The world seemed to be completely muted at this moment, or perhaps it was more likely that she had experienced a momentary deafness.
She could imagine the worst-case scenarios—
Failing to hit a high note, followed by sighs of disappointment from the audience;
Missing a beat in her dance steps, drawing whispers;
Even worse, forgetting lyrics due to nervousness, standing awkwardly on stage, the spotlight pinning her in place like a judgmental gaze...
She could even clearly outline her brother's possible expression then—not anger, but a deep disappointment hidden in his eyes that hurt her even more, and a forced tolerance to avoid putting more pressure on her.
Every thought flashing through her mind made her fingertips cold.
But.
She retorted forcefully, almost stubbornly, in her heart.
I have practiced thousands of times. I am familiar with every beam of light and every inch of the floor here. This is my song, my stage.
I can do well.
I must do well!
For my brother, and for... myself.
Carrying this confidence mixed with fear and desperation, she nodded slightly towards the control console.
The lift platform started. The familiar slight weightlessness came, carrying her slowly upward, towards that light.
Just at the moment the ascent began—
Rumble—!!!
A series of dull but extremely penetrating loud noises, seemingly coming from deep underground or like a huge building collapsing in the distance, faintly mixed with blurry sounds of chaos that definitely shouldn't belong to a celebration, came from outside the venue, penetrating the thick walls!
Yun Mengxi's heart skipped a beat, almost jumping out of her throat. Her steps trembled along with it, causing her to lose her balance.
And this wasn't the entirety of the sudden change.
Buzz—!!
Without warning, her in-ear monitor burst out with a piercing electronic busy tone. The sound was so sharp it felt like it would drill through her eardrums, instantly disrupting all her breathing and heartbeat rhythms.
And it crushed all the psychological construction she had just built.
Panic poured down like ice water.
What's happening?! What happened outside?! What's wrong with the earpiece?!
The hand that was supposed to stabilize her body turned to protect her ears the moment the earpiece emitted the noise. She covered her ears painfully, feeling as if her head had been hit by a heavy hammer, becoming groggy.
This series of accidents made her instinctively want to flee this rising iron cage. She subconsciously moved towards the edge of the lift platform, wanting to signal the console to stop, or... she should just jump down now!
But just then, perhaps due to the external vibration or circuit interference, the lift platform jerked and shook unnaturally!
"Ah!" Caught off guard, Yun Mengxi lost her footing and exclaimed, falling onto the cold metal floor, a dull pain coming from her knees and elbows.
With this delay, the lift platform had continued to rise smoothly, and she lost the opportunity to escape immediately.
But this wasn't the main point.
The piercing busy tone in the earpiece suddenly disappeared, replaced by a strange, young, but extremely fast, anxious, and even authoritatively unquestionable male voice.
This voice forcibly cut in through the channel connected to the venue's sound system, instantly resounding through the entire Pearl of the Sea, and even... this voice was broadcasting to the whole city through the Pearl of the Sea's super speaker system!
"Attention everyone! This is an emergency announcement! I repeat, emergency announcement! An unknown disaster named 'Honkai' is occurring! This is not a drill! All citizens please immediately find sturdy shelter, keep doors and windows closed, and stay away from crowded areas! Do not go out! Do not..."
However, this warning broadcast concerning the lives and deaths of countless people lasted less than half a minute.
Sizzle—Click!
The voice was rudely cut off.
But in the last instant before being cut off, Yun Mengxi's earpiece clearly captured a blood-curdling sound from the other end—
It was a series of short and fierce gunshots!
Followed by the unique hum and cracking sound of energy weapons, the current restrainer also erupted with its unique electrical noise, the sound of human collision and muffled groans, as well as dense footsteps and serious reprimands...
That speaker... was attacked? Subdued? Who was it?
The lift platform was still rising, approaching the peak.
Yun Mengxi struggled to get up. The fear in her heart had reached its peak, but a nearly absurd "professional instinct" made her subconsciously pat her dress and wipe her face a second before stepping onto the stage.
Then, she "ascended" to the stage as wished.
The spotlight lit up as scheduled, but it no longer illuminated a dreamy set.
First catching her eye were several Titan Mechs with unfamiliar paint jobs and undisclosed models in the center and on both sides of the stage.
They were firmly pressed to the ground by a larger number of standard Titans clearly belonging to the Shenzhou military. Heavy restraint chains wrapped around their joints, and energy suppressors buzzed, rendering them immobile.
And at the edge of the stage, the "Arahato" armor with black, purple, and green colors, which she had seen in the news not long ago, was kneeling on one knee.
Like those Titan Mechs that were likely forcefully subdued less than a few minutes after appearing, the Arahato at this moment was also firmly locked by a special restraint device flashing with dangerous arcs.
There weren't even many traces of battle on her armor, just her helmet hanging low, having lost consciousness.
This... what is this?! Military coup? Terrorist attack? Sci-fi movie scene?!
Immediately after, in the fraction of a second when she fully stepped onto the stage and was exposed to everyone, an invisible sharp buzz that ordinary people couldn't hear but could clearly "feel" swept across!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Above the stage, several small unmanned drones that seemed not completely controlled and were still trying to break free or attack suddenly burst out with blinding white light from their core parts after this buzz.
Subsequently, these unmanned drones emitted black smoke and plummeted like birds with broken wings, crashing onto the stage floor and becoming a pile of scrap metal.
These suddenly appearing armed forces might be enough to rival the entire military strength of a small country elsewhere, or their equipment could sweep through most backward countries.
But here, they appeared for less than ten minutes before being subdued so cleanly and neatly, with almost no major losses.
Everything was completely different from the anticipated brilliance and expectation of thousands.
No musical prelude, no sea of cheers, only cold steel, oppressive confrontation, lingering smoke, and countless faces filled with horror, confusion, and helplessness in the audience below the stage.
The world... seemed to have derailed.