I, from the Celestial Empire, have parachuted into Teyvat.

Although Peking duck is delicious, Paimon's eating manners are truly unbearable to watch.

The elder brother laughed heartily and said, "Little fellow, this is duck meat, Peking duck from Beijing. If you like it, I'll have Xiao Yi take you to a restaurant later."

After chatting for a while, Ivan put his phone down and turned to the Grand Elder, saying, "Grand Elder, the spokesperson for the Presidential Palace of the United States just held a press conference criticizing us. It seems they didn't take our warnings to heart."

The Grand Elder nodded: "As expected. It seems that not only did they not heed our warnings, but they also intend to continue their strategy of containing us."

Ivan raised an eyebrow slightly: "Elder, is there anything I can do to help?"

The Grand Elder patted Ivan on the shoulder: "You don't need to worry about this. The matters concerning Teyvat are more important right now. We need to prepare for the possibility of a full-blown outbreak of destructive energy on Earth. This is our trump card. If Earth truly reaches an irreversible point in the future, we'll still have room to maneuver. As for the US, Huacheng is still thousands of years behind us in terms of cultivation..."

......

As time went on, the fiery remarks made by the spokesperson of the Presidential Palace of Country M at a press conference fueled public opinion and quickly attracted attention from all over the world.

So the next morning, at the regular press conference of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a reporter asked Zhou Hongru, the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a trick question about the speech made by the spokesperson of the Presidential Palace of the United States the previous day.

"How does China plan to respond to the remarks made by the spokesperson of the US Presidential Palace at yesterday's press conference? Can China provide evidence to prove the existence of another world? Will China open the Bohai Bay and Qindao City to international investigation teams for investigation?"

Instead of answering directly, Zhou Hongru asked with a smile, "Excuse me, reporter, which media outlet are you from?"

The female reporter who asked the question was taken aback for a moment, wondering why Zhou Hongru would suddenly ask her where she was from, but she still honestly answered, "I am a reporter from the Huacheng Post of the United States."

"Hwaseong Post...Does your company's reporters not need to undergo professional qualification assessments?"

The female reporter was stunned.

Then Zhou Hongru snorted coldly, and his words became sharp.

"As a news media outlet, if it cannot stand on the side of neutrality and objectivity to look at issues, but instead asks questions with a bias, it is hard not to doubt whether its employees have undergone professional ethics assessments."

"Regarding the remarks you raised concerning the press conference by the spokesperson of the Presidential Palace of Country M, anyone with discerning eyes can see that his speech was nothing but slander against China. China has no need to, and will not, respond to such baseless statements. Furthermore, China has evidence to prove the existence of another world, and plenty of it, but for someone who can smear even laundry detergent as a chemical weapon, China has no need to provide evidence for such a person. Finally, the Bohai Bay and Qindao City are both Chinese territory, and China has the right to permit or organize any foreign organization or individual to enter. China has no need to notify any other country or organization of this matter. Next."

After verbally attacking the female reporter from the Huacheng Post until she turned pale, Zhou Hongru calmly called for the next reporter.

"Hello, I am a reporter from China Daily. We understand that the Chinese government spoke with the government of Country M by phone yesterday. Could you please disclose the content of the call?"

Zhou Hongru said, "Actually, yesterday we not only spoke with the government of the United States, but also with other governments. All the conversations concerned a catastrophic threat called the 'Aura of Destruction,' a disaster originating from an unknown realm. This aura spreads like a virus, infecting living beings and ultimately turning all infected individuals into puppets of the aura into utter madness. This disaster previously ravaged another world, and we've received information that it has spread to Earth. The source of the outbreak is very likely New York City in the United States. Out of humanitarian obligation, the Chinese government spoke with the government of the United States, reminding them to take precautions. That concludes the conversation between the Chinese government and the government of the United States. Next."

......

Time flew by, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' regular press conference soon came to an end.

Hours after the press conference ended, as someone uploaded the recording of the conference online, diplomat Zhou Hongru's remarks instantly ignited the entire internet across the globe...

Chapter 443 Slaying the Dragon

Several hours after the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs' regular press conference ended, an "unknown" netizen posted a clip of Zhou Hongru's answers to reporters' questions from the press conference online.

This includes Zhou Hongru's answers to questions from a reporter from the M-country Huacheng Post and a reporter from the Huaxia Daily.

The video immediately went viral on the Chinese internet upon its release.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has always been known for its rationality and composure. As a result, the spokespersons of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have always given the impression of being gentle, eloquent, and neither arrogant nor humble. In people's memory, there seems to be no instance of a spokesperson confronting a reporter forcefully. Even when faced with some aggressive questions, the spokespersons of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have remained calm and composed.

But this time was different. In the video clip, people were surprised to see Zhou Hongru directly criticizing the Washington Post and its journalists for their lack of professional ethics. Of course, it's not that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs hasn't criticized some Western journalists before, but this time the criticism was far too direct, without any beating around the bush—directly attacking the Washington Post. This isn't uncommon, but it's unprecedented. This is why Zhou Hongru's remarks quickly went viral online.

On Huaxia Network's largest social news app, the number of comments under the account that initially posted the relevant press conference video has exceeded 100,000.

"My God, is that our spokesperson Zhou Da? He's so handsome!"

"Awesome! It's so satisfying to watch! Did you guys see the face of that female reporter from the Washington Post in the video? It turned green! Haha, it's hilarious!"

“That’s right, that’s how it should be done. I’ve been annoyed by the Washington Post and other Western media for a long time. They’re so arrogant and full of fake news. If it were me, I would curse their ancestors for eighteen generations.”

"If you ask me, we should revoke the press credentials of all those shameless Western media journalists who spread fake news and kick them out of China, so they won't disgust us every day."

“It’s unlikely that we’ll be kicked out. After all, we’re not those petty Westerners. I think we just need to distance ourselves from these fake news media outlets.”

"Speaking of which, everyone is focused on the clip of Boss Zhou confronting Western journalists, but has no one paid attention to what Boss Zhou said later about the disaster called the 'Aura of Destruction'?"

"I noticed that, according to Boss Zhou, it looks like a kind of infectious virus? But we don't know much about it yet, and we don't know the specifics. And to be honest, the official information we've released about other worlds is still very limited. All we know so far is that other worlds exist, and we know very little else. To be fair, it's no wonder that many foreigners doubt the existence of other worlds and that our official information is lying."

Does that other world even exist?

"Of course they exist. Qindao City is now open, and there are many pictures and videos taken by Qindao City citizens online. Traces of the battle between the garrison and the monsters still remain on the beaches of Qindao City. A video blogger I follow, named Qindao City Xiao Liang, is a middle school student. He saw those monsters with his own eyes, and I've seen the drawings he made of them; they were really terrifying. The video blogger's father was the technical director of a military materials factory in Qindao City. His father personally faced a three-story-tall plant-type monster, and the old factory director, along with his father, was captured and unfortunately died in the monster's mouth. Fortunately, the garrison soldiers arrived in time; otherwise, his father would have been separated from him forever. But even so, two garrison soldiers who rescued his father still sacrificed their lives."

"Yes, Qindao City suffered too many losses in the disaster. The video blogger's experience mentioned by the commenter above is just a microcosm of the entire Qindao City."

"Speaking of which, after Qindao City reopened, many travel and adventure bloggers went to Qindao City and went out to sea in the Bohai Bay. From the videos of those bloggers, Qindao City is fully open, but some areas of the Bohai Bay are still blocked. The bloggers' boats were stopped by the military. But even so, from the video footage taken by those bloggers, even from a distance, you can still see a large fog in the central waters of the Bohai Bay. According to the previous official statement, that is the space passage to another world - the Gate of the World."

"seriously?"

"Really? Comrade, how long has it been since you went online? You can find tons of videos online these days. Foreign countries are even clamoring for us to provide evidence to prove the existence of another world. Actually, this is enough evidence. It's just that Western media and politicians are selectively blind and pretending not to see it."

"They're not pretending not to see it; even if they did, they'd claim the videos and pictures are all photoshopped. There are at least tens of thousands of videos and pictures related to other worlds online; it's impossible that every single one of them is photoshopped, right? Westerners are just playing dumb, making excuses to deal with us."

Of course, unlike in China, the opinions expressed in Western media forums were completely different.

On Bluebird, a social networking site in the United States that I have mentioned many times before, some Western media reposted clips of questions from a press conference held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in China, which only attracted a group of angry people.

"A reporter from the Washington Post was actually verbally abused."

"To be honest, I think there's nothing wrong with this round of Chinese Foreign Ministry spokespersons. The Huacheng Post has been a fake news machine for a long time, and I stopped reading their news a long time ago."

"The Chinese are truly shameless. The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs actually dared to openly admit that we are slandering them."

"What bullshit about the aura of destruction, what bullshit about another world? If another world really exists, why can't they produce any solid evidence yet? This is a complete hoax! We should unite to sanction China."

"Look, everyone! Look at the latest news published by the Huacheng Post!"

"what happened?"

Amidst the flood of related comments, more and more people clicked on the official website of the M Country Review Weekly, and then a striking message appeared on the homepage.

[Because China conducted inhumane weapons experiments and refused to cooperate with international investigations, the President of Country M officially signed a sanctions order, launching a comprehensive sanctions campaign against China in conjunction with other countries.]

Upon seeing this news, there was an uproar on Bluebird.

"The United States has joined forces with other countries to impose sanctions on China. China is doomed now."

"What's the big deal? China has been sanctioned by the US before, and we're still doing just fine, aren't we?"

"What do you know? In the past, the friction between China and the United States was just between the two countries. This time, it is a group led by the United States that is collectively encircling and suppressing China, and it is a comprehensive encirclement and suppression, involving all walks of life. This time, even if China is a large country, it probably can't hold on. Unless God comes down to earth."

......

The capital city, the Senate, the office of the Grand Elder.

At this moment, the Grand Elder was sitting opposite Zhang Changyun, the head of the Ministry of National Defense. In front of them was a half-finished game of Go, with the Grand Elder holding white stones and Zhang Changyun holding black stones. At this moment, the black stones had formed a large group, creating a predicament for the white stones.

Zhang Changyun said, "As for the United States, their president has just signed a joint sanctions order against us."

The Grand Elder stared at the chessboard and nodded.

"Our reiteration of the destructive atmosphere at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference was our last act of goodwill, but unfortunately, these Westerners are still going their own way."

Zhang Changyun placed a piece, looked up, and asked, "How do you resolve this situation?"

"Why?"

The Grand Elder smiled gently.

"It is of course to slay the dragon."

Having said that, the white piece fell, the black dragon broke, and the predicament was resolved.

Chapter 444 The Great Sword of Sanction

In Huaxia Magic City, at six o'clock on Sunday morning, Wang Mingjun got out of bed in his pajamas, just like any other weekend.

Brushing his teeth and washing his face, heating up a cup of milk, and toasting a slice of bread—that was his breakfast for the day.

However, just as he sat down at the breakfast table with his milk, his phone, which was placed beside him, suddenly rang.

Wang Mingjun picked up the phone and looked at it, then frowned.

This is a call from his company.

Wang Mingjun works for an international trading company in Mocheng. The company rarely calls its employees on weekends and holidays. When they do call, it's usually because there's a problem with a project and the employee needs to return to work overtime. This is why Wang Mingjun doesn't look too happy.

Although somewhat dissatisfied, Wang Mingjun still answered the phone.

"Hello? Is this the director?"

A man's voice came from the other end of the phone, sounding somewhat anxious.

"Xiao Wang? Get back to the company right now!"

"What? Is there a problem with the project our group is responsible for?"

“It’s not just your team’s project that’s having problems; it’s all the projects in the company that are having problems. I’m calling all the employees right now, and everyone needs to come to the company immediately. You should come quickly too.”

After saying that, the other end of the phone hung up.

Wang Mingjun stared at his phone, completely bewildered.

What happened? Did I hear that right? The entire company's projects are in trouble?

With such a major incident at the company, Wang Mingjun's resentment about working overtime instantly dissipated. After all, it concerned his job, and he would definitely suffer if the company went bankrupt. So he immediately changed his clothes, went out, hailed a taxi at the entrance of the residential area, and rushed to the company.

Upon arriving at the office building located in the Hedong District of Mocheng, Wang Mingjun was about to take the elevator to his company's floor when a shout suddenly came from outside the elevator.

"Wait a minute, wait for me."

Wang Mingjun stopped pressing the floor button, looked up and saw a girl in a business suit running in quickly.

After entering the elevator, the girl smiled at Wang Mingjun and said, "You also received a call from the director?"

Wang Mingjun nodded.

The girl in front of him was named Yan Ruyu. She was his colleague and friend, working in the same company and in the same project team.

Sitting in the elevator, watching the floor numbers rise on the display, Yan Ruyu sighed and said, "Our company might not be able to hold on this time. I think we should think about a backup plan."

Wang Mingjun was taken aback, somewhat surprised and puzzled, and asked, "Can't hold on? Why do you say that? Has the company's cash flow dried up?"

Yan Ruyu pouted and said, "It's much more serious than a broken cash flow, after all, it's related to what happened yesterday."

Seeing Wang Mingjun's bewildered expression, Yan Ruyu sighed and said, "Seriously, bro? What were you doing yesterday? Didn't you see the news?"

"I thought I'd relax yesterday, Saturday, so I slept all day, haha..."

Wang Mingjun smiled awkwardly. Although he took out his phone and started browsing various news apps, he only glanced at them before revealing a shocked expression.