The Corpse Lake has been completely boiled.
This is not an exaggeration or a taphor, but an unadulterated fact.
The surface of the Corpse Lake churns with a tar-like fluid composed of decayed flesh, bone, and organ fragnts, interwoven in dark brown and scarlet, sketching sulfur patterns similar to those before a volcanic eruption.
The high temperature continuously carbonizes the fat layer, forming countless fist-sized black floating islands that burst into a rain of ashes upon colliding with the shore rocks during the boiling blood waves. A semi-transparent blood mbrane encases incompletely decomposed eyes and teeth, spiraling upwards like miniature planets under a blue light pulse, finally exploding into phosgene-like particles on the surface.
At this mont, Yun You is still three hundred ters away from the lake shore, yet her irises contract to needlepoints due to the intense light.
She witnesses a well-preserved corpse rise from the whirlpool bottom, its skin dehydrated and tightened to the bones by the high temperature, with its chest cavity rhythmically expanding like a bellows. Every expansion spews a blood mist mixed with organ fragnts from the throat, resembling so sort of reverse-breathing deford life form.
The sweet, fishy sll of decayed protein combined with the pungent scent of hydrogen sulfide forms a gaseous band, with a visible yellow mist floating within three ters above the ground, a compound generated by the evaporation of marrow oil, practically a massive biochemical weapon...
Yun You's throat spasms slightly, an instinctive urge to vomit urging her to leave quickly.
Yet she does not choose to retreat, instead staring fixedly at the tallic sphere above Stone Lake—a small thermonuclear device marked with a nuclear symbol on its surface.
This is the culprit behind the boiling of the Corpse Lake.
The tallic sphere is about 30 centiters in diater, its originally smooth silver-gray surface now covered in vein-like grooves for unknown reasons. Due to excessive radiation, Yun You can almost ascertain that its internal material is a composite of a plutonium-239 core wrapped in uranium-238.
Six spiral copper tubes extend from the top of the sphere, their ends connected to a retractable neutron ignitor, resembling chanical tendrils plunging into the boiling sea of blood.
This is a relatively common nuclear device in Nest City, with a simple structure. Although materials are strictly prohibited by the council from private procurent, if one is truly willing to pay a large price and shell out far more than the material cost in smuggling fees, there will always be so reckless individuals willing to create this nuclear device.
However, unlike normal thermonuclear devices, the tallic sphere before Yun You also has a small blood-red crystal floating on its surface.
It glows brilliantly, controlling the vein grooves, releasing a high-frequency pulse every two seconds, forming a plasma vortex about ten ters in diater at the bottom of the sphere, igniting the corpses through a superconducting magnetic field, decomposing and absorbing the energy it needs into itself.
"Wow—!"
When the required energy reaches a certain critical point, the vein-like grooves on the tallic sphere's surface suddenly turn white, with the emitted light bands penetrating the blood mist, dyeing the clouds within a kiloter radius a necrotic tissue-like gray-blue.
Even Yun You, within the drone's protective layer, noticeably feels the icy pain of high-energy particles penetrating her body.
"This is so sort of energy amplifier! It's increasing the nuclear bomb's power!"
Almost in an instant, Yun You, under the Information Reconnaissance Chip's prompt, understood the relationship between the tallic sphere and the Blood Crystal.
The TNT equivalent of a nuclear bomb is largely related to its size; the larger it is, the more nuclear fuel it usually contains internally.
And the tallic sphere is only the size of a ball, even with fuel compression technology, its equivalent would not exceed ten thousand tons of TNT.
Yet judging from the radiation amount, the power of this thing when fully detonated may have already exceeded forty thousand tons.
The only possibility for the power to inexplicably increase by four tis is that it received amplification.
Moreover, from the energy absorption speed of the Blood Crystal, it seems it has not yet been fully satisfied.
To what extent will it ultimately amplify the nuclear bomb? Fifty thousand tons? Sixty thousand tons? Or... one hundred thousand tons?
Yun You instinctively swallowed, opening the communicator.
"Yuanbao, calculate if this nuclear bomb can ultimately explode with a power equivalent to one hundred thousand tons of TNT, then how many survivors would there be in the camp..."
"..."
Hearing the number "one hundred thousand," Yuanbao was stunned.
After a while, she gave her answer in a trembling voice.
"No survivors."
"Aside from you, probably no one would make it."
"Uh... no, to be accurate, even if you defend with all your might, hiding in the urban underground nuclear defense works, there's a high probability you would be seriously injured and die from excessive radiation afterward."
"As for ... from my position, I likely can't escape either."
"A hundred thousand-ton equivalent can turn half the urban area upside down..."
Yuanbao's statent might be slightly exaggerated.
Modern architecture, when faced with nuclear weapons, still has quite decent defensive capabilities, with towering reinforced concrete significantly reducing the lethality of high temperatures and shock waves.
But the problem is, the skyscrapers in the urban area are not particularly dense, and the overall area is not particularly large either.
Even if people wanted to escape, there aren't many places to go.
"No survivors..."
"Alright then, alright!"
Yun You bit her lip lightly, seemingly having made so kind of determination.
She let go of the drone rotor she was holding, landing heavily on the lakeshore.
The mont she left the energy shield, Yun You only felt a torrent of blood energy rushing towards her, mixed with the killing intent hidden in the stench, as if she were in a slaughter battlefield, with enemies all around, relentless and unforgiving.
[Current radiation levels have exceeded 7000 roentgens, please wear appropriate protective equipnt to protect yourself from radiation exposure]
The Information Reconnaissance Chip provided a tily reminder.
Yet Yun You twitched her lips.
With such an exaggerated level of radiation, what protective gear would be effective?
Even Mokaka's drones, pre-coated with graphite layers, couldn't last more than a few seconds; relying on protective clothing to block radiation is a fool's dream.
The only way for Yun You is a quick resolution strategy.
"This ti I'll have to trouble you, Master Zero!"
The girl took a deep breath, slowly raising her right hand.
[Understood]
Master Zero did not say much more, just quivering slightly, imdiately activating Red Scale to summon the fearso and ferocious Dragon Gun cannon.
Although Yun You had used the Dragon Gun earlier in the day and should allow it to rest, otherwise continuous usage might exhaust Yun You's body.
But now, both man and beast evidently could not bother with all that.
If she couldn't even ensure her own life and the mission's objective, then taking care and protecting her body would be aningless regardless.
This ti, Yun You is willing to risk everything!
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