The Almighty Ring

“Request received!” Halsey replied. Even though Halsey did not answer to Lincoln, he was still obeying his orders since Halsey was only a normal human, while Lincoln was the Vice-President of the Mutant Brotherhood!

He had no qualms about using military appliances to help the Mutant’s cause, especially since they were fighting against the Chinese Naval fleet. On the other hand, if they were against landed militants or air force, the military might not be able to assist Lincoln.

The Americans had superior dominance in Naval warfare. They had been keeping at it for a very long time and had been making sure they owned the largest fleet in the ocean. Even if they were faced with the naval fleets of the next ten countries combined, they had the utmost confidence that they would be able to defeat all of them.

With such confidence, Halsey had no worries for any enemy vessels. If the Chinese dared to send out their vessels into shallow water, he could still deal with it via short-range missiles and airborne weaponry. The true destructive power lied in the deep sea. He would make sure anyone who dared to challenge the American Navy in the ocean would have a reserved spot in Davy Jones’ locker!

Since China was America’s enemy, Halsey followed Lincoln’s orders without guilt. He launched several unmanned drones into the air and started to sweep the entire sea near the Eastern side of Japan, trying to find the enemies of which Lincoln had asked for.

Unexpectedly, to Halsey’s bewilderment, he found the entire fleet of China’s Naval Fleet! From the images gathered, it was safe to say that China had deployed everything they had. Both the Southern and Eastern Fleets were combined to form one great one. They were, as Lincoln predicted, heading toward Japan.

“Jesus! Are they going all out?!” cried Halsey.

After confirming the report, Halsey made the decision to launch a counterattack.

“Notify the 7th Fleet and intercept the Chinese! Launch a warning flare! If they dare to attack, we will turn them into fish food!”

After cooperating with Commander Robert, Halsey hastily made a report to the President of the United States.

“I find it hard to believe your report,” said the President, on the phone with Halsey. Although he had already obtained authorization to openly declare war with China and was itching to strike first, the Mutants had requested assistance in retrieving the alien artifact, so the American Navy had to change their objectives to support the Mutants. However, since Chinese was sending everything they had to Japan, the President thought that it might be a good chance to attack them instead!

“I hereby command the 3rd and 7th Fleet to destroy the China Naval Fleet! Dispatch all available vessels from the Pacific Ocean as well as the Joined-Ally European vessel from the Indian Ocean to create a cut-off point to stop the Chinese from retreating! I want to see the complete destruction of every Chinese vessel!”

As soon as the President’s office had made the decision to attack the Chinese, a press conference was made. Reporters from all available media platforms arrived at the last minute to hear the news about the United States of America attacking China’s Navy in the name of their refusal to cooperate and the imminent threat of alien terrorism.

The information, with the help of the various form of media, spread across the world with a click of a button. Everyone who heard or read the news knew that this move would signify the next step in human progress; the start of the next world war.

While the President of the United States of America did not directly announce that he would want to attack China, the action of attacking the soldiers of China in the sea already meant that America would be willing to go as far as escalating the war into mainland China. Attacking the naval fleet was only the start.

After a very short period of time, China made a public announcement to declare that America was only trying to create unwanted conflicts by making false accusations. They would want to clear their name to reveal what America was really doing. If they wanted to have a war, they would be given one.

Both sides had made their declarations, further igniting the fuse that made the entire world scared and worried. When the news about China wanting to fight back was heard, citizens had divided responses. Some were scared while some were excited. The elders were nonchalant about it while the youths were reacting violently. Military drafts were opened and many young men and women registered their names at their nearest military outposts.

That was how united were the people of China was.

Unfortunately, the military rejected almost 90% of applications. Their current military strength was so strong that they did not need additional troops. This information was not taken well by those who drafted. Even though China was strong, the citizens knew that American did not lose in strength. They had been powerful since ancient times and had even dared to declare that they had the largest stockade of weaponry in the world. With nothing to prove their confidence, the citizens of China had no clue as to how China’s military would be fighting on even grounds with the Americans.

The first domino piece had been knocked over and the first move was made by the Americans. They moved their fleet at the fastest speed to charge toward China’s. The other fleets were mobilized, coming toward them from both the front and the back, preparing to surround them from all directions.

“It’s finally time! Ahh! Here I thought that I was too old to finally be useful! Heh! I would never have thought that a young boy would be the spark to start this entire chain of events,” Nie Shilong cried with enthusiasm somewhere in the South of China. Ever since he joined the navy, he had always dreamed of having an all-out war with the Americans. However, before the emergence of the young Jiang Fei, he had already given up on that dream since peace had been kept for a long time by both sides. He had never expected to receive a fleet of alien sea vessels and be assigned to be the fleet commander of the aforementioned fleet.

“Brother Nie, when do you want to make a move?” Qin Tian asked.

“Patience, young one! I will wait until they come closer and when they entered our domain, we will have every reason to strike them down! Not to mention, I would be able to attack them easily then!” said Nie Shilong, full of confidence. The Special Navy Fleet had once undergone a simulated exercise. However, that was enough for Nie Shilong to have the utmost confidence in defeating the American and the Joined-Ally Navy Fleet.

While Nie Shilong’s Special Navy Force was waiting for his prey to enter his trap, Qin Tian’s regular Navy Force had encountered the Americans. Right then, both sides were separated by several hundred kilometers of empty sea.