I, the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, am being kept by the state.

Chapter 14 Severe Drought

The next morning.

As the first rays of sunlight touched Beijing, early risers and media reporters were stunned by what they saw.

In the museum square, in front of the Mount Tai stele.

There's one more person.

To be precise, there was one more person kneeling.

Zhou Wei.

This once-glorious chief engineer is now kneeling before the stone tablet, his right hand wrapped in thick gauze, looking dazed, and muttering something incessantly.

On the electronic screen next to him, a video was playing on a loop.

That was the whole story of how he sneaked into the exhibition hall last night, tried to splash corrosive agent, and was ultimately punished by the gods.

There was no censorship or concealment.

Below the video, there is only one line of red text:

Zhou Wei, the former chief engineer of the project, was instructed by foreign forces to damage national treasures. Heaven sees all; traitors will surely be punished.

The entire internet is buzzing!

If yesterday's veterans standing up was a "blessing," then today's scene is nothing short of a "thunderbolt."

"That's so bold! The official stance this time is incredibly bold!"

"Serves him right! This traitor should be made to kneel there and die!"

"This is terrifying to think about, guys! That bottle in the video exploded on its own! It really is a miracle from our ancestors!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ocean.

Burns watched the transmitted images and slumped into his chair.

Lost.

We lost completely.

Not only was "Deep Sea" destroyed, but even more frighteningly, within three hours of Zhou Wei's arrest, the Chinese State Security Bureau launched a swift and decisive operation.

Based on the information revealed by Zhou Wei, coupled with precise positioning through some kind of "unknown means".

Overnight.

Seven secret CIA outposts that had been painstakingly built in Beijing for twenty years were completely wiped out!

All 136 undercover agents were apprehended.

This was a massacre. A massacre of the intelligence community.

……

Zhongnanhai, top-secret conference room.

A faint smell of tobacco filled the air, the result of a few old smokers staying up all night.

Although a malignant tumor buried for twenty years had just been removed, and the CIA's network in Beijing had been uprooted as well, the atmosphere in the conference room was not as relaxed as expected.

Chen Dong sat at the head of the table, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the table, his brows furrowed into a deep frown.

On the projection screen in front of him, the list of spies was no longer displayed, but a satellite cloud image that was glaringly red.

"Dragon Lord".

Chen Dong looked at the dragon-shaped necklace standing at the head of the left side.

Or rather, Li Chen.

At this moment, Li Chen was absorbing the power of faith.

The swift operation against the CIA that just happened was nothing more than a yawn, a stretch, and a casual swat of a few mosquitoes to him; it didn't really pique his interest.

"Get to the point."

Li Chen's voice echoed in everyone's minds, carrying a hint of languor.

"If it's something as trivial as asking me to take a dump on top of the White House, then don't bother me."

Several young staff officers in the conference room almost burst out laughing, and quickly lowered their heads to drink water to cover it up.

This ancestor had a truly fierce temper and a truly unconventional approach.

"Cough cough..."

Chen Dong coughed awkwardly twice, his expression immediately turning solemn. "It's not about overseas matters, it's about domestic ones."

He pressed the remote control, and the image on the screen changed.

Those were shocking photos.

The cracked earth resembled the dry skin of an old man, with cracks wide enough to fit a foot.

Large swaths of withered wheat seedlings lay flat on the dust, while farmers with vacant eyes knelt on the ridges of the fields, holding handfuls of dry soil, on the verge of tears.

The riverbed was exposed, and the fish and shrimp became dried corpses under the scorching sun.

"This is... Yuzhou?"

Yuzhou, located in the heart of the Central Plains, is the granary of China.

This was also the place he traversed most frequently when he followed the Qin Emperor in conquering the six kingdoms.

"Yes, Yuzhou."

Vice Premier Zhang Weiguo, who is in charge of agriculture, stood up. His voice was hoarse, clearly indicating that he hadn't slept for several days.

"Lord Dragon, it has been a full 103 days since a single drop of rain fell in Yuzhou."

"In most of the 18 cities and prefectures in the province, the temperature has remained above 40 degrees Celsius."

"This is not an ordinary drought, this is an extreme drought."

Zhang Weiguo took off his glasses and rubbed his bloodshot eyes. "The modern irrigation system is already operating beyond its capacity, but the Yellow River water level has dropped drastically, and the groundwater is almost depleted."

"What about the weather bureau?"

Li Chen asked calmly, "I remember you currently possess... artificial rainmaking bombs?"

"I hit him."

Zhang Weiguo gave a wry smile and spread his hands, "In the past three months, the meteorological department has fired more than 3,000 rain-inducing bombs into the sky, and the aircraft have flown more than 500 sorties."

"And the result?"

"Not even a fart escaped his lips."

Zhang Weiguo was getting anxious and even swore, "The clouds are too thin, and the moisture content is extremely low. There's absolutely no condition for rain. It's like God has welded a lid shut, leaving us no way out."

A deathly silence fell over the conference room.

In this technologically advanced era, humans can send probes to Mars, edit genes, and destroy a city in an instant.

But in the face of nature's wrath, humanity remains as insignificant as an ant.

Chen Dong took a deep breath and looked intently at Li Chen.

"Dragon Lord".

"We know this request may be somewhat presumptuous, or even... contrary to scientific common sense."

Chen Dong paused, seemingly considering his words, but ultimately chose the most straightforward approach.

"Ancient texts record that dragons can be large or small, can rise or hide; when large, they can stir up clouds and mist, and when small, they can conceal their form."

"Legend has it that dragons control the water veins of the world and are responsible for controlling clouds and rain."

At this point, Chen Dong stood up and bowed deeply to Li Chen.

"May I ask, Dragon Lord..."

"Could it rain?"

All eyes were focused on the dragon-shaped necklace.

Anticipation, trepidation, doubt, longing.

A mix of emotions.

Li Chen did not answer immediately.

Feeling his own body, he felt his dragon soul solidify considerably.

In the past two days, he has gained a huge amount of "psychic power" because of the museum incident and the live broadcast of punishing traitors.

These spiritual powers transformed into pure incense, repairing his severely damaged dragon soul.

But, controlling clouds and rain requires great supernatural powers.

Especially in this Dharma-ending Age where spiritual energy is depleted, forcibly changing the celestial phenomena of a province would be so costly that it would probably wipe out all the "assets" he had accumulated in the past two days.

This is like making a lot of money and then having to donate it all before you've even had a chance to enjoy it.

Is it a loss?

From a business perspective, it's a huge loss.

but……