Chapter 492 - 483 I Love You, Big Sister_1

"Hello, Hello..."

Nakayama Juji was dealing with the arrangements for his visit to America in a few days, focusing especially on the Artemis Project, when a sudden, urgent ringtone interrupted him.

The call on the other line was from the Defense Ministry, and before they could even speak, another call came through, this one from the naval base in Ryukyu.

But before he could decide which call to take first, the wooden door was smashed open by three special agents who then forcefully rushed in, picked up Nakayama Juji, and sprinted towards the underground bunker.

While he was still confused and his mind was blank, he was pushed into the underground passage, and then one of the agents forcefully shut the thick, triple-sealed isolation door, causing a dull, massive boom.

As Nakayama Juji, still being pushed through layer upon layer of isolation corridors, clung to the agent’s shoulder, he confirmed one thing first: I’m still alive, no one has betrayed me.

Having just sorted out the aftermath of an assassination, Nakayama Juji’s first thought was that someone was trying to assassinate him, but he immediately dismissed the possibility. Then he began to wonder: Could rebels have been mad enough to break into his residence? But would so many special security agents not make a sound? That didn’t seem right either.

It wasn’t until he was rushed by the special agents into the deepest chamber that Nakayama Juji saw someone he didn’t expect to see.

"Your Highness Emperor Hao Gong, what are you doing here!"

The latter also looked as if he had just been brought in, his clothes in great disarray, but Emperor Hao Gong clearly knew more than he did.

He was trembling all over as if he had encountered something extremely terrifying:

"Nuclear... East... Missiles... The missiles are about to... Edo... we’re all going to..."

Nakayama Juji was befuddled, but perhaps the shock was too great, and all Emperor Hao Gong could utter were incoherent sounds.

The special agent beside them managed to stay relatively calm, though he was panting heavily from exhaustion, he still tried to piece together a coherent sentence:

"The missile is about to reach Edo, the Americans didn’t stop it."

"What?!"

...

Two minutes earlier.

The DDG-76 "Higgins" was trying to approach the territorial waters in Whale Sea to observe, a task they considered rather interesting.

They referred to such reconnaissance activities as a "cat and mouse game," knowing well that as soon as they got near, boats sent to intercept them would already be on their way, leading to an inevitable entanglement before both sides glared at each other and parted ways.

As the third ship of the "Arleigh Burke II" class, the Higgins, an Aegis ship—meaning an air-defense ship—was mainly deployed for land support missions in reality, with its anti-air missiles only used in drills.

With no one yet disturbing it, the Higgins cranked up its radar to full power, aiming to find some interesting signals. However, the radar room suddenly blared an intense warning.

The operators had just spotted a target emerging from inland traveling at over Mach 10, rapidly approaching them.

The radar operator immediately tried to acquire more information, but the blip vanished abruptly, reappearing close to the midline of Whale Sea!

The entire warship’s alarm bells rang out chaotically; Captain William Rice caught sight of the unknown flying object’s "extremely low" altitude and initially thought it was a space plane or spaceship, having seen one recently during the Dawn III landing.

But he quickly realized something was wrong. Although radar signals were highly unstable and difficult to track, it was apparent that the unknown aircraft was gaining altitude, much like a warhead maneuvering at the last stage using parabolic kinetic energy to boost its breakthrough ability.

During his moment of hesitation, the "Xuehu" had already flown over the Higgins. What William saw then was a flight path crossing Edo.

Putting together the clear radar stealth characteristics and deliberately controlled trajectory, he was almost certain it couldn’t be a civilian spaceship or space plane; the radar signals were completely different.

Shoot it down?

The "Standard Three" missiles equipped on the Higgins had undergone the latest upgrade and could reach a maximum altitude of 500 kilometers. They had once shot down a satellite in an exercise, but that was more for show.

And the radar signal of the unknown target was weak and unstable, making it absolutely impossible to lock on quickly.

After careful consideration, William decided to put the entire ship on the highest state of military readiness and sent a "sub-top-level" warning back to bases around the world using satellites.

This warning meant that a "highly concerned" target had launched a ballistic missile, but it was unclear whether it was a nuclear strike aimed at any particular party. Upon receiving the warning, one should immediately enter the highest state of combat readiness and prepare for the worst.

No matter what the truth was, William felt that the situation already met the criteria for issuing a warning, given the recent unstable conditions.

When Ryukyu Base received the warning from the Higgins, the duty personnel also happened to see the bright spot outside the window. Instantly getting goosebumps, they didn’t hesitate to press the nuclear warning button.

It was already off-duty time at the military base. Aside from the crews scheduled for the night shift, others were either out or on the base premises. When the warning rang out, everyone was stunned for a moment before hearing the hoarse shouting of their commander.

Ground crews, in groups, followed emergency procedures to refuel the jets with enough fuel. All checks of plane bodies, weapons mounting confirmations, and cockpit inspections were skipped. The only requirement was to get the planes and pilots into the air in the shortest time possible, trying to preserve as much retaliatory power as possible before the airfield could be leveled.

Pilots, carrying their flight suits, were hurriedly sent onto the planes, then watched as ground staff with almost tearing eyes closed the cockpit canopies, leaving behind the words "For America" before jumping down the boarding ladders to clear away the debris and signaling the jets one by one with almost furiously swung indication rods towards the runway.

The F16s were the first to be ready, lining up before taking off with afterburners at maximum angle of climb. They pulled up within just a few hundred meters and fled out of sight without looking back.

The remaining F15s, F18s, and other reconnaissance aircraft, early-warning aircraft, and refueling tankers also prepared to take off with the utmost urgency. Within just a few minutes, the sound of engines from hundreds of airplanes drowned out the airport, yet the continuous alarm could still be heard.

Soldiers on leave outside also received text messages on their phones—with a few having already spotted the prominent bright spots against the darkening sky—and began frantically searching for any available basements to take shelter in.

A local izakaya owner, often troubled by soldiers, saw two big guys lift a manhole cover and jump into the sewer without even taking a sip of the brandy they had just ordered.

Following that, the onlookers on the street also noticed the ominous sight in the sky. Someone shouted, "Nuclear war!" and the street immediately plunged into chaos, with people running around like headless flies.

It took a while for the Defense Ministry to respond to the warnings from both the Higgins and Ryukyu Base and issue an alert to Chiyoda, but the air defense base in Edo Bay had already reacted before them. They launched twelve "Patriot 3" missiles in a rough attempt to intercept the target.

The whole Island Country boiled over in just a few minutes, like a pond tossed with a red-hot iron, and Hawaii, being closer and also heavily militarized, could not escape either. The warning of nuclear war from Ryukyu Base was directly forwarded here, and all the residents’ TVs and mobile phones flashed with the forecast of a nuclear strike.

Pete, who was driving an old Chevrolet and returning from the beach with his sister, glanced at the text message on his phone and frowned, saying:

"Which jerk’s bad joke is this? It’s terrible."

"Forget about that; watch the traffic lights, Pete, ... Oh, my God!"

Pete’s sister Jennifer suddenly saw the warning appear on the advertising screen next to the traffic lights, followed by similar messages on the road sign board’s lower segment, the weather forecast screens, and then a piercing alarm rang out in the streets.

Startled by this sudden turn of events, Pete almost crashed into the car in front of him and swerved sharply into the shoulder of the road. After barely stopping, he could see the chaotic street and the continuous sounds of car collisions before he realized what had happened, rendering him speechless for a moment.

Run? Where could one run to on this small island? A single wave from the explosion’s aftermath would destroy this place!

Jennifer quickly came to the same realization that there was no escape for either of them. Biting her lip, she turned Pete’s shoulder towards her:

"Since we’re going to die anyway, why not make love one last time?"

Pete shuddered, then said with a trembling voice:

"I love you, sister."