Chapter 59: The End of the Cheers
The thunderous echo of explosions rippled outward, spreading far. Despite earplugs, the persistent buzzing lingered in my ears.
The earlier blasts showed Chu Sheng City’s resolve in this operation. Despite rushed preparations, poor roads, and monster threats, they broke through, delivering maximum firepower.
Even Han Nianling hadn’t expected the command to commit such resources. Alongside dozens of explosive rounds, an unexpected S1 missile had fallen!
Having witnessed its power, Han Nianling was deeply impressed, especially by its cost, proportional to its lethality.
Though highly classified, she knew Chu Sheng City had paid dearly to acquire a few weakened versions from Northwind Heavy Industries, each fitted with anti-reverse-engineering self-destruct devices. These devices stalled the Research Department’s reverse-engineering plans.
Northwind’s strict controls on this pre-war-inspired long-range weapon were rigorous. Han Nianling knew Chu Sheng City only secured the S1 missiles through a major Research Institute collaboration and substantial trade orders.
Thus, Chu Sheng City used S1 missiles sparingly, only twice before against massive monster clusters. The third use was just witnessed by her and the team.
Northwind’s restrictions were strict, but the S1’s displayed power justified their caution.
Black-and-white smoke and fire swelled from the missile’s impact, the deafening blast resounding through JD Ruined City. The mushroom cloud surged hundreds of meters in a blink, covering nearly a kilometer.
Scorching heat and shockwaves spread, the fierce hot wind felt even at the crater’s edge.
No one ducked behind cover. Everyone watched the mushroom cloud’s evolution, witnessing the crater’s events with their own eyes.
It… hit!
As the explosion’s sound faded, the team’s emotions snapped back from shock, their cheers erupting. The tension since entering JD Ruined City seemed released with the blast.
No one stopped them—they had every reason to vent. In that moment, Chu Sheng City’s massive operation concluded triumphantly.
Compared to past large-scale operations, this was the most remarkable.
Despite rushed preparations and poor coordination, they exceeded paper expectations: they not only killed the Witch but over a dozen high-threat monsters.
Especially that bizarre digger variant. If command confirmed its elimination, its significance surpassed the Witch’s.
Though already wounded by the Witch, the S1 missile sealed the victory. This was Chu Sheng City’s great triumph, destined for its annals.
Hand on the railing, Han Nianling stared wide-eyed at the dissipating cloud. It wasn’t her first S1 explosion, but it was her closest, far different from a screened broadcast.
“Is this it?”
Scouting the best vantage point, reporting the Witch’s coordinates, guiding the bombardment… Compared to their arduous journey through the crater zone, killing the Witch seemed… too easy?
No one doubted the Witch or monsters survived such a strike, including her, but the lingering doubt wasn’t dispelled by the explosion.
Through her binoculars, only swirling dust and smoke were visible, the inability to confirm the reality fueling her unease.
“Researcher Han?”
Her discordant demeanor caught Luo Shi’s attention: “What are you looking at?”
“I… I’m checking the target’s vital signs.”
Han Nianling paused, offering a seemingly reasonable excuse.
“But that explosion likely vaporized the Witch and monsters’ remains,” Luo Shi cautioned.
His words eased her doubts. Lowering her binoculars, she pressed her temples through her suit’s rubber. He was right—the heat and shockwaves would have obliterated any organic matter.
Confirming with her eyes was naive. Irregular hours and prolonged stress had made her nerves overly sensitive.
Shifting her focus from the Witch, her gaze lingered on the dust, now targeting the weapon at the crater’s center.
What drew so many monsters here to fight to the death?
In this wasteland, only one thing drove monsters—or their parasitic Crystal Cores: evolution, an instinctual push to reach a higher biological state.
Combining this with the detector’s high-intensity dark energy field readings, she hypothesized the presence of a high-grade Ether Material.
“Notify command to send personnel to the crater zone, contact the Research Institute for firsthand data collection, and then…” Her gaze dropped, as if piercing the ground to the depths below.
“Researcher Han?” Her prolonged silence made Luo Shi sense she’d realized something. Used to death as a Security Team member, he was clumsy at consoling, but before he could speak, she acted.
“Then, I need a good rest… Sleep deprivation is bad for health, and I don’t want to miss studying that mist due to exhaustion.”
She sighed, briefly reflecting on many things, then shrugged with a light tone, stepping past regret with research zeal. The past was gone—perhaps she was just a fleeting visitor.
Luo Shi relaxed slightly, knowing she needed time and space. Her self-adjustment was likely stronger than his.
As he turned to stop the cheering crowd, a sight choked his words.
In an instant, a teammate leaning on the railing slid down, feet dragging trails in the dust. A round object rolled meters before stopping.
The next second, dark red blood gushed from the severed neck, staining everything with a bloody stench…
“You… seem quite happy…”
A childish, calm voice froze everything with terrifying chill—limbs, blood, thoughts, even the air, making each breath laborious.
All turned stiffly toward the voice. A nightmarish figure stood steadily on the rusted, narrow railing.
Her tattered trench coat was half-burned, as was her black shirt, exposing charred skin. Her pants were comically uneven, one leg long, one short.
She was battered, disheveled… but alive, surviving the S1 missile, still carrying her black scythe.
Overwhelming despair crushed all perception, rendering resistance futile.