Gate of Apocalypse

"But ...... I don't understand, Deacon."

Tomoyo sat back in his original seat, keeping his head down to keep his expression from showing, making it appear as if he was meditating.

The Stiff Dragon sat right next to him, neither of them speaking, not even making eye contact, but talking all the while through the team channel.

The other bigwigs around him were silent, while the more junior members of the staff were talking quietly or busily.

Although no one really wanted to see what happened next, it was clear that it had come to a point where it had to be done.

More than seventy years later, the second operational use of a nuclear weapon in human history was dropped by one of our own hands on the soil of the country where it was invented.

After today, the jewel of the West Coast, the City of Angels, Los Angeles, will forever exist only in people's memories and surviving materials.

"If you don't understand something, say so!" Despite his blank expression, the stiff dragon sounded happy.

"Actually, when you think about it ...... I haven't changed anything." Tong You hesitated and said slowly, "Everything I said, as well as the final decision, is what this idiot president himself would have said. And the reaction of those directors and ministers, it is also obvious that they do not resist this decision. Ultimately, there is no other option than to wash the floor with nuclear bombs. So ......"

"So you think this is redundant?" The stiff dragon laughed, "If I could have predicted this outcome, then why did I let you occupy the body of the President to make this decision, right?"

"Yes." Tomoyo admitted honestly.

"Because you've always believed that your skills are useless. Even if you managed to occupy the bodies of powerful monsters, you couldn't gain their abilities, so you've always thought that your skills were purely useless. But you - you forgot such a thing."

"What ...... thing?" You are still confused.

"The order to finally launch the nuclear bomb was given by the President of the United States. And now - you are the President of the United States."

"In the middle of the team channel, Tomoyo suddenly stood up from his chair and shouted like a madman, "Ah ！！！！！".

"Mr. President?!"

Everyone was shocked and looked at the President who was flushed and jumping wildly in place.

"It's okay ...... It's okay!" Tong-Yu held back his excitement, waved his hand vigorously, and said loudly, "I'm fine! Sit down, all of you! No, all go do your own thing!"

"Figure it out?" The dragon was still expressionless, but the voice on the team channel was full of pride: "Whether it's the boss, the monsters, or all the other participants in this copy, they will all be judged as you killed them. Even though - you didn't even lift a finger."

"Yes, I see!" You have sat back down, and your body is still shaking slightly: "So, all the points will belong to me? The 10-million-dollar monster ......"

"It belongs to our team." Stiff Dragon smiled, "We Starfall Team Greater China."

"Of course! Sure!" If he didn't have to disguise himself as the president right now, Tomoyo would almost want to jump up, hug his deacon to death, and kiss him ten thousand times on the face.

"Wait-"

Tong You suddenly remembered something: "Then, Deacon, the Meteorite Warriors will die too, right? In our previous work with them ......"

"So what?" The stiff dragon sneered indifferently, "Don't you think they're growing a little too fast? We've only worked with them for fifteen copies, but how far have they come now? Although every time we were able to complete the copy without any problems and get more rewards than usual, it was obvious that they didn't disclose everything to us.

We did get a lot of benefits from our previous cooperation with them, but they only got far more than us. If this continues, sooner or later they will become the stronger team.

Besides, they haven't contacted us actively for two months. Not only that, but they even sneaked off to North America on their own to participate in the replica. Obviously, they have finished using us and are planning to kick us out. Even if we continue to maintain a good relationship with them, there is no point in doing so. In future copies, we will not be able to get any quest guidance from them.

If that's the case, then of course we should nip this team in the bud while they haven't completely grown up yet.

Otherwise ...... sooner or later, they will become stronger than Zero City's resident team and stronger than the Thorn Flower Crew!"

"You make a good point about ......!" The only thing left in Tong You's heart at this moment is admiration: "But isn't there still a deal between us and them for the Star Sand? If they're killed, what about the supply of star sand?"

Every month, the deacon would transfer ten thousand points in exchange for ten kilograms of star sand.

But this star sand has never been seen used by the deacon.

Of course, ever since becoming the leader of the team, the deacon had been leading the team to victory, which gave him the prestige to put an end to all doubts.

Only about this point, Tomoyo had been wondering.

"You don't have to worry about that." Stiff Dragon smiled faintly, "The quantity is enough." "Quantity is enough?

"The quantity ...... is sufficient? What exactly are you going to do with them?" Seeing that the Stiff Dragon was in a good mood today, Tong You simply pursued the question.

Stiff Dragon did not answer Tong You's question: "Tong You, you now know how powerful your skills can be with the right copy and the right arrangement, right?"

"Yes, Deacon." Tomoyo replied quickly.

"Likewise, I am the only one who can maximize your power." The stiff dragon's voice sounded enthusiastic: "You are the most important person in this regiment to me. I will not hide any more secrets from you. Of course, now is not a convenient time. I'll tell you what those star sands will do when this copy is over."

"Mr. President, the launch sequence is all set, just waiting for your code to be entered."

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff came over and whispered in the Tombs' ear.

"Go ahead, enter the code with your hand and acquire this copy for victory!"

Despite the fact that only voices were heard, it was as if you could see the stiff dragon smiling at you.

......

On the side of the highway, a mountain of mutants surrounded the fortress and continued to impact it.

Although there were some casualties in the process, most of the team had retreated into the small makeshift fortress, resisting desperately.

But there were so many mutants around that the small fortress was almost like an island surrounded by the sea, enduring the repeated impacts of the tide.

In the distance, new long-range variants had appeared, and in greater numbers than before, scattered over three high points, bombarding the fortress with acid sacs.

Most of the acid sacs were burst in the air, pouring acid all the way down, drenching the other mutants on the ground with their heads.

Although they are the same mutants, it does not mean that other types of mutants have the skin to resist corrosion, and there were also many casualties under the acid splash. But for the huge number of these variants, it was not a problem at all.

There were three levels in the fortress, and Corundum was on the top level, pressing her hands against a wall, closing her eyes tightly, and unleashing her skills with all her might, moment by moment.

The entire surface of the fortress was covered with a layer of crystals. Compared to metal, these crystals were not as tough, but they were far more resistant to corrosion than metal.

The acid that was spilled on the fortress, although it was also slowly corroding the crystal shell, at least it would not be immediately burnt through. With corundum's ability, the crystals continued to grow and were barely able to counteract the corrosion of the acid.

But the problem was - maintaining the crystalline shell of an entire fortress was still too much for him.

After only fifteen minutes of entering the fortress, Corundum's face had already turned pale.

"Exactly how much longer do ...... want me to hold ...... up!" Kongyu gasped and whispered to the tire biting behind her.

"I don't know! Hang in there if you don't want to die!"

The tires were chilling without turning back.

In front of each firing hole around the perimeter stood an Awakened or player, firing incessantly. Behind each of them was a large pile of ammunition.

In the center of the floor, there were only Tire and Xia Xiaolei.

Tire locked his eyebrows and looked at Xia Xiaolei.

And in Xia Xiaolei's bosom, he held tightly-...

A mutant!