I Have Infinite Skill Points-Chapter 527 Nuclear Strike

"Give me some time!" Number One said solemnly.

"Please hurry. I can’t keep teleporting continuously for too long."

After hanging up, Number One directly picked up the red phone. "Connect to the General Staff!"

"Yes!" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The Capital Defense Military Base housed not only air-to-air and ground-to-air defense forces but also intercontinental long-range rocket launch silos. Number One’s order was for Yu Ruoyun to take the Qingkong Wood to the Capital Defense Military Base immediately and launch an intercontinental long-range rocket as soon as possible to send the Qingkong Wood to the uninhabited region of the Star Sea.

Though the principles behind rocket-delivered payloads and ordinary missiles are similar, their capabilities are worlds apart. Ordinary missiles, while incredibly fast—reaching astonishing speeds of over Mach six or seven—are nothing compared to rocket-delivered payloads. Traveling through the atmosphere, the faster an object moves, the greater the air resistance it encounters. Although a good streamlined structure allows missiles to travel through the air with minimal resistance, this resistance still exists, naturally limiting their speed. However, a rocket can fly in near-space, where its top speed can exceed Mach 25. Comparing Mach six or seven to Mach twenty-five, the difference is immense.

Launching from the Capital, it would take only about ten minutes to travel thousands of kilometers to the uninhabited region of the Star Sea, including the initial acceleration phase.

Number One did not go personally; he didn’t have the time. After the order was given, Yu Ruoyun shot out of the General Staff office like a raptor, heading straight for the launch base. Upon receiving the news, the launch base immediately began activating the launchpad and dismantling the missile’s warhead to replace it with the payload capsule.

Five minutes later, Yu Ruoyun descended from the sky and handed a piece of Qingkong Wood to a technician. The technician hurriedly placed the Qingkong Wood into the payload capsule and quickly secured it.

"Launch!"

"Launch!"

BOOM—

With a deafening roar, a rocket soared into the sky.

In the Forbidden City, Number One stood by a window, watching as a white streak quickly disappeared over the horizon. He then picked up his cell phone and dialed Wang Lan’s number.

"The Qingkong Wood has been sent out. It will land in the uninhabited region of the Star Sea in ten minutes."

That fast? What did you use to send it? Wang Lan’s voice rose in surprise. He had thought it would take at least a couple of hours, requiring him to perform hundreds of Space Jumps. Performing a hundred Space Jumps consecutively would be agonizing for Wang Lan. Even with the Space Phoenix Form and sufficient Power of Space, he felt nothing for the first few, but after a dozen, his body was already showing signs of fatigue. Wang Lan estimated that after fifty or more jumps, he would have to rely purely on willpower. He actually had another, unspoken idea: the Kingdom of Ice and Snow. He had coordinates there. If he truly couldn’t hold on, he would throw the Time-Space Gemstone into the Kingdom of Ice and Snow. But that was a last resort.

"What did I use to send it? The ’Dongfeng Express,’ of course!" Number One joked, a rare occurrence for him.

That settled it. Wang Lan felt greatly reassured.

After hanging up with Wang Lan, Number One turned and walked back to the conference table. Behind him stood four imposing figures, their powerful auras clearly indicating their extraordinary status: Emperor Bai, Xuan Emperor, Ming Emperor, and Qing Emperor. Except for the Flame Emperor, all Five Emperors were gathered—a lineup not seen in nearly fifteen years.

Beside the conference table, holographic projections of all five permanent members’ representatives were seated, each with an intensely serious expression.

"Leader of Jade Country, can it no longer be avoided?" President Chuan of White Eagle Country asked Number One, his usual laid-back style replaced with a solemn expression.

"We can prevent the Space Gate from opening on our side, but we can’t stop the Demon Clan from opening it on theirs. The Time-Space Gemstone contains their spatial coordinates. The invasion of the Demon World’s grand army is now inevitable. The only thing we can do now is control where the Demon Clan’s army descends. Then, we will test whether our seventy years of development have yielded effective measures against them. Esteemed leaders, we have strived for decades; whether we achieve our anticipated outcome will be decided now."

"White Eagle Country has two thousand intercontinental missiles in place, ready to launch at any moment."

"My country’s three thousand intercontinental ballistic missiles are also in position, ready to launch at a moment’s notice," Emperor Pu declared, a cold glint in his eyes.

"Ours are as well!"

"Good. Await my command. As soon as the Demon Clan’s army arrives, we launch the nuclear strike immediately."

In Wang Lan’s perception, the Qingkong Wood’s coordinates were moving rapidly. He was still jumping between Modu City, the Capital, and Suzhou City. Approximately twelve minutes later, the Qingkong Wood’s coordinates stopped.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Wang Lan instantly teleported to the Qingkong Wood’s location. The missile’s warhead had shattered on impact, and the Qingkong Wood, merely a single segment in size, would have been difficult to find in the desert. However, Wang Lan had teleported directly to its location, so the Qingkong Wood was right beneath his feet when he appeared. He set down the Time-Space Gemstone, picked up the Qingkong Wood, and instantly teleported back to his home in the Capital.

"Commander Number One, the Time-Space Gemstone is in position," Wang Lan reported.

"Well done. Activate satellite imaging!"

At Number One’s command, satellite surveillance was immediately initiated. Through high-definition cameras, the area in the Star Sea where the Time-Space Gemstone lay was clearly visible to everyone. The spatial coordinates within the Time-Space Gemstone flickered incessantly. Overhead, clouds rapidly converged. Under satellite surveillance, the spatial distortion was as clearly visible as light refracting through water.

From their high vantage point, they could clearly see a rift in space slowly opening. The spatial distortion drew in moisture, causing clouds of vapor to rise, creating a scene reminiscent of an Immortal Realm. A gigantic Space Gate, three kilometers wide, slowly expanded from a fine line into a circular portal three kilometers in diameter. Its interior was pitch-black, as if connected to the distant cosmos.

Suddenly, a huge section of what looked like black crystal slowly emerged from the Space Gate, followed by the massive prow of a starship. Although no one present had ever seen the Demon Clan’s forces, they instantly recognized it as a Demon Clan starship.

"Attack!"

In the meeting room, viewing the holographic projections, leaders from various countries simultaneously locked their intercontinental missiles onto the coordinates provided by Jade Country. Then, they stood up and solemnly pressed their launch buttons.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! Missiles tore into the sky with a tremendous roar, blasting from their silos.

「In the depths of the universe, on the Demon Clan’s mother planet.」

"General, the Space Gate has been successfully opened and stabilized. The Seventh Fleet has begun its entry."

"Hmm. Tell the Seventh Fleet not to rush to expand after landing. First, they are to secure their beachhead, then contact our people there to understand the situation. We only have one Time-Space Gemstone here, insufficient to bring more legions."

"The Commander of the Seventh Fleet has received your orders, General. But, aren’t you being a little too cautious? We’ve been fighting the Human World for millennia. Nothing has changed in all that time. If anything, we should pay more attention to their Cultivation World. Lately, their Cultivation World has been rife with rumors of a ’Great Era’ dawning."

"A ’Great Era’?"

"Indeed. Disciples with outstanding talent are emerging in droves, an event they call the ’Great Era.’ Our intelligence network in their Cultivation World has suffered severe losses, and the information we can obtain is dwindling."

"Phoenix City again?"

"Yes, Phoenix City. We don’t know that woman’s origins, but she’s specifically targeting our espionage organizations. Thirty percent of our destroyed spy networks can be attributed to her."

"No matter. The Sky-Piercing Demon Pillar in the Cultivation World is also nearing full charge. In two more years, our grand army will descend upon their Cultivation World, and that woman will be the first to be made an example of."

"Hehehe... General, Commander Tim wishes to establish a communications link."

"Put him through."

"General Da Dai, the Seventh Fleet is passing through the Space Gate, but something is strange... Our landing location doesn’t seem right."

"Not right? What do you mean?"

Weren’t our operatives supposed to activate the Time-Space Gemstone within a major city? Why are we in a desert with no one in sight?

"Are you certain?" General Da Dai’s brow furrowed, his gaze turning solemn. The Time-Space Gemstone being activated twice, only to be suddenly shut down both times, was highly irregular and had already aroused suspicion within the Demon Clan military command. That was why they had used a spare Time-Space Gemstone, targeting those coordinates to open the passage. They wanted to see if their spies lurking in the Human World had lost their minds. Did they think it was amusing, activating and deactivating the Time-Space Gemstone like that? But now, hearing the target location was a desert, General Da Dai felt something was definitely wrong. A spy base in the Human World located in a desert? Nonsense. You’re covert operatives! Your mission is to gather intelligence on the humans and disrupt their societal development! What are you doing hiding in a desert? Playing whack-a-mole?

"Wait a minute!" Commander Tim suddenly exclaimed. "Something’s flying towards us... very fast! They look like cylinders..."

Images of airplanes from a century ago flashed through Da Dai’s mind. Humans had invented those flying machines back then. To Da Dai, these bird-like contraptions were flawed, with armor as thin as paper. A single flying Exotic Beast could wipe out an entire squadron. Probably just airplanes, right?

"They don’t quite look like them. I’m switching the visual feed to you now."

Some Demon Clan members possessed an innate talent allowing them to transmit what they saw to others via a psychic connection. Tim happened to be one of them.

An image filled General Da Dai’s vision. The entire Seventh Fleet had now passed through the Space Gate. In the distance, the sky was filled with hundreds of approaching points of light. These were missiles launched by the Northwestern Military Region on command. The real heavy hitters, the nuclear warheads, were still en route and would arrive shortly.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The missile barrage rained down, shaking the Demon Clan’s flagship.

"The humans can actually produce such weapons? Damn it! How could their civilization develop so quickly? Alert the fighter squadrons! Intercept and destroy these annoying insects! Wait... what is that?"

Three nuclear warheads, each with a million-ton yield, plunged from high orbit, streaking through the atmosphere like meteors, directly towards the flagship.

More human weapons, no doubt. Pathetic things that can’t even scratch our shields...

BOOM—