Chapter 494 - 485: Unexpected Opportunity_1

7:13 PM.

As chaos spread from east to west, and Edo completely lost control and began to expand to other cities, Nakayama Juji finally crawled out of the underground shelter, having received domestic notifications and repeatedly confirmed that no nuclear warheads had fallen.

Although nothing had happened in these twenty or so minutes, he still managed to sweat profusely in the cool basement, his whole body as if he had been fished out of water, with sweat continuously dripping down his sleeves and pant legs.

After receiving the warning from the Ryukyu military base, they had been utterly convinced that nuclear war was upon them. Emperor Hao Gong had written a surrender letter in record time, intending to send it out as quickly as possible to prevent the entire island from being destroyed, and he began to pessimistically consider how many days they would need to stay in the shelter to wait for the nuclear radiation to dissipate.

The hotlines on both sides of the Pacific Ocean were all unavailable (as this required prior notification), further convincing them that they had been abandoned and become expendable.

The sudden turn of events took Nakayama Juji a good while to accept. After several verifications, he hurriedly called a press conference and immediately set about restoring order.

He didn’t need much thought to understand that the government institutions outside must be in chaos and temporary paralysis, especially the great city of Edo. A vast public management system could cause innumerable troubles in just ten minutes of inactivity, creating a mess that’s only slightly better than destruction by nuclear weapons.

Indeed, as he had expected, at first, the various levels of government were also in half-belief, but once he and Hao Gong hid in the basement and lost contact, they too began to scatter in large-scale chaos, each looking out for their own survival. Apart from the Ministry of Defense and the police department, which still had people to reach, almost all other departments had lost contact.

He could only command through the Ministry of Defense, while beginning to broadcast emergency television and radio to prove that the nation was still safe.

Xuehu crossed the country in just 140 seconds, not even two and a half minutes, but it caused nearly 30 minutes of widespread chaos and panic, and it took them 40 minutes to completely calm the public down and begin cleaning up the mess by 8:10 PM that night.

In that hour and more, military planes from various military bases were still taking off continuously, and the ships able to leave port had not stopped as well, since the news had spread too wide, and there actually was an "unidentified flying object" that had crossed through, making it impossible for the military officers at all levels to slack off.

With Island Country and South Korea’s extensive military mobilizations being too intense, it was natural that the domestic forces could not just be onlookers— who knew whether they would seize the opportunity to cause some mischief?

The fleets that met the conditions to set sail and those already on patrol rushed to the area of the incident, with military districts entering first-level combat readiness and large numbers of fighter jets taking off to monitor.

Russia, also experiencing a violation of airspace, had flown all of its fighters and bomber squadrons from Vladivostok, turning the entire northwest Jin... the entire western Pacific Ocean into a complete mess!

At this moment, the source of all events, the "culprit" Lei Qing had already landed the troublemaking Xuehu at an airport on the snow-covered plains of the northeast, where it was strictly sealed off by the local garrison. The plane’s cover was pushed into the hangar with no one allowed near, awaiting further personnel to deal with it.

Superiors currently visiting Europe also had to hurriedly fly back with their team, while convening a five-party telephone hotline on the plane.

After all, although a clarifying announcement had been issued, everyone still cautiously activated the missiles in their launch silos, and the mysterious strategic nuclear submarines had received orders to enter the deep sea. Trying to untangle this misunderstanding evidently was not a small hassle.

...

"Mr. Lin, I want to go to space. Can the space shuttle be launched now?"

"..."

"Mr. Zhang, calm down..."

"Mr. Lin, Byte Trigger has always been cooperative with you! For the sake of our past cooperation, you must give a brother a hand."

"..."

Seeing that Zhang Yingming really did not believe him, Lin Ju had no choice but to nod in agreement. With a promise secured, the former immediately sat on the office sofa to keep guard over him, fearing being left behind should he try to escape.

There were still many people in the office, all wealthy individuals in Capital who had partnerships with New Yuan. They had gathered voluntarily to request the rapid launch of a spacecraft into space.

It was now 3 a.m. on August 13th. Two hours earlier, both America and Russia had conducted missile tests exceeding 5,000 kilometers. Warplanes and naval vessels in the Pacific stood at alert, facing each other, which hardly seemed like something that could be easily explained away.

Ordinary folks within the country didn’t really believe in a nuclear war and were busy digesting various international scandals:

For example, Haneda International Airport, Edo experienced seven airplane collision incidents (six on the ground, one in the air), one aircraft failed an emergency takeoff and caught fire after running off the runway, over 400 flights were canceled or rescheduled, tourists rushed out of the waiting hall in a crushing stampede, the estimated number of injured and dead had already surpassed 6,000 and was still climbing;

The Soul Summoning Society’s many locations caught fire. By the time the fire brigade arrived, they had been completely burned to ruins, suspected arson;

All over Edo, the city was grappling with traffic congestion and a great number of trampling, arson, vandalism, and violent incidents. Over a hundred stores were looted, and criminal acts could be seen everywhere. There was a police vacuum for about half an hour, and the situation was still being addressed;

In Hawaii, a brother and sister ** in the roadside grass, becoming a unique scene in the landscape of escape;

The president of SoftBank issued an apology stating regret over historical issues, willing to donate his entire fortune in exchange for asylum, though it was quickly deleted and denied, but the message spread;

"Patriot 3" interception failed, the suspect aircraft believed to be a manned super-high-speed flying vehicle, no explanation has been made domestically;

CBS speculated that the "unknown hypersonic vehicle" was the H-20 and deduced that this was a long-planned demonstration;

...

However, there were also many people looking for air-raid shelters, and domestically, the "Survival Fanatics" and those fond of "nuclear war bunkers" were exceedingly active, gearing up for action. Internet communities related to these topics saw an influx of neophytes seeking help, and some of the more timid people had already started packing up to return to their rural homes to take shelter.

If even the usually stable domestic scene was like this, then globally, the agitation was only worse. Vandalism, looting, and arson had become trivial matters, with countries frantically making phone calls to confirm the situation, and third-party media incessantly calling for peace and a firm opposition to war on the newspapers.

The rich and elite were actively preparing escape plans, and apart from sturdy underground bunkers, another seemingly safe place was obviously space.

In the end, Lin Ju, seeing more and more people coming to him, simply put all nine individuals present on a plane to Qiongzhou, where there was always either a spaceship or spacecraft on standby. The one on duty now was named Steadfast, ready to take everyone aboard.

The tycoons paid without flinching and hurriedly boarded the plane, reasoning that even if nothing happened, a few days of space tourism wouldn’t be too bad a deal.

Zhang Yingming even humorously suggested to Lin Ju before leaving that he should open a tourism route to the Moon, as it was safer than Earth’s orbit.

Across the Pacific, the situation was much the same. Musk had been baffled by the nuclear war scare for half an hour, then was sought after by various tycoons and officials demanding a ticket into space, some even hastily transferring money to reserve their spots.

The audacious Musk seized the opportunity, accepting money from those who came to prevent them from changing their minds, while simultaneously preparing the Dragon Spaceship.

After all, as an American, it would be strange if someone didn’t have a sense of impending doom about the end of the world.