# 1924
Chapter 1917: Black Lion's Roar
Shangjing City. Night Watch Headquarters, Rooftop.
Dark clouds pressed over the city, the howling wind whipping the crimson cloak into frenzied waves.
Lin Qiye stood calmly at the rooftop's edge, Straight Blade at his waist, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon, overlooking the mortal realm.
"Commander, the 'Winter Frost Plan' has officially commenced. Currently, evacuations are underway across all of Great Xia. In approximately three hours, 50% of the population will have entered shelters. In five hours, the evacuation progress will reach 75%..."
"How long to complete the full evacuation?"
"Twelve hours." Min Junliang held a tablet, answering seriously. "Great Xia's territory is too vast. Though most of the population is concentrated in cities and surrounding towns, there's still a group of people living in very remote areas. While we have survey-type Forbidden Ruins that can pinpoint their locations precisely, achieving complete evacuation still requires considerable time."
"Close to our estimates." Lin Qiye nodded slightly. "Is everyone else in position?"
"Basically. Hu Jia has already arrived in Nan'an City. That's the central point of Great Xia's territory, allowing him to radiate spiritual influence across the entire nation at any time, suppressing the possibility of widespread panic and chaos;
Guan Zai and Yuzuri Takishiro are stationed at the command center, handling evacuation route planning and projections for the entire territory, monitoring population movements;
Jinian and Chloe are working together, able to appear at any shelter across the nation at a moment's notice. Should any accidents like shelter damage occur, they can handle it immediately..."
Lin Qiye hummed in acknowledgment. His gaze slowly lifted from the city to the漆黑乌云 overhead.
A golden and black pair of pupils ignited with faint flames. His vision pierced through the clouds and space, falling upon the deep void beyond the atmosphere... He seemed to see something, his eyes narrowing slightly.
The next moment, a thunderous beast's roar, like an invisible cannon falling from the heavens, exploded between the clouds in an instant, echoing through every corner of Great Xia!
...
ROOOAAARRR—!!!!
The savage lion's roar swept across the land. Zhao Zhengbin, hurrying toward the shelter, felt his heart jolt and came to an abrupt halt.
"What was that sound?!"
It wasn't just him. Everyone around turned to scan their surroundings, trying to locate the source of the sound. The fear that Hu Jia had suppressed seemed to be making a comeback.
"Thunder?"
"No, that should be some kind of beast's roar. It sounds close, yet also far away..."
"It was a lion's roar. I'm the manager of the lion enclosure at the zoo. No one knows that sound better than I do!"
"A lion? But this is downtown. There's no zoo nearby. Where would a lion come from?"
"..."
After the lion's roar faded, silence descended once more. Everyone exchanged bewildered glances but found nothing unusual, as if the sound had never occurred.
Though puzzled, they quickened their pace, following the arrows' guidance toward the shelter.
"Xiao Bin..."
"Yes, Mom?"
"So... everything they said online was true?" The woman looked at the countless dark red arrows filling the sky, her expression complicated. "This Night Watch... is the special organization that's been protecting us from the fog all along?"
"That's right, Mom. Don't you believe it now?" Zhao Zhengbin spoke earnestly. "Even if you don't trust those videos online, you should believe what you've experienced yourself, right? If not for that Night Watch in the black cloak, we might already be dead..."
The woman lowered her head, saying nothing, lost in thought.
"By the way, I wonder how Grandpa and Grandma are doing..." Zhao Zhengbin seemed to remember something and dialed a few numbers on his phone.
Though it was an evacuation period, communication signals remained quite stable. After several calls, Zhao Zhengbin breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thankfully, even though Grandpa and Grandma live in the remote countryside, they were found. They're heading to the shelter now, just like us..."
Before Zhao Zhengbin could finish, the ground beneath their feet suddenly trembled!
Ear-piercing car alarms rang out simultaneously in the distance. Everyone stumbled, nearly falling to the ground. Buildings on both sides swayed continuously, shattered glass raining down from high above with explosive cracks.
"What's happening? An earthquake??"
Zhao Zhengbin crouched halfway, his face full of bewilderment.
At the same time, the military personnel stationed on the street directing the evacuation grew凝重 simultaneously!
They quickly retrieved rifles from their vehicles, released the safeties, and warily scanned their surroundings. Several monstrous roars紧接着从城市的不同方向传出!
These roars were clearly different from the earlier lion's roar. Some were loud and deep, others shrill and sharp, some like metal scraping against teeth... But their common trait was this: none could have been made by any human or Earth creature.
Moreover, Zhao Zhengbin could clearly hear that one of the roars was very close to them...
Before Zhao Zhengbin could say anything, several fighter jets roared across the sky.
BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM—!!
Successive explosions echoed from the distance. Blinding flashes of fire illuminated the dark clouds. The explosions occurred precisely in the direction Zhao Zhengbin and the others were heading. Standing here, one could even feel a blast wave rushing toward them from the other end of the street!
Simultaneously, the dark red arrows above everyone's heads instantly redirected, pointing to another location. As if someone had been watching over them the entire time, saw the danger ahead, and immediately guided them to change course.
"Move! GO NOW!" The military personnel beside them shouted!
Panic-stricken, everyone bolted in the direction the arrows pointed. Zhao Zhengbin grabbed his mother and followed the crowd.
But even so, the booming artillery sounds grew closer and closer. The trembling beneath their feet became increasingly intense, as if something was chasing right behind them, racing toward this location at breakneck speed!
Terror crept across their faces. They desperately fled toward where the arrows pointed, but the feeling of being pursued remained overwhelming!
THUD—!
With a沉闷巨响, the ground beneath their feet shuddered once, then fell silent.
The terrifying roars, the shrill car alarms, and the earth's trembling all vanished. Only the fighter jets' hum as they streaked across the sky remained echoing above.
"Did it—"
Before Zhao Zhengbin could finish, a massive shadow over a hundred meters tall slammed into the intersection directly in front of them!
Dust billowed across the land. The gust nearly sent everyone flying. Amidst startled screams, a colossal creature, half bull and half serpent, slowly straightened to its full height within the smoke and dust...
Metallic scales clung to a thick serpent's tail. A bull's head sprouted with two curved, elongated horns. It gazed down at the ant-like people below. Within a pair of bronze bell-like eyes, faint black energy swirled and flowed, wild and violent aura bursting forth!