Did the world end today?

Chapter 432 Countermeasures
Planetary reincarnation?

The commander-in-chief frowned.

"This organization has never been in our sights."

Are you sure this organization exists in our world?

He had clearly figured out the basic operating logic of the "multiple worlds" that Lin Xu mentioned, and he also understood that although they were all the same world, the progress of the world would be different for various reasons in many cases.

If that's the case, then the "planetary reincarnation" organization that exists in other worlds may not actually exist in this world?

Seeing his expression, Lin Xu slowly but firmly shook his head, then replied:
"exist."

“As I just told you, I have seen the past of this world from the future—that is, the present.”

"The future will change because of our arrival, but the past will not."

"The Planetary Reincarnation Organization was first established in 2021. At that time, the organization was just a salon for academic discussions and the exchange of anomalous information."

"But after 2024, theoretically speaking, this organization has undergone a qualitative change."

"Because the most key figure in this organization has gained complete freedom."

"Of course, such freedom is extremely short-lived."

"He was erased from another world by us in a very short time."

"However, the impact he had on the world lasted for at least a year."

"One year"

"and many more!"

The commander-in-chief interrupted Lin Xu, his brow furrowed, and said:

“I’m completely out of touch with the pace—so where did this person come from, and how was he ‘erased’?”

That's a long story.

Lin Xu had to explain everything about the killer bees to the commander-in-chief again from beginning to end. After listening, the man's confused expression did not disappear at all; instead, he became even more bewildered.

There is too much information.

He could clearly feel that the information he was now encountering was raging through his brain with an extremely terrifying, flood-like force.

The rigorous, rational, and logical worldview that he had built up over the past few decades was as fragile as a dam made of sand.

With just one wave crashing over it, the dam crumbled.

The turbulent currents, mixed with mud and sand, continued to spread in all directions until they submerged the once orderly "city" in his mind.

It's chaos, it's all chaos.

I can't listen any longer. If I continue listening, not only will I not get much useful information, but I may also be influenced by this information to make my own judgment.

Thinking of this, the commander-in-chief decisively raised his hand to stop Lin Xu from continuing to explain, and then said:

"Okay, let's stop here."

"I have received more information than I can handle. Now I need more professional people to verify the truth of everything you have said."

"At the same time, the next steps in the planning will also take time."

“If you don’t mind, I hope you can wait for us at the command center for a while.”

"I will try to shorten the process as much as possible, ten minutes, or at most half an hour."

"Let's talk again once everything is arranged."

"no problem."

Lin Xu nodded without any surprise.

What she presented was, in a sense, more than just exceeding the limits of what the man in front of her could accept.

It should be said that he has exceeded the limits of what the world can accept.

Time travel, cross-world rescue.

If you talk to the people here about this, they'll probably think, "It's more believable that dinosaurs came back to life or Godzilla appeared."

On the other hand, the arrival of this massive fleet on Earth brought far more than just an "information" shock.

All major countries witnessed the appearance of the fleet, and even now, many ordinary people can still see the fleet hovering in front of the moon.

This is a massive shock that urgently needs to be addressed by the entire state apparatus.

All levels of government are already overwhelmed. Their most pressing task now is not how to deal with the fleet or how to establish cooperation, but how to stabilize the situation as soon as possible and how to prevent society from falling into panic.

Therefore, Lin Xu had to give them time.

The car continued on its way and soon arrived at the command center.

Lin Xu and his entourage were housed in a closed office, but their communications were not cut off, and he could still communicate smoothly with Zhiyun.

"So, what did you do before?"

Lin Xu turned to He Chen, who was standing to the side. The latter was taken aback at first, then shook his head and replied:
"Mr. Lin, to be honest, I don't know."

"When I arrived in that world, I was just an ordinary automation systems programmer. I had neither the inclination nor the energy to pay attention to these things."

"Besides, I'm not qualified."

"At that time, the one who dominated the discourse was General Chen, the captain of the Kunlunshan. If he were here, he might have had more experience."

"But unfortunately, he has already passed away due to illness."

"However, you can still ask Zhiyun directly."

"It preserves most of the knowledge and experience we need, and I believe this important link will not be missing."

"clear."

Lin Xu nodded slightly, then spoke:

"Zhiyun?"

"I'm here."

"What should humanity do next?"

Due to the controlled nature of radio signals, Zhiyun's audio is slightly delayed.

Two seconds later, its voice came again.

"Humanity's first priority is to curb the war that the arrival of the fleet might cause."

"Our choice to land in China first has injected a great deal of instability into the entire world."

"Decision-making bodies in major countries will most likely analyze the situation and make a judgment on the current situation within an hour."

"This judgment is unpredictable; it could lead to cooperation or it could lead to a complete split due to short-term interests."

"Once the decision is made, the execution will be very rapid."

"If we do not receive intelligence-sharing requests from other countries within an hour, then it is very likely that nuclear war will break out immediately."

Nuclear war?!

Lin Xu looked up in astonishment.

"Why? I see no reason for a nuclear war to occur under the current circumstances."

"From an omniscient perspective, there is no such thing, but to other countries, China is in the process of 'seizing power'."

"Once China takes over power, the world's ruling order will be completely changed."

“They will not tolerate such a thing happening, so they will inevitably try to sabotage it.”

"I still don't understand."

Lin Xu took a deep breath and asked:

"So why? To bring about their own destruction? To perish together with others?"

"Do not."

Zhiyun's voice carried a hint of "helplessness" in it.

"This is a gamble where you can only win, not lose."

"If they succeed, the world order will remain unchanged."

"If they fail, they will only have lost a little time."

"Because they are very clear that the technology carried by our fleet can rebuild the post-nuclear war world in a very short time."

"It depends on when their scientists can observe it; we used gravity manipulation technology."

"But in any case, this period of time will not be too long."

Only wins, never loses
But what's the cost?

The cost was the lives of many innocent people.

Of course, those who wage war don't care about these "worthless lives," because to them, they aren't even chips, but merely "mud chips" in a casino that "cannot be taken out of the casino" and are "destined to be consumed at the gambling table."

Lin Xu walked to the sofa and sat down, his expression somewhat solemn.

"Zhiyun".

What is your assessment of the probability of a nuclear war breaking out in the world?

"70%."

Zhiyun answered immediately, and then, an alarm suddenly sounded.

"Abnormal activity detected by military units."

"In the direction of the U.S. mainland, a large number of fighter jets were detected taking off, strategic bombers were detected taking off, and Air Force One was detected taking off."

"Missile heat source detected."

"The missile has been launched." "Confirmed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile carrying a nuclear warhead."

"So fast?!"

Lin Xu suddenly stood up.

He glanced at the time; there were still 10 minutes left before the "one-hour deadline" that Zhiyun had predicted.

The other party reacted faster than expected.

Or rather, they decided to push all their chips onto the table faster than expected!

What should we do now?
Lin Xu was not worried about his safety. Before the nuclear strike, Zhiyun had enough time to build a gravity tunnel and arrange for his evacuation.

But once war breaks out, the world is destined to suffer a huge impact.

It's not just the industrial base; once the social foundation is damaged, the time required to rebuild it becomes unpredictable.

It could take one or two years, or even three or five years.

The waste of time was precisely the outcome that Lin Xu found most unacceptable.

Thinking of this, he immediately gave the order:

"Zhiyun, prepare for countermeasures!"

"I believe this fleet must have a countermeasure plan. Don't tell me that you can't do anything without weapons!"

"of course."

Zhiyun replied immediately:

"Prepare to launch countermeasures."

"Gravity tunnel is being generated and is expected to be completed in 40 seconds."

"Please ensure that other nuclear-armed states cease any additional retaliatory actions."

"That will only bring us new inconveniences."

"clear."

Lin Xu lifted his foot and walked towards the door.

As he pushed open the door, the guard rushed to his side.

"Hello, please follow me!"

"We must take cover immediately!"

"Need not."

Lin Xu shook his head and replied:
"Stop all countermeasures; we have a way."

At this moment, the air in the NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) defense command center in a certain area was completely frozen.

This is not a metaphor, but rather the composite lead plates embedded in the walls and the circulating filtration system that completely isolate this place from the outside world, even robbing the sound of its vitality.

Only six people sat around the oval conference table; they were the highest authorities in the existing chain of command.

"let's start."

The old man sitting in the middle had a slightly hoarse voice; the pressure from the many major events that had occurred in the past hour had also drained his energy.

Opposite him, a man in military uniform opened a folder, his voice flat and monotone, as if reading a daily training report:
"Based on information transmitted from satellite and radar early warning networks, we have detected a total of more than 112 hypersonic targets taking off."

"Based on the trajectory of the aircraft, their final landing points are respectively the Chinese mainland and outer space."

"At the same time, we have received the final early warning intelligence from the 'deep sea'."

"He concluded that the U.S. had launched a nuclear strike against us, with the aim of destroying a key strategic target that he had not identified."

"Based on intelligence from various sources, we are facing an unannounced nuclear attack aimed at completely destroying our strategic counterattack capability."

After he finished speaking, the command room fell into dead silence.

"Is it confirmed to be a nuclear attack?"

The old man asked a question.

This is a procedural problem, a problem that nails everyone to a harsh reality.

"Confirmed. All sensor data and human intelligence have been cross-verified and are correct."

The man in military uniform answered.

"What is the status of our nuclear counterattack system?"

The old man asked the question again.

The man in military uniform spoke with an eerie calm.

"The edge system has confirmed that the country has entered a state of emergency and has automatically raised the alert level to the highest level."

"Final launch authority has been transferred to this manual command node."

He patted the briefcase beside him.

"Now, the six of us need to complete the final confirmation."

"clear."

The old man's voice trembled slightly.

It wasn't because of fear or tension, but because of immense helplessness.

He had thought that hope for the future was already unfolding before his eyes.

But in just a moment, everything will vanish into thin air again.

These sudden ups and downs always catch people off guard, but he still held onto a sliver of hope.

如果
What if that fleet was capable of resolving this crisis?
What if they had a better way to precisely intercept all missiles in a more "harmless" manner?
This is perhaps the best outcome.
-
However, it can only be a fantasy that cannot be taken into consideration in decision-making.

The process needs to be continued.

"The revenge option."

The old man continued speaking, and the man in military uniform immediately replied:

"Full and equal retaliation."

"clear."

The old man slowly raised his right hand, his face as heavy as a mountain.

"The vote will now begin."

"agree."

The men in military uniforms raised their hands almost simultaneously, while the rest of the personnel in the command room, though slightly hesitant, also raised their hands one after another.

"Record: Passed unanimously."

The old man turned to the man in military uniform.

"Excuting an order."

The man in military uniform bent down and placed his hand on the biometric lock.

After unlocking the first system, he needed to enter a long password.

The electronic voice that accompanied the input of the password echoed continuously in the command room, striking everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.

Once the password is entered, only the final step remains.

And the final step points to this.
"Urgent intelligence!"

A hurried sound suddenly rang out.

Everyone turned to look at the man sitting in the corner of the command room.

Then, the man continued:
"Latest intelligence confirms: Enemy nuclear strike was ineffective."

"All nuclear weapons have been launched from Earth and detonated outside of geosynchronous orbit."

"Synchronous orbit??"

The old man got up with mixed feelings of surprise and delight.

Meanwhile, the camera on the screen, pointed at the sky, had already captured this bizarre scene.

A few fleeting stars fell from the sky.

That was a nuclear explosion.

It seemed so insignificant, like a joke.

The old man let out a heavy sigh and slumped back into the chair.

He made eye contact with each person in turn, and then began to speak:

"It seems that more complex verification procedures are no longer necessary."

"They have already proven their goodwill."

"Next, we should start to repay this kindness."

"But before that, we must make sure that such provocations never happen again."

"I'll go and communicate with them."

The man in military uniform stood up and walked impatiently toward the door of the command room.

He wanted to issue a warning.

Or perhaps, it's an attempt to make amends?
Unseen by him, on the Pacific Ocean aboard a Columbia-class strategic nuclear submarine, terrified crew members opened the hatch and crawled out of the compartment. What they saw was a spectacle they would never forget.

On the surface of the Pacific Ocean, a mountain made of water is rising.

And this submarine is hovering above the peak.
(End of this chapter)