Extreme Cold Era: Shelter Don't Keep Waste
Chapter 161 - 160: The sky is burning, the earth crawls beneath my feet!

Chapter 161: Chapter 160: The sky is burning, the earth crawls beneath my feet!

As the hands on the pocket watch pointed to the scheduled time, Major William looked up at the telegraph operator in the corner of the bridge.

Everyone else in the bridge mirrored his action, all looking at him with tense expressions, waiting for the order to initiate the bombing.

Soon the telegraph machine rang, and the operator quickly began writing on paper, translating the sounds he heard and decoding them.

Under everyone’s gaze, he completed the translation and decoding at the fastest speed of his life, then shouted at everyone, "Message from Langton! The sky is burning, the earth crawls at my feet! Deploy the Thermobaric bomb!"

"Deploy the Thermobaric bomb!" William immediately grabbed the nearest speaking tube and shouted at the weapons officer in the bomb bay.

"Order received! Deploy the Thermobaric bomb!" The weapons officer’s voice came from inside the bomb bay, transformed by excitement, then everyone felt a tremor from the Flying Airship, followed by the report from the weapons officer: "The first Thermobaric bomb has been deployed!"

Upon hearing the weapons officer’s voice, William shouted loudly, "Advance at full speed! Proceed to the designated location to deploy the second one!"

Although at this moment all the officers and soldiers on the ship wanted to peer through the portholes to see the effect of the Thermobaric bomb’s explosion, the honor and responsibility from the Imperial Navy kept everyone at their posts, quickly maneuvering the hovering Flying Airship to the second bombing location.

In front of the steam engine in the middle of the Flying Airship, the boiler, which had long completed its heat-up, was continuously generating steam, but the boiler worker clutched the valve handle tightly, not yet letting the steam push the airship forward.

As the order came through, the boiler worker violently twisted open the valve, sending steam, which had reached critical pressure, spurting through the pipes, even producing sharp whistles within.

Powered by steam, all four engines of the Flying Airship started working, giant rotating propellers began pushing this enormous vessel forward.

Meanwhile, above the city below, twinkling with sporadic starlight, a huge dark shadow was rapidly plunging downwards.

The speed of its descent was so great that it tore through the air, emitting a strange screech that startled citizens below who were not yet asleep, as well as those still reveling among the upper class.

Some curiously looked up at the sky, trying to see what was making the strange sound, but those who had once been in battle or experienced war involuntarily turned pale, seeking solid objects around them as cover, for they knew that sound was the noise of projectiles ripping through air!

But it was already too late, or rather, even such actions would be meaningless against the Thermobaric bomb.

The dark shadow in the sky had a small propeller at its tail that spun rapidly under the air current; it stopped rotating before hitting the ground.

With a soft click, the fuse inside the massive bomb was activated.

"Boom!" An explosion sounded that wasn’t particularly loud, and the immense shadow exploded at a height still some distance from the ground.

This did not cause any destruction, only blew open the bomb, and in the sky above the city, a large white cloud formed, as if a giant umbrella had suddenly opened in the air.

This white cloud began to both spread and descend, although it fell slower than the previous dark shadow, it still enveloped the sky above the city in the blink of an eye.

But the city at night is not the same as during the day, no one realized that danger had descended upon the sky above.

Even if someone heard the explosion, they only thought it was the sound of a projectile landing, as the previous screech was really too similar to the sound of a bomb.

"Is it over? Did a cannon somewhere misfire?" Someone speculated.

But the next second, they didn’t need to think anymore, as a more intense explosion occurred.

The cloud hovering over the city was ignited, transforming into a massive fireball that engulfed the entire district!

The impact of the explosion even made the Flying Airship thousands of meters high in the sky jolt, the clouds that had previously concealed the airship were blown away, forming a giant circular hole in the sky.

The city below was bathed in light, everything within a radius of hundreds of meters was consumed by flames, and flammable fabrics and wood were instantly ignited.

Crying out, someone covered in flames rushed out from a house destroyed by the shock wave, seeking help on the street, but the sweeping flames scorched her skin and respiratory tract, her entire lungs burned, and then she was ignited from inside out.

The fireball produced by the explosion burned in the sky for nearly a minute, and the area engulfed by the explosion turned into a sea of fire.

The rising air currents generated by the high temperatures, combined with the consumption of oxygen during the combustion, whipped up strong winds on the ground, spreading the flames everywhere, gradually igniting surrounding areas.

The horrific scene awakened the entire city, and people from other districts saw the devastation here, smarter ones hid back in their homes, closing doors and windows.

Some with a sense of justice tried to go and help those in need, or find ways to prevent the fire from spreading.

But then, the second Thermobaric bomb was also deployed from the bomb bay, igniting another district.

Blazing flames illuminated the sky, only then did people in the city realize the enemy was in the sky.

Subsequently, all six giant Thermobaric bombs in the Flying Airship’s bomb bay were deployed, creating six interconnected massive craters along the old city walls of France’s capital, along with a sea of fire that nearly ignited the entire city.

With the flames burning, the terrifying aftermath of the Thermobaric bombs caused a brief weather change in France’s capital.

The six seas of fire had already drained the air around the city, and the infernos ignited thereafter formed rising air currents, continuously drawing surrounding air toward the capital of France.

Like a giant vacuum cleaner, it quickly drained the air from the central district not yet bombarded, creating a vacuum-like environment, suffocating while attracting the surrounding flames inward.

Wind aids fire to grow, and the fire rapidly spread across the entire city, not only igniting the central core of the city but also consuming the outer slums of France’s capital.

When William commanded the Flying Airship to complete all the Thermobaric bomb deployments, he finally had time to overlook his results, what he saw was flames rising from the ignited city, whipped by fierce winds, spinning upward into a fiery tornado connecting heaven and earth.

Blazing flames painted the sky crimson, the giant fire tornado constantly drawing in all encountered combustibles and air, burning even more intensely.

Witnessing this apocalyptic scene, William had only one sentence in his heart: "The sky is burning, the earth crawls at my feet!"