallucination, that hallucination will acquire a topological entity powerful enough to break through the gap between the materialist layer and the pollution layer..."

Soon after, an email was sent to Yu Tianlun's tablet.

[Analysis of Meme Pollution Levels in Manhattan]

Materialistic layer (reality): The coordinates of Manhattan Island, New York are normal, but surveillance footage from Long Island shows that all cameras were covered by snow noise at the time of the incident.

Contamination Layer: The Kryptos Effect, a phenomenon where real-world objects replicate themselves at the quantum level, was detected in Manhattan. This proves that the material world has been severely eroded by the contamination layer.

my country's Meme Contamination Monitoring Department has dispatched personnel to Marina Bay, Singapore, to retrieve the 'Crying Statue of Liberty' meme carrier. Note: This meme possesses anisotropic properties (i.e., knowing its existence accelerates contamination). Meanwhile, some individuals have extracted infrasound waves from Manhattan meme contamination from survivors of local contamination; after down-frequency processing, these waves revealed a distorted French language:

"Je suis l'le...Je suis la mort..."

(I am the island...I am death...)
Just then, Yu Tianlun's phone rang.

He immediately looked over, and the caller was Jiang Jin!

Dingyou Reincarnation Camp.

Inside the Bloody Team's villa, the heavy curtains were drawn, cutting off all outside light.

Blood Lord sat behind a mahogany carved desk, his sinister face reflected on the projection screen in front of him.

On the other end of the screen was a high-ranking official at the headquarters of the Yanjing Membrane Pollution Monitoring Department—codenamed "Black Bird." His face was hidden in shadow, like a hawk lurking in the dark.

“The situation is more serious than we anticipated.” Xuan Niao’s voice was low and cold. “According to the intelligence we have obtained, the Nimitz and the George Washington may both be withdrawn to Hawaii, and this is probably just the beginning.”

Blood Lord tapped his fingers lightly on the table and asked, "Is Uncle Sam preparing to withdraw completely from the Eastern Pacific? Are they afraid?"

“They call it a strategic retreat… but in reality, they’re just afraid,” Xuan Niao sneered. “They know that the next wave of ‘encroachment’ can’t be stopped by warships.”

After a moment of silence, Blood Lord asked, "What about the court in Yanjing?"

"The imperial court has already deployed the 'Sea-Suppressing' troops along the southern coastline, and all coastal cities have entered a state of high alert." Xuan Niao paused, his tone subtle, "In addition... 'the other side' has just sent a special envoy."

"Over there?" Blood Lord's pupils contracted slightly, then he understood which side "over there" meant.

“Yes.” Xuan Niao’s voice carried a hint of sarcasm. “They said that from now on… they will submit to the Yanjing court.”

Blood Lord abruptly stood up, the chair scraping against the floor with a screeching sound. His face instantly turned ashen, his fingers clenching unconsciously.

He never dreamed that "the other side" would actually choose to submit to the Yanjing court! This shows just how dire the situation was!
Since the end of World War II and Japan's acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration, the geopolitical landscape of the Pacific Rim has been completely rewritten!
The black bird simply looked at him calmly, offering no reply. But the meaning in its eyes was clear enough—

This world is about to collapse.

Human history has entered its final countdown.

Just then, the villa's door was suddenly pushed open.

"Who?!" He turned his head sharply, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

But the next second, his expression froze.

Kim Suk-mi stood at the door, followed by a young man.

His thin frame, pale face, and heavy dark circles under his eyes made it seem as if he hadn't slept in a long time.

He looked exhausted, yet possessed an eerie calmness.

Blood Lord's throat seemed to be blocked by something, and after a long while, he managed to squeeze out a name:
“…Wu Ge?”

The boy raised his head and gave a bitter smile: "Godfather, I'm sorry... I made you worry."

　Second update! Third update coming soon!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)