Southern Suburb Railway Line.
The former tranquility had vanished, replaced by a battlefield as brutal as a meat grinder.
At its heart stood some twenty-odd Swordbearers, forming the core of a hastily assembled joint force that included over a hundred Oracles urgently dispatched from the Law Enforcement Bureau and various municipal departments, along with retired soldiers armed with all sorts of light and heavy weaponry.
Using the railway stations and makeshift fortifications as their foundation, they had erected a precarious yet unyielding defensive line, holding back the tide of aberrant creatures surging forward like a relentless flood.
“Da-da-da-da-da—!”
Light and heavy machine guns, hastily transported from the municipal emergency warehouses, unleashed deadly tongues of fire under the hands of veteran gunners.
Interlacing fields of suppressing fire swept across the battlefield like the scythe of death, mercilessly mowing down the low-tier aberrants charging at the front.
Spent shells rained down like a torrential downpour, piling into little mountains.
“The barrel’s too hot! One more burst and it’ll blow!” A swarthy man, a cigarette clamped in his mouth, shouted without turning his head.
The next moment, a uniformed officer from the Law Enforcement Bureau hurried over.
Without hesitation, he placed his hand on the overheated, yellowed barrel.
Visibly, the orange-yellow glow radiating from the barrel faded quickly.
“It’s good to go. Don’t overdo it…” The man pulled his hand back, clapping the gunner on the shoulder.
The swarthy man still didn’t turn around.
He simply spat out his cigarette butt with a ‘ptui’ and laughed heartily, “Watch this, I’ll show these bastards a real feast!”
The heavy machine gun, now restored, once more spat fire, and wherever the muzzle flashed, the low-tier aberrants fell like grass under a scythe.
“Twenty meters deep, seven o’clock! Big one coming in…” Atop the lookout tower, Zhao Dongyuan’s eyes were veiled in gray mist as he bellowed, “Wang Kai, take it out!”
“Copy, Chief!” Behind the lookout tower, in the Oracle long-range strike position, a young man in a Swordbearer’s uniform stepped out.
He pressed both hands to his chest in a strange gesture.
Purple runes shimmered beneath his skin, glowing and spreading—until, at the critical moment, a surge of Oracle power reached its peak.
A violet arrow wreathed in plasma tore through the black clouds and struck precisely atop the high-tier aberrant Zhao Dongyuan had spotted.
“Boom—!”
Centered on the high-tier aberrant, everything within a thirty-meter radius was scorched black.
Swordbearer, Binhai Branch, Security Division Senior Agent: Wang Kai. B-rank Oracle ability: [Thunderbolt Arrow].
With its famed destructive power and accuracy against single targets, [Thunderbolt Arrow] would likely be rated A-rank if not for its slightly long casting time and singular function.
“Target neutralized…” Zhao Dongyuan shouted without looking back, “Wang Kai, good job!”
Scenes like this played out across the battlefield.
Deep within the carnage, where the fighting was most fierce, the space suddenly warped and collapsed as if the world were a shattered mirror.
A tall figure strode forth from the rift in the broken void, wine-red, slightly curly hair billowing amid the clash of Oracle power and pollution—a person unmistakably Gu Qiancheng!
His usual easy smile was gone, replaced by rare gravity and darkness.
The Oracle energy swirling around him was like a boiling sea—violent and overwhelming.
He didn’t even spare a glance for the howling aberrants nearby.
Raising his hand indifferently, he clenched his fist at the incoming tidal wave ahead—
Oracle invoked!
In an instant, the laws of space were forcibly rewritten.
A dozen or so high-tier aberrants at the very front, radiating fierce pollution, along with the space surrounding them, were erased in a flash—as if wiped away by an eraser—vanishing from this world, dragged into the alternate space under Gu Qiancheng’s control.
“Disgusting rats, hiding in the shadows…” Gu Qiancheng gave a low, cold snort and snapped his hovering hand shut.
As if answering his will, that severed space within the alternate dimension suddenly contracted and collapsed.
Those high-tier aberrants trapped inside didn’t even have time to scream before, in the auto-destruction of that space, they were reduced to their most fundamental particles—utterly annihilated.
When it was done, Gu Qiancheng slowly lowered his arm, his figure emerging fully from the rippling spatial distortion.
His face remained stern, showing little sign of exhaustion, but the subtle rise and fall of his chest—less steady than usual—betrayed the immense strain of unleashing such power in succession.
Just then, more smoke and dust billowed in the distance.
Another several dozen high-tier aberrants—each exuding ominous auras and twisted forms—tore through the ranks of low-tier fodder, charging at him with terrifying speed.
Their aim was clear: to bring down the hard nut that was Gu Qiancheng.
“Tch, still not done yet…”
Gu Qiancheng spat on the ground, his gaze hardening.
Oracle power surged around him once more as he prepared to meet the new assault head-on.
Yet in the very next instant—
A shadow, faster than any aberrant, plummeted from high above like a falling star tearing through the heavens.
With a piercing sonic boom, it crashed precisely at the center of the high-tier aberrants’ formation.
“BOOM——!!!”
The earth quaked, and dust exploded outward in a ring like a bomb’s shockwave!
Chunks of rock and the aberrants’ broken limbs were hurled skyward.
Gu Qiancheng narrowed his eyes, waving a hand before his face to clear the incoming dust.
Then, as if sensing something, he turned his head—
A figure stood at his side, having appeared without a sound.
A black Swordbearer’s uniform snapped in the wind.
Golden eyes gleamed with indifferent majesty—it was Lin Mo.
He didn’t even glance at the epicenter of the explosion.
Calmly, he raised a hand toward that direction and beckoned gently.
“Wmm—!”
With a strange hum, a streak of black light—alive, almost—shot back from the dust cloud, shrieking through the air to land precisely in Lin Mo’s open palm.
“Junior,” Gu Qiancheng finally cracked a smile, his old teasing tone returning, “You sure took your time.”
At this, Lin Mo flicked his wrist.
The long spear in his hand rang out with a crisp clang.
He didn’t even look at Gu Qiancheng, replying blandly, “If you can’t hold out, just fall back and rest.”
Hearing this, Gu Qiancheng immediately pouted like a cat with its tail stepped on: “What a joke! I’ve only just warmed up, now the real fun begins!”
Lin Mo finally turned his head, the corner of his mouth lifting in a subtle, provocative smirk: “Is that so?”
Gu Qiancheng’s brows shot up, the thrill of battle and competitiveness instantly ignited: “Not convinced? Want to compete?”
Lin Mo gave no answer, only gazing at him in silence.
Seeing this, Gu Qiancheng slowly raised his palm.
Spatial ripples began gathering in his hand once more.
Then, a sly gleam flashed through his eyes, as if struck by a brilliant idea.
He loudly declared the wager: “Let’s see who cleans up more trash! The loser—”
Gu Qiancheng deliberately drew out the words, a wicked grin spreading across his face, “has to wear—a—dress!”
Before he’d finished speaking, the spatial distortion in his palm abruptly expanded, forming an invisible dome that instantly engulfed a huge swath of the battlefield—hundreds of howling aberrants included.
The next second, that entire region and everything in it vanished on the spot.
Lin Mo watched Gu Qiancheng’s shameless move, the pleased curve of his lips growing deeper—yes, this was the Gu Qiancheng he knew.
He didn’t hesitate. In a flash, his figure blurred, vanishing like a ghost.
He reappeared at the heart of the most densely packed aberrant tide.
He didn’t even swing his spear. Simply standing there, his Oracle power silently surged out in waves.
S-rank Oracle: [White Jade Capital].
Any aberrant touched by this force froze mid-charge, as if someone had hit pause.
Next, the wild, chaotic pollution within them rapidly withered.
Their bodies, like weathered stone, began to irreversibly crumble from within!
With their genetic stability threshold breached, this collapse was unstoppable and irreversible.
Only then did Lin Mo shake his spear and cast his gaze further afield—toward the even more formidable, grotesque aberrants in the distance.
The appetizer was over. Time for the main course!
…
At the same time, at the North City Amusement Park.
Chu You opened the electronic map sent by the park’s manager and examined it carefully.
The Ferris wheel explosion and blackout—those two events happened within a minute of each other.
That meant there were at least two enemies inside the amusement park right now.
She put away her phone.
Chu You drew the pistol from her waist and hurried toward the roller coaster.
Before she could take out the hidden enemies, she had to find the family of the Binhai Branch Security Chief, Zhao Dongyuan, to ensure their safe evacuation.
Qin Yufei, Zhao Yueyue…
Chu You gripped her handgun tightly, weaving quickly through the amusement park. In her ears, she seemed to hear Zhao Dongyuan’s desperate plea again.
“I—I’m responsible for the lives and property of the people of Binhai. I can’t go to the rescue.”
“I’m counting on you for the amusement park.”
“Please, Miss Chu… My wife, my daughter, I beg you…”
“Save them!”