Special forces soldier demobilization: Starting from the county government compound, a meteoric rise

The Western sanctions, in the end, were like a long-planned cold wave that swept across the land of China.

This time, they made no attempt to conceal their actions. The "Science and Technology and Trade Community," composed of sixteen developed countries, simultaneously issued a comprehensive blockade order against China in the dead of night in Beijing.

Tariffs have skyrocketed from the original 15% to a staggering 500%! This is no trade; it's robbery, cutting off the lifeline for all of China's high-end products to go global.

Not only that, they also forcibly closed the door to entry for Chinese companies in the West.

Citing "national security," the authorities ordered all electronic devices and new energy vehicles equipped with "Longyuan" chips to be removed from shelves within 72 hours, and even demanded the return of previous subsidies.

"They're trying to trap us in this land."

In the emergency meeting room of the High-Tech Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, the atmosphere was extremely tense. A newly promoted division chief looked at the top-secret memorandum from across the ocean in his hand, his voice trembling.

"Director, the situation is more serious than we anticipated. The other side has not only used tariffs as a weapon, but has also joined forces with several of the world's largest logistics giants to prepare to impose a 'technical blockade' on our export routes."

"This means that even if we manufacture our products, we can't ship them out. We're like a fortress built on the beach, which will be washed away instantly when the tide comes in."

In the conference room, dozens of eyes turned to the head of the table, Liu Ming, who was still wearing that black jacket and holding a teacup with some peeling paint.

He didn't look at the despairing data; his gaze was fixed on the screen, on the virtual command center called the "Global Sanctions Coordination Center," which was being monitored in real time by Ghost Hand.

That was a data-sharing platform specifically set up by sixteen Western countries for this trade war. It contained all their sanctions directives, tariff adjustments, and blockade plans.

All of this is distributed in real time through this physically isolated super server cluster located deep underground somewhere in Switzerland.

"They believe that as long as they hold onto this door, they can dominate business worldwide."

Liu Ming took a small sip of hot tea, a cruel yet wild smile curving her lips.

"What a pity."

"In our family's 'Ghost Hand's' eyes, their door is like an unlocked public toilet."

"Boss! Ready!"

In the headphones, Ghost Hand's voice carried a morbid excitement.

"It took me a full forty-eight hours to track down their core firewall by following that transoceanic fiber optic cable. These bastards are rich; they're using the most advanced quantum encryption. But they never imagined that the underlying architecture of this encryption algorithm was actually a half-finished product that I casually threw out on a Russian hacker forum three years ago..."

Liu Ming's eyes instantly sharpened, like a Longquan sword about to be drawn from its sheath.

"How long will the paralysis last?"

"Unless you call a halt, they'll never be able to issue another command from this server in their lifetime!"

Ghost Hand chuckled.

"Not only can I paralyze them, I can also help them change their numbers. For example... change the tariffs on our Dragon Country products from 500% to negative 500%?"

"No need." Liu Ming stood up. He walked to the window and looked at the gray, hazy capital city outside.

The oppressive feeling brought about by the sanctions was like an invisible hand tightly gripping the neck of the entire city. He was waiting. Waiting for a moment that would leave his opponent utterly hopeless.

"Since they want to play the 'Cold War' game, let's give them something even more ruthless."

Liu Ming turned around and looked at all the cadres present. His handsome face was filled with a coldness that could shake the heavens and the earth.

"Is anyone from the Publicity Department here?"

"Yes, Director Liu! Please give your instructions!"

A young officer suddenly stood up.

"Immediately contact all mainstream media outlets worldwide, including those bought off by the West." Liu Ming tapped the table, each word like a heavy hammer blow.

"I want you to issue an ultimatum in ten minutes, signed by the Office of the Special Counsel of the State."

"There is only one item."

"Give them twelve hours to withdraw all discriminatory tariffs against Chinese companies. Otherwise, China will initiate the 'Global Energy and Raw Materials Circuit Breaker'."

"What?"

The entire audience gasped. A circuit breaker? That meant the Dragon Kingdom would completely sever all supplies of core raw materials to the West! This included superconducting metals, which accounted for 90% of the global supply, and trace elements essential for manufacturing precision instruments.

Even the global digital bank's clearing path, which Nangong Yao controlled.

"Director...this...this is tantamount to a full-scale war!"

The old section chief swallowed hard; his shirt was soaked with cold sweat.

"The war has already begun."

Liu Ming's gaze was as calm as if she were looking at a dead person.

"They're used to using pen and paper, while I..." He pointed to his fist. "...prefer to use my palm."

"Ghost Hand, make your move!"

With Liu Ming's command.

The red dot on the big screen instantly turned from red to black.

Immediately afterwards, the stock trading systems throughout Europe and North America suddenly experienced a massive malfunction. All directives regarding sanctions against Chinese companies became ineffective, and the previously tight blockade network turned into a huge mess in a matter of seconds.

The officials who were carrying out the sanctions were horrified to find that they couldn't even turn on their own office computers! On the screen, all that remained was a menacing, roaring, golden dragon logo.

Below the dragon's head was a line of Chinese characters: "The rules need to be changed."

……

Meanwhile, before major Western media outlets could even report the system malfunction, China's earth-shattering "ultimatum" was already on the screens of billions of people around the world.

Tough, domineering, and leaving no room for compromise.

At that moment, the whole world saw clearly the young man standing at the pinnacle of Chinese technology, with a crazy drive that seemed to want to tear down the entire old world.

"They've gone mad! The Chinese have completely gone mad! Are they trying to take the whole world down with them?"

The Western leaders roared in the dark conference room, but more than anything, they were trembling.

Because in this era of highly restructured energy and technology, without China's raw materials, their tanks won't move, their planes won't take off, and even their cell phones will become useless scrap metal within three days.

Liu Ming walked out of the conference room, and Chen Momo quickly walked up to him, looking at him with admiration.

"Director, the other head of state sent a confidential letter through the Foreign Affairs Office, requesting urgent consultations with us. His tone has softened considerably; he said it's negotiable..."

Liu Ming didn't stop. He opened the door of the black Hongqi car, a cold yet playful smile curving his lips.

He turned his head, looked at the screen that was still flashing warning signals, and muttered:

"Since you're so shameless, then let's just flip the table."