A moment later...
The release of Truth No. 2 Atomic Bomb's power reached its end. The shockwave began to dissipate, and the light and heat slowly merged into the surrounding air.
The intensity of Vesuvius Dak Volcano's lava eruption also weakened slightly. Along with the lava, more black smoke billowed out, as though it had reached the end of its strength after exerting itself fully, yet also as though it were gathering power for another fierce eruption.
At that moment, maintaining the "Achilles Armor" and enduring the lava and volcanic debris continuously falling from the sky, Richard returned to Pompey—or rather, the ruins of Pompey.
At the outskirts of Pompey's ruins, Richard stepped on the scorching dark-red ground and stopped. He looked around. Other than the volcano's roar, everything was deathly quiet—eerily quiet.
Drawing back his gaze, he looked down at the curse Qiekafu had placed on his left arm. The four small puncture wounds were already beginning to heal, and all the strange patterns had disappeared.
Clearly, the curse had been lifted. This in turn proved that the person who had cast it—Qiekafu—was already dead, having died alongside everyone else in Pompey.
However, that was not the only reason he had returned—to inspect the damage to Pompey and confirm whether every member of the Truth Society was dead. He was not that petty. He had returned mainly to collect data.
Yes, collect data.
His original main purpose in creating atomic bombs had not been to destroy Pompey, or rather, not to use them in battle.
The Atomic Bomb plan's full name was the "Atomic Bomb Research and Manufacturing Plan." Research came before manufacturing, which showed that atomic bombs were made for the sake of research.
Research what? To study whether the microscopic particles in this world differed from those