Antarctica, above Great Xia's Underground City.
A blinding white light abruptly tore through the darkness of the polar night.
A mushroom cloud rose into the sky immediately afterward, the flames painting the entire ice field red.
The shock wave from the nuclear explosion swept across the ice, whipping up a storm of ice and snow dozens of meters high.
Deep inside the Underground City, alarms blared, but the defense system remained unmoved, merely launching a few surface-to-air missiles as a token gesture.
The explosion occurred a hundred meters above the surface, leaving the Underground City completely unscathed.
The buildings on the surface, however, suffered utter devastation, though their occupants had long since been evacuated into the Underground City.
Meanwhile.
The Archon's office in the Free Underground City, Eagle Country.
Mars sat in a leather chair, waiting for the latest progress report on the Arctic Operation.
The office door was suddenly pushed open.
His secretary rushed in, face deathly pale.
"Mr. Mars! Something terrible has happened!"
Mars raised his head, displeasure in his eyes.
"What's the panic?"
The secretary panted, voice trembling.
"We... no, a nuclear bomb was launched from our territory!"
Mars: "..."
He froze for a full three seconds, his mind utterly blank.
"A nuclear bomb? We launched it? What are you talking about?!"
The secretary swallowed and hurriedly said:
"We didn't launch it, but it was launched from within our borders. Its target was Great Xia's Underground City in Antarctica!"
"By now... the nuclear explosion has presumably already happened!"
Mars sprang to his feet, kicking his chair over and sending it crashing to the floor.
"What happened?!"
"I never gave any order for a nuclear strike!"
He practically roared the words, both hands braced against the desk, his chest heaving.
The secretary shook their head.
"We're still investigating,