The third city was on the verge of falling.
Inside the Black Palace, the high command was in utter chaos! If they could not find a way to counter these monsters, the capital of Arlin and the Black Palace itself would be overrun in half a day at most. Wouldn't all of them, the leaders of the nation, die as well?
"I will not allow it!" Orland, the Master of the Black Palace, desperately fought the urge to use the restroom, his face set with grim determination. He decisively signed the nuclear strike order.
Upon hearing the command, his subordinates expressed their worries. "Although nuclear bombs are powerful, they are a purely physical attack. Without soone like Long Tianji to dissipate the spatial barrier around those monsters, I'm afraid the nukes won't be effective…"
"Hmph! If one nuke isn't effective, then we'll use two, three, ten!" Orland retorted. "I refuse to believe that monster can use its spatial power indefinitely! As long as we force it to overexert itself and pause to recover, that will be our chance to blow it to smithereens!"
"Huh? That logic… It's not impossible!"
"Exactly! As long as we drain its stamina for that ability, we can eliminate it!"
"But with their incredible speed, rivaling that of an airplane, they'll have reached the city by the ti the nukes catch up. A nuclear detonation then would inevitably engulf all of the city's residents…"
"We can't worry about that now! Even if these residents aren't killed by our nukes, they'll be slaughtered by the monsters. It's death either way, so what's the difference?"
"Sigh… History will surely rember their sacrifice…"
And so, just as the dozens of Underworld monsters set foot in the third city and were about to charge into a populated area to begin their bloodbath, their leader suddenly sensed sothing. It looked toward the sky and imdiately spotted a massive nuclear warhead.
From its shape alone, it could not distinguish a nuke from an ordinary missile, but its instincts scread at it. Danger! Danger! Danger!
"Everyone, gather around ! Now!" it commanded, its gaze turning icy.
The other Underworld monsters complied, though they did not take it seriously. It was obvious their perception of danger was not as keen as their leader's. They assud it was just an ordinary bomb.
Then, an interwoven expansion of fire and light turned the world into a blinding white expanse. Nothing could be seen, nothing could be heard. The extre temperatures lted everything. A massive mushroom cloud billowed over the entire city, and the powerful shockwave radiated outward, obliterating everything in its path. People on the city's outskirts were either flung into the air along with their cars to be torn apart, or they were simply vaporized on the spot. Farther out, people collapsed, bleeding from all seven orifices as they fell into a daze. Even farther away, people fell to the ground as if struck by a heavy blow, their minds buzzing and their bodies limp. Those at the greatest distance turned to witness the horrifying, clear image of the mushroom cloud's rampage.
"..."
Stunned, they montarily forgot to flee, tears streaming down their faces unconsciously. They were now thoroughly contaminated by radiation. Before they could snap out of their shock and sorrow, the second nuclear bomb detonated.
Their scalps tingled and their limbs went cold. There were no words to describe the feeling.
Within the city, every last human, no matter how deep they had hidden, fell silent. The dozens of Underworld monsters huddled in cracks in the shattered ground, clutching their heads. Their expressions were grim. The leader, in particular, had already discerned the humans' plan—a war of attrition to wear it down to death!
"You won't succeed!" It panicked. It truly panicked! Tearing open spatial rifts to block physical attacks consud a great deal of its energy; it could not be maintained for long. If its spatial barrier was interrupted, it would surely die!
"Follow ! We're breaking through!" it commanded as the blast wave from the second nuke began to subside, and it dashed off in one direction.
Its kin looked on, confused.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
The monsters followed, scattering like stray dogs. A few that were too slow fell behind by more than a hundred ters. Then, the third nuclear bomb arrived. With a single blast, it swallowed them whole. They were vaporized into nothingness without so much as a grunt.
"Damn it!" Anxiety consud the leader. Gone was its initial calm and composure. It fled even faster, so fast that more of its kind could not keep up.
"My lord, slow down! Wait for us!"
"Help—"
"NO!"
Any monster that fell too far behind died. The remaining ones, their faces contorted in terror, used every ounce of their strength to cling to their leader.
But the leader had no ti to wait. It only wanted to escape, to get out of the nuclear blast radius and find a safe area to catch its breath. Its power over space was already running on fus.
Just give a mont… a little ti to recover is all I need! AAARGH! How can I die in such a frustrating way, by such primitive ans! I…
BOOM!
The fourth, the fifth… A total of ten nuclear bombs erupted in relentless succession. The leader's eyes looked as if they would burst from their sockets as it swung a futile fist toward the sky. Its body stiffened, then disintegrated into sand.
It was dead. It finally could not hold on any longer.
Before its final mont, all of its kin had already been wiped out.
"Yes!"
"They're finally wiped out!"
"Hahaha! I told you it wasn't impossible! They couldn't be invincible forever!"
"There's a saying that holds true: all fear stems from a lack of firepower! As long as we have enough nukes, any monster can be eliminated!"
Jubilation erupted throughout the Black Palace, and the good news was shared with other cities across the nation. Many people cheered, conveniently forgetting their compatriots who had perished in the four cities and the surrounding areas. A few spoke up for the victims, but their voices were drowned out by the jubilant cheers of the majority.
Soon, the world learned that Arlin had used ten nuclear bombs in a single engagent to annihilate the Underworld monsters, achieving victory in the second great war. Many nations issued congratulatory statents, praising Arlin for its decisive action and sharp tactics. It was a fine display of blatant flattery.
"Hold on a minute. Just a few hours ago, weren't so countries led by Arlin condemning us in Central Earth for violating treaties and using a nuclear bomb? Now they've done it too, and no one says a thing? What a damned double standard!"
"Exactly! Central Earth only used one nuke! And it didn't even hit any humans, only the Underworld monsters. Arlin is different. An entire city of their own people died from their own nuke!"
"Condemn them! We must condemn them! Arlin has lost all humanity, killing so many of their own people! The ones responsible must face the death penalty!"
After this realization dawned on them, netizens from Central Earth once again took to the international web, flooding it with protests.
Supre Jiangshan, his expression calm, made a phone call to the diplomatic corps. Soon after, they issued a public statent expressing deep condolences for the casualties in Arlin and protesting the cruel thods of the Arlin authorities. They called upon the nations of the world to unite and demand an explanation from Arlin. Punishnt was necessary.
"This…" The other nations were speechless, unsure what to say. They dared not offend Arlin, but having just condemned Central Earth, it would be utterly shaless to sing a different tune now.
After a mont of silence, Arlin's number one lapdog, the Cherry Blossom Country, suddenly spoke up, its words vehent. "Central Earth, you are too inhumane! Arlin is in a state of dire crisis. The cause of all these deaths is the invasion of the monsters from the underground! Without the invasion, there would be no nuclear explosion. Ultimately, it is all the monsters' fault! Central Earth is shafully taking advantage of the poor victims to attack the Arlin authorities!"
At these words, countless people in Central Earth laughed in anger and disbelief. They had seen shalessness before, but nothing like this. If the Underworld invasion chose the Cherry Blossom Country as its next battlefield, they would deserve it if their entire nation was dood.
The netizens of the Cherry Blossom Country saw the comnts from Central Earth and were furious. They proudly declared that their daddy, Arlin, would not abandon them. With Arlin's protection, the Cherry Blossom Country would surely be victorious!
Seeing this, Central Earth's netizens couldn't help but sneer. "Arlin's 'protection' is to drop a few dozen nukes on you, is that it? Sure, that would wipe out the Underworld monsters. It would also blow all of you to kingdom co. So victory that would be!"
The netizens of the Cherry Blossom Country fell silent.
Oh, right! Our entire country is only about the size of a single state in Arlin. How could it possibly withstand the "favor" of nuclear bombs? If Underworld monsters really did descend upon the Cherry Blossom Country, even if they were obliterated by nukes, wouldn't our country be completely annihilated in the process?
No! Absolutely not! We must find another way…
Just as the Cherry Blossom Country fell into a worried, dumbstruck silence, the massive spatial passage and Transmission Array near the first city in Arlin destroyed by the monsters still remained. After gestating for a short ti, figures of Underworld monsters began to appear on the Transmission Array once more. This ti, their numbers were even greater than the previous wave. And in their midst stood a terrifying being over ten ters tall…
In Arlin, the news was t with sheer horror.
Nukes! Send more nukes, quickly! Who could care about international repercussions or Central Earth's condemnation at a ti like this?
Just as the high command in the Black Palace thought their nuclear strategy would succeed again, sothing unexpected happened. The leader-class monster, over ten ters tall, flickered. In an instant, it teleported high above the clouds. With a sinister laugh, it extended a claw toward the descending warhead. "You humans have interesting weapons. Therefore, they are mine now! Be mine!"
WHOOSH!
An invisible force froze the massive nuke in mid-air. The next mont, it vanished without a trace. The remote connection to the warhead was severed.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
The operator mashed the detonation button repeatedly, but there was no response. Cold sweat instantly soaked his back. When the Master of the Black Palace learned of this, he could hold it in no longer. "Get to the bathroom! Imdiately!"
The mont he sat on the toilet, he defiantly ordered the launch of more nukes. "This ti, don't wait for them to get close! Detonate them as soon as they're in range and blow them to hell!"
"Yes, sir!" The technicians imdiately made the adjustnts.
Subsequently, the leader-class monster teleported several tis in quick succession, once again appearing above the nukes before they could reach their target. With a single gesture, the warheads vanished.
Just after coming out of the bathroom, while his attendants were massaging his aching legs, the Master of the Black Palace was left completely numb. All the higher-ups were numb. The whole of Arlin was numb.
"Our invincible nuclear bombs… were so easily neutralized? How did it make them just disappear?"
"At this rate, launching hundreds or thousands of nukes is completely pointless!"
"If even nuclear bombs are useless, what can we possibly do to fight these monsters?"
"It's over… We're completely finished!"
As the entire nation of Arlin plunged into despair, the other countries, including Central Earth, were also stunned to learn that the nuclear option had been defeated. Was all of humanity dood?
「At the sa ti, in a mysterious space.」
Lin Tang's Dharmakaya, which had been unconscious, suddenly opened its eyes. Tiny flas flickered within them.
"...Where am I?"
"You are still in the mortal realm for now. But if you don't behave, I will send you to the true Underworld in the next mont."
"Huh?!"
Lin Tang spun around to see five fingers like colossal pillars, their tips disappearing into a gray, hazy mist. He looked down and realized he was standing on a line in a gigantic palm.
GULP—
Lin Tang swallowed nervously. He slowly looked up to see a super, super colossal body of imasurable height, and a face many tis larger than the one the Mystic Maiden had once revealed.
"Hey, buddy, who are you? You talk a big ga, you know that?" Lin Tang asked, his mouth twitching.
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