Villain? No, I'll catch up with the protagonist after passing the civil service exam.

The cooling valve shattered, and the exoskeleton emitted a piercing overload alarm. Qiu Kun struggled frantically inside the mask, screaming in terror, "No! This can't be! You clearly don't have superpowers anymore!"

Lu Jingyan knelt amidst the mess on the ground.

His chest heaved violently as he gasped for air.

The shirt fabric at his left elbow was torn into strips. Sharp shards of glass had pierced his skin, leaving a long, gaping gash.

Bright red blood dripped down his arm.

It slid across the row of blisters on the back of his hand, dripping onto the dusty cement floor, splashing out dark red flowers of blood.

He slowly straightened up.

The military boots crunched on the broken glass on the ground.

"I said that."

Lu Jingyan stared at the distorted face behind the glass mask. His voice was hoarse and tinged with blood.

"I don't need superpowers to deal with you."

Qiu Kun gripped the control stick in the cockpit tightly with both hands, pushing it forward with all his might.

Useless.

The coolant on the back of the mech has completely leaked out.

The massive hydraulic drive shaft was stuck in place. The steel monster, over two meters tall, stood motionless like a rusted iron tower.

Inside the cockpit, red warning lights were flashing wildly.

The blinding red light shone on Qiu Kun's face, making his features appear to shift and change.

The underground black market he had painstakingly built over ten years was gone. His 3 billion yuan in overseas assets had vanished.

Now, even his prized alien heavy armor, capable of sweeping through an entire block, was dismantled into scrap metal by a policeman without superpowers.

This enormous disparity completely snapped the last thread of reason in Qiu Kun's mind.

"If I don't survive... then you won't have an easy time either!"

Qiu Kun gritted his teeth, his cheeks bulging with each thrust.

He released the joystick and began pounding his hands wildly on the spare keyboard on the control panel.

The fingers clicked loudly as they pressed.

The previously lifeless mech suddenly emitted a low, rumbling motor hum.

The intact right robotic arm slowly rose amidst a screeching sound of gears grinding together.

It didn't try to catch Lu Jingyan on the other side.

The five thick, alloy mechanical fingers suddenly retracted.

It directly gripped the thickest composite armor plate on the mech's chest.

"Clang!"

The robotic arm exerted force. The metal fingertips dug deep into the gaps in the armor plate.

With red eyes, Qiu Kun pressed the forced stripping button in the cockpit.

With a sickening metallic tearing sound, the breastplate protecting the core energy was ripped off.

Several blue transmission cables snapped as a result.

Sparks flew everywhere, hitting Qiu Kun's glass mask.

The breastplate was carelessly thrown on the ground, breaking two floor tiles.

The mecha's chest cavity opened.

Inside, a spherical device the size of a fist was visible.

That was the power source for the entire exoskeleton armor. A smuggled alien miniature reactor.

Qiu Kun manipulated the mechanical arm, pinching the energy binding ring around the reactor with his thumb and forefinger.

Give it a hard squeeze.

"Click."

The restraint ring broke.

A blinding, destructive crimson light exploded from the mecha's chest in an instant.

The red light was too intense.

The dimly lit underground vault was illuminated, making it resemble a pool of blood. Even the surrounding air was tinged with an eerie dark red.

Without the compression of coolant and restraint rings.

The reactor core, like a runaway horse, began to overload wildly.

The surrounding temperature soared.

The layer of dry ice frost that the mech just sprayed on the ground melted into water instantly without any transition.

Then, with a "sizzle," it evaporated into a scalding white smoke.

The air became scorching hot.

The air I inhaled felt like swallowing a mouthful of boiling water, scalding my trachea and causing pain.

Lu Jingyan frowned. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead even faster.

He instinctively raised his arm to shield himself from the oncoming heat wave.

Zhao Tiezhu, who had been guarding the door, noticed something was wrong.

He tossed the micro-flame behind his back, took two quick steps forward, and stopped beside Lu Jingyan.

"Chief! What is this bastard trying to do?"

Zhao Tiezhu wiped the sweat from his face with the rough back of his hand, staring at the increasingly bright red light.

"This broken tin can looks like it's about to explode!"

Lu Jingyan did not turn around.

His deep black eyes were fixed on the reddish sphere.

"Miniature fusion reactor".

He spoke quickly and in a steady voice. There was no unnecessary emotion or nonsense.

"The restraint ring has broken. The reactor core is overloaded and melting. Once the chain reaction gets out of control, it will be a miniature nuclear explosion."

In the corridor.

Several young special police officers carrying riot shields felt a chill run down their spines upon hearing this.

It's instinct.

Fear is etched into the DNA of carbon-based life forms when faced with a nuclear explosion, something that can instantly vaporize a person.

One of the new recruits had sweaty palms, and the butt of the rifle kept slipping from his hand.

His legs trembled uncontrollably. His police boots clicked softly on the ground.

But no one turned and ran.

The riot shields remained held level. The tactical formation was intact.

They are police officers. No one can retreat without the order from the commander-in-chief.

Waves of heat kept coming in.

The light-colored paint on the vault walls couldn't withstand the high temperature. The surface began to bubble, turn black, and emit a pungent chemical paint smell.

"Everyone has it."

Lu Jingyan straightened up and lowered his hands.

His tone was cold and hard, carrying an air of command that left no room for argument.

"Abandon the arrest. Evacuate the main city police building immediately via the fire escape."

He raised his hand and pointed outside in the corridor.

"Notify the traffic management department. Evacuate all civilians within three city blocks."

Zhao Tiezhu was stunned.

He turned his head and looked at Lu Jingyan's well-defined profile.

"Evacuate the main building?"

Zhao Tiezhu got angry. He roared at the top of his lungs, making the veins on his neck throb.

"And what about you! If this thing explodes, you won't even have a proper corpse left!"

"Execute the command."

Lu Jingyan turned his head and glanced at him. His eyes were as cold as ice blades.

Zhao Tiezhu gritted his teeth. A hard lump bulged out of the muscles in his cheek.

He stomped his foot, turned around, and waved at the group of special police officers.

"Didn't you hear the commander-in-chief? Retreat! Seal off the area!"

The SWAT officers gritted their teeth, taking turns providing cover as they quickly retreated towards the fire escape. Their leather boots clattered heavily on the stairs.

Qiu Kun sat in the sweltering cockpit.

The bulletproof glass softened and warped somewhat from the heat.

He watched the police officers retreat in an orderly fashion. Suddenly, he burst into laughter.

The laughter was tinged with hysterical madness.

Tears and snot mingled together, covering that hideous face.

"Run? Do you think you can escape!"

He frantically pounded on the control panel.

"The chain reaction has begun. The temperature will soon exceed 10,000!"

Qiu Kun's eyes were bloodshot with resentment and madness. He stared at Lu Jingyan as if he were looking at a dead man.

"Three minutes to go. This entire half of the district will be razed to the ground!"

The red light grew brighter and brighter, and the paint on the vault walls began to curl and bubble. Qiu Kun laughed wildly and closed his eyes: "Since I can't live, then everyone will be buried with my empire!" The red light flashed wildly, and the countdown began.