“Whether the plan succeeds in bringing out the last piece isn’t the question. The probability hovers between sixty to seventy percent. If we don’t obtain the whole statue by the seven day limit, we would be erased either way. We might as well take the gamble.” Xuan said to the people in front.
Heng, ChengXiao, w.a.n.gXia, and Yanwei stood in front of him. They had over thirty hours before the time limit was up. Xuan left Shanghai where he had stayed the past few days, and came to the northeast. There was no longer a j.a.panese occupied area in this region. With the defeat of the j.a.panese army, the northeast region became lawless and chaotic. Deserters, bandits and refugees formed the paintings of h.e.l.l. These small scale riots happening among its citizens were not something the team could stop.
“Get it? This is the reason I disagreed with you defeating the j.a.panese army in a large scale battle.” Xuan calmly stated. “The cruelest laws are still better than a lawless state. Zhuge Liang in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms also spared Cao Cao’s life. Once the region falls into a chaos, the destruction that follows will be worse than the war itself… But since you have already done it, you can only wait until the two political parties take over this place.”
Heng, ChengXiao and w.a.n.gXia nodded without a word in response. They were excited when they defeated the j.a.panese army. It was like fulfilling a revenge. However, they were dumbfounded and panicked at the riots that came after. They didn’t know the rationale behind the chain reaction. They could only watch as the chaos contaminated the whole region. In just a day, hundreds of thousands of people died. This number continued to climb with each minute.
“There is no way to end the chaos with normal means. The only possible way is -” Xuan said in a serious manner. “To suppress them with a more shocking news.”
ChengXiao quickly asked. “What kind of news? To kill a whole city of rioters?”
Xuan shook his head. “That will only drive the situation down hill and ignite riots in non-affected areas. Deserters and routed j.a.panese soldiers are still on the run so it’s not possible to stop these riots. You need a news that can shock both the rioters and j.a.panese soldiers. What do you think of the sinking of Tokyo?”
Heng, ChengXiao, and w.a.n.gXia sighed as they silently accepted Xuan’s proposal. They couldn’t come up with any objections. They were scouring for a reason to stop Xuan before he arrived, or at least reduce the casualties that would be involved. The hundreds of thousands of j.a.panese citizens in Tokyo were innocent. Yet, with the riots occurring in the northeast region, they couldn’t find any words to say. Human nature was selfish. People of their own country were more important than people of other countries. They couldn’t spare the mercy to the j.a.panese in comparison.
The five people boarded the Sky Sticks and headed toward the ocean. Heng thought about leaving Yanwei behind, but a powerless woman in this chaos wouldn’t be safe. He had no choice but to bring her along.
The j.a.panese islands appeared on the horizon after two hours of flight. The sun was rising and looking down from above, they could see a silhouette of a city on the island. Near the location of the city’s harbor were numerous tiny dots. Those were the s.h.i.+ps idling outside.
Xuan piloted the Sky Stick down and the other three followed right after him. As they came near the surface of the ocean, they noticed Xuan wasn’t flying toward the Toyko Harbor. He was heading for a s.h.i.+p that was some distance away.
The group was interested in why Xuan wanted to intercept the s.h.i.+p, but before they could get their heads around, two Gauss pistols slipped into Xuan’s hands. He raised his hands as if entering into Gunkata style. The three men quickly flew their Sky Sticks in front to block him off.
Heng said. “Don’t kill any more innocent people. Our goal is only intimidation. It should be fine to let these people go… Even though we are going to nuke Tokyo…”
He had the mentality of a normal person. Both the ma.s.sacre that happened in China and the nuke that would happen soon were triggered from distance. He wouldn’t be able to stay determined if he were to kill so many people in such close range, despite the fact that he had overcome his weakness.
Xuan frowned. Seeing this, ChengXiao quickly said. “We are going to need people to relay the message after we nuked Tokyo, right? Otherwise, the powers over the world wouldn’t see our intimidation. I know what you are thinking. There are spies in j.a.pan, who will send the message out. However, have you considered the power of the Magic Cannon? What if it’s too powerful that it sinks the land the spies are on? Or if it breaks the crust of the islands? No one will be able to send the message out. This s.h.i.+p should have the ability for telegram. We can keep the s.h.i.+p intact then the people on the s.h.i.+p will send the message out.”
Xuan retrieve the pistols. Heng and ChengXiao let out a sigh of relief then they heard Xuan said. “I was going to shoot a few holes on the deck. But if you insist, you can do it. Make four holes slightly larger than a horse’s hoof and as deep as the hoof goes. For the placements, follow this horse.” He brought out the weird looking Magic Cannon - a cannon sitting on top four skeleton horse legs.
While Heng and ChengXiao couldn’t find anything to say, the s.h.i.+p stopped. The group gained control of the s.h.i.+p after w.a.n.gXia and Xuan killed a dozen sailors. It was a cruise sailing toward China. Aside from the sailors, most people on board were tourists of various nationalities. So it was easy for the group to seize control.
Heng and ChengXiao dug four holes on the deck. They had to use their hands and arrows to dig the holes. And it wasn’t digging on soil. The deck was made of steel. Even with Nanto Suicho Ken and enchanted arrows, the task was strenuous compared a few shots from the Gauss pistols.
By the time Xuan and w.a.n.gXia came out from the cabins, the s.h.i.+p had turned to face Tokyo. The legs of the weird cannon stood inside the holes. Tourists crowded behind the deck and watched team China from the distance. Some couldn’t hold themselves from laughing at the weird looking cannon, a steel sh.e.l.l covering a horse. No one could think of it as a high tech weapon, not even the members of team China themselves.
“I think Zheng’s heart must have hurt so much. He really liked the Nightmare. With Xuan’s alteration, he would probably cry every time we use the Magic Cannon.” ChengXiao said in a low voice.
While ChengXiao was bringing up the conflict between Xuan and Zheng, w.a.n.gXia said. “Xuan, how is the recoil of the cannon? These legs seem so fragile that they would collapse at any second. Can they withstand the Magic Cannon’s recoil?”
“That’s not an issue. The Magic Cannon is built on the horse because it could negate gravity. As long as its legs are fixed in the holes, any excess force will be dissipated onto the s.h.i.+p. Now then, fire.”
Xuan calibrated the Magic Cannon’s aim to Tokyo Harbor. He then inserted a ring into a hole on the cannon. Light flowed on the surface of the ring like water. He brought out the spatial storage bag they obtained from Adam in the Lord of the Rings. The bag was filled with rank C and some rank B energy stones.
Xuan grabbed a handful of energy stones and shoved them into the barrel. As he pressed the b.u.t.tons on the cannon, the light on the ring exploded in intensity. It radiated like the sun, burning everyone’s eyes. Only those who had enhanced their bodies could keep their eyes open. Even then, as the brilliance grew, the team China members slowly narrowed their eyes.
“The collision of Zheng’s Blood Energy and Qi can erupt into an unimaginable force. The principle behind Explosion and Destruction seems to be a form of annihilation reaction. He recently condensed his Qi into refined Qi, which possess a quality and effect over a hundred times more than Qi. My question is, if Qi condenses into refined Qi, what does Blood Energy condenses into?”
The light coming from the muzzle grew even more intense than the light from the ring. The members of team China could no longer keep their eyes open. They closed their eyes but a slight burning pain lingered.
It was a strange light, a stream of black light and a stream of white light entangled onto each other. Normally, there shouldn’t be black light. However, that was the color radiating from this energy.
“It is indeed possible to condense Blood Energy. I call the resulting energy Magic. Refined Qi and Magic have polarizing attributes like Yin and Yang. The collision of these two energies triggers annihilation. If Qi and Blood Energy generates something as powerful as Destruction, what kind of force will refined Qi and Magic generate when they collide?”
A black and white beam shot out from the Magic Cannon. The beam began at just over ten centimeters in diameter and grew into thirty meters as it traveled a thousand meters away. The collision within the beam became increasingly volatile and sparkled off light in every color of the spectrum. The beam looked like it had transformed into a rainbow. Yet, its existence was not nearly as beautiful as its appearance. Every living object in its way broke down into molecules, or perhaps not even molecules remained.
The energy beam’s diameter grew into a thousand meters by the time it reached the ocean right outside Tokyo Harbor. An enormous explosion occurred as it vaporized the water and the harbor. Then it shot through the land, erasing everything on its way and leaving only a trail of smog behind.
Tokyo no longer existed.