Chapter 656: Speech
As the world’s leading superpower, Mei Nation had always been the center of attention in the international community. The discussion thread posted by Xiao Luo about the bombing of the White House had already gone viral globally. The media from every country were keeping a close eye and reporting live on this, and the entire world was watching, curious to see what would happen to the White House on this day in Was.h.i.+ngton.
The netizens of Mei Nation were equally anxious about what was happening. Someone had uploaded the photos of the White House being on high alert, which made the Internet boil over with social media activity.
“Oh, sh*t, so someone was indeed planning to blow up the White House. If not, why would the government deploy so many people to be on guard?”
“The White House is on Cla.s.s-1 alert status, so what’s going on? Are we facing another terrorist attack?”
“D*mn, it must be the remnants of our old adversaries from the two previous wars, and they are here to take revenge.”
“Shut up! Our government troops will shoot down every single one of these terrorists. There’ll be no mercy!”
“Support the federal government and defeat terrorism!”
The netizens of Mei Nation were pouring their hearts out on social media. Of course, when the threat of a terrorist attack was mentioned again, there was a cloud of panic hovering over the nation like a thick haze, putting the entire nation in fear.
At this time, President Bama of Mei Nation was giving a live-streamed speech through various mainstream websites and CBS television. He spoke from the building of the Department of Defense, the Pentagon, and he aimed to calm the anxiety of the citizens.
President Bama stood on the podium confidently and appeared very calm as he addressed the citizens with his loud and confident voice. He a.s.sured them they were close to apprehending the outlaw who started the terrorist attack thread.
“Citizens of Mei Nation, do not fear and do not feel anxious. You must have faith in the federal government and your president. We will provide you with a satisfactory response. In the name of our people, I will wipe out every terrorist in this world and let us…”
As he was delivering his impa.s.sioned speech, his live stream was switched to another channel. A man wearing a Hua Nation mask appeared on the live stream of all the major video websites and CBS television.
“What’s going on?”
President Bama stared at the Minister of Defense angrily. The minister immediately turned to the head of the FBI, who quickly turned to his subordinate for answers.
After a quick confirmation, the head of the FBI walked up the stage and whispered to the president, “Mr. President, Mie has hacked into every major platform transmitting our live coverage and redirected all the channels to this transmission.”
“So he is Mie?” President Bama asked as he pointed at the man who was wearing a Hua Nation mask.
“Yes, that should be him, sir.”
The head of the FBI looked nervous, and for fear that President Bama might lose his temper, he quickly added, “Rest a.s.sured, Mr. President, I have ordered our IT experts to restore transmission of your speech to all channels and prevent any further disruption. Everything will return to normal soon.”
“Are you sure your guys are capable of that?” President Bama quipped, visibly annoyed with what happened.
It was an unmitigated disaster that a hacker could so easily disrupt a live speech by the president of this country, and to rub salt into the wound, his transmission was redirected to a different feed. President Bama could already imagine the leaders of foreign countries talking about this topic over their meals. Just the thought that he might become the b.u.t.t of a joke that went viral around the world made him even angrier.
All the senior officials present, including the head of the FBI, the Minister of Defense, and the Minister of Home Affairs, looked terrified. They quickly instructed their aides to restore the transmission at all costs and locate Mie’s whereabouts.
The entire Mei Nation was shocked, for n.o.body could have believed that the terrorist could interrupt the live speech by the president. And to make matters worse, they replaced it with the image of a man with a Hua Nation mask.
“Who’s this dude, the almighty G.o.d?”
Sarah Mich.e.l.le was at home, staring at her laptop in absolute shock. Undoubtedly, she knew that it was the work of Xiao Luo.
Zhu Xiaofei and Ding Kai were at the auditorium of the University of Was.h.i.+ngton when it happened. They were just as surprised as everybody else, for no one expected that even the live stream of a president’s speech could be interrupted. And to see it replaced with the image of a masked Hua national was simply unbelievable.
“How did an image of a Hua national in a mask suddenly appear? What’s this about?”
“It looks like he’s one of us. I mean, he’s even wearing a Hua Nation mask. Could he be the guy who declared that he would blow up the White House a few days ago?”
They both stared at each other and could see the surprise in the other’s eyes.
Both Huang Ruoran and w.a.n.g Ling were equally stunned. Who would’ve imagined that someone was brave enough to mess around the president of Mei Nation? The entire incident was simply unbelievable.
Suddenly, the man wearing the Hua Nation mask started talking.
“Good morning, everyone. I am grateful that I have this opportunity to speak to every citizen of Mei Nation, despite the circ.u.mstances. First, let me a.s.sure you I am not a terrorist. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Xiao Han. All of you do not know me, and many of you would have this question, ‘who?’ Well, ‘Hu’ also happens to be my grandmother’s surname, which is also the answer to my credit card security question.”
“Huh, what the…?”
The citizens of Mei were intrigued, and some even thought that this man was more humourous than the president.
“When I was still in elementary school, I had to labor in the paddy field as part of the curriculum. Speaking of which, there was a mining shaft nearby that some people decided to blow up with dynamites. Hence, I learned to move at light speed, which is faster than sonic speed. By the way, when the rocks flew from that blast, they were traveling at sonic speed.
My father was a bad-tempered man. However, he would occasionally try to cheer me up with some jokes, but he was terrible at it. When I was seven, he asked me one day, ‘Hey, son, why is beancurd better than a socialist economy?"”
Xiao Luo paused and said, “I asked him, ‘Why?’ Well, he said that since he is my father, and he represents the truth, therefore if he said that beancurd was better than a socialist economy, then it had to be better than a socialist economy!”
“Haha, haha…”
When they heard that, the anxious citizens started sn.i.g.g.e.ring. Some of them laughed hysterically, for beneath Xiao Luo’s drivel was an allegory of how the citizens of Mei Nation were being duped. The listeners quickly caught on to the sarcasm.
Even the cabinet members present in the Pentagon were laughing their guts out, but President Bama was fuming, and it showed visibly on his face. The people around him instantly shut their mouths and tried hard to contain their laughter, but they couldn’t stop their shoulders from shaking.
When President Bama found out that the views for Xiao Luo’s live stream were up fivefold, his face became even more furious. It suggested that his live speech was not as appealing as an outlaw’s random talk, which the president found unacceptable.
Xiao Luo continued to challenge and humiliate Oba’s authority on the live stream. “When Mr. Bama, a man of African descent, became president, it gave me hope anyone could become a president. And I dream that someday in the future, my son could also become the president of Mei Nation.”
Then I would make him master two languages—Chinese and English. He might ask me why he would need to master those languages. Then I shall tell him, ‘Once you become the president of Mei Nation, you will need to pa.s.s laws in English, but negotiate with your creditors in Chinese."”