Something big was coming.

This was Lao Bai and Lao Wang’s first reaction upon hearing Zhao Bowen’s words.

“Please be extremely careful, Lao Zhao. Don’t do anything foolish,” Wang Ning warned him. “This is a nuclear weapon we’re talking about.”

“What are the chances of eliminating Big Eyes using a nuclear bomb?” Bai Zhen asked.

“At most fifty percent, at least thirty percent,” Zhao Bowen replied.

“What’s the basis for that assessment?”

“There isn’t one.”

Zhao Bowen sat down on the sofa, crossed his legs, and reached for his pocket before remembering he had thrown away his cigarettes. Instead, he grabbed an apple from the fruit basket on the coffee table and took a crisp bite:

“The temperature at the center of a nuclear explosion’s fireball can exceed ten million degrees Celsius. The metal element with the highest known melting point is tungsten at 3,400 degrees Celsius, and the compound with the highest known melting point is tantalum hafnium carbide at 4,200 degrees Celsius. Nothing can survive inside a nuclear fireball – it’s the most terrifying force in the universe, equivalent to creating another sun in downtown Nanjing. No matter how powerful Big Eyes is, does it dare to go toe-to-toe with a star?”

Thanks to Einstein, Oppenheimer, and other great minds, human civilization mastered the technology to release energy from atomic nuclei in the last century. As they say, the most thunderous sound comes from the quietest place – the greatest power is born from the most minute source. If human society were one of magic, this would be the legendary super forbidden technique: Ground-Exploding Star.

“Where will it detonate?” Bai Zhen asked.

“It needs to detonate in a suitable location. A nuclear bomb’s destruction radius is huge, but the fireball’s diameter itself is quite small only a few hundred meters. I believe Big Eyes can’t withstand the extreme temperature and pressure inside the fireball, but the shock wave and nuclear radiation might not be enough to eliminate it. So it needs to be close enough to the bomb, within a distance of a few hundred meters,” Zhao Bowen continued, “Therefore, this nuclear weapon needs to have sufficient power at close range to vaporize Big Eyes, but its environmental impact at longer distances must be minimal, otherwise that girl won’t be able to operate.”

“What did the nuclear industry people say?”

“They said it can be done.” Zhao Bowen opened the laptop on the coffee table and hunched over it. “However, they also suggested we make full use of Nanjing’s local terrain and buildings. The high-rises in the city center can effectively shield against the flash, heat, and shock waves.”

He turned the laptop around, showing a map on the screen.

“So we need to find a spot surrounded by tall buildings on all sides, right?” Wang Ning said slowly.

“That’s too easy to find,” Bai Zhen smirked.

For the three Nanjing natives present, finding such a location was simple.

Wang Ning moved closer, “As expected of you, Lao Zhao. Since you couldn’t streak through Xinjiekou, you’re holding a grudge and want to nuke it instead.”

Lao Zhao continued typing on his laptop for a few seconds before looking up to ask:

“Does anyone have the structural plans for the buildings around Xinjiekou?”

Bai Zhen and Wang Ning were both taken aback.

“Nobody has them? Then hurry and get a copy from someone, I need them now,” Lao Zhao said.

“It’s almost 1 AM, who the hell am I supposed to ask?” Wang Ning threw up his hands. “Just because you don’t clock out doesn’t mean others don’t have to. Just because you don’t sleep doesn’t mean others don’t need to.”

Zhao Bowen raised his voice and called out toward Bai Yang’s bedroom: “Yang Yang! Do you have the structural plans for the above and below-ground buildings at Xinjiekou?”

“How would a student like Little Yang have those?” Wang Ning said. “Lao Zhao, wait until dawn and go ask the Housing and Construction Bureau…”

“Xinjiekou?”

A voice came from the bedroom.

Bai Yang thought for a moment.

“Uncle Zhao, give me a minute—!”

He took out his phone and dialed someone’s number.

“Hello? Young master, yeah it’s me. Still up, right? Got a question for you – wasn’t the big roundabout at Xinjiekou subway station built by your dad’s company?”

Zhao Bowen submitted his proposal to advance Phase Three of Operation East Red that very night, and this time it wasn’t rejected. BG4MSR’s encounter with Big Eyes and subsequent day-long disappearance had truly frightened everyone. The Blade Guest’s existence was a huge hidden danger and threat – as long as it wasn’t eliminated, Command would never be at ease.

However, implementing the plan still faced one major problem.

While solutions existed for Miss Qiu’s removal from storage, delivery, and activation, there was no way to resolve the issue of detonation timing. When and where Miss Qiu would detonate were key to the plan’s success. If the distance was too great, the explosion would fail to kill and the operation would be in vain. According to Command’s concept, to ensure Big Eyes’ elimination, the nuclear weapon had to detonate practically point-blank – the closer the better. They needed to use instantaneous ultra-high temperature and pressure to melt and vaporize the Blade Guest within hundreds of meters, essentially throwing Big Eyes into the sun. Command believed even aliens couldn’t withstand that.

But if aliens couldn’t withstand it, humans certainly couldn’t either.

The premise of Phase Three of Operation East Red was ensuring Ban Xia wouldn’t suffer any harm, so there were extreme limitations on the nuclear detonation location. They couldn’t just detonate it anywhere they wanted – currently the optimal location was Xinjiekou.

In other words, the nuclear weapon’s detonation point was fixed.

But Big Eyes wasn’t fixed – it was a mobile entity that could roam around.

How to make it join in holy matrimony with Miss Qiu and ascend to paradise together – getting the nuclear weapon to detonate at the most appropriate moment was a difficult problem to solve.

Regarding this challenge, various experts offered their methods and proposed all sorts of outlandish ideas at the next day’s regular meeting.

Method One: The Trap Approach.

Set up a huge trap at Xinjiekou and wait for the target to enter. Once Big Eyes step into the trap, it would be locked in place and Miss Qiu would be detonated to send it skyward.

Method Two: The Figurine Approach.

Place a life-sized female figurine at Xinjiekou with built-in speakers playing “Girl Across the Street Look Over Here” or “You Are My Eyes” on a 24-hour loop. If Big Eyes was an otaku, it would take the bait 100%.

Method Three: The AI Nuclear Approach.

Hand over detonation authority to AI – let Miss Qiu control her destiny! As soon as it detected Big Eyes approaching, it would detonate.

(Opponents of this plan argued it would be the first step toward building Skynet.)

While the major proposals were each flight of fancy, including sci-fi-worthy guided patrol methods and governor-worthy shoulder-launch methods, they all fell apart when it came to actual implementation and execution.

The Engineering Group angrily shouted that everyone was just talking nonsense!

This had Zhao Bowen worried sick.

Later, he was squatting outside the apartment building entrance smoking when Bai Yang ran into him.

“What am I thinking? I think that waiting like the farmer for rabbits definitely won’t work. If we’re just hoping to get lucky like a blind cat catching a dead mouse, and Big Eyes don’t pass through there, won’t we be completely helpless against it?” Zhao Bowen said to him. “One way or another, we need to gain some initiative. We must ensure Big Eyes will approach Miss Qiu.”

“So set up bait then?” Bai Yang asked. “You can’t catch a wolf without sacrificing some sheep.”

“Yeah, sacrifice some sheep to catch the wolf. We could use that girl as bait, guarantee it would work,” Lao Zhao calmly blew out a white smoke ring.

“That won’t do!” Bai Yang immediately objected.

“Indeed it won’t, that’s why this problem is so hard to solve,” Zhao Bowen sighed. “We need bait, but this bait’s value exceeds everything else. What are we supposed to do?”

The man turned his head, his gaze somewhat distant, and asked Bai Yang:

“Yang Yang, do you think there exists an egg without any cracks in this world?”

Bai Yang was startled.

“Does a completely flawless enemy truly exist?” Zhao Bowen asked again. “Are there problems with no solution?”

Bai Yang frowned.

“This morning I went through the existing Blade Guest materials many times, and strangely, I feel like I’ve grasped something. There must be some characteristic of the Blade Guest that we can exploit… but what is it?”

“Hmm…” Bai Yang tried to help him think. “Super big eyeballs? Eight long legs? Always making eye contact with people? Never harming animals?”

“What did you say?” Zhao Bowen interrupted him.

“I was listing the Blade Guest’s characteristics.”

“That thing you just said.”

“Never harming animals.”

“The one before that.”

“Always making eye contact with people.”

“That’s it – why does it always make eye contact with people?”