Qianyuan: My crew comes from the world of anime.

The high temperatures generated by the second explosion could easily raise the temperature at the explosion core to over 2000 degrees Celsius.

The ultra-high pressure shock wave generated by the explosion can pulverize the internal organs of any living organism within a range of 100 meters.

Finally, the oxygen consumed by the rapid combustion will cause extreme oxygen deficiency in the area, which can lead to unconsciousness within a minute.

"..."

The soldiers watched the 'black dot' until it disappeared from sight, as quiet as a still night.

then--!

A massive tremor, like an earthquake, came from beneath our feet. First came a blinding flash, and an orange-red fireball instantly illuminated the site as bright as day. This was followed by a fierce gust of wind from the explosion.

The shockwave instantly blew creatures within tens of meters of the blast point into the air.

Even soldiers a kilometer away from the explosion's epicenter would have their eardrums ruptured by the oncoming supersonic shockwave.

Before the soldiers who had managed to lie down in time could even utter a curse, they heard another message coming through the radio:

"Detonation confirmed...! Attention all units—incendiary bombs are coming!"

——!

If the thermobaric bomb was an instantaneous disaster, then the napalm bomb that followed was like fire from hell.

After gasoline is solidified into a kind of gel-like solid, its flammability and calorific value are greatly increased. Once it gets into contact with the oil droplets produced by this explosion, it will burn through your bones unless the ignition point is completely isolated.

Five minutes later...

Crackling sounds!

Flames leaped over the grease, and the air was filled with the acrid smell of roasting meat.

The temperature is getting hotter and hotter, and every breath I take feels like my lungs are being burned.

"Cough cough cough..."

The lieutenant general coughed violently. The ventilation system in the T-80 seemed to be malfunctioning, and the air inside was filled with burning carbon monoxide. The crew had already lost consciousness due to the vibration and high temperature.

If the cabin doors are not opened for ventilation in time, all the passengers will soon die from the smoke and high temperature.

The lieutenant general struggled to his feet and tried to reach the hatch above him, but his arms felt as weak as noodles.

Is he going to suffocate like this?

Just as he was falling into despair, a blade suddenly pierced through the upper hatch, its sharpness cutting through the bolt of the tank hatch. Then, a pair of hands forcibly pulled open the deformed hatch.

Fresh air rushed in from above, and even the acrid smell of burning air was much better than before I was suffocating.

A pair of strong, powerful hands pulled the lieutenant general out of the T-80. He looked at the man who was spotless, with a beautiful ceremonial rapier at his waist and an exaggerated double-barreled shotgun on his back.

"Major Luo..."

Luo Tianming stopped the lieutenant general's weak voice and took a water bottle from his pocket, handing it to him:

"Drink slowly."

The lieutenant general nodded his thanks, then looked out at the battlefield.

The church that had stood before them was now reduced to ashes, and the corpses of the parasitic androids were still burning everywhere. Lieutenant General Lycam's assessment of the situation was accurate; the thermobaric bombs could not kill all the parasitic androids, but the incendiary bombs that followed could directly finish them off.

This effectively eliminated at least 90% of the infected and symbiotes in the vicinity. How could the army's most powerful weapon fail when it bombarded these carbon-based creatures?

However, they have already used up all their ammunition reserves and can only wait for resupply from the Alliance.

"..."

The lieutenant general, having recovered, listened to the report on the ongoing loss assessment over the loudspeaker. His expression suddenly froze, and he looked at Luo Tianming with disbelief, saying:

"We think we've discovered Archbishop Yakov's body!"

"..."

-

However, after Luo Tianming went into the church's basement and took a look, he said with absolute certainty:

“This is definitely not Yakov; he must have already run away.”

Chapter 397 Escape

Luo Tianming firmly believed that this was not Yakov, for a simple reason: the disfigured corpse in front of him was indeed the Painted Skin symbiote, but the symbiote inside him clearly told him that the pheromones inside were wrong!

This is just a stand-in dressed as an archbishop.

So, where is the real archbishop now?

-

Without a doubt... he ran away.

However, simply describing it like that would easily lead to misunderstanding. To be more precise:

The moment the shelling began, he quickly changed out of the archbishop's clothes and disguised himself as a civilian as he approached the capital's port.

He didn't even consider whether it was the sound of cannons used by the capital's defense forces or the explosions from a successful raid by the ship's doctor.

In his mind, the attack would go very smoothly, as the many days of deception had made the capital's troops lower their guard.

In the ensuing attack, they should have taken control of the entire capital without hearing a single shot.

Only in this way did Yakov feel he had a chance of winning...

The sound of the explosion proved that, no matter what, they were destined to fail.

So he fled without any burden.

As he had predicted, after observing the situation at the port for a while, the people left behind to defend the front line were forced into retreat. Even with the assistance of the Painted Skin symbiote, it was only a matter of time before the front line was breached.

Then, the thermobaric and incendiary bombs terrified Yakov, turning his face pale.

He never expected that the capital's army would resort to such terrifying tactics, launching an attack on their stronghold with the resolve to fight to the death.

Fortunately, he escaped beforehand; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

It's time to go.

The port has been reopened, and Yakov plans to slip away by blending in with the fleeing crowds.

Just as he was about to blend into the crowd... a pair of hands suddenly appeared and grabbed him.

A murderous glint flashed in Yakov's eyes, but he then looked at the newcomer and slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

The person who came was not Luo Tianming, but the ship's doctor.

The archbishop was surprised that he had found him, so he asked:

"Shouldn't you be on the front lines right now?"

The ship's doctor smiled somewhat awkwardly: "I was really worried about you, but then I suddenly thought: the last few times you ran away, you never informed us, even when we were in a much better position, we still couldn't find you."

"People say the Archbishop is 'elusive,' but actually, Lord Bach instructed me to keep an eye out for you in safe areas, and if all else fails, to search the sewers..."

"..."

“Nonsense!” Archbishop Yakov vehemently denied this claim.

The ship's doctor said ingratiatingly, "You mean..."

"But are you really leaving like this?"

"The soldiers on the front are still fighting. We are not in a state of utter defeat. As long as the archbishop appears and raises his arms, the soldiers will be greatly encouraged."

He seemed to see that scene before his eyes.

Koyakov, however, said dejectedly, "When you escaped, did you see any other members of the church?"

"This……"

“Don’t try to comfort me,” Yakov said, his face showing an unprecedented look of heartache. “Those were the elites of the sect. I could feel the pheromones emitted by the deaths of my comrades even from this distance!”

Do you think I just want to run away?

"This war must end, or we will only have more people filling this bottomless pit."

"Major Luo is right... We cannot afford the consequences of going to war with Europa Alliance. Even just participating in their civil war would result in unbearable losses for us."

"..."

The ship's doctor was unsure whether the archbishop was genuinely grieving or simply anxious because the submarine was about to leave port.

He looked at the church in the distance, now reduced to ashes, and his voice choked with emotion:

"So...do you regret it?"

"..."

The archbishop did not answer, but said directly, "You stay here and go to Major Luo Tianming and tell him 'We surrender.' The Painted Skin Cult has no intention of fighting the newly formed Europa Alliance. We only want to maintain our own little world."

"Don't worry, considering our past relationship, he definitely won't make things difficult for you."

"He won't kill you... Don't worry, he still has a kind heart."

The ship's doctor stared at Archbishop Yakov's hand, which was gently covering his body, lost in thought.

It was these hands that led them from having nothing to having a hope of establishing a new human race under the Arctic Ocean, and now, Yakov seems to have given up on his dream of building a painted skin empire.

The harsh reality made him realize that he had no military talent for leading troops into battle, nor the ability to manage his subordinates. He might rise again... but it would still be the same old brainwashing religious rhetoric.

The archbishop, whom he once respected immensely, has now become an annoying missionary who knocks on the neighbor's door on weekend mornings.

"..."

The submarine eventually left the port, and the ship's doctor's lonely figure suddenly seemed much shorter.

---

On the other hand, Luo Tianming didn't seem too frustrated when he discovered that Yakov's body was fake.

He never believed that a single raid would be enough to capture the cunning Archbishop Yakov, who had previously escaped from various encirclements and interceptions by the Alliance, and even twice escaped from being captured.

Catching him is very difficult. You should know that the Painted Skin Symbiote has many abnormal abilities such as underwater breathing, resistance to deep-sea pressure, and self-healing. Under certain circumstances, it can also release its pheromones in advance to make Painted Skin creatures in a certain area rush to it.

Therefore, for Luo Tianming, it was actually a good thing that Archbishop Yakov had run away. At least he no longer had to worry about anyone secretly plotting against him.

Even if the lieutenant general felt extremely unwilling and wanted to send people to search, he would probably find nothing.

Having resolved the issue of the archbishop, the remaining task was to persuade the rebelling soldiers to surrender, break the brainwashing of the Masked Sect Church, and stabilize the chaotic capital as quickly as possible.

The people here have been cut off from the outside world for a long time and know nothing about what is happening in the Alliance. Communication must be restored as soon as possible.

At the same time, the food shortages faced by the site must be replenished from the outside as soon as possible, otherwise a group of wealthy but extremely hungry alliance leaders will soon overwhelm the external economic system.

Just as Luo Tianming and Lieutenant General Laikam were discussing how to restore the capital, a piece of bad news suddenly arrived.

Chapter 398 Bad News

USS Nautilus - Bridge.

Nan Mengya was curled up on a chair on the bridge, playing on her phone with a look of utter despair.

Luo Tianming barely involved them in this operation... Apart from Lucy occasionally helping with communication adjustments and aiming corrections on the battlefield, no one went down into the submarine, not even Levi, who was chewing gum with a disgruntled expression.

His reason for not allowing the Nautilus crew to participate was simple: Luo Tianming believed this was a war, a war that neither they nor the Nautilus should be involved in.

If anyone sees members of the Nautilus on the battlefield, they will be assumed to be a clear participant in the conflict, which will lead others to have unfounded suspicions.

However, if it were just Luo Tianming alone, then no matter what, he could explain it as an official order from the Alliance, thus preventing the Nautilus from participating.

There was another reason: he felt it was his duty to clean up Coco's mess.

Although the plan wasn't made by him, but secretly by Coco behind his back, it was still done with Luo Tianming's tacit approval.

He remembered saying before that Coco had his full authority... and now he had to pay the price for that promise.

"Ugh……"

Nan Mengya sighed sadly.

Besides the reason that she couldn't be by the captain's side, she was also instructed to take on the responsibility of overseeing the operation of weapons, which meant she couldn't go to sleep or leave the bridge too far.

At this moment, a nuclear-tipped shell lies quietly inside the Nautilus's railgun, with all safety mechanisms engaged, ready to explode upon firing.

This nuclear bomb is Luo Tianming's last trump card. As long as the capital falls into a state of leaderlessness, he will immediately issue an order to detonate this nuclear bomb within a visible range, thereby forcing the stubborn rebels to surrender.

Suddenly, Nan Mengya's phone vibrated!

"The captain has sent a message!!"