novelraw Chapter 1168 - 597: Suffering upon Suffering for Pasarella
Chapter 1168 - 597: Suffering upon Suffering for Pasarella
It was like a bolt from the blue.
It's as if one day you're sitting at home, eating hotpot and singing, when suddenly your subordinate rushes in, screaming, and tells you, "It's bad! Outside the cave, a monk with a hairy face and thunderous mouth is invading!"
No, does this make sense?
Impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
Because it doesn't make sense at all!
Anything in the world can lack reason, except Tian Yuan cannot—no matter how unreasonable you are with others, you must at least convince yourself.
The established dominance over Central Earth has been settled for two hundred years; everyone's accustomed to the slow, steady days.
For the Federation and Empire, the current revenue, predictable future gains, and the risks involved in starting a war have already determined—at this stage, it's impossible for the two sides to clash!
Fan Yun acting on his own?
That's even more impossible.
That Old Turtle has waited for this day for so many years; could he be so impatient now? Can he bear the consequences of arbitrarily starting a war?!
Don't talk about desperation; that old guy's least likely to act rashly, and has never acted impulsively whatsoever. Even if you misunderstand him, even if you killed his father and hung him on the wall, he wouldn't even flinch.
He absolutely wouldn't bear the blame for an undeclared war.
So, it's confirmed; it's not the Federation.
Could it be domestic?
That's even more wrong; now his majesty is critically ill, and in the Great City, the newly selected candidates are practically at each other's throats, they all need to win support for themselves—how could anyone possibly pull off a backstab at this critical moment?
If it's not the Federation or the Empire, then where is it from?
The White Country Restoration Front?
The moment that speculation arose, he was amused—those incapable rebels, who've been talking of restoration for years, are merely local armed factions; what kind of guts would they have to seek their own doom?
Or perhaps the Red Country has gone mad? Stone Country has lost control?
No matter what happens, it doesn't affect the bigger picture.
No matter who's causing trouble behind the scenes, at this crucial moment, things can't continue to be chaotic!
Swift and strict action, suppress decisively, absolutely cannot lose control of the situation.
As long as I step forward...
Wait!
At that moment, his movements froze, finally feeling a chilling dread.
Suddenly, with a crisp bang, the whole person vanished without a trace, and reappeared in the deepest bunker of the entire base, surrounded by layers of defense.
Without hesitation, he activated the entire base's control system; the Heavenly Essence Law rose abruptly, enveloping the entire base, taking over everything, fully prepared and heavily guarded.
Everything was brought under control!
Immediately after, a storm whipped up, spread outwards, covering thousands of miles of wilderness, forcibly dispersing all spiritual phenomena, clearing the wasteland. Then, all missile launch platforms were activated, entering a state ready to be triggered.
With the wind sounding like cranes, bows, and snakes.
In the midst of heavy vigilance and defense, Pasarella was already sweating profusely!
As he realized that the current turmoil only needed him to personally step in to easily suppress, he finally discovered something was wrong.
If, suppose, perhaps, maybe, by any chance...
Even with a one in millions chance!
—What if the opponent's goal is just to make him step forward?
All it takes is for him to step out, say a couple of words in front of everyone, and all chaos and waves are suppressed, but at what cost?
What exactly would be the cost?
A bullet stretching across thousands of miles, piercing right into his forehead?!
How familiar, too familiar!
This entire process, the more he thinks about it, the more familiar it feels—first laying out a deliberate confusion, feigning an attack on the east from the west, letting the opponent naturally mobilize, then suddenly, chaos and surprise occur, and when the main person in charge appears to mediate or exert pressure within layers of protection, suddenly in front of everyone, their head explodes!
Isn't it familiar?
The last Border Duke died exactly this way!
The Emperor is still lying in the ICU watching you!
Especially when he unhesitatingly used his personal Ethereal Creation, pursued every Cause and Effect, yet failed to find any evidence someone was targeting him.
Stone Heart sensed no malice, his consciousness was normal in the Life Book, yet in the prediction of Ascension Spirit, everything appeared blurry.
It's as if suddenly launching a flare into the darkness, illuminating the emptiness around him, and among the blankness, those unsensible eerie darknesses and blind spots become increasingly apparent!
No answer, but no answer is already the plainest answer.
Does it even need further contemplation?
Pasarella was starting to sweat: Look at this iconic style, family!
Who else would go through so much trouble and effort to sever all the clues and Causes and Effects to target him?
Damn it, Nirvana has come for him!
In a moment of silence, Pasarella turned around and issued orders to the personnel stationed in the bunker: "Communicate to the entire base, everyone return to their posts, no disturbances allowed.
All military police are issued live ammunition, violators can be shot directly. Effective immediately, the whole base enters a wartime state, a Level-7 alert is issued!"
Amidst a brief moment of shock, everyone instinctively straightened their bodies and saluted, obeying the command.
The adjutant, who was slightly off and sluggish in movement, was already fixed by Pasarella's gaze, trembling with fear and unable to speak, until Pasarella finally confirmed his identity and withdrew his eyes.
At this point, the only option was to be fully prepared and not to lose composure.
Once the level seven alert is issued, the Imperial Secretariat will receive it, and within half an hour, the Heavenly People will come to assist, and the situation will naturally be resolved.
So far, the mastermind has not shown up, so why panic?
No matter if Nirvana is causing trouble behind the scenes, remain unchanged to cope with all changes.
Under the coverage of the Heavenly Element Order, there is absolutely no room for error!
Restraint, patience, hold steady!
As long as we stay still, we will definitely not lose!
And just on the periphery of the base's core, under Tian Yuan's blockade, a shadow not belonging here quietly slipped past the heavily guarded defenses and headed towards the destination with the crowd.
It can be foreseen that under powerful suppression, the entire base will quickly return to order. Regrettably, just before this——mobile phones that hadn't yet been cut off from external communications started to flicker violently and vibrate incessantly.
Pop-up news from the Central Earth news app.
The person answering the phone froze for a moment and then looked shocked.
"The Emperor has passed away?!"
"What nonsense are you saying?!"
"Really, I just received the message. Check it if you don't believe me."
"This is bad, the Federation has declared war!"
"An unknown contamination leak appeared in the White Country..."
"The Heavenly Calamity is here again!"
"Are you crazy?! Everyone, put down your phones—"
Amidst the noisy and anxious voices, a flood of sensational news erupted from various servers, coming like a torrential downpour, relentlessly hitting.
Under the strict rules, everyone couldn't help but exchange glances, wanting to speak but stopping.
Unable to speak, yet afraid to say anything.
Even until now, after the explosion ten minutes ago, no one can clearly say what exactly happened.
Everyone instinctively sought the reason but couldn't find it.
Under the facade of strict discipline, thoughts and consciousness have fallen into confusion under continuous stimulation, even coming to a halt.
In the distance, gunshots rang out!
The sentries on the base's perimeter, upon receiving orders, fired at the open ground without hesitation, dispersing the crowd on the perimeter.
In the distance, on the exploding oil pipeline, thick smoke billowed, and massive amounts of Fuel Element evaporated, diffusing in the air, continuously stirring up explosions.
And amidst shrill alarms, a large number of drones have been released, their scarlet eyes overlooking anyone daring to come close.
Under Tian Yuan's control, the entire base has turned into a fortress.
In the sky, huge Flying Airships cast terrifying shadows, and reconnaissance planes and fighter jets continuously took off from the tarmac.
The quick reaction force is ready to go, ninety-one Power Armors are preheated and ready to set off at any moment.
By now, the enemy has not yet appeared, and the entire base, like a startled giant, awakened from a dream, has drawn its weapons, ready to fight to the death with whoever it may be.
But the enemy?
Where is the enemy?
More importantly, who is the enemy?
On the other side of Tower City, Near Sea Port, the Federation Military Base looked bewildered: Huh? Me?
No, friend, are you crazy!
In less than three minutes, Fan Yun had already called, demanding, "Old dog, what are you stirring up?
Central City's call will come soon, you'd better hurry up. If you want to fight, send a missile over; today, I'll send you to meet your former Emperor!"
"It's just a routine exercise, internal affairs of the Empire, no need to explain to you," Pasarella restrained his emotions and calmly replied, "I hope the Federation exercises restraint and avoids causing friction."
"Restraint? You teach me what restraint is?" Fan Yun snapped angrily, "The level seven alert has been sounded, the deterrence mechanism is activated, and you tell me it's an exercise?
Deterrence mechanism?
Pasarella was stunned for a moment and instinctively wanted to argue, but then suddenly realized something was wrong.
He had only activated the level seven alert, so where did the deterrence mechanism come from?
Wait a minute, the old rules from the Cold War over a hundred years ago, why have they suddenly come to light?
When the Federation and the Empire were at their most antagonistic, the hot war between the two was about to break out. At that time, both sides were ready for a major upheaval war.
In the most dangerous situations, once a level seven alert was sounded, a fully loaded bomber was ready in every military base, prepared to take off at any moment, heading to the front line or conducting an immediate airstrike on the enemy's critical points.
At the most dangerous times, some key bomber numbers were even logged as [Revenge], intending to retaliate against the enemy with weapons of mass destruction at the first instance.
Even now, this convention continues, but after a hundred years of peace, it has almost become a purely procedural step, just on standby in the hangar.
Moreover, how can the deterrence mechanism possibly take off without my order?
At that moment, Pasarella was thunderstruck, hung up the phone, and roared back:
"Who authorized the activation of the deterrence mechanism? Who!"