She shook her head. "What if I don't agree?"
Jason looked at T'Challa and said, "I'm telling you all this as a favor to T'Challa. If you don't agree, it means he doesn't have enough influence with you." He paused meaningfully. "I can call a few people who are influential enough to come over."
After saying that, Jason raised his hand and opened a portal. The scenery on the opposite side appeared—a stretch of yellow sand, a typical African landscape. Not far away stood a cluster of tall buildings: Wakanda.
"Shameless!" Looking at Jason, Shuri spat out the word coldly.
T'Challa hesitated to speak. He knew he had to stop his sister, but he felt uncomfortable with such underhanded tactics. Moreover, he was concerned about Wakanda's well-being.
As for whether Jason would really harm Wakanda, he wasn't too worried. He had studied this man's history carefully. Jason might have some personal flaws, but he had never done anything truly terrible. This was probably just a threat.
Ever since Wakanda was forced to open its doors to the outside world, T'Challa understood how dangerous that world was. He also knew it was impossible for 20 million vampires to exist without detection.
Even if his sister Shuri could really control them, the humans of this world would never tolerate their survival. There would be a bloody battle between the two sides. And even though vampires were fierce, they were still too weak compared to well-prepared humans. Humanity would crush them bit by bit with their superior firepower and technology.
Outside, the battle between the vampires and the angel army had reached its most intense point. Even the man with the ponytail was already covered in blood.
Vampire ashes piled above his ankles, and he knew he had stayed too long. Angels kept falling, and he was almost numb to it now. He was certain of only one thing: all his ambitions were ruined. Even life and death were no longer within his control.
Shuri looked at the virtual map, then at the portal that remained open. After hesitating for a long time, she finally gave in.
...
People in later generations gave this day many names: the Angels' Day of Mourning, Bloody Day, the End of the United States, and more.
Without question, after experiencing this disaster, the United States completely collapsed. Most of the population in major cities disappeared, with the total number of deaths and disappearances reaching more than 30 million nationwide.
The White House fell once again. Not just the White House—all of Washington DC fell.
The country's top leaders suffered heavy losses. The Pentagon received special attention, completely destroyed in a devastating fire. It was said that almost no one inside escaped; they all died along with the empire.
The collapse of the national elite and ruling class instantly plunged the United States into chaos that lasted half a century. Even three years later, the campaign for a new president remained incomplete.
Independence movements began in several southern and western states, led by Texas. Even such a massive empire with seven aircraft carrier groups couldn't prevent its internal collapse. In just a few years, seven or eight new countries emerged in North America.
The thirteen founding states in the east, along with some other states, united and inherited the title of "United States," but on the international stage, their voice no longer carried weight.
Additionally, due to the interference of foreign provocateurs, the North American continent remained locked in armed conflict and low-intensity wars for many years, with hatred between the former states growing deeper and deeper.
The former empire had completely disappeared.
...
Jason watched helplessly as the number of angels around the ponytailed man decreased from tens of thousands to mere hundreds.
The Army of Heaven was indeed powerful. By rough estimates, the vampire side had lost nearly two million newly-turned human vampires alone. All of New York was covered in black ash.
The ponytailed man was resolved to die fighting. He rushed to the front of the formation, his eyes dull as he waved his weapon stiffly.
At that moment, the thick black fog umbrella above suddenly seemed to be cut by an invisible blade, revealing a large patch of blue sky. In the dazzling light, Jason descended from the heavens, surrounded by his own holy radiance.
Then, he waved his hand, and the black fog umbrella was cut in half. Soon, the entire black fog covering New York began to disperse. The sun finally shone on the land again, and the broken fog slowly dissolved under the sunlight.
Seeing the sun, the ponytailed man paused. Looking back, he saw less than a hundred angels remaining. The vampires around howled and fled from the areas touched by sunlight.
He looked up at the figure in the sky, feeling neither sad nor happy, but thought to himself: I never expected that he would be the one who benefited most from this chaos.
The South American region was already lost, and now the North American region would likely be gone too.
Perhaps, he thought, this is just how life works.
Jason descended from the sky and slowly landed in front of the ponytailed man and the European woman.
"You two, thanks for your hard work killing the enemy," he said casually. "It's precisely because you held back most of the vampires that I had the opportunity to study the black fog umbrella in the sky. So in this battle, although you didn't directly defeat the vampires, you made a huge contribution to our victory. The honor belongs to all three of us!" He grinned. "I think New Yorkers will build statues for us!"
At this point, Jason paused and added: "...if there are still people left in New York."
After hearing this, the ponytailed man felt a strange sense of familiarity. Hadn't he said something similar not long ago? How confident and high-spirited he had been then! He never expected...
Jason looked at the dozens of angels whose holy light had been exhausted and shook his head. "I see you're completely drained. How about I open a portal to heaven so you guys can go back and rest? Don't worry, I'll make sure the world knows about your contribution in this battle."
In Jason's opinion, the self-proclaimed gods like the ponytailed man and the European woman could be judged separately from the angels under their command. No matter how absurd, evil, and shameless their leaders were, these angels with holy light were almost universally kind-hearted. It was a shame they had died in this disaster. These remaining few dozen were probably the elite among the elite.
After hearing Jason's words, the ponytailed man looked back at his angels, exhaled deeply, and said, "Mr. Jason is right. You have all worked too hard—you should return to heaven and rest for a while. As for me..." he paused. "I'm not going back, Mr. Jason."
"Oh?" Jason raised his eyebrows. "Not going back? Then where do you want to go?"
The ponytailed man said calmly, "I have lost everything in this conflict. This is punishment from the Creator. I crossed the line between good and evil and became filthy and corrupt. I am no longer worthy of being an angel. Mr. Jason, you will temporarily take over the position of God in North America. I want to stay in this world and atone for my actions."
Jason studied his expression and didn't think he was faking it. "How exactly are you planning to atone for your sins?" he asked curiously.
The ponytailed man shook his head. "I don't know yet. But I will find the answer. I will provide whatever the people here need!"
Jason shrugged and turned to the European woman. "What about you? Do you want to atone for your sins here too?"
The European woman rolled her eyes. What's wrong with this ponytailed idiot? she thought. Most of our angels are dead, so you want to exile yourself? How am I supposed to return to heaven after this? If word gets out, won't it seem like I'm inferior to you? Tsk, this is so annoying!
I need to return to heaven, rebuild the angel legion, and reclaim my position!
Seeing that the European woman didn't respond, Jason easily guessed what she was thinking. He raised an eyebrow but said nothing, instead stretching out his hand to open a portal to heaven. The remaining angels and the European woman passed through, returning to the celestial realm.
Then Jason waved to the ponytailed man one final time and vanished before his eyes in a single step.