Anomaly

Late at night, the Liaoning and its accompanying vessels plunged into the Western Pacific according to the training plan, sailing toward their designated waters.

The officers and sailors on watch vigilantly monitored the fleet's surroundings. Though no threats were visible on the surface, satellites in orbit and unseen forces beneath the waves were watching them, and their counterparts across the ocean might encounter them during the exercise at any moment.

When that happened, a cyber duel would be unavoidable.

Meanwhile, public opinion was beginning to ferment across Great East's internet.

On a certain video site, a newly uploaded video had amassed nearly two million views and hundreds of thousands of reposts in barely a dozen hours.

A sniper might not be on the ground. They might also be in the air.

Seeing the video's title, countless users clicked on the viral clip. Onscreen, a Great East carrier-based aircraft circled once before diving, its nose pointed at the sea. Faint flashes and smoke burst from where its cannon was mounted, and several speedboats weaving erratically across the water immediately exploded one after another, soaring into the sky—literally.

Were those Pirates? That accuracy was insane.

Holy shit, was this real? Wasn't it a game cinematic?

Of course it was real.

Impossible. Absolutely impossible!

Many viewers found it hard to imagine this being Great East's style, but even more of them simply found it exhilarating!

Strangely, the video, which should have been banned immediately, had not drawn the attention of the censors this time, as if they had not seen it at all. The authorities had made no statement either. Everyone in Great East understood that as long as the authorities did not speak up, it usually meant tacit approval.

Soon, some strange comments began appearing in the video's bullet chat and comment section.

This went too far. Those were human lives.

They could have just driven them away. Why kill people? Butchers!

These discordant comments immediately sparked fierce arguments in the comment section.

Hawaii, inside an inconspicuous building.

"Sir, things have developed as we expected. Public opinion is spreading."

"Good. Have them give it a push and expand the impact."

"Understood."

The middle-aged man was very satisfied with how things had developed. This was exactly the result they wanted. As long as they controlled the narrative, they could call a deer a horse and incite the public to attack the pilot, even their own navy. Internationally, they could escalate the controversy into a propaganda war against Great East, accuse Great East of bullying the weak with its strength, and smear it. This had always been their standard approach.

Just as the people laying out the scheme prepared to send their messages, every computer in the room suddenly went black, and the lights dimmed at once.

Snap! Snap! Snap! Red emergency lights came on, bathing the equipment-filled room in crimson as the various instruments rapidly rebooted.

"What happened?"

The middle-aged man's expression changed. He shot to his feet and looked at the person in charge beside him. His first thought was that they had been attacked, but he immediately dismissed it. This was not wartime; the other side could not possibly launch an attack against them.

"Sir, our power system suffered a malfunction just now."

"What caused it?"

"We don't know yet. We're investigating."

However, while they were investigating, satellites from countries around the world watching the Pacific Ocean issued warnings to the ground almost immediately. Alarms rang throughout the combat duty rooms, instantly putting the officers on watch on edge. Their first thought was that nuclear war had broken out, but the decoded information soon revealed that missile defense systems had detected no Ballistic Missiles being launched. Yet none of the officers could laugh when they saw the images, because what was happening was even more serious than nuclear war.

"Quick! Notify the Pentagon immediately!"

The same order appeared in the institutions of other countries capable of monitoring the situation. While ordinary people still slept, alerts were sent to the upper echelons of nations around the world.

The awakened officials picked up the phones beside them and communicated with their counterparts in other countries, trying to determine whether the anomaly was natural or man-made.

The unluckiest were the Pentagon staff officers. Only days ago, they had been dragged out of bed during their holiday nights to look at Great East's Christmas gift. Yet before long, another surprise had appeared—or rather, a fright.

In an eerily familiar scene, the roads around the Pentagon were jammed again.

When the footage appeared on the screens, the hastily assembled officials, technicians, and scientists all wore different expressions. A heavy atmosphere settled over the Pentagon.

Having received Great East's Christmas gift just days earlier, everyone present was more or less prepared. A general looked at the expert seated across from him and asked sternly, "Was this Great East's doing?"

After repeatedly examining the images and analyzing its diameter, area, height, and spectrum, the scientist gave his conclusion.

"Sir, this definitely wasn't Great East's doing. They don't have the technology." At that, the expert gave a humorous shrug. "Neither did we. We had even less capability."

In the footage, a gigantic Sky Pit twenty kilometers in diameter had appeared in the sky above the center of the Pacific Ocean!

That was right. It looked like an enormous pit, except instead of collapsing toward the ground, it opened toward the sky. It was deeply bizarre, as though the heavens had fallen.

At that very moment, experts in Great East across the ocean reached the same conclusion. This was not America's doing; they did not have the capability either.

"A natural phenomenon?"

The commander frowned at the enormous Sky Pit. It was still unclear whether it posed any danger, but something so huge could not possibly be hidden. It would soon be exposed to the entire world, and no one knew what impact that would have.

Its location was far too sensitive—right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean—and it was too perfectly "round," forcing him to suspect it might be an artificial creation.

In any case, Great East was not the most nervous party. America across the ocean was. Compared with America's bare front yard, Great East had Japan directly in front of it to bear the brunt of the danger. That was geography.

"We don't know yet. Fortunately, our satellites captured the formation process of the anomaly."

The formation of this strange phenomenon played across the massive 8K high-definition screen.

At first, everything above the Pacific Ocean was normal. Then, at 0200 hours, multicolored light suddenly appeared over the center of the Pacific, flickering through the sky like the aurora over the Arctic, or like a rainbow twisting and winding through the air.

As the multicolored glow grew more intense, a massive ring finally began to emerge faintly in the sky. Once the ring gradually took shape and stabilized—the sky fell! The sky had literally fallen!