Rejecting Tsinghua and Peking Universities: I Will Lead Harbin Institute of Technology to World Lead

East China Sea, 12:37 AM.

The world's attention was focused on this turbulent sea. Hundreds of drones from various countries' media outlets circled over the high seas, their cameras pointed at the coordinates of the USS Roosevelt carrier strike group. The live broadcast signal was transmitted worldwide via satellite, with the number of real-time online viewers exceeding one billion.

Everyone wants to know: How will China respond this time?

Is it going to be like in the past, issuing a few strong statements and then trying to save face through diplomatic rhetoric?

still is……

No one dared to think further.

Because in everyone's perception, China's naval power is not yet sufficient to confront the Free Country's carrier battle group head-on in the East China Sea.

On the bridge of the USS Roosevelt, Rear Admiral Johnson lowered his infrared binoculars, a habitual smirk playing on his lips.

"What's the Chinese up to?" His voice carried an air of composure, as if he were in complete control.

The operations staff quickly retrieved the radar data: "General, their coast guard vessels have retreated fifty nautical miles, and all their fishing boats have left the area. It seems that this time, they have chosen a strategic retreat."

A few suppressed laughs rang out from the bridge.

An expected result.

"Tell the little ones over there," Jason lit a cigar and exhaled a smoke ring, "they can continue their sovereignty assertion, but remember—don't actually fire. We're just here to support them, not to fight for them."

"Understood, General."

The command was transmitted via an encrypted channel.

The bridge returned to a relaxed atmosphere. Officers began discussing their post-return leave plans, the radar officer yawned, and the electronic warfare officer checked equipment—everything was as normal as countless freedom of navigation operations over the past few decades.

However, the calm lasted only thirteen minutes.

At 00:50, several faint spots of light suddenly appeared at the edge of the main radar screen.

The radar officer initially thought it was clutter caused by sea waves and casually increased the filter threshold. But the next second, more spots of light appeared—not just a few, but dozens—appearing from three different directions, forming a pincer movement to surround the fleet.

"General!" the radar officer's voice suddenly rose, "Unidentified targets detected! Many in number!"

Jason frowned and walked over: "What target? A merchant fleet?"

"Judging from the radar signature... they're large surface ships! Very fast, at least thirty knots! And..." the radar officer's voice began to tremble, "their numbers are increasing... eight... no, ten! My God, these signatures..."

He looked up abruptly, his face deathly pale: "Aircraft carriers! China's aircraft carriers! Ten of them!"

The bridge fell silent instantly.

The cigar fell from Jason's lips, scattering a few sparks on the metal floor.

"Are you sure you're not seeing things?" Jason rushed to the radar screen, his voice trembling with uncertainty for the first time. "China only has one aircraft carrier, how could it possibly have ten?"

On the screen, ten striking dots of light are approaching at an alarming speed. Each dot represents a radar cross-section comparable to, or even larger than, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.

"Confirmed, General!" The radar officer's voice was almost a scream. "And... a high-speed target detected in the air! Speed... speed exceeding Mach 8! That's impossible! No currently operational aircraft in the world can reach that speed!"

"Is it a missile?" Jason asked sharply.

"No! Flight signatures indicate it's a manned aircraft! It's performing a high-difficulty maneuver... God, it's a sixth-generation fighter! China's sixth-generation fighter! Number... twelve!"

The temperature inside the bridge seemed to drop to freezing point instantly.

Ten aircraft carriers? Twelve sixth-generation fighter jets?

This intelligence is far removed from the latest assessment by the Free State's intelligence agencies—who have consistently believed that China's sixth-generation fighter jet is still in the prototype stage, and that the second aircraft carrier will not be in service for at least another three years.

But now, reality has given them a resounding slap in the face.

Jason grabbed the encrypted communicator, attempting to contact the other ships in the fleet. But all he heard through the receiver was a piercing, ear-splitting electromagnetic interference.

"Communications have been cut off!" the communications officer shouted.

Almost simultaneously, the electronic warfare officer jumped up from his seat, his voice distorted with extreme terror: "We're locked onto by fire control radar! At least a hundred fire control sources! From the air, the sea, underwater... locked on from all directions, across the entire spectrum! General, we're surrounded!"

"Activate electronic countermeasures immediately! Full-band jamming! Release all decoy flares!" Jason roared, veins bulging on his forehead.

"It's no use!" The electronic warfare officer stared despairingly at the control panel, all the indicator lights flashing wildly. "The enemy's electronic suppression is more than ten times stronger than ours! Our systems... are being forcibly breached! The firewall is collapsing!"

The moment the words were spoken, the main combat system screen suddenly went black.

It lit up again after one second.

But instead of tactical maps and radar data, a line of huge red Chinese characters was displayed, as glaring as blood against a black background:

You have entered China's territorial waters. Please evacuate immediately.

Below the Chinese characters is a cold countdown:

10: 00.

Nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds.

Nine minutes and fifty-eight seconds...

With each tick of the numbers, the breathing in the bridge grew heavier.

"General, what should we do?" The staff officer's voice trembled noticeably.

Jason stared intently at the line of Chinese characters, at the ever-decreasing countdown, and at the ten increasingly close, death-like points of light on the radar screen.

He had worked in the field for thirty years, participating in the Gulf War, the Afghanistan War, and the Iraq War, and experiencing countless perilous situations. But never before had he felt such a chilling and...powerless feeling.

This is not a military standoff.

This is a dimensional reduction attack.

The Chinese didn't even show their faces, issue any warnings, or fire any warning shots. They simply told the Free Nation's navy in the most direct way: All your systems are under my control. Your life and death are in my hands.

"Analyze their position!" Jason roared. "Find their command ship! We can't just stay like this..."

"General!" the radar officer interrupted him, his voice filled with despair, "All of their ships... are outside the high seas! They haven't entered the disputed waters at all! They... they're within the rules, they've locked us in!"

These words shattered Jensen's last glimmer of hope.

The Chinese are too clever.

They did not enter the disputed waters, nor did they give any free nation a pretext to open fire in self-defense. They simply used their absolute technological superiority to carry out a perfect strategic deterrence on the high seas.

Countdown: 7 minutes and 21 seconds.

Inside the bridge, some people began to pray.

"General, our missile launch system is locked! The fire control computer is refusing to execute any attack commands!"

"Close Air Defense System offline!"

"Sonar indicates that at least four attack submarines are around us... less than five nautical miles away!"

One bad news after another came like an avalanche.

Jason's hands began to tremble uncontrollably. He looked out the porthole—the dark sea was completely invisible. But he knew that in that darkness, ten Chinese aircraft carriers, twelve sixth-generation fighter jets, countless destroyers and submarines were watching them with cold eyes.

Countdown: 4 minutes and 5 seconds.

"Order the entire fleet..." Jansen's voice was dry and hoarse, like sandpaper scraping, "Turn around and withdraw. Immediately, right now."

"General, what about... Xiao Ri?" the staff officer asked hesitantly.

"Let them fend for themselves," Jason said bitterly, closing his eyes. "We... can't even save ourselves."

Commands were communicated via light signals and flags—because all electronic communications had failed.

The massive USS Roosevelt began to turn with difficulty, the rest of the ships following closely behind. This once invincible steel behemoth now fled the East China Sea in panic, like a frightened herd of beasts.

They didn't even dare to accelerate, because radar showed that the Chinese sixth-generation fighters were constantly accompanying the fleet, so close that they could visually confirm the aircraft types.

There were twelve streamlined, jet-black fighter jets without any markings. They darted through the night sky like ghosts, their speed varying, yet always keeping pace with the fleet. Occasionally, a flash of red light would appear on the belly of one of the jets—a brief illumination from the fire control radar, like a hunter alerting its prey: I'm watching you.

humiliation.

This is blatant humiliation.

But Jason dared not react. He knew that if even one Chinese fighter jet accidentally launched a missile, his entire fleet would sink to the bottom of the East China Sea within ten minutes.

The moment the countdown reached zero, the red Chinese characters and the countdown disappeared simultaneously.

The combat system has returned to normal.

The interference in the communication channels also stopped.

It was as if nothing had happened.

But on the radar screen, the ten dots representing China's aircraft carriers remained in their original positions, like an insurmountable Great Wall of Steel.

At 2:17 a.m., the USS Roosevelt carrier strike group completely sailed out of the East China Sea.

When the radar signal of the last destroyer disappeared at the edge of the high seas, the global live broadcast froze.

No one speaks.

Everyone watching the live stream fell into a kind of collective speechlessness.

Then came an explosive boil.

Within China, social media crashed instantly.

"We won! We subdued the enemy without a fight!"

"Ten aircraft carriers! Twelve sixth-generation fighter jets! When did this happen? How come I didn't know about this!"

"Long live the motherland! This is true power of a great nation!"

"The Free State ran away! They ran away with their tails between their legs!"

Ecstasy, shock, pride, disbelief... all sorts of emotions intertwined and converged into a tsunami of national sentiment.

On a global scale, the response is even more complex.

The European Union convened an emergency meeting of defense ministers, with only one theme: reassessing China's military strength.

The Ministry of National Defense of the Northern Bear Kingdom ordered that all intelligence assessment reports on China's military strength be redone.

The Prime Minister's residence in the small country was eerily quiet, and then news broke that the Prime Minister had been urgently admitted to the hospital for a medical examination.

In the Black House of the Free Nation, the president remained silent for a full ten minutes in the Situation Room before uttering only one sentence: "We need a completely new strategy toward China. Now, immediately, right now."

In the Pentagon, staff officers looked at high-resolution photos transmitted from satellites—the ten Chinese aircraft carriers lined up on the high seas, their decks filled with carrier-based aircraft; and the twelve sixth-generation fighter jets soaring in the night sky, their streamlined fuselages seemingly out of place in this era.

"How...did they do that?" someone murmured to themselves.

No one can answer.

Because all of this is beyond their comprehension.

There is only one fact that is clearly presented to the whole world:

China now possesses the power to force the Free Nations' aircraft carrier battle group to retreat in panic.

That night in the East China Sea is destined to be recorded in history.

It was not only a victory in a military standoff, but also a signal—a major Eastern power had finally revealed its long-honed edge to the world.