Chapter 1266

That is!?

The noisy military camp suddenly fell silent; whether it was the soldiers on guard or the officers rushing out of the command room, everyone stared blankly at the ball of fire in the night.

At such a distance, they could still see it...

"Not good!!"

His pupils suddenly contracted.

The leading colonel felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar; a strong sense of unease suddenly made his vision go black.

North! North!

This direction! This distance! It can only be the capital!

What exactly happened there, what exactly happened to the capital!?

Gazing at the dazzling orange‑red fireball, everyone present shuddered and thought of an extremely terrifying fact.

Could it be... a nuclear bomb...!?

The capital detonated a nuclear bomb from within!?

As everyone gasped in disbelief, on the verge of collapse, an Awakened One extremely familiar with weaponry stared fixedly at the ball of fire, and the next second shouted:

"Not a nuclear explosion!"

"A nuclear explosion contracts inward then expands outward, its blast pattern is a dome‑shaped radiation! Moreover, because the lower air evaporates, the shockwave starts from mid‑high altitude!"

"This is absolutely not a nuclear explosion!!"

His voice hoarse from shouting, as if to confirm his judgment, he frantically rushed to the highest point, pulled out a military telescope, and stared anxiously at the sky.

A few seconds later, he collapsed to the ground, drenched in cold sweat, as if a great weight had been lifted.

"Not.. not a nuclear explosion!!"

"It's a high‑energy aggregate that exploded for some unknown reason!"

When his words fell, the previously panicked soldiers immediately breathed a sigh of relief, their eyes full of lingering fear.

As troops stationed around the capital's war zone, although they largely had to support the capital and led hard lives, everyone knew that as the central hub of Hua Guo, the capital could not be lost. Once the capital fell, what difference would there be between them and a fallen nation!?

The fragile balance painstakingly maintained would be shattered in an instant! The state would cease to be a state!

It is not only the highest political center of Huaxia, but also the 'faith' in the hearts of most Hua Guo people.

They could not imagine how the entire Hua Guo would fall into turmoil once the capital fell.

"But.. if it's not a nuclear explosion, what is it then!?"

"An explosion of this scale surely couldn't have been caused by Awakened Ones, could it? Could the military be testing some weapon?"

They could only think optimistically.

Some still unsettled military members couldn't help speculating, yet for some reason everyone felt a faint but strong unease.

If it were a weapon test, how could communications be cut off...

Moreover, given how abrupt it was, it's hard not to suspect something.

"We don't know; we can only wait for our people to fight their way in to find out! Other Military Regions have also sent people over, so we should hear news soon!"

"It should be fine, it shouldn't be a problem!"

"The capital's war zone is so strong; not only those few commanders, but Lihao and the others have also returned from the confrontation match."

"Maybe..."

Mid‑sentence, a military officer who was doing a quick analysis suddenly changed expression, as if he had thought of something, and hastily opened the war zone rankings.

All we saw was him flipping through quickly and directly opening the Awakened Ones rankings.

A few seconds later, amid everyone's doubtful gazes, his face turned deathly pale, his slightly open lips trembling uncontrollably.

It was as if he had seen an unacceptable scene.

"Huang Qiang!? Captain Huang!?"

His mind went blank.

Under the tense concern of his teammates, Huang Qiang swayed and actually plopped down on the ground.

All that could be heard was his voice, trembling with incredulous fear, as he struggled to utter a sentence:

"Lihao..."

"General Lihao's name has disappeared!!"

On the displayed ranking board, although many rankings had dropped, the two characters 'Lihao' that had still been near the top were now gone.

Moreover, some of the capital's high‑ranking officials who had chosen to publish their information on the list also saw their names, which had originally occupied the top spots, all disappear at once.

It was as if they had never existed in this world.

Like a bolt from the blue, no matter how unaware one might be of what happened in the capital, at this moment everyone realized that an unimaginable catastrophe must have occurred inside the capital! Already, many, many people have died!!!

"Pass on my orders! Move out! Move out!"

"What on earth is going on!?"

"How could so many names on the ranking list have disappeared!?"

"Have you heard? The capital has lost contact!"

"Damn it, my uncle stayed in the capital before the apocalypse, and now I can't reach him either!"

"Zombie tide! I heard the zombie tide has broken out again!"

The flood of information pouring down like a waterfall, whether in reality or the war zone channel, caused the Huaxia war zone, which had just been basking in the joy of victory, to plunge instantly into an unknown panic.

After several hours of spreading, even the out‑of‑touch survivors knew that the capital had lost contact.

Their state at this moment is hard to describe.

Most people felt as if their hearts were hanging in mid‑air, afraid that another disaster might strike.

If even the capital has encountered trouble, aren't they in an even more difficult situation?

And some minor leaders of various self-established forces, at this moment, as if they had thought of something, began to continuously gather accurate information.

Those with greater courage, even extremely ambitious Safe Zone leaders, at this moment secretly began to gather manpower, preparing to do a 'big thing'.

Unlike the panic of the lower-class people, as those in high positions, they clearly know that if something happens to the capital, then what follows will definitely be a great chaos.

Up to now, not a single person from the military has stepped forward to explain the situation; that can only mean the military itself doesn't know what's going on, or they dare not speak!

In a chaotic world, 'heroes' emerge; for ordinary people, perhaps life becomes harder, but for those with strength...

Lin Dui!?

Have you seen the news!?

Holy shit, Lihao died!!?

Just having burst out of the teleportation portal, Zhang Tie hadn't yet had time to greet Gao Tian and the others when he heard discussion voices repeatedly sounding inside Long An.

Compared to the information-gathering speed of the external Safe Zone, Long An's intelligence capability is obviously much stronger.

Seeing Zhang Tie rush over with an anxious expression, Lin An slowly lowered the hand-drawn picture in his hand, and in silence he hesitantly nodded.

Both the outside world and even the military itself were speculating whether Lihao was alive or dead, whether he had merely entered a dungeon or hidden his name.

Lin An, who possessed satellite surveillance, had already known the truth of the matter twelve minutes ago.

Lihao.

Indeed, he died.

That huge fireball was the effect caused by him detonating the nuclear fusion device inside his body.

Looking at that faint light spot captured in the high altitude on the picture, Lin An couldn't help but feel a deep sense of helplessness for a moment.

Lihao still died, just as in his past life, detonating an artificial sun at the final moment.

Briefly illuminating the endless night.

It's as if nothing had ever been changed....