Chapter 2806 Retaliation

But regardless of how the District Government arranges things here, more and more people are learning from the Collection of Information Terminal about the attacks on multiple core cities besides Capital City.

Aside from obvious targets like political and economic centers, the most important places in Zone 022 are the technology city specializing in instrument development, the energy city, and locations hiding super-dimensional instruments and oversized instruments.

Whether the three overlap is unclear, but some are well known to the public. Upon discovering that all significant core cities in the district were attacked at the same time, citizens realized this was not just a regular attack, but a large-scale assault that could engulf the entire district in war, potentially escalating into a district-wide war…

Of course, the situation hasn’t reached that level yet. According to information disclosed from the Collection of Information Terminal, although many cities have been attacked, it is mainly populated economic cities, while fewer technology cities were attacked, and the most critical energy city remains untouched.

If it were truly an evenly matched district war, the attackers’ first priority would be to destroy energy and advanced instruments, followed by hostage-taking—in a district war of such magnitude, hostage-taking becomes secondary. Ordinary people are like grains of sand in such a large-scale war, and the District Government would certainly not prioritize individual safety.

However, people are fragile. If not so many places were attacked, citizens might have hoped the District Government would focus on Capital City, ensuring someone would arrange matters properly and prevent harm. But with so many places attacked, the government absolutely cannot guarantee safety for individuals. At that point, they could only ensure the majority…

Realizing the situation, citizens began demanding evacuation from Capital City.

“Why can’t we leave when the transportation system in Capital City is still operational?”

“The attackers haven’t appeared; they’re not targeting ordinary people. Letting us go would facilitate the Law Enforcement Team’s actions!”

“What is the government’s plan? Is it just to have us wait here?”

“Don’t think you can silence us! Isn’t it the Law Enforcement Team’s responsibility to protect citizens?”

“Let us leave! Let us leave!”

…

The voices of doubt grew louder, and more people wanted to leave. After exchanging views with companions, the trench-coat-clad player said, “The interference device is affecting us. We can currently only establish a teleport point at the edge of Capital City. Evacuation must proceed from outside in. Everyone, please be patient and do not interfere with law enforcers maintaining order.”

In the sky, an Enforcer team player was stationed every few hundred meters. These individuals were not only searching for attackers potentially hiding among ordinary people but also exerting pressure on the general public. With such dense crowds, any stampede would be disastrous.

Of course, citizens were somewhat appeased by the Enforcer team’s explanations, since evacuation requires time, and Capital City’s crisis seemed to have been resolved. Many people were using terminals to capture images of the sky, in the meantime, the city, which had been slowly descending, had been dismantled by nearly half.

“The attackers haven’t moved,” Zhou Juanjuan was uneasy. At this point, they found it challenging to evacuate. Running out might result in being swiftly dealt with by Enforcer team players, but evidently, those who dropped such a large city didn’t intend for the District Government to dismantle it bit by bit.

Levi seemed to share this thought and was about to speak when Xu Huo abruptly exclaimed, “They’re here!”

What’s here?

Both immediately looked up and saw a semi-transparent airwave rushing in from one side of the city, as if a strong wind had blown through. Instantly, the entire city shook, waves of doors and windows rippled from east to west. Even the Enforcer team members stationed at high altitudes were pushed back by the force.

But the airwave only affected the space above twenty meters. Xu Huo’s group was positioned higher and also impacted. Fortunately, the windows and doors of the Eternal Star Hotel were sturdy, preventing any flying glass.

And just as the airwave passed by them, the city suspended in the sky began to plummet rapidly. Meanwhile, an Enforcer team player flew out backward, and a figure that had appeared unnoticed stood inverted atop the descending city structure. The pale, weak-looking man gazed down at the myriad of faces below. As his gaze darkened, the remaining city shattered into countless pieces simultaneously, shooting across various parts of the city!

In what seemed like punishment for the District Government’s inaction, the remaining half of the collapsing city exploded chaotically. At such speeds, even the falling rubble was deadly, let alone the meteor-sized flying building fragments and metal-built underground foundations.

A random massacre appeared imminent, as citizens screamed in terror, some engaging in pushing and shoving. But the Enforcer team players did not intervene with them. Except for those pursuing the pale man, the rest returned to the city. Simultaneously, multiple openings emerged on the city’s ground, and metallic objects flew out one after another. These metallic rains halted at a hundred meters above ground and rapidly extended, forming a massive metal shield in the air!

Excluding excessively tall buildings, the metal shield almost covered the sky above Capital City entirely. This scale of defense rendered ordinary interference devices ineffective unless players directly destroyed the shield.

In truth, as soon as the high-altitude barrier was set up, the attackers launched their actions. Explosions and flames were frequently erupting in various locations, high-rises were collapsing block by block, and in some places, even ground fissures were emerging…

In nearly an instant, screams and cries for help drowned out everything in the city. Although Enforcer team players were acting as swiftly as possible, faced with these unpredictable ambushes, they couldn’t guarantee everyone’s safety and could only seal or protect areas where attacks were severe.

It’s unclear how the District Government arranged things, as there seem to be few exceptionally skilled players in Capital City. The pale-faced man not only evaded numerous attackers but also sliced through the metal shield with one sword—yes, directly sliced through it, cleaving the entire city, including the Eternal Star Hotel and some landmark buildings, in half!

The ground where the Eternal Star Hotel stood didn’t experience fissures; it remained stable. Even if sliced, the building wouldn’t collapse immediately. But at this moment, the pale man landed on the hotel’s rooftop, and under the pressure, the building started to tilt toward the crowded street!

“Ahhh!” The crowd erupted in a new wave of screams, as besides the yet-to-fall building, the sky saw countless stones crashing down. It seemed the previous wave of debris had been suspended in mid-air, fully descending only after the metal barrier vanished!

As the pale man’s body tilted along with the descending building, he indifferently watched the faces below twist, waiting for the moment of bloodshed. Yet suddenly, the building’s tilt halted, diagonally wedged in mid-air, as if blocked by an invisible wall.

His eyeballs shifted down, seeing a man standing a few meters above the crowd.

“You’re not from Zone 022, why stop me?” The pale man asked.

Xu Huo stood with Bo Chunfeng and the two families behind him and didn’t answer the man’s question but countered, “Does killing these ordinary people have any meaning?”

The pale man surprisingly sighed, “Meaning? Then you should ask Zone 022 why they plundered my homeland along with fugitive allies, slaughtering even children.”

“My district, my homeland, my family, all obliterated by Zone 022, and yet they live so happily. Why?”

Xu Huo didn’t dwell on the issue, nor did he react to approaching Enforcer team players, but pressed on, “Are you certain it was Zone 022?”

“The victims aren’t confined to one district,” the pale man gazed at him, “Everyone who came today survived Zone 022’s persecution.”

“Utter nonsense!” A middle-aged man with severe injuries approached, shouting, “You band of fugitives commit atrocities everywhere, burning and looting shamelessly, yet dare to fabricate such excuses!”