Chapter 549: The Unyielding Assault

Previously, Lu Xin and the others had learned from the intelligence shared by Black Jack that Heichao City had no genuine Special Cleaning Department.

They managed ability users by herding them, using these individuals to handle Special Pollution—or even assimilating them as part of their own power. However, they were unclear about the exact herding method until now, when they saw these people with collars around their necks. That’s when they began to understand the basic principle behind this strategy…

Every person with a collar around their neck is an ability user.

Lu Xin didn’t know how they first managed to put the collars on the ability users, but when he looked at these people he could feel an unusual hollowness in their spirits—a sense of illusory desolation with the aura of Black Grass.

It was clear that this controlling method was inseparable from Black Grass.

From this, one could imagine why Heichao City’s operation ultimately failed.

They used Black Grass to control the ability users, driving them around like dogs…

But they hadn’t anticipated that this time, the monster they faced could actually command these mentally tainted entities influenced by Black Grass.

Of course, this also required cooperation from personnel in Heichao City’s Administrative Main Hall.

They had already formed their own unique system and culture, training ability users to develop strong individual styles.

They even managed to crawl while running…

……

“Humm…”

Battle allowed no distractions, yet Lu Xin’s mind wandered as he silently critiqued others.

This led to a terrifying mental impact surging into his brain before he could even react.

It happened so abruptly that Lu Xin barely had time to register it.

It wasn’t that Lu Xin stood still and let his opponent unleash their power; rather, under the influence of a certain ability, a group of Heichao City ability users who had been advancing suddenly had one materialize right in front of him in a jarring blink.

His vision distorted, as if some power were creating an illusion that warped his sight.

He assumed his opponent was still far away, but in truth, the adversary had reached him and unleashed their ability.

This was the result of a fascinating synergy among ability users.

It was only at that moment that Lu Xin realized he was facing more than a dozen ability users at once.

……

……

“Swish, swish, swish…”

Lu Xin heard a sound akin to a sponge being squeezed, water spurting out rapidly.

At the same time, his brain felt as if it were quickly ensnared by the mental force surging into his mind, constricting his perception and thought into a tangled mess, robbing him of normal cognition and reaction.

What kind of ability was this?

Lu Xin had no idea; in that brief moment, he wasn’t allowed the luxury of careful reasoning or perception.

Thus, before his mind was overwhelmed by the invading mental force and its crushing contraction, he managed, in that fleeting instant, to coolly glance at an ability user about four or five meters ahead of him.

The distorted force field that had just been released around him snapped shut like an advancing tide.

With a sharp “Shh” sound,

that ability user—and the one rushing in behind him—were both struck by the powerful mental impact.

The ability user who had already activated his power and successfully seized Lu Xin’s brain instantly froze in place.

Soon after, the flesh and blood on his body began to disintegrate and scatter, pooling at his feet in a burst of bright red.

Lu Xin couldn’t immediately decipher the logic behind his opponent’s ability or formulate a proper countermeasure.

But in that split second, he managed to eliminate the man.

Not only was that ability user taken care of, but the two behind him—caught on the fringes of the mental impact—had half of their bodies instantly transformed into dismembered flesh.

The bloody, brutal scene instilled a palpable terror in everyone who witnessed it.

Yet the Heichao City ability users, as if spurred on by the sight of blood, erupted into a frenzy.

Two individuals of extraordinary speed raced along the ground, their bodies twisting unnaturally. They quickly outpaced the others and flanked Lu Xin, seizing his arms.

“Crack, crack, crack…”

After grabbing Lu Xin’s arms, accompanied by the sound of twisting bones, their bodies coiled around him.

Though they were two living men, they wrapped around Lu Xin like coiled ropes in an instant.

Every joint in their bodies contorted in defiance of normal limits.

Like shackles or locks, they clamped tightly around Lu Xin’s waist and joints.

At that moment, another Heichao City ability user charged from the east, his figure twisting eerily as he veered aside.

As he lunged at Lu Xin, his back was empty—but as his body shifted, it was as if the very background tore open, revealing a massive armored vehicle. On it, three Multi-barrel Rotary Guns, emanating a chilling aura.

“Woooo…”

Without hesitation, the rotary gun sprang into action, spewing out a twenty-centimeter-long serpent of flame.

The air filled with the pungent smell of gunpowder as dense bullets vibrated the atmosphere around Lu Xin.

……

……

“This isn’t good…”

From inside a nearby building, Han Bing couldn’t help but exclaim.

Since she wasn’t an ability user, she couldn’t gauge their combat as precisely.

To her, the skirmish between Lu Xin and the first ability user looked like the opponent charged straight at Lu Xin, did nothing, and was then viciously shredded by his mental impact—dragging along the two behind him in a gruesome finale.

But now, she understood.

Whether it was the two spider-type ability users wrapping around Lu Xin or the assault by the three multi-barrel rotary guns, it was all crystal clear.

At the cost of the lives of two spider-type ability users, Lu Xin was bound and then pelted by machine gun fire.

The roaring bullets, their heavy and resounding noise, were synonymous with death for ordinary people.

She had never doubted Lu Xin’s strength.

Yet in her memory, she had never seen him display the kind of brute force needed to fend off a multi-barrel rotary gun with his own body.

There were rumors in the Special Cleaning Department that, not long after joining, Lu Xin had once used his telekinesis to fend off a hail of bullets during an attack by the Qin Ran Knight Orders, saving Section Chief Chen’s life. But such things are hard to believe without witnessing them firsthand.

What she saw with her own eyes was that during a meal earlier, Lu Xin had simply set aside a bottle cap that he hadn’t even unscrewed.

Now, trapped by the two spider-type ability users with nowhere to dodge, how could he possibly counter the onslaught of the three death-dealing rotary guns?

……

……

As the swarm of bullets converged like a buzzing wasp around him, Lu Xin was lost in thought.

“They’ve wrapped their bodies around me, letting the bullets roar by. Do they want to die alongside me?”

He glanced down at the two spider-type ability users on either side, feeling the fragility of life.

A twitch contorted the corners of his mouth unnaturally as he bent down sharply, carrying the two attackers with him.

He reached for the densely laid stone slabs and forcefully heaved them up.

During the process, a faint trace of black particles appeared in his pupils, and the sticky sensation of the surrounding air intensified several times over—as if a shroud of dark, eerie mist had wrapped itself around his body.

With a sudden snapping sound,

thanks to his wide range of motion, the two spider-type attackers, which clung to him like ropes, were torn apart by his struggle.

Blood spatters flew tens of meters away while the sound of breaking bones resounded unmistakably even amid the roaring bullets.

“Clatter…”

At the same time, Lu Xin managed to heave up a slab of ground roughly three to four meters wide and two to three meters long.

This surface was composed of thick, multi-centimeter blue stone blocks cemented together.

Yet Lu Xin lifted an enormous slab that served as a makeshift shield before him.

Bullets whistled past, striking the stone shield and instantly shredding it apart.

When the debris settled and the smoke cleared, there were only two heaps of mangled flesh left on the spot—Lu Xin was nowhere to be seen.

The three ability users behind the multi-barrel rotary guns froze, their violent expressions momentarily giving way to a deadlock of ferocity.

But moments later, they heard heavy breathing from behind.

Someone reacted with astounding speed, drawing a dagger from between his legs and viciously lunging forward.

“Ka!”

His dagger halted mid-air as if it were frozen, unable to proceed an inch further.

In the next instant, his body twisted, collapsed, and contorted into a compact mass.

Along with two others assigned to shooting, they were all bound into a meatball by some unseen force and then flung far away.

Lu Xin stood behind the three multi-barrel rotary guns, his gaze fixed steadily upon them.

With a resounding crash,

it was as if an invisible hand had lifted the rotary guns’ backplates, angling their muzzles forward.

In the very next moment, tongues of flame burst forth as a dense hail of bullets erupted.

On the plaza, more than a dozen ability users surged toward Lu Xin in a variety of forms.

Even the three multi-barrel rotary guns couldn’t stop the bizarrely swift advance of over a dozen ability users.

But as Lu Xin raised his head to look at them, unseen ripples spread out, slowing their movements; even the illusions some of them had summoned were gradually dissolving, as if being erased from a canvas…

It was as if these illusory abilities had been painted over reality with a thin layer.

Ability users could paint whatever they wished on this canvas to replace reality.

But before Lu Xin’s eyes, those canvases were fading, becoming lighter, transparent, and eventually disappearing altogether.

Their figures slowed; the illusions were no more.

Thus, these ability users were forced to stare, wide-eyed, directly at the gun that spewed out flames.

……

……

“Huff huff huff…”

The sound of bullets firing no longer rang crisp; it resembled the roar of a sweeping gale.

On the plaza, torn clumps of flesh erupted in torrents.

Those affected by Lu Xin’s distorted force field slowed down, and the abilities they unleashed were so thoroughly diluted by the overwhelming mental force of the Heichao City ability users that they became nothing more than living targets before the three multi-barrel rotary guns…

Clumps of flesh exploded, life reduced to a series of gaping wounds…

Lu Xin simply watched indifferently as these bursts of flesh blossomed, while the rotary guns in front of him continued their relentless barrage.

It was only after the bullets were completely expended that

he slowly turned his head and continued walking deeper into the plaza.

……

……

Upstairs in the company building, Gecko, Han Bing, and the others leaned against the window, dazedly watching the plaza below.

They observed as Lu Xin advanced step by step, noting that there weren’t exactly any survivors—

rather, not a single complete corpse remained.

……

……

“Where on earth could they be?”

“Now that it’s come to this, there’s no need to hide, right?”

“Just now your tone was so fierce—why are you hiding now…?”

“……”

Amidst the shattered, blood-soaked remnants, Lu Xin walked slowly on the stone slab ground. Weaving his way through scattered steel saws, rusted swords, flying knives, and severed intestines, a smile gradually spread across his face as he murmured quietly.

His voice carried an odd delight, reminiscent of an adult playing hide-and-seek with children.

“Hiding won’t do you any good…”

“Be good…”

Card previews are coming online!! The Queen who once scared the artists is about to arrive!

.la After more than two grueling months of hard work by Old Ghost and the artists, the card set for “Red Moon” is finally launching!

It was mostly the artists slaving away while Old Ghost pointed out every flaw.

Truth be told, that feeling of being butchered by the client back then has finally been vented.

I just want a kaleidoscope of black, why so serious?

Just kidding—Old Ghost isn’t that picky. All I want is the pure black created by red mixed with yellow, purple, and blue.

In short, a batch of high-quality cards is finally ready for everyone.

The characters were chosen by me, Operations Officer Xiao Yu, and the decorative Gege from our team—there’s the hot-tempered, righteous Lu Xin; the affable and reliable Father; the cute, kind Sister; the gentle and reasonable Mom; of course, the perfect Doll; Leader Chen Jing; as well as Xia Chong, Gecko, Han Bing, Old Director, and the once most adorable Queen.

(The Queen’s artwork is so stunning that rumor has it the starter artists were moved to tears upon seeing her.)

They say others’ card sets strive for cuteness and beauty, but we don’t. We want to terrify our readers… no, rather, we want them to vividly feel the lifelike presence of our characters and reminisce about them in dreams.

(??? — a kindly smiling face)

Besides the cards, Old Ghost also penned a side story that interacts with certain parts of the main text; it will be released for everyone soon.

Finally, the set goes live tonight at midnight—don’t miss it!

P.S. The first person to pull a Queen is welcome to report back so everyone can have a look at your pitiable self.

(Another kindly smiling face)

Lastly, thanks to [Red Moon Supervisors—A Zhi], thanks to [Character Meow], thanks to [Dou Miao], thanks to [Bigcats], thanks to [Exhausted Rabbit Head], thanks to [Ji Ji], thanks to [Tu Tu], thanks to [Wang Wang], thanks to [Yuan Yuan], and to the lovely [Vice President]—and the graceful, sweet-voiced, talented, gentle, and sensible [Xiao Ming Younger Sister].

A few among them were too embarrassed to admit they were the ones who cried.

.la