Chapter 961: Chapter 961

The still moonlight shone down on the shattered, old road, and spilled onto the slender, emerald-green venomous fangs.

The flesh and blood emanating a green glow were scattered across the nearby road, remnants of the serpent monster as it shattered.

Someone slowly squatted down, placing their gun on the ground.

One after another, gang members put down the guns in their hands, gazing at the elderly man standing on the ground resembling ruins, and then slowly raised their hands.

Meanwhile, behind a billboard not far away, a young man hidden in the shadows stared blankly at this scene, clutching the billboard’s support pole tightly.

"What am I... exactly..."

In the center of the entire street, a man pinned to the ground by the venomous fangs clenched one of the slender fangs, widened his eyes, lifted his head, reached out, attempting to touch the elderly man in front of him with grizzled hair and blood-stained cheeks.

The intense whine of engines suddenly rose in the distance under the moonlight.

Following that, accompanied by violent gusts of wind, a shadow about ten meters long obscured the heads of some of the gang members.

The gales whipped everyone’s collars, and some gang members subconsciously covered their cheeks.

Amidst these churning winds, He Ao didn’t dodge at all as he looked up at the source of the shadow in the sky.

It was a Dragon Cavalry Fighter floating in midair, marked distinctly by a White Jasmine Emblem.

The fighter hovered in the air in front of He Ao, seemingly scanning the surrounding scene.

At that moment, He Ao’s wristband vibrated, seemingly because the network jamming device had been destroyed, reconnecting the wristband to the network.

He Ao lifted his wristband, looking at the message on his hand.

It was a question he had sent to Eve while the network was down, and now she had replied to him.

It was a very simple personal profile, a photo, and a few lines of text.

He Ao took in these few lines of text, lifted his head, and looking at the man pinned by the venomous fang on the ground, reaching out to him, with an increasingly weak voice, he calmly said, "Virrus Andec, plasterer."

"Virrus... Virrus..."

The man’s reaching hand slowly lowered, and he hung his head low, his hoarse voice gradually fading, "I don’t remember... I don’t remember..."

The emerald-green venomous fangs naturally dissolved bit by bit, and the man pinned to the ground by the fang slowly closed his eyes.

Eventually, the venomous fang completely crumbled, and the gaunt corpse fell to the ground, ceasing to make a sound.

He Ao walked over to the side, picking up the Hawk Claw Knife that had been thrust into the ground.

He glanced down at the blade in his hand; its sharp edge now had some tiny cracks, and fine fissures had begun to spread across its smooth surface.

The knife’s strength was still insufficient, despite the enhancement of Divine Sense, it could no longer withstand fights of such intensity.

He Ao put away the blade and looked toward the fighter in the sky.

At this time, the fighter seemed to have completed its scanning.

It paused for a moment, and with a series of intense whistling sounds, masses of Dragon Cavalry Fighters slowly emerged from the darkness in all directions.

Simultaneously, the hovering Dragon Cavalry Fighter seemed to have activated a loudspeaker, and a somewhat tense voice quickly came through,

"Gang members down there, listen up, this is the City Defense Army, put down your weapons, hold your head with both hands, and surrender immediately!"

"Warning! Put down your weapons, hold your head with both hands, and surrender immediately!"

Dense crowds of Dragon Cavalry Fighters enveloped the entire East Gate from the outside, and the gang members who had already raised their hands, seeing this formation, eventually squatted down one by one, holding their heads.

And behind the Dragon Cavalry Fighters in the sky, trails of flames flickered in and out of view, seemingly from Mecha that were rushing over.

A harsh collision noise erupted not far from He Ao’s side, the still flaming ’barricade’ was forcefully smashed open, and a black off-road vehicle with military plates charged into the crowd, followed by an abrupt stop and swing of the tail, halting not far from He Ao.

He Ao looked towards the off-road vehicle.

The pitch-black door was pushed open slowly, and an elderly man in a military uniform stepped out from the rear seat, his gaze passing over the scattered corpses and blood on the ground, finally resting on He Ao, he spoke slowly, "It seems I’ve arrived late."

He Ao smiled and shook his head, then, with a slight shrug, "In a way, it might be just right."

"Are you heading back to the Mayor’s Mansion next?"

The military-dressed Elderly standing before him was none other than Corvey. He casually stepped over the shattered flesh on the ground and came up beside He Ao to ask.

"I’ve met a reliable Doctor here,"

He Ao turned around and walked towards the now-ruined East Gate, "I’m planning to hold a free clinic here, what do you think?"

"The kind you used to run?"

Corvey blinked slightly, looked up at the smashed alloy gate, and asked in a low voice, "When?"

He Ao pondered and nodded; he too looked forward, but what he saw was no longer the broken alloy, but the dilapidated buildings beyond the shattered gate, "It’s better to strike the iron while it’s hot. There might be more going on tomorrow; how about tonight?"

One by one, Dragon Cavalry Fighters arrived overhead above the street, accompanied by several wide transport planes.

These transport planes quickly descended to a lower altitude, and then ropes were thrown down from the planes. Immediately after, fully armed soldiers gripped the ropes and slid down from the transports.

"Are you staying here tonight?"

Standing in the passageway of the East Gate, Corvey turned back to glance at the Mecha that were approaching in the sky, then looked down at the fragments of firearms from the gang members on the ground.

It seemed that by now, he had begun to understand He Ao’s intentions, and turning back, he asked, "How do you plan to deal with these gangs?"

The soldiers who had landed were holding firearms and swiftly began to encircle the gang members with their hands on their heads.

"The Southern District has been sick for too long,"

He Ao shook his head gently; his gaze swept over the corpses in front of him and the various Gauss Guns in their hands, "The tumor has come to a point where it must be excised."

Hearing He Ao’s words, Corvey looked slightly stunned, then looked at the weapons in the hands of the corpses on the ground and said thoughtfully, "The Second Combat Brigade’s mechanical unit is nearby,"

Then he turned his head toward He Ao, "However, the City Defense Army needs permission from the City Government to operate within the city under non-emergency conditions."

He Ao smiled as he looked at Corvey, "I am the Mayor."

He lifted his wristband, facing Corvey, "General Corvey, in my capacity as Mayor and Supreme Commander of the Ilan City Defense Army, I authorize the South City Defense Army’s Second Combat Brigade to conduct a special military operation in the southern region of the Nevus District with the objective of eradicating the gangs that pose a serious threat to the safety of the citizens of Ilan City."

A message was sent from He Ao’s wristband to Corvey’s, it was an encrypted authorization document signed with the Mayor’s digital signature.

Corvey instantly stood straight, his hand placed horizontally across his chest, and gave a military salute.

He Ao also returned the salute.

"These gangs’ weaponry, it has surpassed that of ordinary gang members."

He Ao dropped his hand and continued forward, glancing up at the half-smashed Electromagnetic Cannon not far away, and said slowly, "Of course, there might also be powerful Transcendents, we’ll need to be careful."

"I will have the Second Brigade’s staff gather information from the vicinity and conduct a fire power simulation, although the Southern District is not large, we should be able to sweep through the entire area tonight,"

Corvey glanced at the half-remains of the Electromagnetic Cannon, "Yiwis Space System’s V-52 Electromagnetic Cannon, that’s restricted military equipment."

"Yes, the firepower and Extraordinary Power of this gang have far exceeded the strength a normal street gang should possess."

He Ao nodded slightly, continuing forward with Corvey, while speaking slowly, "I will probably stay in the Low-rise District tonight."

Corvey looked up at He Ao with a touch of surprise.

The Low-rise District was in the central area of the Southern District, with easy access to every direction.

What He Ao was implying was that he’d be supporting the City Defense Army ’from behind’ in this area.

In public, he was holding a free clinic, but in fact, he was also providing high-powered backup support for the City Defense Army active in the area.

From the battle outside, Corvey also realized that the ’Mr. Mayor’ in front of him was very likely a very powerful Transcendent.

However, not every powerful Transcendent would willingly put themselves at risk to ’support from behind’ for the army, let alone this powerful Transcendent who was also the Mayor of the city.

"If the eradication starts, things might get quite chaotic here..."

Hesitating for a moment, General Corvey still slowly began to speak.

He Ao shook his head, speaking gently, "I have a clear understanding, the information gathered by the Second Combat Brigade in the process of wiping out the gang organizations has also been sent to me promptly."

In the end, General Corvey glanced at He Ao and nodded slightly, then he turned his head to look at a middle-aged military officer who had been following them from a distance, and said to He Ao unhurriedly, "I need to make some arrangements."

He Ao nodded lightly, "When the time comes, just have the commander of the Second Combat Brigade contact me directly."

As the South City Commander, General Corvey, in theory, did not need to personally involve himself in such matters, so He Ao directly asked him to arrange for the commander in charge to contact him.

In fact, General Corvey’s arrival on this side with reinforcements was somewhat beyond He Ao’s expectations.

The two then parted ways: General Corvey stopped to wait for the middle-aged military officer to catch up, while He Ao continued on his way forward, quickly retracing his steps.

And just as He Ao was about to reach the Kewis Clinic, accompanied by the roaring sound, several Blazing Angel Mechs and a Floating Warplane hovered not far in front of him.

It seemed that they had spotted He Ao, the Floating Warplane quickly descended and stopped not far from He Ao, followed by the opening of the hatch. A young man in a suit, Sena, immediately rushed out from the Floating Warplane and ran towards He Ao.

Following him were Tucker and a team of the Mayor’s Guard, as well as medical personnel in white coats.

Sena, panting heavily, arrived in front of He Ao and trembled as he gazed at the blood on He Ao’s body, "You..."

"It’s alright, it’s all over,"

He Ao smiled at him, "I’m fine; this blood is all someone else’s."

Strictly speaking, He Ao, apart from severe physical exhaustion and pain, was not suffering from any external injuries.

The trouble with Black Snake’s ability was in his undead nature, capable of dragging He Ao down until physical collapse, but his own strength was still slightly suppressed by He Ao.

Moreover, his combat experience was insufficient; he repeated the same few moves and found no way to break through He Ao’s movement technique.

Sena raised his head to take a closer look, and after confirming that He Ao seemed to be without any obvious injuries, he finally relaxed a bit.

He Ao knew this young man felt somewhat responsible.

After all, his duty was to protect He Ao, but in the recent event, he was not by He Ao’s side.

He Ao gently patted his shoulder, speaking softly, "You played a very critical role."

Sena indeed played a very crucial role.

He Ao asked him to park on the roadside for a reason: to let the Prisoners’ Gang spot the off-road vehicle, which looked to be of high-status, and then attract the attention of the Prisoners’ Gang’s higher-ups to approach them.

Of course, he also considered the potential hostility of the gang’s higher-ups, so in reality, when the vehicle was parked, Sena was no longer inside—the off-road vehicle was fully autonomous, with the driving program being a subprogram of Eve which He Ao had copied while riding in the vehicle.

He Ao also took the opportunity to have Eve delete the backdoor program that the Consortium had left in the off-road vehicle.

At the same time, He Ao had given another instruction to Sena, telling him to prioritize escaping to seek help if he encountered danger and the signal was jammed.

The off-road vehicle’s automatic program (Eve) would then control the vehicle to draw fire and assist Sena in leaving.

To prevent Sena from refusing to go, He Ao had given him a stern order, requiring him to return with the reinforcements.

Whether from the perspective of protecting Sena or reducing risks, Sena should not have stayed in the Low-rise District.

Sena was just an ordinary person, who would not only be unable to assist in the fight but might also affect He Ao, becoming an uncertain factor. Escaping to seek help, on the other hand, could help He Ao to the greatest extent.

At the time He Ao was making these arrangements, he was just planning for the worst-case scenario.

He did not expect that the Prisoners’ Gang’s ’hostility’ towards him would be so high, nor that their strength would be so formidable, going so far as to pull in a B-level with special abilities, ready to thoroughly annihilate him.

Although there were some slight deviations in how events unfolded, the ultimate outcome was still within He Ao’s control.

His ’exchange’ with Black Snake and the state of Black Snake also gave him vague clues to some leads.

In the distance, amid the darkness, there seemed to be the faint sound of gunfire, where members of the prisoners’ gang factions at the other gates were engaged in battle with the City Defense Army.

Next, it was time to see if they could obtain anything else during the cleanup of the Prisoners’ Gang.

At this time, Tucker, dressed in a police uniform, also came over.

He Ao nodded to him lightly, then glanced at the medical personnel behind Tucker, "The Mayor’s Mansion medical team is here too?"

Tucker nodded, "You need to have your physical condition checked. It would be best to go back to the Mayor’s Mansion immediately."

His gaze swept around and heard those distant gunshots, "This place is too dangerous."

He Ao shook his head.

He turned to look at Kewis Clinic not far away, walked over, removed a suit coat hanging on the coat rack at the door, and pressed the doorbell.

A low voice came from the doorbell.

Immediately after, the door opened, and the woman with the walking stick, Kewis, and the little boy appeared in He Ao’s field of view almost simultaneously.

"I would like to hold a volunteer clinic here,"

He Ao looked at them and spoke softly, "However, I might only have time tonight. I’m not sure if this time is convenient for you."

Kewis hesitated for a moment, looking up at the low-rise buildings around him with a touch of melancholy, "I also need to leave something behind here for the last time."

The little boy next to them peeked out and asked cautiously, "My mother has always been unwell, can she come too?"

He Ao smiled, "Anyone can come. However, generally the volunteer clinic mainly looks at minor illnesses."

The boy’s eyes dimmed.

"If it’s a serious illness, and you need it, I can introduce some reliable hospitals and doctors."

He Ao spoke slowly, "I happen to have a professor from Qiming Medical College here, but none of these services are free. Money is needed for both the cost of drug production and for the doctors to eat."

"That Qiming Medical College,"

The boy looked up at He Ao, hesitated, and asked cautiously, "Is it expensive? We don’t have much money."

"Not very expensive,"

He Ao shook his head gently, "You will have to discuss the specifics when you go there."

A hint of brightness appeared in the boy’s eyes as he nodded vigorously.

At that moment, an elderly voice came from behind.

He Ao turned around, and the old man in military uniform was standing right behind him.

Corvey looked at He Ao’s turning face with a smile, "Do you still need an old man to do odd jobs at your volunteer clinic?"

"Hands are never too many."

He Ao watched the upright military figure of the old man, his voice soft with a smile.