173: Chapter 173: One slash splits an armored vehicle in two, leaving the police officers stunned.

"Clatter—"

Several pitch-black riot shotguns were raised almost simultaneously.

They were the guards from the cash-in-transit vehicle.

These people were always on edge, and seeing their vehicle struck by a human cannonball that left a giant crater, their first reaction was that they had encountered robbers armed with heavy firepower.

"Don't move! Hands on your head! Get down!"

The security team leader was covered in cold sweat, his finger locked tightly on the trigger guard.

Because their vision was obstructed, and the scene had been too chaotic, their gun barrels weren't specifically aimed at anyone, but were pointed generally in the direction of Jiang Wanqiu and Jiang Chen.

This was a standard tactical deterrent maneuver.

But in Jiang Wanqiu's eyes, this was—a declaration of war.

"You're courting death."

Her pupils suddenly contracted into needle points.

In the Wasteland, when someone points a gun at your head, there are only two outcomes: either the other person dies, or you do.

And when those pitch-black gun barrels swept across Jiang Chen's body for a split second.

The string in Jiang Wanqiu's mind known as "reason" snapped completely.

"That is the Father God!"

"You lowly ants, how dare you point those filthy fire-pokers at the Supreme Deity?!"

A terrifying chill instantly sent the surrounding temperature plummeting to freezing.

Jiang Chen felt a sudden gust of wind swirl around him.

"Wanqiu! Don't..."

He reached out to grab her, but grasped only air.

He watched as the beautiful figure in the JK uniform, like an elegant black swan, vanished instantly from where she stood.

No run-up. No roar. Only an extremely faint high-frequency hum that was sharp enough to pierce the eardrums.

"Hum—"

Jiang Wanqiu flipped her wrist.

That piece of Wasteland technology, hidden behind her waist and disguised as an accessory—a [High-Frequency Monomolecular Oscillating Dagger]—was unsheathed in an instant.

The blade was short, only twenty centimeters long.

But the moment it was drawn, the air around the blade warped into visible ripples from the high-frequency vibrations, emitting an eerie blue glow.

She did not charge at the guards—after all, the Father God had forbidden killing.

She charged instead toward the "iron shell" that had given the guards their courage.

"Since this iron box gave you the nerve."

Jiang Wanqiu's figure appeared ghost-like at the side of the armored car, her silver hair dancing wildly and her skirt fluttering.

She gripped the blade with both hands, her eyes cold as ice, yet her movements were as beautiful as a dance of death.

"Then I shall... tear it apart!"

She raised her hand. Swung the blade. Slashed!

There was no thunderous sound of clashing metal. Only a soft sound like tearing silk.

"Sshh—"

That short dagger, empowered by Jiang Wanqiu's terrifying strength, carved out a blue arc of light several meters long.

The arc of light, fluid as water, swept through the armored car's heavy bulletproof plating, sliced through the reinforced frame, and finally emerged through the roof.

Time seemed to stand still at that moment.

The guards were stunned. Jiang Chen covered his face. Onlookers held up their phones, their mouths agape in an "O" shape.

"What... what is she doing?"

Someone muttered, "Using a fruit knife to scratch an armored car? Is she trying to scrape the paint?"

However, the next second, accompanied by a teeth-gritting sound of metal fatigue.

"Crack... creak..."

That heavy riot armored car, weighing several tons and touted as being able to withstand even rifle fire, suddenly emitted a groan of unbearable strain.

Immediately after, under the horrified gaze of everyone.

Half of the vehicle's body, like butter sliced by a hot knife, slowly and smoothly... slid down.

The cut was as smooth as a mirror. Due to the instantaneous high-temperature friction, the cut surface even shimmered with the dark red glow of molten metal.

"Boom!!!"

Half of the vehicle crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The entire vehicle had been neatly—sliced in two!

"Oh... oh my god..."

The gun in the security team leader's hand clattered to the ground.

He stared at the cut, feeling a chill run down his own neck.

Is this something a human being can do?

That was bulletproof steel! A special alloy!

Even with a blowtorch, it would take half a day! She just waved a fruit knife and sliced right through it?

What is this? A Jedi? Or a Gundam come to life?

"Hmph."

Jiang Wanqiu slowly sheathed her blade, spinning the dagger in a graceful flourish at her fingertips before sliding it back into the scabbard at her waist.

She stood beside the sliced scrap metal, adjusted her slightly crooked bowtie, and brushed the dust from her skirt.

Her nonchalant demeanor suggested she had merely swatted a mosquito.

"Next time."

She turned her head, her red eyes sweeping coldly over the guards who were paralyzed with fear:

"If I see you point those fire-pokers at the Father God again."

"It won't be the vehicle that gets broken."

She pointed to her own neck and made a throat-slitting gesture:

"It will be your heads."

The entire scene fell into dead silence.

Just then, "Wee-woo—wee-woo—" the shrill sound of police sirens approached from the distance.

Several police cars with flashing red and blue lights screeched to a halt with a drift at the mall entrance.

"Nobody move! Police!"

The doors opened, and seven or eight police officers rushed out.

The leader was none other than Jiang Chen's "old acquaintance," Officer Zhang from the local precinct.

Officer Zhang, clutching his body camera, had originally arrived to break up a fight and arrest some thugs.

But the moment he looked up, he saw the armored car that had been "cut in half." He then looked at the human-shaped crater embedded in the vehicle's side (the Tattooed Man). Finally, his gaze landed on the silver-haired girl in the JK uniform with an arrogant expression.

"This..." Officer Zhang rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was hallucinating from staying up too late last night.

"Was this car... struck by lightning?"

The young auxiliary officer beside him swallowed hard and pointed at Jiang Wanqiu: "Sir, it looks like... it was sliced by that girl."

"Nonsense!" Officer Zhang glared at his apprentice. "That's just a girl! That's JK! That's anime! Since when can anime characters tear armored cars apart with their bare hands?"

He bit the bullet and stepped forward, hand on his holster, shouting at Jiang Wanqiu: "You there! Please cooperate!"

"Raise your hands! Put them behind your head!"

"We suspect you of damaging public property and... possessing a weapon of mass destruction!"

Upon hearing the words "raise your hands," Jiang Wanqiu's eyebrows shot up.

In Dawn City, asking her, the Empress, to raise her hands in surrender? That was a declaration of war against the entire empire!

"You want me to raise my hands?"

She sneered, and instead of moving, she took a step forward. The aura of someone who had long held supreme power erupted instantly.

"What are you?"

"A mere mortal, how dare you order me?!"

Her wrist flicked, and the dagger she had just sheathed seemed ready to be drawn again.

Officer Zhang jolted in fear and instinctively drew his service weapon, aiming it at Jiang Wanqiu: "Don't move! Move again and I'll fire!"

The situation spiraled out of control. Police with guns, the Empress with her blade. A "Mars colliding with Earth" tragedy was about to unfold at the mall entrance.

Just then, Jiang Chen, who had been hiding behind and covering his face, finally had to rush out.

He felt as though he had lost all the face he would ever have in his entire life today.

"Don't shoot! Officer Zhang! It's me! It's me!"

Jiang Chen shouted, and like a moth to a flame, threw himself between the two.

He pressed down on Jiang Wanqiu's hand with one of his, while pulling the red "Special Security Consultant ID" from his pocket with the other, thrusting it directly into Officer Zhang's face: "It's a misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding!"

"This is... this is performance art!"

"We're shooting a movie! Yes! A movie!"