‘You have seen something like it before,’ Major Wu replied. ‘The American earth energy weapon.’

She remembered the container ship DARPA had secretly converted into a mobile weapons platform, able to direct a blast of the planet’s raw power at a target thousands of miles away. ‘You know about that?’

‘Our spies are effective. But it was a crude toy compared to this.’ She gestured at the dark and silent fortress around them. ‘These crystals allow qi to be directed with great accuracy – and power. The potential of a large, flawless crystal to do this is almost limitless.’

‘And Nephilim records,’ said Colonel Wu, ‘say this fortress built around such crystal.’

Nina stared at him, dismayed, then turned to Hui. ‘So all the talk about changing the world was bullshit? You just want to use this thing as a big gun?’

‘It will change the world,’ Wu Shun said smugly before Hui could reply. ‘China will take its rightful place as the greatest superpower. No one will be able to challenge us.’

‘They bow to us,’ her father added, ‘or be destroyed.’

‘You’re crazy,’ Nina exclaimed. ‘You think America will bend over just because you’ve got a new weapon, however powerful?’

‘You will have no choice,’ said the colonel ominously.

‘We can destroy your entire nuclear arsenal in minutes,’ his daughter elaborated. ‘And you will not even know who did it, or how.’

‘That’s why you want it, isn’t it?’ the redhead realised. ‘It’s a stealth weapon. No warning, no defence – and no way to know where the attack came from.’

The major nodded. ‘America planned to do the same thing. So do not lecture us. It only exposes your own hypocrisy.’

‘Not my hypocrisy. I blew the damn thing up! And I’ll do the same to yours if I get the chance.’

‘Our weapon is not as vulnerable as DARPA’s. There are no masts or antennas—’

‘Antennae,’ Nina corrected.

The Chinese woman gave her a cold glare for her sarcastic pedantry, then continued. ‘The earth itself is the antenna. The qi tracker is more than a detection device. When connected to the large crystal, it will not only show us the flows of qi; it can redirect them, force them together at a target until the energy that builds up is released – as an explosion. The Nephilim spear weapons do the same, but only on a limited scale.’ She gestured at Gadreel. ‘Your daughter asked: what was the second thing he was known for? He was the creator of weapons of war! He designed them, he built them. But we improved upon them.’

‘We can destroy a building,’ added Colonel Wu, ‘or a city.’

‘And you need me to start the whole thing up, huh?’ said Nina, disgusted. ‘Well, screw you. I’m not helping you do a damn—’