r18novel Chapter 43: The Battle for Humanity's Survival
Chapter 43: The Battle for Humanity's Survival
Inside the circular conference room of the Ares Palace.
The atmosphere was unusually heavy.
Hong's black combat suit projection sat in the main seat. The holographic projections of the highest leaders of the five great nations, the Third Speaker, the Ice Emperor Mohanderson, the Fourth Speaker, East, and all the powerful councilors from around the world who had surpassed the level of War Gods, gathered here. On each of their faces was an undisguised look of shock and solemnity.
There was no sound in the meeting room.
Only on the huge virtual screen in the center, the live broadcast from the New Dome of Light system was silently playing out a terrifying scene.
A virtual Earth model is being rapidly engulfed by a blood-red expanse that is expanding wildly from the center of the Pacific Ocean.
The crimson color was formed by countless red dots of light, each dot representing a monster surging forth from the depths of the ocean.
Endless.
They converged into a terrifying torrent, and the system marked their trajectories as red arrows, pointing in the directions of coastal war bases on all continental plates.
In one corner of the screen, a bright red countdown, translated into various languages by Babata, is rapidly ticking.
That was the estimated arrival time calculated by the system based on the average movement speed of the beast tide vanguard.
"Everyone, you've all seen it, haven't you?"
Hong Bing's cold voice broke the deathly silence.
"This is a global beast tide led by the Golden Horned Beast. Its scale has surpassed the level of a catastrophe and reached the level of extinction."
He pointed to the area that had almost turned the entire Pacific Ocean red.
"According to the latest calculations from the Dome of Light, at most... forty-eight minutes later, the vanguard of the beast tide will simultaneously attack all of our coastal defenses."
Hong gave no one present time to digest or discuss the information. His voice suddenly rose, and he issued a series of wartime orders.
"Time is of the essence; there is no extra time for discussion."
"First, all coastal war bases must immediately activate the highest level of defense plan! Connect all backup power sources and do everything in our power to kill the monsters."
"Second, all members of parliament worldwide, immediately proceed to your designated war zones! You have only one mission—decapitation! At all costs, slaughter every high-level monster in the beast tide! I want your corpses piled up like mountains!"
"third!"
Hong paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.
"I authorize the commanders-in-chief of each theater of operations to use nuclear weapons for a saturation attack in the event of a critical moment when the defenses are about to collapse! No further reporting is required, and the Earth Wartime Committee will bear all the consequences!"
Inside the meeting room, a collective gasp filled the air.
One of the leaders trembled, his lips quivering as if he wanted to say something, but fell silent when he met Hong's gaze.
They all understood what using nuclear weapons meant: humanity would bombard its own land with weapons it had created, and countless warriors would perish alongside the monsters.
After speaking, Hong looked around at everyone.
"This is a battle for the survival of our civilization; there is no turning back. Let us fight!"
Upon receiving the command, dozens of projections of congressmen representing the highest level of combat power on Earth vanished in the conference room, turning into streaks of light.
Without the slightest hesitation, they immediately rushed to war bases around the world.
The war has begun.
The meeting ended, and the virtual space collapsed.
Inside the quiet room of the Extreme Martial Arts Academy's global headquarters, the lights came back on, leaving only Hong and Luo Feng inside.
Hong, who had just been giving orders at the meeting, now showed a hint of fatigue in his eyes.
He looked at Luo Feng, whose face was resolute but whose eyes held tension and unease, and suddenly turned around and said.
"I will not participate in this beast tide."
"What?"
Luo Feng suddenly looked up, his face full of disbelief.
"Master? Why? This is the most dangerous time for humanity. You are our pillar of strength, if you don't intervene..."
Hong did not answer immediately. He walked to the window of the quiet room and looked at the ocean shrouded by the endless beast tide, as if he could see the dark golden behemoth hidden behind the scenes.
"Luo Feng, you need to understand. No matter how large this beast tide is, they are just cannon fodder that have been driven here."
"The Golden Horned Beast is far more cunning than we imagined. This beast tide is merely a smokescreen it has thrown out to buy itself time to evolve. It is using the lives of these hundreds of millions of monsters to deplete our manpower, our weapons, our energy, and our will."
"And it itself is hiding in some corner of the earth, secretly evolving."
Hong turned around and stared intently at Luo Feng.
"I must push my strength to an unprecedented limit. Otherwise, even if we exhaust everything and achieve a Pyrrhic victory over this beast tide, the true end of our civilization will come when there is no force on Earth left that can threaten it."
Luo Feng was startled; he understood Hong's plan.
This is a race against time with that golden-horned behemoth, gambling with the fate of the entire Earth's civilization.
Hong walked up to him.
He reached out and pressed his hands heavily on Luo Feng's shoulders.
Luo Feng felt a heavy pressure and a sense of entrustment.
"Therefore, in this battle, the outer defenses will have to be filled with the lives and blood of armies and hundreds of millions of warriors from around the world."
"And the decapitation strike that will determine the course of the war will be in your command."
He spoke slowly and deliberately, granting Luo Feng command in this war.
"Luo Feng, this battle depends on your command and the coordinated efforts of martial artists worldwide. Utilize your new Dome of Light system to find every single King-level monster hiding in the beast tide, as well as any other high-level monsters that could threaten our defenses!"
"Send their real-time coordinates, strength assessments, and weakness analyses directly to the nearest legislator! What I need you to do is become the eyes and ears of all legislators, ensuring that every strike they make hits the right spot!"
There was a hint of expectation in Hong's eyes.
"Luo Feng, the future of humanity is now divided in two. One half lies in whether I can break through that shackle during my seclusion."
"The other half... lies in the efficiency of your system. Don't let me down."
After speaking, without waiting for Luo Feng's reply, Hong's body began to emit energy fluctuations, and the space around him slightly distorted.
His figure gradually became blurry and transparent, and finally disappeared completely in the quiet room.
Only Luo Feng remained in the quiet room.
"If Thor can successfully break through, with Hong and Thor, two Eternal Star level powerhouses, combined with their domains and B6-level laser cannons, there's a real chance they can defeat this golden-horned behemoth!"
In Luo Feng's mind, Babata was monitoring the movements of the Earth's beast tide while analyzing the situation.
"It definitely can!"
Luo Feng felt the burning responsibility on his shoulders. The tension and confusion in his eyes faded in a few seconds, replaced by an unprecedented determination.