Chapter 127: Nuclear War

Chapter 127 H War

The man thought his words would surely make Gu Jinsheng hesitate, given that many foreign residents now lived in the capital city's base.

Yet he was wrong. Gu Jinsheng would always be Gu Jinsheng. His thin lips parted slightly as he uttered, "As you wish."

Without another word, dozens of superpowered mecha pilots descended from the sky. Against these colossal mechas, the superpowered individuals stood no chance, effortlessly subdued and strung up like kebabs before being hurled out of the capital base.

The superpowered mecha pilots even kindly checked the protesters' original nationalities and sent them back to their home countries.

The twist? The loudest protester turned out to be originally from Nation R. This was interesting.

When the man was thrown back onto that familiar yet foreign land, he froze.

Nation R had long been under the rule of clones. When Clone #10 Kobashi killed Kobashi Ichiro to avenge Clone #11 Kobashi, he released all the clones, and the R base officially became a clone-ruled stronghold.

In the blink of an eye, the capital city's mechas vanished from sight. Still dazed, the man suddenly found himself surrounded by countless identical clones.

Their expressions eerily similar, the clones aimed their pistols trained on him, barrels steady.

The man's heart pounded as if it might leap out of his throat, his mouth dry and throat tight.

"Listen—you can understand human speech, right? Let me make this clear, I'm a resident of the capital city's base, a Chinese national! If you dare harm a single hair on my head, you're finished! The capital city's base and Gu Jinsheng will never let this go!" he bluffed, a far cry from his defiant hero act outside the command center earlier.

One of the clones turned slightly to glance behind him, where another clone stood—a perfect double of the former R base Commander-in-Chief, Kobashi Ichiro.

This clone was Kobashi #10.

"Was it the capital city's mechas that just dumped you here?" Kobashi #10 stared coldly at the man, his eerily blank stare.

"Unfortunately, I happened to be watching the capital city's live broadcast earlier. I saw you. That speech of yours... quite something." Kobashi #10's voice remained flat, giving no hint whether he meant it as praise or sarcasm.

Luckily, he didn’t leave the man guessing for long. "But I’m sorry—humans aren't welcome here. It’s a clone base. So, as much as I admired your speech, I must ask you to leave immediately."

With that, Kobashi #10 turned to leave. The man stared at his retreating figure, an inexplicable sense of unease and a creeping dread coiling in his chest.

Trying to treat the clones as he would ordinary humans, the man cautiously spoke up. "I need to return to the capital city's base, but you know walking back is impossible. Any chance of a hovercraft ride to take me?" His eyes brimmed with hope.

Kobashi #10 didn’t stop walking. Instead, he raised three fingers.

"The clone base welcomes no humans. The guest has three seconds to leave, or they will be treated as hostiles and terminated."

His monotone voice continued, "Three... two..."

Only then did the man realize why his heart had been racing. Unless he had a hovercraft or mecha, how could he possibly leave the R base in three seconds? This was a death sentence.

But he understood too late. As the final number fell, a laser bolt punched through his chest. Staring at the green dot that pierced his body and struck the ground beneath him, the man couldn’t process how his desperate efforts to obtain Chinese citizenship—meant to guarantee a safe, zombie-free life—had led him here.

With a thud, his body collapsed.

A frosty smirk played in Kobashi #10's eyes. "Idiot. It was always you who needed the capital city's base—not the other way around."

Gu Jinsheng had always ruled with an iron fist, no stranger to hardline tactics.

Thousands of protesters being expelled from the capital city's base quickly snapped many back to reality who had been terrified by the H War.

They finally remembered Gu Jinsheng's temper—cross him and you're out of the capital city's safe haven. The protests died down fast.

Yet a handful clung to the belief that since the capital city's base was ground zero for Nation M's H War weapons, anywhere but here had to be safer.

Many people clamored to leave the Jing City Base, shouting, "I want to leave here, let me out! This is my right as a citizen."

These people caused an uproar, demanding the base gates be opened to let them go.

Unable to bear watching them make a mistake, a guard pleaded with them, "Director Ji will find a solution. Besides, Commander-in-Chief Gu is here—what are you afraid of?"

"I'm no fool. They have mechs and hover vehicles. If it comes to the worst, they can just escape in those, leaving us ordinary people to die."

The guard found it frustrating to reason with these people.

"Old Zhang, we just received orders from Commander-in-Chief Gu—strip them of citizenship and let them leave."

Old Zhang sighed, knowing he couldn't help them anymore. He revoked their Chinese citizenship and let them walk out the city gates.

Charles from M Base closely monitored the movements of the Jing City Base. Finding this tactic ineffective, he exploded in anger.

"Gu Jinsheng is truly a hypocritical and cunning man. He always talks up democracy and civil rights, yet when it counts, the people's opinions mean nothing."

Charles's gaze turned sinister. "Since he won't play nice, don't blame me for being ruthless."

"Launch the missiles!"

Other high-ranking officials exchanged uneasy glances, shocked that Charles would trigger a Nuclear War on a whim.

One official spoke up, "Commander-in-Chief Charles, our goal is immigration. Perhaps we should confirm with the Jing City Base again. If they still refuse our immigration terms even after knowing we’ll use nukes, then we can proceed with the missile launch."

Charles sneered. "You understand nothing. It’s all about catching them off guard. Only by teaching Gu Jinsheng a harsh lesson will he learn true fear and recognize M Base's unstoppable power. Break him, and he’ll fall in line."

"Relay my orders—launch missiles at the Jing City Base immediately!"

Charles's madness knew no bounds. Once he snapped, even the scientists could do nothing.

Honestly, with Charles being this unhinged, why did Gu Jinsheng have to provoke him?

"Emergency! Charles has ordered missiles to be launched at the Jing City Base!" Owen's AI beeped as an encrypted message appeared on his screen.

Ji An immediately commanded, "Track and shoot them down at all costs!"

The entire operations room was in chaos, the atmosphere tense and grave.

Though Gu Jinsheng and other high-ranking officials couldn’t decipher the dense codes on the consoles, their eyes remained fixed on the screens.

Simultaneously, all communication devices across China received the emergency alert.

The civilians, though aware, could do nothing. Many knelt and prayed desperately to the heavens for deliverance from this calamity.

Meanwhile, those who had hastily left and returned to their home countries learned the news through certain channels and were downright gleeful.

One recently departed Korean superpowered sneered, "Serves them right! Let Gu Jinsheng act all high and mighty. Now that he’s angered that lunatic Charles, the Jing City Base will soon be nothing but a radioactive wasteland!"

The Koreans weren’t the only ones rejoicing—their delegation, once humiliated by the Jing City Base, also relished the impending downfall.

"China thinks they’re so great? Just a fluke. The mighty M Nation will be the ultimate victor. Only by clinging to M can we survive this apocalyptic era. China’s delusions of outdoing M are laughable."

"Opposing the mighty M Nation is suicide. This is their fate!"

This sentiment wasn’t exclusive to Korea—T Base shared the same view.

At the beginning of the apocalypse, the T Base gave up their Chinese citizenship and took shelter with M Base to survive. Later, as the Capital Base grew stronger day by day, the T Base had considered changing allegiance and returning to China's embrace, but by then, they had completely offended the Capital Base and there was no going back.

Now, upon learning that M Base was about to launch a Nuclear War against the Capital Base, they were thrilled, even grateful they hadn’t returned to China.

Not all people from the T Base felt this way—many shared a sense of sympathy for China’s plight and silently prayed for China.

Gou Chong kept his old promise and never entered West City, even as the Capital Base flourished. When he saw the message on his communication device, he was stunned.

Gou Chong stared into the distance toward the command center, his eyes filled with worry.

"Don’t worry. Everything is fate. If we all die in this hellish world, it might not be such a bad thing," Gou’s father comforted, patting his son’s shoulder.

Gou Chong didn’t respond, his eyes still fixed on the distance.

"You’re worried about Deputy Commander Zhou, aren’t you?" Gou’s father sighed. "It’s our family that held you back. If not for us, you’d be fighting alongside Deputy Commander Zhou right now."

"Don’t say that. It was my own choice back then. I don’t regret it." Gou Chong was just concerned about that person. He had silently vowed to forget after choosing betrayal, but when the moment came, he couldn’t help but worry.

"We’ve detected it!" A researcher’s excited voice rang out in the operations room.

Ji An stepped closer. "Take it down now. Ensure it’s intercepted outside Chinese territory at all costs."

"Yes," the researcher replied firmly.