Chapter 598: Display

Someone immediately tried to dissuade Zhou Guang. "Mr. President..."

Zhou Guang spoke firmly. "The fact that he didn't immediately destroy Tianhua City upon arrival shows he's different from the other True Gods. Since he wants me to negotiate in person, I'll grant his request."

He glanced at the large screen, watching Tianhua City descend into chaos.

"That city holds 60 million people. Since I was entrusted with this position, I have a duty to protect those who place their trust in me."

"Mr. President, we can arrange a projection system for communication. There's no need for you to risk going there yourself," said Nikola Novich, the Minister of Security. He quickly added, "Besides, it would take over an hour to get there. There's no guarantee this True God will wait that long."

Zhou Guang furrowed his brows at the suggestion.

After a brief silence, he responded, "Then quickly arrange the necessary equipment so I can speak with him."

He turned to the head of the defense department. "Deactivate the targeting systems of our near-orbit weapons."

"Deactivate them?" The official hesitated. "Without them, we'll lose any deterrence against him..."

"It's meaningless," Zhou Guang replied, shaking his head. "He infiltrated Tianhua City undetected and unleashed an unimaginable attack. The balance of power has already shifted. With his abilities, if he wishes, he could destroy all our military facilities."

A heavy silence fell over the military officers.

One of them let out a long sigh. "We knew we couldn't fight against these so-called gods forever. We thought it would take decades, until the primordial qi reversed and replenished, before this day arrived... but it came far sooner than expected."

Zhou Guang gave a final command. "Shut them down."

With his order, all targeting systems were deactivated.

Almost simultaneously, the figure on the screen seemed to sense the change.

The energy levels, which had been steadily rising, began to plummet. The blinding radiance that had outshone the sun dimmed quickly.

Within a few breaths, the overwhelming energy fluctuations dissipated, revealing Li Pin once more.

Zhou Guang and the others gasped.

As a high-ranking official in the Federation, Zhou Guang understood exactly what this meant.

The energy unleashed moments ago, equivalent to a ten-gigaton explosion, wasn't even his limit. He could control this world-shattering power, gathering and dispersing it at will. The implications of such control... were mind-boggling.

A deep sense of despair flickered in the eyes of some high-ranking military officers.

"This... this isn't power a True God should possess! Even a God King couldn't reach this level!"

"Forget God Kings. Our strongest known being, the God Monarch, couldn't control energy with such precision."

"Could he be Scorching Sun, one of the greatest Ancient Gods of the Twin Moon Domain? The one who called upon the True Gods to invade Blue Planet?"

The possibility sent shockwaves through the room, shaking their confidence.

Zhou Guang, observing their reactions, spoke up. "After we deactivated our targeting systems, this man immediately withdrew the energy capable of obliterating Tianhua City. That alone shows he carries no immediate hostility. In other words, we may not be enemies."

His words slightly eased the tension, but the worry still lingered on their faces.

Foreign powers could never be fully trusted. No one could truly lower their guard against a formidable entity from another world—a different civilization.

"Is the equipment ready?" Zhou Guang urged. "We need to understand his intentions as soon as possible."

"It's almost there... The Tianmen Special Forces stationed in Tianhua City have delivered the device," Arslan reported. "It's in position."

"Establish the connection immediately," Zhou Guang ordered.

***

Above the clouds, Li Pin remained patient. He watched as a mech rapidly approached from below, making no unnecessary movements.

Once it was within a few dozen meters, it stopped and raised a hand, signaling no hostility. Then, after adjusting the equipment, a holographic projection appeared.

It was Zhou Guang, the President of the Federation.

—I am Zhou Guang, President of the Federation. May I ask how we should address you?

"You may call me Li Pin," Li Pin replied. "I know you haven't completely given up on the idea of fighting me, and I won't try to convince you otherwise. You wouldn't listen anyway. So, I'll give you a chance."

He pointed toward the horizon. "1400 kilometers away is the uninhabited area where you planned to have war, correct? In ten minutes, I'll be there. During that time, you may mobilize every weapon you have and attack me with all you've got. See if you can kill me."

Zhou Guang was taken aback. He studied Li Pin carefully, as if trying to discern whether his words were genuine. But the scrutiny lasted less than a breath. He quickly composed himself, smiling calmly.

—Mr. Li, we understand your sincerity and believe you mean us no harm—

"No," Li Pin interrupted. "Whether I mean harm or not doesn't matter. What matters is that you abandon your illusions and fully cooperate with my next request."

Without further explanation, he turned and flew toward the warzone. "Prepare well. Use everything at your disposal. You have ten minutes."

In the next instant, Li Pin vanished, moving at speeds that exceeded ten, then dozens, even hundreds of times the speed of sound.

Such speed left the Federation's most advanced technology in a state of utter despair.

What was even more incomprehensible was that his flight caused no disturbance to the surroundings whatsoever. It was as if he were merely an illusion, a phantom projected from the void, leaving no trace in the real world.

***

Inside the conference room, everyone heard Li Pin's words.

For a moment, from Zhou Guang down to the military lieutenant generals, a suffocating pressure weighed over them, making it hard to breathe. It crashed down like a landslide, like a tidal wave. It was no less overwhelming than the shock of the Gods' invasion back then.

At that moment, Xiang Polun, hailed as the world's greatest mech fighter, suddenly asked, "What's his speed?"

"Maximum speed exceeds 41,700 meters per second. Current speed is 36,410 meters per second, which is... 107 times the speed of sound," Arslan, head of the mech forces, answered.

Arslan's voice was noticeably tense.

"So, in less than a minute, he'll cover 1,400 kilometers and reach the uninhabited war zone? He wouldn't even need twenty minutes to circle the entire Blue Planet," Xiang Polun stated.

Arslan nodded grimly.

This person was effectively invincible. With speed alone, he had already become an unsolvable problem.

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

This was likely why he had given them a fixed location to attack. If he didn't stay still like a target, just his sheer speed alone would render all the Federation's weapons useless.

This was... a power far beyond their reach.

Nikola Novich, head of security, turned to President Zhou Guang. "Do we... attack?"

It wasn't just him. Everyone else in the room looked at Zhou Guang as well.

Zhou Guang instantly grasped Li Pin's intent. "This... is meant to shatter everyone's will."

However... standing idle wasn't an option. If they surrendered to this terrifying figure without firing a single shot, no one in the Federation government would ever find the courage to resist him again. Or rather, the entire human civilization on Blue Planet would be crushed beneath him, losing its will to fight. The Federation could never accept such an outcome.

"Transmit my orders!" Zhou Guang's voice was firm. "Deploy the God's Rod Orbital Cannon, the Divine Punishment Laser Cannon, and the Doomsday Missiles!"

The military personnel quickly moved to execute the command. "Yes, sir!"

Zhou Guang closed his eyes. "These are the most powerful weapons in our arsenal. If even they can't stop him...."

If these weapons proved useless, then no force on Blue Planet would be able to restrain Li Pin from that moment onward. He would be free to do as he pleased.

***

1,400 kilometers away, in the war zone.

This was a barren desert, deliberately designated as a battlefield isolation zone.

Li Pin hovered in the sky, maintaining an altitude of just one kilometer—right at the maximum destructive range of strategic-level weapons. He remained still, waiting in silence.

"A clash between mortal flesh and the pinnacle of technology..." he murmured.

Beyond the Divine Treasure World, every major power had already proven through their actions that cultivators were the future of the universe.

Li Pin, however, wasn't the strongest cultivator. Technological weapons could still pose a threat to him.

In both his past life and the Gaia era, technological weapons had never fully disappeared from the stage. And the technology of this Divine Treasure World was half a century ahead of both.

This was the perfect opportunity to test himself against modern weaponry for two reasons. Firstly, he would finally be able to fulfill a long-held desire, and secondly, he could crush any illusions the Blue Planet Federation still harbored.

Better to end this now than let unnecessary conflicts arise later. He never wasted time probing human nature.

As the moment neared, his keen senses picked up on something.

He lifted his gaze. "They're here?"

The next instant, a dark red energy beam tore through the sky, illuminating the heavens. Like a divine blade descending from above, it pierced the atmosphere and swallowed him whole.