"Damn it, Shiro Itagaki is a total lunatic! If he blows himself up, the entire city of Kyoto is finished!" Marshal Black Tortoise shouted from the ground. Right now, the Itagaki Brigade still has at least half its forces left. If all these people blow up together, the resulting explosion will be absolutely earth-shattering—Kyoto will be flattened for sure.
"That Itagaki... that bastard!" Over in Huaxia headquarters, the short military officer was cursing out loud. At this moment, Huaxia’s army had already swept through all the key coastal bases in Japan, and Japan’s missile defenses were on the verge of collapse. As long as Ryan Ling can hold out a little longer, Huaxia’s coalition forces will be able to fully break into Japan’s heartland.
Back in the day, Japan went wild invading Huaxia, and now Huaxia has finally found the perfect chance for payback. But at this critical moment, they run into a madman like Itagaki—if he blows himself up, Ryan Ling is dead for sure, and the loss for Huaxia would be colossal!
After these battles, it’s not just the short officer—even all the other senior commanders around him have a whole new understanding of Ryan Ling’s value. This guy isn’t just the future of Huaxia’s military—he’s the future of Huaxia, period.
"Is there any way to stop Itagaki?" The short officer was clearly unwilling to accept this outcome.
No one around him answered.
"Seriously, is there any way?" The short officer was just about tearing his hair out in frustration.
At this moment, a senior commander nearby swallowed nervously and stammered, "Right now, there’s nothing we can do. Plus, the defenses around Kyoto are way too strong. The most elite U.S. base units are stationed there, with at least sixty or seventy top-of-the-line F-22 fighters, plus all kinds of medium-range missiles. All we can do is exchange fire with them for now—our ground forces can’t get close at all…"
"Enough, stop talking... Heaven really has it out for Huaxia’s heroes, sigh!" The short officer finished, looking utterly defeated.
And as Shiro Itagaki’s madness ramped up, military forums in countries all around the world went ballistic. Everyone was showing signs of despair—after this explosion, forget Ryan Ling, even Kyoto, the ancient city with thousands of years of history, would be wiped off the map for good.
But right at that moment, Ryan Ling suddenly threw out the fully-upgraded Hell Furnace. Instantly, the Hell Furnace unleashed a terrifying aura, blanketing everyone present.
"What the hell is that?"
"Is that one of those legendary Dao Artifacts?"
"No way, ordinary magic tools aren’t this powerful—this is already top-tier Dao Artifact territory! Holy crap, it’s like this thing has a whole other world inside it!"
......
Right now, as everyone watched Ryan Ling suddenly throw out the Hell Furnace, their eyes all went wide.
Then, something even crazier happened—every single person in the brigade froze, like they’d been locked in place. It wasn’t just the people, either; even the explosives strapped to them were frozen in mid-detonation, some of them forcibly suppressed by some mysterious power.
"This is insane—how many miracles does this guy have up his sleeve?" Seeing this, the short officer who’d been completely hopeless just now jumped up from his seat, suddenly excited like a little kid!
And then, things got even wilder. All the brigade troops caught in the domain got sucked inside, and under the burning of the Hell Furnace’s Yellow-Spring Hellfire, they started exploding one after another—boom, boom, boom! In seconds, half of the five thousand elite troops were gone. And it wasn’t just the people—those giant armored vehicles melted down instantly. Shiro Itagaki himself was reduced to bare bones, the old war maniac dragged straight into the Eighteenth Level of Hell!
With most of the Itagaki Brigade wiped out and Shiro Itagaki dying a brutal death, even the toughest brigade couldn’t hold it together—their fighting spirit collapsed in an instant!
The thousand or so survivors didn’t dare put up a fight—they dropped their weapons and ran for it.
"We won! We actually won!" Down below, Marshal Black Tortoise and Sophia Long were cheering along with the rest.
"Captain, the U.S. fighter jets are airborne—they might be carrying nukes!" Just as Marshal Black Tortoise was celebrating, a squad member rushed over with the latest intel.
"Nukes? Are the Americans crazier than the Japanese now?" Hearing that, Marshal Black Tortoise’s face went pale.
"We’ve still got a little time—get everyone out, now!" Up above, Ryan Ling shouted. He didn’t bother chasing down the scattered remnants of the Itagaki Brigade; right now, the encirclement around Kyoto had just been broken, and if they didn’t hurry and evacuate the innocent people, there might not be another chance!
"What about you?" Marshal Black Tortoise asked nervously.
"I’ll cover the retreat. Everyone else, go! Jason Lin, Harvey 'Million' Jin, Warren Yuan—help the Huaxia Dragon Group get the civilians out, and move fast!" Ryan Ling’s orders were crisp and decisive, no hesitation at all.
"Got it!" Jason Lin and the others had followed Ryan Ling for so long, they knew his style inside out—no hesitation, no wasted words.
But right then, Sophia Long shouted, "Everyone else can go, but I—I’m staying with you!"
"What do you mean, stay with me? Somebody get her out of here!" Ryan Ling shot Marshal Black Tortoise a look—at a time like this, he clearly didn’t want anyone slowing him down.
Right now, Marshal Black Tortoise understood exactly what Ryan Ling was doing. After these last battles, all his old hostility toward Ryan was gone, replaced with pure respect—especially now, seeing Ryan risk himself for everyone else. That kind of selflessness was enough to earn his deepest admiration.
"Junior Sister, come with me—now!" Without a second’s hesitation, Marshal Black Tortoise grabbed Sophia Long and started dragging her away.
"No, I’m staying—I want to fight and retreat with Ryan Ling!" Sophia Long shouted. But Marshal Black Tortoise didn’t give her a chance; he threw her straight into a black car, and the rest of the Huaxia Dragon Group hustled innocent people out of the area. Everyone moved fast—nobody hesitated. At a moment like this, survival came first.
Back at Huaxia HQ, the short officer shouted, "Get our people to support them—don’t let Ryan Ling’s sacrifice go to waste! And tell General Kenneth Li’s team to speed it up, faster! Even a little artillery support for Ryan would help right now!"
The short officer clenched his fists. The situation was critical—everyone had to move faster, even if it meant taking more casualties.
Everyone followed orders—the commands went out instantly, and almost at once, Huaxia’s forces around Japan launched a full offensive. In seconds, they were like a pack of wild wolves, tearing into the enemy’s defenses.
Just then, squadrons of top-of-the-line F-22 fighter jets appeared over Kyoto. These weren’t ordinary attack helicopters—their combat power was a hundred times greater, and each one carried deadly missiles.
As everyone heard the roar of the jets, the U.S. troops fired their supersonic missiles. In an instant, one missile streaked across the sky, leaving a long white trail, crossing seven or eight kilometers in a flash, hurtling toward Ryan Ling with thunderous force.
Just as the Itagaki Brigade was collapsing, those powerful jets locked onto Ryan Ling. These missiles could easily blow a hundred-story building in half, flatten a whole mountain, and cover hundreds of meters. Worse, they were nuclear-tipped—if they exploded, the casualties would be unimaginable. It wasn’t quite an atomic bomb, but it would still turn the area into a living hell.
At that exact moment, as the missiles were about to hit, Ryan Ling’s eyes snapped open—divine light flashed, and he leapt back, instantly teleporting hundreds of meters away.
In a blink, a deafening explosion thundered where Ryan Ling had just been—a mushroom cloud of fire engulfed dozens of meters around, and the shockwave blasted out in all directions.
Ryan Ling shuddered inside. No matter how strong his defenses were, there was no way he could block a nuclear missile head-on...