Chapter 337: Igniting Destiny

“Ammonium nitrate?” Khalid frowned.
“Yes, a chemical that can be used to make fertilizer and explosives.
This shipment has been piling up in Beirut for a long time.”
“Why is this stuff piled up there?”
“Apparently, six years ago, a cargo ship bound for Mozambique was forcibly seized by a Lebanese court, and the ammonium nitrate on board was unloaded and stored in a port warehouse.
It’s been there for six years.”
“Those Lebanese didn’t do anything about it for six years?”
“Yes. The company that owned the cargo ship went bankrupt long ago, and the Lebanese government didn’t care; it just sat there.
They probably didn’t know what to do with it, so they just pretended it didn’t exist.”
Khalid was speechless. Such a dangerous substance, left in a warehouse for six years?
Have these people lost all sense of responsibility?
“But then again, since there haven’t been any accidents in six years, it should be considered relatively safe, right?”
The deputy added, “Besides, the warehouse is in a rather remote location.”
“That’s true, but we can’t just let it occupy space indefinitely.
Go and negotiate with the Lebanese government as soon as possible to see how we can get rid of it quickly. We need the warehouse in the future.”
“Yes, Mr. President, I’ll take care of it right away.”
Although it came at a heavy price of over 30 billion US dollars, they had finally secured the Port of Beirut.
From today onwards, the era of the Levant officially begins!
As for the 2,800 tons of ammonium nitrate, Khalid quickly put it out of his mind.
He was joking, something that had been safely stored for six years, how could it suddenly cause problems under his care?
***
Six years.
This time span was enough to wear down all vigilance.
Time is a knife, most adept at eroding awe and worry into numbness and habit.
Even if a purgatory of hell lay beneath their feet, as long as there were no disturbances for six years, mortals would dare to dance on it.
The Port of Beirut was a prime example.
For all the port workers, who remembered that on this port where they toiled day and night, their livelihood depended on, lay thousands of tons of terrifying chemicals, capable of leveling everything within a ten-mile radius and sending countless people to their deaths?
Unfortunately, they had long forgotten about it.
To them, it was nothing more than a pile of silent cargo on the dock.
So, today, when a few workers were casually carrying out routine pipeline maintenance, they naturally chose to work next to the warehouse storing the "time bomb."
No one felt there was anything wrong with it.
"Sizzle—Buzz!"
The welding torch hissed, sparks flying everywhere like fireflies appearing in the night, carrying an ominous beauty.
Then, a cluster of restless sparks ignited destiny.
The flames suddenly shot up.
"Damn it, do you even know how to do a job? You managed to start a fire while welding something!"
"What are you all looking at? Want to see some drama? Put it out!"
"This...this fire extinguisher isn't working? Damn, is it broken?!"
At first, the small fire was just a harmless joke to everyone.
This little fire, no big deal, a single pee could put it out.
However, when the flames, like venomous snakes with eyes, swiftly surged up the nearby, deathly silent warehouse, someone finally remembered the forgotten legend, and their face turned deathly pale.
"Wait, this warehouse...does that mean there's that...thing that absolutely can't be exposed to fire inside?"
"Huh?"
Just as this bewildered "Huh" escaped their lips...
"Bang!"
A small explosion, like a firecracker during Chinese New Year, muffled but unremarkable.
Low-scale, even somewhat comical, the burst of light was sparse, like a cheap fireworks display.
"Damn, that scared the hell out of me! I thought something serious had happened."
"Yeah, false alarm."
The workers patted their chests, letting out a long sigh of relief; some even laughed out loud.
However, the relief on their faces had barely faded when, in the next instant—
BOOM—!!!
A blinding light, powerful enough to pierce the eyes of mortals, instantly engulfed the entire sky!
For a fleeting moment, the world fell silent.
Then, a massive mushroom cloud, so large it blotted out the sun, rising abruptly from the horizon with an aura of annihilation, as if to tear a hole in the heavens!
The terrifying shockwave swept across the land with unparalleled force, pulverizing everything in its path!
***
Levant, the shipping company that had just established Beirut Port as its strategic center in the Middle East, was ambitiously preparing to expand its operations.
“Say it again! You, say it again! What happened to Beirut Port?!”
Upon hearing this devastating news, Khalid's voice trembled, as if gripped by an invisible hand.
His subordinate, his face ashen, stammered as he reported:
"Mr. President…it's all over! The ammonium nitrate stored in Warehouse No. 3 exploded!
An entire area was blown away!
The casualties…the casualty figures are impossible to calculate. Initial estimates are at least several thousand! No, possibly tens of thousands!"
"Ah—!"
Khalid jumped to his feet, but everything went black. His legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud, as if his spine had been ripped out.
"Mr. President!"
"Losses…losses! What's the extent of our losses?!" he roared, his eyes bloodshot.
"Within a one-kilometer radius, all buildings were razed to the ground!
Within a ten-kilometer radius, all windows in every building were shattered!
The accident site left a giant crater over 130 meters in diameter!
Our people…all of them…"
"I'm not asking about those insignificant losses, I'm asking about our company!
Our assets! Everything we own in the port!"
Khalid roared hysterically.
"Mr. President, just like I said…
Everything we have… has turned to dust.
People, goods, warehouses—everything is gone.
Even the ships docked nearby were capsized by the shockwave and sank to the bottom of the sea…"
"All…all gone?"
"Yes…not even a single screw remains."
The subordinate's voice trailed off, knowing that each word was like a heavy hammer blow to Khalid's heart.
The losses to the port's assets alone have reached billions of dollars.
And this is just the beginning.
What does a ten-kilometer blast radius mean?
It means that all related industries, facilities, and investments around the port have been utterly devastated.
The total losses will likely soar to tens of billions of dollars!
“Even bigger is the problem,” the subordinate’s voice was filled with despair,
“We just paid three hundred billion dollars to secure the port's operating rights!
Now that the port is gone, the operating rights are worthless!
Until it's rebuilt, we won't earn a single penny, and we'll have to bear astronomical repair, maintenance, and compensation costs every day!”
Three hundred billion dollars! That's three hundred billion dollars!
And all we got was a pile of ruins and a giant crater?!
“Pfft!”
Khalid felt a sweet taste in his throat and spat out a mouthful of blood!