In this chapter, the Underground Man explains that the temperature in the room will rise by one degree Celsius every two minutes. He has set the door open so that the bomb will be detonated in two hours if the temperature is above 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The Underground Man says that he prefers a "fair game" to defuse the bomb. He says that the fuse is too late to stop the bomb from going off, and that he will drag Naruse out of the room. He tells her that the marine tanks are on their way to the southern borders of the former republics of Kazakhstan and southern border of Chechnya. He adds that he knows that she has despised him since she was a child, and he believes that she still loathes humanity. He wonders if the great powers will begin to seek weapons for peace, and wonders if smaller countries will develop a need for them as well. He also wonders if they would face protest from the rest of the world if they were to use a weapon that could reach all of the earth. He concludes that the world will live on the "path of destruc tion" .