Han Xiao said with a playful tone, "Compared to the pollution you've caused... and the pollution you're about to cause, I think cutting down your tree is more environmentally friendly."
In his previous life, no player had ever uncovered the leader's origins. In those chaotic years of war, it was indeed difficult to find the true identity of a missing ordinary person. After listening to the leader's story, Han Xiao gained a clearer understanding of him.
The leader is a staunch patriot, one of the few Golan people who luckily escaped the Raylen invasion. He is patient and resilient, and actively seeks breakthroughs on the edge of life and death in order to gain the power of Revenge. He grows from an ordinary person into one of the planet's top superhumans. He is a powerful and ruthless figure who acts on extremes.
Now that they have nowhere else to turn, they choose to die rather than surrender, showing that hatred is etched into their very bones and is extremely fierce.
"The protagonist's experiences are indeed legendary; every protagonist-type character has a story worth exploring," Han Xiao thought to himself, his feelings complicated.
When he was still very weak, the leader was like a mountain blocking his way. Han Xiao had to operate cautiously and become stronger, eventually gaining the power to confront him head-on and crush the Germinal.
Germinal is the main villain of Planet Aquamarine in version 1.0. Han Xiao participated in this main storyline when he was a player in his previous life, but now that his identity has changed, his role is so powerful that it can turn the tide of events. The experience is completely different. Although Han Xiao appears calm (mainly to prevent his joy from turning into sorrow), it doesn't mean that he doesn't enjoy the fruits of victory. He still feels a sense of accomplishment.
The leader shook his head and said, "I never expected that an escaped test subject would become the greatest enemy... Actually, after you stole the secrets and broke through my ambush, I knew that Germinal was doomed to fail. I don't have the habit of waiting to die, but there was no way to turn the tide; it was just a death throes."
Having foreseen this, the leader was not surprised no matter how dire the situation became. He watched as the organization he had created slid step by step into the abyss, his calm tinged with mixed emotions.
"For me, defeat means death. The Six Nations want to see me surrender, they want to seize all the secret knowledge that Germinal has accumulated over the years... I will make sure they get nothing."
Han Xiao raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of this, I heard you've taken quite a few hostages. If you detonate it, they're all doomed. Moreover, a nuclear explosion will affect the climate, worsen the natural environment of Planet Aquamarine, and be detrimental to the future of humanity worldwide. Are you sure you want to do this?"
The leader fell silent, and only heavy breathing could be heard from the speakers. Han Xiao was not in a hurry and calmly stared at the screen.
After a while, the leader finally spoke in a deep voice.
Are you trying to persuade me to surrender?
Han Xiao shrugged. "I didn't intend to, because you don't seem like the type to listen to advice, but the person opposite me wants me to do it..."
At this moment, Master Han was in the conference room of the First Sanctuary, sitting on the sofa with a tablet computer in his hand. Bennett sat opposite him, listening in the whole time and constantly gesturing for Han Xiao to persuade the leader. Bennett the last person who wanted to see a lose-lose situation.
Han Xiao thought Bennett was being cheeky, asking his mortal enemy to persuade him was practically adding fuel to the fire. If the leader had originally planned to surrender, he might have changed his mind as soon as he saw Han Xiao. Luckily, the leader had remained steadfast from beginning to end, otherwise Han Xiao would have been a little hesitant... Wait a minute, this logic feels a bit strange.
Bennett was relentlessly gesticulating on the other side, so Han Xiao had no choice but to try, lest Bennett try to seduce him like a nagging old woman afterward.
"I'd rather drag everyone down with me..." the leader said grimly, "I want this world to feel pain!"
Han Xiao opened his mouth, but a string of expletives stuck in his throat.
Holy crap, is that you, Pain?!
The leader sneered, "I hate this world, why should I care about it? Even if the Six Nations Six Nations win, don't expect to get away with it! Deep down, they're all executioners, destroying countless nations to reach this point, standing on ruins singing their own praises. The victor is king, the loser is a bandit. Those blood debts will be buried by history, forgotten, unpunished. No one will seek justice for the old era. These surviving regimes have been living in luxury for too long; it's time for them to pay their dues!"
The leader doesn't care what the world will become, or what the afterlife will bring. He'd rather betray the world than let the world betray him. Even ordinary people would think this way, let alone a leader with a sinister personality.
Han Xiao remained noncommittal. The consequences of nuclear pacification would have little impact on him, because he would have to leave Planet Aquamarine sooner or later, and the next version would be another Mutation Disaster, with an even greater disaster to come sooner or later. Compared to that, this climate disaster was nothing.
In Germinal previous life, the seed had been budding and barely surviving, with the potential to rise again. Now, it has been completely eradicated, but this has brought about negative consequences. He doesn't know which outcome is better yet, but the latter will obviously allow him to complete his Grade A main quest [The Seed Sleeps in the Dust] in one go.
For the other unsuspecting Planet Aquamarine inhabitants, the latter outcome was the most terrifying. Climate and environment were closely related to their lives, and no one wanted the environment to deteriorate. Bennett, sitting opposite, looked anxious, wishing he could fly to the Germinal headquarters immediately and kill the leader before he could trigger the button.
Han Xiao glanced at the clock and slowly said, "There's still quite a while before the deadline for the ultimatum from the Six Nations, isn't there? Won't you stay a little longer?"
"I prefer to decide my own death date." The leader's eyes hardened, and he reached out to grasp the nuclear launch key, beginning to slowly turn it.
A suffocating sense of oppression emanated from the screen; the leader's movements seemed to be stretched out Infinite, Bennett gripped the sofa armrests so tightly that he tore the leather.
With each rotation, a second slips away from the countdown of countless lives.
The second hand gradually pointed to the final result.
Han Xiao looked at the leader's face, then suddenly asked, "I never knew your name."
"My name?"
The leader smirked, revealing a sinister grin, and said calmly, "It's not important."
"... That's true. Well then... goodbye." Han Xiao sighed and waved.
The key was rotated 180 degrees.
A faint vibration came from the screen; it was the sound of a missile launching.
The leader withdrew his hand and sat motionless in his chair like a statue. At this moment, his tone was devoid of hatred, regret, or tragic grandeur at the prospect of death. There was no intense emotion in his voice; it was as calm as old neighbors saying goodbye at dusk and heading home for dinner. He nodded to Han Xiao in greeting.
"Goodbye."
"Warning! Warning! A high-speed object has been launched from Germinal Headquarters!"
All the officers waiting in the Six Nations war room suddenly stood up, filled with shock and anger. This was the worst possible outcome. Although everyone present was mentally prepared, they all found it hard to accept when the moment arrived.
A nuclear explosion would kill hostages, cause pollution, level the Germinal headquarters, and forever lose countless classified technologies—a lose-lose situation.
"Should we conduct anti-missile testing?" the adjutant asked, his voice trembling.
All officers had no choice, no hesitation, and were of one mind. "Execute immediately!"
At the Germinal headquarters, the ground and buildings trembled slightly. The Germinal soldiers, who were hiding, looked up at the sky through the windows, their eyes reflecting the missiles that were rising into the air, trailing plumes of flame.
A deathly silence filled the crowd; everyone understood the leader's decision and knew what would happen next.
Crying, despair, madness, convulsions, trembling, wailing, roaring, numbness...
The myriad aspects of life before destruction.
In the distance, countless black objects rapidly approached the horizon; some collided with the launched missiles mid-flight, while others landed at the headquarters base complex.
Buzz--
The first sound was a high-frequency pop that was inaudible to the human ear. Most people on the Six Nations distant battlefields suddenly covered their ears, and blood trickled down from their ear canals.
A pillar of fire, tens of kilometers in diameter, shot into the sky. The base complex instantly disintegrated in the flames. Dark smoke billowed from the dazzling firelight, slowly condensing and rising, gradually transforming into a dense black mushroom—a truly magnificent sight.
In the distant lands of the Six Nations, the viewer's eyes could see nothing but a vast expanse of white. The intense light temporarily blinded most people, and even those with superpowers had to close their eyes. No one could remain calm in the face of this devastating aura. Everyone felt insignificant, as if they had become grains of sand about to be swept away by the wind, unable to Dominion their own destiny, and their bodies trembled uncontrollably.
Even further away, at the edge of the horizon, a spear-like beam of fire pierced through the thick cloud mountain that had been looming over the headquarters of the Germinal for years, turning the clouds into hollow rings and dispersing the sea of clouds.
Immediately afterwards, the flames expanded a second time, and a yellow circular shockwave mixed with countless dust particles burst forth. Wherever it passed, the ground cracked, and the sky was filled with dust mixed with densely packed building and metal fragments. Countless twisted steel pieces, each several meters in size, seemed lighter than baseballs, like feathers, and were easily thrown several miles away by the explosion, falling to the ground in the wilderness like raindrops.
The shockwave finally swept across the position, its overwhelming force surging forth like the breath of a wind god. Tents spun and flew up like dandelion seeds, heavy vehicles tumbled and rolled like balls, not to mention people; even broken bones were considered minor injuries. The onlookers looked both terrified and excited, hurriedly recording the scene, afraid of missing any footage.
Accompanying the shockwave was a second explosion, the frequency of which was detectable by the human ear and could almost rupture the eardrum.
Rumble rumble--
The sound was like the sky collapsing and the earth splitting apart!
Deafening!
The rear positions gradually stabilized, and troops were quickly dispatched to retreat far away.
All that remained were the ever-rising flames over the wilderness, a scene resembling divine punishment descending, with the churning mushroom clouds like the sinister grin of a demon, constantly shifting and twisting into distorted shapes.
The leader, carrying his unfulfilled ideals and the organization he had created, transformed into a dazzling firework that illuminated the heavens and the earth.
The Germinal typed "GG".
The nuclear explosion that razed the headquarters to the ground became the final echo of the war on Planet Aquamarine.
The top leaders of the Six Nations held an emergency meeting. The main enemy had been defeated, but the aftermath was not optimistic.
"Based on the scale of the explosion, the meteorological bureau has constructed a calculation model. The first batch of radioactive dust will enter the atmospheric circulation within the next three to six hours. Within the next month, the Andia Continent will enter a nuclear winter state, which will last for at least half a year and will be unsuitable for any living organisms. A large number of plants and animals on land will die and become a dead zone. The radiation range will reach the coastal areas of Andia, which may cause the collapse of the marine food chain, and some marine organisms may undergo unknown mutations."
High concentrations of radiation and pollutants enter the ocean cycle and will spread globally via rainfall. This process takes approximately 300 to 500 days. Afterward, global climate will begin to deteriorate. Because of the wide scope, the deterioration will not be as severe as in Andia, but it will still cause serious damage to the atmosphere. This will have a ripple effect, producing comprehensive negative impacts that can last for more than ten years. During this period, it is estimated that global civilization will struggle to progress and may even regress...
The leaders of the Six Nations looked grim. This was not just a matter for one country, but a major event for the whole world and the entire race.
A high-ranking anti-war official slammed his fist on the table and roared, "Look at this! Look at this! What have you done! Our troops have suffered heavy losses, gained nothing after the victory, and ended up like this! We shouldn't have gone on this expedition, we shouldn't have started this war! It would have been so much better to keep the Germinal holed up in Andia. We should have stopped while we were ahead!"
When the expedition was decided, some politicians were anti-war because once war broke out, resources and the power of discourse would be tilted towards the military. Some high-ranking officials were naturally unhappy about this, but the minority had to obey the majority, and their voices were ignored. Now they have a legitimate reason to jump out and righteously offer hindsight advice.
"Things have come to this point, so let's not waste time with nonsense. It's better to end it quickly than to drag it out."
The bitter fruits of war must be borne by the entire world, affecting many innocent people. To eliminate this major threat, such a heavy price has been paid. Many high-ranking officials have asked themselves whether it was truly worthwhile.
The final answer is that it was worth it.
At least in the eyes of the top leadership, a hostile behemoth is more threatening than a so-called global weather disaster. Only by eliminating this looming threat can they feel at ease, no longer living in fear, and thus have the conditions for stable development. Leaders of various countries believe that everyone faces the threat of weather disasters and expends national resources to manage them, so everyone is on the same starting line, which is fair to everyone.
Fortunately, the damage wasn't irreparable; if it's polluted, we can clean it up again. That's life.
"Should we block the news from the public?"
"Too many people know the truth; there's no need for this. Let's release it officially."
"The public will definitely protest and accuse us of causing this outcome."
"It doesn't matter. The war is over. Now we face the aftermath of the disaster. We need to let everyone know that we are all in the same situation. We should put the past behind us, stop dwelling on who was right and who was wrong, and unite as one to overcome this difficulty."
"Should we...?"
High-ranking officials from various countries discussed one proposal after another.
Bennett's face was ashen as he paced back and forth in the room, muttering to himself about things like "too much" and "madman." Han Xiao sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, staring at the blue sky outside the window and shaking his head inwardly.
The leader pressed the final note, causing the headquarters to vanish into nothingness.
Germinal could be considered the first major boss he faced. He was defeated by him, and a major storyline on Planet Aquamarine was destroyed by him. Han Xiao was starting to like this feeling.
No matter how legendary a leader's deeds may be, he is still his enemy. Han Xiao rarely shows mercy to his enemies; once he wins, he wins, and the winner doesn't need to feign regret or remorse.
Exhaling his frustration, Han Xiao perked up, opened the panel, and browsed the messages that started appearing on the screen.
[You have gained Planet Legend Points - [Germinal Burier]!]
[Grade A Main Quest [The Seed Sleeps in the Dust], Completed!]
[Evaluation: Incredible]
[You have received the [Incredible] level quest reward]
[Start calculating rewards...]
[There are many rewards available; statistics are currently being compiled. Please wait patiently...]