Chapter 1073: Chapter 1073

The collapsed public bus lies horizontally across the stone road, its front engine smashed into a nearby stone wall, causing a dent in both the engine and wall, and has ceased operation, while the gas bag filled with flammable gas also shows a slight depression.

Fortunately, the gas bag did not leak or explode.

However, beside the public bus, a street lamp has been knocked down, and a small amount of toxic gas is leaking from the broken shaft of the lamp post.

All the surrounding street lamps have been extinguished, as if the air intake ports of this area have been shut off, but the gas inside the pipes continues to seep out.

The public bus seemed to have lost control and hit the wall, which then caused it to tip over.

Next to the still-rotating wheels of the bus, a female warrior with a bronze sword at her waist holds a small glass oil lamp, looking down at the corpse on the ground dressed in grey-brown clothing.

There are no wounds on the corpse; his eyes are wide open, gazing ahead as if he had been intently watching the road in front of him in his last moment.

"He was a diligent man."

Ruilin covers the corpse’s eyes with her hand, closes his eyelids, and sighs softly.

Then she lifts the oil lamp, illuminating the collapsed public bus beside her.

As soon as she arrived, she checked the bus compartment, which was empty, but she still instinctively lit up the compartment.

An unconscious fantasy that a reckless little girl would touch her head and crawl out of the compartment.

But all she got in response was a silent darkness.

She took a light breath, set down the oil lamp again. She knew she was a warrior; no matter the situation, she had to stay calm, even if the victim of this incident was her only relative.

"So, what is your judgment?"

Meanwhile, from the depths of darkness nearby, came a calm inquiry.

Ruilin lifts her oil lamp, shining it into the night.

The dim, faint light gradually dispels the darkness, revealing a neatly-dressed figure leaning against the wall.

At this moment, he is crossing his arms, calmly gazing at Ruilin.

"What are you trying to say?"

Staring at this man, who seemed devilish, Ruilin took a deep breath.

"You have the answer in your heart,"

He Ao calmly looked at her, "If you truly despised me in the bottom of your heart, you would not have waited so long to report it to the Ordinance Department, nor would you have let me accompany you to this scene."

Ruilin looked at the figure in front of her, slightly pursed her lips, but said no more. However, the flickering light from her trembling hand revealed that her emotions were not as calm as she appeared.

For a moment, she felt as if she was not conversing with the mysterious young man before her, but with herself. She took several deep breaths, shaking her head vigorously.

She took a few more deep breaths, trying to calm her emotions. After a while, she seemed to regain her "calm."

He Ao leaned against the edge of the wall, calmly watching the female warrior before him.

Ruilin no longer let herself look towards He Ao, instead withdrawing her gaze and looking down at the corpse in front of her, as if speaking to He Ao, but also to herself, "They encountered a Variant..."

"This road’s Variant,"

In the quiet of the night, a calm voice spoke, "When I arrived, I took care of it."

Ruilin looked up, intending to question him, but then she remembered the unfounded Variant reports they chased today, which were all around this area.

She opened her mouth, then slowly closed it again, and then she lowered her head, pursed her lips silently, gazing at the corpse on the ground.

Then she slightly opened her mouth, asking softly, "Do you think there’s a possibility that a Variant might leave a corpse uneaten?"

Having asked this, she shook her head violently, as if she felt she had been foolish.

As the most senior Variant expert in the Ordinance Department, she should not—and did not need to—ask others.

She had her own answer in her heart.

And the figure in the darkness did not answer her question, but said calmly, "Riley is not dead."

Ruilin suddenly stood up, directing the light towards the figure in the depths of darkness, a look of surprise and anticipation spreading across her cheeks.

Immediately, she raised the lamp, scanning the surroundings,

But the response to her was still only the silent darkness.

Turning back, she gazed at that figure, "Do you know where Riley is?"

"Did someone from ’above’ come down today?"

He Ao slowly straightened his body, gazing at the female warrior in front of him.

In that instant, Ruilin’s expression subtly changed.

The night breeze blew between the two, tossing the warrior’s strands of hair.

After what seemed like an eternity, she lifted her head to gaze at He Ao, bit her teeth slightly, and quickly said, "I’ll take you to see the High Priest."

He Ao calmly gazed at her, "The night is long and full of dreams. Some people must be growing impatient."

Deep, dark stairways extend all the way to the deepest part of the underground, the concrete walls on either side giving off a slightly damp aura.

A doll-like girl dressed as a maid slowly descends these stairs, step by step, reaching the very bottom of the stairwell.

An old iron door, now silently standing at the end of this staircase, also stands in front of the doll-like girl.

Gazing at this old iron door, the maid doll slowly stretches out her hand to grab the handle fixed to the iron door, gently pushing it forward.

With a loud sound, the entire iron door trembled in this instant, and then, the door began to warp and deform.

The old iron door, as if pressed by a hydraulic press of hundreds of tons, deformed like fragile paper, then bit by bit was forcefully pushed open.

And the maid doll just stood there, hand on the door handle, gently pushing forward as if simply opening a normal door.

Soon, the entire door was fully opened, revealing the room inside.

A faint light shone from the top of the room, illuminating the densely packed bright red pipes and the figure sitting amidst the pipes, barely alive.

City of Rong Guang·Ordinance Department

He Ao stood once again in front of the stone sculpture of ’K’, looking sideways at the sculpture.

"Do you also know ’K’?"

Ruilin stood behind him, somewhat confused.

He Ao withdrew his gaze, lifted his foot, and started to ascend the steps in front of the Ordinance Department, Shadowless Sword following behind him.

At this moment, noticing his arrival, a crowd quickly surged out from the Ordinance Department.

They held various weapons; leading them was a man in a blue robe holding a silver Magic Wand, followed by figures in neat, standard uniforms, and at the last, people dressed in brownish-gray garments like Ruilin.

Behind the blue-robed figure were three figures bound by chains.

They were Ruilin’s three teammates; the armored man was stripped of his armor, the rifleman had lost his rifle, and the one with the net had lost his net.

A fierce shout came from behind them.

But the three did not move an inch.

The man in blue robes lowered his head, glanced at He Ao standing at the bottom of the stairs, then shifted his gaze to Ruilin, "Ruilin, you found a Variant mutation, did not report it, that constitutes betrayal. Now, for the glory of ’Destroyer K’, you still have a chance to prove your loyalty,"

His gaze shifted to He Ao standing in front of Ruilin, "Draw your sword and kill this man who has threatened the order of this city."

Seeing this scene, Ruilin, initially somewhat stunned, now reacted, lifting her head to look at the man in the blue robe, bit her teeth, "Get out of the way! I don’t care about the power you desire, just let my people go."

"Power? What right do you have to fight me for power? Have you ever seen livestock contend for power with their owner?"

The blue-robed figure smiled, stepped aside, and looked at He Ao, "But since you’re unwilling to strike this man, it seems you really don’t care about your subordinates."

The three members of Ruilin’s team were kicked directly at the back of their knees, their bodies uncontrollably kneeling down.

They immediately attempted to rise, at this moment, several strong men walked over and pressed down on their shoulders.

The one who previously held the rifle struggled briefly without success, then he lifted his head, looked at Ruilin, and shouted,

"Captain, don’t listen to him, I’ve long found these Ordinance Department bastards intolerable, Ordinance, Ordinance, they themselves do not abide by the Ordinance!

"They claim to be the administrators of this city, but everyone in this city works fifteen or sixteen hours a day without a chance to breathe, they don’t see that, but if you say one wrong word, they want to kill you!

"We’ve been their lapdogs all these years, everyone knows it, there are no such things as Variants, all Variants are transformed from humans, they are too tired, we are all too tired..."

His voice grew louder, and the crowd at the doorway fell into silence.

The strong man beside him immediately reached out to cover his mouth.

"Captain, should we kill him?"

Almost at that instant, the previously silent armored strong man opened his mouth and roared loudly, "Let these bastards see that we are no cowards! Uh—"

His mouth was covered too.

And the voice of the restraining web beside also opened mouth, but before he could speak, his mouth was covered as well.

Ruilin, standing below, gazed at everything, gripping the hilt of her sword tightly.

"A bunch of livestock, scum,"

The man in the blue robe stood in front of the crowd, spitting, "I advised the High Priest not to admit you into the Ordinance Department, but he did not listen. You people, born without deserving your power, should remain livestock generation after generation."

He glanced at Ruilin below, then his gaze fell on He Ao, sneering, "But since you refuse to repent, you might as well go to hell along with this freak from who knows where."

He looked at the strong men behind him.

These strong men held three people firmly, while some others brought up three big sabers, raising the blades towards their necks.

At the same time, the crowd standing at the door took out their guns, aiming at He Ao and Ruilin below.

The strong man holding the machete raised it high.

The blue-robed man raised his Magic Wand and shouted loudly, "Kill them!"

With a loud bang, the blue-robed man’s head was grasped by a large hand and smashed into the ground.

The three swords of beheading were directly shattered.

The strong men who had restrained the three were blown away by the incoming blast of air.

The three, bewildered, looked up to see the young man who had appeared in front of them in almost an instant.

"How dare you do this to me,"

At this moment, the blue-robed man whose head He Ao had smashed into the ground stood up, his heavily muscled body bulging out, exuding a powerful and intimidating aura.

At this moment, the three members of Ruilin’s squad, the nearby subordinates surrounding them, and Ruilin, who had rushed up from below, watched this scene dumbfounded, feeling the terrifying power emanating, and for a moment, they all lost their voices.

It turns out humans really can possess such immense power.

The blue-robed man tore his robe, raised his muscular palms, looked at He Ao, and dashed towards him in anger, "I will chop you into pieces—"

An invisible sword blade instantly sliced off his head, halting his words.

The heavy body fell backward, hitting the ground with a thunderous noise, eyes wide, the head flew off, bouncing and rolling down the stairs.

He Ao retracted his Shadowless Sword.

An inferior C-level, so much fuss.

At this moment, Ruilin also finally reached the stairs; she stood beside He Ao, looking at the corpse on the ground.

The oppressive aura that the blue-robed man had radiated, which seemed to make her unable to breathe, still seemed to linger around her, but in just a moment, it turned into a lifeless body.

She turned her head, looking at the young man who had acted without even sparing a glance for the blue-robed man, and swallowed.

At that moment, He Ao’s calm voice rang in her ear.

She took a deep breath, collected herself, and nodded.

"Then, lead the way."

He Ao took a step, leaping over the wide door, and entered the grand hall of the Ordinance Department Hall.

Shadowless Sword transformed into a streak of light, charging towards those who pointed their guns at him.

Ruilin lifted her head and looked towards the majestic and magnificent gate.

She had never walked through this door before.

Then, she lifted her feet and followed them inside.

"No way, is that person... really that awesome?"

Behind her, three shaken figures gazed at the corpses on the ground, whispering softly.

"We were actually thinking about capturing him."

"It’s really like a mosquito daring to bite a frog, too bold for their own good."

"What shall we do next?"

"What do you mean what? Follow the captain and kick their ass!"

"People die and face the sky; they’ll live forever and ever!"

"How do you have so many ready-made expressions?"

The three immediately got up and picked up the broken knives from the ground.

But when they turned around, all they saw were corpses everywhere.

Blood had nearly stained the entire hall red, with scattered firearms mixed in the blood, covering the ground.

Some figures in gray-brown clothes stood in horror at the edge of these corpses, at a loss.

These people were from the Variant Handling Department and were once Ruilin’s supporters who had been disarmed by the man in the blue robe, asked to follow at the end to see him ’kill the chicken to scare the monkeys.’

The man with a musket reached out, picked up the firearms from the pool of blood, and then handed one to each of the two beside him.

"How do we use this thing?"

The armored man took the gun, looking puzzled.

"I’ll teach you later."

The musket man picked up a few more guns from the pool of blood and walked briskly to the people at the edge of the hall, handing the guns he had in his hands to the person on the outer edge.

The person was stunned at first, then instinctively shrank back.

The musket man gazed at his ’former colleague’ in front of him, holding the gun, and handed it over calmly, saying, "Do you want to be a ’livestock’ forever, or do you want to be human? Even if just for a few minutes."

The man lowered his head, looked at the gun in the musket man’s hand, and finally reached out to grasp the gun.

The musket man passed out the guns he had to the rest, and behind him, the crowd began to walk into the pool of blood, picking up the guns.

Two levels underground

"That is the High Priest’s office; he hardly ever leaves there."

Standing in the pool of blood, Ruilin raised her hand and pointed towards a door deep in the corridor.

He Ao let Shadowless Sword hover behind him and walked step by step towards the depths of the corridor.

Ruilin followed him, somewhat silent.

After a moment, she slowly spoke up, "How did the man in blue know I let you go? The bartender is also one of ours; she’s not good at communicating, but she wouldn’t betray me."

"There’s surveillance in the hall."

At this moment, He Ao had already reached the office door and casually said.

He Ao looked up at the tiny opening at the top of the door and showed a slight smile.

Then he placed his hand on the doorknob, gently twisted it, and pushed the door open.