Chapter 366: Covering the Sky and Hiding the Sun

The Director of the Military Department immediately ordered: "Activate the jamming system! Protect the Missile!"

Li Mingyuan waved his hand, "No need to worry, our Missile is too fast; their Anti-aircraft System cannot lock onto it at all. Even if they were lucky enough to launch an interceptor missile, it would be too late."

Sure enough, a few minutes later, the communications officer reported: "The Di Guo destroyer launched three interceptor missiles, but all failed to lock onto the target; interception failed!"

The Di Guo fleet command center was in chaos.

"Damn it! Why can't the Radar lock onto the target?" the fleet commander roared.

The technical officer was covered in sweat: "Sir, the Long Country Missile is too fast, and it is using a flight trajectory we are unfamiliar with; the existing interception system cannot track it effectively!"

"Keep trying! You must stop them!"

"It's useless, sir, the target has already flown out of our interception range."

The fleet commander helplessly reported to headquarters: "Interception failed, the target continues to fly toward the designated sea area."

The Di Guo leader received the report, his face as gloomy as iron: "Abandon interception, monitor closely! Send all reconnaissance planes to approach a safe distance and record the entire process!"

At this moment, the eyes of the whole world were focused on that Missile flying toward the high seas.

Inside the Long Country base, some scientific researchers were nervously biting their nails, while others were secretly writing something on paper.

"What are you writing?" a young engineer asked his colleague.

"A letter home," the man said with a bitter smile, "Just in case... you know, I hope they know what I did for the country."

"Stop overthinking it, Chief Engineer Li's design won't have any problems," the young engineer said, but his voice lacked conviction.

On the other side, Dean He and several senior scientists were discussing the estimated explosive power of the Mushroom bomb.

"Theoretically, the explosive yield should be around 15,000 tons of TNT," one physicist said, "but this is only a theoretical value; the actual power may have a large deviation."

"The most critical part is the performance of the Detonation Lens," Dean He added, "If the compression is uneven, the explosive power will be greatly discounted."

Inside the Di Guo supreme conference room, the atmosphere was even more scorching.

"They actually dare to ignite it? This doesn't conform to common sense!" the Minister of Defense said in disbelief, "From mastering the theory to successful actual production, how many years of effort does it take? On what basis could Long Country make a breakthrough in such a short time?"

"Perhaps it's just a bluff," the Intelligence Director guessed, "loading conventional explosives to detonate and create the illusion of a Mushroom bomb test."

"No, the data shows that the flight characteristics of that Missile are different from those loaded with conventional explosives," the technical analyst countered, "The mass distribution and flight attitude both show it may really be carrying a special device."

"Regardless of whether it's true or false, we will know soon," the leader interrupted the argument, "What's important now is, if—I mean if, Long Country really succeeded, how are we going to respond?"

……

The moment the Missile lifted off, the world's three major camps made completely different reactions instantly.

Inside the Long Country military industrial base, the vast majority of personnel cheered, but some looked ashen, their hands unconsciously clasped in prayer.

"My god, it really launched..." a young engineer muttered to himself, "If it succeeds, we will make history; if it fails..."

Li Mingyuan stood in front of the command console, staring fixedly at the display screen, his fingers tapping the desk unconsciously. Although he had the confidence given by the system, the trace of uncertainty in human nature still made his heart beat faster.

"Report! The Missile has flown over half the distance, all data is normal!"

"The Three-Machine Guidance System is working stably, the orientation correction error is smaller than expected!"

A series of good news made the atmosphere in the command center slightly more relaxed.

The reaction of the neutral countries was full of shock and worry.

"Long Country is crazy!" A general from Beijixiong Guo slammed the table at an emergency meeting, "They are really playing with fire! If the test is successful, the global strategic landscape will change completely!"

"We must immediately re-evaluate our strategic positioning toward Long Country," the Minister of Foreign Affairs added, "If they have really mastered the Modan Jishu, they will leap directly from a second-rate country to a global power!"

Inside the Yinghua Guo Defense Agency, a group of officers gathered in front of the Radar screen, their expressions solemn.

"The Missile has been confirmed to have flown over the airspace 300 kilometers east of our country and is approaching the designated explosion point."

"If this succeeds, the world landscape will change!" an old general said in a low voice, "Yinghua Guo will have to choose sides again between Long Country and Di Guo."

And the reaction of the enemy camp was mixed with shock, fear, and disbelief.

"Quick! Quickly locate the trajectory!" Inside the Di Guo strategic intelligence center, the person in charge roared into the communicator, "I want to know every parameter of that Missile!"

"It actually really flew?!" The technical officer stared at the Radar screen in disbelief, "How did they do it? According to our intelligence, Long Country has no such technical capability at all!"

"It must be the technology provided by Beijixiong," an Advanced Intelligence Officer guessed, "Without foreign aid, Long Country could not have made a breakthrough in such a short time."

Inside the leader's office, the air was so frozen it was almost suffocating.

"How much longer until the expected explosion?" the leader asked, his voice unusually hoarse.

"About three minutes, sir."

The leader nodded and turned to the window, looking at the distant sky. At this moment, he realized that no matter the result, the world would never be the same.

The Missile was approaching the target sea area, and the atmosphere in the Long Country command center was tense to the extreme.

"Height Control System activated, preparing to adjust to the detonation height!"

"Detonation System self-check complete, waiting for the launch signal!"

Li Mingyuan took a deep breath, "Start the final countdown, 60 seconds... 59... 58..."

At the same time, the observation fleets and reconnaissance planes of various countries were staring closely at that sea area, their instruments running at full capacity, preparing to record this historic moment.

"50 seconds... first layer of the Mushroom bomb safety interlock disengaged..."

"40 seconds... height adjustment complete, 600-meter detonation point locked..."

"30 seconds... second to fifth layers of the safety interlock disengaged..."

Li Mingyuan felt as if time had slowed down; every second felt as long as a century.

"20 seconds... Detonation System power activated..."

"10 seconds... final safety interlock disengaged, detonation sequence started..."

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, detonate!"

At that moment, the heavens and earth changed color.

At 600 meters above that calm sea surface, a white light a thousand times more dazzling than the Taiyang suddenly bloomed, piercing the sky.

This was not ordinary light, but an existence that made one instinctively feel fear, as if a mysterious hand had torn open the curtain of reality, allowing one to glimpse the secrets of the universe.

Following the white light was a massive, rapidly expanding fireball with a temperature reaching millions of degrees, instantly vaporizing the surrounding air and water vapor. Inside the fireball, plasma churned frantically, releasing terrifying energy as shockwaves expanded in all directions at several times the speed of sound.

Then, the fireball began to rise, the air and water vapor sucked into its base forming a massive columnar structure, while the top continuously expanded and cooled, forming that iconic "Mushroom" head.