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

He growled through gritted teeth, the sound seeming to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

"What the hell is this guy trying to do? Coming to our house and pointing at our ancestral tablets saying they're fake?"

"They expect us to dismantle the memorial tablets ourselves and let them inspect them?!"

"Old Wang, calm down."

Chen Dong frowned and said in a deep voice, but anyone could hear the anger in his voice, "This is not the time to act impulsively."

"How can I stay calm?!"

Wang Yijun pointed at the black screen, "They've practically come right up to us, they're practically pointing their fingers at us and calling us liars! If we can put up with this, then we've wasted our time wearing these uniforms!"

"This is a trap."

Lin Feng, who had been silent all along, pushed up his glasses, revealing a sharp, piercing gaze behind the lenses.

"It's a calculated move. If we refuse, they will immediately label us as 'guilty liars' in global public opinion, and all our previous advantage in public opinion will vanish."

"If we accept, they will bring in media from all over the world and so-called 'experts' to our territory and try every means to prove that the Dragon King is a 'fake' using the rules they set."

"No matter what we choose, we're going to lose."

Zhao Wenjin nodded, his expression grave.

"That's right, the international joint investigation team? To put it bluntly, it's their people."

"At that time, even if the Dragon Lord reveals his true form, they can say that it is a more advanced holographic projection."

"The power of discourse has been in their hands from the very beginning."

The meeting room fell silent once again.

This is a dead end.

The other side wasn't there to debate scriptures; they were there to cause trouble.

They don't care whether the dragon is real or not; they only care whether they can use this incident to crush the newly ignited national confidence and cultural identity of the Chinese people.

"Then let them come!"

Wang Yijun clenched his fists, making a cracking sound from his knuckles.

"Let the Dragon Lord appear! Let His hundreds-of-meters-long dragon body coil above their heads! I want to see if those bastards dare to utter a single fart then!"

"No!"

Zhao Wenjin immediately objected, "We cannot, and have no right to, order the Dragon Lord around! What if... what if the Dragon Lord doesn't want to see them? How will we handle that?"

This question was like a bucket of ice water poured over everyone's heads.

Yes.

That is God.

They are the guardian deities of China.

It is not a weapon that can be summoned at will.

This feeling of possessing power enough to overturn the world, yet being unable to fully control it, made these bigwigs, who were used to controlling everything, feel a deep sense of powerlessness for the first time.

All eyes were involuntarily drawn to the person in the main seat.

Chen Dong remained silent throughout.

He listened quietly, his fingers unconsciously tapping lightly on the table, making a dull, rhythmic "tap, tap" sound.

It was as if the heated debates outside had nothing to do with him.

Finally, under everyone's gaze, he stopped tapping his fingers on the table.

You could hear a pin drop in the conference room.

Chen Dong slowly raised his head, his eyes, which had been soaked in mountains of corpses and seas of blood, were as calm as a bottomless pool of cold water.

He glanced around at everyone, then slowly spoke, his voice not loud, but clearly reaching everyone's ears.

"They want to come and conduct an investigation?"

Everyone's hearts tightened.

"OK."

A cold smile curled at the corners of Chen Dong's lips.

"Let them do it."

What?!

Wang Yijun suddenly stood up, the chair scraping against the floor with a screeching sound.

Qin Mingyuan almost dropped his phone.

Zhao Wenjin pushed up his glasses, wondering if there was something wrong with his ears.

Everyone's expression conveyed the same meaning—Director Chen, have you gone mad?

Isn't this just like plunging headfirst into a trap set by the other side?

Chen Dong ignored everyone's reactions, leaned forward slightly, and placed his hands on the table with his arms crossed.

"This is the first phase of public disclosure."

His voice was calm.

"When the third phase is released directly."

Chen Dong glanced around and said, "We will invite media and experts from all over the world."

"Let them see for themselves what a dragon is."

The conference room was deathly silent.

Zhao Wenjin took a deep breath: "But what about the Dragon Lord..."

"The Dragon Lord said that he could reveal himself."

Chen Dong interrupted him, "We just need to do the preparation work."

Qin Mingyuan swallowed.

"What if... what if those countries renege on their promise? Even if the Dragon Lord really appears, they might say it's a holographic projection."

Chen Dong sneered, "I'd like to see what kind of nonsense they can spout when a dragon hundreds of meters long is coiled above their heads."

Lin Feng adjusted his glasses: "But this has completely disrupted our previous plans. We were originally going to proceed gradually, giving the public some buffer time..."

"It's too late."

Chen Dong shook his head. "They've already made themselves so clear. If we drag this out any longer, it will only make public opinion more and more passive."

"Instead of letting them lead us by the nose, we might as well just flip the table."

Wang Yijun clenched his fist. "Let's do it! I've had my eye on those bastards for ages!"

"etc."

Zhao Wenjin suddenly spoke up, "If we're going to make a public appearance, how do we choose the venue?"

This question surprised everyone.

Yes, the appearance of the Dragon Lord is no small matter.

A dragon several hundred meters long can't possibly coil up in the center of Beijing, can it?

At that point, not only foreign media, but even our own people will be scared half to death.

Jinghu Lake.

Chen Dong said, "It's right in Jinghu."

"It's big enough, and it's surrounded by military control zones, which makes it easy to control."

Qin Mingyuan nodded. "This is indeed a good place."

"I have decided to build a viewing platform for dragons next to Jingshan Park."

Chen Dong's fingers slowly traced across the table. "At that time, we will not only let those foreign media in."

"Our people must come in too."

Wang Yijun was taken aback. "Let the people in?"

"right."

Chen Dong's voice was calm, "This Dragon-Viewing Platform should be made as big as possible."

Zhao Wenjin adjusted his glasses. "Director Chen, you mean...?"

"If you're going to make it public, make it completely public."

Chen Dong stood up and walked to the window. "We're not trying to prove anything to foreigners. We want every Chinese person to know that dragons are real."

Lin Feng realized what was happening. "You want to use this opportunity to skip the second stage and go straight to the third stage?"

"That's right."

Chen Dong turned around. "Anyway, it's going to be public sooner or later. Since they've already put it this way, why don't we just go with the flow?"

Qin Mingyuan pondered for a moment, "But this would have too much of an impact. The public's psychological resilience..."

"It's better than you imagined."

Chen Dong interrupted him, "Look at the online discussions these past two days. How many people already believe in the existence of dragons? It's not that they weren't prepared; they're just waiting for proof."

Wang Yijun slammed his hand on the table. "I agree! Rather than being led by the nose by those bastards, we should take the initiative!"

"How big should this Dragon-Viewing Platform be?" Zhao Wenjin asked.

"It can accommodate at least several million people."