Munitions Empire Chapter 2024 - 1886: Utter Failure

Sofia's piercing scream shattered the ceremony's solemn hush, striking like a jagged lightning flash across the midnight sky. Frantically, she cried out, "Don’t come over! No one is allowed to approach me!" Her voice quivered with intense strain, on the brink of collapse.

In her sweaty grasp, the detonator—a compact gadget resembling a common remote—shook faintly, as though it could trigger by mistake any second. Sofia's eyes darted wildly across the gathered crowd, brimming with terror and frenzy, resembling a trapped wild animal.

"Don’t act rashly, please calm down!" The female security officer kept her voice steady, striving to ease Sofia's crumbling nerves. She edged forward a tiny step with care, lifting her hands a bit to signal harmless intent.

"This won’t benefit anyone! Put down the weapon, and we can talk." She coaxed in the gentlest tone possible, aiming to steady Sofia's turbulent feelings.

Sofia burst into manic laughter, her cackle harsh and bone-chilling: "Talk? What’s there to talk about?" Despair and insanity swirled in her gaze, as though she'd forsaken all hope.

"My demand is simple: let me go to the Observation Platform! Now, immediately! No one can stop me!" Her hysterical shout rang out as she brandished the gun toward the crowd, her menace crystal clear.

A sturdy guard advanced and declared in a somber tone, "I’m sorry, ma’am, you can’t go anywhere right now." His fingers clenched the baton tighter, knuckles whitening, eyes locked on Sofia, poised for any sudden move.

"Get out of my way!" Sofia abruptly pointed the gun at the guard who'd spoken, her stare fierce and unyielding: "Who says I can’t go anywhere? I’m telling you, if I die, all the bombs will explode soon! None of you know where they are! By then, the entire coronation ceremony will be blown to the sky! The Great Tang Empire will become a laughingstock of the world! And my purpose will be achieved!"

Each word escaped her lips as if forced through gritted teeth, laden with menace and lunacy. Truth be told, she was merely bluffing, aware she'd hidden just a single bomb within the venue.

Her subordinates had assured her the bomb sat inside the coronation platform, potent enough to slay the to-be-crowned Tang Mo... yet Sofia couldn't disclose this; instead, she boasted of bombs scattered everywhere to intimidate the guards around her.

"We’ve already notified our superiors," the female security officer stayed composed, masking her own inner anxiety and discomfort: "Please calm down, someone with higher authority will be here to talk with you soon. Please don’t act impulsively."

Sofia drew in a deep breath, apparently wrestling to rein in her wild emotions. Her chest rose and fell dramatically, poised to erupt at any instant: "Fine."

She halted briefly, then her voice spiked sharply: "Then let that person come talk to me!... No! I’ve changed my mind! Let Tang Mo come talk to me! I want to see with my own eyes if this damned man has the guts to stand before me!"

Just then, a tall figure in a black uniform, his eyes keen and piercing, strode forward briskly. With assured steps exuding command presence, he swiftly assumed control of the situation: "I am the Commander of the Imperial Security Bureau, and I am in charge here now!"

Having declared this, he fixed his gaze on Sofia amid the throng and addressed her in an icy, detached tone: "You can tell me your demands directly."

Sofia locked eyes with the commander and articulated deliberately, syllable by syllable: "My demand is simple, let Tang Mo see me!"

"Impossible!" The commander rejected outright, his voice resolute and unyielding: "His Majesty The Emperor would never come to see you! You should give up on this!"

"Oh? How do you know he won’t come?" Sofia challenged mockingly, a sneer tingeing her words: "Or is it that he doesn’t dare?"

The commander scoffed, contempt flashing in his eyes: "What makes you qualified to see him?"

He shot back: "Just because of the gun in your hand and a few crazy words? Ridiculous! If anyone could see His Majesty The Emperor just by holding a weapon and saying a few words, then His Majesty The Emperor wouldn’t be doing anything else, would he?"

"I have a bomb!" Sofia stressed anew, madness creeping into her voice, as if clutching her final trump card.

"Oh really?" The commander's disdain lingered in his tone, skepticism evident: "Then go ahead and press it! I want to see how powerful your so-called bomb is."

"Do you really wish not to know where something might explode suddenly?" Sofia's cry sharpened to a shrill, near-hysterical pitch.

The commander gave a casual shrug, his manner light and unconcerned: "No, I don’t wish so." Casually, he tacked on: "But I think your bomb probably won’t explode."

A peculiar smile crept across Sofia’s lips, unfurling gradually like a poppy flower silently blooming in the darkness of night, alluring yet fraught with fatal menace.

"Perhaps," her voice carried a soft edge, sharp underneath, as though murmuring to herself or confiding in the commander: "Perhaps you’re right, perhaps I’m just bluffing, perhaps my bomb won’t explode at all..."

She stretched out the final syllables on purpose, a sly gleam igniting in her gaze.

"But..." her pitch shifted suddenly, turning piercing: "Do you dare to gamble? Do you dare to bet that your judgment is correct? Do you dare to bet that my bomb won’t explode?"

Each word she uttered struck like a dagger plunging straight into the Commander’s core.

The Commander kept his cool facade, gave a shrug, and replied casually, "Let’s give it a try."

His voice stayed light and nonchalant, treating her warning as mere trivia.

A flicker of fury crossed Sofia’s features, her eyes flashing briefly. She drew in a steadying breath, fighting to rein in her feelings. Her tone dropped to a raspy murmur, heavy with impending tempest: "You have quite the mouth."

Her stare bored into the Commander’s eyes as she declared syllable by syllable, "You’re quite good at talking, and pretending, but..."

At that moment, she amplified her volume once more, brimming with menace: "As long as I press this button!"

As she spoke, she brandished the detonator clutched in her grasp: "The bomb will explode!"

She halted briefly, a wild spark dancing in her eyes, "By then, the winner will be me!"

Truthfully, her wager had paid off; had the Imperial Security Bureau truly disregarded the hidden bomb’s location, they would have commanded gunfire ages ago. Regrettably, live TV broadcasts covered numerous spots now, with the celebratory parade spilling over multiple streets. Should bombs detonate amid this, His Majesty The Emperor’s coronation would crumble.

Consequently, Imperial Security Bureau agents scoured every dubious spot in the vicinity, while discreetly setting up gear for electromagnetic disruption to jam local remote signals.

This approach offered maximum safety, leaving the Imperial Security Bureau Commander facing her compelled to stall for time.

Noticing Sofia edging toward hysteria, he understood that pushing further might provoke her to rash action, so he swiftly altered his tactic.

"Actually, we can have a proper talk!" He spread his palms wide, signaling no assault: "What are your demands? Let me hear them."

"I want Tang Mo to see me!" Sofia restated her condition. She grasped that no getaway remained; her only choice was to press onward relentlessly.

"Signal jamming equipment is in place! We can commence interference at any time." The Commander of the Imperial Security Bureau heard his subordinate’s report through the headset.

"Sniper Group Position 1 is in place! Target locked! Ready to fire!" Soon after, the Special Action Team chimed in: "Position 2 sniper in place! Good vision! Target locked! Standby!"

"The car they are riding has been checked, there’s no bomb inside! The driver is under control... hasn’t revealed any useful information for now." Another team wrapped up their encirclement duties shortly thereafter.

"Sniper Group Position 3 is in place! Target locked!" The final sniper team settled into a nearby overlook, spotting Sofia’s vivid red gown clearly via the scope.

With a subtle hand signal behind his back, the Imperial Security Bureau Commander picked up the hum of electromagnetic interference in his earpiece moments later.

All comms went silent, guaranteeing the foe’s remote detonator couldn’t transmit; full-spectrum jamming engulfed every frequency, theirs included. Right as he flashed the shoot command, marksmen from three angles squeezed their triggers in unison.

Sofia watched blood spray from the hand gripping her gun, then sensed her detonator arm jolt from an impact. Balance deserted her utterly, the world whirling in a blur.

It all unfolded in a flash. Her finger instinctively jabbed the detonator’s switch, yet no brilliant fireball lit the distance, no thunderous blast resounded.

Only when guards slammed her drenched arm to the pavement did the searing agony from her injury hit, confirming her utter defeat.

Total failure.