Chapter 1082: Chapter 1082

The grandiose carriage plated with gold and silver slowly traveled along the radiant streets.

A group of figures clad in grey, plain clothes followed behind the vehicle, advancing along with it.

These ’followers’ varied in size, with around seven or eight gaunt adults on either side of the vehicle, while a few equally emaciated children followed at the rear of the carriage.

A succession of such ’caravans’ took their turns, slowly moving forward.

It was at this time that the rear left side window rolled down, and a hand holding a whip extended out of the window with a piece of chocolate that had one bite taken out of it.

A gaunt middle-aged man standing next to the rear window immediately walked over, bowing his body, and held his hands cupped under the palm of the hand with the chocolate.

The extended palm slowly opened, and the bitten piece of chocolate fell into the man’s palm, as an icy voice came from within the car.

Following that, the hand retracted, and the window slowly rose.

The gaunt middle-aged man stepped back from the window; he glanced at the chocolate in his hand and then at a trash can on the edge of the street, slowly gripping the chocolate.

He turned around, preparing to walk towards the trash can.

The scent of chocolate entered his nostrils, tugging at his stomach and causing it to convulse as he slowly moved forward, his gaze naturally sweeping over the few gaunt children walking behind the carriage.

A child, who was already walking unsteadily as if about to fall at any moment, raised his head and glanced at the chocolate in the man’s hand, swallowing quickly before hurriedly averting his gaze.

The man’s gaze also quickly withdrew, still holding the chocolate as he walked straight towards the trash can.

Soon, he arrived in front of the trash can.

At this moment, however, he paused, glancing around and, after a moment’s hesitation, took out the chocolate piece from the wrapper and threw the wrapper into the trash can.

Almost the instant the wrapper fell into the trash can, the sound of a whip slashing through the air exploded on this tranquil street.

The barbed whip struck the man’s back, instantly tearing through his thin clothes, scraping open his skin, and revealing the raw, red flesh.

The man, in pain, leaned forward, falling to his knees on the ground.

"How dare you take what’s mine?!"

The icy voice rang out from inside the car.

At this time, another man, who had originally been walking at the front of the group, immediately fell to his knees, shouting loudly, "My Lord, please forgive him, he realizes his mistake. These few people haven’t had anything to eat for days; perhaps he couldn’t control himself at the sight of food."

The luxurious carriage slowly came to a halt, and a submachine gun protruded from the window, pressed against the kneeling man’s head, "Are you saying that this is my fault? You all are my livestock; I decide if you live or if you die."

He waved the gun, pointing towards the back, "Bring those little livestock over here."

A tall man dressed in white got out of the passenger seat of the carriage and brought the children to the front.

At the same time, the driver also got out of the car, gun in hand, and stood at the front of the vehicle.

The figure in the back seat picked up the submachine gun and glanced at the man who had first taken the chocolate, saying with a laugh, "You wanted to get something for them to eat?"

He raised the gun’s barrel, aiming at the trembling children, a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

"Just kill me, My Lord,"

The man who had taken the chocolate immediately rushed forward and knelt in front of the children, "It was all my doing, punish me, punish me."

At that moment, the tall man in a white shirt lifted one foot and kicked the kneeling man, sending him flying into a nearby lamppost, where he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

the figure seated in the back of the sedan swung his submachine gun, chuckling, "you’ll get your turn, one by one."

In the distance, there seemed to be a piercing alarm sounding. The figure in the back seat chuckled as he shifted the aim of his gun toward a child at the edge of the street,

"Let’s see, who shall we start with... 1, 2, 3, 4..."

The cold muzzle moved slowly over the line of trembling children, a deep chuckle emanating within the car, "Don’t squirm now, wouldn’t want to miss and mess it up,"

The children continued to shake uncontrollably.

That slender index finger was now on the trigger, "I said, don’t! Squirm!——"

A streak of light slashed across the Firmament, carrying a wild wind, and landed on the roof of the luxury sedan.

The fragile sedan was suddenly crushed under tremendous force, tearing,

along with the instantaneous sound of shattering glass, the sound of metal ripping and warping, the person inside the vehicle didn’t even have time to scream before being squished flat together with the vehicle,

The submachine gun poking out of the window tumbled to the ground, blood seeping out from the steel crevices.

The savage winds swept past the sedan, blowing nearby figures away.

"An abnormal danger has been detected——Warning——An abnormal danger has been detected——The law enforcement squad is engaging——All residents are advised to evacuate immediately——Warning——An abnormal danger has been detected——"

Rows of golden Floating War Chariots hovered in the air, rapidly approaching from all sides, aiming at the figure standing on the wrecked sedan.

He was a tall young man, wearing glasses, appearing gentle and elegant.

At this moment, the people standing nearby finally realized the danger, piercing screams suddenly rising along the street.

The crowd began to scatter and run in panic.

The sedan’s driver who had been blown away and another man, holding the children at gunpoint from the passenger seat, immediately picked up their guns, aiming at the youth still standing atop the vehicle.

But in an instant, fresh blood blossomed on their chests, and they fell backward.

The young man had not even glanced at them from beginning to end.

The man huddled beside the lamppost shakily stood up, looking towards the youth standing atop the blood and wreck, he watched as the youth raised his head, gazing towards the Floating War Chariots in the sky.

His gaze also shifted towards the Floating War Chariots, now with laser cannon ports on either side beginning to open.

The man trembled as he watched the Floating War Chariots.

He had once witnessed the might of those chariots, in just an instant, a surge of brilliance had melted and scorched dozens of fleeing people.

And that was just one Floating War Chariot.

Now, the sky was densely circled by over ten Floating War Chariots.

He wanted to warn the young man who had descended from the heavens about the dreadful chariots, but before he could speak, he saw the youth’s eyes sweep over the chariots, already brewing with fire.

In an instant, those hovering war machines, as if pierced by some invisible thread, burst one after another like a string of firecrackers and exploded into a necklace of flame-constructed pearls in the sky.

The man watched tremblingly at all of this, looking at the young man not far away, his subconscious reaction was to kneel.

And in that instant, he felt a hand steadying him.

He widened his eyes, looking at the figure, like a Divine Miracle, that had suddenly appeared before him.

He Ao propped up the man with one hand, then lifted the other, and a submachine gun from a blood pool nearby was flung into the air by an invisible force, landing in his hand. He then casually tossed the bloodstained submachine gun into the man’s arms.

The man trembled as he took the weapon, but before he could say anything, the young man had already vanished from his field of view.

A piercing alarm sounded from the north.

He turned his gaze towards the north and saw golden armed vehicles speeding towards the young man. But before they could get close, they were bisected by an invisible force.

Spilled fuel spread across the streets and then was ignited by the flames of an explosion. In an instant, fierce fire blazed throughout the city.

The man holding the gun watched in amazement as the fire that seemed to engulf the entire city raged on, and as the young man’s figure passed through the flames towards the towering obelisk at the city’s center, disappearing into the flames.

Hidden behind a trash can, a manhole cover was slowly pushed open, and a bronze sword with a bit of sludge extended from the sewer as Ruilin slowly climbed out.

The path in the sewer was easier to find than Ruilin had imagined.

Just like the lower levels, the upper levels’ sewers also had detailed surface maps marked out, with more spacious rooms than the confined sewers below. Even lights were installed in the sewers of the upper levels, and some areas even had gems embedded, with even more detailed map markings.

Carefully closing the manhole cover, Ruilin lifted her head to assess her surroundings.

This seemed to be a parking lot, where bright light shone upon rows of luxury cars, with the rousing music faintly audible in the distance.

Some lean figures clad in simple grey clothes were leaning near these vehicles, seemingly guarding them.

Most of these people lacked energy, curling up cautiously around the vehicles, trying to conserve as much energy as possible.

Ruilin glanced at them and slowly walked past the edge of the parking lot, approaching the direction where the sound came from.

Some people seemed to notice her, but they only gave her a glance, then curled up again, saying nothing.

Soon, Ruilin neared the source of the music.

A vast circular plaza appeared in her field of view.

From afar, looking down upon the circular plaza from the high platform, it didn’t seem large. But once she actually arrived, she found the plaza to be more expansive than she had expected.

Ruilin found a relatively low three-story building nearby, climbed up, and leaned on the inside of the terrace wall, overlooking the sights within the plaza.

By this time, the plaza was densely packed with people. The outermost were those lean figures dressed similarly to the parking lot attendants, nearly forming a circle, swaying their bodies, filling the entire square’s outer edge.

Inside the plaza, there were individuals dressed extravagantly, sitting on comfortable sofas, dotted around in a circle, their gaze focused on the very center of the plaza.

Figures holding guns and wearing white uniforms moved among the crowd, seeming to maintain the plaza’s order.

At the plaza’s center was a small raised platform with steps. A whole band with instruments was playing music below the steps.

And on the platform above, a figure in a gold-embroidered robe holding a silver dagger was looking down at the crowd.

Behind him, at the center of the platform, four slender figures in simple grey garments were lifting a solid wooden square sedan.

The sedan featured a round top painted in red, with four pillars supporting the dome.

The pillars were carved with exquisite reliefs that seemed to depict angels, adorned with gold leaf, emerald, rubies, sapphires, and diamonds in certain parts, making it stunningly beautiful.

The space between the four pillars of the sedan was open, with red silk gauze embroidered with golden cloud patterns falling from the top of the sedan, barely concealing the scene inside.

Through the gauze, Ruilin could vaguely see a figure wearing a splendid red dress with a veil seated inside.

She shifted her view left and right but couldn’t discern the specifics of the figure within the sedan.

However, she did notice something else.

Behind the sedan, below the raised platform, a large cage was placed, and figures in grey-brown clothing, along with some bewildered figures in modern attire similar to that of ’Mr. Hao Yi,’ were chained inside the cage.

That seemed to be the ’missing persons’ transferred from the pyramid.

Ruilin immediately jumped down from the top of the small building, walked half a circle around the circular plaza to the other side, and found another relatively shorter two-story building to climb up.

From this angle, she could clearly see the faces of everyone in the cage.

A fierce noise vaguely rose from somewhere behind her; she lowered her head and scrutinized the silhouettes of those imprisoned.

She kept adjusting her position, carefully scanning the faces of each person in the cage dressed in drab clothing, presumably from the lower levels, but ultimately did not find that familiar face.

Then she reviewed the faces of those wearing ’modern’ clothing, but still, she did not find her sister.

At this time, some of the ’Guards’ patrolling below seemed to have noticed something and looked in her direction.

She immediately curled up, hiding behind the low wall.

Almost simultaneously, the door to the rooftop behind her opened, and a gaunt woman in plain gray clothes, carrying a basin filled with clothes, appeared behind the door.

The figure saw Ruilin, paused for a moment, and then as if she had seen nothing, naturally walked to the other side of the rooftop and started to hang the clothes.

Ruilin was momentarily stunned, still not fully aware of what was happening, when a piercing alarm sounded from the direction behind her.

"Enemy invasion! Enemy invasion!"

A shrill alarm resounded in the sky, "All Guards, proceed immediately to the city center, all Guards, proceed immediately to the city center!"

Ruilin immediately lifted her head to look below.

The patrolling Guards, upon hearing the sound, glanced around and then swiftly formed into teams, pushing through the crowd and running towards the direction of the distant Obelisk.

Only one-tenth of the Guards remained in their positions.

Those who were originally around the edge of the plaza, seemingly monitoring the ritual ceremony, also began to panic rapidly.

Some lavishly dressed individuals began secretly running towards the outside, and they were quickly noticed by the surrounding crowd, causing even greater chaos.

The figure in a white robe standing on the small raised platform in the center of the plaza shouted loudly, raising both hands, "The ceremony is about to start!"

Some sort of ancient and deep music played in an instant below the Firmament, filling every person’s ears like twisting whispers.

For some reason, upon hearing this music, a twisted, bloodthirsty desire surfaced deep within Ruilin’s heart.

She suppressed the warped cravings inside her and gazed attentively at the crowd in the plaza.

With the rise of the music, it was clear that the already restless shadows on the plaza became even more agitated.

The person standing in the center of the plaza did not seem to have anticipated the effect of the music; he could no longer care for the crowd below, lifted his hand, and drew the red sedan’s curtain aside,

"Please welcome the Divine Miracle!"

A girl sitting inside the sedan, veiled, with blood-colored pupils and pale skin with golden hair, appeared in everyone’s field of view.

The girl stared blankly ahead, as if soulless, her eyes devoid of spirit.

As the girl showed her face, the restless crowd around her quieted down a bit.

Ruilin could also feel that with the girl’s appearance, the bloodthirsty desire for slaughter within her eased slightly.

But she gripped the bronze sword, with her gaze fixed on the golden-haired girl seated in the sedan.

Even through the veil, she could easily recognize her; that was her sister, Riley.

Her hand on the low wall, she did not hesitate to flip down from the rooftop and walked toward the plaza below.

A rumbling noise came from underneath the distant Obelisk, and raging fire began to spread throughout the center of the City of Rong Guang.