Chapter 20: Interception Failed

Words : 1074 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Interception FailedEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation "Did it blow up?" As Chen Xin asked this question, the current Federation leader in the president’s shelter on the other side of the ocean was asking the same question. However, he was asking about another meteor, one with a four-kilometer diameter, heading toward North America, which was initially supposed to be intercepted by the Lucia people. To intercept this meteor, the Federation once again launched nuclear missiles, a total of five strategic nuclear missiles of ten megaton yield each. The explosion of the five high-yield nukes rendered all detectors and observation devices useless. To find out the result, they had to wait for the radiation and explosion fire to dissipate. "Sorry, Mr. President, we cannot confirm the situation at the scene currently. All equipment has failed." A military officer reported to the Federation leader, having never encountered such a scenario of fifty missiles exploding simultaneously. After reporting this, the officer urged other personnel to find a way to restore the observational equipment. S~eaʀᴄh the nôvelFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Soon, a staff member seemed to have called on observational equipment from elsewhere, and the screen in the shelter lit up again, showing a massive fireball in the sky emitting light and heat, constantly expanding. Upon seeing this, everyone was somewhat excited, clearly, the nukes hit the target to produce such an effect. However, looking at the huge fireball in the sky, someone asked with some doubt, "Is this all five nukes can do?" The question was understandable because though the fireball was huge, it was only slightly larger than a normal mushroom cloud from a single nuke explosion. Although it was an airburst without a mushroom cloud, its size seemed not quite right. As they were puzzled, a large number of meteoric fireballs burst out from the fireball, crashing towards the ground. "What is that!" Everyone became tense immediately, scrambling to operate their equipment, trying to figure out what was happening. However, as they busied themselves, more and even larger meteoric fireballs emerged from the fireball, falling towards the ground like rain, and their target area was North America. "Damn it! Can someone tell me what the hell is going on!" The Federation leader used several f-word expletives to express his emotions, desperate to figure out what was going on. Unfortunately, swearing was not helpful, and the Federation leader was not the Hulk, whose power grows stronger with anger. Despite the string of curses, tossing the grace of a national leader into the Atlantic Ocean, the Federation leader was still unclear about the situation before him. As he was about to smash something, finally, a staff member figured out what was going on. "Mr. President, it’s clear now! Our nukes didn’t explode simultaneously, so only the first two nukes successfully detonated, while the others were damaged and failed to explode due to the shockwaves from these two nukes," the staff member quickly reported to the Federation leader. This situation was anticipated, after all, no one in human history had ever detonated five nukes together. The Federation fired so many nukes only to ensure accuracy, not hoping all of them would explode. So, this scenario was within the Federation’s acceptable range. "Then what about those meteoric fireballs? Are they meteor fragments?" A consultant next to the Federation leader quickly questioned, as this was the topic everyone cared about the most. "They are meteor fragments! The nuke shattered the meteor but didn’t completely break it! NASA’s observational results show it has shattered into numerous fragments heading for the West Coast, including a large fragment about one kilometer in diameter!" the staff member reported hurriedly with the latest news. "What?!" Everyone in the shelter could not help but turn pale. Initially, they weren’t overly anxious hearing it was meteor fragments because it seemed those meteoric fireballs weren’t particularly colossal, and even if they hit the ground, it would merely pockmark cities, making post-disaster reconstruction troublesome. But a one-kilometer diameter meteor crashing down, though not as terrifying as a four-kilometer meteor in terms of destructive power, could still annihilate the entire Federation! It’s important to know that the thirty-kilometer-wide crater on Greenland Island was created by a one-kilometer diameter meteor 12,000 years ago! Scientists estimate that at the time, even the Earth’s crust as thick as seven kilometers was breached! And the crater is just the direct destruction caused by the meteor impact. The subsequent secondary disasters are the most frightening. "Mr. President, what should we do? Please issue an order!" The previous military officer looked at the Federation leader. At such a moment, as an elected president, he should step forward to make decisions. Following the officer’s words, everyone in the shelter turned their gaze towards the Federation leader, waiting for him to decide. However, his body swayed, almost collapsing. Supporting himself on the table, the Federation leader steadied his body, looked at everyone in the shelter, and asked with some difficulty: "Can we still launch nukes to intercept?" "Sorry, Mr. President, it’s too late." A staff member quickly replied. This answer made the Federation leader feel a wave of darkness before his eyes. He had to raise his other hand to support his forehead, taking a deep breath before saying: "Broadcast this message through all channels! Let all citizens take refuge, and have NASA calculate the meteor’s landing spots, organizing evacuations as much as possible..." Pausing to catch his breath, regaining some composure, he continued: "Additionally, I declare the Federation to enter a special state from now on, implement wartime protocols, place the nation under military control, requiring all state governments, National Guard, and police to dutifully carry out their responsibilities, maintaining social order... until we ride through this disaster." As the Federation leader spoke, everyone in the shelter listened silently. The oppressive atmosphere was suffocatingly dreadful. A female staff member bit her lip, gripping her clothes anxiously. Finally, the Federation President finished giving orders. Seeing the still silent crowd, he sighed and said, "Although as the Federation President, I shouldn’t say something like this at such a moment, I still want to say, God bless America." After saying this, the Federation leader finally sat down in a chair, watching the busy crowd, asking the consultant beside him, "How did Lucia’s interception go? Did they save the Blue Star at the sacrifice of the

Chapter 20: Interception Failed

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