“Compared to the pollution you caused in the past… and will cause in the future, I’d feel it’s more environmentally friendly to cut down this tree of yours,” Han Xiao said mockingly.

In his previous life, no player could dig out the origin of the leader—it was truly hard to find the true identity of an ordinary missing person in this age of war. After Han Xiao heard the leader’s description, he had a clearer understanding of him.

The leader was a firm patriot, one of the few Gollum citizens that escaped Raylen’s invasion. He hid in the dark, purposely fighting at the edge of death to look for breakthroughs and the power to revenge, one of the superhumans that started ordinary and reached the peak of the planet, ambitious and extreme.

Now that he had met a dead end, he decided that he would rather die than compromise; it was clear that the hatred was already deeply buried in his bones.

The experience of a planet main character is indeed really interesting and legendary. Every main character has a history that can be dug out, Han Xiao thought with mixed feelings.

When he was still very weak, the leader had been like a mountain, and he had needed to act with caution and become stronger. Finally, he had gained the power to face him head-on and defeated the Germinal Organization.

The Germinal Organization was the main antagonist of Planet Aquamarine in Version 1.0. Han Xiao had also participated in this storyline during his previous life as a player. Now that he had a different identity, his impact was much higher, and it was a totally different experience. Although Han Xiao looked very calm, it did not mean that he did not enjoy the victory—there was still a sense of accomplishment in his heart.

The leader shook his head and said, “I never thought that an escaped test subject would become my greatest enemy. When you stole the secrets and broke through my ambush, I already knew that the Germinal Organization would undoubtedly lose. I never give up, but there was nothing I could do; it was barely even a struggle before death.”

Because he had predicted this long ago, no matter how bad the situation was for them, he was not surprised. Seeing the organization that he had built slowly slide into the abyss, he was actually still calm.

“To me, defeat means death. The Six Nations want to see me surrender so that they can take all the knowledge that the Germinal Organization has gained throughout the years. I won’t let them get anything.”

Han Xiao raised his brows. “About that, I heard you captured quite a few hostages. If you activate the explosion, all of them will definitely die, and the nuclear blast will affect the climate, worsening the environment of the entire planet, endangering the everyone’s future in this planet. Are you sure you want to do this?”

The leader kept silent. The sound of breathing was the only thing coming out from the speakers. Han Xiao was not in a hurry; he watched the screen calmly.

After a while, the leader spoke in a low voice.

“You’re going to persuade me to surrender?”

Han Xiao shrugged and said, “I’m not planning to, because you don’t seem like someone that can be persuaded, but the guys opposite me want me to…”

He was in a meeting room of Sanctuary One at the moment, holding his laptop and sitting on the sofa. Bennett sat opposite him and listened to the entire conversation. He kept using hand signs to tell Han Xiao to persuade the leader. Both sides suffering was the last thing Bennett wanted to see.

Han Xiao felt that Bennett was daydreaming. To have him, the very person that caused their defeat, do the persuasion, was that not completely adding fuel to the fire? Even if the leader had planned to surrender originally, he might change his mind instantly after seeing Han Xiao’s face. Luckily, the leader had always been very firm, or he would have been quite worried… Wait a minute, that logic felt somewhat weird.

Bennett kept giving him signs. Han Xiao had no choice but to give it a try, or Bennett would nag him like a mother again.

“I’d rather bring everyone with me,” the leader said maliciously. “This world shall know pain!”

Han Xiao’s mouth opened wide, a classic reference stuck in his throat.

Pain, is that you‽ [1. Pain is a character in a Japanese manga/anime series, one of his signature lines is “This world shall know pain.”]

The leader sneered. “I hate this world—why should I care for it? Even if the Six Nations won, don’t even dream of not paying anything! The Six Nations are killers, too, only reaching their position today after destroying countless nations. They stood on the ruins and praised their actions. The winner is always on the side of justice, and these blood debts will all be buried in history. No one will know, no one will find out, and no one will fight for justice of the old era. These governments that have luckily survived have enjoyed themselves for too long, and it’s time for them to pay a little interest!”

The leader did not care about what the world would become after he died; he would rather betray others than to be betrayed. Even a normal person might feel this way, not to mention the malicious, ambitious leader.

Han Xiao did not comment. The results of a nuclear attack would have a minimal effect on him, as he would sooner or later leave Planet Aquamarine. Furthermore. The next version was Mutation Disaster. A larger disaster was coming, and in comparison, this climate disaster would be nothing.

The Germinal Organization had survived in his previous life, and there had been a potential risk of them coming back again. Now the Germinal Organization had been annihilated at once, but it brought a last lasting negative impact. As for which one was better, Han Xiao did not really know, but the latter would definitely clear his [Fall of the Germinal] mission.

To other people of Planet Aquamarine that did not know this, the result of the latter was horrifying. The climate was deeply connected to their lives, and no one would wish for an environment deterioration.

Sitting opposite, Bennett was anxious. He wished he could just fly to the Germinal Organization headquarters and kill the leader before he could press the button.

Han Xiao looked at the clock and said slowly, “There’s still quite some time till the deadline that the Six Nations gave. Aren’t you going to wait any longer?”

“I prefer to decide my time of death myself.” The leader’s eyes became firm. He reached out his hand, held onto the nuclear launch keys, and started turning slowly.

A suffocating pressure came out of the screen, and the leader’s movement seemed to be lasting forever. Bennett hands clawed at the sofa’s armrests and tore the leather open.

Every degree he turned, one second was taken away from the countdown clock of countless lives.

The second hand gradually pointed toward the final result.

Han Xiao looked at the leader’s face calmly and suddenly asked, “I never got your name.”

“My name?” The leader lifted the corner of his lips and gave a ferocious smile. “Not important.”

“You’re right, so… goodbye then.” Han Xiao sighed and waved his hand.

The keys turned one hundred and eighty degrees.

The sound of a quake came out of the screen—that was the sound of missiles rising into the sky.

The leader retracted his hands and sat on the chair like a statue. At that moment, his tone did not have any hatred, regret, or sadness of almost facing his death; there was not any intense emotion. Like old neighbors passing each other, he nodded at Han Xiao.

“Goodbye.”

…

“Warning! Warning! Fast-moving objects are rising from the Germinal Organization headquarters!”

All of the waiting military officers in the Six Nations combat conference stood up in shock; this was the worst-case scenario. Although the people present were mentally prepared, when this moment arrived, they still found it hard to accept.

A nuclear blast killing hostages, resulting in pollution, burning the Germinal Organization headquarters to the ground, countless classified technology lost forever… It could not be considered a win for any party.

“Activate anti navigation?” the assistant said shivering.

All the officers had no choice. Without hesitation, their responses were the same. “Activate immediately!”

In the Germinal Organization headquarters, the ground and the buildings were trembling slightly. The hiding Germinal Organization soldiers looked up to the sky through the windows and saw the missiles rise one after another.

An atmosphere of silence and death spread among the people. Everyone knew the leader’s decision and what was going to happen next.

Tears, despair, madness, twitching, trembling, screaming, growling, indifference…

The countless emotions and responses right before death.

In the sky far away, a dense number of black objects approached rapidly—some clashed with the rising missiles, and some landed in the headquarters.

Hum—

The first sound was a high-pitch explosion undetectable to the human ear. Most of the people in the Six Nations camp faraway covered their ears, but blood was still flowing out.

A fire pillar, tens of kilometers in diameter, shot up the sky. The group of bases disintegrated in an instant. Black dust was spat out from the blinding firelight, gradually rising and turning into a condensed black mushroom.

In the Six Nation camp far away, the people who looked out could only see white. The light had temporarily blinded most of the people, and even the superhumans had to close their eyes. No one could stay natural in the face of this kind of power; everyone felt small and insignificant, like they had become sand that was going to be blown away by the next wind. Unable to control their own fate, they started to shiver uncontrollably.

Even in further areas, the fire could be seen to soar through the clouds above the Germinal Organization on the horizon, and the clouds formed a circle in the sky.

Right after, the firelight shone a second time, emitting a yellow spherical shockwave mixed with dust and ash. Everywhere it passed, the ground cracked, and the buildings shattered into pieces. Countless bent pieces of metal easily flew for miles like feathers, falling onto the wilderness like rain.

The shockwave finally arrived at the camp. Like the breath of the god of wind, tents were blown away, spinning like dandelion seeds; heavy vehicles rolled like balls; for the people there, a few broken bones was just a light injury. The onlooking players were shocked and excited—they recorded the moment and did not want to miss out anything.

With the expanding shockwave came the second explosion, and the frequency could be caught by human ear this time, almost breaking people’s eardrums.

Boom!

The sound was like the sky was falling apart!

Deafening!

The camps behind started to stand their ground and commanded the troops to retreat quickly.

The continuous firelight was the only thing left on the wilderness. The image was like a punishment from the gods, and the tumbling mushroom cloud kept changing its shape like the smile of a devil.

The leader, with his unfulfilled belief and the organization that he had created, turned into a bright firework that lit up the entire sky.

The Germinal Organization had ended.

The nuclear explosion that burned the headquarters to the ground marked the end of the Planet Aquamarine war.

…

The highest ranked officials of the Six Nations hosted an emergency meeting. The enemy had been defeated, but the upcoming impact was not optimistic.

“In accordance to the scale of the explosion, the climate bureau created a calculus model. The first batch of radiation dust will enter the atmospheric cycle in the next three to six hours. Within the next month, the land of Andrea will enter a nuclear winter that will last for at least half a year. During that time, the land will not be suitable for any lifeform. Flora and fauna will die in droves, and the land will become a complete death zone. The radiation will reach the sea area near Andrea, which might cause the marine food chain to collapse. Some sea creatures might also go through unknown mutations.

“High-density radiation and pollution will enter the sea cycle, then spread to the entire world through the form of rain. This process will take about 300 to 500 days to complete. By then, the entire planet’s climate will start to deteriorate. As the affected area is much larger, the deterioration is not as severe as it will be in Andrea, but it still will heavily damage the atmosphere and have a negative impact in every way. This impact might last as long as more than ten years. In this time, the entire planet’s technology is estimated to be unable to advance and might even recede.”

The high ranked officials of the Six Nation all had serious expressions. This was not just about a nation—it was about the entire world, the entire race.

An anti-war official slammed the table and said wrathfully, “Look! Look what you did! Our troops suffered huge losses. Not only do we not get any benefits after winning, it even led to this result. We never should have started the expedition and the war in the first place! We should have let the Germinal Organization hide in Andrea and stopped after we destroyed their sub bases!”

Back then, when the expedition was decided, some politicians had been anti-war, because once the war started, the resources and authority would heavily slant to the military. Of course, some high ranked officials would not be happy about it. However, majority ruled, and their voice was ignored. Now that they had justified excuses, they decided to stand up for themselves after what had already happened.

“We are already at this point; don’t say any more useless things.”

The bitter fruit of war had to be borne by the entire world; it affected a lot of innocents. In order to get rid of this enemy, they had paid such a big price. Some high ranked officials started to ask themselves if this was all worth it.

The answer was yes.

At least in the eyes of the high ranked officials, such a strong enemy posed more of a threat than what they called a planet-scale climate disaster. After they got rid of that, only then could they feel safe and have the condition to grow steadily. The high ranked officials of the nations all thought that. Everyone had to face the climate disaster threat, everyone had to deal with it, so they were still on the same starting line, and it was fair for everyone.

At least the result could still be saved.

“Should we lock down the news and not share it with the civilians?”

“Too many people already know about it. There’s no a need for that. Announce it officially.”

“The people will definitely protest and blame us for causing this.”

“Not important, the war has ended. What we need to face now is the disaster that will come after that. Let everyone know we’re on the same boat, and they should let go of the past and not dwell on what was wrong or who was right. We have to work together to get through this.”

“Then, what about…”

The high ranked officials of the nations discussed one suggestion after another.

…

With a furious expression, Bennett walked back and forth in the room, mumbling to himself. Han Xiao sat on the sofa with his legs crossed. He looked up the blue sky outside the window and shook his head.

The leader had turned to ash with the headquarters.

The Germinal Organization could be considered as the first big BOSS that he had faced, and this big main storyline on Planet Aquamarine had been destroyed by him. He started to like this feeling a little.

No matter how legendary the leader’s past was, he had been Han Xiao’s enemy. Han Xiao very rarely showed mercy to his enemies. Victory meant victory, and there was no need for the winner to fake regret and remorse.

With a deep breath, Han Xiao got excited. He opened the interface and browsed the notifications that had shown up.

_____________

You have received Planet Legendary Points—[Germinal Organization Slayer]!

Grade A Main Storyline Mission [Fall of the Germinal] Completed!

Grade: Unbelievable

You have received mission reward for [Unbelievable] grade

Calculating reward…

Calculating reward…

Please wait patiently…