"Buzz——!"

In an instant, the entire city was pierced by the shrill wail of air raid sirens overhead.

The shockwave from the factory explosion was terrifying.

Even Gu Ji, three kilometers away, felt a strong gust of wind hit his face.

"Immediately notify the command center, city hall, fire brigade, and chemical reconnaissance post to rush to the explosion site. Tell them there has been a violent explosion at the Eastern District Factory of the BASF Production Base. A large area of the site has been destroyed, and there's a risk of chemical leakage. Quick!!"

Gu Ji shouted to the sentinel beside him.

This young sentinel initially didn't understand why this officer had to rush to the sentinel tower so early in the morning. But considering the other was a sergeant who had just earned the Iron Cross Medal from the battlefield, he agreed.

Luckily the officer was here now; otherwise, he really wouldn't have known what to do.

Having served just half a year, he had never encountered such a terrifying scene.

It wasn't until Gu Ji shouted the last "quick" that he reacted, immediately picking up the phone and turning the dial wheel.

After giving the orders, Gu Ji ran down.

At this moment,

the entire military area was in chaos. The new recruits thought the enemy was attacking, quickly dressing up, putting on helmets, and running from the barracks.

Some were terrified, some were panicked, but many were excited, as if finally feeling they could fight for the empire and gain honor.

Gu Ji had just run to the training ground.

He ran right into Luca and two others who were coming out of the canteen, rushing over in anxiety.

"Herman, did you hear the explosion?"

"I heard it. The BASF Factory exploded; we must get there quickly!"

"Is it an attack by Hawk Army bombers?"

"No, it's the production base explosion."

"Scared me to death. I thought, Hawk Army wouldn't be foolish enough to invade the Empire's airspace in broad daylight!"

The group followed Gu Ji, talking as they walked.

After Eugen confirmed it was merely a factory explosion, he immediately blocked Gu Ji.

"Officer Herman, since it has nothing to do with the military, let's not get involved. Industrial accidents are under the jurisdiction of the city hall and fire department. We soldiers are for fighting wars. The weather is nice today. Why don't you teach me more about commanding?"

"Do you know how many residents are near the BASF Factory?"

Hearing this, Eugen was slightly taken aback.

Before he could answer, Gu Ji turned his head, eyes wide.

"55,000 people! I just saw the explosion cloud in the Eastern District rise nearly a hundred meters high. This incident is beyond the city hall and fire department's control. A soldier's duty has never been just fighting wars but protecting home and country. Without the people, there's no country. If you are unwilling to go, then stay here and don't hinder me. Move!"

It was the first time Eugen saw Herman this angry.

The intensity was like a demon unleashed, roaring through his heart, making him shiver.

"Without the people, there's no country..."

Ler instinctively murmured upon hearing this, his pupils catching a spark of light, "Herman, I'm going with you!"

"Let's go together; we are a team."

Even Luca patted Gu Ji on the shoulder, seemingly moved by those words as well.

Eugen felt like a chastised child, hanging his head, unsure, and could only follow behind, running towards the military vehicle.

Yet along the way, he kept muttering the last words of Gu Ji.

His eyebrows furrowed, feeling something was off.

From the military zone to the BASF Factory was three kilometers. Despite Gu Ji's speeding, it still took almost twenty minutes.

There was no way around it; a heavy industrial city had a dense population.

Plus, the explosion was so significant that crowds were stopping to watch the distant explosion cloud and thick smoke.

"Make way!"

"Move aside!"

"All civilians, leave quickly; the site is highly dangerous and may have secondary explosions!"

Compared to Luca and Ler's reprimanding,

Gu Ji was almost shouting.

The civilians, seeing his officer rank and the Iron Cross Medal at his collar, dared not speak much and just symbolically stepped back.

After a hard struggle, they reached the vicinity of the Eastern District of the factory production base.

The scene's misery shocked all four of them.

They had just visited here yesterday, marveling at the grandeur of the BASF Production Base, but now it was rubble.

The epicenter was billowing with smoke; most nearby buildings were destroyed or collapsed by the shockwave. Seven or eight trucks parked nearby were all burning, cables and pipes blasted and hanging down, sparking more fires, greatly worsening the disaster.

From the edge of the ruins and debris, screams came from a man crawling out, his head bleeding profusely, with two others trapped under giant rocks, unable to free themselves.

Seeing this,

Luca and Ler seemed reminded of comrades scorched to death by tank explosions on the battlefield.

Gu Ji dashed straight in.

Many security personnel in blue-black uniforms were panicking, fleeing outside.

He grabbed one pockmarked security guard: "Why are you running? What's the situation inside now?"

The pockmarked security guard instinctively tried to break free, then saw the officer uniform and fearfully said:

"Officer, it's the Eastern District's synthetic rubber factory explosion. The whole building and adjacent factories are gone. The fire is burning too fiercely; we'd better run!"

"Synthetic rubber factory? The main raw material for synthetic rubber is butadiene..."

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