Chapter 18: Hydrogen Bomb! Hydrogen Bomb!

Words : 1550 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

The black insects, like a massive dark curtain, slowly covered the ground as they surged toward Base Three. When the distance closed to three meters, Xiao Yu issued the command to fire. Facing the direction of Lake Two, dozens of massive flamethrowers erupted simultaneously, spewing jets of fire. Dozens of fiery dragons swept across the ground. Instantly, the once-silent black tide began to boil. Under the glaring searchlights, Xiao Yu observed as the black insects caught in the flames burst apart and perished. Even insects not directly struck by the flames succumbed to the transmitted heat through the air. Killing them was surprisingly easy. In fact, even a chunk of ancient Antarctic ice thrown onto them would kill them—not from the cold, but because the ice was far too hot for them. The coldest regions of Antarctica, at around -70°C, were scalding compared to organisms accustomed to -160°C. In mere moments, thousands—tens of thousands—of black insects were incinerated. The liquid methane within their bodies boiled instantly, causing them to burst open before evaporating entirely, leaving behind dried corpses on the ground. However, their numbers were simply overwhelming—seemingly infinite. Worse, they behaved like moths to a flame. Instead of retreating from the intense heat, they became frenzied, swarming toward the high-temperature areas in a near-suicidal rush, as though eager to die. Their fearless fervor momentarily startled Xiao Yu, but only for an instant. Looking at the growing pile of insect corpses, Xiao Yu became ecstatic. These were perfect materials for constructing interstellar spaceships—unparalleled radiation-resistant materials. Where else could he find such treasures? “Hmph, you’re not afraid to die, and I’m not afraid to kill! Come on, I’ll kill as many as you throw at me!” Xiao Yu laughed heartily, his excitement soaring. The robots arranged at the base’s front line seemed to sense Xiao Yu’s excitement, intensifying their fiery barrage. Thousands of insects perished every second, only to be replaced by thousands more. The brutal war raged on. Three hours into the battle. Xiao Yu’s excitement had faded. Despite eliminating at least tens of billions of black insects during this time, the black tide continued unabated, endless and relentless. The nozzles of the flamethrower robots, overheated from prolonged use, had to be temporarily shut down. Over 200 robots on the front lines were reduced to about 100 active units, while the remaining robots rotated to the rear to cool their nozzles. Once cooled, these robots returned to the front, replacing the overheated ones. This cycle continued, with the robots steadfastly holding the line, preventing the black tide from advancing even a single step. By now, the corpses of the black insects had piled up over a meter high. At least hundreds of billions of insects had fallen here, yet the swarm behind them continued to surge forward. At one point, a robot, unable to evade in time, was swallowed by the rising mound of insect corpses and lost its signal instantly. With no other choice, Xiao Yu commanded the defensive line to retreat slowly. Xiao Yu’s expression turned grim as he began to treat the insects as a serious threat. He realized that without an effective strategy, the relentless swarm might indeed overwhelm him, leading to the loss of Base Three. The insect tide continued advancing, climbing over the meter-high mountain of corpses and pressing onward. Gradually, as the defensive line fell back five meters, another mountain of corpses formed in front of the robots. Xiao Yu started to worry silently. “Fuel levels are running low; we can hold out for at most three more hours,” a warning notification informed Xiao Yu. Fuel was previously sourced directly from Lake Two, with oxidizers transported by Fengshen-1. Now, with Lake Two overrun, fuel supply had become a critical problem. “Damn it, you’re really forcing my hand,” Xiao Yu muttered with determination. He immediately commanded Fengshen-1 to return to the main base, load 90 tons of fuel, and head back to Base Three. The round trip consumed an hour. During this time, the robot defensive line was forced to retreat three more times. In the chaos of collapsing mounds of insect corpses, five more robots were overwhelmed and lost their signals. Including the first robot lost, Xiao Yu had now sacrificed seven units. Xiao Yu piloted Fengshen-1 toward Lake Two, 20 kilometers from Base Three. The searchlights illuminated the ground below, revealing a scene that left Xiao Yu secretly alarmed. Insects—countless insects! The endless insect tide formed a massive flood, one kilometer wide and 20 kilometers long, stretching from Lake Two to Base Three. At the Base Three defensive line, every second saw countless insects die, which meant an equal number were emerging from Lake Two. “Holy crap!” Xiao Yu cursed aloud, immediately piloting Fengshen-1 back to the main base. Taking half an hour, Xiao Yu produced several methane incendiary bombs, paired with sufficient oxidizer, and loaded them onto Fengshen-1. An hour later, Fengshen-1 returned to the black tide. Without hesitation, Xiao Yu released the bombs. Boom! A fiery explosion erupted, sending flames soaring skyward. The specially designed incendiary bombs created high-temperature flames that scorched an area of dozens of square meters, with a kill zone extending several hundred square meters. In an instant, Xiao Yu estimated that at least ten million insects had died. Yet more swarmed forward, undeterred. Their suicidal persistence, driven by the harsh environment and insatiable hunger for heat, pushed them to their deaths without hesitation. Xiao Yu continued dropping incendiary bombs, but the insects surged on relentlessly. He had to admit that Fengshen-1 alone couldn’t halt the insect tide’s advance. “Damn it, this is insane...” Xiao Yu muttered to himself. During this time, the robot defensive line was forced to retreat another ten times, falling back nearly 50 meters. Just 100 meters behind was Base Three’s machinery storage area. “This won’t work. I need a solution,” Xiao Yu growled through clenched teeth, racking his brain for a viable plan. Finally, an idea came to him. A massive excavation machine was modified, with steel plates added to both sides. Fully activated, the machine roared to life and charged into the swarm. The robots pulled back their defensive line to create a gap, allowing the excavator to charge through. The enormous machine plowed into the mound of insect corpses, obliterating it on impact. In that instant, the excavator was overwhelmed by the swarm, and Xiao Yu lost its signal. Yet, through optical sensors, Xiao Yu saw the excavator continue forward under inertia for several hundred meters before coming to a halt. The excavator had destroyed tens of meters of the insect mound. In reality, the greatest threat Xiao Yu faced wasn’t the insects themselves but the mountains of corpses they left behind. Each time a mound formed, Xiao Yu’s robots were forced to retreat. A collapsing mound could bury robots instantly, and even if it didn’t, the mound’s height reduced the effectiveness of the flamethrowers. Seeing the success of the excavator strategy, Xiao Yu felt a glimmer of hope. He sent several more excavators to clear the mounds, temporarily stabilizing the situation. But Xiao Yu quickly realized that this was only a stalling tactic. With only a few dozen excavators available, what would happen once they were gone? “I need another solution,” Xiao Yu muttered, deep in thought. Gradually, a wild idea took shape in his mind. “You’re forcing me into this,” Xiao Yu growled to himself. “Can’t kill you all? Then I’ll destroy your nest!” Xiao Yu’s plan was simple: build a hydrogen bomb and drop it into Lake Two. A single high-yield hydrogen bomb would be enough to vaporize the entire lake. Base Three, 20 kilometers from Lake Two, would be affected, but the damage would be manageable. Better some damage than total annihilation by the insect tide. Gritting his teeth, Xiao Yu began executing his plan. At Base Two, the nuclear fusion research facility, there was enough fusion fuel. While controlled nuclear fusion wasn’t yet operational, building a hydrogen bomb was entirely feasible. The old spaceship had sufficient uranium-235 to create an atomic bomb, which would serve as the trigger for the hydrogen bomb. Xiao Yu wasted no time. Using Fengshen-1, he transported the uranium-235 to Base Two. Nuclear fusion research was halted, and all resources were redirected toward constructing the hydrogen bomb. Creating a hydrogen bomb required a triggering mechanism, typically an atomic bomb. This alone highlighted the hydrogen bomb’s immense power—an atomic bomb was merely its detonator. The construction of the hydrogen bomb took Xiao Yu two weeks. During this time, he lost an additional 20 robots, and the insect tide pushed the defensive line back another 90 meters. Only 10 meters now separated the tide from Base Three. Meanwhile, the insects continued to swarm from Lake Two in seemingly infinite numbers. Xiao Yu didn’t even dare to estimate how many remained. “Just hold on for five more days...” Xiao Yu murmured to himself. While the hydrogen bomb was complete, it couldn’t yet be deployed. A bomb of this magnitude required a rocket for delivery—using Fengshen-1 was out of the question, as it would be destroyed in the blast. This was something Xiao Yu couldn’t accept. The rocket’s construction would take another five days.

Chapter 18: Hydrogen Bomb! Hydrogen Bomb!

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