Translator: CinderTL
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Under the azure sky, missiles rained down, hurtling toward the verdant Greenfield Mountains. Fire erupted, carving deep craters into the landscape. Towering trees and massive boulders shattered violently, scattering debris like confetti across the sky.
"Damn it!"
"How is he moving so fast?!"
"His Augmentation Modules are equipped with special speed boosters and anti-missile countermeasures! He's approaching Mach speed and can even predict missile trajectories!"
Furious voices crackled through the comms as several Military Flying Cars accelerated in pursuit.
Whoosh!
Red and blue afterburners scorched the air, leaving trails of white vapor in their wake. The roar of sonic booms echoed across the mountains as they neared Mach speed.
But suddenly, the plume of dust rising from the forest floor abruptly slammed to the ground, its trajectory shifting as if the cyborg had anticipated the interceptors' path and dodged accordingly.
Meanwhile, the high-speed Flying Shuttles, propelled by powerful jets and carrying high-grade pulse bombs, continued their pursuit.
Boom!
A high-grade pulse bomb detonated in the forest, its electromagnetic pulse flashing in brilliant blue arcs. The electromagnetic wave enveloped a radius of dozens of meters, forcefully decelerating and disrupting the approaching shuttles.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
At the same moment, hidden force field devices activated.
Towering walls of blue light, each dozens of meters high, materialized instantly, slicing through the air to absorb the impact of the Flying Shuttles and block the intercepting Flying Cars' acceleration.
"Damn it!"
"This guy has too many tricks up his sleeve!"
The Fifth-Tier Mech Warrior leading the military pursuit team hovered above a Flying Shuttle, his face dark with frustration.
Because the High Wall's Energy Nodes required heavy protection against diversionary tactics, they hadn't brought their most powerful unconventional weapons on this chase.
But their adversary had clearly anticipated this.
Pulse interference, anti-lock-on devices, burst acceleration modules...
Whoosh!
A piercing, near-sonic boom tore through the Greenfield Mountains.
A plume of dust and smoke billowed southward toward the Nanjiang Suburbs, tracing the path of the cyborg figure now visible on their Scanning Modules.
The cyborg sprinted through the dense forest, leaving afterimages in its wake.
Potholes, boulders, cliffs, and steep slopes—he traversed them all as effortlessly as if running on flat ground.
He seemed determined to break through the blockade and reach the border between Luohe and Suro, escaping Red Nation territory entirely.
"You really think you can catch me?"
With a disdainful sneer, the brown-haired, middle-aged cyborg, his body crackling with blue arcs of energy, showed no sign of slowing down. He even glanced at the frantic images flickering across his scanning module.
"Too slow! Too slow!"
"I gave you a chance, but alas, you Red Nation fools are too pathetic!"
He deliberately roared with mocking laughter, hoping to provoke the military into abandoning reason and making a fatal mistake. As he spoke, he raised his arm and flipped them off with a crude, internationally recognized gesture.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The relentless bombardment continued, but he dodged each attack with a triumphant grin, as if his scheme were working perfectly.
And then...
Boom!
A sonic boom shattered the air as a plume of white vapor erupted from his suit.
He had accelerated again.
Flames spewed from his armored thrusters as his afterburners roared to life at full power, abandoning all pretense of concealment. For a moment, his speed surged, lifting him half a meter off the ground as he transformed into a living missile, tearing through the landscape.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Massive boulders shattered into dust, and a crude, charred furrow marked where he plowed through the wilderness trees like a living plow.
Just as he was about to slip through the blockade and escape the Nanjiang Suburbs completely...
Beep!
A signal suddenly blared through the communication modules of the military personnel high above. An excited shout followed.
"Councilor Chen has agreed to the request from headquarters!"
"He's moving out!"
The voice trembled with barely suppressed eagerness. Even the Fifth-Tier Mech Warrior leading the pursuit paused, his gaze sharpening.
"Captain, will we make it in time?" a more level-headed team member asked urgently.
They were already at the edge of the suburbs, while the Flame Tiger Sect's Mountain Gate lay two kilometers away in the opposite direction. No one doubted Councilor Chen's power, but given their current speed, completing the encirclement seemed...
Boom!
The ground shook violently as a distant rumble echoed across the landscape. The trees in the Greenfield Mountains swayed like waves, and data streams automatically materialized in the mechanical bionic eyes of the Modified Humans and Cyborgs. Their scanners had detected an anomalous bio-energy field, simultaneously picked up by the scanning devices of every unit present.
The Fifth-Tier Mech Warrior Captain, about to answer, froze momentarily before whipping his head toward the source of the sound—the Flame Tiger Sect's Mountain Gate, two kilometers away.
Birds and beasts scattered in terror as plumes of dust billowed into the air.
Despite the apparent lack of any significant external disturbance, the energy field readings within the scanning modules surged wildly.
"What's happening?" someone gasped, but before they could finish speaking—
Boom!
The ground shook violently as a ferocious gust of wind swept across the landscape.
A ring of white vapor exploded outward, instantly obliterating the swaying Greenfield Mountains in the distance and clearing a hundred-meter radius.
A deafening sonic boom reverberated through the air, followed by the appearance of a blinding golden figure hurtling across the ground at supersonic speed, like a fighter jet flying close to the ground.
Two thousand, five thousand, eight thousand...
As the distance closed, the scanning data grew increasingly precise.
Finally—
"Nine thousand! Ten thousand!!"
"No, it's even higher than that!!"
TL/N: It's Over 9000!!!
A cry of astonishment rang out. These were composite readings only attainable by a Flying General-level fighter!
The pursuing Modified Humans froze in momentary shock, while the Military Flying Cars hovering above erupted in panicked shouts.
Below, the plume of dust continued its frantic escape. The middle-aged Cyborg, his body crackling with electrical arcs, suddenly felt a primal unease, as if he were being stalked by a predator.
"Could a Flying General be hunting me?"
"Impossible!"
The anomalous energy readings before him caused his pupils to constrict to pinpricks. The rumbling ground threatened to drown out his heartbeat and disrupt his carefully laid plans for a counterattack.
Two kilometers... one and a half kilometers... one kilometer...
The speed, exceeding the sound barrier, was terrifying.
Whoosh!
Startled and suspicious, he activated every defensive measure at his disposal: Force Field Shields, Pulse Interference, Ion Bombs. Walls of crackling blue light materialized, forming shields along the trajectory predicted by his scanners.
The middle-aged cyborg felt a flicker of relief. This should buy him enough time to escape. As for his counterattack... it would likely have to wait.
Boom!
The final half-kilometer vanished in an instant as the golden figure arrived like a war chariot!
The electric arcs shattered, scattering magnetic light like sparks.
The Radiant Alloy-augmented body exploded from the ground, its fragments disintegrating into dust. The widened mechanical eyes were crushed by the overwhelming Qi mechanism, their artificial consciousness annihilated by the intangible force that swept through the air.
In that instant, the pursuing military personnel froze in stunned silence.
By the time Chen Feng reacted and looked again,
Whoosh!
Another sonic boom erupted, white vapor exploding outward. Chen Feng's figure vanished in a blur, instantly reappearing hundreds of meters away.
Amidst bewildered stares, his right fist slammed into the empty air.
Boom!
Splurt!
Blood sprayed into the air, refracting light into shimmering ripples and distortions.
The lizard-like figure's chest had been completely pierced through, its biologically modified armor shattering like fragile paper.
"Gah..."
His eyes widened in disbelief, struggling to comprehend how he had been discovered despite his meticulous concealment—shutting down all communications and suppressing every trace of his bio-energetic signature.
Chen Feng frowned slightly, sensing an unnatural presence clinging to the corpse.
It was the faint, almost dissipated aura of Evil God Power, yet unmistakable to his Perception.
This reminded him of the chaos in Yun Port. The suicide bombers from Utopia.
At the time, he had attributed their behavior to the Power of the Dead's Illusionary Art, but now he suspected the influence of calamity power as well.
"Who sent you?" Chen Feng demanded coldly, his hand gripping the creature's heart.
Chen Feng wanted to uncover the hidden truth behind this.
"I..."
The brown-eyed Biological Cyborg opened its mouth, his face contorted with terror as he tried to speak.
But then...
"Hmm?"
Boom!
The cyborg exploded into a shower of blood and gore.
The shockwave and splattered blood hung frozen an inch from Chen Feng, unable to touch him.
Thus ended the life of a powerful Biological Cyborg, leaving no trace behind.
Chen Feng narrowed his eyes, a chill creeping into his heart.
The self-detonation wasn't his doing, nor did it seem like a deliberate choice by the cyborg. Instead, it felt like the forbidden consequence of violating some unknown rule.
Instantly, his gaze swept across the horizon.
The golden Gale Qi around him slowly receded as he turned his attention to another distant point.
There stood the gray-black High Wall, a towering monolith hundreds of meters tall, resembling a solemn giant.
Aircraft and fighter jets landed and took off incessantly. Energy Cannons, plasma cannons, and other super-powerful weapons were already activated and deployed nearby.
The Energy Nodes of the Radiant Light Secret Realm had begun to shift. The area was heavily guarded, with a Flying General-class cyborg overseeing operations.
Fires erupted periodically, only to be swiftly extinguished. While the scale of the disturbance appeared significant, it hadn't yet reached a level capable of breaching the military's defensive perimeter.
As doubt and speculation swirled in Chen Feng's mind, several military flying cars buzzed closer.
"Councilor Chen!"
The Fifth-Tier Mech Warrior captain, leading the group, leaped from his flying shuttle and landed on the ground, offering a respectful salute.
"Thank you for your assistance, Councilor. I will report this matter truthfully to my superiors." He promised to do his best to secure appropriate recognition for Chen Feng, his face radiating awe. The other military personnel echoed his sentiment, showering him with gratitude.
"You're welcome," Chen Feng replied calmly, nodding. He then inquired about the details of the incident.
"Early this morning, two squads of high-tier Platinum Federation Modified Humans launched a surprise attack, aiming to breach the High Wall. Four Fifth-Tier Cyborgs led the assault, armed with specialized weapons. Fortunately, General Xu Fei personally took command and suppressed the threat."
The Fifth-Tier Mech Warrior recounted the events in detail, without withholding any information. He mentioned General Xu Fei's intervention but added that a mysterious force had interfered at a critical moment. They now suspected a Platinum Federation Flying General-level Biological Cyborg was pulling strings from behind the scenes, though other possibilities remained open.
Chen Feng pondered this, then cast one last thoughtful glance at the distant High Wall District.
Just as Chen Feng had predicted, the riot flared up quickly and died down just as swiftly.
The whole affair seemed like a farce, but he couldn't believe the Platinum Federation would be foolish enough to waste resources on such a pointless endeavor.
"The Evil God Cult?" he mused, growing wary. If they were truly pulling the strings, what was their ultimate goal? Something felt amiss.
He turned to the military personnel before him, offering a few brief words of explanation and a subtle warning.
With that, they parted ways.
He politely declined the military's repeated expressions of gratitude and their offer to escort him back, returning to the Flame Tiger Mountain Gate alone.
The Greenfield Mountains were left with a deep, plow-like scar stretching for miles. Military Flying Cars and aircraft rose and descended in waves as they retreated to the High Wall District. The flames of the explosions had long since vanished, leaving only charred scars that would gradually fade.
Finally, the Flying General-class cyborg who had personally led the assault returned safely. A sinister gaze, hidden in the shadows, flickered briefly before withdrawing.
"Those fools," a mocking voice echoed from a secluded study chamber far away. "They crumbled so easily under provocation."
A mirror-like screen materialized in the air, displaying the scene below. A hooded figure watched the images with disdain, shaking his head. "Still, we must remain vigilant."
However, the eerie man in the wide-brimmed hat, seated nearby, interjected a warning.
With a soft whoosh, a black bat quietly flew over and landed on his shoulder.
"We left traces behind before. Even though we've diverted attention now, we can't be sure no one will start putting the pieces together."
"Especially that guy. I've always felt there's something off about him."
A flash of crimson flickered in the Wide-Brimmed Hat Man's eyes as he watched the black-robed youth vanish from the mirror-like screen. Even now, his body still throbbed faintly with the pain of that missing fragment of his Origin, the root cause of his diminished power.
The hooded figure scoffed coldly, then waved away the projection.
"Though not weak, he's ultimately just a human."
"Once we usher in our Lord's descent, nothing will stand in our way."
He glanced at his companion, ostensibly as a reminder, but a glint of greed flickered in his eyes.
Seeing no objection, he suppressed his instinct and pressed on.
"How are your preparations progressing?"
"Going well," the Wide-Brimmed Hat Man replied, his crimson gaze fading as he leaned back in his chair and nodded.
"There's one thing you said that I wholeheartedly agree with."
"These foolish humans are insatiably greedy. A mere hint of temptation is enough to lure them into our traps."
"Our future is about to begin."
(End of the Chapter)
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