Cockroaches Beneath Deadly Beauty

"That's... a Trident strategic nuclear weapon!"

Shen Feng abruptly sat up, staring at the meteor-like missile in the sky, hardly believing his eyes.

After all this time, strategic nuclear strikes were still ongoing!

Only now did he understand the meaning of Rebirth Day. Rebirth Day was the day of strategic nuclear strikes!

Firefly, beside him, tugged at Shen Feng's clothes. Gazing entranced at the glow in the sky, she said:

"Lie down, lie down. Don't get so worked up. We can't change anything. All we can do is wait for God's mercy. Before that, we might as well appreciate the most beautiful thing in this world. My mother once said that people lived on this land like cockroaches, but cockroaches had their own happiness too. The deadliest things in this world are the most beautiful things. Isn't that interesting...?"

Shen Feng looked around. Nearly everyone lay motionless atop the various buildings, clearly long accustomed to the sight of Rebirth Day.

He lay back down as well and quietly watched the streak of fire falling from the immense depths of space through the night sky.

It was the spectacular sight of an intercontinental ballistic missile reentering the atmosphere. Yet no one knew where the nuclear warhead would ultimately land.

Perhaps it would land right on Nameless Town, where he was.

If he was truly reduced to ashes by the searing heat of a nuclear blast, perhaps the pain would last only an instant?

Just then, a new flame came from the northwest, passing overhead as it flew eastward.

This flame was extremely fast. Judging from its trajectory, it was likely headed somewhere very far away.

Firefly said excitedly:

"This is the Eternal Wind of the Northern Bear God. They say it blows in from the Siberian Wasteland at the farthest north, eternally cold. He is both friend and foe to the great god Jingwei, an existence no one can quite explain."

Shen Feng's heart tightened. He had nearly forgotten that there was another civilization in the north that had once been powerful. Now it seemed their nuclear strike system still existed as well.

But this intercontinental missile seemed poised to pass directly over this land and head east. Where was it going?

North America? The Pacific islands?

At this moment, Shen Feng felt that everything was unreal. Could hatred between humans truly persist for so long? Until death itself?

But those people should have died out long ago...

Just then, several new flashes rose from the dark wilderness around them, like tiny suns. Some were extremely far away, while others seemed to be only dozens of kilometers away.

The residents of Nameless Town erupted in cheers, and many shouted:

"Great god Jingwei be praised!"

"Forever and ever, without end!"

"May the great god Jingwei bless my rebirth!"

"May the East Wind protect us!"

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

A total of seven intercontinental missiles carrying nuclear warheads rose from different locations. Like seven stars, they left this land and flew toward every corner of the globe.

Shen Feng understood. This was the nuclear strike system still operating across this land!

The intercontinental ballistic missile launch vehicle he had encountered in the wilderness before had been part of it!

But where exactly were these nuclear weapons headed?

Did every former great power get a share, or did their targets change every time?

At that moment, the Trident missile in the sky had fully completed atmospheric reentry. Its light dimmed somewhat, and in the next instant, it changed from one great star into seven smaller ones, falling toward different parts of the land.

Shen Feng could not help holding his breath. He understood that these were the Trident intercontinental missile's independently targeted warheads.

Every warhead represented a nuclear weapon with a yield of hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of tons!

Though there were no ground-based interceptors, these warheads, having reentered the atmosphere, still followed their preset programs, constantly maneuvering at high speed and changing course in midair.

Even in peacetime, they would have been nearly impossible to intercept, much less now.

They traveled as though no one stood in their way.

The warheads swiftly fell in every direction, like a scattering of stars.

Although the people of Nameless Town did not know exactly what these things were, they understood what they signified.

Having lived in this wasteland for so long and experienced many Rebirth Days, they naturally knew that these meteors, these flashes, meant death.

Everyone held their breath and watched, waiting for the warheads to fall.

Soon, a burst of light suddenly appeared somewhere a hundred kilometers away, illuminating the entire night sky.

Then came another flash elsewhere. There should have been flashes in other places too, but they were simply too distant to reach Nameless Town.

After quite a while, a rumbling tremor arrived, like muffled thunder rolling beneath the earth. The buildings of Nameless Town all shuddered.

Long after the tremors subsided, a fierce wind blew in from afar, stirring up clouds of dust and leaving the town engulfed in flying grit.

Yet everyone who had been lying on the rooftops stood up and cheered loudly.

"We've been reborn!"

"Haha, we get to live another year!"

"Thank the great god Jingwei for protecting us!"

"Reborn! Reborn!"

"..."

The crowd cheered and leaped with joy. Only then did Shen Feng finally understand the true meaning of Rebirth Day.

Living in this wasteland—or rather, living on Earth, this vast wasteland—meant they might be baptized by nuclear weapons every year.

If they survived, it was the same as living another life.

This time, Nameless Town had escaped disaster once more.

As for next year's Rebirth Day, they could worry about that next year.

Firefly sat up as well. Looking at the faint firelight emerging from the distant wilderness, she said:

"That direction... seems to be Steel City of the Iron Axe Tribe... Their chieftain insisted on naming the city. Nothing happened in the first few years, but this year, they still couldn't escape it... Places with names never end well..."

The little girl's voice was full of regret. She had visited Steel City before and sold some things she had dug out of the ruins there.

"A name?" Shen Feng froze, then asked, "Doesn't Nameless Town have a name too?"

Firefly said, "No, Nameless Town is a town without a name. There are many other nameless towns too. Once a place has a name, maybe it can't be reborn."

Shen Feng nodded.

Place names might have been important coordinates for the nuclear strike system. Or perhaps what happened during the great war had caused wasteland residents to develop this habit.

Looking into the distant wilderness, he frowned slightly.

He had originally believed that although nuclear war had once taken place in this world, leaving many places blanketed by radiation, the surviving people still lived in relative peace. Human civilization had not completely perished, and perhaps after several thousand or tens of thousands of years, it could still revive.

But he had never imagined that nuclear strikes had never truly stopped!

No wonder the radiation levels in so many places remained so terrifying.

If the nuclear strikes continued, perhaps within a few decades, there would no longer be any area on Earth untouched by radiation.

Humanity would be completely extinguished!

The only small consolation was that, for various reasons, not many nuclear weapons fell on this land each year...

But who—or what—was still carrying out nuclear strikes without cease even now!?

At last, Shen Feng understood the meaning of those missions in Real Doomsday Game.

Finding the nuclear strike command systems of the three prewar great powers might bring an end to all this!

Seeing Shen Feng's grave expression, Firefly giggled and said:

"Since we've been reborn, don't look so stern. Be happier. We're humans even tougher than cockroaches."

Hearing this, Shen Feng gave a low laugh and relaxed considerably.

He then climbed down from the roof and returned inside, digging out the wreckage of the off-road motorcycle along with a pile of miscellaneous parts, then began repairing it.

That was the benefit of a silicon-based brain. He had previously seen exploded structural diagrams of off-road motorcycles in magazines and on websites, and had also happened to see the repair shop downstairs fixing motorcycles a few times. Now, he only needed to retrieve the relevant memories to begin repairs.

Still, the thing was damaged so badly that he did not even know whether these parts would be enough.

Meanwhile, all of Nameless Town grew lively once again, this time in celebration of rebirth.

In a corner of the town, a group of people had gathered. They were Scar and several of his subordinates.

Before them stood a short-haired man reeking of gasoline. A wheel pattern was tattooed on his body, and he stared sharply at Scar.

Scar pulled a small bag from inside his clothes and handed it to the man, saying:

"These are the samples we obtained today. If it can ultimately be confirmed that this outsider is the Flawless Seed Source, I hope the Hope Tribe will keep its promise and give me enough in return."

The short-haired man took the bag and opened it, finding a pair of chopsticks whittled from wooden sticks, with traces of blood still on them.

He casually tossed a bottle to Scar, then turned and disappeared into the darkness.

Soon, the faint roar of an engine drifted over. The other man had already left.

Smiling, Scar twisted open the bottle cap, and a pungent smell wafted out.

It was high-purity gasoline.