Invasion of the United States

When getting off the vehicle, Lucy supported her grandfather, seeing Zhou Qingfeng jump down from the military truck, she felt a bit more assured and asked, "What's the action plan?"

Zhou Qingfeng dragged out a fully loaded handcart from the back of the Pika. The supplies on the cart were tightly packed, and the metal wheels grated on the tiled floor with a piercing sound.

"There is no plan," Zhou Qingfeng replied, "only a path forgotten forty years ago."

The metro in Washington D.C. and its surrounding areas had stopped operating, and the stations were deserted. The group descended with their footsteps echoing.

Zhou Qingfeng took out a simplified map from the pocket on his chest and swiftly scanned it with the flashlight, then pointed at the deep tunnels:

"Towards the Pentagon Station, diverging into the J-12 maintenance passage midway—if it hasn't collapsed."

The group was mostly old and frail, with sickness taking its toll, but at that moment they could only grit their teeth and persist, walking along the railway tracks upon entering the metro tracks.

"I can't… going further will kill us…" Lucy kneelingly supported her grandfather, looked back at the others, mostly old, weak women, and children were swaying and staggering.

A baby's cry, an old man's suppressed cough, women's trembling sobs, intertwined into a symphony of despair in the tunnel.

"I'll scout ahead." Zhou Qingfeng grabbed a flashlight, "Who's coming with me?"

A few former military personnel immediately stepped out, following him into the darkness of the tunnel.

After walking roughly a few hundred meters, an Army colonel suddenly stopped and said, "Three hundred and twenty-seven steps…"

The beam in his hand swept across the right side of the tunnel wall, "It's the J-12 maintenance passage, if it truly exists, it must be nearby."

The wall surface seemed no different from other parts, but when the flashlight angled over it, the brick color showed a slightly darker tone—this was evidently modified post-construction.

Zhou Qingfeng extracted a claw hammer from the cart's side pocket, its tip lightly tapped the wall.

Thud thud—

The hollow echo made everyone's pupils shrink.

"Colonel, your legs are more accurate than GPS," Zhou Qingfeng rarely showed a hint of a smile. The hammer spun around his fingers.

The Army colonel smugly said, "Calculating step speed and distance is my instinct, I won't forget it till death."

The Marine Orno pulled out a dagger intending to scrape open the brick seam, but as cement powder fell off, he couldn't help cursing, "Concrete? Is it really necessary to use concrete?"

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Zhou Qingfeng lifted the canvas on the cart, revealing a square object wrapped in an old shirt. The Army colonel smelled a sweetish scent.

"Sugar bomb?" Brought to you by MV6LEMPY6R.

"Improved version," Zhou Qingfeng said. The ingredients he bought halfway before the lockdown were not just for filling their bellies, but also for making weapons.

After boiling sugar into syrup and mixing it with potassium nitrate in a 3:7 ratio, it becomes an explosive with a detonation speed of 3200 meters/second.

Or mixing it with chlorine oxide in a 2:8 ratio to make rocket launcher propellant.

But Zhou Qingfeng didn't have potassium nitrate, so he used ammonium nitrate instead.

The latter is plant fertilizer, and by searching a few residences with backyard lawns, it's easy to find in garages, storerooms, or basements.

The molten syrup intertwined with the ammonium nitrate crystals. Some sugar spilled on the wrapped clothes during the production process, smelling odd like some kind of evil candy.

Zhou Qingfeng had no detonators, he could only use bullets to ignite. He used the claw hammer to chisel a fist-sized hole in the wall and carefully stuffed the explosive package inside.

"Step back twenty meters." He cocked the rifle, "Cover your ears, open your mouths—unless you want to be deaf for life."

Everyone covered their ears, seeking shelter to avoid the impending shock wave. He could only tear off some cloth from his clothes to plug his ears, then raised the rifle to shoot the explosive package.

Bam… the first bullet pierced the bundle, only stirring a small puff of sugar powder. Sugar and ammonium nitrate aren't particularly explosive materials.

The second shot tore through the shirt fabric, ammonium nitrate particles trickling out like a sandglass.

The third shot—BOOM!!!

The explosive shockwave hit everyone's chest like a heavy punch. Dust from the tunnel ceiling cascaded down like a rainstorm, and the wall...

A hideous, jagged opening appeared in the smoke. The darkness within the J-12 maintenance passage silently gazed at the newcomers.