Above Destiny

Chapter 578 An Eye for an Eye, a Teeth for a Teeth
The sun blazed brightly under a clear blue sky.

Under the scorching sun, the streets of Tacheng were eerily silent.

Under martial law, the once bustling city center, with its thriving traffic and crowds, comparable in prosperity to the Federation and Empire, is now suddenly as quiet as a tomb.

No pedestrians would go out at this time, and no one would be thinking of courting death.

Only armored vehicles drove along the empty streets, and around the checkpoints, heavily armed soldiers coldly watched their surroundings.

Total military control.

Outside a factory, on the surrounding streets, the number of armored vehicles was increasing. Secretly, four action teams, armed to the teeth with everything from rocket launchers to exoskeletons, had quietly completed their deployment.

High above the building, the sniper lay prone, skillfully adjusting his scope according to the wind speed and distance, locking onto the entrances and exits of the entire factory.

"...I believe it now."

At the Federal Tacheng garrison base, Liang Mo, the commander of the rapid reaction force, squatted on the roof of an armored vehicle, smoking a cigarette. Recalling Tong Shan's previous description, he couldn't help but sigh again: "Damn it, they really don't do anything that's even remotely human!"

I just told you not to cause trouble the afternoon before, and that bastard got bombed that night.

The anti-cult group emerged in the early hours of the morning; before dawn, the river was almost completely clogged with driftwood.

As a result, only twenty-four hours had passed since Ji Jue officially landed in the Central Plains, and the entire city of Tacheng was already engulfed in a storm, with almost everyone living in fear.

They claim to be law-abiding citizens, but with a mere flick of their wrist, they raid homes and wipe out entire families.

Even a quagmire like Tacheng is almost unable to withstand Ji Jue's "Heaven and Earth Together" technique.

There's nothing we can do; this guy is truly ruthless and incredibly cunning.

When he gets down to business, he leaves no room for maneuver, neither for others nor for himself. He's quick to overturn the table and has even extorted and held hostage the entire city of Tacheng to eliminate his rivals.

Unfortunately, the situation was beyond his control, and he had to cooperate with this bastard to kill the whole family.

Ostensibly, the military was deployed to strike and suppress the cult, maintaining order and stability. In reality, the goal was to quell the unrest as quickly as possible, extinguish the flames, and wipe them out completely, turning the page on this mess as fast as possible!

He looked down at his watch.

Listen intently to the instructions and latest news coming through the channel, waiting for the right moment.

"All personnel, check equipment and report your positions."

He picked up the walkie-talkie, confirmed that all departments were in position, and then knocked on the armored vehicle. Immediately, the door opened, and a squad of soldiers, fully encased in armored exoskeletons, wearing masks, and armed with rifles and cannons, filed out, exuding a murderous aura.

Liang Mo finally looked at the boy in the wheelchair inside the car.

The messenger sent by Ji Jue.

"Kid, stay in the car and don't run around." Liang Mo ordered irritably, "Your boss told me to keep an eye on you. If you die, it could cause a huge mess."

"Ok."

Yan Chang nodded obediently: "Mr. Liang, you must also be careful."

"Being careful is useless. In this godforsaken place, the moment you open your eyes every day, you're living a life-or-death struggle."

Liang Mo patted his chest, activated his exoskeleton, spat out the cigarette butt from the corner of his mouth, and pulled down his mask: "Life and death are predestined. Damn it, retiring alive is a success!"

The all-domain auxiliary combat system was activated, and a dense array of UI elements and parameter reports were projected onto the helmet visor, connecting him to the vast system.

Once again, they abandoned morality and compassion, becoming a cog in a machine of violence.

"The people inside seem to be on the verge of desperate measures."

Just as Liang Mo was about to turn and leave, he heard a sound coming from the car behind him and paused for a moment.

Yan Chang raised his head and looked at the desolate factory area. In the observation of his eyes, restless colors surged and collided, eroded, and even seemed to be in opposition to each other.

"The mania and fear are almost overflowing."

Yan Chang murmured softly, then sighed, "Ah, they're about to fight each other. How fast, without the slightest hesitation."

Before he could finish speaking, a burst of intense gunfire erupted from Mudahka's lair. Immediately, as if a hornet's nest had been stirred up, the gunfire spread rapidly, accompanied by shouts and screams.

The sound of explosions suddenly rose up, mixed with profanities and questions from the Federal Empire and even from all over the Middle Kingdom.

"Mudahka of the ditch has betrayed us!"

From the monitored channel, a hoarse voice shouted: "If you don't run now, are you going to stay here and wait to die with that bastard?!"

No secrets stay hidden forever. Just as Mudahka's troubles were piling up with support from all sides, even his once loyal subordinates gradually began to sense that something was amiss.

Once they realized their surroundings and the increasingly tight encirclement, they went completely mad and, without hesitation, mutinied and turned on each other.

"Don't listen to those managers' nonsense!"

Amidst the fierce gunfire, someone shouted hoarsely, urging the others: "Hurry up, rush out, and fight for your own survival!"

“Brothers, charge!!!”

"Run! The Empire and the Federation are coming!"

From the smoke of the factory explosion and collapse, one after another, dusty and disheveled figures ran out, stumbling and staggering, rushing in all directions like headless flies.

Driven by fear, they didn't even have time to observe the situation; their only instinct was to seek a way to survive.

"Target acquisition complete."

"No, there are too many."

"Commander, the situation has changed, something's not right inside..."

The constant stream of reports around Liang Mo made his expression grow increasingly grim. When he heard that someone was about to escape the encirclement, he no longer allowed any hesitation or doubt.

"Move! Everyone move! Stop waiting! Seal off the encirclement, squads attack freely..."

He paused, his unshaven face growing even more grim, and gave the order:

"—Annihilate the target, leave no survivors!"

The moment the words left his mouth, a barrage of gunfire, like popping beans, echoed throughout the entire blockade. The action teams, already in position, pressed the buttons without hesitation, blowing up the walls in front of them and advancing rapidly.

Raise the gun barrel, point it at all the red-marked areas on the facial projection display, and pull the trigger.

Under the crossfire, one red-framed enemy after another was quickly extinguished, as easily as a thorough cleaning. In the open square outside the factory, those figures who were excitedly running around didn't even have time to turn around before falling one by one into pools of blood.

Like a straw blown down by an unseen wind.

Blood gushed forth.

Military boots trampled over pools of blood as they raced past, the assault squads maintaining their formation leaving behind mangled corpses and spent shell casings as they charged in.

On the monitoring channel, screams and curses, cries and pleas for help kept rising and falling.

Suddenly, an explosion rang out, the ground shook violently, manhole covers popped up, billowing thick smoke and flames, and the bomb in the sewer was also triggered.

Faced with a life-or-death crisis, all the mercenaries in the factory had no more scruples, even though the odds of victory were slim. They didn't even dare to dream of winning; they only wanted to escape in the chaos and save their own lives.

Unfortunately, there will never be another chance.

Amidst the flames of the rockets, the factory shook violently, and buildings collapsed in the flames. Deep within the billowing smoke, a burly figure faintly emerged, his body wreathed in blood-red light.

"You all, die!"

A large group of Chosen Ones roared, their eyes bloodshot with rage.

He swung the building debris in his hand, and the moment he released it, chunks of concrete, along with the reinforcing steel bars, flew out like cannonballs, crushing the opponents in his way, and smashing into the ground and walls, leaving behind shocking scratches.

First, he destroyed the positions of the surrounding snipers with a surprise attack. Then, relying on his own terrifying defense, he took the concentrated fire from all sides head-on. His crimson eyes instantly locked onto the commander on the outer edge of the encirclement—Liang Mo!
"I suck it!"

Liang Mo stiffened for a moment, then felt a chill run down his spine. He subconsciously raised his gun, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

late.

A blood-red spear was raised from the hands of the large group of chosen ones. With all their might, they threw it, and with a roar, it easily traversed the long distance and arrived through the air!

Liang Mo felt a sudden darkness before his eyes.

Literally... a blackout!
Loud noise.

The enhanced Riot Cat Mod, which was guarding Yan Chang, suddenly launched itself out. With the boost from its engine, it slammed into Liang Mo like a speeding truck, sending him flying from the spot.

Immediately afterwards, he raised the giant shield in his hand and blocked the spears wreathed in blood flames.

Amidst a series of ear-piercing scraping sounds, the riot cat slid backward more than ten meters in an instant, crashing through two layers of walls. The giant shield in its hand was completely warped, and after the paint on the surface peeled off, it revealed the fine, layered structure underneath, which looked like crystals.

The spear, wreathed in blood-red flames, had pierced through the giant shield and now lodged in the riot cat's thickened arm, sparks flying and oil leaking out.

And this all-out attack, which was close to the level of rebirth, was actually blocked!

"Fuck."

Liang Mo, who had just fallen to the ground, was stunned for a moment, incredulous, and even forgot about the Chosen One who had once again cast a malicious glance at him from within the encirclement.

There's no need to care anymore.

In that instant, in the sky above the center of Tacheng, a streak of light silently detached from the massive airship and glided out towards this location.

Immediately afterwards, flames erupted and burst forth, instantly creating pale Mach rings that shot out!

boom! ! ! !

Under the trampling of the Meteorite Maneuver, the large group of Chosen Ones didn't even have time to dodge before being crushed into a pile of minced meat, blood splattering everywhere, utterly powerless to resist.

It was like stepping on a rotten persimmon.

Thick, bloody liquid slowly slid down the steel, and in the depression in the earth, the smooth, mirror-like paint coating reflected the blazing sun, radiating a cold metallic gleam.

Qiongqi-type powered armor descended from the sky.

The blood-stained face of the ferocious beast surveyed its surroundings, locking onto a chariot inside the warehouse that hadn't yet started, and the driver with a distorted face, through the wall.

Threat target identified.

Then, she raised her arm.

A jet of scorching, vaporized metal shot out, tearing through the wall with unstoppable force. Like an invisible blade, it cleaved the eight-legged chariot and its driver inside in two, burying them in the metal vapor and explosion.

Finally, glancing at the riot cat blocking Liang Mo's path, the knight nodded in Liang Mo's direction and took to the air once more.

Returning to the team.

However, in mid-air, the Qiongqi armor paused slightly and looked in the direction where the alarm was triggered—a streak of blood-red light that sped out from the port outside the city and streaked across the sky.

In just a moment, it was almost out of sight.

So fast! The radar lock-on rapidly magnified the target, revealing a strange shape and an outline never seen before.

what is that?
As if sensing her spying, the blood-red armored figure turned slightly, its eyes flashing with cold light. However, it quickly withdrew its gaze, showing no interest whatsoever.

Keep moving forward, accelerate—

"Command, an unidentified flying object has been sighted, suspected to be an Imperial armored weapon. Should we intercept and shoot it down?"

"No, all-clear and target reset." The response came through the channel: "Air traffic control at the base has just completed the approval, the serial number identification has been updated, it's friendly forces."

"A type I've never seen before."

The knight became curious, "Could it be a fifth-generation prototype test flight from some company?"

"I can't find the aircraft information here, only the registration code of HaiChao Military Industry. Oh wait, it was just updated... Holy crap!"

A curse word about being penalized came through the control center's channel. Ignoring the earlier mistake, the voice exclaimed incredulously, "The database just told me this thing is classified as a heavy industrial exoskeleton..."

"What the hell?!"

The knight was stunned, almost laughing: "You're telling me that thing covered in threatening symbols, weighing at least three times more than me, yet with acceleration and maneuverability even more exaggerated than [Chongming], is an exoskeleton?"

So what am I? An assisted wheelchair?

"That's what it said, believe it or not."

The voice on the channel said helplessly, "Also, move your position and increase your altitude, you're about to crash into the strike trajectory..."

"Where did the attack and trajectory come from? Why haven't I heard anything?" The Qiongqi-type suddenly rose several hundred meters, still curiously looking in the direction where the blood-red armor disappeared.

It wasn't until they noticed streaks of iron light rising from the direction of the port, bursting with flames, and speeding past below that they realized what was happening, and were suddenly shocked:

"Wait a minute, doesn't the agreement with the Empire prohibit the use of guided weapons within Tower City?!"

The sounds of arguing and cursing could be faintly heard from the other end of the communication channel. The voices that had been there moments before now sounded weary, as if they had lost all will to live.

"Who told you this is a guided weapon..."

"what is that?"

"Hmm, let me see...hehe."

Amidst utter speechlessness, the people in the channel were amused by the message on the screen: "Damn it, would you believe me if I said this was an artificial rainmaking bomb?"

boom! ! !
Accompanied by streaks of iron light slicing across the sky, pale trails that traversed the entire city of Tower City slowly unfurled and dissipated, like scars.

As countless people looked up at the sky in bewilderment, they heard a deafening roar, like thunder.

Immediately afterwards, in the suburbs outside the city, Mudahka's old stronghold, the Acacia Manor, which he had run for many years, was suddenly hit by a torrential downpour!

As rain-inducing bombs exploded one after another in mid-air, a dark color instantly spread across the sky, rapidly expanding and completely covering the entire luxurious and vast manor.

A silvery downpour descended from the sky.

Within the seemingly alive clouds, flashes of lightning constantly streaked across the sky, and massive amounts of mercury rose and fell within them, like countless hands reaching out towards the earth.

It pervades everything and covers all.

Sharp silver threads, like blades, streaked through the air, ignoring the servants fleeing in panic and the helpers who were completely unaware of what was happening, heading straight for their target.

Under the curtain of rain, everything became hazy.

The armed guards standing in front of the warehouse, urging the workers to load the goods onto the truck immediately, felt a chill run down their spines. They instinctively looked up and saw the huge truck that had just been loaded breaking apart and collapsing right in front of them.

Before they could even react, they noticed that their hands suddenly felt lighter.

The weapon, severed at the waist, along with the hands that had been separated from the wrists, fell to the ground.

Then, the world began to spin.

One by one, the guardians crumbled under the piercing force of the torrential rain, disintegrating like statues made of sand, vanishing in the gale and downpour.

Only viscous blood flowed silently across the earth.

Unseen death swept over each target like a walk in the wind, casually casting everything into the abyss.

In the dead silence, only the servants and attendants screamed in terror and instinctively scattered and fled.

"Enemy attack!"

In the underground warehouse of the manor, the Chosen Ones who were escorting supplies and preparing to retreat noticed something was wrong and cried out in alarm. But the moment they turned around, they heard the sound of rushing water coming from the direction of the garage exit.

Silver light flowed.

In the blink of an eye, a massive amount of mercury gushed in like a waterfall, spreading and engulfing everything in its path.

In the blink of an eye, the two subordinates in front of the Chosen One of the Desolate Ruins were dragged into the living mercury by their limbs and disappeared.

The chilling sound of shattering continued, and soon the wailing stopped abruptly, leaving only a faint trace of crimson amidst the silver light.

Immediately afterwards, the desolate ruins, which they hadn't had time to escape to, went black and were completely submerged.

All that could be heard was a deafening roar, a muffled echo, and even hallucinatory screams and wails.

"Help! Help me... Is anyone there?!"

He struggled with all his might, gritting his teeth and resisting. He didn't know how long it had been before he finally managed to shake off the mercury that was clinging to him. But he didn't even dare to look back. He ran wildly and desperately, without thinking of any way out.

When he finally broke through the soil and crawled out of the underground warehouse, he couldn't help but freeze in place.

The once magnificent manor has vanished.

In the silvery downpour, only a scene of utter devastation remained, with crimson flames dancing on the ruins and broken corpses scattered across the scorched earth.

And deep within the flames, a sharp sound, like steel scraping against steel, rang out continuously.

A metallic centipede, its body covered in blood and bits of flesh, coiled itself around the clock tower, opened its mandibles, tilted its head back, and swallowed a screaming guard whole, chewing with relish.

Amidst the billowing smoke, grotesque shadows of all sizes roamed in groups of mechanical monsters wreathed in blood-red flames. Ignoring the terrified and weeping laundry maid kneeling on the ground, they instead dragged out the butler who had been hiding behind the girl. Then, the screaming old man was engulfed by the metallic gleam.

One monster after another pounced on it, feasting with abandon.

A scene resembling the end of the world came into view.

The Chosen One of the Desolate Ruins turned pale. Instinctively, he wanted to burrow into the soil once more and flee for his life, but at the last moment, he heard a sharp scraping sound coming from the depths of the flames.

As the sword blade scraped against the ground, streaks of bloody sparks flew out.

The pheasant cries out.

The steel giant-like Longshan armor slowly turned its head and looked behind it at the stunned Chosen One of the Desolate Ruins.

In that instant, the corners of his mouth seemed to grin on his狰狞 (zhengning - ferocious) metallic face.

A thirsty smile.

And then, that was the end of it.
.
In just three minutes, the manor, now completely reduced to ruins, fell silent once more.

Apart from the sound of steel rubbing together, there was only one last sound.

"A little to the left, a little more to the left, yes, right here!"

The boy stood at the highest point of the manor, holding a hand-drawn blueprint in his hand. He directed the mechanical monsters that came and went, dragging and carrying the wreckage and corpses, gathering them together and arranging them according to the markings on the blueprint.

Intertwined and overlapping.

Then, the crimson blood spread through the black ashes, eventually drawing two vertical lines on the earth.

It looks like a giant X.

In the midst of a busy schedule, every second counts.

Soon, after the final work was completed, the eyes of the mechanical monsters quickly dimmed, returning to their original appearance. Only a large amount of the Fly King's creation spirit gathered in the boy's hands.

It was put into the bottle.

Yan Fei raised her head to look at the gloomy sky, then lowered her head to check the time on her phone.

Repeatedly confirm the time.

Until the last second of eleven o'clock quietly passed, the screen displayed the message "[12:00]".

Without hesitation, the boy pressed the detonator he had been rubbing in his other hand.

bang——

Through the clouds, only a muffled sound could be heard, like the popping of champagne...

Immediately afterwards, the silvery clouds began to churn violently, as if some enormous object were descending from the sky... As streaks of silver light parted to the sides, an airship billowing thick smoke descended from the sky, bathed in the midday sun.

There were no cries of agony, nor roars.

The only sound was the sharp whistling of the airship as it crashed amidst the howling winds.

Dragging its mangled body, spewing forth streaks of flame, it howled and writhed as it collapsed to the earth...

The airship, which had just taken off not long ago, unexpectedly brought its owner back to his warm home.

Sadly, there were no more warm smiles and welcoming faces from servants and subordinates. Only ruins remained, a scene of devastation, and even, on the earth, a final farewell drawn with blood and corpses…

Inside the ship's cabin, which was filled with the smell of flames and burning, piercing alarms echoed.

On the fixed seat, the dying Mudahka struggled, his single eye, covered in blood, wide open, clutching a gun, trying to fight to the death.

But when they looked around in confusion, they couldn't find the enemy.

In his final moments, he raised his head and looked out of the wrecked cabin.

In the oncoming gale, behind the gradually breaking clouds, he saw the manor, now a ruin, and everything else slowly turning to ashes in the flames...

It was as if she had finally understood what Ji Jue meant.

"You bastard, you're so petty."

Amidst the violent coughing, he couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly, "So what if I blew up your office?"

Unfortunately, no one responded.

Amidst the deafening roar of destruction, he saw the crisscrossing marks on the ground, magnified, magnified, and magnified again... until, perfectly, right on the bullseye!

Darkness and flames swept in, engulfing everything.

boom! ! !
(End of this chapter)