Chapter 278: One Sings, Another Takes the Stage

"Scary, scary. Young people these days really aren't easy to fool."

The middle-aged man muttered, still maintaining that hands-up surrender posture, but his body's surface had already been covered in a thick layer of deep brown curse power, and the muscles in his arms bulged and swelled like rocks, yet carried a texture akin to flowing quicksand.

He complained, "I knew this money wouldn't be easy to earn. If I actually beat up or seriously injured a genius like this, the elders back at her family would definitely come after me, right?"

"Oh dear, little sister, how about we fight, but neither of us goes all out? Just go through the motions, that's enough..."

Luo Xi crouched low, like a spirited little wolf: "No way! I'm going to beat you to a pulp and prove my strength to everyone!"

But the very next moment.

The two who were about to make their moves both halted simultaneously, then turned their heads in unison to look into the distance.

What they saw was...

Two kilometers away.

The massive research institute, a symbol of modern civilization, had its surface structure reduced to a cloud of powder in an instant.

It was as if it had been sliced apart by countless fine, razor-sharp slashes, or as if it had been completely eroded away by something with terrifying corrosive power.

Only two figures, no larger than ordinary humans, remained at that location. Carrying an overwhelming presence that was impossible to ignore, they suddenly shot up into the sky, colliding continuously against each other.

Tide-like waves of curse power fluctuations accompanied the exchange of spells, as glaring as the sun itself in the perception of every superhuman in the vicinity.

"They really are existences like natural disasters."

The middle-aged man looked at that horrifying destructive power and couldn't help but sigh, "I wonder if my employer will still settle my final payment..."

"How about we really don't fight after all?"

His response came in the form of an incredibly sharp, massive wolf claw formed entirely from storms, composed of curse power.

............ 

On the other side.

Yan Jing let out a thunderous shout, the wooden sword inscribed with the character "Lake" tracing a semicircular arc through the air.

Azure-blue curse power surged out from the blade like a rushing tide, transforming into a fierce, enormous water blade that cleanly split the dark-red fireball from the enemy before him in two. The collision of water and fire evaporated a massive cloud of white steam.

Yan Jing seized the opportunity to retreat half a step, gazing at the two figures in the sky that were like walking calamities, a mixture of intense envy and pride flashing through his eyes.

This was the contemporary strongest of the Sixth Division.

Also the contemporary strongest of Wind Capital.

But the next moment.

Static suddenly crackled through the communication channel.

"Situation at Fengyi Road in the West District!"

"Situation at Changqing Road in the Northern Suburbs!"

...........

Throughout every corner of Wind Capital, those latent pawns that had been lying in wait began, predictably, to erupt amidst the chaos.

At the entrance of a commercial street in the Northern District.

A man in a jacket with bloodshot eyes suddenly began shouting wildly, seemingly having completely lost his sanity.

"Hmm ah ah ah!!"

He slammed his hands onto the ground. Earth-yellow curse power surged through his arms into the earth beneath. The asphalt road instantly undulated like ocean waves, thick soil and rock bursting upward as if alive. Several cars parked on the roadside were lifted high into the air, about to crash down onto the crowd taking shelter from the rain nearby.

Shhk —

In that instant, two operatives in Sixth Division uniforms descended from the sky.

One swung a water-blue whip that coiled around the falling cars like a spiritual serpent, while the other unhesitatingly slammed a heavy punch into the back of the jacket-wearing man's neck.

The earth-yellow glow instantly dispersed, and the churning ground settled back down.

East District.

Outside an electrical substation.

Several mutant flying birds with fleshy wings had just attempted to dive and destroy the power grid when they were riddled with holes by several precise beams of golden curse power in mid-air, turning into showers of blood mist as they fell.

Southern suburbs, northern suburbs...

Within the blink of an eye, over a dozen supernatural incidents were breaking out across the entire span of Wind Capital.

Yet it all seemed to be well within the Sixth Division's expectations.

These attacks were clearly sudden and unexpected, yet the responses were executed as if they had been rehearsed in advance, arriving at a degree of timeliness that bordered on the uncanny.

Wind Capital was so vast that, by conventional reasoning, plugging every gap should have been nearly impossible. Merely defending should have been enough to exhaust them.

And yet...

This very thing that defied common sense was happening.

At this moment, inside the Sixth Division Headquarters of Wind Capital, Qin Shengshi sat before a massive screen. One hand held a bloodstained handkerchief, her right eye closed, while her left eye stared at the computer monitor.

Through her closed right eye, she was currently observing everything through the superhuman perspective of the [Siren's Eye].

The entire city transformed within her mind into an abstract, sensory tableau—blurry and indistinct, yet with faint veins and pathways barely discernible.

Then...

Following that special perception that steered her toward fortune and away from disaster, she began commanding the entire operation.

"Unit B3, proceed to the intersection of Xiangya North Road and Jianli Road."

"Unit C4, Mida Grand Hotel."

"Unit A7, Fandou Garden."

Her speech was incredibly fast, nearly overlapping with itself, yet each instruction reached the ears of the respective action squads.

It was like a chessboard.

With Qin Shengshi commanding from the center, the Sixth Division's operatives struck with the force of thunder, suppressing the disturbances across every region.

In this era where laws were restricted, the terrifying strength and deep reserves displayed by the Sixth Division were in no way inferior to any century-old established faction.

However, the enemy likewise displayed reserves capable of temporarily matching the current Sixth Division.

New supernatural attacks continued to spring up everywhere like flowers blooming across the land, and among them were no shortage of genuinely dangerous ones.

Within mere minutes, many squads had already fallen into arduous battles.

............

And at this moment.

On the elevated highway bridge.

Chen Yujie stood barefoot on her surfboard, one hand shielding her eyes like a visor, watching the terrifying spectacle and curse power fluctuations brought by the clash of those two figures beneath the churning dark clouds in the distance. She couldn't help but let out a whistle:

"As expected of the Deputy Chief. Quite the extravagant display..."

"Hm?"

She turned her head, sensing something.

There, at the other end of the elevated bridge, a figure holding a long sword was slowly walking toward her.

The light was dim, making it impossible to discern the newcomer's features clearly.

But the curse power fluctuations emanating from their body rose up faintly, tearing and churning the surrounding air, carrying an indescribable sense of oppression.

Chen Yujie's gaze sharpened abruptly.

Without an actual exchange, it was hard to gauge the exact level.

But at the very least, this was mid-second Energy Level... which is to say, the standard of a first-grade sorcerer.

She murmured, "Finally, some real work."

Her grip tightened around the long-handled harpoon.

The next instant, azure-blue curse power surged out from within her—

Then transformed into endless torrents of water, erupting violently like a high-pressure water cannon!

In that instant, she stepped on her surfboard and, riding the massive thrust, shot toward that figure like she was surfing atop a giant wave.

"Let big sister see what you're made of!"

Clang—!!

A deafening metallic impact tore through the night wind.

The harpoon in Chen Yujie's hand, carrying raging currents of water, slammed heavily against the long sword that the other party raised to block.

Water-blue curse power clashed violently against the silver-gray radiance surging from the opponent's blade.

In that instant, countless water droplets formed from curse power sprayed outward alongside sharp sword light, riddling everything in the vicinity with countless holes.

The opponent remained rooted in place.

Using nothing but that heavy silver-gray curse power and the nameless cursed artifact long sword in their hand, they absorbed her ferocious assault completely, showing no signs of being pushed back in the slightest.

And in that moment, Chen Yujie's pupils suddenly contracted.

"...!!"

Not only because the person before her was unexpectedly powerful, with herself subtly on the losing end.

But also because, at this close-combat distance, she finally got a clear look at the opponent's face.

It was the face of a middle-aged man.

"You're—"