The Shadow Within the Nuclear Fireball

It was ironic: the nuclear bomb, capable of destroying Earth and humanity, had become humanity's hope.

Or rather, to humanity, nuclear bombs had always been the hope of peace.

Not humanity's desire for peace; not the actions of countless predecessors and successors sacrificing their lives; nor the spirit that cried out for peace—but weapons capable of destroying humanity.

Even if they were not nuclear bombs, the appearance of other weapons capable of destroying humanity on a massive scale could likewise force humanity into compromise and bring peace.

This moment was no different.

Under the gaze of countless people, the nuclear bomb that represented peace launched once more, becoming humanity's beacon of hope again.

Three different nuclear bombs streaked across the Pacific Ocean from California, Oregon, and Nevada, spewing dense exhaust beneath the clear night sky glittering with stars, advancing in sequence to seal off every direction.

At this moment, the entire world stopped working and turning, staring unblinkingly at the nuclear missiles shown by satellite broadcasts.

Inside the Oval Office, nineteen people in power held their breath and stared fixedly at the nuclear missiles. At the same time, every ruler on Earth shared their feelings.

They hoped the nuclear bombs would destroy the alien.

The first to carve a white trail through the dazzling night sky and fly straight toward a point thirty-five meters in front of He-El was the fastest missile, launched from California—a seventeen-megaton hydrogen bomb.

Boom

A tremendous explosion rang out in the skies above the Pacific Ocean.

He-El's gaze sharpened slightly. Standing in midair, he controlled his biological magnetic field, which had long since formed thirty-eight million slanted partition layers around the surface of his body.

The first thing he felt was the impact of the seventeen-megaton hydrogen bomb. It was an experience he had never had before, as violent as being rammed at full speed by a space battleship. Every cell in his body seemed ready to be shaken free from his bones.

The first direct blast left He-El unable to think, his ears ringing and his vision going dark. The force transmitted into his body through his biological magnetic field pressed down on his heart until it seemed unable to beat.

It was a sensation he had never experienced before.

The thirty-eight million slanted partition layers formed by his biological magnetic field began responding, endlessly angling and redirecting, creating the most rigorous, scientific, and exquisite circuit. Before him, the impact displayed winding particle trajectories. After destroying four million glasslike layers of biological magnetic field partitions, all of the force was completely dispersed.

"Nuclear bombs really are formidable. They actually darkened my vision, choked off my breath, and shook my mind blank for an instant. They truly deserve to be called humanity's ultimate weapon."

As soon as He-El's vision dimmed, it returned to normal. The biological magnetic field was an extension of his physical cells. The reason he had felt such a powerful impact for the first time was because the force had shaken the biological magnetic field, which then directly transmitted a slightly diluted force into his cells, causing his body to react as if it had been shaken.

He simply had not been accustomed to such a powerful impact before. Now, he was.

Yet He-El could not help but feel alarmed and marvel again. It truly deserved to be called humanity's ultimate weapon.

The fact that it could darken his vision was genuinely impressive.

Following the impact came a temperature of roughly one hundred million degrees. The surface of the sun was around 5,500 degrees Celsius, while its core was roughly twenty million degrees Celsius. The temperature at the center of the nuclear explosion was already five times that of the sun's core.

The impact and high temperature arrived at almost the same time. It was merely because of He-El's sensitivity to his biological magnetic field that he felt the force of the impact first.

Then, more than twelve million layers of biological magnetic field partitions were instantly melted by the hundred-million-degree heat, and the solar energy stored in He-El's cellular fluid began to be used.

The energy stored in the cellular fluid of ordinary Kryptonians was generally called solar energy. In truth, it was not solar energy at all, but energy that Kryptonians had absorbed from sunlight, converted into their own energy, and stored. It had nothing to do with solar energy, but when used, it could produce effects like solar energy. That was why it was called solar energy.

He-El's cells, however, were even stronger than those of ordinary Kryptonians. Not only could they absorb and convert solar energy, but they could also absorb most radiation harmful to living creatures.

The biological magnetic field was the manifestation of the strength of He-El's cells, the expression of their foundational force. Meanwhile, the energy stored in the cellular fluid could be used to restore, replenish, and strengthen the cells themselves, increasing the power of the biological magnetic field.

He-El's precise and ingenious use of his biological magnetic field had reached a level that would leave even Superman stunned. When He-El used the energy in his cellular fluid to reinforce the biological magnetic field, the surging hundred-million-degree heat was immediately halted in its wild momentum, entering a brief deadlock.

When the hundred-million-degree heat melted nine million layers of He-El's biological magnetic field partitions, he could continue creating eight million more. The partitions could also absorb all the radiation produced by the nuclear explosion into his cells, replenishing and converting it into energy. It could not be called a perfect, costless cycle, but He-El could probably keep this up for tens of thousands of years.

For the hundred-million-degree heat at the center of a nuclear blast to last several seconds was already an astonishingly significant duration.

This created a terrifying phenomenon.

Boom

Another tremendous explosion rang out in the skies above the Pacific Ocean.

The intense heat and pressure rapidly expanded outward, heating the surrounding cold air through X-ray radiation.

The properties of hot air absorbing high-temperature radiation caused the heated, pressurized mass of air to become a sphere with a roughly uniform temperature, with sharp fronts in temperature and pressure. This mass of hot air was called an isothermal fireball, and He-El was inside this enormous fireball.

To human eyes, the first thing to appear in the night sky above the Pacific Ocean was a massive orange-red fireball. Then mushroom-shaped black clouds rose, and the shockwave spread outward, violently pressing a dent into the Pacific beneath He-El's feet. The seawater churned and expanded outward, beginning to form a tsunami.

The few scattered clouds in the sky were completely blown apart. Even from outside Earth, one could see vortex clouds forming here around the point of the nuclear explosion, an exceptionally magnificent sight.

Even the people at Anchorage Base a thousand miles away could feel the airflow brought by the shockwave sweeping toward them. They could not help raising their hands to shield themselves, squinting into the distance with horror in their eyes.

Could any living creature truly withstand a nuclear explosion like this?

Shouldn't any living creature at the center of the blast be vaporized instantly?

Then why was there still a black, distinctly human silhouette inside that fireball?

"This is impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Someone in the Oval Office cried out, eyes split wide as blood rushed over his face.

In fact, by the time they could see the black silhouette inside the fireball, He-El had already endured the hundred-million-degree heat at the center of the nuclear explosion.

One man smoking a cigar saw the black figure within the fireball and went pale. His cigar fell onto the blue carpet, its embers flickering.

This was too horrifying.

Within that massive fireball, the black figure swayed, yet stood as steady as Mount Tai in midair, utterly unmoving. What kind of demon god was this? What kind of deity?

That was a seventeen-megaton nuclear bomb! Did they think it was a firecracker?

The core temperature of its explosion exceeded one hundred million degrees, five or six times the temperature of the sun's core! How could any living creature possibly avoid being vaporized?

"He isn't an alien. He's a god!" One believer clasped his hands before his chest, index fingers crossed, cold sweat streaming down his face as he murmured in prayer, "You must die. You must die. You must die... The world does not need gods."

The President sat in his seat, his face twitching uncontrollably, his brows jumping. One hand pressed down on the drawer containing his favorite ivory pistol collection...

"Impossible!"

"Impossible! He must already be dead!"

"He must only have a mangled body left!"

"We still have two nuclear bombs!!"

"Even if he still has strength, he can't withstand the remaining two, even more powerful nuclear bombs!"

"He's as good as dead!"

Heart-rending cries rang through the Oval Office. Their eyes were bloodshot as they stared fixedly at the shadow within the fireball.

Under their expectant gazes.

Another nuclear bomb plunged directly into the fireball.