Anomaly

Night fell, and the Liaoning, along with its accompanying vessels, plunged into the western Pacific according to the training plan, heading toward the predetermined sea area.

The officers and crew on duty kept a vigilant watch over the fleet's surroundings. Though no visible threats lurked on the surface, satellites in orbit and unseen forces beneath the water were all tracking them, and their counterparts across the ocean could cross paths with them at any moment during training.

When that happened, a cyber duel was all but inevitable.

Meanwhile, on the internet of the Great East, public sentiment began to ferment.

On a certain bullet-comment website, a newly uploaded video racked up nearly two million views and hundreds of thousands of shares in just over ten hours.

[A sniper isn't always on the ground—sometimes, they're in the sky.]

Many users, drawn by the video's title, clicked on this viral clip. In the footage, a carrier-based aircraft of the Great East circled once before entering a dive, its nose pointing at the sea. The cannon mount emitted a barely perceptible flash of fire and gas, and several speedboats zigzagging on the surface instantly exploded, ascending—literally ascending into the sky.

[Looks like they're hitting pirates. That accurate?]

[No way, is this real? Not a game CG?]

[Of course it's real.]

[Impossible, absolutely impossible!]

In the barrage of comments, many viewers found it hard to believe this was the style of the Great East, but even more flooded in with [Awesome!]

Strangely, the video, which should have been banned immediately, escaped the censors this time, as if they couldn't see it. And with no official statement from the authorities, everyone in the Great East knew that silence often meant tacit approval.

Soon, some peculiar comments appeared in the video's bullet comments and comment section.

[This is going too far—those were lives.]

[They could have driven them off, so why kill? Butchers!]

These off-key remarks immediately sparked fierce arguments in the comment section.

Hawaii, inside an unremarkable building.

"Sir, things are fermenting just as we anticipated. Public sentiment is spreading."

"Good. Let them push it a bit—amplify the impact."

"Understood."

The middle-aged man was pleased with how things were unfolding. This was exactly the result they wanted. By controlling the narrative, they could call white black, turning the public against that pilot, even against their own navy. On the international stage, they'd expand the controversy, wage a war of opinion against the Great East, pin a label of bullying the weak on them, and then smear them—this was their usual playbook.

Just as the schemer was about to send a message, every computer in the room suddenly went black, and the lights dimmed instantly.

Snap, snap, snap! Red emergency lights flicked on, bathing the equipment-filled room in crimson, and then various instruments quickly rebooted.

"What's going on?"

The middle-aged man's expression shifted. He stood abruptly and looked at the person in charge beside him, his first thought being that they were under attack. But he quickly dismissed that—this wasn't wartime, and the other side couldn't possibly strike them now.

"Sir, our power system just had a malfunction."

"What's the cause?"

"Not yet. We're investigating."

But as they investigated, satellites watching over the Pacific almost immediately sent warnings to the ground. Alarms blared in combat-ready duty rooms, putting the officers on edge—their first thought was a nuclear war. Yet as the transmitted data was parsed, no ballistic missile launches were detected by the missile defense system. Still, looking at the images on screen, none of the officers could laugh. Because what was unfolding was more severe than a "nuclear war."

"Hurry! Notify the Pentagon immediately!"

The same command echoed in other nations' monitoring agencies. While the general public still slept, alerts were sent to the highest levels of governments worldwide.

The woken leaders grabbed their phones, communicating with counterparts in other countries to determine whether this anomaly was natural or man-made.

The unluckiest were the Pentagon staffers. Just a few days ago, they'd been dragged out of bed during a holiday night to see the Great East's Christmas gift. And now, before a few days had passed, another surprise—or rather, a shock—had appeared.

In a familiar scene, the roads around the Pentagon were clogged again.

When the footage played on the screens, the hastily assembled leaders, technicians, and scientists wore varied expressions. A heavy atmosphere settled over the Pentagon.

Having just received the Great East's Christmas gift a few days ago, those present had some preparation. A four-star general turned his gaze to the expert sitting across from him and asked in a grave tone, "Is this the Great East's doing?"

The scientist studied the images repeatedly, analyzing the diameter, area, height, and spectrum before offering his conclusion.

"Sir, this is absolutely not the work of the Great East. They don't have this technology." At that, the expert shrugged humorously. "And it's not ours either. We don't have it either."

In the image, above the center of the Pacific Ocean, a massive sky pit 20 kilometers in diameter had appeared!

Yes, it looked like a giant hole—but this one wasn't collapsing toward the ground; it was collapsing toward the sky, eerily as if the heavens themselves had caved in.

At that very moment, on the other side of the ocean in the Great East, experts reached the same conclusion: this wasn't the work of the United States. They didn't have that capability.

"A natural phenomenon?"

The commander frowned at the enormous sky pit. Whether this thing was harmful or not was still unclear, but something this massive couldn't be hidden. It would soon be exposed to the whole world, and the impact it would have was anyone's guess.

Its location was too sensitive—right smack in the middle of the Pacific—and its "roundness" was too perfect, making him suspect it might be an artificial creation.

Anyway, the most nervous party wasn't the Great East, but the United States across the ocean. Compared to the exposed U.S., the Great East had Japan in front as a buffer—that was geography.

"It's not clear yet. Fortunately, our satellites captured the formation process of this anomaly."

On a massive 8K high-definition screen, the formation of this peculiar phenomenon played out.

At first, everything above the Pacific was normal. Then, at 0200 hours, a multicolored light suddenly appeared in the center of the Pacific, flickering in the sky like the aurora borealis or a rainbow, twisting and winding endlessly.

As the colorful glow intensified, a massive ring faintly emerged in the sky. When the ring gradually solidified and stabilized—the sky collapsed! In the literal, physical sense, the sky collapsed!