Chapter 144. Withstanding a Nuke—Humanity's Strongest? Slaying the Celestial Archangel! (1)

「So their goal was to kill King Lu all along!」

「They actually deployed a nuke! A nuke! Those bastards are too much!」

「I knew we couldn't trust those Westerners! That Holy Knight is a devious bastard!」

「Fuck those guys! They deserve to die! They're too scared to face him head-on, so they actually decided to use a literal nuke!」

When the nuke appeared, everyone instantly understood what was going on.

The entire world erupted into curses. They genuinely believed the invitation to discuss the Alliance of Humankind was made in good faith.

Who could have known it was a scheme against King Lu all along? First, they used missiles, and now, they had deployed humanity's most powerful weapon of mass destruction against King Lu.

Everyone was enraged. They denounced the two forces, but they remained powerless.

The same could be said for Elder Ji, Zhu Qingyu, and the others. They could only watch helplessly as the nuke began its final descent.

At that same moment, Lu Yuan gazed up at the nuke above him. His expression remained unchanged as he watched it quietly.

Boom!

A wave of golden aura erupted from him as the Eleven-Tier Bloodforce Pagoda manifested. With just a slight lift of his foot, an overwhelming rush of power erupted, shattering the radiant pentagram created by the five holy relics.

Lu Yuan swept his right hand, collecting all five holy relics. They were the perfect materials to evolve his Great Luo Sword Embryo, so there was no way he would let them be destroyed here.

"He broke free?" The Celestial Archangel and Holy Knight watched in alarm. Even the five holy relics couldn't restrain him? The holy relics were at their peak state thanks to the sacrifice of their subordinates!

Was the operation going to fail?

The netizens from Huaxia exploded with excitement, shouting at their screens for him to flee. With Lu Yuan's strength, escaping would be easy. Even if the nuke detonated, it couldn't possibly endanger him.

The next moment, everyone froze. They watched as Lu Yuan looked up at the descending nuke with eyes as serene as a placid lake.

Then, he bent his legs, circulated the Primordial Dragon Breathing Technique, and manifested nine grotto-heavens, increasing his strength ninefold. Afterward, he jumped up, reaching a hundred meters in an instant. He channeled all his power into a single punch aimed straight at the nuke.

He's punching... a nuke?

Everyone thought.

BOOOOOM!

A cataclysmic explosion occurred, and a mushroom cloud manifested above the Holy City. The immediate fireball engulfed Lu Yuan at once, and the shockwaves flattened every single building in the Holy City before reducing them to mere ash.

In the face of a nuke, everything seemed trivial.

Nothing could withstand it; all were torn apart.

Everyone saw a flash of light, and that was it.

Silence descended—a complete and utter silence. The last scene everyone saw was Lu Yuan shattering the suppression of the Vatican's holy relics and jumping to the skies to meet the nuke instead of fleeing at top speed.

No one knew what to say.

That was a nuke. Anyone else would have fled upon seeing it, as not even the strongest Awakened could withstand something like that. Yet Lu Yuan had done the opposite. Instead of fleeing, he opted to face it head-on.

Back at Mount Tai, Elder Ji and the others were stunned. They were completely dumbfounded.

The Celestial Archangel and Holy Knight, however, revealed triumphant smiles. Their initial panic when Lu Yuan broke free had vanished. In the end, Lu Yuan was too arrogant to rely on his lone strength to contend with humanity's ultimate weapon.

Had Lu Yuan believed he was a god?

The Celestial Archangel stepped into the camera's line of sight, saying, "The King of the East, Lu Yuan, has blasphemed God and killed all of my twelve apostles."

He is Satan himself and a heretic! That nuke was God's judgement on him. Lu Yuan is dead!"

"The Alliance of Humankind can no longer be established," he added, "Even if it were, the Vatican and Mount Olympus would be its leaders."

The Celestial Archangel stood close to the camera. His golden hair billowed out around him, and his eyes radiated arrogance. Everyone watching the broadcast understood him—Lu Yuan was dead, and the Alliance of Humankind was dead before it could even be alive.

This was also a warning to the East.

"He was an honored guest, so his death was truly unfortunate," the Holy Knight said, smiling as he stepped forward. "However, our friends from the East need not worry. Once the fallout has subsided, I'll collect his remains... assuming there are any."

"

Pfft!

" Even the Celestial Archangel couldn't help but laugh. Lu Yuan was dead, and a major threat was finally eliminated. His existence had broken the balance between the East and the West, and that, to them, was simply unacceptable.

「Too despicable, too despicable! Using such schemes and now having the audacity to speak!」

「All right, I'm going there! I'm going to Mount Olympus. I'm gonna make them pay even if I die!」

「Count me in! The officials can twiddle their thumbs for as long as they want, but not me! King Lu saved us twice from beast tides. We cannot let his death be in vain!」

The people of Huaxia went mad, and their uncompressed fury swept over the Internet like a tidal wave.

They all believed Lu Yuan was dead.

The Holy Knight's attitude and the Celestial Archangel's chortle ignited the fury in their hearts. They immediately declared their intention to ascend Mount Olympus and avenge Lu Yuan's death.

Elder Ji and Elder Yun exchanged glances and saw the fury in each other's eyes.

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

The two knew of Lu Yuan's contributions to the nation.

A great example of such contributions was Lu Yuan's action of stopping all beast tides across the nation. How many lives had he saved by doing that?

Cold killing intent suffused the eyes of both elders. They had to make the Vatican and Mount Olympus pay, regardless of the consequences.

Beside them, Zhu Qingyu's face was deathly pale, her eyes were transfixed on the broadcast. She refused to believe that Lu Yuan was dead.

Just then, her face changed. "Elder Ji, Elder Yun, Dean Zheng, look!"

Everyone turned back to the broadcast, and their eyes widened. The mushroom cloud was starting to dissipate; amidst all the smoke and dust, a figure was descending upon the city.