Stars, Players and Immortals

Chapter 44: The Minotaur Carrying a Nuclear Bomb

What does it mean that the Auditorium can withstand a nuclear bomb?

Saint Sophia was clearly taken aback; Zhang's words contained a lot of information, and she needed time to process it.

The Minotaur-class tactical nuclear device that Zhang Qiming mentioned is a low-yield, pocket nuclear bomb, with an explosive size typically between 0.1 and 0.5 kilotons of TNT.

Its first appearance was in the early 1920s. Rumor has it that a terrorist with a silver arm prosthetic body, extremely dissatisfied with the monopoly of Terra's major corporations, sent a miniature nuclear bomb into the headquarters of one of these giant companies.

The nuclear bomb detonated inside the building, causing the giant corporation's headquarters to collapse instantly, and the entire surrounding industrial park was engulfed by the devastating shockwave.

Since then, these miniature nuclear devices have been listed as prohibited weapons by major human powers. The control over the circulation of nuclear materials, miniature detonation cores, fusion trigger modules, and military-grade encapsulation shells is even stricter than that for conventional naval guns, SA weapons, and fusion reactor fuel.

Mars certainly has nuclear materials and a fusion industry, but every gram of highly sensitive nuclear material is kept in the dual ledgers of the Cardinal Council and Ares, and ordinary people have no chance of obtaining it.

Saint Sophia stared at Zhang Qiming on the screen, her tone finally revealing a hint of genuine surprise:

"Where did you get this kind of thing?"

Zhang Qiming smiled and explained:

"In the past few years, the mobile base of Tianqu has been operating near the Trojan asteroid on Mars. We use a swarm of automated mining drones to collect raw materials, and then use Tianqu's own refining modules and production lines to replicate the Minotaur-class tactical nuclear device."

He spoke very casually, only glossing over the location of the mobile base, the scale of the production line, and the specific manufacturing process without going into detail.

This achievement is inseparable from the contributions of Engineering Gear and Belissau Cole.

The former fills the most fatal engineering and technical gap in the Sky Drive camp, while the latter, with its extraordinary creation skills that are almost like those of a mechanical sage, continuously provides core design blueprints, truly living up to the great name of Doraemon.

Saint Sophia could naturally tell that this explanation omitted a large number of key details. Replicating the Minotaur-class tactical nuclear bomb was by no means easy. Raw material preparation, nuclear material refining, military industrial support, and miniaturization were all indispensable. The entire process was complex and rigorous, far from being as simple as Zhang Qiming described.

However, she didn't press further about how Sky Chaser had produced that item; that was Zhang Qiming's own trump card, and she only needed to focus on the outcome.

"So your plan is to send a Minotaur-class tactical nuclear device into the Auditorium, and then send the entire Joint Nuclear Exclusion Zone and the purge list into space?"

Zhang Qiming nodded and replied:

"Simple, direct, and efficient."

"The only thing we need to figure out now is how to get the miniature nuclear bomb into the audit tower."

Zhang Qiming looked at the structural diagram of the Ares Auditorium, traced his finger from the outer security line all the way to the joint review and isolation zone, and then pointed to the elevator shafts and maintenance passages inside the auditorium.

"The elevators in the audit tower need to be inspected regularly, and the elevator shafts and heavy-duty rails in the isolation area also need daily maintenance. We only need the tower engineering department to issue a routine maintenance work order."

"At that time, I will infiltrate as a maintenance worker, Chishiro will be responsible for forging identity verification, and Ares will secretly tamper with the data. The detection instruments will only identify the maintenance tools, and the system will only retain the regular work records."

Saint Sophia paused for a moment, then said, "Isn't this plan too simplistic?"

Zhang Qiming looked at her and said with a smile:

"A thousand-mile dike can be breached by an ant hole. The simpler the plan, the easier it is to succeed. And who would have thought that we would blow up the Audit Tower with a miniature nuclear bomb?"

Saint Sophia nodded. No matter how far the Holy Cardinals might imagine all the conspiracies and schemes, they could never have guessed that the Skyward would raze the entire Auditorium to the ground with a nuclear bomb without any preparation.

Saint Sophia: "I understand. Let's proceed according to your plan."

Zhang Qiming's tone became more serious as he continued to give instructions:

"Before the operation, you must evacuate the Auditorium in advance and absolutely not remain within the core area affected by the explosion. But evacuation alone is far from enough. To completely clear your name and deceive everyone in the College of Cardinals, you must stage a self-inflicted injury."

"You need to deliberately create serious injuries for yourself, not just minor scratches, but severe trauma that is life-threatening and makes you look like you've survived a catastrophe."

"Only in this way can the illusion that you were completely unaware of the whole process, were accidentally caught in the crossfire, and escaped death be convincing enough. Even if the Holy Cardinals conduct thorough investigations, they will never suspect a high-ranking member of their own side who was seriously injured and nearly died, nor will they associate you with this subversive bombing plan in the slightest."

After hearing these words, Saint Sophia's face showed little emotion; her gaze simply fell on the structural diagram of the Audit Tower, and her fingertip lightly touched the location of the middle audit compartment.

"I already have a plan."

"Several people on the elimination list are currently in quarantine. They're already suspicious of each other, so let's continue to use them before they die and create an information fog. Tonight, I'll have Ares release an unusual communication alert, saying that someone is trying to overstep their authority to contact an external fleet, and is suspected of maintaining secret communication with the Skydrive."

She looked up at Zhang Qiming, her voice still steady.

"At that time, I will personally go to the Auditorium's outer data verification office to handle this matter. It is far enough away from the epicenter that it can avoid the core killing range of the Minotaur."

Saint Sophia then added:

"To complement your plan, Ares will create a sufficiently large explosion on the outer layer. On the surface, this will appear to be a multi-stage attack by the Skywards on the Auditorium."

"I will be seriously injured in the second explosion."

Zhang Qiming looked at her, his expression not changing much, only his tone was lowered.

"You must carefully assess the severity of your injuries. They should appear life-threatening, but not fundamentally damaging. You will need to step in to stabilize the situation during the subsequent investigation. You must convince the College of Cardinals that you nearly died, but you also cannot remain bedridden for too long, which would hinder your work."

Hagia Sophia responded calmly with a slight nod.

"I know how to handle things."

After a brief silence, she changed the subject and asked about the timing of the operation.

Zhang Qiming focused his attention again on the maintenance passage marked on the blueprint. His finger moved slowly along the work order verification entrance, traversing the corridor, and finally stopping at the heavy-load track shaft near the joint verification isolation area.

"The operation is set for tonight."

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