Tens of kilometers away.
The once crisscrossing valley now appears eerily smooth, as if it had been patted and ironed.
The highest ridge on the side had its top cut off out of thin air.
The surrounding dead trees, in a radial pattern, have all fallen and carbonized outwards.
Suddenly, a massive lion-like shadow slowly approached from the outside and stood at the edge of the explosion's epicenter.
A moment later, accompanied by a rumbling sound, a giant ape with bulging muscles strode in from another direction.
Following closely behind was a giant scorpion that clung to the ground, its entire body covered in jet-black bone armor, its tail thrashing menacingly.
Finally, a huge black shadow flapped its wings and fell from the sky.
Several Calamity Beast stood at the edge of the explosion's epicenter, watching the scene unfold before them.
The giant ape stirred, its gaze fixed on the lion shadow that had arrived first.
"Haga ah zha?"
"What's going on...?"
(The following is the translated content)
" Blazing Skull, how are you? That attack just now, it was aimed at you, wasn't it?" The giant ape looked at the lion shadow.
Upon hearing this, the birds and scorpions all instinctively turned their gazes toward the lion's shadow.
Under the watchful eyes of several Calamity Beast, the Lion Shadow remained seated, its gaze still fixed on the center of the explosion. It slowly spoke, replying...
"He sustained some injuries, but it's nothing serious. He'll be fine after a little recovery."
Upon hearing Lion Shadow's words, the other Calamity Beast turned their gazes toward it again.
Apart from some areas with black cracks, there seemed to be no other issues.
The Calamity Beast then turned their attention to the center of the explosion.
"Are these two-legged insects insane? Aren't they afraid this space will collapse?" The enormous bird opened its beak, its voice shrill, its crimson eyes filled with fear and bewilderment.
"Perhaps they just want to destroy this space?" The giant scorpion's stinger swayed gently behind it.
"They want to destroy this space? Are they crazy?! Don't they have a bunch of their own kind in this space too? And it seems they've brought even more in these past few days!!" The bird's voice rose, becoming even sharper.
"That's what makes them so terrifying; to achieve their goals, they're willing to sacrifice even the lives of their own kind without hesitation. Such ruthlessness..."
Before the giant scorpion could finish speaking, it was interrupted by a deep voice.
"No, it was an accident!"
The three Calamity Beast all turned their gazes toward the lion shadow that had arrived first.
It sat there, gazing at the empty space, and said in a low, hoarse voice,
"If the goal is to cause this space to collapse, there's absolutely no need to keep bringing in their kind. Just leave it as it is; we'll all eventually get through it."
"What for?" The bird flapped its wings twice.
"An accident, or..."
Lion Shadow paused, then said in a deep voice:
"Testing the waters."
"A test?" The giant scorpion turned around, looking at the lion shadow with some doubt in its eyes.
Lion Shadow said in a deep voice,
"Hmm, testing the boundaries of this space, testing our bottom line..."
After he finished speaking, a brief silence fell over the room.
"Boom!"
The giant ape raised its fist and landed it on the ground.
He didn't deliberately use force, but the combination of his size and strength still made the punch produce a loud sound.
None of the Calamity Beast paid any attention, and all turned their gazes in that direction.
The giant ape glanced at the open space at the center of the explosion, then turned its head to look in the direction from which the attack had just come.
"Those two-legged beasts killed Lord Dark Silence with that kind of attack just now?"
"Perhaps!" Lion Shadow said gravely.
"So what do we do now? Continue the attack?" the giant ape continued to ask.
"But aren't all those low-level creatures almost dead?" The giant scorpion shook its tail hook twice.
"We can get it from places like the Crimson Flow Slurry; anyway, these two-legged insects won't dare to come out!" The bird flapped its wings twice.
"But what if they launch another attack like that?" the giant scorpion asked.
"I..."
The bird opened its beak, but for a moment it didn't know what to say.
The giant ape glanced at them, then turned its gaze back to the lion's shadow.
Led by it, the birds and giant scorpions also turned their gazes in that direction.
Lion Shadow sat still, its golden vertical pupils fixed on the open space before it.
"Go back first and report this situation to the Court Council..."
Underground command center.
The staff officer strode out of the intelligence room and into the central hall.
He glanced at the three generals sitting at the long table and strode over.
"Latest intelligence just came from Inspector Shen!"
Upon hearing this, all three looked over.
"Speak!" Zhang Weijun said in a deep voice.
"It has been confirmed that the vast majority of the incoming beast tide perished under the nuclear attack, and the remaining Calamity Beast, led by higher-level Calamity Beast, retreated," the staff officer reported.
Although he had expected it, Zhang Weijun still couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he actually confirmed the news.
After all, the Calamity Beast cannot be viewed entirely from a rational perspective.
Perhaps they'll get carried away and charge forward again?
However, now that this problem has been solved, the next issue to address is another.
Zhang Weijun turned his head and looked at his two colleagues with a serious expression.
What are your thoughts on what just happened?
Upon hearing this, both of them frowned.
Even now, they can still recall that lingering, strange feeling, as if the whole world had "wrinkled" a little.
After a moment, the old general spoke first:
"It must be the result of space nearing collapse."
"But didn't we test it with the equipment sent by the Research Department? Wasn't the power of the nuclear bomb adjusted based on the results of that test?" The slightly overweight officer frowned.
"So, what happened just now was only close to collapse, not a complete collapse," the old general said solemnly.
The portly officer frowned slightly. "So you mean we haven't reduced the yield of our nuclear weapons enough?"
"Yes!" The old general nodded.
"But it's already been reduced by 20%, isn't that enough? Those guys in the Research Department, they send us the materials without even mentioning the specific figures, they just say it's been reduced, they almost killed us!" The fat officer frowned, his tone somewhat impatient.
The old general frowned and did not reply, which was taken as agreement with his statement.
Just then, Zhang Weijun looked at the staff officer beside him and asked, "Are we the first to use a nuclear weapon based on instrument data?"
Upon hearing this, the old general and the slightly overweight officer seemed to realize what he wanted to ask, and they also looked over.
Under the watchful eyes of the three, the staff officer nodded in confirmation:
"Yes, that's right. The other two Erosion Zone are only being attacked by small numbers of Calamity Beast, so it hasn't reached the point where nuclear weapons have to be used."
"Ha..." the old general chuckled, "Looks like we've become guinea pigs!"
"Heh, heh heh..." The fat officer chuckled twice, sounding annoyed.
Zhang Weijun let out a heavy sigh and said:
"Alright, go and organize this data and report it back!"
"Okay, understood!" The staff officer nodded slightly, took a few steps back, and then turned and left.
Zhang Weijun once again looked at his two colleagues beside him.
"Alright, now it's time to discuss our strategy for the future."