Chapter 290: One Hundred and Twenty Million Tons TNT Equivalent

The blood-red line displayed on the large screen surged upward at a suffocating speed.

At the same time, secret departments of every nation and every region's highest-ranking power holders had all gathered in their respective command centers, watching the real-time energy-level display still climbing, their faces pale with terror.

"Predicted sustained energy destruction has reached ten million tons TNT equivalent… no, twenty million!"

"Is this really Tunguska-level?!"

With a loud *pop*, the latest dragon-model combat detection monocle developed by the Second Division exploded as Feng Mingxian Shiro shouted in shock, shards flying in all directions.

"No… it's still rising…"

Xu Chuan Shenji's voice trembled noticeably.

"Final magnitude: one hundred and twenty million!"

The location of this high-energy reaction was—London.

The British capital with a population of nine million.

…

Behind him, a transmutation array hundreds of meters in diameter unfolded at light speed; even without turning, Jia Ji could identify his attacker from the term "Gold Transmutation."

—Adam, the Original.

Adam Wisenhaupt.

Director of the Control Bureau, supreme leader of the Bavarian Illuminati.

His true form is a doll created during the prehistoric civilization era and then discarded—the prototype of humanity.

The gods abandoned him because, as an individual, he had been "completed to perfection."

He possessed every function and performance demanded by the creator Anunnaki, but conversely, nothing beyond that—he had no potential for development, so he was cast aside.

Fueled by this resentment, to reclaim his place as the planet's apex primate and to gain power equal to and capable of opposing the predicted resurrection of the Anunnaki, Adam Wisenhaupt founded the Bavarian Illuminati, harboring the ambition to seize "divine power" and rule the world.

He normally maintained the refined, elegant demeanor of a noble, but now Adam showed not a trace of grace.

He was completely naked, bare-skinned, his blue hair wild and hanging, muscles taut, eyes blazing red as he stared fixedly at the "monster" before him, bloodshot veins crisscrossing his eyeballs, immense energy coalescing into a fireball in his hands, ready to unleash.

Monster.

That was his only assessment of the human-like "thing" before him.

Not an evaluation of its abilities, strength, or any particular trait—but a recognition of its very existence.

—It was not human.

As the original prototype of humanity, Adam could swear: no matter how human it looked, no matter how human it behaved, it could never be human.

Perhaps by chance, perhaps by fate, as Jia Ji moved from Paris to London, his figure was spotted by Adam, hidden somewhere in Europe; the moment Adam saw him, a bone-deep chill seized his consciousness.

Followed immediately by a scream nearly bursting from his throat.

What the hell?!

What the actual hell?!

What the hell?!

What is this?!

On this planet, there walks a being not created by the Anunnaki, not a divine creation, yet wearing the skin of a human!

And no other entity except Adam himself could comprehend how terrifying this was.

Imagine: if a species that had broken free of evolution suddenly appeared on Earth, yet bizarrely possessed identical appearance, habits, and language to humans—and only you realized it—what would you do?

In this world of divine creation, Adam had encountered Jia Ji, a native of Beidou—no different than a carbon-based lifeform encountering a silicon-based lifeform wearing human skin. No one could understand how terrified Adam was.

Simply put, Adam was the highest-tier "Original," others were inferior "humans," and this outsider was a "fake human."

He no longer cared whether this "human" was an impostor, what its purpose was, whether it was good or evil—his mind was utterly, obsessively consumed by one thought:

—"Destroy it! Immediately! Now!"

"Only he must be annihilated!"

So he had lain in wait near the spot where Jia Ji vanished; the moment Jia Ji reappeared, Adam unleashed his most powerful transmutation technique—"Gold Transmutation!"

Natural gold originates from extreme cosmic events like supernovae or neutron star collisions; Earth's gold is merely the residue of such processes.

But for alchemists, their original goal and pursuit was never the Philosopher's Stone or perfect flesh—only gold.

To transform worthless matter into gold.

The technique capable of achieving this goal was called "Gold Transmutation"—using alchemy to perform nuclear fusion at room temperature.

Yes, this technique, designed to transmute matter into gold, possessed a destructive magnitude far exceeding that of any conventional nuclear weapon.

"Die!"

Adam roared with fury, and the next instant, a fireball capable of killing all life in an instant shot from his hands, its blinding light flooding the entire sky.

Even if it meant killing nine million lowly humans in London, Adam must destroy this monster here—for the sake of the entire world!

Today, I bring you the terrifying truth of alchemy.

…

As the immense energy surged toward Jia Ji, it began radiating outward; the superheated, high-pressure gas expanded violently, generating a hurricane that swept across the city at hundreds of meters per second.

The terrifying force reminded Jia Ji of the doomsday weapon in his own world—"Heavenly Emperor's Thunder?!"

Although this alchemical "nuclear explosion" produced no radiation, its pure blast power equaled the combined force of ten Tunguska events or tens of thousands of conventional nuclear bombs detonating simultaneously—enough to erase Hiroshima and Nagasaki a thousand times over.

"Didn't expect to get a preview of being nuked… but this yield? Am I playing some bullshit power inflation game?!"

Should I dodge?

Though it was a full-screen AoE attack, he could easily evade it by activating Wan Hua Jing—but the shockwave would instantly obliterate the entire underground city.

In the next moment, every building in London—steel, concrete, everything—would become as fragile as glass, instantly swallowed by the coming heat and blast, vaporized into a colossal fireball rising into the sky; not one of the nine million would survive.

Flee?

From this outdated model?

"What the hell?!"

Flames erupted violently around Jia Ji.

(End of Chapter)