Unlike the deep, drawn-out voice of the turtle, that dragon’s roar was sharp and piercing, almost vibrating people’s brains. But no one knew what that dragon’s roar was.
“General, what should we do now?” The deputy general at the side no longer knew how to deal with the current situation. Right after the last sound appeared, they encountered this terrifying turtle mecha. That strange, almost magical barrier rendered their proud firepower completely useless.
Moreover, many among them had already noticed the group of black-clad people moving from the direction of Hope City, weaving through the captured soldiers. Despite the huge number of captured soldiers, there was absolutely no resistance. From high above, they could see those black shadows weaving back and forth, but at such speed—if they were to come close, there’d be no way to see them at all.
“General, the situation is dire. There is a huge flaw in the intelligence we obtained. The best course of action now is to retreat immediately!” the deputy general urgently suggested. “Once those black figures get close to us, our soldiers won’t be able to hold them off!”
Even though many important soldiers were wearing armor, their resources weren’t abundant enough to armor every soldier. This was the apocalypse; even with extremely advanced technology, the resources to match that level of technology simply didn’t exist.
The general of Ao City frowned deeply. Such a massive mecha; if it existed, it should’ve been easy to detect. So why had no one reported any relevant information at all?
Was this mecha something from the so-called “Land of Hope”? But in that era, although the concept of mechas existed, the technology was immature. Producing one should’ve been impossible, let alone one with such a bug-like defensive capability.
“Soldiers of Ao City, I am now giving you a chance to run. If you all give up the war now, we will preserve the lives of anyone who has lost the will to fight.” Suddenly, the voice they’d heard before the battle once again came from the direction of the turtle.
The Ao City general immediately looked up toward the turtle. The voice was youthful and immature, completely unlike someone seasoned in battle. Was this person hiding inside the turtle, shouting at them?
“Not all of you are soldiers raised by Ao City. There are still many soldiers from other cities among you. I’m telling you now—you have already lost this war. It’s best to start fleeing. I will give you ten minutes. Anyone who remains on the battlefield past that time will be regarded as an enemy. We will not show mercy toward the lives of enemies.”
Some of Ao City’s soldiers had already gone weak in the knees the moment they saw that massive turtle mecha. A mecha—such a colossal mecha was absolutely not the kind of powerful weapon an ordinary mobile city could possess.
Moreover, with that many attacks, why hadn’t even a single one been able to break through the turtle mecha’s shell?
“Everyone, hold your ground!” the general of Ao City suddenly roared. Because he was using an amplifier, everyone, fearing Ao City’s authority, dared not retreat. The general of Ao City gritted his teeth, forcing himself to think. He looked toward the turtle mecha. “All mechas have their specialties. That mecha is extremely heavy; it must prioritize defense and have no offensive capabilities. Up until now, we haven’t seen it display any sign of attack.”
Only defense? Everyone thought to themselves that maybe that was possible. But for the defense to be this strong, already blocking all forms of attack, that was hard to accept.
“It’s no use, General. We can’t break through.” Their assault had never ceased, yet the opponent’s defense hadn’t been breached in the slightest. Given the limited resources they had now, they couldn’t afford to keep burning through weapons like this. Moreover—“General, that turtle’s defensive area is still expanding.”
“It seems to be some kind of conductor,” came the information from a scout who had blended in among the captured soldiers. “Those black-clad troops have been planting some sort of conductor into the ground. Once the conductor is in place, it automatically expands the barrier.”
The general of Ao City’s expression turned grim. He lowered his head and asked, “Can it be dismantled?”
“No, I tried. That thing is unusually hard. It was manually embedded into the ground, but it’s completely immovable. It’s like…” The scout paused for a moment, “like it’s been machine-anchored into the ground. I don’t know what kind of technology they’re using—ah—!”
Just as the scout was reporting, a scream suddenly rang out.
“Is this a communicator?” A voice came through the device. “Are you from Ao City?”
Everyone who heard this voice felt a chill in their hearts. That person spoke through the communicator: “Ten minutes haven’t passed yet, so I won’t kill your people—just knocked him out for now. If you don’t surrender, if you don’t retreat, then this person will have to die.”
The General of Ao City’s expression froze over layer by layer with a chill like frost. The other party’s contempt and mockery were trampling on his dignity again and again. As a warrior, compared to these filthy tactics, he would rather fight a battle head-on!
After that, their communication was cut off. Yet one after another, all those who had infiltrated the group of captured soldiers were eliminated—every last one of them. Not a single one was left.
The adjutant standing nearby was already trembling as he spoke: “Why is this happening? How could it be like this? How did they detect any traces? How could they manage to find every scout so quickly, and among so many people?”
“Five minutes left.” At that moment, the voice coming from the turtle-shaped mech made everyone even more shaken. Five whole minutes—so slow and excruciating that every second felt like torture to their minds.
“They’re trying to lower our morale.” The General of Ao City’s face looked incredibly grim. The enemy’s actions from beginning to end were practically a declaration that they were toying with them. That person who had been speaking the whole time, his tone carried no authority whatsoever, so plain and indifferent it was as if the place he was in wasn’t even a battlefield, but merely a lunch table during a meaningless noon meal!
“General, the intelligence was wrong. We shouldn’t force this fight.” The adjutant already had thoughts of retreat. Although nothing had officially begun yet, everything that had happened so far had already confirmed that there was an absolute information gap between the two sides. “At this point, retreating is the best strategy.”
The General of Ao City gritted his teeth. This time, the emperor had issued a direct order that Hope City must be taken. They had prepared countless times before and after. The emperor—no one knew where he had gotten the information—believed that Hope City was very easy to conquer. This operation was supposed to be a guaranteed success.
Time ticked by, and the General of Ao City was thinking deeply.
If such information had been obtained, then it definitely wasn’t a baseless rumor. That enormous mech, until now, had never appeared in any mobile city. Perhaps it was some kind of misdirection, that was still possible.
There had to be a flaw. There must be a flaw to find. The information they had received… shouldn’t have been wrong.
The General of Ao City’s gaze swept continuously around the surroundings, trying to find a reliable way forward.
“General, there’s only one minute left—we have to retreat!” The deputy general felt as if his heart was about to leap out of his chest. Instincts on the battlefield could save lives, and right now, his instincts were screaming at him to get out of there. They would lose—no, they would die. The hundreds of thousands of troops gathered here would all be wiped out.
From the initial shock to the current calm, the General of Ao City suddenly found a breakthrough.
From the moment that enormous turtle mech arrived, everyone had frozen in place out of fear. Now, not far from them, there was a considerable number of people standing—all sheltered under the turtle mech’s protective barrier!
“Everyone, all of you—!” The deputy general realized that the general had no intention of responding at all. He immediately shouted loudly to the men behind him. With so many lives at stake—and in times like these, where life was so difficult and precious—he absolutely could not allow them to die without even understanding why!
He was about to give the retreat order!
“Advance—all of you!” The General of Ao City’s eyes were locked onto the captives on the ground who hadn’t had time to evacuate. “Everyone—seize them one by one! Hope City’s greatest weakness lies in these prisoners!”
The moment the soldiers heard the general’s order, their first reaction was to charge toward the people who hadn’t yet withdrawn. Obedience was something etched into their very bones.
Although those captives were under the turtle mech’s protective barrier, the barrier wasn’t completely sealed!
There were openings, and with their overwhelming numbers, they could absolutely make use of those openings to enter the barrier and seize the prisoners!
If Hope City’s goal was to safely bring these prisoners back to their city, then they would inevitably be constrained!
In that instant, everyone understood this point. The bloodlust that had been gradually calmed by the turtle mech surged up again. As powerful warriors, they would not allow themselves to be defeated by Hope City—the very city they once came so close to destroying!
The General of Ao City looked at the thoroughly roused soldiers and furrowed his brows tightly.
Their original plan… had been wrong.
Turn the captives into soldiers and send them to attack Hope City, and then Hope City would falter, unable to strike down their own kin. That was their original plan.
But now, seeing such formidable defenses, sending people to the battlefield is like delivering them straight into the enemy’s hands.
Who was it that suggested pushing all these people forward as soldiers? The general of Ao City suddenly thought of something strange.
Why was it originally proposed to gather the people from Hope City and Arrival City together? And who was it that called for sending these captives out as soldiers? In hindsight, this information seems almost deliberately tailored to align with Hope City’s intentions, as if everything has been unfolding exactly according to their script.
In Ao City…
Could it be that someone has been subtly pushing these events forward all along, and that the orders they received were actually orchestrated by Hope City from the shadows?
Otherwise, why would such strange things be happening?
There’s a traitor in Ao City!
“So it’s true. The barrier of this turtle mech can be breached! Even if there are fierce soldiers from Hope City inside, we outnumber them. We’ll be able to overpower them!” The deputy general, watching his men easily enter the turtle mech and seeing defenseless people fleeing in panic one by one, quickly regained his confidence. “General, maybe there’s still a chance! General, you… General?”
The deputy general turned around, and before his eyes…
A shadowy figure had appeared silently behind the Ao City general. The person held a black longsword, its blade pure black yet unnervingly smooth, as if it could reflect sunlight. The sword was now resting ever so quietly against the general’s neck.
The Ao City general still wore a furrowed brow. His eyes were fixed on the battlefield, completely unaware of the figure that had appeared behind him. The blade of the long black sword traced gently across his neck, soft and smooth, like a feather drifting down. Before he could realize it, his head had been effortlessly severed.
In the general’s eyes lingered a flash of anger, as though he had just uncovered something. His mouth was even beginning to open, as if to speak. Yet the cut was so clean, so painless, that even the blood seemed to forget it should spurt. The dark figure gripped his hair and, with unnatural ease, separated the head from the body.
The deputy general’s mind was in chaos. He had no idea what had just happened. That shadowy figure, like the general’s very own shadow, had suddenly appeared behind him. Among the countless soldiers, it moved in complete silence, and in an instant, took the head of their commander.
The deputy general’s gaze followed the general’s head. He saw that same grave expression, the eyes not even closed, as though still deep in thought. The body remained standing, eerily still, as if what he had just witnessed was no more than a hallucination.
That figure was pitch black, like the most terrifying demon in the world, effortlessly slipping into a person’s most vulnerable place. And in the moment they were completely unguarded, their soul was already stripped away, their life taken.
The demon-black eyes of that figure shifted slightly, turning toward him. The deputy general saw his arm move with casual ease, and the longsword flickered past his eyes in a blur. He only vaguely felt something cold graze across his neck.
And as his head fell, he found—shockingly—that he still had thoughts. His final one was this: before the general fully lost consciousness, had he also seen the moment his own head fell?
Song Mianjue saw that Ao City’s soldiers were all charging in their direction. It was clear that they intended to recapture every single one of them. Song Mianjue was sharp; in an instant, she understood Ao City’s plan.
Her own wooden spike had already been crushed by Hope City’s soldiers, so she immediately pulled over a weeping woman beside her and snatched the spike from her hands. Even if the help she could offer was minuscule, she would never go down without a fight.
If they’re coming, then let them come!
Yet all the charging soldiers suddenly collapsed to the ground, one after another, mid-sprint. Song Mianjue’s grip tightened on the wooden spike in her hand, her eyes wide with shock as she watched the vanguard troops fall, one by one, every single one of them.
No…
They didn’t fall.
Because the situation up ahead was so strange. Ao City’s soldiers also noticed something was wrong and came to a halt. They hadn’t even reached the captives, so why were they suddenly collapsing? Was there a trap nearby?
But then, everyone saw it. Those who had fallen weren’t moving, completely still on the ground. Someone turned them all over and discovered that each had a tiny hole in their head. It was so small that only the slightest bit of blood had trickled out. And yet, that single, tiny hole had claimed their lives.
The morale that Ao City’s soldiers had just managed to muster was instantly doused like a bucket of cold water poured over them. The icy chill left them nearly unable to breathe.
The sunlight…
It was still so bright.
Song Mianjue was utterly stunned. She instinctively turned to look behind her, but saw nothing. Despite having the sharpest vision, she couldn’t spot the sniper. In a single instant, all those people had been silently struck down in the same place. Just how many people would it take to accomplish something this terrifying?
Song Mianjue fully absorbed the fear gripping Ao City’s soldiers at that moment. Suddenly, in her field of vision, the figure of the Ao City general standing at the highest point began to shift strangely. She immediately looked over and drew in a sharp breath.
Just moments ago, the Ao City general had stood there in commanding splendor. Now, only his body remained upright.
No… it wasn’t just the Ao City general…
It wasn’t just the general.
Song Mianjue stared in horror at the high-ranking officers of Ao City. Every one of them had lost their heads, yet their bodies still stood there, as if calmly observing the battlefield.
Someone spotted the truth and cried out in terror. Song Mianjue, too, felt her throat go dry. Under this bright, cloudless sky… she wondered if this place had been cursed—a land of death.
“General? General? General!”
Voices kept echoing around her. They had lost their entire command structure in the blink of an eye.
Just then, a piercing dragon’s roar rang out from the sky. The bright daylight was suddenly swallowed in shadow. All those still dazed looked up, and a strange, uneasy thought rose in their hearts. Was this the omen of a second apocalypse?
Above them, a massive draconic silhouette spread its broad wings, casting them over the entire battlefield, stealing their sunlight… stealing their hope.
The creature was encased entirely in dark green metal, gleaming with a cold sheen. Its wings were razor-sharp blades in each feather.
It was… a dragon-type mech.
The cold, metallic dragon extended its wings. At that very moment, despair surged through everyone.
On those enormous wings, countless sharp-edged feathers turned toward Ao City’s soldiers. And before all eyes, those blade-feathers rained down like a storm.
Blood splattered.
Song Mianjue stood frozen. Everything before her seemed to slow down. Her mind had completely shut down in the face of the dragon mech.
When people believe a powerful force is their ally, they feel secure.
But when they realize that force has surpassed their understanding, it ceases to be mere support.
Its very presence evokes fear in all who see it.
Cries of anguish echoed from countless directions.
Is this… hell?
Song Mianjue could no longer imagine what lay within Hope City.
Was it a gathering place for monsters?
Or… the birthplace of a new world?
As Song Mianjue remained frozen in shock, unable to act, a brilliant light suddenly shot across from a distance, slamming straight into the dragon-shaped mech in the sky.
Her pupils contracted. What… was that?
The mech’s blade-like feathers, which had scattered to the ground, slowly began to rise again, returning one by one to its massive wings. And when those cold, lifelike eyes turned toward the source of the attack, Song Mianjue saw a long spear gripped in its dragon-like claw.
The sharp spear hadn’t harmed the mech at all. Despite its compact limbs, designed to mimic a dragon’s form, it had caught the weapon effortlessly.
“Retreat!” a voice rang out from where the spear had come. “All soldiers, retreat!”
In that instant, Song Mianjue snapped out of her daze. She suddenly realized that at some point, she’d dropped to her knees in fear. Her body had known, long before her mind, that she was terrified.
But the stench of blood grew heavier. Having lost their commanders, the soldiers were completely without direction and scattered in all directions. Yet Song Mianjue noticed that every single one of them collapsed.
She didn’t even need to check. She knew they were all dead.
Gazing at the silent, lifeless bodies strewn across the ground, Song Mianjue heard another dragon’s roar echo overhead. And suddenly, a thought burst into her mind: The countdown is over.
Those who hadn’t chosen to flee or surrender would all be killed.
The dragon-type mech spread its wings once more, clearly intending to deliver the finishing blow to the surviving humans. But this time, it failed.
A small but incredibly agile mech shot across the sky like a meteor, slamming into the dragon-type unit. At that moment, the dragon mech’s surface lit up with the tortoise mech’s shield. The dragon’s icy eyes locked onto the newcomer without a hint of emotion.
The moment Song Mianjue saw the mech, she understood. It had to be one of Ao City’s three great mechs: Penglai.
Had Ao City even sent out its mech units for this war?
The Penglai mech was stunningly beautiful, a sharp contrast to the cold menace of the dragon. It held a long spear, or so it appeared. But in Penglai’s hands, the ‘spear’ suddenly unfolded into countless ribs. It was an umbrella frame!
The sharpened umbrella ribs aimed to sever the dragon mech’s claw holding the weapon.
But, failure. The umbrella couldn’t fully open before the claw crushed it.
Shards of the broken ribs rained down from the sky. Then, Penglai’s speaker came alive with a human voice: “Run! Get out of here, now! These things are monsters! Everyone, get out alive! Stay alive!”
Penglai roared as it launched its assault on the dragon-type mech. Yet the mech hovered in the sky, completely still, gazing at Penglai as if watching a ridiculous clown. Its claw reached out, trying to seize Penglai. But compared to the dragon mech’s massive size, Penglai was far smaller and darted with extreme speed, slipping from its grasp.
Penglai’s goal wasn’t to defeat the terrifying mech, but to stall it to shield more lives.
Song Mianjue suddenly felt an absurd sense of dissonance, as if they were the villains, invading and attacking, while the Ao City soldiers were the desperate defenders.
She then noticed a flash of irritation in the dragon mech’s eyes. It spread its wings once again.
Countless blade-like feathers responded, enclosing Penglai from all directions. There was nowhere to escape. Though Penglai ranked among the most resilient mechs in any mobile megacity, even brushing against the surrounding blades left gashes on its outer shell. Trying to flee, Penglai had no path to safety.
One by one, those razor-sharp blades returned to the dragon mech’s wings. But this time, they took Penglai with them.
In truth, it was a stunning sight.
The dragon mech folded its wings gently, enclosing Penglai within its territory.
But when it unfurled them again, what fell from the sky was nearly dust, powdered fragments of the mech.
And the pilot inside, who had fought so hard to buy time for others… hadn’t even left behind ashes.
This was…
War?
This wasn’t war.
This was nothing more than one-sided abuse.
Song Mianjue could only stare blankly at it all.
Those Ao City soldiers she once loathed, each of their deaths was silent.
All the captives stood frozen, too shocked to make a sound, afraid that any noise might offend these ‘gods’.
What kind of world was this?
Was this… the beginning of a second apocalypse?
—
He Fang sat in a tiny control cabin built atop the turtle shell. He didn’t look out at the scene directly, but instead opened his system panel for targeted analysis.
After he gave the command to flee, many did run, but many stayed behind, too.
The scenario of “Ruins Without Restart” felt too real. He Fang didn’t want to witness such a battle firsthand. He’d used just two mechs and his two strongest soldiers to take on an army of three hundred thousand.
Ao City, just a single city, had actually managed to muster such a massive army. His own city, even at full capacity, couldn’t scrape together thirty thousand. And they brought all this just to crush the small Hope City… it showed just how rich and powerful Ao City was.
Yet even Light City, with its hundred thousand Nightmare Beasts, could be handled by Chong Xiao and Chong Ying. A force of three hundred thousand with some weapons and a single mech wasn’t even a real threat.
This time, He Fang fully recognized the strength of his city. As expected, players are always the bug in any game world.
And now, He Fang finally laid eyes on Rainbow Squad’s Xiao Lu. At first, he’d assumed it would be some kind of angel, after all, those wings, but no… it turned out to be a dragon.
Judging from its weapons, Xiao Lu is likely a high-combat mech. Usually in games, characters with extremely high attack power tend to be fragile, but Xiao Lu’s dragon-form body looks solid. It seems there wasn’t even a chance to test how ‘fragile’ it actually is.
He watched the number of enemies rapidly drop to zero. On the entire map, not a single red dot remained.
Too quiet.
This was supposed to be a war, yet there were no sounds of combat, no shouting, no cries of pain—just silence, like any ordinary, peaceful day.
The only sounds lingering were Xiao Qing’s long, requiem-like hum and the sharp, annihilating roar of the dragon.
Though the siege had been won with disturbing ease, He Fang now felt something was wrong with his plan.
He had intended to demonstrate his strength to the outside world, but he hadn’t expected the siege to devolve into an outright massacre. Looking at the scene now, he felt like he was the final boss villain.
The whole battlefield was quiet… even the prisoners from Ao City, or rather, his future citizens.
This war had likely scarred many of them deeply. When He Fang glanced at the global system interface, all he saw were rows of ‘Fear’ debuffs. Everyone was too terrified to move.
Rubbing his brow, He Fang hadn’t planned to rule through fear. But now it wasn’t about whether he wanted to. It was about how to undo the negative debuffs on these wild NPCs before they’d even begun to understand anything.
This truly felt like he’d scared everyone witless.
Xiao Lu circled once through the sky, confirmed no enemies remained, and turned back without hesitation—off to recharge.
Xiao Qing also began its slow, steady retreat.
It wasn’t until He Fang had reached a safe distance from the battlefield that he dismounted from Xiao Lu’s back. As a player, he’d seen every kind of scenario. But in the fully immersive world of “Ruins Without Restart”, he didn’t have the guts to look back at that terrifying battlefield.
He Fang sat down on a rock, far from Hope City, far from the battlefield, far from everyone. The sky was blue and the sun was bright. Sitting there, he even felt a bit sunburned. He raised his hand to shield himself from the sun’s glare, but no matter what, there was a strange feeling in his heart.
After this battle, Hope City’s overwhelming reputation would surely be cemented.
Now came the series of predetermined plans that needed to unfold.
While He Fang was thinking about his next steps, someone blocked the sunlight above him. He looked up to see Chong Xiao standing beside him, backlit by the sun, casting shade over him.
Chong Xiao was immaculate, with no trace of blood on him. But there was still the faintest whiff of something metallic in the air around him.
“City Lord.” Suddenly, Chong Ying threw himself into He Fang’s arms, all playful affection. He reeked of gunpowder, a scent thick and lingering.
“The mission I gave you… You’ve completed it,” He Fang said gently, ruffling Chong Ying’s hair. “Do you resent me?”
“Never.” Chong Ying shook his head, nuzzling into He Fang’s chest like a loyal pup. “Everything we’ve done is what you wished for, City Lord. As long as it’s your command, my brother and I will never refuse.”
“A command…?” He Fang sighed softly.
Chong Ying hesitated, then corrected himself. “No, what I said just now wasn’t quite right. This time, it was something my brother and I wanted to do.”
“Oh?” He Fang wondered if Chong Ying was just trying to curry favor.
“We understand why you had to do it. Instead of dragging things out—sending scouts, losing lives bit by bit—this battle, though large in scale, ensured they would never dare resist again. It was the perfect moment to extinguish any future rebellion against you, City Lord.”
The boy lay sprawled on the green grass, wriggling out from He Fang’s embrace, his gaze clear and pure.
“There’ll always be troublemakers. So, rather than let them stir up chaos, why not let them fear us? Just a little fear. In time, City Lord, you’ll give them a better future.”
He Fang blinked. “You’re that sure I’ll give everyone a better future?”
The boy blinked back. His bright, beautiful eyes shimmered with stars of trust, and he smiled—a smile so radiant it outshone the sun. “Yes!”
He Fang noticed the mission icon above Chong Ying’s head had vanished. He quickly looked up. Chong Xiao’s had disappeared, too.
It felt like something had quietly and completely cleared away.
He Fang pressed his lips together, then let out a long sigh.
Why was he sitting here being sentimental? After all, this was an apocalyptic world where a single Nightmare Beast seed could wipe out an entire city. Death was everywhere. He’d played strategy tower defense games before; wave after wave of enemies was nothing new. Maybe it was just the way this mission had been written, with story and emotion, that left him feeling this way.
And these NPCs were just so endearing. The way that one looked at him, eyes slowly filling with trust—it was enough. Just for that, He Fang felt he had to give this game his all.
No matter how difficult the system’s tasks became, he would see them through.
If only there were achievement stats, he’d clear them all, just like in every other game.
“If I don’t try harder, wouldn’t I be letting you down?” He Fang couldn’t help but smile.
“City Lord has never let us down,” Chong Ying replied, his face gleaming with sincerity. To be honest, it was absolutely charming.
“Is that so?” He Fang couldn’t help but smile. This line from “Ruins Without Restart” must have been deliberately crafted. It was the kind of phrase that lifted your mood just hearing it.
“Yes. Never once disappointed.”
He Fang blinked, feeling something was off. That didn’t sound like Chong Ying.
The voice was calm, distant, and profound. It was like the low, graceful sweep of a whale cutting through deep ocean currents—soft ripples brushing past, a sound so quiet and faraway it brought peace simply by existing.
He Fang turned. He saw Chong Xiao, shielding him from the sun. Tall, powerful, yet his voice was ethereal.
It was the first time He Fang had ever heard Chong Xiao speak.
The man who had always avoided making a sound was speaking to him for the first time.
Instinctively, He Fang pulled up his stats panel. The loyalty rating was still 598. But strangely, there was no trace of coldness. Or rather…
What He Fang sensed from Chong Xiao wasn’t loyalty. It was affection.
But “Ruins Without Restart” doesn’t have an affection stat. It’s not a dating sim.
So was it personal charisma that drew them in?
At that thought, He Fang couldn’t help but chuckle. Was he getting a little vain in-game?
“Your voice is beautiful,” he said, genuinely. “I’ll remember it.”
Chong Xiao’s shadowed, unreadable eyes met his gaze—and then, silently, he stepped back.
Turned around. And walked away.
But Chong Xiao’s gait was strangely rigid—almost like his knees couldn’t bend.
“Brother!? Brother!” Chong Ying rushed up to pull him, but how could he ever match Chong Xiao’s strength? He was dragged along helplessly, unable to move him an inch even with all his effort.
He Fang looked at Chong Xiao’s knees with some concern. Though… could he be injured?
He made a mental note to ask Bai Fu to check him later. Also, Zhu Yan should really run a diagnostic check on Xiao Lu. With how many detachable feather blades it has, one loose piece could trigger a full system issue.
Honestly, with mechs this complex, does the “Ruins Without Restart” dev team even realize how exhausting it is to keep everything in working order?!
—
This time, only soldiers had been allowed to take part in the siege. Everyone else was restricted.
Wei Qixuan now understood why. With how brutal and horrifying that battle had been, anyone with a weaker mental state might have utterly broken down.
Though he hadn’t officially been assigned to the mission, he secretly followed anyway.
He even brought Bei Ji and his personal guard.
All of them witnessed the battle firsthand—a conflict so harrowing it could only be described as carnage.
He realized, with chilling clarity: if City Lord willed it, anyone could live… and anyone could die.
At first, he had followed because he’d heard that the City Lord had spoken with Bei Ji. He assumed, even if unspoken, that the City Lord might still harbor some unease toward Bei Ji. So he’d wanted Bei Ji to witness that strength firsthand.
But none of them had expected to be confronted with something so unforgettable, so deeply burned into memory.
In the apocalypse, death is the norm.
Countless mobile cities continue to vanish.
Hope City wasn’t the first to fall, nor will it be the last.
Each city’s destruction comes with tens of thousands of deaths, but that no longer moves anyone. Even massive numbers elicit no emotion.
When the apocalypse first arrived, the number of people who died from Nightmare Beast seed infections numbered in the billions. So what is this, really, by comparison?
After witnessing it all, Wei Qixuan felt that rather than mourning the dead, he was more deeply shaken by the City Lord’s overwhelming power.
When one person can control life and death so easily, that’s when the value of life becomes truly precious.
They all knew that the City Lord had the Divine Lord and the Rainbow Squad. They knew he was powerful beyond belief, but they never truly understood just how powerful until now.
Wei Qixuan glanced up at Shen Houyun in the driver’s seat.
Surprisingly, Shen Houyun’s expression was calm, almost indifferent, seemingly untouched by what had just happened.
Wei Qixuan wanted to ask what he was feeling. Was it the same as his own?
But Shen Houyun looked like he didn’t care at all.
“Do you think it was cruel?” Wei Qixuan finally found his voice, breaking the silence inside the car.
“This is war.” Shen Houyun’s voice was as emotionless as his expression. War inevitably brings death. It has always been a struggle between life and death. “What’s truly cruel is the existence of those still clinging to life in the apocalypse.”
Wei Qixuan understood what he meant. Shen Houyun’s world had been far more terrifying than theirs.
Every city carried pain that outsiders couldn’t begin to imagine, and Shen Houyun’s past was especially harrowing.
Wei Qixuan turned to check on the others in the back of the vehicle.
The guards had completely lost their ability to speak. Though they stared out the window, their eyes were vacant, unfocused, as if they’d lost all connection to the world around them.
Their souls had been shaken loose, scattered like ash.
Finally, Wei Qixuan looked at Bei Ji.
Compared to earlier, Bei Ji looked even more terrified now. Forcing him to come had already pushed him to the edge. At this point, he was curled tightly in the corner of the car’s rear compartment, trembling uncontrollably. His arms were wrapped tightly around his legs, as if trying to compress his very existence into the smallest possible space, wishing to disappear from view entirely.
His condition was visibly dire. Wei Qixuan even noticed he’d scratched himself from sheer fear, yet didn’t seem to feel any pain.
A jolt ran through Wei Qixuan’s heart.
Had he made a mistake bringing him along?
Bei Ji’s mind looked like it was on the verge of collapse.
![Flying Dust [Fei Chen]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/9k.png "Flying Dust [Fei Chen]")
