Chapter 610.2: The Dawn After The Long Night

Their eyes met.

Gale chuckled, “Looks like it’s not a bug.”

“Mm, it’s still a bit different from what happened with Falling Feather. This guy just didn’t die completely, it’s not like he died and came back.” Ample Time nodded.

Gale raised an eyebrow. “So... Do we need to finish him off?”

Ample Time chuckled, “Tsk, even though that brat’s smug face after getting lucky is pretty irritating, for the sake of our amazing relationship as his father, let’s spare him this one time.”

“...”

...

The morning sun rose over the horizon. The Heart of Steel, floating above the clouds, still stood tall and unmoving.

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

At exactly 8:00 in the morning, its cannons thundered.

After resting through the night, the corps deployed across Brocade Lake Municipality launched a fierce assault on the Champion Biopharmaceutical Research Institute under the cover of horrifying levels of bombardment.

Explosions roared across the concrete ruins, and the surface bunkers the Qi Tribe had piled together from garbage crumbled like paper.

Green heads cowered in the shadows of rubble, fear etched on every face.

Those weak expressions were just like the prey they used to torment.

But now, it was their turn to be hunted.

However, the New Alliance was civilized and merciful.

The great administrator did not intend to toy with the beasts tied to the execution block. The hammer of judgment would grant them an equal death.

“Advance!” Half his body poking out of the turret of a Chimera, Escaping Mole roared into his headset, giving orders to the other crews and accompanying infantry.

“All squads, push toward the research institute!”

“Show these cowards who only dare sneak attack what a real iron fist looks like!”

The players marching behind the tanks shouted in high spirits.

“GOOOOOOOO!”

“Kill!”

“Crush them!”

The 37mm cannons boomed endlessly, their pounding like war drums. Each flash from the barrels brought about a storm of blood and carnage.

Under the fierce offensive, the Qi Tribe’s street defenses tore apart like paper, riddled with holes in moments.

Listening to the deafening cannons, gunfire, and battle cries, Gomo, clad in priestly robes, stared blankly at the sky, muttering to himself. “Why... Why is it still there?!”

Last night, their chief, Qi Gaen, had led over 10,000 winged Mutant Humans in a raid against the Heart of Steel. By now, that fortress should have fallen...

Yet the bombardment that morning was no different from the day before, striking precisely overhead.

There was only one explanation...

Despair filled Gomo’s eyes. “No... this isn’t real. It must be a mistake.”

Trembling hands clutching his wrinkled face, his cracked lips rattled off the incantation Luo Qian had given him.

Soon, only he could see pale golden light shining beside him. But standing in that glow was not Luo Qian, it was an old man in exoskeleton.

His name was Arzu.

He was another person sent by the Church to replace Luo Qian, and the one who had given Gaen his Biotic Armor and command over 10,000 winged Mutant Humans.

Gomo had met him before. The moment he saw him, he cried out in panic. “What happened? Why... Why isn’t it like you said?! Why is the Heart of Steel still firing at us?!”

Arzu stared at him in silence, waited for the old creature to finish, then shifted his gaze away. “We did our best. Unfortunately, your child was a waste, he squandered our years of effort. To be frank, this trump card was meant for the sons of the Post-War Reconstruction Committee. That fool wasted it. I have nothing else to say.”

It was embarrassing indeed.

He knew the New Alliance wouldn’t be easy to deal with, but to lose against those rough-born upstarts made his face hard to keep.

All he could do was blame Luo Qian.

If he hadn’t suddenly abandoned his burden and vanished, things wouldn’t have been this messy.

Or if Arzu had commanded from the start, they wouldn’t have lost so senselessly.

A pity they couldn’t recover the remains of the Biotic Armor... Then they could’ve known exactly what happened.

Gomo couldn’t read his thoughts. Seeing Arzu’s detached manner, he thought he was trying to shrug off responsibility.

Staring at him blankly, he asked with a trembling voice, “Then... what do we do now?!”

“Now?” Arzu chuckled. “Do as you like.”

“As we please...”

Seeing him turn to leave, Gomo guessed his intent and called out in panic. “Wait! What about the Na Fruit Core? Don’t you want it?!”

At the mention of the Na Fruit Core, Arzu’s brow twitched and his face darkened.

“We would like to keep it, but the problem is, can you?”

Before he could finish, Gomo cut him off, speaking rapidly. “We haven’t lost yet! We still have people, we can still fight! As long as we keep fighting... The New Alliance is nothing!”

Even if it cost their last drop of blood! As long as one survived, the hope of reviving Singularity City would remain!

Gomo had that confidence.

Even alone, he believed he could repopulate the tribe.

Arzu looked at the twisted old man, a flicker of pity in his calm eyes.

What a wretch...

Ironically, he was one of the few lucid Mutant Humans in this absurd tribe. But one man’s clarity was useless.

He was like a gambler who had lost everything, refusing to face reality.

Thinking the old man might still have some use as a Singularity City elder, Arzu spoke casually. “If you want to live, head south. The Archbishop there will find work for you.”

Without a thought, Gomo rejected him. “No! I won’t leave! I just need you to help us...”

“Then struggle as you like.” Impatient, Arzu dropped the words and vanished silently from the empty street under Gomo’s despairing gaze...

...

The southern edge of Brocade Lake Municipality.

Three shadowy figures huddled together like rats whispering in a sewer.

There, the blasts of cannons couldn’t be heard.

Rumor had it the New Alliance had already breached the laboratory gates and were fighting the Mutant Humans inside.

But none of that mattered.

The battle’s outcome had been decided last night.

“Kill... hehe, kill...” Tang He’s twitching face murmured ceaselessly, a creepy smile plastered on it.

He was always like this. Chimo ignored him, staring instead at Arzu. “What about Luo Qian? We haven’t found him. Are we just going to retreat?”

Facing the executioner, Arzu answered calmly. “We’ve used our last trump card. We’ve lost this battle. This region will fall and it’s only a matter of time. Whether Luo Qian is found or not makes no difference.”

Chimo’s expression didn’t waver. He spoke each word coldly. “I will not forgive a traitor.”

“Then go find him. That was always your task. I only care about the final plan.” Arzu turned away, striding into a patch of shadow.

He knew the New Alliance wouldn’t stop. Once they took root in the Brocade River Province, they would push south.

And true to their nature, they would drag as many as possible onto their wagon, likely the Enterprise and the Academy too.

It was a war of faith, and a war of survival.

Until one side was annihilated, it would not end.

He would fight the Old World to the last. If those parasites still refused glorious evolution, he would send them to their deaths!

Chimo glared at Arzu’s back, then turned with clenched teeth, dragging his unstable partner the other way.

He cared nothing for the Torch Church’s plans or evolution. That wasn’t something achieved overnight.

As the blade of the Judgment Panel, his only creed was to cut down traitors to the Torch Church. He would uphold it to his last breath.

Sensing his killing aura, Tang He’s eyes burned feverishly, muttering softly, “Kill...”

He cared about nothing.

All he wanted was to slaughter everyone he laid his eyes on.