I accidentally joined a group of charlatans, so I immediately called the police and handed it over t

Seventy-two hours.

For ordinary people, it's just three days and nights.

But for the American soldiers trapped in the red amber, it was a purgatory that lasted as long as three centuries.

The fresh water supply had run out a day earlier.

The expensive urine recycling machine, overloaded, finally burned out with a mournful cry.

Now, they can only survive by licking the dew on the condenser pipes or even their own sweat.

The steel deck reached a temperature of 60 degrees Celsius under the scorching sun.

The soldiers, stripped of their shirts, lay sprawled in the shadows like stranded dead fish, panting with their mouths agape.

That once arrogant and domineering attitude, that spirit of wanting to trample the world underfoot.

Just as Chen Xi had predicted.

It was evaporated completely.

Steve lay on the command chair, staring blankly at the ceiling.

His lips were cracked and bleeding, and his throat was so swollen and painful that even swallowing saliva felt like swallowing razor blades.

"surrender……"

He murmured, his voice as faint as a dying mosquito.

"We want to surrender..."

"I'll do anything for a glass of water..."

Meanwhile, in the press conference hall of Base 001.

Cameras from thousands of media outlets around the world were densely packed below the stage, their long lenses and microphones aimed at the empty podium.

The flashes went off like crazy, as if they were trying to ignite the air itself.

Everyone assumed that Li Guobang, dressed in military uniform and with a serious expression, or the tough-looking spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would emerge.

However, the moment the side door opened, the entire audience erupted in uproar.

A young man stepped out.

He was wearing an extremely cheap, even somewhat loose, blue work uniform.

The chest bears the prominent white characters: 【Nantianmen Environmental Protection】.

He was even holding a yellow safety helmet in his hand.

With a smile on her face, Chen Xi walked briskly to the podium and blew into the microphone.

"call--"

Good morning, fellow journalists.

The reporters in the audience looked at each other in bewilderment. A blond, blue-eyed CNN reporter couldn't help but stand up and ask a pointed question.

"May I ask who you are?"

"We're here to address the humanitarian crisis in the South China Sea! Why isn't the Chinese government sending anyone to explain?!"

"Sending out a mere construction worker—is this an act of contempt for the international community?!"

Chen Xi was not angry.

He even very politely adjusted the glasses that weren't actually there.

"My friend, I think you've misunderstood."

Chen Xi pointed to the words on his chest, his tone so sincere that it made you want to punch him.

"There is no humanitarian crisis here."

There was no political conflict either.

"I am Chen Xi, Chief Technology Officer of Nantianmen Marine Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd."

"I'm standing here today simply to report on a case..."

Chen Xi paused, his gaze sweeping across the room before finally settling on the face of the CNN reporter.

"A large-scale marine debris pollution incident."

"Rubbish?!"

The CNN reporter was trembling with anger as he pointed to the trapped warships on the large screen behind him.

"You're saying that's trash?! That's a frigate of the United States of America! It's the culmination of human industrial achievement!"

"There are still thousands of living soldiers inside!"

The smile on Chen Xi's face disappeared.

He became serious, even with a touch of heartbroken professionalism.

He pressed the remote control in his hand.

The image on the big screen changed to an analysis chart filled with various red warning labels.

"According to our company's technical department's testing."

"These objects illegally entered our company's testing area."

Chen Xi deliberately used the word "object".

"Its outer coating contains highly toxic heavy metals, its power system emits excessive amounts of exhaust gas, and its hull shape is bizarre, which seriously damages the natural landscape of the South China Sea."

"What's even more serious is..."

Chen Xi pointed at the soldiers lying on the deck, his eyes showing no pity, only the indifference of looking at waste.

"These biological carriers are releasing large amounts of waste and noise into the ocean."

"This has caused irreversible pollution to our precious experimental environment for 'Huntianjiao'."

"so."

Chen Xi leaned forward, his hands on the podium, his blue overalls standing out starkly under the lights.

"According to Nantianmen Company's Marine Cleanliness Management Regulations."

"We have decided to launch the Cleaner Program."

The audience was completely silent.

Everyone was stunned by this absurd yet logically consistent argument.

To define the invading fleet as garbage?

Is taking hostages defined as cleaning up the environment?

This is tantamount to throwing the face of the Western world on the ground and rubbing it hard with the sole of a shoe!

"What...what do you want?"

An AFP reporter shakily raised his hand.

"Are you planning to release them?"

"release?"

Chen Xi looked at the other person with a surprised expression, as if she had heard a joke.

"Miss reporter, have you ever seen anyone sweep the trash into a dustpan and then dump it back into the living room?"

"No, no, no."

Chen Xi shook his finger, looking like a responsible sanitation worker.

"Once our Huntian glue solidifies, it's a molecular-level lock-in."

"It can't be pulled out."

"Trying to pull it out of control will only tear the hull apart."

Chen Xi spread his hands, looking helpless.

"Therefore, in order to protect the environment and to completely eliminate the source of pollution."

"The only solution is recycling."

"How do you recycle it?" The CNN reporter felt a chill run down his spine.

Chen Xi smiled slightly, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth.

"Disassemble on the spot."

"That is, turning them into scrap metal and moving them away piece by piece."

"As for the creatures inside..."

Chen Xi shrugged, his tone light.

"We'll either dispose of it harmlessly, or make them pay a negligible cleanup fee and crawl out on their own."

"after all."

Chen Xi put on the yellow safety helmet and gave the camera a standard professional fake smile.

"Our Nantianmen Company does not produce waste."

"We are merely porters of the ocean."