Flames soared into the sky, visible from anywhere in the New Berlin District.
[Advisor: The exploded factory used a nuclear fission reactor, and most people think civilian nuclear fission equipment canât explode, but thatâs incorrect.]
[Advisor: As an industrial device and facility, the fission reactor only poses no explosion risk when "operating according to protocol," and its safety insurance only works when both "operating according to protocol" and "insurance running appropriately."]
[Advisor: Also, this wasnât a nuclear explosion.]
Nuclear explosions from nuclear fission are largely due to purity exceeding the threshold, a condition most nuclear power stations lack.
But even in this world, using nuclear power requires steam or other things. Under sufficient understanding of energy dynamics, these stored energy mediums are sealed in the power room, and when accumulated energy surpasses safe limits, it turns the power room into a gigantic bomb!
In Cyberspace, Europa Tower connected several access points from different aerial villas.
[Execution Committee Member A: ...Is this really necessary? Weâve been stable for fifty years, we can continue stable development for another fifty years. This chaos happening in Berlin is simply not right.]
[Execution Committee Member B: Indeed, chaos is no good.]
[Advisor: I have long submitted the assessment and report of this accident to the server. Remember, this action has already been approved for execution.]
[Advisor: As before, we need to relieve pressure.]
An utterly lifeless voice responded to the committeeâs questions; the advisor didnât answer their queries.
[Execution Committee Member C: Alright...We should proceed according to the advisorâs recommendations, given the accomplishments over the decades.]
[Execution Committee Member D: But I have a suggestion; we should all tighten control over our children, donât you think?]
[Execution Committee Member E: Children? Itâs not a matter of children, Medici. You should curb your peculiar habits; the European Union might tolerate you, but that doesnât mean theyâll tolerate those lackeys of yours.]
[Medici: Oops, but arenât they already dead? I understand, Iâll lay low for a while, but donât stop me from pursuing that monster...]
In Cyberspace, the execution committee members all exited, leaving only the giant crown floating above the phantom of Europa Tower.
It was a crown, but also a wall, guarding all secrets.
...
The initial plan was to redirect the fervor of this movement to controllable directions using the influence of the Special Political Committee for Cyber Psychosis and the Workerâs Union model already spread across the European Union, contributing to the aerospace industry.
Meanwhile, the attack predicted in the terror proclamation was tomorrowâ
They had hoped to leverage the enthusiasm of the workers to find that abnormal terrorist!
Compared to conventional military weapon explosions, the fireball from this explosion was disproportionate to its scale:
The power room of the IEC factory was highly advanced, causing the fragments to soar hundreds of meters into the sky!
When this energy acted upon the fragments but didnât shoot straight into the sky, the power of the fragments would far exceed any kinetic weapons and production accidents Elliot had seen so farâ
Simply impossible to evade!
The world whirled before his eyes, Elliotâs mind was almost blank: He was no longer that confused, despondent factory youth; now he felt he had endless tasks to undertakeâ
Because he had a goal in mind, when witnessing the same accident, he hesitated not at all nor froze in place, but whether his body could dodge...he didnât know.
Bam!
Elliot fiercely slammed into the ground, the ringing in his ears receding.
The molten salt, steam, and other materials used in the factory erupted under immense pressure, spraying outward like a giant fountain, these lethal substances covered the sky, showering down the streets!
Yet at this moment, Elliot could only stare fixedly at the spot where he had just stood:
The tank designed for housing whales was deeply pierced by an iron plate, nutrient liquid trickling out like a brook through the crack, dropping to the ground...
A corpse split in two slid off both sides of the iron plate.
Elliot indeed couldnât dodge, and at that point, only one person could have helped him evade:
Only Carl could, Carl reacted quickly and had industrial prosthetics throughout his body.
When the visual nerves presented an apocalyptic scene, bioelectric currents emitted from the brain, transformed into control currents through the Cyber Modulator and other Brain-Computer Interface components, completing neurotransmitter transmission ahead of human nerves, sending instructions to the prosthetics in his body...
Without Si Anweisitan, no feedback currents would have been generated in his nerves, all he knew was issuing a last command, but whether he saved himself or the good brother who dashed out from Foxstone togetherâ
He would never know: The iron shards flew out, each at least 4 meters long, over 22 centimeters thick, such kinetic energy struck, not slicing but blasting a person apart.
The physical body shattered, leaving only a mechanical husk, staggering forward a step, but the spot where he stood was the whale tank platform, moving forward a step meant stepping into thin air.
Thus Carlâs wreckage stepped into nothingness, fell to the ground.
This brother who once raised a shield for him became fragments in an instant...
Real-world doesnât have fairy tales.
When he hadnât truly welcomed this endeavor, he feared this scene, could only duck away; but now fully embracing this endeavor, he had forgotten such a thing.
"Elliot!"
A powerful force dragged the dazed Elliot back under the whale tank. Alina slapped his cheeks with both hands:
"Still alive?"
As a mercenary, Alina knew too well that although such enormous kinetic impacts sometimes were not direct, they could trigger huge shockwaves, potentially fatal to pure physical beings.
Sevens donned a medical helmet, instantly arriving beside Elliot: "...Mostly normal, just some muscle and soft tissue bruising, and concussion..."
Bam!
Another massive concrete block fell from the sky, crushing a fleeing worker into pulp.
Even Alina was terrified by the explosionâs power and scale: It was akin to bombardment!
"Can Cyber Psychosis cause such commotion?!"
Sevens packed up equipment, pulling a stimulant from the emergency kit: "Cyber Psychosis involves lunatics, evidently the lunatic behind this had knowledge and skills...
You see, knowledge is powerâstay sharp!"
"Haâ"
The stimulant shot into his arteries, the blurry world immediate clarity, Elliot took a deep breath, grabbed Sevensâ clothes:
"Carl is dead! He pushed me and got hit by that thing!"
"I know!" Sevens flung Elliot aside, looking at the continuously spewing factory, "Damn it, that Cyber Psychosis lunatic has no sense of honor...
We need to catch him now! Did you hear me? We need to catch him now!
Interpol is on their way, theyâve shared the factoryâs blueprints, arenât you the workersâ leader?
Take us inside!"
"Are you crazy?!" Alina shoved Sevens aside, "The place is exploding! We need to retreat!"
"Iâm not crazy!" Sevens pushed forward, shouting at Elliot, "This explosion, every warning is unusual, we must find that Cyber Psychosis lunatic ourselves, figure out why heâs doing this!
Once Interpol arrives, weâll only have second-hand information!"
"What use is first-hand information?!" Alina resolutely, "Take first-hand information to the grave?!"
Sevens once again bypassed the burly Alina, shouted at Elliot: "Damn it! He killed Carl! You donât want to find that bastard yourself?!"
Alina wanted to say something more but felt someone fiercely push her from behindâ
Sevens was sure since knowing Elliot, it was his first time seeing such a distorted expression on the latterâs face.
"Follow me!"