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

With a dragon's roar.

The sound didn't seem to come from a throat; it was more like it was squeezed out from some crevice between heaven and earth.

Deep, lingering, and carrying a certain ancient majesty.

The sound waves spread through the air, making people's eardrums tingle and their hearts tighten.

In the square, everyone subconsciously looked up.

The sky was still that blindingly blue sky, without a single cloud, and the sun was so scorching it felt like it would melt you.

The CNN reporter, who was about to continue his sarcasm, suddenly froze.

He saw something moving on the horizon.

That's a cloud.

It wasn't a thin wisp of cloud, but a huge, dark mass, as if it had been pushed over from the horizon by something.

The speed is abnormally fast.

Just a few seconds ago it was far away, but the next second it had already covered half the sky.

"This...how is this possible?"

The meteorological experts stared wide-eyed, nearly dropping their tablets.

Satellite cloud images show that the air pressure system over Yuzhou is changing drastically in a way that completely defies the laws of nature.

The high-pressure ridge is disintegrating, water vapor is condensing, and clouds are piling up at a visible rate.

"The wind has changed!"

"The humidity is skyrocketing!"

"This...this doesn't make sense!"

The air in the square, which had been so dry it was suffocating, suddenly became humid.

A chill swept over me.

The crowd began to stir, but this time it wasn't despair, but surprise.

"Look! What's that?"

Someone pointed to the sky and shouted.

Lightning flashed within the dark clouds.

It wasn't ordinary lightning; it was golden, as if something was churning in the clouds.

"Boom—!"

Thunder exploded.

Immediately afterwards, large raindrops began to fall.

One drop, two drops, three drops...

Then came the torrential rain!

The raindrops pounded on the cracked earth, making a crisp "pitter-patter" sound.

The dust kicked up, but was quickly submerged by the rain.

The square was initially deathly silent.

Then, a deafening roar of cheers erupted.

"It's raining! It's really raining!"

"Thank God!"

"It's not God, it's the Dragon King!"

Countless people rushed into the rain, opened their arms, tilted their heads back, and let the rain pour down on their faces.

Some laughed, some cried, and some even knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly.

The dark-skinned farmers had red eyes and were muttering incoherent words, clutching soil in their hands, which had become moist again from the rain.

The CNN reporter was stunned, and the microphone fell to the ground, pattering loudly as it hit the ground.

His live stream chat was exploding with comments.

"Holy crap! It's really happening!"

"Where's the guy who said he'd eat the keyboard? Come out and take your beating!"

"Is this even science? This is a miracle!"

Across the ocean, in the CIA operations command center.

Burns stared at the satellite cloud image, his face ashen.

On the screen, the cloud cover over Yuzhou has exceeded 1,000 meters in thickness, and the rainfall intensity continues to increase.

Their Aegis system, that terrifying weapon that supposedly controls the weather, now seems like a joke.

"How could this happen..."

He muttered to himself, his fingers gripping the edge of the table so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"Our microwave beam is still being emitted, so why isn't it working?"

The technician replied in a trembling voice, "Director, that cloud... it wasn't formed naturally. It looks like... like it was forcibly gathered together by something."

"When we send our microwave beam in, it's like throwing a stone into the sea—there's no reaction at all."

Burns whirled around, his eyes bloodshot: "What do you mean?"

"It means..." the technician swallowed, "that there's some kind of energy field in that cloud that we can't understand."

"It's fighting against our system."

"And...we won."

However, while they were cheering for the rain, Chen Dong noticed something unusual.

In that bowl of clear water, the luster of the dragon-shaped necklace was visibly fading.

The bronze dragon scales, which had originally gleamed with a faint golden light, were now dull and lifeless, just like an ordinary old bronze artifact.

Chen Dong's heart tightened, and he immediately bent down to check.

Although the necklace was still trembling, the oppressive aura had completely disappeared.

"Dragon Lord?"

He called out to himself tentatively, but received no response.

Only the sound of raindrops hitting the incense table could be heard, dense and rapid.

Chen Dong's expression changed, and without hesitation, he grabbed the necklace, not even bothering with the bowl, and turned to walk towards the car.

"Director Chen, what's wrong?"

Wang Yijun caught up, his face full of confusion.

"The Dragon Lord has expended too much energy."

Chen Dong lowered his voice and kept walking, "Immediately notify everyone to keep the news under wraps and announce to the outside world that the ceremony has been successfully completed."

Wang Yijun was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized what was happening and turned to give instructions into the walkie-talkie.

The crowd in the square was still cheering and reveling in the rain, and no one noticed the abnormality on the altar.

Chen Dong strode into the car, closed the door, and his hands holding the necklace trembled slightly.

He could feel the necklace's temperature dropping, changing from warm to cold.

This is not a good sign.

"Dragon Lord, are you alright?"

Chen Dong called out in his heart again, his voice filled with anxiety.

After a long while, a voice so weak it was almost inaudible finally rang in his mind.

"I... am fine..."

Li Chen's voice was broken and intermittent, completely lacking its previous authority and composure.

"It's just... a bit exhausting... let me... take a nap..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the necklace completely lost its luster and fell silent.

Chen Dong took a deep breath, carefully put the necklace away, and instructed the driver, "Back to the capital, as fast as possible."

Outside the car window, the rain was getting heavier.

The land of Yuzhou finally welcomed the long-awaited rain. The parched earth greedily absorbed the rainwater, and the withered crops trembled slightly in the rain.

But Chen Dong was not in a relaxed mood at all.

He knew that the cost of this rain would be greater than anyone imagined.