I, from the Celestial Empire, have parachuted into Teyvat.

"God, is Earth really going to be destroyed...?"

"Damn it, let's fight it to the death!"

"Fight to the death? I think it's better to surrender. Surrender to the foreign power. As a small country, there's nothing we can do. It's wiser to survive as much as possible than to be destroyed and wiped out."

"Yes, survival is the most important thing."

“Really, let’s surrender. As an ordinary resident of the capital that has just been bombed, I agree to surrender. I live near Huting Street, which was bombed, and I never want to experience the horrors here again.”

"Are you all idiots? Surrendering is just cowardly survival! What about your human dignity?"

"Living on the brink of death? As long as you're alive, it's better than being dead. If you want to die, no one's stopping you, but don't drag us down with you. We were bombed by devastating weapons decades ago, and that incident is still a nightmare for many of our citizens. Do you people want the same nightmare to repeat itself on our land of Japan?"

"A bunch of shameless bastards! None of you deserve to be called human beings!"

"What's all the fuss about? In my opinion, this pathetic world should have been destroyed long ago."

"What are you still saying? Aren't you going to run? Get out of here and save yourselves!"

The chaos on the Japanese internet was not an isolated case. To surrender or not to surrender... It can be said that after the arrogant remarks, the whole world fell into chaotic disputes. Some were angry, some were afraid, some were disillusioned with life, and some were praying silently. But many more people began to flee frantically from the cities, trying to hide in the deep mountains or remote countryside to survive the bombing. The roads leading out of many major cities in many countries became congested within minutes.

At this critical moment when life and death are imminent and disaster is imminent, the true nature of countless people begins to be revealed.

Of course, governments around the world could not stand idly by and watch their own countries descend into chaos. So, ten minutes after the arrogant remarks ended, governments quickly began to take action to control public opinion and guide the fleeing population from major cities.

Because of the timely intervention, the panic was not amplified, and the chaos was temporarily brought under control.

Compared to the chaos in public opinion in many countries, although there was some unrest and fear and panic in China, there was absolutely no discussion about whether or not to surrender.

Will surrender prevent destruction?

Stop dreaming.

This is just wishful thinking on the part of some people.

From the very beginning, this choice has only one option for the Chinese people; the Chinese people cannot surrender.

Those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts; this is a truth that every Chinese person deeply understands.

Therefore, even though his arrogant remarks caused countless people in China to worry and panic, no one ever suggested surrendering.

In addition, after making arrogant remarks, the Chinese government immediately issued a statement to the public, assuring them that they were taking all necessary actions and there was no need to panic, which further stabilized morale.

Meanwhile, as time continued to tick, only fifteen minutes remained of the thirty minutes declared by arrogance...

Chapter 484 The Lightning That Tears Apart the Crisis

Inside the Senate's main meeting room, the Grand Elder sat quietly behind the meeting table.

Opposite the Grand Elder was a 100-inch projection screen, on which live feeds of dozens of heads of state were being displayed in real time.

This is another emergency meeting of world leaders since the arrogant announcement of the 30-minute deadline, but this time the meeting only lasted a short 10 minutes.

World leaders must make their next decision within these ten minutes.

Although governments around the world have taken various measures to temporarily control the spread of panic and chaos in their domestic communities, they have also been affected by the panic. This is especially evident in small and medium-sized countries such as Japan, South Korea, the United States, and France. This can be seen from the particularly solemn expressions of some heads of state during the video conference.

Because the meeting only lasted ten minutes, the heads of state stopped beating around the bush and spoke more directly.

The meeting discussed only one point—whether to strike first and blow up the presidential palace of Country M.

This plan was actually discussed at previous emergency meetings of various countries, but it was ultimately abandoned by the countries due to considerations of international public opinion, the large number of innocent people in the presidential palace, and the fact that the Chinese elder reminded them at the meeting that the arrogant creature's survival mode was different from that of Earth's creatures and that a simple physical attack might not be able to kill it.

But now the situation is completely different. Countries are now facing the threat of devastating blows. At such a critical moment of life and death, everything else can be put on hold, even if it means sacrificing the innocent people who are still trapped in the presidential palace.

The sacrifice of over a hundred lives could potentially save billions. At this moment, this is no longer a moral question; it's a mathematical one.

During the meeting, as the countries were preparing to vote, the Grand Elder suddenly interrupted the voting process.

This move immediately aroused the doubts of all the national leaders present.

As the only nation currently capable of leading all other countries, China's every move has consistently drawn the attention of other nations.

From the start of the meeting until now, among the dozens of countries present, only the senior elder from China has maintained a calm and composed demeanor.

The reason why the Grand Elder was able to remain calm was quite simple: compared to other countries, China had a trump card—the option to "escape" to the Teyvat continent.

Even when this backup plan was still in the planning stage, the Senate, under the guidance of space technology researchers such as Han Jie, began to set up space teleportation devices in several major cities in the inland center. Now, with only a few adjustments, they can be put into use immediately. So even if Earth is really going to be nuclear-armed in ten minutes, China can still escape.

Of course, China is not the kind of country that would rather die than lose its own. The existence of this trump card was not the reason why the Grand Elder interrupted the vote. The real reason was that the Grand Elder had learned from Ivan that explosive physical attacks could not kill consciousness beings like the Destroyer of Consciousness. Therefore, the bombing of the Presidential Palace was destined to fail. The real trump card was the assault team led by Ivan.

So, at the meeting, under the watchful eyes of the heads of state, the Grand Elder spoke up: "Gentlemen, we have received intelligence that Pride is a consciousness-based being, and conventional physical damage is simply ineffective in killing it. Even if we bomb the Presidential Palace, it will only result in the needless deaths of innocent people inside, while Pride can simply change its host body and continue to act."

Upon hearing this, many people on the screen showed expressions of shock.

If bombing the presidential palace couldn't kill arrogance, then there's really no way to stop it now.

Although some people had previously suggested destroying all of the US's stockpiled missiles, this was virtually impossible. The missile storage locations of all countries are kept strictly secret. Even the location of the US's missile depots is unknown, let alone their destruction.

The Grand Elder said in a deep voice, "There are only ten minutes left before the thirty-minute deadline. If you trust China, please wait here with me for a moment. I believe that a miracle will happen before the final time arrives."

Upon hearing the Grand Elder's words, the other heads of state looked even more puzzled. Although they did not know what the Grand Elder meant by "miracle," he had spoken on behalf of China, and since things had come to this point, there was no time to take any further action. Therefore, all they could do was wait with the Grand Elder for that unknown "miracle" to happen.

And so, silence fell over the online meeting room. The Grand Elder also took a deep breath, his gaze passing through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the meeting room, looking towards the other side of the ocean...

......

Inside the president's office, Arrogance opened his eyes again and looked down at the small clock on the desk in front of him.

"Time is up......"

At this point, Arrogance sniffed the air and revealed a smug smile.

"That's it, that's the smell, that's the smell filled with all sorts of emotions: fear, panic, anger... the perfect sacrificial site!"

Seeing his arrogant demeanor, Yeruvich involuntarily shivered in the corner of the office.

Only those trapped here understand that Pride never intended to spare the lives of its so-called subjugators from the very beginning; the thirty minutes were merely a means to create an excellent "feeding place."

The overwhelming negative emotions people experience due to the impending doom provide the best nourishment, giving rise to billions of destructive consciousnesses when the aura of destruction engulfs this blue planet.

Close your eyes and imagine it.

On the ravaged land, there were people everywhere, like zombies and beasts, walking among the ruins and piles of corpses, giving rise to one destructive consciousness after another for the arrogant to devour. Those who were devoured became empty shells, lying on the roadside and discarded like garbage.

This is a perfect sacrificial ground for the destruction of living beings, but it is also an endless purgatory for human beings.

Those trapped here are the witnesses to the final moments of this apocalypse.

"Now, let's begin."

Arrogantly, he stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window of the office, waving his arms as if he were a conductor deeply engrossed in a symphony concert.

"Launch all destructive weapons, leave no one alive."

The launch order was like a fish swimming along the canal towards the M Army's First Command, following its specific thought process.

But at that moment, Arrogance's movements suddenly froze, and a look of surprise appeared on its face.

In an instant, it sensed that the swimming fish had been intercepted by something.

It's like a sluice gate being lowered into a canal.

"What's going on...?"

A slight chilly breeze blew across the windows of the office, and also lifted the corner of the arrogant man's clothes.

His arrogant expression slowly changed; the floor-to-ceiling windows in front of him were completely sealed shut...

Where did this wind come from?

Just then, a purple light suddenly streaked across the window like lightning, tearing through the glass and bursting in...

Chapter 485 Escape

Arrogance's expression changed slightly. At the same time, a purple light rapidly enlarged before its eyes. Before it could react, it smashed through the floor-to-ceiling window and sent its body flying.

As his body flew out, Arrogance saw clearly that the purple light was a girl dressed in purple.

The security personnel inside the presidential office who were under control immediately raised their guns in the direction of the commotion. However, before they could pull the trigger, a loud bang came from the door outside the office, and two burly figures rushed in, knocking the security personnel to the ground in one fell swoop.

Just as the security personnel were tackled to the ground, the pistol in one of their hands flew out and skidded all the way to Arrogant's feet.

Arrogantly lying on the ground, he grabbed a pistol from behind and pulled the trigger at the attacker who had stormed into the office, firing four shots in quick succession.

"careful!"

Amidst an unknown cry of alarm, the first bullet struck a young man in the shoulder, splattering blood.

However, a semi-transparent screen suddenly appeared out of thin air, directly blocking the arrogance from the intruder.

The second, third, and fourth bullets struck the semi-transparent screen as if they were hitting steel, bouncing off with a few crisp sounds.

Then a golden rock element crystal shot towards the arrogant hand, knocking the pistol out of his hand.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the girl in purple who had previously smashed through the French windows and rushed into the office also rushed towards it, her arrogant brows furrowing, and her eyes flashing red light in an instant.

The girl in purple, charging towards the arrogance, seemed to momentarily lose her composure when she met those red eyes. She paused, then, regaining her senses, charged at the arrogance again. Just as her hand was about to grab his neck, the young man, who had just been shot, suddenly shouted, "Stop! Don't fall for it!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the girl in purple was startled. Her hand stopped just one centimeter away from the arrogant man's neck. Looking up, she saw that a ring of red spikes had appeared on the arrogant man's neck. If she had pinched it just now, her hand would have been pierced by the red spikes.

"These are spikes formed from the aura of destruction. It just interfered with your thoughts and then attached the spikes to your neck. If you had grabbed them, you would have been pierced by the spikes, then corroded by the aura of destruction, and controlled by it to become its puppet."

Upon hearing the young man's explanation, a chill ran down the girl's spine, and she immediately withdrew her hand.

Seeing that his scheme had been exposed, Arrogance showed no anger whatsoever. He simply sneered, sat up from the ground, and looked up at the injured young man in the crowd.

"You can read my thoughts. Is it because of your exceptional observation skills or the ability to read minds? Or perhaps both? The thought message I was about to send out was intercepted. That must have been your doing, right?"

The man clutched his injured shoulder and chuckled, "That's right, it's me."

At the same time, in the palm of the young man's right arm, which was hanging down, an object resembling a chess piece was emitting a faint purple light.

It is the heart of Thor.

Indeed, the only people who could suddenly barge into the president's office at this time were Ivan's infiltration team.

With the help of the Abedo optical invisibility serum, the group's subsequent actions were practically superhuman.

Using its stealth capabilities, it evaded more than 30 cameras and dealt with more than 50 detained security personnel, successfully arriving at the presidential office a few minutes ago.

To be on the safe side, Xiang Feng used a thermal imaging detector to scan the office before taking action. After confirming that there was a group of hostages in a corner of the office, the plan to force their way in from the front had to be abandoned.

After observing the layout of the rooms to the left and right of the presidential office and the interior and exterior of the building, the group discovered that the floor-to-ceiling window behind the desk where Arrogance was sitting was a good entry point. They could use the window to attract the attention of the people inside, and then the rest of the group could quickly enter through the front door.