I, the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, am being kept by the state.

Across the ocean, at CIA headquarters.

Dead silence.

On the screen, Mount Yufeng was bathed in golden light, and the temple appeared as if a divine kingdom had descended, solemn and inviolable.

Burns' facial muscles were twitching, not from anger, but from the spasm of someone who had been utterly crushed.

The Prometheus project used three state-of-the-art weather intervention satellites to simulate the strongest electromagnetic storms.

As a result, they became the backdrop for the other party's miracle and the catalyst for that sky full of rosy clouds.

For the first time in his understanding, science had been defeated so thoroughly and so ridiculously.

"Chief..."

A subordinate, his voice trembling, tried to say something.

"Shut up!"

Burns suddenly stood up, his eyes bloodshot, the kind of madness only a gambler who has lost all his chips would have.

He stared intently at the five-clawed golden dragon statue coiled on the screen.

"If miracles cannot be defeated, then destroy the 'object' that bears them!"

"Since we can't destroy their faith, let's smash their idols!"

He grabbed the red encrypted phone on the table, his voice hoarse and cold.

"Command 'Ghost' to infiltrate the capital."

"Target: Dragon God Shrine on Yufeng Mountain, main hall statue of the deity."

"Destroy it at all costs!"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, as if they were confirming the madness of the order.

"Yes, Chief."

Burns hung up the phone, slowly sat down, leaned back in his chair, and seemed to have all his strength drained away.

This is the last chance.

If even physical destruction fails, he will become a laughing stock in the entire intelligence community.

……

That night, at three in the morning.

Dragon God Shrine at Yufeng Mountain.

As the daytime hustle and bustle faded, the temple appeared even more tranquil and solemn in the night.

The incense is burning brightly; even late at night, the huge incense burner in front of the main hall is still filled with the tall incense sticks left by believers during the day, and the wisps of smoke blend into the mountain mist.

Wang Yijun was dressed in casual clothes, but his back was ramrod straight and his eyes were sharp as an eagle's.

He suddenly felt like checking the security of the Dragon God Temple today.

At this moment, he is leading a team of security personnel on a routine patrol.

Since the temple was completed, the security level here has been raised to the highest level.

On the surface, it's a security company, but in reality, there are guards every three steps and sentries every five steps, all of whom are elites drawn from special forces.

"Cheer up, everyone!"

Wang Yijun lowered his voice and said into the headset, "The calmer it is, the more likely something bad is to happen."

He always felt uneasy, as if something was lurking in the shadows.

This intuition, honed in the midst of gunfire, has saved his life more than once.

He subconsciously looked up towards the main hall.

Under the soft light of the hall, the five-clawed golden dragon carved from Phoebe zhennan wood had a warm glow in its eyes, as if it were looking down over the entire mountain forest.

Just then, Wang Yijun's pupils suddenly contracted.

On the eaves of the main hall's roof, a dark shadow slid down silently like a falling leaf, disappearing into the shadows of the corner of the hall.

Their movements were so fast that they almost blended into the night.

If he hadn't remained on high alert, he wouldn't have been able to catch that fleeting anomaly.

"Something's up! Team A, hold the perimeter, Team B, follow me!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Wang Yijun gave the order into his earpiece, drew his pistol from his waist, and charged towards the main hall like a cheetah.

Inside the hall.

A man dressed in a black, tight-fitting combat suit and wearing tactical goggles was already standing beneath the statue.

Code name: "Ghost".

The CIA's top infiltration expert and "cleaner".

He ignored everything around him, his eyes fixed only on the nine-meter-tall statue.

He took a silver cylindrical device out of his tactical backpack, with three probes extending from the top of the device.

"High-frequency acoustic resonators" are specifically designed to destroy delicate structures.

Once activated, it can completely disintegrate this wooden carving, assembled with mortise and tenon joints, into dust from the inside out within three seconds, and do so silently.

He aimed the device at the base of the statue and was about to press the start button.

"Don't move!"

A loud shout came from the palace gate.

Wang Yijun appeared at the doorway, the dark muzzle of his gun steadily pointed at "Ghost".

The "ghost" paused, then slowly turned around.

His face was expressionless, like an emotionless machine.

"You shouldn't have come here."

He spoke in fluent Chinese, his voice like the friction of metal.

Wang Yijun's heart was in turmoil.

This person was able to silently break through more than a dozen visible and hidden sentries on the perimeter and directly reach the main hall; his strength was simply unbelievable.

"Put down what you're holding!"

Wang Yijun shouted sharply, his finger already on the trigger.

"Ghost" glanced at the resonator in his hand, then at Wang Yijun, and suddenly grinned, a smile that was sinister and eerie.

Although he had been discovered, he still had a backup plan.

In a flash, instead of aiming the resonator at the statue, he abruptly turned it around and aimed it at Wang Yijun at the door!

At the same time, he pressed the start button!

"Buzz—"

An invisible ripple spread out instantly.

Wang Yijun felt an indescribable, terrifying force strike his chest.

He felt every cell in his body was trembling and breaking wildly.

"puff!"

He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, which even contained fragments of internal organs.

He could no longer hold the gun and it fell to the ground.

His knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground. His vision began to blur, and his life force was rapidly fading away.

It failed...

This was his last thought.

The "ghost," without hesitation, crushed the highly poisonous capsule hidden in its molar the moment the button was pressed.

Black blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, and he fell straight down, a strange smile still on his face.

The entire process takes no more than three seconds.

It happened so fast that the support personnel outside the palace had no time to react.

Wang Yijun lay prone on the cold ground, his consciousness sinking into boundless darkness.

He could feel his heart stopping.

Just then.

Inside the main hall, the eyes of the golden dragon statue suddenly lit up!

No longer the warm glow of a luminous pearl, but two dazzling golden suns!

A vast, majestic aura, seemingly from the primordial era, suddenly descended!

Inside the necklace space, Li Chen slowly opened his dragon eyes.

The massive amount of incense and prayers has already repaired his damaged dragon soul to a great extent, making it even more solid than before.

A chilling rage rose from the depths of the dragon's soul.

"To harm my people in my temple?"

Li Chen's voice rang out directly in Wang Yijun's fading consciousness.

The voice was not loud, but it carried an unparalleled majesty that made the law of words seem real.

"Does the Emperor permit you to die?"