Starting from South America, speeding through the world

Chapter 203 Nuclear Peace
That second came without any warning.

There is no light before sound, no roar before vibration.

The marble slab ripples slightly around the base of McCann's feet.

In an instant, the ripples expanded, sweeping across the stone steps and seats, until they penetrated the entire council hall.

It was less like destruction and more like a divine revelation.

The air first froze, then suddenly collapsed.

The fireball burst open, instantly creating a vacuum within a radius of more than ten meters.

The intense heat engulfed the flag, and the incandescent bulb, along with the high-hanging beam, shattered.

Glass fell like raindrops, turning into mist before it even hit the ground.

The sound finally came at this moment.

The ground subsided, and the south side of the west wing shook violently.

Among those jumbled rocks and blood and flesh, McCann no longer exists.

All that's left is a huge crater.

Those that died, those that struggled, those that were burning.

Completely naked, with peeling and carbonized skin, broken limbs, and a collapsed chest cavity.

It is the central hub of the federation, the starting point of commands, and the carrier of power.

Those who fled in panic had blood gushing from their faces.

His eyes bulged out, his teeth were embedded in his lower lip, and he exhaled only scorching hot air.

Stumbling and falling, stepping on the scorching hot floor tiles, they squeezed through the gaps between the broken pillars.

Purgatory.

hell.

There was no way out.

Run away.

Otherwise, they'll be buried alive, burned, crushed, or swallowed up.

Two kilometers away, the Edgar Hoover Building.

FBI agent Brandon suddenly sat up straight in his swivel chair.

He did not hear any explosion.

At least, not like 9/11.

The chandelier overhead swayed almost imperceptibly twice.

Immediately afterwards, the oxygen in the lungs was suddenly sucked out and then filled again.

Brandon's eyelids twitched, and he subconsciously turned to look out the window.

To the southwest, where the Capitol is located, a cloud of faded dust churns up, reflecting a deathly white light.

It was neither flames nor thick smoke.

It has no specific shape, like an old curtain with its boundaries wiped off, quietly blooming in the high sky.

Like a dream.

Like an illusion.

what is that?
His Adam's apple bobbed, but no sound came out.

My mind goes blank.

It wasn't shock, it was utter incomprehension.

It's as if language itself has lost its effectiveness.

There are no words that can accurately describe that thing.

It shouldn't exist.

It does not belong to this world.

That is? !
That is
Oh my goodness.

Brandon's limbs were stiff, and his hands gripped the edge of the table tightly.

He even forgot how to breathe, his mouth agape, nearly fainting.

But even that instinctive numbness quickly dissipated.

Because a piercing high-frequency alarm sounded behind them.

"Drip-drip-drip-"

"Drip-drip-drip-"

"Drip-drip-drip-"

Without stopping for a moment.

All surveillance footage covering Capitol Hill disappeared simultaneously.

The screen went black one by one, revealing a neat error message interface with a black background and scarlet text:

—Signal lost: West entrance to the Capitol Building

— Backup relay interruption: Senate South Corridor-1
—Environmental controls out of service: House Northwest Wing HVAC main station
—Scene cuts off: North entrance of Jefferson House, Library of Congress
—Video signal loss: Entrance A of the National Assembly South Station on the Blue Line of the MRT
—Network outage: Capitol Underground Communications Hub - C12
The alarm was still blaring hysterically.

Brandon's legs buckled, and he slumped back onto the stool, tears streaming down his face.

Ruined.

It's all over.

Suddenly, he heard gunshots.

"Bang-bang!"

Not an illusion.

It's not even that far away.

It was an actual automatic rifle shooting that took place inside FBI headquarters.

Brandon instinctively lunged toward the control terminal.

However, those screens remained stuck on the error message.

"Signal loss"

Image interruption

"Relay disconnected"

He shakily grabbed the phone from the desk:
"This is the third-tier analysis panel. I heard gunshots!"

“Repeat, I heard gunshots inside the building—” Only a series of static responded to him.

Frequency band interference!

Brandon took deep breaths repeatedly, forcing himself to calm down.

Consciousness gradually became muddled as he suffocated.

Finally, he remembered the emergency training manual he had received when he first joined the company.

Feeling a huge sense of relief, Brandon trembled as he switched to the radio station Command-Alpha.

"HQ, call all security units!" he practically shouted.

"Armed intrusion has occurred inside the building. Floors B1 to the fourth floor are to be immediately sealed off!"

"Special operations team, read aloud, special operations team, ready!"

At the same time, the gunfire became more frequent.

This time, it came from the direction of the building's atrium.

Before Brandon could react, the next second—

"boom--!"

The ceiling shook violently.

Several light bulbs exploded at the same time.

Immediately following this was the piercing siren of the fire alarm system.

Brandon grabbed his pistol and scrambled under the table.

"Holy crap, they're in!"

"Fight back! Fight back! They're there—"

In the distance, the shouting abruptly stopped.

Gunshots rang out again, interspersed with short explosions.

The site was cleared in an orderly manner.

Brandon felt a cold sweat trickle down his back and couldn't help but grip the gun handle tightly.

He heard someone fall outside, and the sound of leather shoes stomping on the carpet, hurried and frantic.

Smoke rushed in, flowing back in from the air vents.

Breathing became increasingly difficult.

I have to run.

I have to survive.

We can't be trapped here.

Brandon gritted his teeth, peeked out slightly, and looked outside.

Visibility is very low.

The room was completely white.

Water is dripping, and red light is flashing.

There was blood on the floor; the body had been dragged three or four meters away.

at this time--

Three figures emerged from the smoke.

Dark gray nuclear, biological, and chemical protective gear.

A short-barreled rifle, a tactical vest, and breaching tools hanging at his waist.

No numbers or markings could be found on its entire body.

What organization? Homeland Security? HRT?

Just as he was lost in thought, a pair of military boots came to a steady stop in front of him.

Brandon looked up.

Unfamiliar armed men were standing outside, looking down at him.

The protective gear reflected the light, showing off his disheveled appearance.

Zhou Yi scrutinized the expression on the man's face.

From fear and confusion to anticipation, then to hesitation, and finally back to fear.

He lowered the muzzle of his gun and pulled the trigger.

"boom!"

The bullet struck him between the eyebrows.

The body fell down.

Zhou Yi quickly put away his gun and continued to advance, catching up with his teammates.

At the end of the corridor was a slightly ajar door.

The closed system had already been disrupted by electromagnetic interference.

Inside the passageway, red safety lights continued to flash.

The air grew hotter and hotter, mixed with the smell of burning plastic.

They had advanced less than ten meters when they were met by two special agents who had come to their aid.

Zhou Yi barely stopped, raising his gun and firing in bursts.

Two bullets struck cleanly and decisively, and the enemy fell to the ground.

The space returned to deathly silence.

The three of them didn't linger. They passed through the fireproof partition, went down the inclined stairs, and soon arrived at the temporary detention area.

The area here is not large.

Both sides are independent detention cells, with metal steel plate structure and small observation holes.

In the room where the target was located, an African American woman was squatting in a corner.

He was wearing a light-colored prison uniform, his hair was disheveled, his expression was terrified, and there was dried blood at the corner of his eye.

It's Tamara Hughes.

Hearing a faint metallic scraping sound, she suddenly looked up, her face turning deathly pale and her pupils shrinking sharply.

As the woman screamed, Zhou Yi smiled slightly and spoke.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Madam Vice President."

(End of this chapter)