“The tracking range is about to hit its limit,” Yuan Zhiran reminded him.
“Tch.” He Fang furrowed his brows tightly. “So we can’t preserve it after all?”
“We can.” Suddenly, a slightly arrogant, youthful voice rose through the headset. “City Lord, your strongest long-range soldier, Chong Ying, is already in position. This distance is more than enough. You can accelerate and leave now.”
“Are you sure?” He Fang was momentarily stunned. The distance still seemed very far.
“Absolutely sure.” Chong Ying was crouched on the ground. In front of him was an ultra-long-range, operable mechanical weapon. At that moment, he was adjusting its aim. Behind him, Chong Xiao pressed down on his back to prevent him from being thrown off by the recoil. “Your strongest long-range soldier will never disappoint your expectations!”
Just as the words fell, He Fang heard a loud boom come through the headset. He knew the other party had launched the strike. He watched as something hurtled toward him at great speed. But He Fang didn’t dodge at all.
The projectile streaked right past the aircraft He Fang was piloting and struck the missile tailing behind him. He watched with his own eyes as the powerful impact didn’t cause an explosion. Instead, something seemed to wrap itself around the tracking missile, something like a controller. Underneath the silver device, the missile’s power abruptly extinguished.
That small intelligent control weapon had intercepted the tracking missile. As the missile began to fall, He Fang slightly reduced the aircraft’s speed. But just as he slowed down, another attack came from the distance. He Fang immediately maneuvered the aircraft to evade. It was fast, precise, and sharp-eyed, not letting slip a single threat that could possibly strike him.
“City Lord!” Yuan Zhiran’s anxious voice rang out at once. “Chong Ying!”
“I won’t let those damned bastards get away with this.” Chong Ying manned the massive artillery platform. Though they were still so far from the battlefield, it was as if he could already see where the attack had come from. His pupils were filled with fury, and he ground his teeth as he growled, “Target locked. Die, you worthless trash who dared covet my City Lord!”
Then, out of nowhere, He Fang heard a massive explosion erupt from a distant direction. He deftly piloted the aircraft and dodged the final assault. When he looked toward the source of the attack, the threat had vanished. That entire area had been engulfed by a devastating explosion, and the roar of it shook the sky.
He Fang’s heart skipped a beat. He immediately opened the system map, only to see that the area where the attack and explosion had occurred was now cleared of a cluster of red names.
He frowned slightly. Could someone have died?
“City Lord, City Lord, how is your physical condition right now?” Yuan Zhiran asked urgently, his voice even carrying a nervous quiver.
“I’m fine,” He Fang replied.
“Pilot’s life signs are stable,” someone nearby reported at once. Only then did Yuan Zhiran let out a breath of relief, but his expression immediately darkened. “Chong Xiao, dispatch troops to the explosion site immediately. Find out who is attacking us.”
He Fang brought the aircraft down and landed it near the missile’s tracking location.
He Fang was a bit irritated as well, and the reason was simple. This was a civilian aircraft, currently only in a test flight. Once it officially entered operation, how many passengers would be aboard? Innocent passengers, merely moving from one place to another to survive, yet someone dared to shoot the plane down, completely disregarding the safety of the pilot and those inside.
People sitting inside a civilian aircraft were most likely just ordinary folks, not soldiers. If one dies in war, it can be said they died for their country. But ordinary people, attacked without reason, just how tragic and senseless was such a disaster?
Yuan Zhiran was deeply worried. Even though all the data showed that the aircraft piloted by the Creator hadn’t sustained any damage, unless he saw with his own eyes that the Creator was safe, he couldn’t calm down. Chong Xiao had been sent out. Yuan Zhiran immediately boarded a small, cautious flying craft with a few others, quickly heading to He Fang’s location together with Chong Ying.
He Fang exited the cabin, frowning. The people inside the cabin were currently inspecting the aircraft for any external damage, while he sat off to the side, under the sun.
“What do they want?” He Fang furrowed his brows, looking up at the endless blue sky. A trace of anger lingered in his heart.
Could it be that this was the beginning of an assault on Hope City? But what was the point of destroying just one aircraft?
“City Lord!” Yuan Zhiran, who had rushed over from afar, immediately jumped off the flying vehicle before it had even fully come to a stop, sprinting toward He Fang. But someone beat him to it.
A black shadow, like a small wild beast, crashed straight into He Fang’s arms and began frantically pawing and tugging at him in a panic, trying to see whether He Fang was injured.
“I’m fine,” He Fang said, letting Chong Ying examine him from head to toe.
Chong Ying muttered nonstop, “City Lord, if you were hurt, I’d die from the heartache. However much it hurts you, it would hurt me ten times, a hundred times more. So you absolutely must not get injured. If you get hurt, I’m definitely going to die!”
He Fang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. His earlier anger had already subsided somewhat. Seeing how worried this NPC was, he felt a little soothed. He reached out and ruffled Chong Ying’s hair.
He then looked up at Yuan Zhiran, who was standing nearby, but was suddenly startled by the expression on his face. To describe it, it was as if a beautiful puppy suddenly pulled back its lips to reveal sharp, vicious fangs—beautiful, but brimming with hostility. Right now, he looked incredibly dangerous.
“Don’t worry,” He Fang said, still trying to reassure Yuan Zhiran. “Not only am I uninjured, I don’t even have a single bruise.” He even added with a touch of pride, “No one can beat me when it comes to piloting skills.”
Yuan Zhiran took a deep breath, and his expression returned to normal—still beautiful, but now upright and composed. “Understood, City Lord.”
This sudden attack had disrupted the first test flight, and He Fang’s mood wasn’t great either. Chong Xiao, who had gone to inspect the situation, brought back a report: the spot where Chong Ying had attacked and caused the explosion showed no traces of life. It wasn’t that everyone there had died. Rather, the area had been filled entirely with metal fragments.
After examining the remains, Zhu Yan concluded that the attack had been carried out by an intelligent robot, not a human. However, whether or not there had been a human controlling the robot behind the scenes couldn’t be confirmed at the moment, because the explosion had been so intense that it left almost no usable data.
Zhu Yan dismantled the intercepted tracking missile but wasn’t able to find any information that could be used to trace its origin. All they could determine was that the explosion power of the tracking missile was extremely strong, strong enough to destroy any aircraft in the current post-apocalyptic world. However, it wouldn’t cause too much damage to their aircraft specifically.
Zhu Yan went directly to ask Shi Canghai, the deputy city master of the Library. However, after examining the missile, Shi Canghai also shook his head and said, “This is a very commonly used type of offensive weapon. Any mobile city could manufacture it. Or rather, many mobile cities likely collaborated to manufacture it. It doesn’t belong exclusively to any single city.”
He Fang didn’t quite understand. “What do you mean?”
Zhu Yan, however, seemed to realize something and asked tentatively, “The Peace Treaty?”
Shi Canghai nodded and said, “Due to the stipulations of the Peace Treaty, no mobile city is allowed to develop aircraft. Aircraft are considered extremely dangerous in the apocalypse. Once discovered, they are to be eliminated immediately. That’s why many areas have been equipped with weapons specifically for attacking flying objects. So, it’s very likely this was an automated attack.”
Upon hearing this, He Fang’s anger subsided a bit. If it wasn’t intentional, if it was a result of preset programming, it meant it was a rule-based response, not an act of malice.
“Are there a lot of these things scattered around?” He Fang asked.
“Not exactly a lot, but they do exist,” Shi Canghai replied. “Every mobile city is responsible for maintaining anti-air weapons. While their deployment isn’t completely random, the responsibility for upkeep is shared across cities. If you’re trying to find a mastermind behind it… Well, it could be said that all mobile cities are collectively responsible.”
He Fang’s expression turned a bit complicated. Was this detail something they had been unaware of? Was it that the main city’s NPCs did know about this situation, but didn’t pay special attention to it, so that’s why such a blunder happened?
“No, this was intentional,” Zhu Yan suddenly said from the side. His expression was icy, the chill radiating from him even colder than usual. His entire demeanor was deeply repressed, and he looked like a man under heavy pressure. “After the first tracking missile was launched, there was a long delay before the second wave of attacks. It’s obvious they were waiting for the first missile to succeed. But at that time, Chong Ying had already taken control of the missile. He controlled it, but did not detonate it. If this had been purely a programmed response, there would’ve been no reason for a second wave to suddenly launch without confirming detonation.”
Shi Canghai looked uneasy. He didn’t dare meet Zhu Yan’s eyes, especially now when Zhu Yan was clearly displaying intense anger.
“If that’s your only reason, it’s too far-fetched,” Shi Canghai still voiced his thoughts, as he ought to.
“Better to kill a thousand by mistake than let one go free,” Zhu Yan said darkly, his expression cold and resolute, clearly unwilling to let this matter go. “Besides, all of us had already surveyed the surrounding area after transforming the Holy Land. We saw nothing unusual. And yet, now, an attack-type intelligent robot appears out of nowhere without anyone noticing? That’s beyond suspicious.”
Yuan Zhiran stood quietly to the side, unusually silent. He didn’t oppose Zhu Yan for once.
“The programming for anti-air weapons can be mobile. It’s not strange that we didn’t detect it,” Shi Canghai replied, sensing the suffocating tension in the air and instinctively edging closer toward He Fang.
“There’s one more thing,” Zhu Yan said, raising his gaze toward the missile. “If an anti-air weapon had already been stationed nearby, then why wasn’t there an attack during the first test flight? Why did it happen only on the return trip? Have you thought about that?”
Shi Canghai was no fool. In fact, he was highly intelligent. As realization dawned, his face turned pale—shade by shade, inch by inch.
He Fang, however, hadn’t followed the logic completely. “Why?”
When Zhu Yan shifted his cold gaze toward He Fang, the edge in his eyes noticeably softened. His tone also lost its harsh bite. “Among the cities that signed the Peace Treaty, there has never been a main city. To the other mobile cities, the Mirage appeared out of nowhere, completely outside the bounds of the treaty, unrestricted. The test flight was carried out under the name of the main city. But the return trip, that could be categorized as the action of a mobile city.”
And just like that, it all clicked for He Fang. Just as Zhu Yan had said, if it was simply a matter of programmed response, then the attack should have already been triggered during the first test flight. But the attack only happened on the return journey.
If they pursue this matter in the future, the ones who will truly be punished for it are the mobile cities using aircraft, not the main city that haven’t signed the peace treaty. And that opens up endless possibilities for manipulation.
Shi Canghai’s face turned pale, but he still forced himself to say, “This is just circumstantial. We have no concrete evidence.”
“We don’t need any evidence.” Zhu Yan’s voice was laced with coldness.
Shi Canghai understood. When it came to the overwhelmingly powerful Mirage, any so-called “evidence” was unnecessary. They could do whatever they wanted, simply because they had the strength to back it up. That was the confidence that came with true power.
And all the detailed points Zhu Yan had brought up, he couldn’t refute a single one.
“Even if you’ve joined the Hope City Alliance, Shi Canghai, your heart still leans toward the other mobile cities.” Zhu Yan’s voice carried a faint sarcasm that pierced straight through Shi Canghai’s fear. He didn’t dare raise his head. Didn’t dare look into Zhu Yan’s eyes, as if those eyes could see through everything. Didn’t dare admit it, because when it came to facing Mirage, the Library had no power to resist.
Pa—
Suddenly, in the almost frozen air, came the crisp sound of a slap. That sharp clap shattered the stagnant, sluggish atmosphere like glass. Everyone immediately turned to the source of the sound—He Fang.
“Your states are a bit strange.” He Fang no longer saw this as just someone acting like a fool. Zhu Yan was not someone who usually pressed others aggressively. And normally, someone like Yuan Zhiran, with his temperament, would have stepped in to say something fair by now and defend Shi Canghai a little. Even Chong Ying, who usually played the role of easing the atmosphere, was sitting silently. Everyone’s state was stifling to the point of being terrifying.
Zhu Yan’s eyes flickered slightly as he lowered his gaze, trying to use his eyelashes to hide his emotions. However, the way he lightly pressed his lips together was more than enough to show his overflowing displeasure.
He Fang opened up several people’s status panels. He could see at a glance that everyone’s state was low, clearly in a state of intense suppression.
“You guys aren’t in a very good mood, are you?” He Fang asked.
Thinking carefully, it seemed that ever since he got off the plane, everyone he had seen had been acting strangely. Even the non-main NPCs had an unusually gloomy demeanor.
“Of course not. No one could possibly be in a good mood right now, right?” Right after He Fang asked, the always-quiet Chong Ying suddenly hugged him from behind. “City Lord, you just went through a dangerous situation.”
He Fang was stunned. Was that why they were all so upset? Because he had been in danger?
“Zhu Yan, do you have so little faith in the plane you built with your own hands?” He Fang asked in some surprise. Was that really the reason for someone like Zhu Yan? He was clearly a self-assured NPC, confident to the point of arrogance.
“That’s not what I meant!” Chong Ying said beside his ear, a little frustrated. “It’s not that I think you couldn’t have been hurt, it’s that someone actually dared to let you, the City Lord, fall into danger! Even if that danger wasn’t truly life-threatening, it was still danger!”
He Fang froze.
Chong Ying buried his face into the crook of He Fang’s neck. “You don’t know how anxious I was, how upset. I was practically falling apart when I found out the City Lord had been attacked.”
He Fang paused, then immediately looked toward Chong Xiao, but Chong Xiao was as silent as ever, eyes lowered, saying nothing.
He Fang knew his NPCs were sensitive, but he hadn’t realized they were this delicate.
It truly hadn’t been that serious of an attack, but remembering how ruthlessly Chong Xiao and Chong Ying had dealt with Shen Houyun, who had once attacked him, he began to understand just a little.
“Then…” He Fang thought for a moment. Even though he was clearly alive and kicking, he still said, “I’ll go get a full-body check-up. That should help put your minds at ease.”
Even though He Fang had no idea what exactly a model like him could be checked for.
But after he said that, Chong Ying nudged him and nodded, looking very much in agreement.
And just like that, the atmosphere immediately softened.
He Fang blinked and suddenly felt that NPCs were actually kind of easy to coax.
