Chapter 282 - 234: Radiation Wasteland

’It’s not just about losing control, not just about making the God Worship Sect’s experts stronger... It can also control ordinary people... Maybe Zhang Hai didn’t actually lose control back then. He was being controlled... Or maybe they tried to control him and failed!’

Chu Bamboo watched as one Black-robed Angel after another entered the factory districts he was monitoring and carried out similar acts. His first reaction was...

’Is this an Artifact or a Divine Technique? Either way, this ability is way too overpowered, isn’t it?!’

But then he realized... this ability must have its limits!

’After all, it’s clear from the way those people are staggering around that it probably requires a Divine Power User to silently control them, or they can only be given a general command.’

’They don’t seem to have any initiative of their own!’

’No matter how many of them there are, they can only be used as cannon fodder!’

Chu Bamboo thought for a moment, then asked, "...Nuwa No. 17, estimate how many Black-robed Angels there are!"

"Initiating deep analysis! Commencing data retrieval." Little Mushroom Head said after a moment of silence, "Estimate: thirteen individuals!"

"That’s not too many..." Chu Bamboo breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed like they were everywhere, but it was just that these guys moved rather quickly. That made sense. The number of Transcendents in the official Captain’s Office for all of Jinghai City was only about that many...

Besides, these guys could fly... Putting aside those strange wings—which, no matter how you thought about it, were something only Fourth Realm experts should have—and ruling out the possibility that they were in the Fourth Realm...

’No matter how you slice it, they had to be at the Second Realm, or even the Third Realm, right?!’

"...Hm?"

’Fuck! How are there so many high-realm experts?’

Chu Bamboo’s expression changed, but as he counted on his fingers, he had to admit that the number seemed rather reasonable.

Setting aside the embarrassing Third District, the Second District previously had three Third Realm experts!

And as for the First District, that goes without saying...

And that was just the Captain’s Office!

If you counted the various sects...

’Then again, to be able to match the entire strength of more than one region’s Orthodoxy with just their own power—’

’All-Powerful has probably mobilized all the experts from the entire Jiangnan’s All-Powerful Lineage.’

"But if it’s the entire Jiangnan Region," Chu Bamboo’s mind suddenly reeled as he realized something terrifying. ’If I remember correctly, besides Eleven, the Fifth Apostle... is also stationed long-term in the Jiangnan area, right?’

’Which means, most likely, there’s also the Fifth... lurking in the shadows right now?’

’Or even more of them... if this matter is really that important to All-Powerful!’

A heavy feeling settled in Chu Bamboo’s heart.

He watched quietly as the factories suddenly exploded...

As expected, it must have been the work of those staggering, seemingly controlled workers...

On the surface, it looked like a perfectly normal industrial accident. However...

Under the influence of the All-Powerful symbol made of blood, the rumbling black smoke seemed to take on a life of its own, beginning to expand and contract violently.

After a moment of silence, Chu Bamboo called Huo Qiming. He was very curious what Huo Qiming was doing now.

After all, with things escalating to this degree, even if Old Su or Old Lu were holding him back, Huo Qiming should have reacted by now... especially since Chu Bamboo had given him a heads-up beforehand.

However...

"...No one’s picking up?" Chu Bamboo’s expression grew solemn. The black fog was still in its accumulation phase, so it shouldn’t have completely cut off signals everywhere yet.

For no one to answer at a time like this...

’Did something happen to Huo Qiming?’

’I just don’t know if he was ambushed or outright killed.’ Chu Bamboo ruffled his hair. ’I hope it was an ambush. That would mean Huo Qiming’s strength is at least a card the enemy is wary of!’

After some deliberation, Chu Bamboo glanced at the time—it was 11:30. He hesitated for a moment, then called Qian Shi’s phone again.

The other end hung up immediately.

"?" Chu Bamboo raised his eyebrows and dialed again. The other end still didn’t answer!

"...They’re forcing me to pull out my secret weapon!" Chu Bamboo lamented for a moment. Then he swiped across his phone screen, composed a text message, and sent it.

"Ten, nine, eight..."

He didn’t even get to five before the phone rang. Chu Bamboo calmly answered the call.

"...How did you do that? That’s impossible!" Qian Shi’s voice was filled with disbelief. He stammered, "You... that function... You understand... Divine Text..."

That’s right!

The people of this world only knew how to make phone calls; they didn’t even know how to send text messages! To send a text, you first had to download a typing app... and on this system, even the built-in typing app needed to be activated.

For someone like Chu Bamboo, who understood the principle, activating the typing app and then typing was just a bit of a hassle. But for people here, who were completely ignorant... who were afraid of breaking it and normally just made calls, treating the phone like a shrine... receiving a text was basically the same as seeing a ghost!

"You’re having dinner with the Pope right now, aren’t you?" Chu Bamboo said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He had, of course, deliberately chosen this time.

Chu Bamboo knew the Pope all too well. Unless there was an emergency, his life was orderly to an extreme.

"...Sigh. Little Bamboo, it’s been a long time." Suddenly, a somewhat aged voice came from the other end of the line. "I hope you’re calling me about something important!"

In the Bright Hall.

Qian Shi stared at the old man who had snatched his phone, his eyes gradually bulging. "..."

He had never thought he would see such a complex mix of emotions on the Pope’s face. It was like nostalgia, like wariness, like a sigh, like bitterness... but also as if there was no emotion there at all.

’Wait... that guy is really an acquaintance of the Pope?!’

’But that’s impossible!’

’Why don’t I know him...’

’Could it be that the Pope deliberately hid his connection with this person from me? There’s no reason to... Surely it couldn’t be that the young-sounding person on the other end is actually the Pope’s... illegitimate son, could it?’

Because his own slate wasn’t clean, Qian Shi’s imagination began to run wild.

Chu Bamboo spoke quickly but clearly, laying out the many situations he had observed and some of his own speculations.

"..." The Pope flatly denied it. "That’s impossible! Bishop Hu... can’t be the problem! It’s impossible that he’s colluding with All-Powerful."

"?" Chu Bamboo’s brow furrowed. Just as he was about to say something, he heard the Pope add, "Because the very reason he was able to become a Bishop was that his family and friends were all killed eleven years ago during the Great Smog of Celestial Capital!"

"In a furious rage, he killed a large number of blasphemers from the All-Powerful Lineage! That’s how he ultimately attained the rank of Bishop... He has been tested!"

"Little Bamboo, I don’t believe you would lie to me! But... you must have some misunderstanding about him."

Chu Bamboo pressed his lips together. ’No problem, for sure?’

He said in a low voice, "...Why don’t you look at the intel being sent from the people at the Jinghai City church?"

"...That! I actually already inquired," Qian Shi suddenly interjected. "But, at least when I asked, everything was normal over in Jinghai City! So..."

"Alright, no intelligence on that matter has been compiled and sent here!" the Pope sighed. "I want to believe you! But there’s no evidence... I will keep an eye out!"

Chu Bamboo: "..."

Listening to the disconnected call, Chu Bamboo put down his phone with a blank expression and glanced again at the factories, where the black fog was gradually thickening.

’This is what they call normal?!’

Chu Bamboo took a deep breath, then another, and after several cycles, he finally regained his composure. "Fine, fine. It seems relying on outside help is a bit unreliable!"

Chu Bamboo flexed his wrists and muttered, "Looks like I’ll have to rely on myself! But... if I remember correctly..."

"..."

...

"Old man Mo Ban, the factories in the Third District’s redevelopment zone have blown up! Not just one... a whole bunch of them. The main explosion sites are..." After rattling off a series of locations, Chu Bamboo paused slightly and asked, "You guys can come over to help with the rescue now... no, wait, to shovel the ashes, right?"

"???" Mo Ban fell into a brief silence. "Did you really blow up the factories?"

"?" Chu Bamboo was stunned for a second, almost failing to understand Mo Ban’s line of thinking.

"Alright, I’ll check it on my end! Then I’ll head out." Mo Ban hung up the phone.

Chu Bamboo glanced at his phone, then at the time.

There were now less than ten minutes until the black fog’s full-scale outbreak!

"Warning! Warning!" Little Mushroom Head suddenly spoke again. "Codename: Nuclear Fission Facility 623 has sustained a major blow!"

"Please handle immediately! Please handle immediately."

"?" Chu Bamboo froze, and his eyes gradually lit up. ’Could this facility be...’

"Nuclear Fission Facility 621 has sustained a major blow!"

"Nuclear Fusion Facility 624..."

"?" Chu Bamboo fell into deep thought. ’Hold on a minute, can someone tell me just how many nuclear-related things are hidden within Jinghai City? That’s three of them that have been hit...’

And also...

’624... a nuclear fusion facility!’ Chu Bamboo found that name very interesting.

’If he remembered correctly, nuclear fusion was unlikely to cause contamination... So, was Nuwa’s main warning about the first two nuclear fission facilities?!’

"Warning! Please handle immediately... Please evacuate immediately!

Otherwise, based on this unit’s current projections, in the worst-case scenario, the nuclear material will leak and seep into the underground riverbeds... subsequently, through the water cycle, it will contaminate the entirety of Jinghai City within half a day!

It is projected to affect the provincial level within the next week, and ultimately impact the continental plate..."

"..." Chu Bamboo’s eyes slowly widened, countless thoughts surging through his mind.

’Wait, the scale of this impact...’

It dawned on Chu Bamboo belatedly. That was it! He had been too naive.

He had actually thought before that the enemy would throw mutated monsters one by one into the nuclear facilities to absorb radiation... but now it seemed.

The enemy was flipping the table completely, preparing to create a radioactive wasteland.

"Have the big shots in the Daqian Imperial Capital gone mad?!" Chu Bamboo was genuinely stunned. ’Do they really know what they’re doing? No matter how little you care about the lives of the common people, no matter how much you want to harvest them like leeks for Cultivation Resources... you could at least run a test first!’

Chu Bamboo had always thought the scale of this incident was limited to Jinghai City. But now it seemed... had he ultimately underestimated the audacity of those big shots?

But this wasn’t a matter of audacity... ’If they were short on Cultivation Resources, were they so desperately lacking that they had to turn the entire Daqian Capital into a pasture?!’

"No, wait. Is it possible that they... simply don’t understand! That they have no idea what the situation is?"

Chu Bamboo suddenly realized, the corner of his eye twitching.

Obviously, expecting this bunch of guys, who hadn’t even figured out how to use a cell phone properly, to understand the nature of nuclear radiation and the scope of the impact after a nuclear facility’s problem spreads to the underground riverbeds... was a virtually impossible task!

’Perhaps...’

’The big shots still believe that blowing up a few nuclear facilities will, at most, only affect Jinghai...’

’At the absolute worst, maybe the area surrounding Jinghai?’

After a brief silence, Chu Bamboo actually laughed in anger, as if he had lost all his strength.

You could only say that compared to ordinary fools... it’s the self-righteous fools who also wield immense power that are the greatest threat to this world!