Chapter 151

Bang!!!

A metal shell weighing several tons, carrying the momentum of thunder, smashed into the center of the aircraft graveyard, directly shattering an unlucky Boeing 737 air train and setting off a pillar of fire more than ten meters high.

The shockwave from the explosion caused nearby ground crew members to fall to the ground. Their eardrums were shattered by the loud noise, and thin blood flowed from their ears, but even more terrifying was that,

Plant vines were constantly growing from the crater formed by the train shell, hooking the hands and feet of the surrounding insectoids and dragging them heavily into the deep crater.

Before long, a group of white fungal beings parasitized by mycelia crawled out of the pit, roaring incoherently, and pounced on the insectoids that had not been parasitized.

Smoke, screams, explosions.

More than half of the airbase was plunged into chaos. Any insectoid touched by the white fungal beings would quickly grow mycelia, continuing the next round of transmission.

Those American soldiers who rushed up from the underground facilities with fire extinguishers, flamethrowers, and rifles were stunned by the chaotic scene before them and didn't know what to do for a while.

It was not until their officers roared at them that they belatedly picked up their weapons and opened fire, trying to stop the advance of the white fungal beings – but to no avail.

Insectoids infected with the fungus could also use weapons. Insectoids wounded by their bullets would also be infected. And the survival mechanism of all fungal beings had changed. Even if their heads were blown apart by bullets, they could still move. Only by shattering their spines could their movements be slowed down.

"Stop them! Protect the General!"

A team of American soldiers wearing gas masks and full-coverage protective suits occupied one of the entrances to the underground facility, desperately blocking the onrushing fungal beings.

The remaining soldiers, seeing that there was no way to break through, had no choice but to take the lieutenant general and senior officers deep into the underground facility, closing the metal door heavily and turning the one-meter-diameter compass lock, completely isolating the internal and external spaces.

"The aircraft graveyard has fallen."

An insectoid officer with the rank of colonel took off his gas mask and smiled bitterly at his superiors, "Sir, what should we do now?"

"..."

The Air Force Lieutenant General took a deep breath and turned to look at the large screen in the sealed command center.

On the screen, the Air Force Base's logistics personnel, as well as retired pilots recruited from around the world, were being efficiently assimilated into fungal insectoids by the pervasive fungal mist.

Flowers and weeds grew from their heads, torsos, and limbs, constantly emitting dandelion-like fungal spores – somewhat similar to the Pale World that Aim described, but seemingly different.

Any base soldier who did not wear a gas mask or protective suit was immediately assimilated into a fungal insectoid after inhaling the fungal spores.

On the surface of the airbase, only a very few surviving soldiers remained, either holding the entrances to buildings and struggling to resist,

Or trying to drive cars or airplanes,

To leave the airbase that had already fallen.

Strangely, the fungal beings seemed to only target the stubbornly resisting American soldiers, ignoring the soldiers who were trying to escape, and not stopping them at all.

"Not good! They are using the airbase's vehicles to further spread the fungus!"

The Air Force Lieutenant General instantly realized that something was wrong, grabbed the satellite phone on the table, and dialed out, "Air Combat Command, immediately launch a saturated missile bombardment of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, where I am located!

Immediately launch a saturated missile bombardment here!

Absolutely no aircraft must be allowed to leave here!"

Li Risheng's previous combat performance was, to some extent, in line with Aim's prior expectations – he deliberately avoided the bombardment of intercontinental ballistic missiles, and did not stay in place to prove that he could withstand them.

He did so not because he couldn't, but to conserve energy, to use energy more efficiently for extermination.

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base was the first step in his counterattack.

"Are you sure, General Steve Tate?"

The senior liaison officer on the other end of the satellite phone hesitated for a moment. The Air Force Lieutenant General didn't have time to shout loudly, and directly reported his internal code for the Air Combat Command, "Bm812dCAt,

Remember, a saturated bombardment of tactical nuclear weapons is required, including the underground defense facilities where I am located, which must also be cleaned with bunker-buster bombs and napalm bombs.

The entire Davis-Monthan Air Force Base has already been reduced to a Pale World infected area. Any aircraft or individuals leaving here must be destroyed and eliminated immediately,

Yes, including me.

I... no longer have any value in being rescued."

After being baptized by the documentaries played by Aim, the senior generals of the American insectoid civilization deeply realized the destructiveness of the Pale World.

Perhaps for otherworldly existences like Aim and Li Risheng, their base and home were not here. This planet was just a fleeting backdrop for them. It didn't matter even if they ruined it.

But for the insectoid civilization, there was only one Earth.

The 15-hour doomsday defense operation was not everything. They had to consider what would happen afterward.

"Understood."

The senior liaison officer on the other end of the satellite phone nodded heavily, "The first wave of air-to-ground missiles will arrive in five minutes. General, thank you for your contribution to the country and to the insectoid civilization."

"Contribution..."

The Air Force Lieutenant General sighed extremely sadly, slowly put down the satellite phone, and shook his head and smiled bitterly at his silent subordinates around him, "Everyone, I'm sorry for making you be buried with this old man..."

"No, General, it is our honor to die with you!"

"General..."

"Insectoids will win!"

A warm response sounded in the underground facility,

The officer with the rank of colonel silently took out a pocket watch from his chest, opened the dial, glanced at the photo of his wife and daughter clipped in the dial, choked with sobs, closed the dial, and was about to say something to the Air Force Lieutenant General to express the heroic ambition in his heart,

When he saw his comrades around him casting incredible and terrified glances at him.

"Huh? What's wrong with you..."

While this nameless colonel was still wondering, his mouth inexplicably opened automatically, and dozens of slender vines spurted out of his throat, accurately penetrating the throats of a group of officers around him, as well as the Air Force Lieutenant General.

When...was I...parasitized by the fungus...

Infinite regret arose in the nameless colonel's heart, and his consciousness gradually dissipated, while the Air Force Lieutenant General, whose throat was pierced by slender vines, painfully covered his throat.

He could feel a large number of hyphae rapidly eroding his brain through the plant vines, but he didn't even have the strength to pull out a gun and pull the trigger against his forehead.

Why... why...

A scene from Aim's video conference two hours ago flashed in the Air Force Lieutenant General's mind.

In the video conference, Aim had clearly mentioned that the Pale World fungus had extremely strong erosion and destructive power on the Earth of the 21st century technological level.

If humans on Earth were unprepared, the Pale World would occupy more than 90% of the living space within a year, and the remaining survivors could only huddle in the Arctic and Antarctic and eke out a meager existence.

If the Pale World had abnormal energy injected into it, the one year required to occupy the Earth could even be shortened to a month, or even a week.

But this also meant that the Pale World itself was more like a "post-mortem trump card" that did not have advanced intelligence.

If the Pale World was to have advanced intelligence and make behaviors such as setting traps, quietly sneaking in, and parasitizing control, it would require the user, that is, Li Risheng, to personally remotely control it.

Countless thoughts flashed through the Air Force Lieutenant General's dying mind,

Why... why did he insist on killing me?

Wasn't his purpose to rely on the hundreds of aircraft in the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base to help him spread the Pale World?

Could it be that... destroying the aircraft graveyard was just his disguise, and his real purpose was to control me?

A look of fear and despair flashed in the Air Force Lieutenant General's eyes. He no longer cared about the plant vines that pierced his throat and caused him great pain,

Instead, he clenched the satellite phone in his hand and slammed it down heavily, trying to turn off the phone communication.

He had already realized Li Ang's purpose,

It was just a pity that it was too late.

The fungus directly injected drugs into his arms that could cause muscle spasms, causing him to lose control of his body.

He could only watch his body calmly pick up the satellite phone, clear his throat, restore his normal tone, and calmly say to the senior liaison officer of the Air Command, "Phew, sorry, it's really not easy to face death calmly.

Can I say a word to Taut? He was my college roommate and my best friend."

Taut was the commander of the Air and Space Defense Command, an Air Force General. In some unofficial rumors, he once stole the Air Force Lieutenant General's love, and had since become estranged.

The senior liaison officer glanced at the radar map on the computer. In three minutes, hundreds of missiles would arrive over the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, completely clearing the area contaminated by the Pale World.

Perhaps out of some respect for the hero, the senior liaison officer, far away in Cheyenne Mountain Cave in Colorado, took a deep breath and said, "Sorry, General, according to the Anti-Mind Power Pollution Manual issued by Lord Aim,

I cannot directly transfer your communication to General Taut.

What do you want to say to him? I will convey it to you."

"Convey it..."

The Air Force Lieutenant General, whose whole body was controlled by the fungus, showed a strange smile on the corner of his mouth, "Okay, it's all the same.

Please tell him..."

"Your wife is awesome?"

The senior liaison officer repeated the Air Force Lieutenant General's dying words in stunned surprise. He never imagined that the last words of the lieutenant general, who was generously going to die in the face of the Pale World, would be this sentence.

Shouldn't he express his nostalgia for life, his feelings for the country, and his expectations for the insectoids to win?

The senior liaison officer of the Cheyenne Mountain Command Center of the Air and Space Defense Command hesitated for a moment. He didn't want to use this inexplicable sentence to disturb the extremely busy Commander of the Air and Space Defense Command at this time,

But the intuition in his mind kept repeating this sentence.

As if possessed by a ghost, the senior liaison officer picked up the phone and dialed the number of the Air and Space Defense Command, which was also in Cheyenne Mountain.

At this moment, the four-star general, Commander of the Air and Space Defense Command, was planning the intercontinental missile launch process with other generals. After hearing the news, he didn't have time to feel sad about the death of his old friend, and fell into even greater confusion.

What exactly does this sentence mean?

Expressing his hatred for being robbed of his love before his death?

The Commander of the Air and Space Defense Command originally wanted to scold his subordinates who were disturbing him with this unnecessary message at this time, but for no reason, this sentence kept echoing in his mind.

Not only him, but all the senior generals in the command center who heard this sentence couldn't help but fell into deep thought, deeply immersed in this unnutritious sentence, as if they saw the great truth of civilization and life from it.

"Your wife is awesome?

Your wife is awesome...

Your wife is awesome!"

The four-star general's face also showed the same strange smile as the lieutenant general. He pushed away his subordinates, picked up the satellite phone, and called his colleagues from the African Integrated Operations Command, the All-American Cyber Warfare Command, the European Command, and the India-Taiwan Command.

All the senior generals who received the call were initially puzzled, then suddenly realized, then ecstatic, and finally also picked up the satellite phone and called other senior generals they knew, and so on, constantly spreading it.

Like elementary school students who have learned a strange nursery rhyme, they can't wait to sing it to their companions.

This is meme pollution.

Over Los Angeles, Li Ang indifferently withdrew his gaze from the Davis-Monthan base.

Mind powers are treacherous and unpredictable, especially those specializing in manipulating people's hearts.

Sometimes, just a book, a picture, a piece of audio, or even a word without any nutrition or meaning can silently distort the cognition of ordinary people on a large scale.

Now, the senior decision-making level of the entire US military should be half-paralyzed, right?

Aim must be wary of his mind powers, but he would not have expected that he was about to be promoted to a level seven psionic, and could achieve meme pollution with just one sentence.

Even if he had taken precautions before, he would not be able to stop the spread of memes in a short time.

The launch frequency of tracking missiles will inevitably be delayed and reduced.

Without any nostalgia, Li Ang interrupted the energy output to the train defense guns, used his Qinggong to climb to a high place, and pulled the trigger towards the east.

In the absence of external interference, it would take several hours to a day for the entire US military to strip the decision-making power from the insane senior generals, and re-establish a set of strategic decision-making command system.

Aim had to make a decision, he either abandoned the US missile air defense system, relaxed the restrictions on Li Ang's random actions, and relied entirely on the intercontinental ballistic missiles of Europe and Russia.

Or, he personally stepped forward to reorganize the US missile air defense decision-making system - which also meant that the probability of him being caught by Li Ang would be greatly increased.

Without intercontinental missiles following him like a shadow, Li Ang teleported five hundred kilometers away expressionlessly, and pulled the trigger towards the distance again.

Now it was finally Aim's turn to be forced to respond,

No matter what decision Aim made, Li Ang would accelerate the promotion of his doomsday plan.

He came to Los Angeles to avoid intercontinental and cruise missiles, and to absorb memories to obtain the specific location of the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

Launching train shells towards the aircraft graveyard was to secretly control the Air Force Lieutenant General, who had the authority to contact the senior decision-making level of the entire US military, under the guise of spreading the Pale World fungus, and spread meme pollution,

On the one hand, to trick Aim into showing himself, and on the other hand, to reduce the annoying missile tracking.

And he was now going to detonate a volcano.