Gus was well aware that Jing Mingqiu would not make a move until he fully understood his own trump cards, but having just forged an alliance, he had no intention of breaking ties for the moment.
Just as the two were struggling, Triss Watt suddenly stepped forward, "Lord Gus, lightning can promote the reaction of nitrogen and oxygen in the air to form nitrates, thus converting nitrogen into nitrogen fertilizer needed for agricultural production."
Before he finished speaking, Saloyan Primo suddenly interjected, "Doctor is right, Lord Gus. We can use this excuse to promote our lightning controllers worldwide in the name of reducing fertilizer pollution and promoting agricultural production."
"Good, good!" Gus nodded, "Let's do as you say."
With the joint efforts of the two countries, large weather controllers and lightning controllers rose all over the world.
Compared to the Dragon Country's weather controllers, which regulated climate, reduced disasters, and sought favorable weather, the lightning controllers of the United States, upon activation, sent countless bolts of lightning across the sky, stretching for thousands of miles, creating a more shocking spectacle.
Coupled with the guidance of Western public opinion, many people were misled, wildly praising the United States as the world's leading technological power. News of the United States' heavy losses in Saudi Arabia not long ago, forcing it into a defensive posture, was completely buried.
Dragon Country Imperial Capital First Assembly Hall.
"Knock, knock, knock."
The supreme leader of the Dragon Country was signing documents when he suddenly heard a knock on the window.
He looked in the direction of the sound and saw Jing Mingqiu standing on his flying sword, suspended outside the large floor-to-ceiling window, with a smile on his lips and a brilliant grin directed at him.
"Mingqiu? Why are you here? Has there been a problem with the global promotion of the weather controller project?"
The guards at the door heard the commotion and peeked out. Upon recognizing Jing Mingqiu, they breathed a sigh of relief, retreated to the corridor to continue their vigilance, and closed the door.
Jing Mingqiu did not stand on ceremony, but directly jumped in through the window and greeted the supreme leader.
"The project has indeed encountered a small problem, but it's not a big one; they should be able to solve it themselves. I'm here mainly to inform you that the large-scale land reclamation and island building plan for the entire nation is almost finalized."
"A single person's plan is short, two people's plans are long. Plans always fall short of changes. Although I've simulated it many times, this is a massive project involving two hundred million people. If anything goes wrong, it will be troublesome."
"Moreover, considering survival at sea, there will be many unexpected events. Coupled with the fact that many of our elders who have returned to youth have never been to sea in their lives, I plan to conduct an internal test first and broadcast it live to teach those elders."
"Boss, what do you think of this idea?"
"Very good, very good!" The supreme leader agreed readily and without hesitation. "Recently, the United States has recovered from its wounds and forgotten its pain, flaunting its lightning controllers everywhere. Japan and South Korea, instigated by it, have been making quite a few moves."
"The Dragon Country also needs to show its strength, lest some petty individuals truly believe they are capable again!"
...
That afternoon, the Dragon Country held another press conference, where Jing Mingqiu personally announced the official commencement of the nationwide land reclamation and island building plan.
"We are now starting the first round of public testing. We have prepared two hundred thousand test slots. There are no other requirements; all adult Dragon citizens can sign up. Among them, the top one hundred groups who provide constructive suggestions and achieve the best development will receive generous rewards."
"At the same time, the entire test will be broadcast live. The test locations are Taiping Island, Hengdian, Chongying..."
When Jing Mingqiu announced the test locations, public opinion erupted!
"Did I hear that right? Taiping Island! Hengdian, Chongying! These are all important overseas military bases of the US military. He actually wants to reclaim land and build islands there. Isn't he afraid of offending the United States?"
"Land reclamation is usually done around the coastline. These places are thousands of miles away from the Dragon Country's mainland. The transportation costs are sky-high. They must be crazy!"
"Alas, if I recall correctly, the United States, in alliance with European countries not long ago, planned to use abandoned ships for land reclamation, creating several new small islands in the sea as military bases. In the end, it all failed, and they sheepishly retreated."
"Is the Dragon Country preparing to repeat the same mistake this time?"
...
In contrast to the string of sarcastic and pessimistic predictions from abroad, the Dragon Country was very excited upon hearing about the open public test. Many people began inquiring about registration methods to participate in this event.
Among them were university students, players who loved survival games, and wilderness survival experts. However, the target group that Jing Mingqiu had in mind, the elders in their sixties and seventies who had now returned to youth, had a very low number of actual registrations.
This was within Jing Mingqiu's expectations. After all, most elders from that era were farmers with a strong attachment to the land, unwilling to leave their homes.
Furthermore, although these elders had physically recovered their youth, their psychology had not changed much. It was normal for them to be hesitant to try new things and not participate in the excitement.
However, this was not a difficult problem. Every era had its characteristics, and the solution should be tailored accordingly.
In the subsequent press conference, Jing Mingqiu focused on the details of the test, especially the announcement that it was a "no-wipe" test and that all reclaimed land would belong to the individuals who developed it.
The enthusiasm for registration not only surged but also saw the "elders" who had been watching with a detached attitude actively registering with the help of their children to participate in the test.
After the press conference, facing over ten million registration applications, which were still increasing, Jing Mingqiu unhesitatingly became a hands-off manager.
Leaving the staff with the instruction that "elders" should constitute at least half of the test subjects, Jing Mingqiu released an ancient, simple long sword from his sleeve, stepped onto it, and flew on his sword, transforming into a rainbow as he left the press conference venue.
A week later.
All major live streaming platforms, including Douyu, Huya, and CCtv, featured a live broadcast room on their homepage with the utmost prominence.
"Nationwide Land Reclamation First Public Test"
At first glance, this title seemed like publicity for a third-rate online game. However, from the moment the broadcast room appeared, netizens who had been waiting long rushed into the still black-screened broadcast room.
"First, check-in!"
"What are you talking about, I'm first!"
"It lagged, and I lost my champion seat..."
Dense bullet comments and various gifts flooded the entire broadcast room like a tide, instantly dyeing the originally black background into a sea of colors.
Although the live streaming companies had increased their servers and bandwidth in advance, facing such surging traffic, many companies with weaker capabilities could not cope, and the entire server experienced significant lag, with some even crashing.
Fortunately, Jing Mingqiu had anticipated this. He had optimized and upgraded the official servers in advance, which were now capable of supporting twenty billion viewers simultaneously, effectively avoiding a premature failure and a live streaming accident from the start.
The entire live streaming team and the staff in front of the cameras conducted a final check. Once they confirmed there were no unexpected issues, Jing Mingqiu waved his hand, and the signal began to upload. The global live broadcast officially commenced!
All the bullet comments in the broadcast room were forcibly cleared, and the gift effects were removed. In the suddenly clean broadcast room, the black screen receded, and a colossal entity hidden in the clouds slowly descended, revealing its true form under the gaze of global audiences...