The system is four years ahead of schedule, but Weird is still a cub.

With the added power of the secondary armor, Yang Yuxin was like a warrior possessed.

Her figure darted swiftly through the attacks of the insect pillars, her magical longsword flashing, creating streaks of highly corrosive magical black mist that sliced ​​and cleaved away the elite worms that lunged at her.

The secondary armor provides her with the defense to withstand some of the acid splashes and crevice attacks, creating valuable attack windows for her teammates.

The team members were also greatly encouraged, and under Yang Yuxin's cover, all kinds of magical firearms, explosives, and magical blades were poured on the huge body of the insect pillar.

Although it couldn't dismember it instantly like Shen Ge, it still managed to create charred wounds on its surface, with dark green juice constantly flowing out.

The battle was fierce and protracted. The insect pillars possessed extremely strong defense and vitality, and the attacks from acid torrents and elite insects were relentless. Although the team had Yang Yuxin, who was reinforced with secondary armor, as their spearhead, the situation remained perilous, with members constantly getting injured.

Just as Yang Yuxin exerted all her strength, stabbing a relatively weak point in the insect pillar in an attempt to detonate its internal energy—

A blood-red figure appeared in the sky above the rooftop as if by teleportation; it was Shen Ge, who had carried the little girl and crossed the spatial rift.

He could see the battle situation clearly at a glance.

Without uttering a single word, without even landing, he hovered in the air, facing the raging pillar of insects, and simply raised his empty left hand, his five fingers loosely clenched.

"Collapse!"

"boom--!!!"

The massive, frantically attacking worm aggregate was gripped tightly as if by an invisible giant hand that covered the entire rooftop.

The enormous body instantly stiffened and deformed. Countless worms let out shrill, distorted screams, and burst apart under the terrifying pressure.

The next second, Shen Ge's five fingers suddenly tightened!

"puff--!!!"

Like a water-filled balloon being squeezed and burst by immense force, the entire fifth-tier peak insect pillar aggregate, along with the acid it spewed and the elite insects it ejected, was forcibly crushed into a huge puddle of flesh that covered half the rooftop, right before the horrified eyes of Yang Yuxin's team. The strange energy fluctuations dissipated instantly.

The whole process took less than two seconds!
Yang Yuxin remained in her stabbing stance, the tip of her knife only centimeters from the insect pillar. She looked at the terrifying monster instantly crushed into a bloody pulp, then looked up at the demon-like figure in the air. What welled up within her was not joy, but a deep, indescribable shock and… a sense of powerlessness.

The monsters they fought so hard and risked their lives to deal with were like sandbags in front of Shen Ge, easily destroyed.

Shen Ge landed slowly, her gaze sweeping over the messy rooftop and the shaken team members before finally settling on Yang Yuxin.

"Is everything alright? Get ready and look for the next rift. We still have five more buildings to go." His voice was calm and even, as if he had just crushed an insignificant insect.

The little girl in his arms was still breathing weakly, but it seemed that because she had been removed from the most chaotic core area, under Shen Ge's precise protection, her faint flame of life had temporarily stabilized.

Fortunately, with the experience gained from dealing with the insect pillars and searching for spatial rifts, Shen Ge and the others no longer needed to run around aimlessly like headless flies, and they were able to firmly control the rhythm.

With the help of Xiaoqi's precise analysis of spatial distortion and the flow of strange energy, they can always accurately locate the "crack point" where the spatial distortion is most intense.

Shen Ge's powerful magical abilities can not only be used for clearing paths and providing protection, but also for stabilizing extremely unstable spatial passages at critical moments, greatly improving the safety and accuracy of traversal.

They trod upon one "isolated island" building after another, suspended in the dark void. On the rooftop, the hideous worm-like aggregate pillars were like lambs to the slaughter before Shen Ge.

"Collapse!"

"Boom—Pfft!"

Each time, it was a simple and efficient act of destruction.

The fifth-tier peak monsters, under the precise strikes coordinated by Shen Ge's Ghost Domain, couldn't even put up a decent resistance and were turned into pools of minced meat covering the rooftop.

Yang Yuxin and her teammates have undergone a transformation, from initial shock to numbness, and now to confidently carrying out their support and surveillance duties. They are no longer just a burden, but have truly integrated into Shen Ge's combat rhythm.

When the sixth and final insect pillar turned to dust in Shen Ge's palm—

The entire dark void trembled violently, and the seven island-like buildings simultaneously emitted a blinding eerie light. Cracks in the sky spread and intertwined wildly, like shattered mirrors being thrown into a furnace.

"Master, the spatial structure is undergoing a chain reaction of collapse. All core support points have been destroyed, and spatial stability has dropped to zero. Prepare for the impact of spatial displacement." Xiao Qi's urgent voice rang in Shen Ge's ears.

Shen Ge immediately held the girl in his arms even tighter, while the red mist armor shone brightly, and an invisible barrier enveloped the entire team.

"Everyone, come closer to me. Hold on to each other and hold on tight!" Shen Ge shouted in a deep voice.

As soon as the words were spoken, a dizzying sensation swept over them, a tearing and weightlessness a hundred times stronger than when they were passing through the rift, engulfing everyone.

What lay before me was no longer a dark void and distorted buildings, but countless bizarre fragments of colors and scenes flashing and spinning wildly, as if the entire space were being crushed and stirred by an invisible hand.

"Ugh!" The team members let out painful groans, clinging tightly to their companions or fixed objects, fighting off the urge to vomit.

This intense sense of spatial displacement lasted only a few seconds.

"boom--"

"boom!"

Several dull thuds sounded as the plane landed.

The blinding light, the deafening sirens, the air thick with the smell of burning, and... the solid feel of the concrete floor.

Yang Yuxin suddenly opened her eyes, the glaring sunlight making her squint slightly.

What came into view was no longer a bloody hell and a dark void, but a familiar urban scene. Although the area was devastated, it was not difficult to recognize that it was the city center of Rongcheng.

They were standing on the edge of a bombed-out street, next to the skyscraper that had once served as the "Genting" clubhouse.

The building's exterior was now charred and cracked, with many windows shattered, but the nauseating, writhing sensation of living beings and the pervasive eerie black mist had vanished, restoring the building to its deathly silence. "We...we're back?" A team member loosened his grip on his weapon, looking at the familiar building outlines and the flashing police lights in the distance, his voice hoarse with disbelief and the ecstatic joy of surviving a catastrophe.

"I'm really back!" Yang Yuxin looked around, confirmed her location, and finally relaxed her tense nerves, a deep sense of exhaustion washing over her.

Shen Ge immediately looked down at the little girl in his arms. The little girl was still unconscious, her face as pale as paper, her breathing weak, but her vital signs were still present. And the moment she returned to reality, it seemed that the momentum of being eroded by the multiple strange spaces was stopped.

He immediately contacted headquarters via communicator: "Command Center, Shen Ge reporting! Coordinates... have escaped multiple strange spaces, carrying a critically injured child survivor, whose life is in danger, and urgently needs the highest level of medical support."

"Received! Team Leader Shen! The medical team and support troops are on standby nearby. Proceed immediately. Team Leader Lin and the others are also nearby." An excited and rapid reply came through the communication channel.

Soon, the piercing sirens of ambulances and special operations vehicles grew louder as they approached.

Several medical personnel in special protective suits rushed over with a stretcher and carefully took the small, fragile life from Shen Ge's arms.

Shen Ge watched as the little girl was quickly transferred to the ambulance, and the emergency equipment flashing blue lights immediately started. He silently said to himself, "Little one, hang in there, don't let your parents' efforts go to waste."

"Shen Ge, you've finally come out!" A booming, energetic voice rang out from the side.

Shen Ge turned his head and saw a figure as tall as an iron tower striding towards him. It was Lin Yin, the captain of the Special Operations Department of Rong City.

She wore a specially designed heavy anti-monster exoskeleton armor. The armor had a rugged design, covered with thick composite armor plates, and the joints were made of robust hydraulic rods. A miniature energy cannon was also strapped to her back. The armor surface was covered with scratches and charred marks from battle, and some parts were even slightly deformed, clearly indicating that she had been in a fierce battle.

She removed her cracked helmet, revealing a resolute, sharply defined female face. Sweat soaked her short hair, but her eyes were as sharp as an eagle's.

"Team Leader Lin, how's the situation?" Shen Ge asked.

Lin Yin grinned, a hint of weariness in her eyes, but more so of a sense of pride: "Hey, you guys had a blast in there, and we weren't idle outside either. Not long after you went in, the city center went into chaos. Besides your building being swallowed by multiple ghostly spaces, several fifth-tier behemoths appeared elsewhere, along with a number of low-tier ghosts and parasites driven mad by the black mist. Especially those bastards from Rock Security, they even detonated a few ghostly energy bombs before they died, trying to muddy the waters even further."

She pointed to the wounds on her armor: "A Tier 5 'Rip-off' almost broke into the shelter. Luckily, Lao Feng and Xiao Tu came to our aid in time, and the department reacted quickly enough to evacuate most of the citizens and mobilize heavy firepower. Led by several team leaders, we braved the explosions and black fog and managed to suppress those Tier 5 creatures within the encirclement. There were few casualties, and we successfully prevented them from spreading."

Lin Yin's tone was filled with lingering fear and relief. Shen Ge could imagine what kind of battle the Special Operations Department soldiers outside had gone through during the time they were trapped in the strange space.

"Thank you for your hard work." Shen Ge nodded.

He looked around and saw that the Special Operations Department's logistics forces were working hard to clean up the site, rescue survivors, and seal off the contaminated area.

The incident appears to be... under control.

But this feeling of "coming to an abrupt end" only increased Shen Ge's doubts.

It went so well.

The twelve leaders, "Raven," meticulously planned this "gift," which involved the use of what appeared to be a multi-dimensional space core, created such chaos, and may even have employed space teleportation technology to deploy a high-level fusion entity... Was it merely to have them destroy the seven insect pillars, causing the space to collapse and return to reality?

This feeling... is very similar to when we dealt with the strange disaster in Australia. It was also a complex strange space, and there were even several strange kings of the seventh rank or above. But when the entire space collapsed... it "came to an abrupt end".

The cost is high, and the benefits... seem to be nothing more than chaos and fear? But this is clearly inconsistent with the strategic abilities demonstrated by "Crow" and the twelve branches.

Shen Ge always felt that some deeper purpose had been concealed, or... had already been achieved.

at this time--

"Caw—!" A sudden, hoarse caw of a crow pierced clearly through the noise of sirens and shouts from the crowd.

Shen Ge, Lin Yin, Yang Yuxin, and the others looked up at almost the same time, alert.

On the broken windowsill of a nearby half-collapsed building, a raven, its feathers gleaming with a metallic sheen in the sunlight, perched. Its blood-red eyes coldly and emotionlessly gazed at Shen Ge amidst the ruins below.

It stood out from the chaotic surroundings, exuding an eerie tranquility.

Shen Ge's pupils suddenly contracted. This crow... it didn't have any living aura on it, but instead emitted extremely faint yet extremely pure eerie energy fluctuations. It had an indescribable "similarity" to that "black mud" parasite and the core eerie energy of the multiple eerie spaces...

"Watch out!" Lin Yin instantly raised the exoskeleton cannon on her arm, and Yang Yuxin also subconsciously gripped the hilt of her knife.

However, the crow did not attack; it merely tilted its head, as if confirming its target.

Then, it opened its beak.

No sound was made, but a palm-sized "letter" formed from pure black mist floated down as lightly as a feather, precisely heading towards Shen Ge's location.

Shen Ge raised his hand, and an invisible, strange energy gently supported the black mist letter.

The black mist dissipated quickly upon contact with his strange power, revealing a letter with a peculiar material, seemingly made of some kind of black leather.

The letter was unsigned, except for a line of handwriting, sharp and swift as a knife, seemingly written in congealed blood:
Captain Shen, are you satisfied with the "gift" we prepared for you? The stage in Rong City has been set for you... The real "game" begins now!
--crow】

When Shen Ge looked up at the sky again, the "crow" had disappeared, as if it had never been there at all.

"Captain Shen, what did the letter say?" Lin Yin asked, leaning closer.

Shen Ge showed the letter directly to Lin Yin. He didn't give it to Lin Yin directly because he sensed that the letter contained a strong corrosive energy.

He used his seventh-order supernatural power to create an invisible barrier to isolate the supernatural power from erosion, something Lin Yin might not be able to do.

"Provocation? Turning the city center upside down just to challenge the authority of our Special Operations Department, or to challenge Captain Shen? But... what is the point of them doing this? Is it to create panic in the city, or to enhance the reputation of their Twelve Branches?" Lin Yin frowned, clearly unable to understand the purpose of their actions.

Shen Ge casually took out a strange container, put the letter inside, and handed it to the containment personnel next to him: "Take this back and give it to Li Xiang. Team Leader Lin, this is yours. Go back and tell the minister that I'm going to pursue the Twelve Branches."

Before he finished speaking, Shen Ge had already vanished from the spot. (End of Chapter)