Chapter 2805: Revenge
However, regardless of the district government's arrangements here, more and more people learned from the message collection terminals that, aside from the capital, multiple other core cities had also been attacked.
Beyond obvious targets like political and economic centers, the most important places in District 022 were the technology cities specializing in instrument development, energy cities, and the locations where hyperdimensional instruments and super-large instruments were hidden. Whether these three categories overlapped was unclear, but some were well-known to the public. Upon discovering that several relatively important core cities across the district had been attacked simultaneously, the populace realized this was no ordinary assault—it was a large-scale attack capable of engulfing the entire district in flames of war, possibly even escalating into a full-scale district war...
Of course, things had not yet reached that point. According to information disclosed on the message collection terminals, although many cities had been attacked, the majority were densely populated economic hubs. Technology cities had also been hit, but in smaller numbers. Meanwhile, the most critical energy cities had yet to show any signs of activity.
If this were truly a evenly matched district war, the attackers' primary targets would be energy and advanced instruments, with hostage-taking being secondary—in fact, if it had truly reached the stage of a district war, hostage-taking would be a minor concern. Ordinary people in such a large-scale conflict were like grains of sand or specks of dust; the district government would certainly not prioritize them.
But people are fragile. If not so many places had been attacked, the public might still believe the district government would focus on the capital and arrange for proper handling of the situation to ensure no harm came to them. However, with so many areas under attack across the entire district, the government could not guarantee safety for every individual. At that point, they could only protect the majority...
Realizing this, the public began clamoring to evacuate the capital.
"The capital's teleportation transportation is still operational—why won't they let us leave?"
"The attackers haven't even shown themselves, and their target isn't ordinary people. If we leave, the enforcement team can act more effectively!"
"What exactly is the government's plan? Are we just supposed to wait here?"
"Don't think you can just stay silent and get away with this. Isn't it the enforcement team's responsibility to protect the people?"
"Let us go! Let us go!"
...
The voices of dissent grew louder, and more people wanted to leave. The trench coat player who had spoken earlier exchanged words with his companions before saying, "Due to instrument interference, teleportation points can only be established at the edge of the capital for now. Evacuation must proceed from the outer areas inward. Everyone, be patient and do not disrupt the enforcers as they maintain order."
Every few hundred meters in the air, an enforcement team player stood guard. These individuals were not only searching for potential attackers hiding among the ordinary people but also applying pressure on the crowd. With such a dense gathering, a stampede or crush would lead to disastrous consequences.
Of course, the public was somewhat calmed by the enforcement team's explanation. After all, evacuation takes time, and for now, the crisis in the capital seemed to have subsided. Many people raised their terminals to film the sky. In that moment, the city that had been slowly descending was already nearly half dismantled.
"The attackers haven't made a move yet," Zhou Juanjuan said uneasily. At this point, it was difficult for them to evacuate either. Running out would likely result in being taken down by the enforcement team players immediately. But clearly, whoever had gone to the trouble of dropping such a massive city wasn't doing it just so the district government could slowly move it away.
Rivi clearly shared the same thought and was about to say something when Xu Huo suddenly spoke, "Here they come!"
What was coming?
The two immediately looked up. The next second, they saw a semi-transparent shockwave rushing from one end of the city, like a gale force wind pouring into it. In an instant, the entire city trembled. Rows of windows and doors rippled like waves from east to west, and even the enforcement team members stationed high in the air were pushed back by the force.
But the shockwave only affected the space above twenty meters. Xu Huo and the other two were positioned relatively high and also felt the impact. Fortunately, the windows and doors of the Yongxing Hotel were sturdy enough to prevent glass from flying everywhere.
And just as the shockwave passed by them, the city hanging in the sky began to descend rapidly again. Then, an enforcement team player flew backward, and a figure that had appeared from nowhere stood upside down on the descending city structure. The pale, weak-looking man gazed down at the countless faces below, his eyes darkening. The remaining city shattered into countless fragments in the same instant, which then shot at high speed toward every part of the capital!
As if punishing the district government for its inaction, the half-collapsed city exploded outward in all directions like a bomb. At such speeds, even falling debris and rubble were lethal weapons, let alone the building-sized chunks and metal underground foundations flying like meteorites.
A random massacre seemed imminent. The people screamed in terror, pushing and shoving in panic. But the enforcement team players didn't bother with them. Aside from those sent to intercept the pale man, the rest returned to the city. At the same time, multiple openings appeared in the city's ground, and metallic objects shot out from them. These metal pieces, raining upward into the sky, stopped at a height of about a hundred meters and, within seconds, extended and unfolded, automatically forming a massive metal protective shield in the air!
Excluding the overly tall buildings, the metal shield covered almost the entire sky above the capital. Against a defense of this scale, ordinary jamming instruments would struggle to function unless the players directly attacked and destroyed the shield.
In fact, the moment the high altitude was cut off, the attackers began their actions. Explosions and fires erupted frequently across the city. Tall buildings collapsed one after another, and in some places, the ground even split open...
Almost instantly, screams and cries for help drowned out everything else in the city. Although the enforcement team players acted as quickly as possible, they couldn't guarantee everyone's safety against such unpredictable sneak attacks. They could only seal off or protect the most severely affected areas.
It was unclear how the district government had arranged things, but the capital seemed to have very few exceptionally powerful players. The pale man not only shook off numerous attackers but also slashed open the metal shield with a single sword strike—yes, he cut straight through it. One sword stroke pierced the entire city, slicing through the Yongxing Hotel and several landmark buildings in half!
The area around the Yongxing Hotel had not experienced ground fissures, and the ground remained relatively stable. Even though the building was cut, it wouldn't collapse immediately. But then the pale man landed on the hotel's rooftop. Under the immense pressure, the building began to tilt toward the crowded streets!
"Ahhh!" The crowd erupted in a new wave of screams. Not only was the building about to fall, but countless flying stones were also raining down from the sky, as if the debris from the earlier collapse had lingered in the air for a long time, only now falling after the metal shield disappeared!
The pale man's body tilted with the sliding building. He stared coldly at the twisted faces below, waiting for the blood to bloom. But suddenly, the building's tilt stopped, hanging crookedly in midair as if held back by an invisible wall.
His eyes shifted downward and landed on a man standing just a few meters above the ground, above the crowd.
"You're not from District 022. Why are you stopping me?" the pale man asked.
Behind Xu Huo stood Bu Chunfeng and the two families. He didn't answer the question but instead asked, "Does killing these ordinary people mean anything?"
Hearing this, the pale man actually sighed. "Meaning? Then you should go ask the people of District 022. When they joined forces with wanted criminals to ransack my homeland, why did they kidnap and slaughter even the children?"
"My district, my homeland, my family—all destroyed because of District 022. Yet they still live so happily. Why?"
Xu Huo didn't dwell on the issue. Ignoring the enforcement team players closing in from the side, he pressed further, "Are you sure it's District 022?"
"There's more than one district among the victims," the pale man said, staring at him. "Everyone here today is a survivor who has suffered persecution at the hands of District 022."
"Lies!" A middle-aged man with significant injuries approached, shouting, "You bunch of wanted criminals are guilty of every evil, looting and killing everywhere, and you still dare to fabricate such excuses!"
I've been wanting to rest lately, so updates will be fewer. Everyone, sleep early. ^_^