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--- Chapter 543 ---
The suppressed detonation of Armageddon over the open ocean produced a superheated shockwave tearing across the coastline.
Even at such a distance, the coastline of Eastsea City violently shook as if struck by an extremely high-magnitude earthquake.
Windows shattered across thousands of skyscrapers, and panic gripped the streets.
Reinforcements from the adjacent military divisions finally arrived at the Eastern Front, working frantically to secure the perimeter.
"This is..." General Xu Tianzu, Special Commander of the Eastern Army, stepped out of his command vessel, his face turning pale with horror.
Before him lay what was once a vibrant blue ocean, now reduced to an endless, steaming wasteland of dried seabed and cracked earth.
Although he knew a Rank 12 Spirit Missile—the Godslayer Armageddon—had been launched unauthorized for the Eastern Front, he had never expected its destructive result to be this terrifying.
"The wisdom of mankind..." General Xu Tianzu murmured, his deep voice trembling slightly. "We rise through it... yet we may very well fall because of it."
"We must secure the 'key' before Shrek Academy or their allies can cover up the scene."
An aide hurried to his side with a tablet, his voice grave. "Sir, preliminary casualty reports stand at 1,349 military and civilian lives lost along the immediate coast, primarily due to the sudden shockwave."
"Medical and rescue units are on site, but the death toll will inevitably rise as we search the surrounding settlements."
Xu Tianzu stared at the smoking crater in the distance. "A thousand lives... ten thousand lives..."
"For twenty thousand years, humanity worshiped Gods as benevolent, divine guardians."
"Yet in their grand, ten-thousand-year scheme... we mortals are nothing more than ants to be trampled, used, and cast aside."
"The Sea God... Tang San... and his father, Tang Hao... praised as eternal heroes and saviors of the world."
"Yet wherever their divine shadows fall, suffering follows."
Xu Tianzu turned to his aide, his tone cold. "Tell me, private... do you truly believe they are 'good'?"
The aide maintained a rigid, disciplined posture. "Sir, such thoughts exceed my authority... My sole duty is to rescue the survivors."
Though his words were rigid, the aide's icy, solemn expression made his agreement crystal clear.
Xu Tianzu smiled faintly. "Indeed... because we are weak, we can only focus on the task before us."
"However, that does not mean these arrogant gods will escape judgment forever..."
Back at the center of the blast, the giant silver mecha stood amidst the steam, its outer armor fractured and shedding molten plates to reveal glowing internal gears and primary circuitry.
Yet, Tang Hao and his allies were in far worse condition.
Tang Hao's internal organs were severely damaged. The heavy blast from Armageddon had not only reopened his injuries from the Heavy Particle Slash, but the lingering radiation was actively affecting his divine blood from within.
Mo Yin had fared no better, suffering a devastating 30% loss of her core vitality. Having spent twenty thousand years absorbing and refining the natural life energy of the planet through the Ancient Golden Tree, losing nearly a third of her foundation in a single moment filled her with rage.
Deep down, a terrifying realization dawned on her. If the Federation had launched two more of these Rank 12 Godslayer Missiles, her true body would be completely finished.
Da Ming and Er Ming were in an equally dire state.
As Divine Beasts, the foundation of their power rested on the purity and density of their Blood and Qi. The lingering radiation had corrupted their divine blood, causing their physical strength and bloodline vitality to plunge by more than half.
"Cough... cough... You four look utterly pathetic," Xu Deming's hoarse sneer echoed through the mecha's broken speakers. "It seems the legendary guardians of the Tang Clan are nothing special after all."
"Relics of a bygone era!"
"Even after twenty thousand years of cultivating and leeching this world's resources to the bone, you're still nothing more than mid-tier, 2nd-Class Gods."
"No wonder Tang San left you behind to act as the Plane Master, the Life Core, and his family's personal watchdogs."
"He knew your potential was limited right here!"
"SHUT UP! SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!" Tang Hao screamed in pure, unbridled fury, clutching his bleeding chest.
The pain in his body was nothing compared to the toxic humiliation of Xu Deming's words carving straight into his ego. Similarly, Mo Yin, Da Ming, and Er Ming stood frozen, their expressions turning deathly dark.
Deep down, a seed of doubt had been planted. Though they desperately wanted to believe Tang San was a noble person, they knew their talent was completely insignificant compared to the divine beings of the old realm.
If they had possessed true potential, the high-and-mighty Sea God would have brought them along to the Divine Realm rather than leaving them behind on the Douluo Star.
"Aww! Did I strike a nerve, Tang Hao? Does it hurt in that fragile little heart of yours?" Xu Deming's voice boomed across the barren seabed, sharp and merciless.
"WELL, LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING!"
"IT HURTS A THOUSAND TIMES MORE KNOWING MY OWN HOME WAS CORRUPTED AND TURNED INTO A PRISON UNDER YOUR FAMILY'S THUMB!"
"OUR FAITH! OUR HISTORY! EVERYTHING WAS A LIE FABRICATED BY YOU!"
"SO... DIE!"
"Not good!" Tang Hao, Mo Yin, Da Ming, and Er Ming braced themselves instantly.
They knew this mechanical demon wasn't bluffing when saying that—he genuinely possessed the technology and the intent to slay Gods!
"HEAVY PARTICLE BURST!"
The mecha's core reactor let out a high-pitched, metallic shriek. Within a hundred-mile radius, an intense gravitational vortex erupted, generating a storm of crimson energy that shredded space itself, targeting divine-level energy signatures with lethal precision!
Inside the God-Sealing Barrier, Tang San caught the outside devastation with an expression of horror.
He was stunned by the raw destructive yield of the Rank 12 Spirit Missile, a mortal weapon that had completely surpassed the limits of his proud Tang Sect's hidden weapons.
In fact, calling it a mere "surpass" was an understatement. That explosion possessed the capability to slay wild gods with no position.
Back during the Spirit Hall era, Tang San had ruined Qian Renxue's divine heart using a hidden weapon, but he knew better than anyone that such an attack had merely delayed her momentarily before her divine energy restored her heart.
The dimensional gap between mortals and gods was supposed to be absolute.
Yet, the technology forged by the mortals of the Sun Moon Federation could genuinely murder a God!
Unfortunately for Tang San, his momentary distraction cost him dearly in this moment.
POOF!
"UURGH!"
A razor-sharp, golden dragon claw punched directly into Tang Wuyue's chest, blasting Tang San's divine soul projection backward.
Tang San spat out a golden energy, feeling his daughter's life force rapidly draining. He cursed inwardly. 'Golden Dragon King, how dare you!'
'You have no martial ethic! Launching such a ruthless ambush the moment my attention darted!
"No... something is wrong with the Silver Dragon King's Divine Core!" He suddenly realized something was wrong with his daughter's body.
"It's..."
"Leaking, isn't it?!" The Golden Dragon King's low, mocking voice echoed through the ruins of Glorybound City. "Tang San, while you were busy worrying about your family outside, you left an opening right in front of me."
"The Element of Destruction... I also had it."
"And in that single split second... I shattered the eighteen divine seals you placed on my sister's divine core!"
"Give up! Today... your father, your mother, your daughter, and those traitorous beasts outside will all be buried right here!"