Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 296, Section 43: Buff War God
The last footage transmitted from Palmdale was taken from a swaying National Guard vehicle in a hasty retreat.

Amidst gasps and shouts, one could see the oppressive thick fog sweeping in from behind, swallowing up the soldiers who hadn't had time to board the vehicles, their fate unknown.

"God, we've abandoned them!"

"This is a retreat, that's right, the order is to retreat! We are just following orders!"

In the image, the last prominent building is also shrouded in white, its outline disappearing completely.

Hoover stood in front of the screen, his stiffness evident even from behind.

Both mentally and physically, they were somewhat dead.

He took a deep breath, tried to adjust his facial expression, and then slowly turned around, his face still showing barely suppressed fear.

Fortunately, most people are in the same boat.

Hoover's gaze swept across the conference table, where the officers with their general's stars on their shoulders and many staff officers from the Pentagon stared at the swaying screen with equally grim expressions.

The president is certainly watching the situation here, but for some reason, he clearly has no intention of personally taking command.

Perhaps the president will intervene when the dawn breaks, his main task being to declare victory—and to emphasize that it was under his brilliant command.

“Gentlemen,” Hoover’s voice was deep, “we have no other choice. Now that His Excellency the President has handed command to me, I have an obligation to protect the lives of Florida citizens from threat, even at the most severe cost.”

"I hereby authorize the saturation bombardment of the core white fog area of ​​Lake Okechobe and the surrounding confirmed fall areas. I want that area to be completely silenced."

The plan had been set up long ago, and even the first bombing squadron was hovering over the target area, waiting for the confirmation order to be issued.

The difference may lie in the scale of the bombing and the main coverage area.

Not long after, above the clouds in Florida.

The roar of the engine was like rolling thunder, approaching from afar and eventually turning into a deafening roar.

A formation of strategic bombers arrived at the target airspace.

"The formation enters the bombing route and prepares to carry out the mission."

Although it was a saturation bombing, it still had to be done in waves. According to the operational plan, the first wave of attacks would be poured on the core area of ​​Lake Okechobi and the ruins of the first towns to fall, using thermobaric and napalm bombs to create devastating destruction and sustained burning.

This is a test, a test of the importance of this place, to see if conventional methods can affect the dispersion of the fog.

The second wave targets the forefront of the dense fog, the areas where mutated creatures are most likely to congregate, using incendiary bombs to create an impenetrable wall of fire. Subsequent precision strikes will be provided by cruise missiles until the second wave of bombers arrives.

This is the lesson learned from the battle of Palmdale, where those mutated creatures, for some reason, seemed keen on a head-on confrontation before the white mist arrived.

Since that's the case, and there's such a good weakness, there's no reason not to take advantage of it.

"Damn it, I never expected that my first combat mission would be dropping bombs on my own country," someone complained on the bombing squadron's channel.

“I went fishing in the lake last year, but I didn’t catch a single fish. I even joked that I was going to use explosives to fish, and now I’m about to make that happen.”

"Shut up, keep the channel clear, don't get distracted, the mission absolutely cannot go wrong."

"understand!"

"Entering the planned course, Fortress One prepares to drop bombs."

"The Fighting Falcon escort formation is in position."

"Wait a minute? What's that—"

boom--! ! !
His exclamation was instantly swallowed up by a deafening explosion!
Suddenly, a massive fireball exploded unexpectedly in the middle of the fuselage of one of the bombers in the formation, the blinding flames instantly engulfing half of the fuselage. The next, almost indistinguishable instant, a secondary explosion occurred.

The fuselage bomb bay, fully loaded with thermobaric and napalm bombs, was detonated!

Rumble——!
A terrible explosion occurred, tearing the night apart. A huge fireball, hundreds of meters in diameter, suddenly appeared like the sun, its incandescent light illuminating the entire airspace as bright as day, briefly overshadowing the moonlight.

The shockwave, carrying debris, hurtled towards the nearby aircraft at supersonic speed!

"Fortress 5 detonates! Evade, evade immediately!" A hoarse shout rang out in the channel.

Boom! A bomber that had gotten too close was hit by the violent shockwave and high-speed flying debris. Its engine instantly spewed out thick black smoke and came to a stop.

The massive fuselage suddenly tilted, plummeting in altitude.

"Fortress 2 engine failure, altitude out of control! Cannot be maintained, repeat, cannot be maintained!" The captain's voice was filled with a desperate calm. "Guys, it seems I'll have to go down and blast fish ahead of schedule."

"Damn it, enemy attack! Enemy attack! Formation, spread out and immediately launch emergency bombing! Radar unresponsive, most likely a biological target! Visual search! Visual search!" The formation commander urgently issued the order.

"Fighting Falcon One reports: Left wing damaged. Requesting to break formation and return to base!"

"Fortress 3 is initiating an emergency bombing operation; ammunition compartments are open!"

"Fighting Falcon 3 has located the target, visually confirmed! It's inside the fireball—it's wearing—"

Another burst of fire, and an escort fighter jet exploded instantly.

"It's an angel! The attacker was an angel!"

A pilot's hoarse, startled shout came through the channel.

With astonishing eyesight, he saw, amidst the flames of the explosion, an angel with a humanoid silhouette and a pair of enormous, marble-like wings spread behind it. It seemed to defy the laws of physics, remaining unharmed in the raging fire.

The two only had time to exchange a glance on the high-speed highway.

He only had time to utter this last sentence as his final message to his teammates and the command center.

Immediately, his fighter jet shattered into countless $9 screw parts.

The formation commander, watching the radar signals disappear one after another and listening to the shouts coming from the channel, turned pale.

He knew that his fleet was being targeted by an unimaginable and incomprehensible supernatural being, and there was no way for them to return.

"We can't escape," the commander's voice held a resentful calm, then transformed into a final roar, "Those who aren't afraid to die! Follow me in a dive! Throw the rest of the gifts down!!!"

In the night sky, a desperate counterattack began.

The surviving bombers abandoned their altitude and, like moths to a flame, swooped down into the thick fog below.

In the final moments, the pilots frantically pressed the bomb release button.

The escort fighters futilely unleashed a barrage of machine gun fire, attempting to block the deadly white phantom and buy the bombers a final stretch of time.

In the night sky, the constantly exploding spectrum of fire resembled a summer fireworks display.

The bombs, painstakingly dropped, and the diving bombers fell one after another.

Huge, orange-red fireballs exploded one after another in the thick fog, and the sticky flames from the napalm bombs stubbornly clung to the ground or water, spreading and burning wildly beneath the fog.

Like burning meteors, the diving bombers plunged into the depths of the thick fog, bursting forth with their last rays of light.

The towering flames were clearly visible even hundreds of kilometers away. The billowing smoke, illuminated by the flames, resembled a giant black pillar piercing the sky, intertwining with the churning gray-white fog below, creating an apocalyptic scene.

The shockwave from the explosion created brief ripples and voids in the fog, but in an instant, even thicker fog surged in from all directions, mercilessly engulfing and submerging the flames.

As the last bomber, trailing a long plume of black smoke, crashed to the ground, exploding into a massive fireball on the shore near the Great Lake, the live satellite feed on the main screen in the command center plunged the entire control room into a deathly silence.

No one spoke, no one dared to speak.

On the screen, the lights symbolizing the bomber formation had all gone out.

The signal was completely cut off.

All that remains are the satellite photos that are refreshed every minute, revealing a scene of utter devastation.

And that grayish-white, seemingly endless thick fog still exists.

It showed no signs of being dispersed or ignited. The shockwave from the explosion was like a pebble thrown into a large lake, creating only minor ripples before quickly returning to calm.

On the outskirts, the thick fog continued to churn slowly, spreading with unstoppable force towards the outskirts of Florida.

This bombing, which came at an immeasurable cost, was completely annihilated by the sudden appearance of what appeared to be angelic creatures, leaving only a few streaks of fire and wisps of black smoke. It was more like a tragic fireworks display.

Angel?

At least, it wasn't a human angel?
But who can be certain that angels will always be on humanity's side?

"How...how is this possible?" An air force general, his face ashen, clutched his heart and stammered, his voice trembling so much that one might suspect he had lost control of his bladder.

Hoover's legs were also going weak, and he could only clench his teeth.

"At least, we've figured out that our enemy is not the heavens, but a demon disguised as an angel statue."

he murmured.

Meanwhile, in the city that had not yet been swallowed by the thick fog, a small number of crocodile-men broke into the urban area, causing riots in many areas and severely hindering the police's evacuation efforts.

"Palm Beach County Coastal Community, Alligator Men have broken into the residential area! Repeat! They've entered the residential area!"

Calls from the front lines came through the radio, with the background filled with intense gunfire, explosions, and piercing cries.

"Stop them! Use heavy firepower!"

The streets were filled with the smoke of gunpowder.

A makeshift defensive line of several Humvees and armored personnel carriers is under heavy attack from several coordinated crocodile-men.

These monsters are generally over two meters tall, and their scales can only cause superficial wounds when shot with a rifle.

They are nothing like the clumsy monsters depicted in movies; they are not only incredibly fast and strong, but also cunning and cruel in their actions.

The total number is not large; perhaps only a few will break into an evacuation zone.

But these crocodile people use cover and know how to cooperate. One side draws fire while the other side attacks from the flank. They even know how to use hostages!

"Help! Save my child!"

In a second-floor window of an apartment building, a woman holding a baby screamed in terror. Behind her, a crocodile-man gripped her neck with its claws, mockingly surveying the soldiers and police below who hesitated to fire.

"Damn it!" A young National Guard soldier, his eyes blazing with fury, raised and lowered his rifle, cursing through gritted teeth.

One piece of bad news after another kept coming back to the command center in Atlanta.

Even now, a small number of mutated creatures are causing such widespread chaos. Hoover couldn't help but imagine this scene: when the main force of this fog—those overwhelming flying creatures and those endless mutated creatures—truly flooded into a metropolis like Miami with a population of millions...
What kind of hell on earth would that be?
The entire city will be transformed into a hunting ground.

"All police forces still in the controlled area, at all costs, organize the evacuation of the people to the south! The target is the Florida Keys. Utilize the island chain terrain to establish a final line of defense. Evacuate as many as you can!"

"Order the remaining National Guard forces, together with the 101st Airborne Division, to establish a defensive line in the northern and western parts of the Miami metropolitan area! Set up defenses layer by layer and resist in stages! Buy time for evacuation!"

After discussing a few options with his staff and generals, Hoover's phone rang. Seeing the internal number, he immediately stopped the discussion and answered the call.

"Leon! Where's the reinforcements?! When will they arrive?! We can't hold on much longer!"

"She has arrived."

Hoover was taken aback: "What?"

Thousands of meters above Lake Okechobe, Florida.

Muramasa Taki was suspended on the belly of a large drone, wearing a wingsuit.

Beneath the wingsuit was a ninja outfit she had won as a game reward, along with the combat weapons she had prepared for this battle.

But they went all out.

Below her in the night sky, a sea of ​​gray-white fog seemed to be waiting for her arrival.

She adjusted her goggles, received information from her earpiece that she had arrived at the designated location, and without hesitation, disconnected from the drone. Her figure plummeted rapidly, heading towards the fog of death.

As she fell, a private message was sent:
[Zheng: I know you're nearby. We can team up. I only want the Silver Cup, but I can give you extra compensation.]

This wasn't her first attempt to contact them, but her previous messages had gone unanswered.

A few seconds later, the other party finally replied.

[Tian: I need to use a silver cup to verify one thing]

[正: One day]

[Tian: Okay, I'm at the hospital in Okechobi.]

Just as Taki was about to send another message, she caught a glimpse of a white light rushing towards her out of the corner of her eye.

We were prepared!

Swish!
A paper doll amulet spontaneously combusted and burned to ashes, while Takii had already vanished from the spot.

Not far away, she was using a grappling hook to tightly entangle the angel statue that had just launched a sneak attack and was hurtling through the air.

"A sneak attack? You're getting worse as you get older, manor lord."

Muramasa Takii drew the Blazing Fire Blade, which she had already enhanced with her Summoning Hammer, granting it temporary attribute boosts and additional skills, including the power of burning.

This is no ordinary fire; it is a fire that is passed down from generation to generation!

The angel kept changing its flight path in the air, but damn it, it just couldn't shake off Muramasa Takii; at most, it could only slow down her movements.

Of course, she couldn't shake it off. The knife in her hand was left behind by a ninja and still retained the aura of the ninja's heart. She was holding a grappling hook in one hand, which was also classified as a ninja weapon. Finally, she was wearing a ninja outfit.

With three layers of buffs and an improved physical stat, unless she self-destructs, even if she uses the kind of ground-rubbing technique often seen in superhero movies, she can immediately switch her direction and make the angel rub itself against the ground.

"Break!"

He spat a mouthful of blood onto the sword, using his blood sacrifice ability to add another layer.

With a single slash, Duanhuomaru cleaved down, and the statue's wings, which had survived the thermobaric bombs without incident, cracked open with a distinct fissure.

Perhaps sensing that Muramasa Taki was indeed a threat, the angel suddenly turned and swooped down toward the lake.

Muramasa Takii was afraid of this, and she hadn't brought an anchor with her today.

While there's still time, hurry up and make a few more cuts.

Snapped!
One of its wings snapped off, and the angel let out a strange roar before spinning and plummeting toward the great lake.

Muramasa Taki unhooked the grappling hook and, using the last few hundred meters of altitude, flew in his wingsuit towards the blurry outline of the town on the shore.

The angel, however, plummeted into the lake with a whooshing sound, sending water splashing dozens of meters high.

Using the map she had memorized before setting off, Taki flew towards what appeared to be the hospital.

She didn't think she could handle the manor owner alone, and although she didn't know what Tian's abilities were, she could at least share some of the burden.

Unfortunately, the other player, Park, didn't respond to her at all, and they hadn't spent much time together or communicated much.

She couldn't tell whether the other party would take the risk for the silver cup.

Of course, it's also possible that he chose to sell this information to other players.
　Thank you "Duslist" for the 500-coin donation.

　　The King's Gaze is so addictive, I can't stop playing! Highly recommended for fans of management simulation games.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)