Chapter 26: The Silver Savior and the Nuclear Threat

Boom!!!

Following an earth-shattering explosion, the already depleted army suffered another devastating blow.

When General John regained his senses, he found himself sprawled on the ground, his right leg completely numb. ‘It seems I haven’t been blown to bits yet,’ he thought. ‘How fortunate.’

‘What about the others?’ Driven by this thought, General John struggled to rise, his body already gravely wounded. Yet, his own safety paled in comparison to his concern for the young soldiers who had fought by his side, sharing their lives day in and day out. But as his gaze swept across the scene, everything he saw made him tremble uncontrollably.

Within his field of vision, not a single standing figure remained. All that met his eyes were severed limbs and scattered body parts.

The small squad of over ten men who had been beside him moments ago were now reduced to a few survivors, writhing and wailing in pools of blood. Undoubtedly, their capacity to continue the fight had been utterly extinguished.

‘How… how could this be?’ Watching the monstrous beast relentlessly advance towards the city, General John, consumed by grief, rage, and despair, pulled out his pistol and fired shot after desperate shot.

The tiny bullets were laughably insignificant against the behemoth’s colossal body. Just as before, they simply ricocheted off its armored hide upon impact.

Though utterly useless, his futile assault nonetheless captured the beast’s attention. The monstrous creature, altering its trajectory ever so slightly, began crawling directly towards General John.

‘Heh… is this… the end?’ Confronted by this unprecedented leviathan, General John’s face was etched with a look of utter despondency. Slowly, he let his pistol drop to the side, clearly having abandoned all hope of struggle.

However, just as the terrifying beast was about to crush him, General John witnessed a sight that would forever be seared into his memory.

A gust of powerful wind swept past, and then, a silver silhouette suddenly descended before him, delivering a swift kick to the beast’s abdomen.

!!!

‘Who… who is this girl?’

The sudden appearance of the young woman left General John utterly bewildered.

The slender figure of the silver-haired girl stood in stark contrast to the beast’s monstrous, grotesque body.

General John instinctively wanted to shout at the girl to flee. He couldn’t bear to witness another vibrant, beautiful life extinguished before his eyes.

Such a fragile being challenging that beast was nothing short of a suicidal act.

At least, that’s what should have happened. Yet, before General John could even utter a word, the events that unfolded next left him utterly dumbfounded, the words caught in his throat.

It was as if the immense disparity in strength between the two sides had suddenly been reversed.

The girl’s seemingly ordinary kick elicited a gut-wrenching shriek of agony from the beast.

The shark-beast’s impenetrable scales, which had covered its abdomen and entire body and driven his troops to utter despair, shattered completely in an instant.

Then, the beast’s massive body spun uncontrollably like a pinwheel, soaring hundreds of meters away.

The surviving soldiers, witnessing this impossible feat, wore expressions of inexpressible shock.

‘Oh my God! Is that girl a superhero?’ ‘Or perhaps an angel sent by God to save us?’ Such thoughts couldn’t help but stir in the hearts of the onlookers.

****

Gazing at the middle-aged man behind her, his face smeared with blood and his expression utterly dumbfounded, Lin Ling couldn’t help but feel a pang of admiration.

Although she personally held no fondness for Country A, given their constant collaboration with Country M to stir up trouble, she still found herself respecting soldiers who were so dedicated to their duty and faced death without fear.

Surveying the smoke-filled, hellish landscape, Lin Ling’s emotions grew complicated. Truthfully, this was the first time in her memory she had witnessed such a tragic sight, and one so intensely real.

She could even sense the silent cries of despair within the soldiers’ hearts.

A sigh escaped her lips.

At that moment, a peculiar force silently enveloped the entire battlefield.

To his astonishment, General John discovered that his body, previously like a flickering candle in the wind from severe blood loss, was now brimming with renewed vitality. His leg, which should have been numb, began to move once more.

Lost blood regenerated continuously, and his wounds healed at an astonishing pace.

‘Ah! This is a miracle! A true miracle!’

The other soldiers also noticed this phenomenon. Though they couldn’t comprehend how it was happening, their instincts told them it was the work of the silver-haired girl. Consequently, the gazes of the surviving soldiers present gradually filled with fervent awe as they looked at Lin Ling.

Lin Ling did not bother to delve into their thoughts. After healing the soldiers, she shifted her attention to the massive shark-beast hundreds of meters away.

‘I have to admit, the power of the ocean is truly incredible!’

This shark’s sheer size was far beyond what Wangzai or the Red Horned Beast could ever compare to. Its entire body was equivalent to two aircraft carriers, and its power neared the seventh tier, already at the peak of the sixth tier.

‘If I could tame such a powerful combatant, that would be quite beneficial,’ she mused.

However, just moments ago, when Lin Ling attempted to communicate with the shark telepathically, she realized that taming it was an endeavor best abandoned.

‘Is there just mush for brains in this thing’s head!?’

It was utterly impossible to communicate with. It seemed to have lost all reason, merely letting out incoherent roars and guttural cries.

Yet, in a way, this saved her a considerable amount of trouble.

‘Since communication is impossible, there’s no need to keep it alive,’ Lin Ling declared. ‘So many people have died here; this will serve as a fitting retribution for them.’

With that, Lin Ling resolved to show no further mercy.

The shark-beast, however, remained oblivious that its life was now a flickering candle in the wind, hanging by a thread. It merely acted on instinct, seeking to eliminate any creature that dared to attack it.

Its gaze now locked onto Lin Ling, the one who had dared to strike it.

Immediately, a vast quantity of blue spiritual energy began to gather within its maw, preparing for a Spirit Wave Cannon.

But just as the shark-beast was about to open its mouth and unleash the attack,

an awkward scene unfolded.

Lin Ling had, at some unknown moment, appeared less than ten meters in front of the shark-beast, hovering in mid-air. Silvery-white spiritual energy undulated around her, coalescing into chains that firmly bound the creature’s mouth shut. No matter how violently the shark-beast struggled, it was powerless to break free; their strengths were simply not on the same level.

!!!

The shark-beast had intended to halt the launch of its Spirit Wave Cannon, only to discover it was too late!

Boom!

The shark-beast’s pupils abruptly constricted. Simultaneously, its body rapidly inflated like a pufferfish, only to deflate instantly like a burst balloon.

Its immense body crashed down with a resounding thud.

Undoubtedly, it was now incapable of retaliation; its internal organs had been almost completely annihilated by its own spiritual energy.

‘Time to send you on your way,’ Lin Ling murmured to herself, gazing at the dying beast sprawled on the ground. She had no interest in torturing an opponent, though this creature barely qualified as one.

With an upward flick of the chains binding the beast, its colossal body was effortlessly hurled into the sky.

Silver spiritual energy accumulated at Lin Ling’s fingertips.

The next moment,

a towering pillar of silver light directly engulfed the shark-beast’s body, annihilating even its soul.

‘Spirit Wave Cannon: Soul Extinction Edition.’

Witnessing the beast dissolve into ash, the surviving soldiers on the battlefield and the residents who hadn’t managed to escape the city were overcome with ecstasy. They embraced each other, celebrating the joy of surviving this ordeal and the relief that their homes would not be destroyed.

However, a segment of the population, including General John, still maintained grave expressions. They were acutely aware that the crisis was far from over.

Now, their only hope rested on the silver-haired girl floating in mid-air, praying that she would once again help them overcome this dire predicament.

Lin Ling, of course, knew exactly what was unfolding. Her golden pupils, fixed on the sky, already reflected a rapidly approaching tiny black speck.

‘Wow! I don’t even know what to say. Do the people of Country M really just resort to nuclear options whenever they’re stumped? Do they not care about all these innocent civilians here?’

The girl couldn’t help but complain.

Nevertheless,

since things had come to this, she decided she would put this nuclear missile to good use. Now, perhaps, was an excellent opportunity to gain some renown.

Moreover,

Lin Ling was also quite curious to see just how much damage a nuclear missile could inflict upon her.