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Only after the entire air force base had been completely reduced to rubble did Rosh finally cease his attack.
He hovered high above the ruins, suspended in the sky like a peerless demon god. His presence alone was overwhelming, majestic, terrifying, and utterly oppressive. Just existing there, he felt like an incarnation of calamity itself.
Deep within the wreckage, tucked away in some forgotten corner of the shattered base, a small handful of survivors remained alive. Each of them pressed a trembling hand over their mouth, afraid even their breathing might give them away. Their bodies shook uncontrollably, faces pale and drained of all color.
Through tiny cracks in the debris shielding them, they stared up at the figure in the sky with pure, instinctive terror. That supreme, demonic silhouette burned itself into their minds. None of them dared to move. None of them dared to make a sound.
They feared that the slightest noise, one misplaced breath, would draw his attention.
What they didn't know was that, under Rosh's Observation Haki, there was no such thing as hiding.
Every heartbeat. Every tremor. Every flicker of fear.
He had already seen it all.
"Report everything you witnessed," Rosh's calm, emotionless voice drifted down from above in the next instant, echoing across the ruins.
"Truthfully. In full detail."
A brief pause followed.
"That is the only reason you're still alive."
The survivors shuddered violently, fear clawing at their spines.
They had truly believed they'd escaped notice. Thought they'd survived by luck alone. Only now did the horrifying truth sink in...
They hadn't been overlooked; they had been spared.
*Whoosh.*
As soon as the words left him, Rosh's body dissolved into a streak of brilliant golden light and vanished into the sky, disappearing without a trace.
Only then did the survivors finally dare to relax.
Their rigid bodies slackened as they collapsed against the rubble, one by one letting out long, shaky breaths they hadn't realized they'd been holding. They exchanged silent glances, each seeing the same disbelief, shock, and lingering terror reflected in the others' eyes.
A gust of wind swept through the ruins.
That was when they noticed it; their clothes were completely soaked through with cold sweat, clinging uncomfortably to their skin. After several moments spent forcing themselves to calm down, the survivors cautiously crawled out from their hiding places.
What greeted them was utter devastation.
The entire base was gone.
Scorched earth stretched as far as the eye could see. Massive craters pockmarked the ground. Twisted wreckage lay scattered everywhere, destroyed fighter jets, shattered tanks, crushed armored vehicles. Among the debris were countless mangled corpses, frozen in their final moments.
The scene looked less like a battlefield and more like the end of the world.
Aside from the few of them who had survived by sheer chance or mercy, there wasn't a single living soul left.
"It's… over…"
"The whole base… It's gone."
The words came out hollow, lifeless, as if spoken by people whose souls had yet to catch up with reality. None of them could truly accept what had happened.
Just five minutes ago, they'd been patrolling the base like any ordinary day. Five minutes later, the entire facility had been erased from existence. If they hadn't witnessed it with their own eyes, they would have sworn it was impossible.
And when the horrifying truth fully settled in, that this hellish landscape had been created by a single man...
Their bodies began to tremble all over again.
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The annihilation of the Ninth Air Force hit the United States like a nuclear bomb.
The military, the Department of Homeland Security, Congress, the FBI, the CIA, and every intelligence and security agency imaginable received the news almost simultaneously. The shockwave spread through the entire system in mere moments.
At first, nearly no one believed it.
Most dismissed the reports outright, labeling them as misinformation or some kind of grotesque rumor. After all, this wasn't a time of war. An entire air force base being erased overnight?
It sounded less like intelligence and more like a bad joke.
Yet reality was relentless.
Within a very short span of time, through independent channels, satellite data, emergency signals, and firsthand confirmations, the truth emerged clear, undeniable, and horrifying.
This wasn't a rumor.
It had really happened.
In an instant, the entire nation seemed to lose its voice, as though a bolt of thunder had split the sky clean in two.
And once the truth was confirmed, there was no room left for disbelief.
The colossal machinery of the United States government roared to life.
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The Pentagon. Department of Defense.
Senior officials from the military, Homeland Security, and multiple intelligence agencies converged on the central conference room for an emergency session. The atmosphere was tense, heavy enough to suffocate.
Even the President was in attendance.
That fact alone made it unmistakably clear just how catastrophic the situation truly was.
"Alright, everyone's here," the Secretary of Defense said after checking the time, then clearing his throat. His voice was steady, but the gravity behind it was unmistakable.
"Four hours ago, the Ninth Air Force base was completely destroyed. I trust everyone present has already been informed."
A low wave of murmurs rippled through the room.
Every individual seated at the table held immense power and influence. Each of them had learned of the incident through their own networks, but even so, keeping their composure was no easy task.
The situation was simply too unbelievable.
"Jason," the Secretary of Defense said, turning toward his secretary.
Jason immediately stood, opened his laptop, and tapped a few keys.
The massive screen at the front of the room lit up.
Images and video footage, captured by satellites, surveillance systems, and sheer coincidence, played one after another. What they revealed left no room for doubt.
The Ninth Air Force base was gone.
Not damaged. Not crippled.
Erased.
Craters scarred the land. Entire sections were reduced to ash and twisted metal. The devastation was so complete that it was difficult to tell where buildings had once stood.
"Jesus Christ…"
"This is… horrific…"
Soft gasps and heavy sighs echoed throughout the room. Several officials turned their heads away, unable to continue watching.
"Based on our preliminary findings," Jason said as he clicked the remote once more, "the individual responsible is this man."
A young face appeared on the massive screen.
In an instant, every gaze in the conference room snapped toward it.
For several long seconds, no one spoke.
The silence was filled with nothing but stunned disbelief.
It was almost impossible to believe what they were seeing. The person on the screen looked like an ordinary college student, young, unassuming, the kind of face one might pass on campus without a second glance.
And yet…
This was the man who had done that.
"His name is Rosh," Jason continued, his tone steady despite the weight of the information. "Chinese-American. Twenty-one years old. Classified as a suspected mutant. He possesses the ability to manipulate light."
He paused briefly before delivering the final blow.
"He destroyed the entire Ninth Air Force base in approximately five minutes."
As his words settled over the room, another video began to play.
On the screen, Rosh hovered high above the base, suspended in the air like a god descending upon the mortal world. Brilliant beams of light erupted from his body, raining down in an unending barrage.
The scene was apocalyptic.
What had once been a heavily fortified military installation collapsed almost instantly under the assault, crumbling like a house of cards. Fighter jets were torn apart midair. Tanks and armored vehicles, symbols of America's military dominance, were rendered completely useless, obliterated with casual, almost effortless precision.
And then came the part that chilled everyone to the bone.
The base had fought back.
Missiles streaked through the sky. Warheads detonated directly against Rosh's body, striking him again and again...
And it did absolutely nothing.
The explosions passed straight through him, as if his body weren't even real. Like light itself, intangible and untouchable.
The conference room plunged into deathly silence.
The faces of America's most powerful officials drained of color. Sweat beaded on foreheads. Several people swallowed hard, their throats suddenly dry.
They stared at the young man on the screen in wordless horror.
Completely immune to modern weaponry. Capable of annihilating an entire air force base on his own.
A man like that…
Was nothing less than a living nightmare.
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Next Chapter: One Man Holds an Entire Nation in Check
Next Next Chapter: Tony Stark Realizes How Dangerous Rosh Is
Next Next Next Chapter: Tony Stark Strikes Back
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