Before seeing Bei Ji, He Fang had thought about what kind of person Bei Ji might be.
But the moment he heard Bei Ji say those words, a term surfaced in He Fang’s mind—cannon fodder.
In any game, there must be a cannon fodder character. This cannon fodder is sure to deliver something to the player. In the end, even if their schemes are exposed and they die, that would still be a completely normal setting.
Hope City, as the mission players receive after their first breakthrough in Nightmare Beast Forest, is definitely a beginner quest. For a beginner quest to proceed openly and smoothly, there has to be an irresponsible city lord. This city lord must be foolish, arrogant, and illogical.
So the role of this cannon fodder Bei Ji comes into play. He cannot possess the necessary qualifications of a city lord, which is probably why the system assigned him entirely negative tags.
He suddenly felt that appearing properly dressed in front of Bei Ji like this was really stupid. It’s not like he was actually meeting a romantic rival.
Right now, this City Lord Bei Ji was merely a character used to advance the Ao City mission. He didn’t actually serve any important purpose.
“I got it,” He Fang said, scratching his hair helplessly, messing up the strands that had been neatly fixed. When the bangs he was used to letting down fell over his forehead again, he finally felt a sense of calm. “Since you don’t want to do it, then don’t.”
He Fang would protect NPCs, but he also knew that it was no longer possible for Bei Ji to take that high seat again.
However, when Bei Ji heard He Fang’s words, he suddenly grew inexplicably furious: “You’re just a thief who didn’t even go through the handover ceremony! No one in the mobile city will acknowledge your position!”
He Fang put his hands on his hips, full of pride: “I don’t even belong to the mobile city. Why should they acknowledge my position?!”
He was stationed in a proper, grounded city. That’s fundamentally different!
“You shameless, despicable scoundrel! You took something that belonged to someone else, and you’re still acting all upright and justified about it!” When Bei Ji said this, he was scared. But having lost the two most important people to him, he had gone a little mad.
“Your things? All your things were taken away by you. The original Hope City was thoroughly torn apart by other mobile cities. You don’t go snatch your stuff back from the mobile cities that took it, so what are you coming to me for?” He Fang stood with his hands on his hips, looking completely unafraid of arguing with Bei Ji.
“‘Land of Hope’ was mine to begin with!” Bei Ji was so angry that his face turned red.
“If it weren’t for me, your ‘Land of Hope’ would’ve been long gone, okay? If not for me, how could it have become what it is now? Your face is seriously thicker than the walls of the mobile cities!” He Fang howled back at Bei Ji without holding back. He had come with good intentions to talk things through. What kind of attitude was this? This wasn’t reality. In the game, who isn’t the main character?
Bei Ji was probably completely triggered by He Fang, and unbelievably, he really did start brawling with him: “If I hadn’t let go of Hope City, do you think you’d be able to do anything?”
“Angel City, I reclaimed it! Hope City, I built it! The women now living in Hope City, I snatched them from Arrival City! If not for me, this place would’ve already become Nightmare Beast Forest! And you’re asking me what I did?!”
He Fang lifted his chin, looking particularly proud. Even though he was socially anxious, when facing someone even more socially anxious than himself, he felt like he had some real ability. He was, after all, someone who had once spent the night with a deliveryman!
Bei Ji’s eyes were now even redder from anger. Already feeling wronged, tears started falling in big, heavy drops.
He Fang glanced at him. He had made the guy cry. Guilt welled up. He turned his face away, deciding to calm himself down, and said, “The people in Hope City are doing very well now. Their happiness level is high, and it’s all thanks to my hard work in building it up. I don’t want to hand over the fruits of my labor to someone else.”
In “Ruins Without Restart”, every city was completely bound to a single ID card and had to be verified in person. The harsh conditions meant almost no one could own more than one city. It directly eliminated the possibility of online trading.
All the games He Fang had bought were ones he never sold. His save files, his progress, and goals, even in the most difficult times when he couldn’t afford to eat, he had never thought of selling his game discs for money.
He had an inexplicable attachment and possessiveness toward games. He wouldn’t let anyone steal his game, not even an NPC.
He Fang turned around and said, “I came here originally to see if your people could help out a bit, but now it looks like there’s no need at all. Although I won’t let you become the city lord again, if you’re willing to settle down, live quietly in Hope City without stirring up trouble, I won’t drive you out.”
Upon hearing this, Bei Ji’s face instantly turned pale. “Are you… pitying me?”
But He Fang shook his head. “Not really. I just think, even though you did abandon Hope City, didn’t you still choose, in the end, to bring Hope City here? So… how should I put it… It’s not like you completely neglected your duties as a city lord.”
Bei Ji was stunned. Staring at He Fang’s departing figure, his mind went a little blank.
Left alone in the temporary shelter, Bei Ji returned to his chair and curled up. Though his eyes were red, he didn’t feel like crying anymore.
He knew he wasn’t a good city lord. He lacked the courage of his father and the strength of his ancestors. But at the very least, he had tried to make decisions for the sake of Hope City. Back then, when he unilaterally led them here, it was with a sliver of hope that he could save the city.
He didn’t receive praise from anyone. He wasn’t recognized by anyone.
When He Fang stepped outside, his hair was a bit messy. After getting back into the vehicle, he said to Lu Hu, “Go find Wei Qixuan.”
Lu Hu curled her red lips slightly and complained in a spoiled tone, “City Lord, I really don’t understand why you’re so fixated on using the previous leaders of Hope City. Do you actually think they’re better than us?”
“Not really.” He Fang was quite worried. “Ruins Without Restart” algorithms were too meticulous. These NPCs were far too human-like. “It’s probably some kind of pressure… because the people from the main city are too powerful, and for ordinary people, they’re out of reach. If we always let the main city folks lead and never let the people learn to think for themselves, development will slow down. It might even evolve into some strange kind of mobile city. And these prisoners we brought back, they’ll definitely cause chaos…”
“Then let the people of Hope City welcome their own,” Lu Hu said. “And let Arrival City welcome their own children.”
“Mm…” He Fang blinked. He remembered once giving an NPC the command to carry a suit of armor. That NPC had carried it for a very long time, simply because he had never issued a command to stop.
He knew that as long as he gave an order, the NPCs would carry it out. But if possible, he didn’t want an NPC who only followed orders.
In “Ruins Without Restart”, the territory was vast, and countless wild NPCs still wandered, lost and in pain. In this infrastructure-building game, the only thing a player could truly do was provide these NPCs with a place where happiness was possible, not to personally make each of them happy one-on-one.
Lu Hu noticed He Fang deep in thought. She tapped a finger against her thigh, as if pondering something.
That night, Bei Ji once again sent a message to Ao City. As expected, it was intercepted by Zhu Yan. Predictable, and yet, for some reason, a little disappointing.
Information from the scout teams indicated that several mobile cities had already stationed themselves around Hope City. Preliminary analysis suggested they were combat cities. The density of their deployment made it clear this wasn’t just a regular stationing. They had come with hostile intent.
The borders of Hope City had been unusually quiet during this period, which proved that many who had received the news were choosing to observe and wait. They wanted to see how Hope City would respond to the pressure from Ao City.
Gradually, more intel came in: Ao City was indeed searching through all cities under its jurisdiction for anyone who had once belonged to Hope City, as well as those who had traded with Arrival City. The number of people involved was alarmingly large. With no warning or defenses, all of them were dragged outside the city.
These people would be treated as soldiers, sent to the battlefield with the most fragile of equipment.
The message Bei Ji had sent out seemed to have directly caused Ao City to make up its mind. Their movements had grown more swift and decisive.
This war was now inevitable. The air was thick with the scent of gunpowder, and tension hung on a hair-trigger.
Even though the situation outside was growing increasingly severe, the main city remained completely unaffected, and construction was still proceeding in an orderly fashion. But He Fang had noticed something very strange.
The population of the main city was increasing at an astonishing speed, completely beyond He Fang’s expectations. From the originally recorded 70,000 people in the civil affairs bureau, it had suddenly jumped to 130,000, and the number was still rising. As He Fang stared at the number, his heart pounded with anxiety. He had only just expanded the land, the housing construction hadn’t even begun, so how had these NPCs all surged in like they couldn’t wait any longer?
Because of the sudden influx of NPCs, the existing residential districts in the main city were briefly paralyzed. Rental housing became extremely tight. He Fang even saw that some NPCs were sleeping under bridges!
He Fang felt his head buzzing with pain. Usually, development was followed slowly by population growth. What was going on this time? Was their butt on fire or something?
But what made He Fang feel even more baffled was these NPCs’ attributes.
Though there were too many of them to check each one individually, after some statistical analysis, it became obvious that these NPCs were very different from the original casual NPCs in the main city. Specifically, their physical stats were much higher, and they came with tags related to combat ability. Moreover, the majority of them had actually signed up for the Armed Forces Department.
With the Armed Forces dormitories under heavy strain, He Fang had no choice but to repurpose some of the originally planned residential land to build more dormitories for the department. Though his main city’s NPCs had always had a desire to join the military, they generally lacked the proper attributes. But once these new NPCs filled in, they actually all surpassed the military attribute thresholds that Yuan Zhiran had originally set.
To maintain balance, Yuan Zhiran had to raise the required attribute values for army enlistment.
Since there wasn’t much residential space left in the main city, and these NPCs didn’t have much money after just arriving, they simply went directly to live in Hope City and Angel City.
Some, unable to find housing for the time being, copied the foam board housing from the temporary shelters and built makeshift houses in one area. The constructions were shockingly proper—all kinds of uniquely shaped little homes, some even with a second floor.
He Fang: “…” Just what kind of terrifying action force do these NPCs have?
Since Angel City was still undergoing personalized remodeling, the NPCs from the main city had actually started competing with them over land in Angel City. They didn’t confront them directly; they just quietly snuck a meter here, stole a square there, which infuriated the residents of Angel City. Their blood boiled, and in response, they sped up the customization project, recklessly transforming Angel City into a complete mess.
He Fang stared, eyes wide open, as Angel City—which had been neatly organized just a while ago—was practically blasted into a sieve. He was dumbfounded.
Were these main city NPCs all bandits?
But the thing was, they really hadn’t broken any laws!
Their efficiency in action was simply jaw-dropping!
Because of the involvement of these NPCs in the military, the demand for weapons from the Armed Forces rose sharply. This forced the factories to implement a shift system: people rotated, but the machines kept running nonstop. As a result, a whole batch of employment needs was directly addressed, and He Fang’s national treasury was also completely drained.
Staring at the nearly deficit-ridden budget, He Fang’s nerves were twitching. Anxiously, he went online to see if anyone else had encountered a similar situation. He was very worried. Had he expanded too much territory this time?
Could it be that, in the end, with no place left to live, people’s happiness would plummet, then fighting would break out, and finally the city would be destroyed?
Hope City was still okay. The occupied lands were all undeveloped zones. But Angel City’s residents were so furious they seemed ready to explode. When He Fang went in to take a look, he saw several Angel City NPCs surrounding a main city NPC, quarreling and shouting, accusing the sneaky guy of coming over just to steal their living space.
He had initially thought that this kind of thing would lower Angel City’s residents’ happiness, but to his surprise, he discovered that their happiness had actually increased. He Fang was completely baffled.
After asking Yuan Sanjin about it, Yuan Sanjin explained that the people of Angel City were happy because they owned residential land there. That gave them an advantage when dealing with the powerful main city NPCs. So, they were genuinely pleased. Every time they cursed and yelled, it was actually, in part, a way of showing off and venting, which made them feel much better.
He Fang didn’t understand. He Fang was completely shaken.
But what surprised him even more was that people from Hope City and Angel City were actually signing up for the military too, only to be mostly eliminated in the screening process because they were, honestly, unqualified.
Then, Hope City and Angel City jointly wrote a complaint letter.
When He Fang suddenly received the complaint, he jolted—an NPC sent him a complaint letter?
He Fang opened the letter, and his expression turned complicated as he finished reading.
In the letter, the NPCs passionately expressed their frustration: they, too, were clearly capable of enlisting, yet Yuan Zhiran wouldn’t allow it. Only NPCs from the main city were ever recruited, which infringed on their right to join the military.
But between the lines, He Fang also saw something else—these NPCs had likely sensed that war was imminent, unavoidable. So, rather than hiding in the city waiting to be protected, they too wanted to do their part.
The more He Fang read the letter, the more amused he became. And also… the more he grew to love this game.
On the surface, this was a letter demanding equal rights. But in essence, it was a letter expressing a desire to share the burdens of the city.
He Fang tucked the letter away into the player’s inventory. This time, he would only allow main city NPCs to participate in the war.
As of now, the number of trained main city NPCs who could be deployed to the battlefield was just under ten thousand. Meanwhile, the captives brought in by Ao City were far more numerous. After the last scan, they had already reached two hundred thousand, and the number was still climbing.
He Fang wasn’t going to let those people die. So he could only send out the overwhelmingly powerful main city NPCs to the front. But the real targets of this war weren’t those captives—it was the group hiding behind them.
The ones he was sending to the battlefield were primarily there to ensure the safety of the captives who had been forced to become warriors. And the ones he truly intended to unleash for the city siege were only four people.
Rainbow Squad–Xiao Qing, Rainbow Squad–Xiao Lu, Chong Xiao, and Chong Ying.
He wanted these people to experience, in every way, just how terrifying Hope City could be. One war—enough to ensure they’d never dare to act again.
And with that, the NPC missions for Chong Xiao and Chong Ying should also come to an end.
He Fang was waiting, constantly waiting for the other side to make the first move.
And this time, the massive-scale city war finally broke out on a quiet morning, without warning.
——
Song Mianjue was a gatekeeper of Hope City. As a woman, born with less explosive strength than men, she had trained with everything she had, striving to become a powerful gatekeeper. It was the only chance to break free from the bottom of the social ladder.
In the apocalypse, class was determined from the moment of birth. Though no one liked it, everyone knew it was the only way to maintain order. And for those at the very bottom, the only way to change their lives was to throw everything—life included—into the fight.
She had always performed excellently and had even once faced off against a Nightmare Beast. Among the many gatekeepers, she didn’t lose out to a single one.
Because of her, her family truly lived better than those at the very bottom. The lord of Hope City was not stingy; he rewarded those who contributed. Song Mianjue had always been loyal to Hope City.
At the very least, she had always believed that if she worked hard enough, she could do everything well, and that her future, like her name Mianjue[mfn]endless[/mfn], would stretch on continuously.
However, the city lord abandoned them.
Song Mianjue did not get the chance to be taken away by the city lord. She remained in the Hope City that had been forsaken by him.
And it wasn’t just her—many gatekeepers had been left behind. The city lord hadn’t taken many people. For a massive city like Hope City, his team needed only a handful of gatekeepers, and he had only chosen the very best among them to leave.
Song Mianjue knew that other mobile cities would eventually arrive here to take away the people they needed.
First batch. Second batch. Third batch…
Her parents were old, not exactly elderly, but already without any remaining value worth taking. Even for roles like scouting teams, there were others far more suited than her parents.
With Song Mianjue’s abilities, she would have easily qualified to be chosen in the first batch, but she hid.
Back then, she had risked her life to become a gatekeeper; wasn’t it all for the sake of giving her family a better life?
Now, to abandon her family in pursuit of her so-called own life, wasn’t that putting the cart before the horse?
She refused to leave. And it was then that she finally understood why female gatekeepers were so rare. She watched, eyes wide open, as some male gatekeepers, though reluctant, still followed the other mobile cities. Meanwhile, the only thought in her mind was to stay and die with her parents.
Song Mianjue began teaching the remaining people the knowledge of gatekeepers, one by one. Even though there were few of them left, they still wanted to maintain their dignity as much as they could. At the very least, to live out the end like proper human beings.
Then, another mobile city arrived. This city stripped away the final remaining value of Hope City, and it was at that moment that her parents suddenly knelt down in front of her.
Tears streamed down their faces as they pleaded with her to leave this place of certain death and seek out her own chance to live.
“Mianjue, it’s us, your mom and dad, who are useless, who failed to take care of you. But no matter what, we don’t want you to die with us. Having a daughter like you—we’re already so happy, so satisfied. Please go, just go. Even if we have to beg you—we’re begging you.”
In the end, her parents begged her to leave. Song Mianjue stood there, stunned, hearing nothing at all.
The hope in their eyes, the desperate wish for her to survive—that shattered longing all came crashing down on her shoulders.
A club came down from behind. Song Mianjue knew it was coming, but she didn’t dodge.
Right before she lost consciousness, the last thing she heard was her parents saying that they loved her.
When Song Mianjue woke up, she was already aboard that mobile city. She didn’t resist, didn’t make a scene. She clearly remembered that final whisper left at her ear by her parents—“Mom and Dad love you.”
In the new city, she continued her work as a gatekeeper, just as before. And just like before, she never once cried.
Song Mianjue knew—she was living with her parents’ hopes entrusted to her. And because of that, she could not cry.
Lately, she had heard many rumors—rumors about Hope City. These rumors were like small flickers of light, offering her a shred of hope. She couldn’t help but listen, couldn’t help but think, and in those quiet moments, she even secretly prayed.
Then one day, Ao City suddenly issued an order to gather all those who had once come from Hope City and Arrival City.
Song Mianjue was pushed out with the rest.
They were all rounded up, and each person was handed a weapon—a wood spike coated in metallic plating.
Song Mianjue was a gatekeeper. She often wore armor and was skilled in handling weapons meant for Nightmare Beasts—long blades, firearms. Yet now, the people of Ao City were sending them into battle, and only gave them a wooden spike?
Though none of them had received any formal education, there were always those who were quick-witted. In this tightly packed crowd, everyone quickly understood why they had been chosen.
Because the enemy they were going up against was Hope City.
Song Mianjue felt utterly hopeless. Hope City—her homeland—just how much more did it have to suffer?
The people of Hope City, the ones from Arrival City who had only just escaped their own hell, were they born just to endure endless hardship?
“All of you—charge!” Ao City’s commander shouted. But the weapon in his hand wasn’t pointed at Hope City—it was aimed at them.
Standing in the crowd, Song Mianjue’s expression was cold and indifferent. She looked on, eyes chillingly calm, at this world where people from the bottom could not even survive in peace.
All of them began to move forward. Even if they didn’t harbor any bloodlust, even if many of them had only ever worked as laborers keeping a mobile city running, they had been given a command to attack. And to disobey meant death.
They didn’t know what this city war truly meant to them. But they knew, this time, the chances of survival were slim.
Attacking Hope City would inevitably result in casualties. But if they failed, they would fall completely under Ao City’s control and be left with no chance of survival. How to choose—everyone knew the answer in their hearts.
Song Mianjue stood in the middle of the crowd, blankly staring at the people beside her who were trembling and crying while holding up their wooden spikes.
She turned her head and looked toward the real soldiers sent by Ao City.
At this moment, those soldiers were pushing something upward. Her eyesight was excellent—perfect for a gatekeeper—and she clearly saw what it was.
It was a large-scale assault weapon. Ao City was using lives like theirs, lives that could be discarded at any moment, to lure the people of Hope City into despair, into turning on each other. And then, they would use those vicious weapons to wipe them out in one fell swoop.
Ao City.
What a cruel, despicable city.
Song Mianjue was pushed forward by the surging crowd. The mass of people was so dense and dark that it was impossible to count them, impossible to see the end.
They were human-shaped gunpowder.
Bombs meant to blow up Hope City.
All Song Mianjue felt was sorrow. She didn’t want to cry. She didn’t even know what reason she could find to cry for.
Around her, she heard people weeping in grief, wailing in despair. They charged to the frontlines, while behind them, Ao City’s long-range weapons had already been set up.
None of them… none of them would survive.
This damned world.
The thought came to Song Mianjue unconsciously.
Be devoured by the Nightmare Beast seeds—every last one of you!
In the crowd, Song Mianjue turned her head. She lifted her gaze to look at those weapons, those weapons that could easily, effortlessly kill them.
Then, all of a sudden, she spun around and dashed against the flow of people, running toward the rear.
“Go to hell!” Song Mianjue heard her own voice, twisted and shrill. “Go to hell, Ao City!”
The sharp cry of a woman made the weeping people around her all turn to look.
Song Mianjue raised the wooden spike in her hand. It was the first time she had ever lost her reason like this, the first time she had ever been so fierce.
They were all going to die.
Rather than holding onto her fellow companions only to get them killed, Song Mianjue would rather use her life to kill even just one enemy. She chose to protect the place where her parents could live in peace!
She didn’t realize she had drawn the attention of the people around her.
Nor did she realize that those men and women, because of her sudden reversal, also turned back—and saw Ao City’s deadly weapons pointed directly at them.
When pushed to the very edge, people often explode with powerful clarity of thought. Even the most ordinary among them are no exception.
Someone actually turned around.
Someone actually found their purpose and followed Song Mianjue back.
“Kill everyone who turns back.” The general of Ao City, clad in heavy, formidable armor, gave the command coldly and without hesitation.
The weapons were immediately aimed straight at Song Mianjue’s direction.
Yet Song Mianjue felt nothing at all. She was going to die—of that she was certain. And since death was inevitable, she absolutely refused to drag her fellow companions down with her.
Song Mianjue sprinted at full speed—closer, she had to get closer. Just a little more, and she’d be able to hurl the wooden spike in her hand, pierce the skull of one of those disgusting Ao City bastards!
Just as the Ao City general was preparing to clear out these rebels who had suddenly turned back, their movements suddenly froze. He looked up.
“What is that?” someone exclaimed in utter astonishment. At that same moment, Song Mianjue heard a sound.
It was long and resonant, as if it traveled across the entire sky, echoing far into the distance.
It wasn’t the sound of howling wind. It felt as if the sound bypassed their eardrums entirely and sank straight into the deepest part of their hearts. Though it was a strange and unknowable sound—something that should have evoked confusion and fear—it instead stirred a deep sense of peace in everyone’s core. Under its soothing presence, even the prisoners still caught in chaos stopped moving.
In an instant, what should have been a battlefield full of violence and noise became eerily silent.
Song Mianjue suddenly snapped back to her senses. She dropped low, flattening her body, darted into the crowd, and began accelerating again. Her target was the Ao City general’s neck.
“Is that… a god?” someone beside her uttered in awe.
Song Mianjue turned to glance—and that one glance brought all her movements to a halt.
What… was that?
That massive thing, as towering and majestic as a mountain range, slowly advancing forward. What was it?
Everyone was stunned, including Song Mianjue.
That thing didn’t move fast. Its body was simply too enormous, too heavy. Every step it took was slow, yet each one seemed to shake the earth itself.
Finally, Song Mianjue could see it clearly. That was a… a massive turtle-shaped mech?
It was the first time Song Mianjue had ever seen such a terrifying mech!
“What is that thing?” Even the general from Ao City widened his eyes in disbelief, staring at the slowly advancing turtle mech. Not even Ao City’s own mechs were this colossal. In comparison, theirs looked like mere toys.
Suddenly, strange sounds came from the very front lines—shouts of shock, it seemed. But immediately afterward, it was as if their throats had been cut off. Those voices disappeared without a trace.
The sounds came from the frontmost edge, where the terrifying turtle mech was already drawing near!
Song Mianjue looked ahead. Her excellent vision allowed her to see countless soldiers in black uniforms weaving through the crowd at lightning speed. They moved like black dragons slipping between people, and wherever they passed, people collapsed like dominoes.
Not only were there those who fell, but some stood back up.
Those captives holding wooden spikes, forced to serve as the vanguard, were all frozen in place. Song Mianjue narrowed her eyes. She could see the astonishment written across their faces.
No one resisted—or perhaps they couldn’t resist at all. That wasn’t an army; that was a force of monsters. No human could move that fast. And besides, they didn’t even have many people!
“All of you, listen up!” Just as Song Mianjue was completely unable to make sense of the situation, a voice rang out from atop the turtle’s shell. “Anyone still standing—drag the unconscious ones to the back of the mech! We are Hope City, and we will offer protection to all. Now, everyone—move immediately!”
What kind of development was this? Everyone was stunned.
Suddenly, Ao City’s general let out a sharp roar: “Attack!”
In an instant, countless cutting-edge weapons tore across the sky, drawing streak after streak of blinding arcs. Ao City’s assault was as grand as it was powerful, the barrage of artillery roaring to the heavens—an overwhelming display, even more dazzling and deafening than sunlight flooding the earth.
Song Mianjue immediately looked at the turtle mech. Its cold, bluish-steel exterior reflected brilliantly under the onslaught of attacks. She watched with wide eyes as all the attacks landed directly on the mech’s shell, yet the mech hadn’t even tried to dodge.
The general of Ao City sneered coldly, “Using such a massive mech, isn’t that just giving us a target that absolutely won’t miss?”
However, once the first wave of attacks dissipated, everyone froze in place. None of those attacks had hit the turtle mech. Rising above the top of the mech was a completely transparent shield, like something out of a legend, as if conjured by magic. It was utterly indestructible; even such dense firepower hadn’t left the slightest mark on it.
The turtle continued forward—completely unfazed by the assault—moving in its slow, almost lazy manner, step by steady step, with relentless determination.
“I told you already, didn’t I?” The voice rang out again. “Everyone, drag the unconscious to the back of the mech. Hope City will protect you.”
This time, it was as if everyone saw the dawn of hope.
Ao City’s powerful round of attacks—the ones they all watched with their hearts pounding—had astonishingly done not even the slightest damage to the mech.
This fact alone gave tremendous encouragement to the crowd. Everyone knew that in Hope City were their loved ones—their mothers, their sisters, their families. And now, truly witnessing such overwhelming power, a strange hope began to stir deep in every heart. Without even realizing it, they began to shift, drifting toward the mech.
Ao City’s show-of-force assault hadn’t served to intimidate at all; instead, it had completely boosted Hope City’s momentum.
No one had expected this outcome.
Those who had regained their senses began cheering with joy, hurriedly carrying the unconscious on their backs, cradling them in their arms, dragging others with one hand, doing everything they could to flee to the safety behind the turtle mech.
Song Mianjue stood frozen in place, her pupils filled with disbelief. Just moments ago, their despair, their grief, had all been transformed into joy in the blink of an eye.
That deep, resonant voice from the turtle mech was like salvation from a god.
“Damn it, attack! Hit them with everything we’ve got!” Ao City’s general, realizing something was wrong, immediately gave the order to all troops. “Don’t hold back—fire! Aim at the people, hit those people!”
Song Mianjue’s heart lurched, but the attack had already begun. She raised her head high, hearing the roar of explosions in her ears, seeing the weapons aimed straight at them. In that instant, she felt as if she had heard the voice of death itself.
But then—
Someone suddenly rushed past her.
That person moved with terrifying speed, so fast that Song Mianjue couldn’t even catch a clear glimpse of his figure. Yet that person came to a stop not far in front of her.
It was a soldier. Dressed in a black uniform, tall and imposing, with a flawless face.
In his hand, he held something like a long spear. He raised it high and plunged it straight into the ground. The moment he released his grip, the barrage of attacks came raining down.
But—
Song Mianjue hadn’t shut her eyes. And so, she saw it with her own eyes: those attacks, those deadly weapons, that looming death which should have struck them down—were all blocked.
She saw that the long spear unfolded a barrier, just like the mech’s. The shield extended outward, patterned like the heavy turtle shell on the mech’s back, expanding outward continuously. Beneath that shield, everyone was completely unharmed.
This was…
Why?
What kind of technology was this?
Song Mianjue noticed that the continuous barrier stretched all the way toward the turtle mech. So the spear stabbed into the ground here, was it meant to link with the turtle mech?
She saw many black-clad figures scattered around, each placing similar long spears into the ground in different locations.
Behind the man in a black military uniform, he carried three or four more spears on his back.
In that instant, something flashed through Song Mianjue’s mind.
Suddenly, she dashed toward the back of the black-uniformed man, reaching out to snatch one of those spears that held the turtle mech’s powerful defensive power.
As long as she had that—just that!
She could kill Ao City’s general!
But then, her arm was suddenly seized. At that moment, Song Mianjue felt a powerful pressure descend upon her, stripping her of any strength to resist. She collapsed to her knees from the momentum, and directly in front of her stood the soldier in black.
The soldier looked startled, too. “F-First time meeting—no need for such a formal bow.”
Song Mianjue was dazed as well. She looked up and said, “That thing—can you let me use it? I’ll go kill Ao City’s general.”
The soldier blinked, a little stunned, then grabbed her hand and casually lifted her to her feet as if she weighed nothing, even lifting her slightly off the ground before gently placing her back down.
“No need for me to do it? Then what are you going for? You think you can beat me?” the soldier said with a confused expression. Then, without hesitation, he took the wooden spike from Song Mianjue’s hand and crushed it into powder in front of her.
“Go gather people around you, bring them to the back quickly. In a bit, a cleanup team will come through the battlefield. If you stay here, you might get caught in it.”
Song Mianjue looked even more confused. Cleanup the battlefield? Is the war already over?
“People? What people? Who’s coming?” Song Mianjue blurted out. Could there really be something even more terrifying than that turtle mech?
“Mm. The soldiers the city sent this time—our two strongest soldiers in the entire city. And… ah, they’re here.”
Just as the soldier finished speaking—
From the distant sky, a sound suddenly erupted. It struck awe into all things, made hearts clench tightly, and forced everything to bow beneath the overwhelming pressure.
It was the roar of a dragon.
Love seeing another perspective