1RomanceEB Chapter 94 The Dragon's Fury!
Chapter 94 The Dragon's Fury!
Chapter 94 The Dragon's Fury!
"Has something happened in Michigan?"
The first post appeared seven minutes after the explosion.
The poster lives in Cleveland, Ohio, about 170 miles from Detroit.
He uploaded a video taken with his phone: in the northeastern sky outside the window, there was a spreading grayish-white cloud on the horizon, with a flat top, like a mushroom.
The video was quickly shared.
The second post came from Chicago, Illinois: "Was there an earthquake? The windows are shaking."
The third post included a screenshot of a satellite cloud image, with a red circle marking the southeastern corner of Michigan: "Abnormal heat signal. This is not a fire."
Four minutes later, a Detroit local survivor's Twitter account posted: "Nuclear bomb. They dropped a nuclear bomb."
The accompanying photo was taken through a gap in the basement.
The streets were on fire, and the sky was dark red.
This tweet was retweeted 470,000 times in twenty minutes.
The server started lagging.
"Was that a nuclear bomb? How could someone drop a nuclear bomb on our land?"
"The yield isn't large, it's tactical level. But it is definitely a nuclear bomb."
"Is it the end of the world? Is nuclear winter coming?"
"Don't panic, I checked the wind direction, the radioactive dust is mainly drifting towards Canada."
"Quack! My safe house will protect me! Three layers of concrete, lined with lead plates, that'll be enough!"
The forum posts were refreshed at a rate of dozens per second.
Someone uploaded a screenshot of a military aircraft identification manual, circling the outline of a B-2 bomber: "It was probably this thing that did it. It's stealthy, radar can't detect it."
The reply below was: "Are you stupid? The B-2 took off from Missouri? Use your brain. It's definitely a modified fighter jet, an F-15 or F-16."
16. Carry tactical nuclear warheads and perform low-altitude penetration.
Another analysis is more detailed: "Based on the height and diameter of the mushroom cloud, the equivalent is about 50,000 tons of TNT, which is three times that of the Hiroshima bomb."
"The temperature at the center of the explosion exceeded one million degrees Celsius. All buildings within a three-kilometer radius of the shock wave were leveled, and those within a five-kilometer radius were severely damaged."
"Heat radiation radius of ten kilometers, third-degree burns."
Someone posted a Google Maps image showing downtown Detroit circled in red, with the caption: "That's it."
A comment below read: "I knew it! These damn deep state governments definitely had nuclear weapons. See? They couldn't hold back anymore and just went for it!"
"How many tactical nuclear warheads went missing after the Cold War? The military report states it's a stockpile discrepancy."
The discussion quickly veered off-topic into conspiracy theories.
Some people mentioned Freemasonry, some mentioned reptilian people, and some confidently claimed that this was a purge by the "New World Order".
The mainstream media reports came late.
CNN's breaking news headline:
A massive explosion has occurred in Detroit, Michigan; the cause is still under investigation.
Fox News was even more direct:
Suspected nuclear explosion! Detroit attacked by unknown forces!
MSNBC was still airing a political commentary program from a week ago when it cut to a live broadcast two minutes later. The host spoke rapidly: "We've just received news of a major explosion in Detroit, Michigan. It's currently unclear whether any nuclear elements were involved. The White House says it's closely monitoring the situation—"
On social media, all topics have been replaced by "Detroit nuclear explosion" and "New Canaan".
The thread that was originally discussing Milk Dragon's latest speech was scrolled to dozens of pages.
Forums that were originally filled with complaints about unemployment and prices were flooded with posts analyzing the nuclear explosion.
Previously, the comments under videos of live-streaming games or makeup were all saying, "Stop broadcasting, go watch the news, there's a war."
Rust belt, a term forgotten over the past few decades, has returned to the center of everyone's attention.
Lake and Sea Manor.
Nailong stared at the TV screen, his fingers crushing the Coke bottle.
A video shot on a mobile phone is playing on the screen:
A mushroom cloud is rising, with the background sound of the photographer's incoherent screams and cries.
"Did the Native Americans eat the brains of these families?"
His voice was low, as if squeezed out from between his teeth, "Did eating too much Gundam food make you stupid?"
He grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.
The room fell silent. Only his own heavy breathing could be heard.
My phone vibrated on the table.
He glanced at it; it was an urgent communication request from an encrypted channel.
He pressed the button.
It vibrated again. I pressed the shut-off button again.
When the connection went through for the third time, before the other person could speak, he asked, "Are those think tank members out of their minds?"
"Mr. President, we are verifying—"
"Verify what? The nuclear bomb has already detonated! The mushroom cloud is visible all over the world!"
"The distributor may be a private armed group, not affiliated with the federal government —"
"I don't care who it belongs to!"
Milk Dragon raised his voice, "Missile bombing and nuclear bombing are two completely different levels! What were they thinking? Skipping missiles and going straight for nuclear bombs? Or using private jets? This is trampling on the authority of the federal government!"
He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
"Wan Xinru".
"Yes, sir."
"A press conference will be held. One hour later, in the Black House press room. Content: Strongly condemn the use of nuclear weapons on our territory, declare it an act of terrorism, and the federal government will do everything in its power to investigate those responsible and take all necessary measures."
How harsh should the wording be?
"The harshest approach would be to say that this is a direct attack on the United States, tantamount to a declaration of war."
"But the advertiser might—"
I don't care what it might be.
Nailong interrupted him, "The whole world is watching. We must determine its nature immediately. This is domestic terrorism, a conspiracy by the deep state government, and infiltration by foreign forces—"
"Make it up however you want, but the federal government must be completely absolved of responsibility."
"clear."
"Also, inform the leaders of both parties in Congress and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court that I will be holding an emergency video conference after this press conference."
"Tell them that if they don't want their streetlights to be hung up by angry mobs tomorrow morning, they'd better get moving."
"Yes."
"Also, have the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in my office within half an hour. Immediately."
"Yes."
Communication was cut off.
Milk Dragon walked to the window and looked outside.
The lawn was still neatly trimmed, and the fountain was still spraying water.
Business as usual.
He raised his hand and pressed it to his forehead.
Headache.
It's not a physical headache. It's the kind of mental headache you get when you see a bunch of incompetent teammates flipping the chessboard over and then taking their shit on it.
He implied that the states and the federal government were standing idly by in Michigan in order to let the redneck and local forces wear each other down, thereby weakening state power.
He didn't expect anyone to be so stupid as to drop a nuclear bomb.
Private individuals deploying nuclear weapons.
Once this precedent is set, any rich, airplane-owning madman can do the same thing.
Bomb Detroit today, bomb New York tomorrow, bomb Los Angeles the day after.
The order is completely broken.
He turned around, walked back to the table, turned on the computer, and brought up the encrypted database.
Search keywords: "private armed forces", "nuclear weapons black market", "Soviet legacy".
The results list is very long.
He glanced at it a few times, then turned it off.
Now is not the time to investigate.
Now is the time to control public opinion, stabilize the situation, and prevent a chain reaction.
My phone vibrated again.
This time it's the Minister of Defense.
Milk Dragon connected.
"Mr. President, we have detected that the National Guard in at least four states has been placed on Level 1 alert."
"Six other states are holding emergency legislatures on topics including declaring a state of emergency and demanding an explanation from the federal government."
"understood."
"In addition, the NATO Secretary General called and requested an emergency call."
Tell him to wait!
"Both the foreign ministries of the Goose and Seres issued statements that expressed close concern, called for restraint, and opposed the use of nuclear weapons."
"Okay, I got it."
"And—labels demanding your resignation are starting to appear on social media."
"Press it down."
"We can't control it. The traffic is too high."
"Then let's cover it up with other topics. Find a few celebrity cheating scandals, aren't those from the BBC and Forbes very good at it? Let's drown out the nuclear bomb topic."
"Yes."
hang up.
Milk Dragon sat back in his chair and closed his eyes.
Three seconds later, she opened her eyes.
His gaze regained its composure.
A businessman's instincts begin to calculate losses and opportunities.
The nuclear bomb exploded, people died, the city was destroyed—that was the loss.
But this is also an opportunity.
An opportunity to thoroughly purge the opposition.
An opportunity to consolidate more power in the Black House.
He pressed the internal communication button: "Add another line to the speech: Announce the establishment of a Special Command for Domestic Counter-Terrorism and Nuclear Security," directly under my command, authorized to investigate any suspicious organizations and individuals indefinitely, without the need for court approval."
"Yes, sir."
Now, he has to go in front of the camera and play an angry and resolute president.