Chapter Sixty-Six: The Doomsday Volcano

At this moment, Zhang Desen was considering that the button before him must be the self-destruct system. This realization served as a warning to him. Before they had entered the tunnels to rush toward the command center of the Terror Men’s mountain base, he had already learned from various sources that the base was equipped with a self-destruct system. This system might not necessarily trigger an all-encompassing explosion, but could be used to detonate specific areas only.

In this way, they could eliminate the rest of the Terror Men’s follow-up forces without bringing destruction upon themselves. The button in front of him, if his estimation was correct, was one of the main controls for this self-destruct system.

Without hesitation, Zhang Desen used his portable computer to search through the various programs of the Terror Men’s mountain base, and soon found the relevant control software. He minimized the program windows, ready to activate them at a moment’s notice, while also making it easier for him to continue gathering intelligence on the doomsday weapon.

Meanwhile, the sounds of distant gunfire continued to echo. Amidst this ongoing battle, Zhang Desen finally succeeded in uncovering data on the doomsday weapon and translated the text.

Beside him, Dadu Kur, although blindfolded, sensed what was happening. Alarmed, he began shouting frantically, but since he was not using a translation device, no one understood a word he said. Zhang Desen immediately ordered someone to gag him and then continued collecting intelligence.

……

At the same time, outside the Food Chain Strategy Laboratory, the chief of the Liu household retainers, Zhao Chengming, was commanding his men to fiercely resist the advance of the Terror Men army.

At this moment, Zhao Chengming issued an order to the row of homemade cannons beside him:

“Prepare, fire!”

A series of booming reports sounded from the cannons as they launched shells toward the advancing army of the Terror Men of the Ormei Empire.

Suddenly, Liu household retainer Wu Jieming ran up to Zhao Chengming to report:

“Chief Zhao, the improvised catapults you ordered us to build have all been completed. I’ve transported them all here. They were made using timber from that underground forest we passed through. The brothers who built them are already working on the next batch, and the stockpiled explosives and sandbags have also been brought over.”

Zhao Chengming looked over the catapults and homemade explosives, then said,

“Good, line up all the catapults in a single row. Place explosives on them and launch them at the enemy after lighting the fuses. Bundle all the grenades together to form cluster bombs, as Brother Desen suggested, and throw them in the same way. No matter what, we must hold out until Brother Desen and the others return. Understood?”

Wu Jieming answered immediately, “Understood!”

Thereupon, all the retainers threw themselves into battle with renewed vigor. Those armed with brown-bess muskets fired continuously at the approaching Terror Men ranks, while the Zhang household retainers, armed with cold steel, helped to transport ammunition and operate the catapults.

For a time, the human side’s firepower was formidable and could not be underestimated, dealing heavy losses to the advancing Ormei Empire troops.

At this point, the Ormei Empire’s deputy commander, Gase Ouri, witnessing the situation, turned to the commander, Sede Ouri—his elder brother—and said,

“Commander, the human forces’ firepower is intense. Should we call in some heavy weapons? It will be difficult to win with infantry alone.”

Sede Ouri replied,

“No, other locations still need heavy weapons to suppress monsters. Besides, those before us are nothing but primitive humans who only know how to brandish weapons. Our strength is sufficient. The only thing that surprises me is that these primitives know to use sandbags and such to construct temporary fortifications.”

Gase Ouri said,

“Could it be that those so-called priests of the Gangdu tribe taught them?”

Sede Ouri impatiently interrupted,

“Nonsense! Those idiots from Sirius may have landed early on the Gangdu tribe’s territory, but how could they possibly train so many humans in modern tactics so quickly? Enough, lead five hundred men in a charge and break through the human defenses. Go at once!”

Gase Ouri answered at once, “Yes, sir!”

He then personally led five hundred elite Ormei Empire soldiers in an assault on Zhao Chengming’s retainers.

At this moment, Wu Jieming said to Zhao Chengming,

“Chief Zhao, an extra five hundred enemies are charging straight at us. They look formidable!”

Zhao Chengming, seeing this, ordered,

“Go immediately and have the Zhang household retainers without muskets draw their swords and prepare for close combat. Set all catapults to hurl explosives and cluster grenades at the new wave of fierce enemies. Quickly!”

Wu Jieming answered, “Yes, sir!”

And so, the two sides battled fiercely back and forth.

……

Meanwhile, Li Longfang, standing beside Zhang Desen, watched the ongoing battle between Zhao Chengming’s men and the Terror Men through the enemy’s monitors. Looking down at his own sword, he felt a pang of regret.

Earlier, during the assault on the Terror Men’s command center, the Liu household retainers had used their muskets with great effect, while the Zhang household retainers could only carry ammunition or pick up muskets from fallen comrades. He bitterly regretted his decision to refuse muskets before setting out—his men were nearly useless as a result. In contrast, the Liu retainers had proven their worth, causing Li Longfang deep anguish. He resolved that once he returned to the Western Capital, he would urge Chancellor Zhang to upgrade their equipment.

Meanwhile, Zhang Desen read through the doomsday weapon data, and the more he learned, the more alarmed he became. The weapon was an artificial supervolcano, and shockingly, it was already about sixty percent complete. Anxiety gripped his heart. Li Longfang, seeing the material, asked,

“Desen, what is this? How can so many pillars of fire erupt from flat ground?”

Zhang Desen replied,

“Though the devastation of such a supervolcano is already enormous, what is even more terrifying is the nuclear winter that follows for about ten years.”

Li Longfang asked,

“Nuclear winter? What is that?”

Zhang Desen responded,

“Oh, this kind of nuclear winter is different from that caused by nuclear explosions—it’s triggered by a supervolcano eruption.”

Li Longfang exclaimed,

“These monstrous things never end—I’m going mad!”

Zhang Desen said,

“They are indeed real. Don’t let ignorance fool you; the unknown is always infinite.”

Li Longfang continued,

“Yes, but this…”

Zhang Desen explained,

“Let me put it this way. Nuclear winter refers to…”

In fact, nuclear winter is when the massive energy from nuclear explosions injects smoke and particles into the atmosphere, causing the upper atmosphere to warm while the surface cools dramatically—the effect is the opposite of the greenhouse effect, plunging the world into a frigid winter landscape.

Nuclear detonations inject vast quantities of smoke and dust into the atmosphere, some rising twelve kilometers or more into the stratosphere. The particles produced are mostly smaller than one micron in diameter, much less than the ten-micron wavelength of infrared light. In other words, their average diameter is much smaller than the wavelength of infrared; they can remain aloft for days, even over a year, absorbing visible sunlight but only weakly absorbing infrared radiation from the ground. Thus, the upper atmosphere warms while the earth’s surface grows colder.

Finally, Zhang Desen concluded,

“In short, the temperature would plummet, and you might not see sunlight for days on end.”

Li Longfang asked,

“And what would be the consequences?”

Zhang Desen answered,

“Without sunlight, we can’t grow crops. All life depends on the sun! And that’s not even considering the impact of the cold.”

Li Longfang said,

“I’ve heard of volcanoes, but none have ever affected the Western Capital.”

Zhang Desen explained,

“That’s because past eruptions weren’t from supervolcanoes. A supervolcano is one that can trigger a cataclysmic eruption…”

Although there is no strict definition of eruption magnitude, a supervolcano is one whose eruption can instantly alter landscapes, global weather, and cause mass extinction. Not every volcano can be called a supervolcano—only those whose eruptions exceed a thousand cubic kilometers of material. Only then does it qualify as a supervolcano. There have been countless eruptions in history, but only those that once reached such magnitude are counted as supervolcanoes.

Li Longfang, after hearing Zhang Desen’s explanation, asked,

“Could it really block out the sun?”

Zhang Desen replied,

“Yes. After a supervolcano erupts, its ash clouds blot out the sky. For about a decade, the world would not see the sun. It would be an unprecedented disaster.”

Li Longfang said,

“Then what are the Terror Men planning?”

Zhang Desen replied,

“They intend to use us as a source of geothermal energy in the Chengdu Plain, then, using the principles of earthquake weapons, set off a series of explosions at suitable points beneath the Sichuan Basin—specifically beneath the Chengdu Plain. This would force accelerated magma circulation, artificially creating a supervolcano more powerful than Yellowstone in America, as a final weapon of mutual destruction.”

“So that means they…”

Zhang Desen continued,

“Exactly. They foresee a possible day of utter defeat, so they are preparing a weapon to ensure their enemies suffer as well. If it’s ever triggered, even without accounting for the ten years of darkness, the initial fallout of ash and earthquakes would leave very few survivors.”

Li Longfang asked,

“What about the Western Capital?”

Zhang Desen replied,

“It wouldn’t just affect the Western Capital.”

Li Longfang said,

“Then what should we do now?”

Zhang Desen said,

“Destroy their Gekur base before they can finish it.”