The cold countdown, like the footstep of Death, echoed relentlessly within the core chamber.
"Five, four..."
The shrill alarm bathed everyone's faces in red light, terrifying as those of demons in hell.
The shadow guard whom A Huo had just slammed into the reactor struggled to rise. Half of his biological armor had peeled off, revealing writhing flesh and metal scaffolds underneath.
The other shadow guard had re-acquired his target. Ignoring the impending destruction, he lunged at A Huo once more like a bolt of black lightning.
Mission above life was the only instruction etched into their very genes.
"Brother Wan Chao!" A Huo carried the unconscious Hao Zi in his arms and roared into the communicator, "The bomb won't detonate!"
"I know."
The voice of Jin Wanchao came through the bone conduction headset, calm to the point of heart-stopping. The immense mental strain made him feel as if he was submerged in ice water, yet his consciousness, through the resonance framework, was tightly intertwined with the energy flow of the entire energy center.
He could "see" the reactor core spiraling out of control, its vast power about to tear everything apart. He could also see that the high-explosive charge installed by Hao Zi had its fuse suppressed by a powerful energy field, making it impossible to activate.
"Listen, A Huo." Jin Wanchao's voice became rapid yet clear, "This isn't just a self-destruct sequence; it will trigger a energy detonation. You can't escape. But it's also our opportunity."
"Three..."
"What opportunity?" The only remaining team member fired back to hold off the shadow guards and shouted despairingly.
"Use its energy to detonate our explosive," Jin Wanchao's command cut through all the noise, "Three meters below the reactor core, at the third valve of the emergency cooling pipe. Throw the explosive there, and use your flame to overload and detonate it!"
This instruction was utterly insane.
Next to an exploding core, to manually detonate another bomb?
"Two..."
A Huo did not hesitate for a moment.
He tossed Hao Zi, who was on his shoulder, to the surviving team member and ordered, "Take him and run as far as you can!"
After saying that, A Huo paid no heed to the shadow guard lunging at him from behind. He grabbed the last spare explosive from Hao Zi's gear bag, turned around, and slammed himself into the massive black obelisk in a reckless act.
The shadow guard's blade pierced his back once again, deep.
A Huo let out a muffled grunt but paid no mind. Riding on the force of the impact, he slid all the way to the base of the reactor.
He found it.
The third valve marked with the skull symbol.
"One..."
The countdown ended.
The entire world seemed to stand still for a second.
Then, an overwhelming, indescribable pure burst of energy erupted from the reactor core.
It was not an explosion, but the decomposition of matter.
Air, metal, walls—everything began to twist and vaporize in that white light.
The shadow guard, who was about to deliver a fatal blow, was the first to succumb to the energy. With a shrill roar, he turned to ash.
A Huo's eyes streamed tears of blood from the intense glare, and his skin cracked all over his body.
But he smiled.
He pressed the explosive in his hand hard against the valve, channeling his last bit of "flame" within him. Following Jin Wanchao's guidance, he stabbed it like a red-hot steel needle!
"Boom!!!"
If the reactor's detonation was a sun, then this overloaded explosive was the spark that ignited the sun.
The two destructive forces collided, triggering an even more terrifying chain reaction.
The floor of the core chamber vanished instantly, and A Huo felt as if he had fallen into an abyss of light, losing consciousness completely.
...
In the Parliament District, the divine kingdom built above the clouds, witnessed its dusk at this moment.
An unbearable blue light pillar, mixed with a devastating shockwave, shot straight up from the energy center, tearing through the night sky.
Immediately after came a巨响 that shattered the soul.
The entire city shook violently.
Inside the command center of the airship, the glass in Valerius's hand shattered due to the violent tremor, and the scarlet wine spilled out, spreading like blood.
The elegance and composure on his face vanished for the first time, and he rushed to the window.
He saw a sight he would never forget.
Centered on the energy center, the lights representing civilization and power were rapidly extinguishing at an irresistible speed.
One by one.
Like a starry sky erased by an invisible giant hand.
The glory of the Parliament District was completely engulfed by the thick, inescapable darkness in just a few seconds.
The upper district had lost power.
...
Lower District.
Seventh Street. A rebellious worker was pinned to the ground by Black Iron Guard soldiers, with a cold gun pressed to the back of his head.
He had closed his eyes, waiting for death.
Suddenly, the soldier froze.
The steam armor covering the soldier let out a sorrowful sigh of air escaping, and all indicator lights went out at once.
The worker waited for a long time and didn't hear the shot. He opened his eyes in confusion and saw only silence.
All Black Iron Guard soldiers suppressing the people, all mechanical patrols, all buzzing surveillance cameras... turned into cold steel lumps at the same time.
They had lost their energy supply from the upper district.
The silence lasted only three seconds.
Three seconds later, someone noticed the anomaly in the distance.
"Look! Up in the sky!"
Everyone looked up.
The high-reigning, ever-lit "god kingdom" had now fallen into deadly silence.
This sight delivered a visual impact more shocking than any words or images.
A single thought madly sprouted in everyone's mind.
They had succeeded.
Jin Wanchao and his Fire Worship Cult had truly torn apart the heavens!
After a moment of stunned silence, someone was the first to raise a fist and let out a hoarse shout.
"We won!"
This shout was like a spark starting a prairie fire.
"We won!!"
"The upper district is dark! Hahahaha!"
"Long live Jin Wanchao! Long live the Fire Worship Cult!"
Cheers erupted from every corner of the lower district, surging like a mountain wave and tsunami, piercing the sky and shaking the very foundations of the city.
People threw down their crude weapons, embraced each other, and cried and laughed.
The century-old despair was transformed into the purest, most passionate joy in this moment.
Inside the Geothermal Main Station, Ban Shou and Lao Zhong stared blankly at the area completely extinguished on the screen. Listening to the deafening cheers from outside, their minds went blank.
They had really done it.
That seemingly crazy plan had actually succeeded.
"Hurry! Jin Wanchao!" Ban Shou was the first to react and rushed to the resonance framework.
Jin Wanchao's body, as if all bones had been removed, slid softly off the framework. His face was as pale as paper, and faint streaks of blood oozed from his seven orifices, having already fallen into a deep coma.
...
At the top of the dark Parliament Building.
The backup power source activated, and a few dim emergency lights barely illuminated Valerius's office.
He stood by the huge floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the city he had personally built, now plunged into darkness.
There was no anger, no panic, not even the slightest surprise on his face.
He just watched quietly, as if appreciating an exquisite work of art.
After a long time, a cold, cruel, joyful smile slowly curved his lips.
"Interesting... truly interesting."
He turned to the empty darkness and said in a low voice.
"Finally... you've forced me to this step."