Chapter 957: Chapter 957
Low-rise District · Outside the East Gate
Row after row of modified off-road vehicles linked together like a steel wall blocked the wide road ahead, their sharp iron thorn barricades spread out across the ground in front of the car wall like ground spikes.
Gang members holding firearms densely packed in front of the car wall rapidly pulled their triggers at the approaching heavy vehicle shadows on the road, trying to stop their advance.
Bullets rained down like a torrent, clinking against the dark alloy body of the vehicles as they tore through the pitch-black night.
Despite facing the formidable barrier of cars arranged ahead, the oncoming heavy off-road vehicles showed no fear, instead accelerating with even more speed.
A tremendous explosion erupted from behind an off-road vehicle, the sound of an electromagnetic cannon that was fired from close range.
As the vehicles sped onward, some gang members who had been standing near the middle of the road leaped to the sides upon witnessing this scene.
The heavy off-road vehicle surged over the iron thorn barricade and without pausing, crashed into the rows of vehicles forming the car wall.
The violent collision squeezed the batteries of the car wall, and intense sparks spilled from under the vehicles, which were quickly followed by fierce flames and thunderous blasts that engulfed the nearby vehicles.
The surging flames and rapid explosions extended forth like the hem of the heavy off-road vehicle’s skirt, moving alongside the car wall breached by the vehicle into the black night.
The dense iron thorns eventually pierced the off-road vehicle’s tires, and the torn-open car wall hindered the off-road vehicle’s progress.
The off-road vehicle’s speed slowed, and it began to tilt out of control.
With a tail swipe that scraped dark marks on the ground, at last, the heavy off-road vehicle came to a halt sideways in front of the East Gate.
Surrounding gang members immediately rushed forward, encircling the off-road vehicle completely.
The pitch-black vehicle glass twinkled, suggesting that the privacy system had been compromised by the collision, allowing a faint glow to seep through the impenetrable glass.
The trailing off-road vehicles that had closely followed stopped before the burning car wall.
Crimson Claw, standing atop an off-road vehicle, tossed his electromagnetic cannon to the ground, then leaped forward. Vaulting over the still-burning vehicles, he landed behind the car wall and approached the gang members surrounding the off-road vehicle.
The previously tight circle of gang members parted naturally, paving a way for Crimson Claw to stride to the front of the crowd.
At this moment, at the rear of the crowd, a gaunt man who had been kicked against the wall by Crimson Claw and coughed out blood, the one who had come ’to report,’ slowly stood up. Leaning against the wall, he watched the twinkling black off-road vehicle.
"Kid inside, come out,"
From the midst of the crowd, a gang member handed over a Gauss Pistol, which Crimson Claw reached out to grasp. Holding the pistol, he gazed at the black off-road vehicle in front of him and loudly declared,
"Don’t put up a futile defense now. I admit you’ve got a nice car, but it’s not moving anymore. Just a few sticks of dynamite thrown under your car and all its good armor won’t save it from being blown over. Surrendering is your only choice now,"
He held the pistol and gestured towards the back, leading his men to slowly approach the off-road vehicle while he raised his voice again,
"Come out nicely, and you might still get to live,"
"Young fella, take some advice from this old chap. Being the Mayor’s lapdog can’t compare to living it up in the Southern District. You want women, you got women; money, there’s plenty of it,"
As he spoke, he had already arrived next to the black off-road vehicle’s door, slowing his pace, "Kid, open the door and surrender. Don’t resist any longer. There’s only one path left if you do, and it’s death."
Just as he was speaking, a cautious gang member approached and stood by Crimson Claw’s side.
Crimson Claw turned his head, looking coldly at the gang member who had interrupted him.
The gang member shrank his head, trembling, and then pointed toward the flickering car window, with a trembling voice he quickly said, "It seems like there’s nobody in the car."
Crimson Claw was startled and lifted his head again, looking carefully at the privacy feature of the car window, which was already half broken.
Through the tinted glass coating, he thought he could vaguely make out the completely empty driver’s seat.
He grasped his pistol, took a step forward, and rushed to the off-road vehicle’s door.
Then he glanced at the gang member who had just spoken, "Lean on the window and check if there’s someone inside."
The gang member bent his lower body forward, but leaned his upper body slightly back, his head still in the original position, hesitating to speak.
If there was someone inside, wouldn’t that be like delivering your head right to the muzzle?
Crimson Claw’s gaze swept downward, giving him a glance.
The gang member trembled, immediately lunged forward, and lay against the window, peering through the flickering glass at the interior of the car.
After carefully monitoring for a good while, his eyes scanned back and forth from the front to the back seat, then he hesitantly lifted his head to look at Crimson Claw, "Boss, it seems like there really is no one inside."
This time, Crimson Claw didn’t respond to him, but instead took another step forward, pushing him away, and leaned himself against the window to look inside.
Behind the flickering tinted glass, there were only the totally empty driver’s seats, and nobody on the back seats either, only the main control screen of the vehicle shining with some faint light.
After observing several times, Crimson Claw finally lifted his head, took half a step back, and looked at the off-road vehicle in front of him, "Damn it, there’s nobody inside, so who the hell was driving just now?"
"Could it be...the car’s AI?"
One of the gang members at the side suggested cautiously.
Crimson Claw reached out, grabbed the gang member’s collar next to him, and lifted him into the air, "Are you telling me I was just made a fool of by an artificial intelligence?"
The gang member dangled helplessly in midair, flailing about, desperately trying to explain.
But it seemed Crimson Claw was not listening to the gang member’s words at all; his chest heaved rapidly as he swung his arm, hurling the uplifted gang member to the ground next to them.
The surrounding gang members, seeing Crimson Claw’s demeanor, shrank their heads in silence, not daring to come forward and speak.
After a good while, Crimson Claw’s emotions seemed to have somewhat subsided, he turned his head and looked at the gang members around him, "Damn it, what are you standing around for? The guy in the car ran away, go find him! Dig three feet into the ground if you have to, just find that bastard!!!"
He lifted the Gauss Pistol in his hand, "If this screws up, we’re all dead, bastards! Go find him! Damn it, go!"
The surrounding gang members were frightened by his voice, all trembling, and after hearing his words, they scattered in all directions like birds startled by the twang of a bow.
"Damn it, this is bad, that guy ran away, if he gets back-up, we’re done for."
Looking at the pitch-black off-road vehicle in front of him, Crimson Claw took out a walkie-talkie from his pocket, hesitated for a moment, but in the end, didn’t press the call button.
He let go of the walkie-talkie, looked back at the off-road vehicle in front of him, lifted his foot, and kicked at the car door.
With a crisp collision noise, his face turned red, and he inhaled a breath of cold air, slowly retracting the kicking foot.
He looked down at the spot where he had just kicked, right next to the hole blown open by the Armor-Piercing Projectile.
The solid alloy layer inside the hole reflected a faint light under the flames of the burning car not far away.
He Ao took another deep breath of cool air, leaned sideways on one leg against the off-road vehicle, and looked up at the weighty "East Gate" ahead.
The East Gate of the Low-rise District wasn’t just a gate but a small "fortress" constructed of cement and alloy, filled with various scanning and detection equipment and featuring multiple outposts.
Vehicles and pedestrians entering and exiting the Low-rise District had to go through the "passages" under this small fortress for inspection. Only those who passed the inspection could enter or exit.
At the moment, the gateway of this gate had already been "closed." A huge iron grate had fallen, sealing the entire passage.
Looking at the blocked passage, Crimson Claw lowered his head to look at the walkie-talkie in his hand.
He seemed to hesitate whether to report this situation to the people inside the Low-rise District.
Black Snake hadn’t contacted him for backup yet, maybe the situation inside was progressing well? And perhaps it didn’t matter that the kid outside had run away?
Just then, a sudden loud noise came from the tightly closed gate.
Crimson Claw instinctively raised his head and looked towards the gate.
On the edge of the Southern District
An off-road vehicle bearing the City Defense Army’s insignia moved along the dilapidated road.
An elderly man, weathered by age, sat in the back seat, opened the window, and looked towards the factory building that was still rumbling loudly.
"General, did you live here when you were a child?"
Seemingly noticing the elderly man’s actions through the rearview mirror, the middle-aged military officer in the front slowly began to speak.
"My home was a bit further ahead,"
Corvey’s gaze shifted downwards, glancing at the road ahead.
Beside the worn-out road, some haggard figures in old clothes were walking along the edge of the road, barely illuminated by the faint light diffracted from the factory lights.
The enormous, towering factory buildings rumbled under the night sky, and the giant geometric emblem of the Yiwis Space System on the roofs twinkled dimly.
"When I was a boy, these buildings and that emblem were already there,"
The elderly person withdrew his gaze and spoke in a measured tone.
"Over the years, the gangs that have ruled the Southern District seemed to have changed dozens of times."
The middle-aged officer also looked up at the buildings and emblem outside, speaking with a hint of emotion, "But these buildings never seem to be affected."
Just then, the middle-aged officer’s wristband vibrated.
He lifted his wristband, glanced at the message, and then his expression changed.
Corvey in the back seemed to sense the change in the front and slowly asked.
"News from the First Mecha Squad,"
The middle-aged officer immediately turned back, looking at Corvey with a bit of panic, "They received a distress call from the Mayor’s Guard. Mayor Lin En is surrounded by the Prisoners’ Gang in the Low-rise District of the Southern District. Those gang members are jamming signals, and they can’t contact Mayor Lin En!"
Hearing what the middle-aged officer said, Corvey’s originally calm expression paused for a moment before he swiftly regained his composure and leaned back in his seat,
"Contact the command center, put the Second Combat Brigade on alert. Have them roll out the Mobile Mechanical Troops and all the Mech units. Allow free engagement against any resistance encountered en route, and break through the defenses at all costs to penetrate the Low-rise District."
The middle-aged officer looked at the elderly man, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "General, what about us..."
"Accelerate forward,"
Corvey rose to the car window, his gaze calm, "Tell those brats from the Second Combat Brigade that I’ll also be in the Low-rise District."
The middle-aged officer nodded heavily, turned his head, grasped the steering wheel, and switched to manual mode, slamming down on the accelerator pedal.
With the shrill whine of the electric motor, the heavy off-road vehicle sped over the bumpy road.
——A few minutes earlier——
Inside the Low-rise District
He Ao shifted his gaze from the massive Shadow in front of him and looked at the thin man before him, taking a step forward, closing in on the gaunt figure.
The gaunt man cracked a sinister smile and violently spread his arms.
A massive Shadow, akin to a serpent’s head, emerged from the darkness, its ferocious maw lashing out at He Ao.
Watching the incoming Shadow Serpent Head, He Ao sidestepped, dodging the creature’s attack.
The distorted Shadow struck the old ground, emitting a sound of fine corrosion.
The concrete ground, now like a foam board thrown into a fire, was easily corroded and melted by the Shadow’s strike, revealing a large pit.
He Ao’s eyes swept over the corroded ground, his speed unabated as he continued forward, closing the distance to the thin man.
His figure weaved through the dense hail of bullets, like a breeze through the rain, further narrowing the distance between him and the gaunt man.
Another giant serpent head surged from the darkness, snapping at He Ao.
This time, the serpent head did not strike directly at He Ao but circled around before wrapping its semi-corporeal body around He Ao, blocking his path of evasion, then lunging to bite him.
But the Shadow Serpent Head snapped at empty air, its jaws clacking together.
At that moment, He Ao had already appeared outside the area encircled by the serpent body as though he had used Flash.
He was now very close to the gaunt man.
"You’ve got some skill in evasion."
The gaunt man grinned, and from the darkness behind him, two more giant serpent heads emerged, one on each side, attacking He Ao.
However, this time, before the Shadow Serpent Heads could strike, He Ao had already quickened his pace, accelerating forward like a flicker with one step.
The two giant serpent heads collided, creating a thunderous noise, while at that moment, He Ao’s figure had already appeared in front of the gaunt man.
The gaunt man, taken aback, looked at He Ao, who was now within arm’s reach.
But He Ao’s movements did not cease due to the man’s moment of distraction. He lifted his left hand, and a Hawk Claw Knife materialized in his palm, its sharp blade immediately slashing at the gaunt man’s Black Snake neck.
But just as the blade was about to touch the dry, tree-like neck, a slender black shadowy tail suddenly emerged from the darkness, blocking the knife’s edge.
The sharp blade cut into the shadowy tail, but could not proceed further.
"An insect’s trick..."
The corners of the gaunt man’s mouth curled up further.
Then, accompanying a crisp sound, He Ao’s raised right hand slapped across the man’s face.