The entire populace of Keren was captivated by the thunder and lightning that converged in the sky during the night.
“There’s something wrong with this thunder. “
Several electricians ran out of the house, and suddenly felt their faces tingling. “Watch out! “
One person raised his arm and pressed both of the others to the ground. It wasn’t that they had all been struck, but rather an instinct honed from their long experience as power line workers.
With a low hum, like a baleful wind sweeping by, an aura that made one’s scalp tingle and body feel strange swept through like a thick wall, converging within the city.
A light bulb inside a room exploded with abang. The few remaining lit lights on the street plunged into darkness one by one.
“My god! What is this!? “
Old Captain Kirby, lying on the ground in his fifties, had just yelled this out when he saw a man looking a bit crazed, running past beside him with a telescope, stepping high.
“Stop! “
Two Commoners chased after him from behind.
“Hurry up and help! All those holding telescopes need to be restrained! “
“What? ” The electrical worker on the ground didn’t quite understand.
“Catch that madman, he’s faking it. “
“He’s coming, he’s coming. I can see him, ehehehehaha. ” The lunatic ran on, deaf to everything, before a man from the side grabbed his arm and yanked him to a stop.
The carriage rumbled away toward the other end of the street, the horses galloping as if mad. But a vehicle ahead, which simply refused to start, remained stationary.
Boom!
The explosion of a plane crash echoed two blocks away.
The people on the truck, stunned, watched the silhoutte of that iron-propeller airplane spiral down behind the jagged silhouettes of uneven buildings. Then cries and screams of “Ah! ” rang out.
“Gather up… ” A loud, shouting voice carried through the fierce wind. “No matter what, we have to light a fire here. “
“We have to… burn it… right… “
“Let’s get going too. This car just won’t start. “
On the truck, the man in the passenger seat tugged at the driver beside him. The driver twisted the key one more time, and the engine finally emitted a deep, rumbling growl. “God, yes! It’s started! “
“Great! “
The moment they shifted into gear, there was another sharp, crackling, static-like sound, as if rubbing against a sweater. The two exchanged a glance, then felt something was wrong and looked back into the truck bed.
Boom!
The truck’s fuel tank burst into a blinding flare of fire.
They stared wide-eyed through the windshield, looking up. Beneath the towering clouds, the images reflected by the gathering thunderbolts fell into their sight.
They raised their arms to shield their squinting eyes from the bolt of lightning that flashed across the sky.
The darkness of the whole world, in that instant, seemed to be illuminated by the fleeting flash of light. Yet, in the next moment, another surge gathered within the darkness.
Faster and faster.
“Stop!” Disheveled, a figure who had taken off his jacket stumbled forward past the vehicle as he was being chased.
Behind him, another figure dashed forward even faster in pursuit.
Yet another quickly running figure, cupping hands around his mouth, shouted, “Use of telescopes is prohibited!“
“Why?“
“Everyone in the vehicle, get out now!“
In the passenger seat, unable to contain his curiosity, a man pulled a telescope from his bosom, raised it to his eye, and looked toward the sky.
Thud—A driver who had turned around and yanked open the door punched him in the cheek, knocked the telescope aside, and threw it out.
…
“Some civilians are still secretly using telescopes.“
The urgent situation converged on the Crown Prince’s office, where the candle had just been lit.
At that moment, he was inside a civilian house whose connecting walls had been torn down less than two hours earlier. Not far away lay the old factory plaza of the World Ark, where a fair amount of construction debris had already been cleared away.
Inside the room filled with a crowd of key personnel, the prince sat behind the table in the center, scanning them with a solemn look.
“What the hell is going on? Have you investigated it yet?“
“His Majesty the King has personally led a team into the archives to help search for historical records. However, no corresponding entries have been found yet. “
“The Demon’s ability shouldn’t be this powerful. “
An elderly gentleman in a black vest stood up beside them and said, “Abnormal zones generally do not expand, nor do they mysteriously disappear. Only a power as bizarre as that of an apocalyptic demon could lead to such a range. “
Nods of agreement murmured through the room.
A man on the left, dressed in a white inner shirt and black coat, rose to speak:
“Perhaps President Buchen provoked the demons beneath the earth. “
“Octagon. “
A voice rang out in the candlelight.
Those seated looked toward the young man with a white silk bow tie. His exquisitely chiseled face held an Elf-like handsomeness.
“The president of Octagon. That seems to be the target I had vaguely heard of earlier, the one the commoners with telescopes are searching for. “
“That is… ” some thought for a moment. The man in black beside the Crown Prince said, “Are you referring to the terms like triangle and quadrilateral that many Lord Fogfolk often speak of? “
The Crown Prince stared sternly at the broad, wood-grained table in front of him and silently tapped his finger once.
Whispers of a worried tone reached them: “No, it can’t be. A man like Chairman Yang Buchen, even he was said by celebrating Fogfolk to be, in only this afternoon… just five tiers? “
Amidst the buzz, the Crown Prince also turned his head to whisper a fast exchange with the man beside him.
This attendant gave a slight shake of his head.
“If it’s truly fake, then there shouldn’t be such a grand display. But if it indeed the appearance of the owner of the Ring of Power, then… a legendary figure like that shouldn’t directly contact us. “
“The Seventh Ring? “
“I… I should notify Mr. Fogfolk and his men to help gather more information. And… “
The man paused in his tone and said in a low voice:
“We should ask them to stop the thing in the sky from appearing. Because all our planes can no longer take off. “
Some dazzling rays of lightning shone in through the window.
The figures of several Fogfolk appeared from a room in the distance and ran outside. Then, the Prince suddenly saw a dark, massive bomber parked on the square.
The Prince immediately got up and walked over, but the next moment, he rubbed his eyes as if he was seeing things.
There was nothing there before him.
His face turned pale and ghastly.
…
“What the hell are they looking at! “
General Ross frantically flipped through the documents in his hands.
“How the hell do those damn telescopes manage that? What is World Ark doing? Have they been scheming this using airships all along? “
Muffled explosions once again came from a distant block.
Amidst the noise, Adjutant Lindana watched with tears in her eyes as General Ross’s majestic stride took him around the table towards the window. He pursed his lips, sharp as a blade, and with a cold yet fervent gaze, raised his hand to pull aside the sheer curtain, looking outside.
A brigadier general from the former Golden Shell Federation member state, whose collar bore a trim of golden embroidery like frozen pear juice, said:
“General Ross. Our people are already inquiring. The members of the World Ark don’t seem to know about this. “
“What I’m asking is, ” Ross turned his head, “comrade, what the hell are they looking at! “
The man met Ross’s gaze without backing down and said, “There’s no way to get anything up there right now, no way to reach that box at the center of the storm. “
A young man standing beside a brigadier general quickly added, a bit nervously: “Rumor has it the chairman, Yangliner, is inside. “
Feeling a sense of oppression, Lindana glanced at the visibly nervous young man.
Ross quickly turned and strode back toward the man, speaking in a deep voice: “We must find a way now, to get someone up there and destroy that thing. “
“A shell could do it, right? “
“Someone already tried an arrow. That thing is empty, like it just passed right through. “
“A mirage? “
“Shouldn’t be. But if an anomalous zone were to appear over Talco’s skies at a time like this, it would seem too strange. The analysis department found no records of any related magical blood contamination. “
The young foreign soldier immediately added:
“Perhaps it’s the Abundant Bloodline. It could also be a Turbulent Flow, but the possibility of a Turbulent Flow is very small. “
“So how do we get up there? ” Ross continued to ask.
The room fell into sudden silence.
“Something’s wrong. ” An anxious voice rang out from the doorway. A soldier gasped, “An, an ammunition depot exploded… “
For the first time in a long while, Ross and the Brigadier finally showed expressions that had been absent for ages.
Just then, gunshots rang out from within the city.
This sound, which should never have been heard, made Lieutenant Colonel Lindana, the calmest person in the room, or at least the one trying not to show any emotion, open her eyes in surprise and run to the window.
Several figures came over; General Ross pushed the window open, and the strong wind immediately made it bang noisily.
They saw, on the street, a pale golden path extending sideways from outside the city, with gunfire erupting all along the way.
“It’s them! “
That trail of light that appeared over the sea last night!
And now, in the city filled with chaos and screams, that figure walking along the path of light would, whenever bullets arrived, have the path vanish into the darkness, only to reappear with the path at a distant other location.
“Arrest this man at all costs! ” General Ross shouted, pointing towards the square in the distance from the window.
The two columns of soldiers, momentarily stunned, scrambled in confusion to grab their weapons and charge out of the office building.
……
Amidst the noisy shouts, a man who had ducked behind a wall pressed himself, in extreme panic, against the cold brick surface.
He was holding one hand inside the front of his coat.
Only after the two pursuers behind him had run past did he let out a breath of foul air, take a deep breath, and observe the sky, where the expected thunder had not yet appeared.
He immediately took an ordinary long-range telescope from his coat, put it to his eye, grit his teeth, and peered anxiously.
“Run for your lives! “
“Murder! “
At the other end of the lens, that small, shadowy wooden box seemed to be suspended by an iron wire extending down from the clouds.
How could this have happened…
He didn’t know.
But the man understood… the leader of the Octagon Fund he had found might very well be a deity—someone who could save the world.
“A deity… or someone as strong as them. “
A flash of lightning flickered from a distant horizon, like a searchlight swiftly sweeping across the inside of the clouds toward this spot.
Having already been caught in a flash of light, he immediately lowered his telescope and glanced around. Suddenly, he noticed a figure dressed in a white robe, clutching a wooden staff, standing barefoot on the dark street beside him.
When did that happen!?
Startled, he turned to face the figure.
“Trace the patterns on this parchment onto the wall, expand them stroke by stroke. “
“You are…? “
“I am an executive of the Octagon Fund. ” Yoya replied, leaning against his subdued yet taller-than-himself wooden staff.
……
The soldiers, who had just captured the two members of the Octagon Chamber of Commerce with fresh blood trails across their broken skin from the chase, twisted their heads toward the dark side of the street.
A soft snap of wind. Within seconds, an arrow struck one soldier squarely in the ribs—he collapsed limply. The soldier beside him stared in disbelief, then turned his gaze in time to see the attacker rotating his arm, already replacing the arrow aimed straight back at him.
“How dare you! “
“Help me! ” The beaming caravan member’s joy barely sparked a second cry when he felt himself jerked by an arm and forcefully shoved aside.
Already released, that arrow was carried off-course as it passed through a swiftly expanding field of Stellar Yuan—displaced by the wind bending its trajectory, soaring over the member’s shoulder, then blown into the wall of a civilian home.
The running soldier had only taken a few steps when he suddenly felt the sky, already gathering with thunder and lightning, inexplicably flare up into a brilliant brightness.
A vast torrent of energy violently poured down the long street, stirring up clear dust, which howled past the soldier’s upturned face and illuminated the man drawing his bow behind him.
A faint, gentle chirp sounded effortlessly along the golden path.
“Granting you all a return to the righteous path is what our President, Yangliner, aims to fulfill this time! “
Lifting his wooden staff, he pointed it at the box in the sky and shouted with all his might, his voice cracking:
“Look! Our President, Yangliner, is right there in the heavenly rattan cabinet! “
Several shells, blazing with firelight, streaked through the night with trailing arcs, whistling as they arrived.
Boom!
The ground of the city quaked, and two beautiful four-story stone-and-brick buildings at that spot toppled over at a slant.
……
A viscous radiance swirled around the sky, then scattered as it blew apart.
In some streets, the people screamed in terror; others cried out calling it a demon, their hearts and livers cracking with fear.
“We have to act, ” said the two men beside the vehicle, near the side of the World Ark headquarters. “That thing has to be taken down. “
“My Secret Fruit can help a person fly, but only for a few seconds, and you can’t stack it. “
“Someone, come help hold down this canvas awning, ” called a person in the distance.
Beside him, there were several people, who were hastily constructing a large, square canvas basket under the cover of the wind. It was held tightly in their grip thanks to the weight of a truck.
“Who dares to come forward? “
“I dare! “
Two figures ran over. “You need to keep an eye on our timing. “
But their large canvas basket kite had barely flown a few dozen meters up before the people inside were clutching their heads in pain and groaning.
“It hurts so much. “
“Ah! ” One person jumped down, fell to the ground, and writhed in pain curled up, unable to get up for a long time. A few nearby figures ran over. “What’s wrong with you? ” they asked.
“My mind, my body feels like it’s shutting down. I can’t describe that chaotic sensation. “
At the doorstep of an ordinary civilian house, Room 303.
“Did you feel that? “
Under the flickering glow of the wind-swept sky, Ao Qi, with his slightly protruding belly, muttered softly to the person beside him:
“Sometimes it feels like this in high-pressure magnetic field zones. Sigh, I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced that kind of special working environment. “
“I can understand. “
The short-haired man said gravely:
“The intensity contained in this energy is extremely extraordinary. I don’t believe a few telescopes could manage something like this. There might be a hidden operation underway in the shadows. “
“Unfortunately, none of us can be of use. ” Rocmont stepped out from the room, sighed, and looked towards the horizon.
Ao Qi lowered his brow and said, “We can’t even determine what that thing is. “
Inside the pitch-black solid wood door.
Lin Site stepped out, his head wrapped in cloth, the skin on his back rippling gently. He stared at the object up in the sky.
Xu Aiyuan’s figure also emerged from the shadows within the room.
“I think I can be of use. ” The young man’s voice came.
The three people outside the door all turned around to look. Lin Site glanced at their expressionless faces. With a flip of his hand, a rectangular black-gold hard paper ticket appeared.
“What is that? “
“My employee card from the Cleanup Department. “
After saying this, Lin Site reached his right hand to his shoulder and neckline with its slanted buttons, undid it all at once, and swung his cloak off to hold it in his hand.
“I’m going. ” He turned his head to look at Xu Aiyuan.
The woman nodded gently.
Lin Site closed his eyes, and a surge of energy suddenly spread out from him. The others saw golden patterns resembling star tracks instantly radiate outward.
Sensing the change in aura, several people simultaneously turned their heads and searched for its source. Then they fixed their gazes on the figure in the sky: a cloak-wrapped, wavering form among the star tracks.
“Hey! I can invest in you! ” Ao Qi, ignoring the closed-eyed body of the man behind him, stretched his hand toward the sky and shouted, “But how much TemporalSequence can you store? A hundred thousand probably won’t be enough. “
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