I put monsters and super powers in America

When a young intelligence analyst on duty handed this seemingly "unbelievable" report from New York State to his boss, the boss, who was celebrating with his colleagues, just glanced at it impatiently.

"Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant? Waste stolen? Radiation levels dropped?"

The boss frowned, threw the report aside, and waved his hand dismissively.

"This report comes at an inopportune time and will disrupt the atmosphere. Furthermore, since the radiation levels are normal and there's no risk of leakage, there's no need to evacuate or declare a state of emergency."

"Let's suppress this report and keep the news secret. Once we've dealt with the Leviathan incident, we'll send an investigation team over to take a look."

54. The Greatest Naval Parade!? (Blade Extra)

CNN, prime-time flagship talk show "Anderson Cooper 360°".

The host, Anderson Cooper, a veteran media figure known for his silver-gray hair, sharp questions and the ability to shed just the right amount of crocodile tears at critical moments, is now sitting upright. His blue eyes, which always carry a hint of melancholy, are staring intently at the guest opposite him - a former Pentagon general who had just been slapped in the face in the "Sioux Incident" but who quickly adjusted his attitude and regained his "professionalism".

"General, I think audiences around the world are as curious as I am," Cooper's voice was steady and magnetic, every word sounding carefully crafted. "How exactly did the federal government manage to pinpoint and kill that terrifying Leviathan-like creature in such a short timeframe, committing a near-perfect crime? Does this represent some generational leap in military technology unknown to us?"

The general cleared his throat, his resolute face showing just the right amount of arrogance, as if to say, "I'd like to be humble, but my strength won't allow it."

"Anderson, I must emphasize again that the details of the military operation are top secret and I cannot reveal too much. But what I can tell you is that the success of this operation was by no means accidental, let alone so-called 'luck'." The general's tone was full of disdain for some of the previous questioning arguments of the liberal media.

"Humph, just a few days ago you said we knew nothing about the extraordinary, and now? Are you dumbfounded? This is the embodiment of our mature and efficient military decision-making and execution mechanism! Do you understand? Mechanism!"

"It showcases the unfathomable technological expertise our great America has accumulated over the past decades in artificial intelligence, big data analysis, and hypersonic weapons delivery! With the coolest minds, most precise calculations, and most decisive actions, we have provided every nation in the world with a vivid, textbook lesson on how to respond to extraordinary crises!"

Anderson Cooper nodded with a look of admiration, as if suddenly enlightened. Although the liberal media often contradicted the government, in the face of this major victory for national prestige, they were happy to attribute the success to the "superiority of the system" and the "victory of professionalism," thereby highlighting the value of the "elite class" they represented.

On the other hand, the atmosphere in the Fox News studio was much more fanatical.

"The art of war and strategy! Gentlemen! Ladies! This! Is our President's incomparable 'art of strategy'!" The blonde anchorwoman was dancing with joy, spit flying everywhere. Her face, always tinged with a touch of sarcasm and arrogance, was now filled with a veneration bordering on religious fanaticism. "Look at our great President! He first used a small exercise as 'bait', forcing that deep-sea monster to reveal itself! Then he retreated, feigning weakness, making the whole world believe we were helpless! Finally, at a moment when no one expected it, he delivered a fatal blow with thunderous force! What a brilliant conspiracy! What a magnificent strategic plan!"

"To all those idiots who are still laughing at the president, have you seen this?! This is a true leader! A great and brave man who dares to place bets and flip the table! You weak sissies, what else can you do besides whining behind his back?!"

Regardless of which TV station's host or guest, although their entry points and flattering postures are different, the final conclusion is surprisingly consistent - hunting "Leviathan" is an indisputable great victory for the United States. It will surely greatly enhance the United States' international prestige around the world and reshape the "lighthouse" image that has long been somewhat dimmed by various internal and external troubles.

Soon, whether it was Fox News or CNN; whether it was radical conservatives or pretentious liberals; whether it was the spitting hosts or the pretentious guests, they all stopped their "high-sounding remarks" at the same time.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the huge studio screen behind them at the same time.

On the screen, the live broadcast signal provided by the Navy officials, which had been carefully edited and beautified, had switched to the sky above the Western Pacific.

The much-anticipated and unprecedented naval "prisoner presentation ceremony" is about to begin.

……

The morning light is dim in the western Pacific Ocean.

In the sky, dozens of helicopters and drones from major media outlets around the world were buzzing like circling vultures, pointing their cameras at the blue sea below.

On the boundless Pacific Ocean as pure as sapphire, a breathtakingly huge steel fleet is breaking through the waves at a majestic and slow speed full of classical ritual.

Leading the way were two Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers. Their towering bridges and dense jungle-like array of radar antennas resembled a pair of loyal, armor-clad knights, guarding their unique "trophy." Following closely behind were four Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, flanking them and forming an impenetrable diamond-shaped escort formation. And at the center of this fleet, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, with a displacement exceeding 100,000 tons, stood at the rear like a regal emperor, leisurely and steadily supporting the rear.

Above the sky, a formation of F-35C Lightning II fighter jets performed round after round of low-altitude passes in a neat V-shape, with their tails pulling out colorful smoke composed of red, white and blue, symbolizing the American flag. The smoke was particularly eye-catching against the blue sea and sky.

This massive fleet, representing the pinnacle of American naval power, hadn't a single ship activated its fire control radar. They simply sailed silently, in a posture almost like a military parade, as if holding a grand and solemn celebration for a great monarch.

And the one being "escorted" by them to the center is none other than the deep-sea monster that once made the whole world tremble - Leviathan!

And in the very center of the entire formation, the corpse of the deep-sea monster named "Leviathan" was being slowly dragged in a manner full of industrial power and ritual sense.

Several massive, specialized deep-sea salvage vessels, resembling mobile factories at sea, had their crane arms raised high, like giant steel claws reaching toward the sky. Dozens of massive cables, thicker than an adult's thigh and woven from the latest high-strength composite fibers, dangled from the arms like the chains that bound Prometheus, securely fastened to the massive, charred carcass of the behemoth.

In order to prevent this "unprecedented precious biological sample" from losing any drop of precious blood or piece of research-worthy tissue due to the washing of sea water during the towing process, a luxurious "mobile isolation pool" was temporarily built.

A giant waterproof cloth made of multiple layers of polymer waterproof materials, with an area large enough to cover several standard football fields, was carefully laid under the body of the giant beast with the cooperation of dozens of small work boats.

The edge of the waterproof cloth is supported by a huge, circular, inflatable buoyancy frame, forming a completely enclosed "water fence" that is isolated from the external sea water.

In this way, Leviathan's huge "corpse", along with the sea water around it that was dyed red by its own blood, was completely "packed up", like the most sacred sacrifice about to be sent to the altar.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Friends! Did you see that?! This is history! This is the history we are witnessing right before our own eyes!"

From a CNN helicopter, Christiane Amanpour's voice was once again transmitted around the world via satellite. This time, there was no longer any trace of fear in her voice. Instead, there was a kind of ecstasy and excitement that was almost hysterical and came from the heart!

"This is definitely the most glorious moment in my journalistic career!"

"Look! Look! Right below me! That mythical sea monster that once made the entire Western Pacific tremble—Leviathan! Now, like a massive whale captured by a hunter, it's being towed by our great navy, sailing through this victorious sea!"

Her voice trembled slightly with excitement and she spoke at an astonishing speed.

"Let's zoom in! Closer! Let the whole world see clearly what happens to this monster!"

The camera zoomed in, focusing on the massive corpse floating underwater. Through the clear water, one could clearly see its enormous, vertical pupils, once ablaze with blue will-o'-the-wisp flames, now a murky, ash-colored mess. Its pale blue scales, once as tough as deep-sea gemstones, were now shattered to shreds, with large swaths of flesh tumbling outward, revealing charred muscle tissue and eerie white bone beneath. A massive laceration stretched from its back to its abdomen, like a chasm cleaved by a giant axe, deep enough to reveal bone, and even the faint pulsing, shattered internal organs within.

"See?! Its eyes! Those eyes that were once filled with destruction and tyranny, now hold only the shadow of death!" Christine's voice was high-pitched and sharp, filled with the triumphant joy of venting. "Its armor! Those hard armor that once withstood naval gunfire is now vulnerable to our magnificent, clean directed energy weapon!"

"This is our great power! This is the fate of those who challenge the free world order! From today! From this moment on! No creature, no country, no force on this planet will dare to question our resolve again! Because, not only can we create miracles, we can also... hunt gods!"

The whole world is in an uproar!

From Tokyo to London, from Moscow to Sydney, all the countries and people who were paying attention to this matter were deeply and irrefutably shocked by this "prisoner surrender" scene that was full of visual impact and political symbolism!

Author's message

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In the past two days, I have accumulated more than 100 Blades, but less than 150. This is an extra update for Blades.

There are basically five updates every day, so there will be an extra chapter tomorrow, which will also be six updates.

A total of 20,000 words were updated today. Isn’t that good enough?

55. Surrender now, the cost is the lowest

The great Eastern country, cyberspace.

On the "Zhifou" platform, the question "How do you evaluate the United States' successful hunting of 'Leviathan' and the capture of its remains?" was like a depth charge detonated on a calm lake. In just a few hours, it rushed to the top of the hot search list, and the number of views soared by billions.

The comment section has become a Shura field with all kinds of creatures jumping up and down, and those who are afraid that the big daddy America will lose and will not allow the big Eastern country to win are the ones jumping the most happily.

After all, they are currently in a favorable situation.

And amidst this clamor, there were a few answerers who were particularly... jumping around.

Among them, the most eye-catching one is the big V whose ID is "Elector of Brandenburg" and who also wears the blue certification badge of "Visiting Scholar at Harvard Kennedy School".

Not long ago, when Leviathan was still rampaging in the Western Pacific, tearing apart the destroyer "Jones" and sending the "Super Marine" squadron fleeing in panic, it was this Mr. "Elector" who, in an atmosphere of jubilation and mockery of the United States, with a sober attitude while everyone else was drunk, published a brilliant article against all odds - "A tactical setback in exchange for a century of strategic advantage."

At this moment, he placed his "divine prophecy" high at the top of the answer, and then followed up with a lavish "post-war summary" in a tone full of the glory of a victor, almost showing off.

"Comrades! Friends! Did you see that? What did I say?!"

"Not long ago, when I proposed the ideas of 'strategically showing weakness' and 'luring the enemy deep into our territory,' how many people in the comment section were still mocking me? They said I was defending the US government, that I was using psychological tactics to achieve victory, that I was daydreaming! What about now?!"

"The facts have eloquently proven everything! The federal government's decision-makers possess remarkable strategic fortitude and political wisdom! They used a soon-to-be-decommissioned destroyer and twenty consumables they believed could be readily replenished, and they successfully staged a brilliant 'playing the pig to eat the tiger' charade for the world, especially for us!"

"Not only have they successfully tested the conditions for luring top-tier supernatural beings to appear, they've also used this opportunity to showcase to the world their unfathomable technological prowess, capable of hunting down 'gods'! This kind of drastic determination, this kind of overarching vision that disregards the gains and losses of a single city or region, this kind of mastery that perfectly combines supernatural power with geopolitical maneuvering! May I ask, what do we have?!"

"I repeat, this is not just a military victory; it's a complete victory at the civilizational level! It proves once again that only when science and technology are in the hands of a civilized, free, and open society can they unleash their greatest and most positive value! Only then can they become the cornerstone of maintaining world peace and order!"

"So, wake up! You little pinkies and keyboard warriors who are still gloating over our shabby research vessel 'capturing' a few soaked soldiers! Open your eyes and take a good look. While you're still cheering over petty tactical gains, your true opponents have already defeated you strategically!"

This "profound speech" full of superiority and "foresight" immediately attracted a large number of fans to worship it.

I bow down to the boss! This is like a modern-day Longzhong Dialogue! I thought what the boss said made sense two days ago, but unfortunately, I was besieged by a group of populist trolls and didn't dare to speak out.

[Big Boss, you're awesome! The situation has changed! This wave is the fifth level! We were still laughing at others' lameness on the first level, but they've already laid out their plans in the atmosphere level!]

Of course, there is also another completely different voice, which also occupies half of the public opinion field. However, what they sell is a purer and undisguised despair.

An anonymous answerer wrote an answer titled "Surrender, now is the time with the lowest cost" in a trembling and tragic tone as if he was making a will.

"I don't want to analyze those technical details anymore, they're meaningless. I just want everyone to recognize the most basic and cruel reality: we have already lost."

"It was a complete defeat, with no chance of a comeback."

"When a country can use 'directed energy weapons' that we still cannot understand to easily kill a sea monster over 100 meters long, powerful enough to take on an entire aircraft carrier battle group, as easily as swatting a fly, the competition is over."

"Think about it, that was a behemoth that dismantled the Arleigh Burke like a toy, and it was just killed by a bullet, and there wasn't even any radiation left!"

"Everything we possess now, whether it's our vaunted aircraft carrier fleet or those ballistic missiles with global reach, is nothing more than the 'spears' and 'bows' of the new era in front of them. And they have already wielded 'guns' of unlimited range and immense power."

"Now, we have only two paths before us. One is to continue to cling to face and suffer, challenging the enemy's 'guns' with our ridiculous 'spears', and ultimately, after being crushed to dust, passively accept the most humiliating, humiliating terms, just like over a hundred years ago."

"The other path is to take advantage of the fact that the other side is still willing to sit down for 'negotiations' and give us a 'decent' way out, and make concessions proactively and with dignity. We must abandon those unrealistic fantasies, give up those illusory prestige, and use our vast market, complete industrial system, and hardworking people to exchange for a relatively advantageous position in the new order."

"Stop saying 'better to die with honor than live in disgrace.' The Qing Dynasty is gone. Surviving, ensuring that our descendants don't become slaves to the slaughter, is the greatest dignity."

This answer, full of defeatist rhetoric, was like a spark dropped on a dry grassland, instantly igniting anxiety and panic in the hearts of countless people.

[The answerer is right. Although I am very unwilling, the gap is too big and there is no way to fight.]

[Stop being so stubborn. Is it that hard to admit that someone is awesome? Kneeling down now isn't shameful. Kneeling down after being beaten down is shameful.]

I've already put my house up for sale, ready to convert it into US dollars and flee at any moment. This country is hopeless.

On Bilibili, the bald UP host who is famous for being "too bold" and "good at defining" worked hard all night to produce a 40-minute "in-depth" video, once again pushing this discussion to the heights of "philosophy" and "system".

In the video, he is still sitting at his iconic simple desk with a cat stand on it. Instead of getting straight to the point as usual, he first played a medley of his famous scenes from previous videos.

From "supernatural powers stem from freedom of thought" to "the spirit of vigilantes embodies the superiority of civil society" to "we will witness the autumn shock of a new era"... every "outrageous theory" that was disproven was replayed by him without a flicker of emotion, as if to spur himself on, or to tell the audience - "Look, although my predictions were wrong, I am not afraid of the binding volume. I have also been thinking and trying to find the right way out for the sleeping people."

"Hello, audience friends, welcome to the XXXth episode of Awakening News. Please move and introduce the news."

Then, a deep female voice entered the stage: "Recently, Western powers claimed to have used directed energy weapons to lure and kill the extraordinary beast 'Leviathan' that once ravaged the Western Pacific in Hawaiian waters, and demonstrated the process of towing it into Hawaiian Harbor."

"Bao Gong, you have been following this kind of news. What do you think?"

The bald UP host's expression instantly became extremely solemn, and his tone was filled with heavy grief.

"Yes, the autumn shock. Although it was a little late, it finally came. Moreover, it came in a more violent and unreasonable way than we imagined."

"I don't want to rehash those details that have already been discussed to bits. Today, I simply want to discuss a deeper question with you all: when a civilization has mastered the power to arbitrarily define 'gods' and 'hunt them' at will, how should we, 'mortals' still stuck in the traditional technological tree, cope?"

"The answer is harsh, but we have to face it."

His tone was a little heavier, and his eyes were as sharp as a scalpel.

"The choice we face now is essentially the same as the one our ancestors faced over a hundred years ago. Do we choose to cling to our old ways and wage a doomed, tragic resistance with our outdated 'spears of the new era'? Or do we choose to set aside unnecessary and empty 'face' and so-called 'self-esteem' and actively and proactively integrate into the 'new order' established by the victors?"

"Yes, the process of integration may be painful, causing us to lose things, making us lose face, and even leaving us with lasting regrets. But this is our only way to avoid being completely crushed and to secure a seat for ourselves at the table of the new era! Resistance and perseverance certainly require courage, but giving up and yielding require even greater courage and even greater wisdom!"

"History has proven countless times that remaining closed-minded and refusing to communicate and integrate with more advanced civilizations will ultimately lead to elimination! I hope that this time, we can make the right choice."

……

However, neither the big Vs on Zhihu nor the UP hosts on Bilibili who were talking about the news knew that the Secretary of Defense himself had opened a belated briefing.

That's exactly what happened with the Indian Point "nuclear leak."

Looking at the huge claw marks, the missing nuclear waste, and the radiation levels that disappeared out of thin air...

After a long while, he finally uttered two words - "Damn it!"

He remembered the unreasonably high radiation levels in the surrounding seas after the nuclear explosion of "Leviathan"; cold sweat slowly flowed down his face.

“No…it’s okay!”

"Maybe radiation won't work on it, but it's not just radiation that can kill that animal!"

"There are also other physical damages such as shock waves and high temperatures caused by nuclear explosions!"

"And after that, the navy also made some contact. Although Leviathan's body is very hard, it should be dead!"

"It's going to be okay! It's going to be okay!"

Since the report was submitted too late, it is too late for the Defense Minister to do anything now. He is in a state of having to shoot the arrow on the string. He can only use various "facts" and inferences to constantly comfort his uneasy heart.

Author's message

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Let’s do it this way from now on. Generally, there will be five chapters updated. Whenever the total number of blades and rewards reaches fifty, I will add another chapter.