great-warnovel Chapter 397 The Caught Bird
Chapter 397 The Caught Bird
Chapter 397 The Caught Bird
The magic was suppressed again, and the last stabilizer still faithfully covered part of the underground city.
In the dimly lit tunnels, there was only one light bulb every so often. To facilitate the rapid transport of troops, the tunnels were dug very wide, with all the interconnected passages extending downwards in different directions.
There were still clothes, hats, and other debris left behind in the chaos of war on the ground. When the wizards attacked, it was probably during the time when ordinary people were going to work.
The place is now deserted. The civilians have taken refuge in the deeper tunnels. Only a few old, weak, sick, and disabled soldiers remain. They hear the earth shaking and the sound of artillery fire above, but they don't know what is happening.
When Regulus and his party suddenly encountered these soldiers with broken legs and arms, both sides were taken aback.
But then he realized what was happening and fired the bullets and the spell at the same time.
The Ironclad Charm can stop bullets, but a helmet can't stop a curse, just as the Muggle soldiers often say—
When a wizard sees you, you are already dead.
Even elite regular troops couldn't stop the wizards' breakthrough, let alone those who were injured and could only defend underground.
Ensure the availability of logistical support personnel.
The suicide squad wizards vented their anger from suppressed magic on these soldiers, and even if they threw down their weapons and surrendered, they couldn't escape a curse that smashed their heads.
"This time, the strategy is to leave no one alive; we don't need prisoners!" The bloodthirsty wizards would even drag out people hiding in secret passages, killing them indiscriminately, whether they were soldiers or civilians.
Regulus walked within their protective circle, his eyes slightly closed as he recovered from his injuries. At this point, even if he wanted to intervene, he couldn't stop the situation.
Hermione's face was cold, and she tightened her grip on her staff slightly; she was almost ready to strike.
"There are still people here!" The wizard who had released the demon net earlier now manipulated his magical plants to drag a squad of soldiers out of the alley.
They fired their guns in vain, but the specially modified devil's net was not afraid of the firelight; instead, it tightened its grip until the screams inside the vine ball gradually stopped.
"Trying to confuse the public!" A cold female voice suddenly appeared.
The next moment, the entire tunnel seemed to be paused, and the wizard and the still-living, struggling soldiers were all frozen in place.
The wizard holding his wand and raising his hand, and the soldiers lying on their backs with their guns raised, all remained frozen in place, motionless. The Devil's Web, as if sensing something terrifying, pressed itself tightly to the ground, feigning death and daring not to move.
Hermione's Confusion Charm forcibly halted their thinking, which in some ways was no different from stopping time.
Lockhart's second-year notes contain profound knowledge of Memory Charms and Confusion Charms, which are now even more powerful in Hermione's hands.
Her sudden action stemmed from two reasons: firstly, she disapproved of the actions of the Mughal Party; secondly, among these Muggle soldiers, she noticed a man who appeared to be a prisoner, and an inconspicuous accessory on his person caught Hermione's attention.
"Tiger?" She emerged from her invisibility spell and walked to the side of the only middle-aged man among the Muggles who was not frozen in place.
He was wearing a dirty, worn-out shirt, and his weathered face bore the marks of punches and kicks. He looked around at everything with a look of fear and confusion.
"Are you a titmouse?" Seeing that the other party did not react, Hermione reached out and took the small silver titmouse button from his cuff. If it weren't for the fact that it was in the dim tunnel and the little thing reflected a bit of the yellow light of the light bulb, it would have been hard to spot.
The Muggle who had been questioned finally looked up at Hermione, and suddenly seemed to recognize her, exclaiming in surprise, "You're Miss Granger!"
He immediately struggled to his feet: "I never expected to see you in person in a place like this—"
Hermione went to give him a healing potion. She clearly hadn't mistaken him for someone else; she hadn't met all the Squibs from the Sparrow Lodge. Many were lurking outside and never returned to Hogwarts. But as long as she could still receive Professor Figg's secret letters...
They all knew of Dumbledore's death and Hermione Granger's rise to become the new leader of the tits, and they had also seen a simple portrait of the girl.
Clearly, this middle-aged man was a titmouse who had been lurking in Volgograd for many years, responsible for relaying secret intelligence back to Hogwarts.
"How did you get caught?" Tits usually have a special skill, and those who do well in Muggle communities can become technical officers. Their job is simply to gather information, and under normal circumstances, they are not only safe but also well protected.
"The war broke out suddenly. After I sent the news back to Hogwarts immediately, I planned to go to the restricted areas in the lower part of the city to gather intelligence—" His expression suddenly changed, as if he had thought of something.
"Hurry! The Muggles are about to detonate the nuclear power plant beneath the city!"
Hermione's expression immediately turned serious upon hearing this: "You mean, they built a nuclear reactor underground in Volgograd?"
The titmouse nodded: "This city has been dug down for a long time, but once it reached a certain depth, it was designated a restricted area, where neither military nor civilians are allowed to enter. I initially suspected that some kind of experiment was being conducted down there, but just now, taking advantage of the chaos to sneak in, I discovered that it's a nuclear power plant!"
"Having learned from Chernobyl's experience, they no longer build nuclear power plants on the surface, which can prevent UMNO from causing sabotage and provide energy support for the entire western defense line."
The electricity needed for so many mechs, vehicles, and personnel cannot be supplied by burning oil, coal, or firewood unless it is a nuclear power plant.
"I overheard the general's conversation with others. When things get too bad, they will activate the nuclear power plant's self-destruct sequence. By now, the senior leaders here should have already fled by plane."
He sneered, "You'd better leave now, this place is doomed. Wizards and Muggles alike will all die here."
Hermione took a deep breath: "You go first, I have some things to take care of. There's no one else around from here on—"
Unexpectedly, the titmouse shook its head: "I'm not running away anymore. I can't escape anyway. Isn't it a blessing to perish here with them?"
Only then did the girl see the deep-seated resentment and madness buried in the eyes of the Squib in the dim tunnel.
Compared to the hatred between Muggles and wizards, Squirrel, caught in the middle, could feel it more. Perhaps for him, if he couldn't see Dumbledore's ideal society come to fruition, then watching wizards and Muggles perish together was a good choice.
He pulled a document from the arms of a frozen soldier: "This is the reactor design I stole from the nuclear power plant—it may not be of much use, but consider it my last piece of intelligence."
Hermione looked at the heavy, thick document bag being stuffed into her hands, and paused for a moment: "I think you'd be better off handing it to Professor Figg yourself."
She tossed the paper bag back into the man's hand, and he caught it in a flurry, but the next moment, it vanished with a snap.
A silent portal key spell can be cast within the range of the phenomenon stabilizer. Just because an ordinary wizard can't do it doesn't mean she can't.
"Hoo, now—we must ensure Regulus's life, prevent the nuclear power plant from exploding, save everyone from being reduced to nothingness again, the Confusion Charm is silently released, and the wizards and soldiers continue their slaughter without realizing it."