Munitions Empire

Chapter 2024 - 1886: Utter Failure

Sofia’s scream pierced through the solemn atmosphere of the ceremony, like a sharp lightning bolt tearing through the night sky. She screamed frantically, "Don’t come over! No one is allowed to approach me!" Her voice trembled with extreme tension, nearly breaking.

The detonator in her hand, a small device that looked like an ordinary remote control, trembled slightly in her sweaty palm, as if it might be accidentally pressed at any moment. Sofia’s gaze swept rapidly over the crowd, her eyes filled with fear and madness, like a cornered beast.

"Don’t act rashly, please calm down!" The female security officer’s voice remained calm, attempting to soothe Sofia’s nearly collapsing emotions. She cautiously took a small step forward, raising her hands slightly to show she meant no harm.

"This won’t benefit anyone! Put down the weapon, and we can talk." She persuaded in the most soothing tone she could muster, hoping to stabilize Sofia’s emotions.

Sofia laughed hysterically, her laughter sharp and chilling: "Talk? What’s there to talk about?" Her eyes were filled with desperation and madness, as if she had given up everything.

"My demand is simple: let me go to the Observation Platform! Now, immediately! No one can stop me!" She screamed hysterically, waving the gun around the crowd, her threat explicit.

A burly guard stepped forward and said in a grave voice, "I’m sorry, ma’am, you can’t go anywhere right now." He tightened his grip on his baton, his knuckles turning white, his gaze fixed on Sofia, ready to deal with any unexpected situation.

"Get out of my way!" Sofia suddenly aimed the gun at the speaking guard, her eyes fierce and resolute: "Who says I can’t go anywhere? I’m telling you, if I die, all the bombs will explode soon! None of you know where they are! By then, the entire coronation ceremony will be blown to the sky! The Great Tang Empire will become a laughingstock of the world! And my purpose will be achieved!"

She uttered each word, as if squeezing them through clenched teeth, filled with threat and madness. In fact, she was only bluffing because she knew she had only planted one bomb in the venue.

Her subordinates said the bomb was placed inside the coronation platform, capable of killing the crowning Tang Mo... but this Sofia could not reveal; she could only claim bombs were everywhere to pressure the surrounding guards.

"We’ve already notified our superiors," the female security officer remained calm, despite her own internal tension and unease: "Please calm down, someone with higher authority will be here to talk with you soon. Please don’t act impulsively."

Sofia took a deep breath, seemingly trying to control her manic emotions. Her chest heaved violently, as if ready to explode at any moment: "Fine."

She paused, then suddenly raised her voice, speaking sharply: "Then let that person come talk to me!... No! I’ve changed my mind! Let Tang Mo come talk to me! I want to see with my own eyes if this damned man has the guts to stand before me!"

At this moment, a tall man in a black uniform with a sharp gaze walked over quickly. He moved steadily, carrying the authority of a superior, quickly taking over command on the scene: "I am the Commander of the Imperial Security Bureau, and I am in charge here now!"

After speaking, he looked at Sofia amidst the crowd and spoke in a cold, emotionless voice: "You can tell me your demands directly."

Sofia stared straight into the commander’s eyes and said slowly, word by word: "My demand is simple, let Tang Mo see me!"

"Impossible!" The commander refused without hesitation, his tone firm and decisive: "His Majesty The Emperor would never come to see you! You should give up on this!"

"Oh? How do you know he won’t come?" Sofia asked provocatively, with a hint of mockery in her tone: "Or is it that he doesn’t dare?"

The commander sneered, disdain in his eyes: "What makes you qualified to see him?"

He retorted: "Just because of the gun in your hand and a few crazy words? Ridiculous! If anyone could see His Majesty The Emperor just by holding a weapon and saying a few words, then His Majesty The Emperor wouldn’t be doing anything else, would he?"

"I have a bomb!" Sofia emphasized once again, with a touch of madness, as if this was her last card.

"Oh really?" The commander’s tone remained disdainful, as if he didn’t believe her: "Then go ahead and press it! I want to see how powerful your so-called bomb is."

"Do you really wish not to know where something might explode suddenly?" Sofia’s voice turned sharp and ear-piercing, almost hysterical.

The commander shrugged, his tone relaxed and casual: "No, I don’t wish so." Then he added lightly: "But I think your bomb probably won’t explode."

Sofia’s mouth curled into a strange smile, slowly blooming on her face like a poppy flower quietly blossoming in the night, beautiful yet carrying deadly danger.

"Perhaps," her tone was gentle yet sharp, as if talking to herself or whispering to the commander: "Perhaps you’re right, perhaps I’m just bluffing, perhaps my bomb won’t explode at all..."

She deliberately elongated the end of her words, and a cunning glint sparkled in her eyes.

"But..." she changed her tone abruptly, her voice suddenly turning sharp: "Do you dare to gamble? Do you dare to bet that your judgment is correct? Do you dare to bet that my bomb won’t explode?"

She spoke word by word, each one like a sharp blade stabbing directly into the Commander’s heart.

The Commander maintained his indifferent demeanor, shrugged, and said lightly, "Let’s give it a try."

His tone was relaxed and casual, as if discussing something trivial, completely dismissing Sofia’s threat.

Sofia’s expression changed slightly, a hint of anger flashed in her eyes. She took a deep breath, and tried hard to control her emotion. Her voice was low and hoarse, like the calm before the storm: "You have quite the mouth."

She stared intensely into the Commander’s eyes, speaking word by word, "You’re quite good at talking, and pretending, but..."

Reaching this point, she raised her voice again, filled with threat: "As long as I press this button!"

While speaking, she waved the detonator in her hand: "The bomb will explode!"

She paused, a madness flickering in her eyes, "By then, the winner will be me!"

In fact, she really did gamble right; if the Imperial Security Bureau truly didn’t care about the bomb placed somewhere unknown, they would’ve ordered to open fire long ago. Unfortunately, many places are broadcasting on TV now, the parade to celebrate has already spread across several streets. If several bombs really were to explode in this situation, His Majesty The Emperor’s coronation ceremony wouldn’t happen.

Thus, the Imperial Security Bureau dispatched personnel to inspect all suspicious locations nearby, while secretly preparing electromagnetic interference equipment to block nearby remote signals.

This is the safest plan, so the Commander of the Imperial Security Bureau before us, now needs to buy time.

Seeing Sofia gradually slipping into a frenzy, he realized that if he continued to be aggressive, she might really do something crazy, so he immediately changed strategy.

"Actually, we can have a proper talk!" He opened his hands, making a gesture of not attacking her: "What are your demands? Let me hear them."

"I want Tang Mo to see me!" Sofia repeated her demand. She knew she had no so-called escape route left, now she could only go down this path to the end.

"Signal jamming equipment is in place! We can commence interference at any time." From the headset worn by the Commander of the Imperial Security Bureau, came the voice of his subordinate.

"Sniper Group Position 1 is in place! Target locked! Ready to fire!" Very quickly, the voice of the Special Action Team also sounded: "Position 2 sniper in place! Good vision! Target locked! Standby!"

"The car they are riding has been checked, there’s no bomb inside! The driver is under control... hasn’t revealed any useful information for now." Next, another group of people has almost finished the surrounding tasks.

"Sniper Group Position 3 is in place! Target locked!" The last sniper group has already deployed at a nearby vantage point, through the scope, the sniper clearly saw Sofia’s whole red dress.

Putting his hand behind him, making a tactical gesture, the Commander of the Imperial Security Bureau soon heard noise from the electromagnetic interference through his headset.

Communications were all cut off, to ensure the opponent’s remote control would definitely not send a detonation signal, all bands including their communication frequencies would be covered by full-frequency interference. In the instant he confirmed the fire signal gesture, snipers from three directions almost simultaneously pulled the trigger.

Sofia saw a blossom of blood erupt from the hand she was holding the gun with, then she felt her arm holding the detonator struck by something. She lost her balance completely, and in an instant, it seemed the whole world was spinning.

The entire process happened in an instant. She instinctively drove her finger to press the switch of the detonator, but she didn’t see a dazzling flame erupting from afar, nor did she hear the deafening sound of the explosion coming.

Not until her blood-soaked arm was pinned to the ground by the guards rushing up, the piercing pain from the wound came, she finally realized... she had failed.

Completely failed.