A Nuclear Explosion!!?

Seeing both chiefs nod, Li Guozhong contacted Tong Yao.

"Tong Yao, use your satellite missile to give the chiefs a simple demonstration on a ground target."

"Yes, sir!"

Tong Yao answered crisply.

The mech hovered in midair.

Its quantum-source phased-array radar instantly covered the entire firing range near division headquarters.

This was where the division's soldiers practiced shooting.

Many tank targets had been set up here.

Tong Yao picked a target in the middle.

She asked,

"Sir, will tank target 355 do?"

"Yes, hit that one. Once you're done, both of you come straight back and report in."

"Yes, sir!"

Inside the command room.

The large screen was now fully linked to Tong Yao's holographic display.

A crosshair appeared, similar to the one from when Wang Yixue had fired the railgun.

After jumping a few times, it locked firmly onto tank target 355.

After the satellite had been destroyed earlier, the atmosphere in the command room gradually relaxed.

Some people were even quietly discussing whether to go for a drink after work to celebrate.

Luo Bing and Zhu Guodong's expressions had also become much calmer.

Their nasal oxygen tubes had been removed, too.

They could practically predict the outcome of Tong Yao's miniature missile target practice: it would definitely hit.

There could be no surprises.

It could shoot down a satellite ten thousand kilometers away; there was no reason it could not hit a target a few thousand kilometers away.

Everyone could barely be bothered to watch anymore. Since they already knew the result, what was there to see?

After locking onto the target, Tong Yao pressed the launch button with a click.

Spitting red flames, the miniature missile hurtled toward the target with ferocious energy.

Afterward, Tong Yao could not be bothered with it either. Once the missile was launched, its automatic guidance began anyway.

She connected directly to Wang Yixue's mech channel.

"Yixue, I'm done here. Let's head back."

"Sure. If we get back late, our division commander will start chewing us out."

Both spoke with complete ease.

They had certainly enjoyed themselves during this simulated exercise.

There was just one slight regret.

Their paperclip maneuvers had fallen far short of Xu Fan's.

They had taken too long to decelerate, turn around, and accelerate again.

In actual combat, the less time that took, the greater their aerial combat capability.

In the command room, Luo Bing smiled when he saw Tong Yao press the launch button.

"Old Zhu, let's go. It's time we left, too."

"Mm. There's an emergency video conference tonight. Apparently, they've discovered something incredible over in the Mariana."

The two slowly rose.

Immediately afterward, all the commanders and soldiers in the command room sprang to their feet.

They saluted!

Luo Bing swept his gaze around and saw many young faces.

He praised them,

"The waves behind on the Yangtze push those ahead!"

"Our Xia Nation will surely stand tall with its spine straight in the years to come."

"Never again will it be a country for the great powers to knead and crush as they please!"

The two old chiefs laughed and turned to leave.

Luo Bing's gaze happened to sweep across the large screen at the front of the command room.

At that moment.

The miniature missile struck its target.

Almost simultaneously, a dazzling light that could nearly blind a person suddenly flared.

Like an explosion of light, it instantly turned the screen silvery white.

The white light vanished in an instant.

A gigantic fireball capable of shaking heaven and earth rose into the sky.

The fireball's reach expanded rapidly, engulfing both Wang Yixue's and Tong Yao's mechs.

They shook violently.

The two hurriedly pulled their control sticks to escape the fireball's reach.

The rapidly rising fireball spread violently in every direction, carrying black debris with it.

In the blink of an eye, it had reached a span of a thousand meters.

It showed no sign of stopping.

Waves of fire churned, and smoke roiled.

A mushroom cloud spanning heaven and earth was starkly reflected in Luo Bing's clouded eyes.

Luo Bing's hair stood on end. His body jerked, and his pupils shrank to pinpoints.

His face turned deathly pale.

His mouth trembled, and he could not speak.

His body swayed violently, and he nearly pitched headfirst onto the floor.

Following Luo Bing's gaze, the people in the command room also saw the savage scene.

Shocked cries rang out all around.

"Holy shit!"

"Holy shit!!"

"Oh-oh-oh my god!!!"

Before anyone could react further, a deafening sound finally reached them.

Rumble-

The sound dragged on, its lingering force immense.

Almost simultaneously, the ground began shaking violently.

The monitors on the desks nearly toppled over.

Clattering and crashing filled the room.

Finally, the image on the screen dissolved into static.

Nothing could be seen anymore.

Zhu Guodong slapped his thigh.

"We're in deep trouble! That's a fucking nuclear bomb!! Get out, now!!"

Immediately afterward.

A piercing alarm sounded.

Wooo-

"Alert! Alert! Alert!"

Wooo-

"Alert!"

"The defense system has detected an intense, unnatural shock wave. A small nuclear bomb is suspected to have detonated near our division headquarters!"

"All personnel, evacuate immediately!"

"All personnel, evacuate immediately!!"

The urgent alarm filled everyone's faces with shock and urgency.

Everyone knew that the truly terrifying thing about a nuclear bomb was not merely its raw destructive power that seemed capable of annihilating heaven and earth.

It also carried nuclear radiation, the mere mention of which made people turn pale.

Anyone exposed to a sufficient dose of nuclear radiation would undergo genetic mutations and develop cancer within a short time.

It was no exaggeration to say they would be unable to live and unable to die.

At this moment, Li Guozhong panicked, too.

He had never expected this miniature missile to be a nuclear bomb. He was scared shitless, too.

He hurriedly notified the troops to evacuate swiftly in company and platoon units.

Elsewhere.

At Zhonghai Military Research Base.

Elder Wang and Elder Hua were bent over a huge blueprint, studying it.

But a tremor ran through the ground.

Immediately afterward, the base's alarm automatically sounded.

Its shrill wailing pierced the ears.

Elder Wang's and Elder Hua's hearts jolted, and they looked out the window.

At some point, a mushroom cloud had already spread across the distant sky.

They could see it rapidly expanding and rising with their naked eyes.

"A nu-nu... nuclear explosion!"

Elder Wang's eyes nearly popped out of his head in shock.

The pen in his hand clattered to the floor.

"This is bad! This is terrible!!"

"Something's happened over at Guozhong's!"

After two cries of alarm, Elder Wang hurriedly called Li Guozhong.

At the same time, he rushed toward the downstairs parking lot with Elder Hua.

After getting downstairs, he shouted to the guard, "Quick, get the radiation detectors! Bring a couple extra!!"

Elder Hua also made a call just then.

"Tong Yao, how are you doing?"

Elder Hua's voice was filled with anxiety.

He could hear the entire conversation between Li Guozhong and Elder Wang.

He knew Tong Yao and Wang Yixue had been caught in it right from the start.

"Elder Hua, Yixue and I will be at the research base any moment."

"Good. Both of you, bring your mechs straight over to the building!"

The call ended.

Two steel behemoths crashed down.

The guard also brought the instruments over to Elder Wang.

"Let's go to Li Guozhong's division headquarters!"

Elder Wang and Elder Hua each boarded a mech and had the mechs take all the instruments along.

In the blink of an eye, they disappeared from the research base.

The moment they reached the entrance to division headquarters, Elder Wang and Elder Hua set up the instruments and began scanning.

Beep, beep, beep-

"Scan result: no radiation!"