"I don't know why the United States suddenly wants to sink its own warships, but after these warships sank, the fuel and ammunition they carried will cause irreversible damage to the surrounding environment and marine life."
"I'm asking for a little money, purely to protect the environment and save innocent marine life, and you're twisting my words, distorting it into greed and lust. Chips, medical pods, new energy vehicles – these are all my inventions."
"Do you think I'm short of the little money you have?"
Faced with irrefutable evidence, Joseph Biden had no choice but to grudgingly admit his mistake. After agreeing to several more of Jing Mingqiu's demands, the two sides finally reached a compromise and signed an unequal rescue treaty.
"Beep! Dragon Country's highest bank has received an international remittance of ten billion US dollars."
As the text message notification sounded, confirming the transfer, Jing Mingqiu waved his hand. "The money has arrived. It's time to get to work. Sail the ships over, prepare to rescue people."
Following Jing Mingqiu's order, more than twenty warships immediately set sail. Upon reaching the vicinity of the United States' rescue boats, instead of disembarking to save people as everyone expected, they directly untied the mooring ropes and threw them overboard from the ship's side.
A Dragon Country soldier, fully armed, stood at the bow of the ship, casting a disdainful glance at the American soldiers below. His tone was extremely cold.
"We'll stop here for fifteen minutes. If you don't want to die, climb up yourselves!"
Seeing this scene, the live stream's barrage of comments exploded again. Some bleeding hearts and dog-lickers jumped out once more.
【How can you do this? They've been in the water for so long, they're already exhausted. How can they possibly climb up!】
【This is murder! You took the money, you should do the job properly. You have no contractual spirit.】
This time, Jing Mingqiu didn't need to intervene. The fully awakened Dragon Country netizens immediately retorted.
【I think this is exactly the right thing to do! Isn't this the "American-style rescue" that people in the United States love so much? We're just showing full respect for national traditions.】
【Exactly! Some people are just cheap! Professor Jing led people to rescue properly before, and they weren't happy about it!】
【Murder? This is clearly suicide. Don't forget how the US fleet's ships sank. You don't actually believe Biden's story about anomalous magnetic fields specifically targeting and killing US high-tech warships, do you?】
Facing the deluge of thousands of comments from Dragon Country netizens, a mere handful of bleeding hearts and dog-lickers were completely unable to fight back and were quickly drowned out.
Jing Mingqiu smiled with satisfaction as he watched the one-sided situation in the live stream. He had kept the live stream open precisely to give a platform to those Western mouthpieces.
After all, the best way to strengthen national cohesion was to find a common enemy.
When the barrage of comments had subsided sufficiently, Jing Mingqiu finally spoke, "Alright, stop arguing! I agreed to rescue them, but I never said I'd be their nanny. I'll arrange for a few injured individuals to be brought aboard."
"As for the rest of you who have arms and legs, if you don't want to live, there's nothing I can do!"
An hour later, the tsunami arrived as expected.
Under the impact of waves tens of meters high, even warships weighing tens of thousands of tons began to shake violently.
Dragon Country naval soldiers quickly secured themselves to their seats with ropes to avoid losing their balance and falling.
Meanwhile, the American soldiers who had just been rescued, along with the Commonwealth soldiers who were incidentally saved, were not as fortunate.
They tumbled around in the cargo hold, rolling with the ship's sway, soon ending up bruised and battered.
"We protest! This is mistreatment of prisoners, you are violating human rights!"
"We want doctors, food, and beds!"
Hearing the commotion from within the ship's cabins, Jing Mingqiu walked in wearing his mech. "Be quiet! Our contract is very clear. I am only responsible for rescuing you from the sea. You have no right to make demands!"
A pale-faced American soldier spoke in a low, pleading tone, his eyes full of entreaty, "I'm dying of thirst, Professor Jing. Could you please give me some food? I'm willing to pay any amount of money!"
"I can pay too! I am the fleet commander, I have money!"
"I'm willing to trade all my money for a cup of hot water..."
Looking at the sea of green US dollars held aloft by everyone, Jing Mingqiu scratched his chin. The tsunami was about to pass, and the US Second and Fifth Fleets would arrive soon. Before then, he didn't mind earning a little extra income.
Besides, most of the money in these American soldiers' hands was ill-gotten gains. By taking it, he considered himself to be acting on behalf of Heaven.
"I've heard your requests. Someone will come by later to provide you with some food and basic medicine. Remember to pay for it. Oh, and by the way, it's a small business, no credit, but we accept transfers and checks!"
Due to their fear of this mysterious sea area, the United States' Second and Seventh Fleets did not arrive until the Dragon Country's North Sea Fleet had sailed half a month forward, completely clearing the area. They found Jing Mingqiu, ready to pick up the American soldiers from the Third and Fifth Fleets.
Prior to this, the Commonwealth had voluntarily paid all compensation and taken their soldiers back on two battleships so old that even their grandfathers would have marveled at them.
Because the United States' Second and Seventh Fleets had delayed for too long, by the time they arrived, the captured American soldiers had not only spent all the money on their cards but also accumulated massive debts.
After sending off these "Gods of Wealth," Jing Mingqiu, once again in his capacity as a researcher, announced a new research achievement.
"It only took me a few days to develop a new catalyst that can effectively enhance metal activity, promoting the combination of metal ions with oxygen ions in water, thereby causing them to dissolve rapidly in water."
"By adjusting the proportions of the catalyst, the types of metals that dissolve in water can be controlled. Metals that are insoluble in water can also be dissolved, and the reaction speed is very fast. It is very suitable for cleaning impurities in metals or extracting certain precious metals."
Ordinary people did not think much of this information, taking it as just a new technology, perhaps useful for extracting gold from circuit boards or various precious metals.
However, the viewers who had watched Jing Mingqiu's live stream could not sit still after seeing his demonstration video.
"The way this stuff reacts, how is it so similar to how the US warships sank!"
"The US President said the sinking of the Third and Fifth Fleets was due to encountering a special magnetic field that caused high-precision equipment to malfunction. But equipment malfunction shouldn't cause them to sink entirely."
"The Third and Fifth Fleets clearly had several older model supply ships, temporarily diverted from Sakura Country and in service for over thirty years, all of which also sank. There's no reason they would have had high-precision equipment installed, right?"
As numerous netizens debated late into the night, in the White House of the United States, Joseph Biden directly performed a "desk-clearing" maneuver, sweeping everything on it to the floor.
"What does Dragon Country mean by this? I let them trample on my face, and I gave them money. What do they mean by releasing this now? Do they really want to start World War Three?"
"Mr. President, please calm down," Smith Lunen said cautiously as he approached. "My guess is that Dragon Country deliberately released this this time because they are afraid..."