44: Chapter 44 Cluster Bombs Massacre the Romance Complex?

Tel Aviv, underground command post.

The AC was on full blast.

The massive electronic screen covering the entire wall didn't show a war map; instead, it displayed a short video feed from the short video app.

The video footage was shaky. A blogger stood by an airport runway covered in gravel, holding a skewer of grilled meat, gesturing wildly at the camera.

"Is that all the Israel's missiles can do? They didn't even cook my meat!"

Likes: 8.7 million.

The comment section was scrolling with mockery in various languages.

"Bang!"

General Watawobuhu slammed his hand on the metal conference table.

The coffee cup rattled. Brown liquid splashed onto the tactical map.

"Disgraceful." General Watawobuhu pointed at the screen. "A whole day. We've wasted hundreds of millions of dollars in ammunition, bombed a few broken runways, and the whole world is laughing at us."

John sat across from him. The three-star general's epaulets glinted coldly.

He took a sip of his coffee.

"War isn't about winning likes on social media. The strategic goal of paralyzing the enemy's military strike capability in the first phase has been achieved."

"Achieved my ass."

General Watawobuhu leaned forward, hands pressed against the tabletop.

"Ala Country's counter-missiles hit our port last night. The public is panicking. The top brass needs an absolute victory to stabilize the situation."

He straightened up and tapped several red marks on the map with his finger.

"Hit these. Landmark buildings. The Rose Palace in Tehran, the Mosque in Riyadh, the Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi, the Atlantis Water World in Dubai."

John tapped his finger on the table twice.

Stopped.

"You're insane." John stood up. "These are all civilian targets. Ferrari World and Water World are full of civilians and foreign tourists. If you bomb them, international public opinion will devour us alive."

"Only fools are wandering outside now. If conventional bombs won't work, then use low-yield cluster bombs." General Watawobuhu stared at the map. "I don't want total destruction, just enough panic and damage. I want the people of Ala Country to understand that their prosperity is fragile."

"I absolutely disagree." John crossed his arms. "This will invite uncontrollable retaliation. There is a type 055 destroyer from the East in the nearby waters, and there are people from the East in the Burj Al Arab conducting a global live stream. If you dare to touch Dubai, you are pushing things into an irreparable abyss."

"This is the Middle East, not a negotiation table in Washington."

John didn't respond. He turned and walked toward the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To report to President Trump." John pushed open the heavy soundproof door. "Before the White House gives a clear order, you'd better not make any moves."

The door closed.

The command post was left with only the hum of the server cooling fans.

General Watawobuhu stared at that door.

Three seconds.

He turned his head to look at his adjutant.

"The launch authorization is in my hands." General Watawobuhu pointed at the console. "Input the coordinates."

The adjutant froze for a moment.

"General, the American side..."

"Execute the order."

The adjutant stood at attention and walked to the console. The sound of keyboard typing echoed in the empty room.

"Target one: Rose Palace in Tehran. Coordinates confirmed."

"Target two: Mosque in Riyadh. Coordinates confirmed."

"Target three: Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi. Coordinates confirmed."

"Target four: Atlantis Water World in Dubai. Coordinates confirmed."

General Watawobuhu walked to the console, his palm hovering over the red launch button.

"Ammunition type: Low-yield cluster bomb."

He pressed it.

On the screen, four red dots rose from the launch base, drew parabolas, and flew in four directions.

...

Atlantis Water World. 4:00 PM.

The sunlight was blinding. The sea breeze of the Persian Gulf carried a salty scent.

Director Pei Zhao stood on the shore holding a megaphone.

"Third round, water-based name tag ripping. The rules are simple: each CP group rips tags off each other on the inflatable castle. The last ones left standing win."

Ten guests, wearing life jackets, stood on the edge of the inflatable castle.

The inflatable mat was covered in water, too slippery to stand on.

Jiang Rumu tightened the buckle of her life jacket, her footing wavering.

"Can you handle this?"

Li Li flexed his wrists, his joints cracking.

"Just hide behind me."

Shen Jue punched his chest hard next to them.

"Brother Li! I definitely won't let you win this round!"

Cen Ye, with an unlit cigarette in his mouth, shook his arms.

Yin Ruoying sneered, tied her hair into a tight bun, and turned her gaze to Fang Ruowei.

"Teacher Fang, don't blame me for being rough later."

Fang Ruowei shrank behind Gu Zeyan, her voice soft.

"Sister Ruoying, it's just a game."

"Beep —"

Director Pei Zhao blew the whistle.

Shen Jue rushed out first.

His feet slipped.

The 1.87-meter tall guy did a standard split on the inflatable mat.

The bullet comments were instantly flooded.

[Little Jue, your lower body stability is lacking!]

[Giving away a kill right at the start, hahahaha]

[Jiang Rumu hiding behind Brother Li looks like a pendant]

[The number of viewers is 45 million! The whole internet is watching them play in the water]

Just then.

"Woo — woo — woo —"

Air raid sirens suddenly exploded over Water World.

The sound was deafening. It directly drowned out the sound of the wave pool and the background music on site.

The guests on the inflatable castle all stopped moving.

Shen Jue was still in the splits position, looking up at the sky.

"Again?"

Yin Ruoying let go of Fang Ruowei's clothes and rolled her eyes.

"So annoying, it rings eight hundred times a day."

Han Xubai adjusted his contact lenses and stood still.

"Based on the experience of the last twenty-four hours, this is highly likely another false alarm, or the missile is hundreds of kilometers away."

Director Pei Zhao stood on the shore, raising his megaphone to shout.

"Ignore the alarm! Continue! Keep the camera angles tight!"

Old Zhou shouldered the camera, steadily aiming at the inflatable castle.

No one panicked.

Dubai's air defense system was world-class. Over the past day, the alarm had sounded over a dozen times, but except for the first wave, every time it was intercepted far away, and you couldn't even see sparks.

Everyone was desensitized.

The game continued.

Cen Ye bypassed the split-doing Shen Jue and reached out to grab the name tag on his back.

Halfway through the action.

He stopped.

Cen Ye looked up at the sky.

The sky over the Persian Gulf at 4:00 PM was as blue as if washed, without a single wisp of cloud.

But in that pure blue, a bright spot appeared.

The bright spot trailed a white exhaust plume and was growing larger at an extremely fast speed.

Cen Ye narrowed his eyes.

"In broad daylight..." He muttered in Sichuan dialect, "There's actually a shooting star?"

This sentence, carried through the microphone at his collar, was clearly transmitted to the 45 million-strong live stream.

The bullet comments paused for a second.

[A shooting star? Where would a shooting star come from in the daytime?]

[Holy crap! What is that?!]

[Look at the sky!]

Li Li had been blocking in front of Jiang Rumu, guarding against Gu Zeyan's sneak attack.

Hearing Cen Ye's words, he looked up abruptly.

A sharp, burning sensation pierced his skin at his left wrist.

The blue text didn't appear as usual.

It turned into a blinding blood red, flashing frantically on his retina.

[System Highest Level Warning!!!]

[High-threat flying object detected approaching!]

[Ammunition type: Low-yield cluster bomb!]

[Estimated impact point: Central area of Atlantis Water World!]

[Countdown: 30 seconds!]

It wasn't a false alarm.

It wasn't stray fire being intercepted.

It was a cluster bomb coming directly to carpet-bomb this place.

Li Li didn't waste any words.

He turned abruptly, grabbed the collar of Jiang Rumu's life jacket, and used his body weight to slam her down.

Jiang Rumu didn't even have time to scream before she was dragged down by Li Li.

The two of them fell directly from the edge of the inflatable castle into the water.

"Li Li, what are you — glug-glug-glug —"

Water splashed everywhere.

Li Li pressed himself over Jiang Rumu, shielding the back of her head with his hands, pressing her toward the bottom of the pool.

The surrounding guests still didn't understand the situation.

Shen Jue had just climbed up from his split position.

"Brother Li, your tactics are a bit foul..."

20 seconds.

The bright spot in the sky was no longer a dot.

It was a clear metal cylinder.

The sound of the air raid siren became extremely sharp at this moment.

Dubai's air defense missiles launched from a distant base, dragging long exhaust flames as they intercepted it.

18 seconds.

In mid-air, a huge fireball exploded.

The air defense missile hit the target.

The red countdown on Li Li's retina didn't stop. It was still jumping.

[Warning! Cluster bomb mother pod has ruptured!]

[Sub-munitions are scattering!]

16 seconds.

From that fireball in the sky, over a dozen small black metal balls burst out.

They rained down on Water World, covering the sky.

The interception was successful. But the moment the cluster bomb was hit, it released its internal sub-munitions early.

14 seconds.

Cen Ye saw the black dots clearly.

Every hair on his body stood on end.

"Holy crap! Bombs!"

He turned abruptly and tackled Qi Wanyin into the water.

12 seconds.

The black metal balls screeched as they slammed into various areas of Water World.

The wave pool. The lazy river. The rest area. The inflatable castle.

10 seconds.

Li Li pressed his body weight completely onto Jiang Rumu.

The two of them sank to the bottom of the water.

The muscles in Li Li's back were tensed to the limit.

The staff on the shore finally reacted and jumped into the water like dumplings.

From the direction of the sea.

Suddenly, a terrifying tearing sound came.

It wasn't the roar of a single artillery piece.

It sounded like ten thousand chainsaws cutting through heavy canvas at the same time.

"Shhh —"

The 1130 close-in weapon system of the type 055 destroyer opened fire.

With a rate of fire of 10,000 rounds per minute, it pulled dark red whips of fire across the sky.

The dense tungsten-core armor-piercing projectiles collided head-on with the sub-munitions scattered in the sky.

A chain of explosions erupted over Water World.

The air blast pressed down like a tsunami.

The inflatable castle was instantly flipped over, tearing into shredded rubber in mid-air.

The water in the pool was pressed into deep pits by the massive impact.

Li Li and Jiang Rumu's bodies were swept up by the underwater turbulence, thrown into the air, and then slammed back into the water heavily.

Mud, water, plastic fragments, and debris mixed into a pot of boiling porridge.

In the 45 million-viewer live stream, the screen shook violently.

Then.

The ten guests' live streams.

Went black simultaneously.

The bullet comments froze for a second.

The screen full of question marks was instantly drowned by terrified words.

[Holy crap, what happened?!]

[It exploded! It really exploded!]

[That was a bomb! I saw it!]

[Where are Li Li and Jiang Rumu?!]

Underwater.

Murky and chaotic.

Li Li opened his eyes.

Above the water, the muffled aftermath of the explosion was still reverberating in the water.

The sky of Dubai.

Had completely changed color.