"What's wrong?" the highest leader stopped and asked in a low voice.
Jing Mingqiu gestured with his hand, "Leader, to prevent our mechs from becoming a laughingstock, besides developing new fighter jets, could we also avoid this outcome by shooting down the American fighter jets?"
"Theoretically, yes," the highest leader frowned. "However, American fighter jets are not only fast and agile but are also coated with stealth paint that absorbs radar waves. It's hard enough to track them, let alone shoot them down."
Jing Mingqiu casually tore off a piece of paper, folded it a few times, and made it into the shape of a plane. "Shooting down a plane sounds complicated, but it's actually just two steps."
"First, find it." Jing Mingqiu picked up a pen and scribbled on the paper airplane. "The stealth coating on American fighter jets looks high-tech, but it's actually several layers forced together."
"If it were a unified layer, it would be a bit troublesome for me to deal with, but since it's layered, it's much simpler. We just need to modify a multi-spectral segmented radar."
"Once found, the rest is even simpler. I can't produce missiles as weapons yet, but the underlying principle of a missile is similar to a skyrocket. Both use burning gunpowder to expel gas from the bottom, propelling the main body upwards."
"The more advanced the fighter jet, the more precise and fragile it is. It doesn't need a large warhead. Just a collision would cause immense damage. I can make an oversized skyrocket and launch it directly from the sky."
A southern professor with thick glasses subtly nudged his colleague. "What is a skyrocket? A new type of rocket? Or a code name for a special missile?"
The person nudged looked very confused. "A skyrocket is a firecracker that uses rocket principles. It flies upwards while making noise."
"Oh, a firecracker," the southern professor exclaimed, suddenly understanding. "We have those too. Many children love to play with them during the New Year. However, these toys have a limited flight altitude, at most a hundred meters."
"Fighter jets generally fly at altitudes above eight thousand meters. Using this to attack an aircraft isn't very reliable."
It wasn't just these two professors; others in the conference room also found Jing Mingqiu's suggestion unreliable. Although they had lowered their voices, for Jing Mingqiu, who had undergone gene modification, their actions were no different from openly conspiring.
"Everyone, while skyrockets might be toys to us, in ancient times, they were already considered deadly hidden weapons."
Jing Mingqiu glanced at the Level 3 civilization children's toys that had just appeared in the system store, and then continued his explanation.
"Civilization's growth is holistic. As long as the gap is large enough, the toys of a higher civilization can become world-destroying weapons for a lower civilization."
The other professors remained puzzled. "But a skyrocket is just a toy of our era. How can it deal with the top fighter jets of our era?"
"This is a bit complicated to explain. Leader, please prepare some materials for me, and I'll give you a live demonstration..."
While Jing Mingqiu was in the meeting, other forces were not idle.
In the White House, the President of the United States was throwing a tantrum. He picked up a stack of documents and slammed them onto Miss Lun'en, roaring loudly.
"First, try to win them over. If that fails, then make a move. Bribe local gangs, find excuses to forcefully 'help' them. Who came up with this terrible idea, you idiot!"
Miss Lun'en looked very wronged. "Mr. President, I just wanted to test the level of protection the Dragon Country's officials provide to Jing Mingqiu and the others. Who would have thought they would deploy their army directly?"
"Heh," the President chuckled coldly. "In the Dragon Country's terms, this is called 'beating the grass to startle the snake.' Now that they've been escorted to a military base, it's as difficult as reaching heaven to move against them! You have been..."
Seeing the President about to erupt again, Miss Lun'en quickly changed the subject. "Mr. President, we haven't lost everything. The second wave of attacks orchestrated by the Cherry Blossom Country successfully forced the Dragon Country to reveal its trump cards. It also diverted the Dragon Country's attention."
"The Dragon Country's research in mechs is far more advanced than we imagined. They can now achieve the level of the Transformers in our movies."
"If we allow them to continue developing, and tanks and planes can also transform into humanoid mechs, we will be at a severe disadvantage in the event of war!"
The President frowned deeply. "I have already considered this. You don't need to worry about it. We can't get Yi Wenliu for now. How is the situation with the serum she invented?"
"Reporting to Mr. President, we have used an inside informant to burn down their warehouse and block all transaction channels for this serum. They will not be able to mass-produce it for the time being."
"Imitation drug experts from the White Elephant Country are working day and night to crack these drugs, preparing to seize the market while the Dragon Country cannot produce them."
The President first nodded with a smile, then his smile vanished. "This is not enough. The Dragon Country people are very cunning. You immediately arrange for someone else to..."
In the Cherry Blossom Country's Emperor's palace, the Emperor sat on the stage, glancing at the black-clad ninjas kneeling on the ground to confess their sins, a strong killing intent appearing in his eyes.
"You useless wretches, who can't accomplish anything and only ruin things! Not only did you fail to capture them, but you also left behind evidence. Now we have become the chicken that the Dragon Country is using to warn the monkeys. How do you explain this!"
The black-clad ninja's face turned pale, but he forced himself to stand upright. "Your Majesty, this is indeed very troublesome, but it is also an opportunity. The United States and several other Western countries have called, saying they are willing to provide us with assistance."
The Prime Minister of Cherry Blossom Country, Abe Fumio, walked in from outside with a sneer.
"Provide assistance? Heh! They just want to use us as pawns to test the Dragon Country. We won't do such a thankless task. Hasn't the Bamboo Stick Country always claimed that they are the ancestors of the Dragon Country? Let's help them make a move first."
"The Prime Minister is right," the Emperor said, seeing Abe Fumio as if he had seen a savior. "Quickly act according to the Prime Minister's instructions!"
...
The next day, a piece of news quickly climbed to the top of the trending search list.
[Bamboo Stick Country Strongly Condemns Dragon Country for Stealing Our Latest Scientific Research Products, Publicizing Our Researchers' Hard-Earned Miracle Drugs as Dragon Country Products, and Making Huge Profits. We Demand an Apology from the Dragon Country and Compensation for Corresponding Losses of Two Billion US Dollars.]
The Dragon Country's Special Emergency Response Team for the Dual-Drug Plan was stunned by this. They never expected that the first shot would be fired by the insignificant Bamboo Stick Country, and in such a manner.
It wasn't just the Dragon Country; the high-ranking officials of the Bamboo Stick Country were also bewildered. This condemnation wasn't issued by them. While they did like to steal culture worldwide, they usually fabricated evidence beforehand. They wouldn't just shout incoherently while waving a flag.
The Bamboo Stick Country's high command hastily convened a press conference to clarify the matter.
While the press conference was being prepared, under the manipulation of online trolls, netizens from the Bamboo Stick Country and the Dragon Country were already engaged in a heated argument.
Dragon Country netizens: "See something good and claim it as yours! Unworthy of being called a stealing country, truly shameless!"
Bamboo Stick Country netizens: "Stole it and dare not admit it? Dragon Country is trash. Red Mountain, Liao River, all your civilizations came from us!"
Hearing this, the anger of the Dragon Country netizens was thoroughly ignited. "Where's the evidence? If you don't have evidence, shut up! The Bamboo Stick Country was a vassal state of our Dragon Country in ancient times. Now that you've found a new daddy, you think you can stand tall! You're fundamentally a thief!"
...
While most people's attention was drawn to the online war of words, the Cherry Blossom Country secretly made its move.