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"Go on."

Chang Weisi looked toward Zhang Qi, who had spoken.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"I once designed a non-lethal infrasonic weapon."

As Zhang Qi spoke, he pulled something from his pocket.

It was a palm-sized black metal block with a matte finish and sharp edges, resembling a portable hard drive or a minimalist MP3 player.

It had only a small silver button and a row of nearly invisible LED indicators.

Naturally, he had prepared it long ago. Its prototype had been based on a weapon designed by Tony Stark in the Marvel World.

It was the paralyzing device Obadiah Ssu Stane had used in Iron Man 1 to tear the Arc Reactor out of Tony Stark's chest.

"An infrasonic weapon? Zhang, is this thing reliable?"

Colonel Ssu Stanton frowned and asked.

If he remembered correctly, this kind of weapon was still in the experimental stage, wasn't it?

"Indeed, this is no joke!

What we need is something capable of paralyzing more than sixty people aboard the ship within 0.1 seconds, including highly trained security personnel.

Any delay could allow Evans to destroy the data—

With all due respect, your weapon looks like a joke!"

The field-grade officer from the Japan Self-Defense Forces adjusted his glasses and challenged Zhang Qi.

"Would you like to try it?"

Zhang Qi raised his eyes to look at the officer and lifted the black device in his hand.

The atmosphere in the conference room changed instantly.

Everyone's gaze, like iron filings drawn to a magnet, fixed squarely on the officer.

Feeling so many eyes on him, the Self-Defense Force officer's cheek twitched. Then he straightened his back.

In a setting like this, backing down was more humiliating than taking a bullet.

He rose to his feet, smoothed his crisp uniform, and walked