"And now, before the whole world, I will expose the plan you've been hiding—"
Andrew's smile looked flawless beneath the high-definition livestream cameras.
"You must be wondering how I saw through all of this."
Andrew did not wait for Zhang Qi's response. Like a hunter savoring his prey's final struggle, he began his statement on his own.
"Twenty years ago, ever since you became a Wallfacer, every theory you proposed—whether fusion engines or Anti-Gravity Devices—took an outrageously short amount of time to go from laboratory scribbles to industrial production lines."
"As everyone knows, an entirely new physical theory usually requires the dedication of several generations of scientists to go from proposal to verification to technological application.
"It must overcome countless bottlenecks, take countless detours, and stagger forward through innumerable failed explosions and burned-out circuit boards.
"That is the normal course of scientific and technological development—"
"But you, Dr. Zhang Qi, are like a player with a god's-eye view, always able to avoid every trap with perfect precision.
"Your theories are so perfect they hardly seem like human creations. Whenever technical problems arose during implementation, you could always provide a solution immediately, as if you already knew the answers.
"Isn't that rather strange?"
Zhang Qi remained unmoved by Andrew's accusation, but everywhere around the world where people watched the livestream had already erupted.
In New York's Times Square, the crowd below resembled an ocean stripped of all sound. Thousands upon thousands of upturned faces had frozen in place, as though they had forgotten even to breathe.
In a London bar, the bartender accidentally knocked over an entire row of Glencairn whisky glasses. Amber liquid and shattered glass spilled across the floor, but no one cared. Everyone was staring fixedly at the television screen.
Inside the Planetary Defense Council's conference room, the