He Fang was stunned for a moment, then he saw many people at that moment busy preparing all kinds of weapons and pushing them over to Chong Ying’s side. There was a dazzling variety of them. But Chong Xiao, in contrast, looked very simple, holding only a single black longsword.
“What’s this about? Is Mirage really only sending out two people?” someone beside him was whispering, but He Fang could hear it. He knew they were secretly using their terminal to amplify the sound, just like how he could see the text on his own terminal that others couldn’t see.
And…
He glanced at the few people next to him, sneaking a look. He realized they were purely watching with amusement. He noticed that compared to a normal parade, this time…
His main city’s NPCs seemed to be watching a good show, too?
Chong Ying looked off into the distance. No one knew what he was thinking, but in his hands, he was setting up a cannon.
He Fang had never seen this cannon before. It wasn’t that big, but it looked quite hefty. It seemed like it could be fixed on the ground or completely fired freely.
“That direction…” He Fang frowned.
That direction was where the main city was.
“Could it be that he’s…” about to attack the main city?
Just then, Chong Ying directly fired the cannon. The shot didn’t make much noise, but it blazed out in a brilliantly colored, long trajectory. That trajectory seemed deliberately rendered in vivid color, completely different from an ordinary artillery arc. It was like a long, straight track that shot straight toward the far-off, pitch-black Nightmare Beast Forest.
“To let everyone see an even more spectacular effect, we specially rendered all the weapon attack effects for this parade. We hope everyone will enjoy it.” Yuan Zhiran’s voice came through, while He Fang looked at that almost rainbow-colored, sparkling trajectory, feeling a bit dumbfounded.
“Attacking the main city…” He Fang murmured, “Are you trying to provoke the Rainbow Squad inside the main city?”
“Exactly. I’ve always been curious. After all, we haven’t fully analyzed the combat power of those other mechs yet. I also want to see the limit of what a single mech can do.” Zhu Yan’s expression was one of gleeful mischief as he watched the unfolding scene. He rarely looked so intrigued. “Besides, facing off against a mech like this, those two brothers should be able to fight without holding back, right?”
He Fang froze for a moment. Fight without holding back? Did the Chong brothers always hide their true strength until now?
He Fang opened the status panels for the Chong brothers. When he saw the information, he found that the brothers had a new tag: ‘Excited.’
Good grief…
It was the first time he’d ever seen that word in the Chong brothers’ tags. Could it be that not letting them have a proper, satisfying fight all this time had been unfair to them?
While He Fang was still thinking, a fierce roar suddenly came from afar—a deep, ferocious tiger’s roar. He Fang snapped his head toward the source of the roar. The tiger’s roar was raspy and low. In an instant, they saw a massive, bright yellow object crackling with electric light charging straight toward them.
The people still seated instinctively tensed up from the overwhelming momentum, standing up at once and warily watching the distant approach.
However, everyone’s shock only lasted a moment because that fierce surge of lightning had already slammed violently toward the two figures standing in the distant center of the field.
As the massive bolt of lightning shot skyward in an instant, everyone finally had the chance to see clearly: the giant tiger-shaped mech’s razor-sharp claws were slashing straight at Chong Xiao!
Chong Xiao blocked the massive tiger-form mech’s attack using nothing but a single black longsword. But right after that, random, chaotic bolts of lightning came crashing down from the sky.
“So it’s actually a thunder-tiger form mech. I knew it was a tiger form, but using thunder too…” Zhu Yan touched his chin at that moment. “No wonder this mech has the highest power consumption. I figured as much.”
He Fang: “…” Did they really need to test even that kind of data on the spot?
At that moment, far in the distance, Chong Ying suddenly hurled something forcefully into the ground. Many of the falling lightning bolts in the area were drawn toward it. It turned out to be a lightning rod. At the same time, Chong Ying set up lightning rods in all directions. For a moment, the tiger-form’s lightning was suppressed, giving Chong Xiao an opening to launch a wild assault.
In the stretch of time that followed, everyone witnessed a terrifying battle that could only be described as a once-in-a-century clash. It was just two people against a single mech, yet the overwhelming flashes of lightning and thunder covered the sky, completely engulfing everyone. All around them, their ears were filled with the roars of lightning and cannon fire, accompanied by the massive explosions from Chong Ying’s long-range attacks. This perfect visual spectacle left everyone with an intense sense of fear.
It wasn’t a sense of crisis, but pure dread. Because under such crushing power, there was no danger to prepare for—only an inevitable end if they were on the other side.
He Fang’s eyes were wide open. He truly never imagined that the Chong brothers were this fierce. Chong Xiao stayed close to the tiger-form mech the whole time, restricting its movements, while Chong Ying continuously supported him from afar with long-range weapons.
Under their devastating onslaught, the surrounding land cracked apart, hills were leveled, and the ground was smashed into countless deep ravines. There was even a tendency for the ground to split wide open, with rivers gushing up from below and the hardened soil layers exposed. The sheer magnitude of the destruction was practically apocalyptic, far beyond what the human eye should ever witness.
How much of a shock this parade left on the others, He Fang couldn’t even guess.
All he knew was that he himself was shaken beyond words.
They’d always called them the “strongest pair of brothers”, but exactly how strong were they, really? Even He Fang himself had never known.
But after witnessing this utterly unrestrained battle, his eyes felt practically blinded by it all.
If it hadn’t been for the turtle-form mech shielding them, they all probably would’ve been wiped out completely.
“They actually fought a mech to a draw.” Even after the parade was over, He Fang still couldn’t snap out of it for a long while. “They actually managed to draw with a mech… but… but these two brothers, aren’t they just dream constructs? In the dream, they’re absurdly powerful, sure, but how… how could they…”
Zhu Yan looked at He Fang’s dazed expression, thought for a moment, then reminded him, “They didn’t just draw with one mech, they fought two mechs to a draw.”
He Fang slowly lifted his head, eyes blank.
“Perhaps you didn’t notice, but the Rainbow Squad’s Xiao Lan was here too.”
He Fang: ?
He really hadn’t noticed Xiao Lan at all.
Because Xiao Lan was a stealth mech—completely transparent—they simply couldn’t see any sign of it.
But this battle had been so overwhelmingly grand in scale, and because they’d added “special effects”, glittering lights had sparkled everywhere, making the whole thing look strangely dreamlike, like watching a magical girl show.
“That tiger-form mech, was that…” He Fang still wasn’t sure.
“It was Xiao Huang,” Zhu Yan said. “But this time, both Xiao Huang and Xiao Lan burned through a ton of power. They’ll need a huge energy resupply, plus we have to check whether they got slashed anywhere. Chong Xiao didn’t hold back at all this time.”
He Fang: “…”
“Forget it.” By now, He Fang was fully convinced that his side’s combat power was indeed terrifyingly strong. After all… usually, scenes of earth-shattering destruction like this only show up in movies or anime. If they appeared in a game, they’d feel totally out of place.
“So, about these people…” Yuan Sanjin and Wei Qixuan, who had been standing by He Fang’s side the whole time, asked in low voices, “Should we keep hosting them for a while longer?”
“If they’re here, let them be hosted.” He Fang replied.
“I think it’d be better to just drive them away directly.” Zhu Yan suddenly spoke up.
“Hm?” He Fang turned his head back, puzzled.
“Yes, combat power can suppress everyone for now, but people’s fear fades over time. They’re still in shock and too afraid to think clearly, but if they stay too long, they’ll start thinking. And once humans start thinking, they’ll always find ways to stir up trouble.” Zhu Yan said.
He Fang froze for a moment. “Stir up trouble?”
A faint shadow passed over Zhu Yan’s usually calm expression as he slowly continued, “In the face of absolute strength, any scheme is useless, but they can still target the things we need.”
The things they needed. Schemes always struck at weak points first. Their military power was unbeatable, so their weakest point… He Fang could more or less guess what that was.
“They’d stir up conflicts on our own turf?” He Fang had always advocated peace, so this had only been a show of force, not an all-out attack.
“Not everyone wants to leave this apocalyptic world. At least for those at the very top, they’re the ones benefiting most from this wasteland. Their lives wouldn’t necessarily be better elsewhere. Rather than submit to someone else’s authority, some would rather carve out their own kingdoms here. These people won’t back off just because they’re scared. They’d rather take the risk.” Zhu Yan half-narrowed his eyes. His always-cool demeanor looked a bit darker now. He despised this kind of trouble.
Yuan Sanjin seemed to sense the unease in everyone’s hearts and asked, “Nothing will really happen on our turf, will it? Lately, the city’s been full of patrol soldiers. Everyone’s every move is under surveillance. What could they possibly do?”
“Plenty.” Zhu Yan glanced at He Fang. “There are a lot of people. Even if they can’t stir up trouble among our citizens, they can use conflicts within their groups as an excuse to target us.”
He Fang was thinking too. He knew he could be a target as well. If they provoked something among his people, then anything that happened under his city’s jurisdiction would become his responsibility. There was still plenty of room for them to maneuver.
He Fang let out a faint sigh and said, “Can we prevent everything before it happens?”
Zhu Yan looked at He Fang. He Fang’s expression showed how conflicted he was.
He Fang also knew he was asking too much. After all, who could know exactly what others were thinking or planning? And if not for his insistence on upholding “peace”, then their city would already be unassailable.
“We can.” But before He Fang could think any further, Zhu Yan said calmly, “If you’re willing, City Lord, I can make sure they can’t do a thing.”
He Fang looked a little lost. “How?”
“Surveillance.” Zhu Yan put it simply. “Our city’s soldiers are completely different from ordinary people. They have extremely keen senses—hearing, sight, judgment. Even through closed doors, we can guess what they’re doing. On top of that, I’ll activate surveillance in all their rooms. If they do nothing, good. If they try anything, I’ll strike immediately, so they won’t dare resist even a little.”
Zhu Yan’s words were harsh, but when He Fang looked at him, he fell silent.
Zhu Yan’s expression didn’t look good at all.
This time, He Fang didn’t hesitate anymore. He spoke directly: “Drive them out.”
Zhu Yan, who had always been silent and calmly analytical, lifted his eyes. There was a hint of surprise in them, as if he hadn’t expected He Fang to suddenly say that. “City Lord?”
“I just said, drive them out.” He Fang repeated.
Zhu Yan, who usually agreed to whatever He Fang decided, very rarely asked back this time: “Why?”
“Because they want to play tricks and schemes on me.” He Fang said it as if it were perfectly obvious.
Zhu Yan’s expression actually looked a bit cute compared to his usual calmness. Someone who always thought things through seriously would always be caught off guard by He Fang’s unpredictable ways. “So, just drive them out directly?”
“Yes, let them go.” He Fang nodded firmly.
Rather than let the NPCs of his city be troubled and saddened, he would rather just kick out these people—who didn’t belong to him yet and were still scheming—from his territory altogether.
After all, they weren’t people he needed to care about. They were overlords. Why treat them so gently?
Besides, hadn’t they had plenty of time to look around the city by now? They’d seen what they needed to see. Time to go, time to go. Don’t stay here, making his NPCs worry!
He Fang also didn’t have time to watch over them online every day anyway. Even if he checked through the system panel, with so many people, there were bound to be things he’d miss. And what if the system didn’t report back when something shady happened?
Zhu Yan looked at He Fang’s expression and seemed to understand something. His originally cold and aloof gaze gradually softened, until it finally settled into a gentle smile. “Alright.”
He Fang turned directly to Yuan Sanjin. “Restrict all of their terminals. Then tell everyone that we’ll send the contract straight to their terminals. If their city lords agree, they can sign directly on the terminal. The agreement will take effect, and when the time comes, we’ll start forcibly removing the mobile cities. As for the time limit… Zhu Yan, how long do you think is appropriate?”
Zhu Yan said, “Fifteen days.”
“Yuan Sanjin, go get ready to tally up the groups that need to be sent off. Make sure they’re all gone within a day. Give them a little gift too—just as a souvenir. Let me think…” He Fang’s lips curled into a rather wicked smile. “Give them statues of the Divine Lord. The bigger, the better. Make them take them away. For those who aren’t willing to submit, it’ll probably make them feel really uncomfortable, right?”
Yuan Sanjin blinked in confusion, seemingly not understanding why giving away statues of the Divine Lord would be annoying. Shouldn’t statues of the Divine Lord make people feel grateful and bow three times and kowtow nine times?
But He Fang knew that as long as he made use of the Divine Lord, he would be able to learn information about them. Anyone who showed even the slightest disrespect toward the statue would immediately be exposed. It was basically a way to keep an eye on them.
“Tell them that in fifteen days we’ll start the purge. They’d better get ready right away. We’ve already given them enough time. They shouldn’t push their luck!” He Fang suddenly felt that what he had just said sounded so domineering that he had the urge to give himself a little cheer.
“Yes, City Lord!” Yuan Sanjin replied crisply and immediately turned to carry out the order.
Meanwhile, He Fang covered his face a little.
He really had been domineering for once!
![After I Transmigrated as a Mermaid, I Transmigrated Back [GL]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/mermaidtransmigrate2.jpg "After I Transmigrated as a Mermaid, I Transmigrated Back [GL]")
