478: Chapter 478 It's Too Late

3:00 AM.

The lights in the Command Center of the Panshi Base had not been turned off since yesterday.

Tao Zhe stood in the Command Center, staring intently at the holographic situational map—yellow dots represented moving nuclear weapons, and green dots represented nuclear weapons in position.

The last two yellow dots turned green under his gaze.

He immediately reported to Su Mingyuan.

"Group Leader Su, all platforms have finished calibration and are fully in position."

He looked at the data on the screen and read it out item by item.

"Ground-based missile vehicles, 300 launch positions, all in position. Fixed launch silos, 200 units, all in position. A total of 2,900 warheads, calibration complete, standing by for launch."

"Kunpeng Formation, 20 aircraft, cruising at an altitude of 60,000 meters. 20 pangu nuclear bomb warheads, 100 high-yield warheads, calibration complete, standing by for launch."

"Unmanned delivery platforms, 1,000 modified Heavenly Eye, each carrying two small nuclear warheads, have arrived at the periphery of the release line. Calibration complete, standing by for launch."

Su Mingyuan stood up and took a deep breath.

"Operation Burning Heaven, prepare for launch."

The communications team leader pressed the button.

"Burning Heaven order issued, all platforms acknowledge receipt."

The green lights on the four communication channels lit up simultaneously.

"Kunpeng Formation received, commencing execution."

"Ground-based missile group received, entering launch countdown."

"Launch silo group received, entering launch countdown."

"Drone group received, advancing toward the release line."

60,000 meters altitude.

Chen Rong sat in the pilot's seat of Kunpeng No. 1, and the countdown pushed by Tianheng popped up on the control console.

120 seconds.

He took a deep breath and channeled his spiritual power into the control System.

The flight paths of the 20 Kunpeng aircraft began to shift simultaneously, cutting from cruising attitude into the attack flight path.

"Kunpeng Formation, attack flight path locked, bomb bay pre-opening."

A dull mechanical sound came from under the fuselage, and the bomb bay doors slowly slid open. Cold air rushed in, and the temperature dropped by over a dozen degrees instantly.

Six warheads hung on the racks on the inner walls of the bomb bay.

The pangu nuclear bomb in the very center was a full size larger than the five high-yield warheads next to it, its grey-black casing shimmering with a dull light under the cabin lights.

90 seconds.

Chen Rong glanced at the Formation status.

The 20 Kunpeng aircraft pulled into a horizontal line, spaced two kilometers apart, flying straight toward the target area at Mach 50.

On the ground.

The drivers of the 300 missile launch vehicles simultaneously received the push from Tianheng.

The launch tubes had long been erected, the exhaust deflectors opened, and the hydraulic support legs locked.

The drivers sat in the cabs, their hands resting on the launch buttons, staring at the numbers counting down on the screen.

70 seconds.

The covers of the 200 launch silos slid open simultaneously. Below the silo openings, the conical warheads of the heavy ballistic missiles loomed in the shadows, waiting for the ignition signal.

1,000 drones began to accelerate, approaching the release line simultaneously from several directions.

They flew skimming the ground at an altitude of less than 50 meters, the small nuclear warheads hanging under their bellies swaying slightly in the airflow.

30 seconds.

"Kunpeng Formation, entering drop zone. Warhead unlocked."

The locks on the racks in the bomb bay popped open, and the warheads changed from a fixed state to ready for release.

Once the final order came down, they would detach.

20 seconds.

On the ground, the drivers of the 300 launch vehicles flipped open the red safety covers of the launch buttons.

On the control consoles of the 200 launch silos, the ignition sequence started, and the propellant preheated.

10 seconds.

Chen Rong's finger rested on the drop button.

The data in the upper left corner of the screen turned red.

...

2 seconds.

1 second.

"Launch."

The 20 Kunpeng aircraft released their racks simultaneously.

120 warheads detached from the airframes at an altitude of 60,000 meters, flipped over, and pointed their warheads downward.

Three seconds later, the terminal boosters ignited, trailing white exhaust behind them as they plunged straight into the clouds.

A few minutes later.

On the wasteland, the launch tubes of the 300 launch vehicles simultaneously spewed orange-red flames.

The ballistic missiles shot into the sky, and hundreds of white smoke columns instantly rose from the grey, hazy ground, looking like a forest growing upside down.

Thick smoke spewed from the openings of the 200 launch silos, and heavy missiles burst out of the silos, drawing white lines across the sky.

1,000 drones reached the nuclear bomb release line.

2,000 small nuclear warheads detached and glided toward the target by inertia.

The drones began to make sharp turns to fly back after releasing the warheads, but most were smashed into fragments by an invisible force before they could even finish turning. Parts exploded in the air with a clattering sound, like a handful of iron slag being slapped away by someone.

But the warheads had already gone out.

19,000 kilometers away.

Bone Altar.

Daoist Wan Shi sat cross-legged in the very center of the altar.

The life essence of countless zombies converged on him along the veins of the blood sacrifice Formation.

Faster than he expected.

In another five or six days, his Soul Transformation Early Stage would be restored.

By then, there would be nothing left in this godforsaken place worth remembering.

"Hmm? The things controlled by those Mortals are here again?"

"It seems they still refuse to give up!"

As he spoke, the Divine Sense of Daoist Wan Shi quickly enveloped a radius of 300 kilometers.

"These ants, have they run out of tricks? It's these annoying iron bugs again."

"Do they really think they can pose a threat to me with these things? It's simply laughable."

"Back in the Upper Realm, in the 10,000-mile forbidden zone of the Longyuan Sect, three Cultivators of the same rank besieged him with High Grade Magical Artifacts, every strike having the force to split mountains and crack the earth."

"That was what you call might..."

Before he could finish speaking, a violent explosion occurred at the edge of his Divine Sense.

Daoist Wan Shi's eyes snapped open.

His Divine Sense expanded outward frantically, capturing all the information in an instant.

In the sky, on the horizon, to the east, west, south, and north, thousands of scorching energy points appeared simultaneously at the edge of his perception range, moving at an incredibly fast speed, rushing straight at him from all angles.

At this moment, his pupils shrank into pinpricks.

Fear welled up in his heart.

He had seen this scene before.

When undergoing the Heavenly Tribulation in the Upper Realm, the Nine Heavens sea of lightning felt just like this.

But the Nine Heavens sea of lightning descended from the sky, with order, with intervals, and with time to breathe in between.

But these light points before him were surging in from all directions, all angles, and all altitudes simultaneously, with no intervals, no blind spots.

He instinctively mobilized all his spiritual power, and his protective True Essence condensed on his body surface like crazy.

A dark red light shield wrapped around his entire body.

At the same time, his Divine Sense reached out like lightning toward the blood sacrifice Formation, attempting to extract the energy stored in the Formation.

The Formation responded, and life essence began to pour into him along the veins of the Formation base.

But the speed of absorbing the life essence was too slow.

And the speed of those light points was faster than anything he had ever seen in his life.

"Damn it, it's too late!"