Across American airspace hung three alien fortresses, their primary cannons obliterating three major cities. Not only were the cities themselves erased, but the surrounding clusters of towns, vital transportation lines, and everything else within the blast radius were utterly annihilated. The direct losses were incalculable, with the death toll estimated to be in the tens of millions… “Report, Sir, the Air Defense Command is ready and can deploy at any moment.”

This was inside the command center of Air Force One. Apart from those in shock or unconscious, and other non-essential personnel, most people hadn't slept at all.

Throughout the entire night, aside from urgently contacting garrisons across the country and recalling Air Force personnel on leave, a massive counterattack had to be planned and organized.

Though a single night seemed long, by the time all of this was accomplished, the Morning Star had already risen to the zenith. Once everything was ready, everyone was utterly exhausted.

Following yesterday’s harrowing escape, the prestige of Zheng Zha and his companions among this group had suddenly surged. The playback from the cameras outside Air Force One’s fuselage showed Zheng Zha’s transformation, the strength and speed of his transformed state, the massive fissure left on the hull, and the footprints trailing the tail section.

All of this confirmed the rational deduction that Zheng Zha was no ordinary human. Consequently, the story told by Zheng Zha and his team was now highly likely to be true.

But precisely because of this, the terror of alien technology seemed even more profound; it had reached realms beyond human imagination. If they advanced much further, humanity might even relegate it to myth or legend.

For instance, super-high-tech “Cultivation” was treated exactly that way… The President, haggard, looked around and realized everyone else wore the same exhausted expression. He coughed lightly.

Then he spoke: “Order Air Defense Command to launch the first wave of the major counterattack. Simultaneously, order the Army to advance toward the ruins of the three cities to recover and treat refugees… if any refugees are still alive.”

This was humanity’s first of two major counterattacks, and the result was nearly a total rout. Except for one lucky individual who managed to shoot down a UFO and survive, almost all other pilots were lost in this engagement. This outcome directly led to the final battle where, apart from having enough fighter jets, humanity shockingly lacked sufficient pilots to operate them. However, this was merely the director’s touch to emphasize the touching drama in the movie and the heroic fervor of the final mutual destruction. In this genuinely horrific scenario, the US government shouldn't truly be this desperate.

Zheng Zha and his group offered no suggestions in the meeting room. It wasn’t that they lacked good ideas regarding the plot—they were fully aware of the disastrous outcome of this first counterattack—but at this moment, any prophecy was meaningless. At best, it would alert the American officials, but the counterattack would still be planned and launched, and the result would remain largely unchanged. Furthermore, for them to reach Zone 2, this devastating defeat of the American military was a necessary prerequisite………… “There is one point that greatly interests me: when you saved us yesterday, were you already using your full strength?” The American President sat in the lounge adjoining the conference room. The results of the counterattack wouldn't be known for several more hours, and during this interim, the President intended to have a serious discussion with the members of the Central Continent Team.

Zheng Zha pondered for a moment before replying, “No, I wasn’t using my full strength. If I had pushed harder then, the aircraft would have disintegrated mid-air. I imagine that’s not an outcome you would have desired, is it? Even though I didn’t use my full power, surely you don’t believe that I alone possess the strength to defeat this entire fleet of alien fortresses?” The President chuckled, casually taking out a cigarette and offering one to Zheng Zha, then tossing others to the male members of the Central Continent Team. He then asked, “How do you feel about this counterattack?” Before Zheng Zha could speak, the President continued on his own: “Even if you don’t say it, I know. Facing aliens with such advanced technology, this counterattack is hardly optimistic. I am already prepared to receive news of our defeat. To be honest, the technological gap between us and the aliens is so vast that it’s almost impossible to bridge with factors like numbers, geography, or environment. Frankly, this war may well determine the fate of humanity… You might find it unbelievable, but ever since witnessing your prowess yesterday, the only thing running through my mind is whether you could form a strike team, board a rocket, and penetrate the alien headquarters directly. If you could infiltrate, with the power you displayed then, the aliens couldn't handle you without deploying large-scale heavy weaponry. However, such an approach…” The President carefully chose his words, sighed, and continued, “Such an approach is practically suicide. The only chance of survival is if the Goddess of Fortune smiles upon you, allowing the rocket to penetrate an alien headquarters whose technology is centuries ahead of ours. Moreover, even if the mission is successful, your return would be almost impossible. So, I truly cannot bring myself to ask you to do it…” Zheng Zha murmured the word "rocket" and replied with a bitter smile, “If it involves using a ‘rocket,’ then I’m afraid I absolutely cannot allow my companions to go on a suicide mission. Do you honestly believe a rocket could reach the alien headquarters? That is absolutely impossible… Of course, if we could shoot down an alien saucer and it remained capable of flight, then my teammates and I might be willing to impersonate aliens and sneak into the headquarters…” The President also managed a wry smile. He too couldn't imagine a regular rocket reaching that extraterrestrial headquarters in outer space, unless Zheng Zha and the others were like the Supermen in movies—able to survive without breathing, capable of flying at extreme speeds in the void, coupled with immense physical power that rendered all weapons useless against their bodies—essentially, an exact replica of Superman. “If it were a downed alien saucer… Ah, everything must wait for the results of this first counterattack. Perhaps at least one saucer will be recovered intact…” (An intact saucer? Of course, they would be intact, considering they wouldn't even be able to shoot down a single one…) Although the plot had changed, the direction of the change was decidedly unfavorable to humanity. After his discussion with Zheng Zha and the others, the President proceeded to the command center to quietly await the arrival of the fighter groups. Then, news arrived that was perhaps unexpected yet completely logical… A massive alien ground force appeared, not aerial units, but something resembling gigantic, six-legged spiders. Each massive spider was over ten meters long and seven or eight meters high. Each aerial fortress seemed to have deployed nearly a thousand of these colossal spiders. Regardless of their combat effectiveness, their sheer size and appearance alone were enough to instill utter contempt for humanity's ground troops.

This was only the first wave of bad news. The second wave of bad news was that these giant spiders swarmed out from the ruins of the cities, having captured countless refugees. Fortunately, they hadn't begun slaughtering them yet, only attacking those refugees who were armed. It was at this point that the fighter squadrons dispatched for the counterattack finally reached their respective targets. Contact combat was expected within two minutes at the most.

“…The Washington sweep and New York squadrons have both locked onto their targets.”

An officer standing by the information receiving platform turned around to report. A general in his fifties standing behind him heard this and commanded, “Fire at will.”

“Fire at will!” “Fire at will…” Several receivers shouted simultaneously into their headsets. On the other end of the signal, the command was relayed to the front-line pilots. And so, in places invisible to the naked eye, a brutal war commenced. Those in the command center could only watch the radar screens, guessing at the unfolding battle. Soon, the complexions of the receiving officers turned pale. The signals from the fighter jets showed aircraft being destroyed one after another, relentlessly. The information transmitted back from the pilots suggested their ordnance was incapable of harming the alien fortresses at all. The moment a missile struck an alien fortress, a visible energy shield shimmered into existence around its exterior, blocking all incoming attacks. Following this, countless UFOs, each two to three times the size of a standard fighter, swarmed out from the massive fortresses. Shockingly, these too were protected by energy shields. Without managing to destroy a single enemy craft, the human fighter squadrons suffered a 70% loss within mere minutes, and this number continued to climb… “Retreat… We have lost.”