32: Judgment Day has arrived!

The police van roared like a black cheetah on the highway in the dawn light.

Li Hu floored the accelerator, the speed already hitting 180 kilometers per hour, blurring the scenery outside the window into streaks of light.

“Team Leader Chen! I can’t connect!”

Li Ke’s hands were a blur on the keyboard, his face paler than a corpse.

“Jiang City’s police encrypted channel is experiencing widespread signal interference! All the warning messages I sent out have vanished without a trace!”

“Damn it!”

Li Hu slammed his fist hard onto the steering wheel.

They were like messengers trapped outside the eye of the storm, watching helplessly as a catastrophe capable of swallowing everything descended upon their home.

Yet they could do nothing.

“Use mine.”

Zhang Haifeng, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly raised his head, a desperate madness burning in his cloudy old eyes.

He pulled out an old satellite phone that looked like a relic from the last century.

“This is the highest-level communication equipment for our Linhai Mountain region! Damn it! Even if I risk facing a military tribunal today, I’m going to get this message out for you!”

He dialed a number and roared into the receiver.

“I am Zhang Haifeng! Connect me to the Provincial Department’s General Command Center! Level One Emergency! Repeat! Level One Emergency!”

...One hour later.

When the van roared off the highway and entered the borders of Jiang City.

Everyone’s heart sank to the pit of their stomach.

The city looked the same as always.

Traffic flowed heavily, and the streets were bustling with noise.

But beneath that calm surface, hidden currents surged.

“Look over there!” Su Qingxue pointed to a large intersection not far away.

All the traffic lights at the intersection were flashing madly in red, yellow, and green, completely devoid of pattern.

Harsh sounds of screeching brakes and blaring horns rose and fell.

Several cars had already crashed into each other, completely blocking the intersection.

A traffic policeman stood in the middle of the road, sweating profusely, directing traffic in the most primitive way possible, his voice hoarse from shouting.

“And the bank!”

Li Ke pointed to an ATM at a bank by the roadside.

A large crowd was gathered there, and several security guards were desperately trying to maintain order.

The ATM was spitting out banknotes wildly, like a slot machine!

“The Seed of Tartarus...”

Chen Mo muttered to himself, watching the absurd and chaotic scene before him.

The virus had begun to take effect.

It was like an invisible demon, slowly, bit by bit, severing the city’s veins and nerves... Municipal Bureau, Joint Command Center.

When Chen Mo and his group of five rushed in, covered in dust from the road.

The place was already in utter chaos.

“Report! The power grid in the west of the city is experiencing large-scale voltage instability! Widespread power outages could occur at any moment!”

“Report! The financial regulatory system is under an unknown attack! Stock market indices are showing abnormal fluctuations!”

“The Mayor is calling! He wants to know exactly what is happening!”

The Bureau Chief and Zhao Dahai stood in front of the command platform, their faces ashen, their eyes bloodshot.

They were like two lions trapped in a cage—anxious, yet unable to act.

“Chen Mo!”

Zhao Dahai saw him and rushed forward like he had seen a savior.

Just then, a sarcastic voice sounded from the side.

“Oh, look, our ‘savior’ is back?”

Gao Fan stood leaning against a table with his arms crossed. His expression was equally grim, but his eyes were filled with sick pleasure.

“How about that, Team Leader Chen? You took a stroll to the neighboring city and managed to leave our Jiang City in this state?”

“Is this what you meant by being able to solve everything?”

His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a needle, accurately jabbing the frayed nerves of every officer in the Command Center.

Everyone’s gaze instinctively focused on Chen Mo.

Doubt, confusion, and a hint of... misplaced anger.

“Gao Fan! Shut the hell up!” Zhao Dahai roared in fury.

“Me shut up?”

Gao Fan sneered, straightened up, and his voice suddenly rose.

“Captain Zhao! Bureau Chief! You have all been deceived by this kid!”

He pointed at Chen Mo’s nose, like a beast that had been suppressed for too long and finally found an outlet for his rage.

“What damned ‘City Purification Plan’! What ‘Tartarus’! It’s all a story he fabricated based on some unknown source material!”

“In my opinion, this is simply a common network attack launched by an overseas hacker organization! We should immediately activate the highest level of network defense protocols, instead of listening to his fear-mongering here!”

His words were highly inflammatory.

Many department heads in the Command Center showed signs of agreement.

The Bureau Chief’s brow was furrowed deeply.

Chen Mo ignored him.

He walked straight to the main console, where the enormous screen wall displayed the complex network data streams of Jiang City.

“Li Ke.”

“Here!”

“Take over this main server.”

“Yes, sir!”

Li Ke immediately rushed forward and inserted a USB drive into the main console.

“Stop right there!”

The head of the technical department, a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses, immediately stepped forward to block them.

“This is the Municipal Bureau’s highest command hub! Who are you people? Who gave you the authority to touch this equipment!”

“I did!” Zhao Dahai roared, standing in front of them like a wall.

“Zhao Dahai!” The technical head also grew anxious. “This is a violation of protocol! Who will be responsible if something goes wrong!”

“I will!”

Just as tensions reached a peak.

Zzzzt—!

Instantly, every screen in the Command Center simultaneously went black!

The entire world fell into a deathly darkness and silence.

Only the faint red emergency lights, powered by the backup generator, flickered.

The next second.

All the screens lit up again simultaneously.

There was no data, no images.

Only an eerie emblem, composed of an Ouroboros and a shattered crown, slowly rotated on the screens.

A cold, emotionless electronic synthesized voice boomed through the Command Center’s public address system, ringing in everyone’s ears.

“The purification has begun.”

“Mortals, enjoy this... final carnival.”

The color drained instantly from Gao Fan’s face.

The technical head’s legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the floor.

The faces of everyone in the Command Center were etched with an inexpressible, extreme terror.

“Now.”

Chen Mo’s voice sounded in the dead silence, terrifyingly calm.

“Does anyone still think I was writing fiction?”

No one answered.

The only answer was the heavy, labored breathing of the crowd, like those nearing death.

The Bureau Chief looked at the young man standing before the main console, illuminated flickeringly by the strange emblem’s light.

For the first time, his weathered eyes showed... reliance.

“Comrade Chen... Chen Mo.”

His voice was trembling.

“Now... what should we do?”

“The virus is parasitic. It didn’t attack the core server; it merely hijacked all the permissions.”

Chen Mo’s voice was like a surgical knife, dissecting the immediate crisis.

“Li Ke, abandon the main server! Someone like ‘The Emperor’ would never put the true core in such an obvious location!”

“He must have hidden the virus’s mother lode in some obscure, easily overlooked... subnet!”

“Yes, sir!” Li Ke’s eyes suddenly lit up!

“Captain Zhao! Su Qingxue!”

“Here!”

“The true killer move isn’t the virus, it’s the ‘Death List’! Once that list is published, the entirety of Jiang City will turn into a living hell!”

“Investigate! Check all the city’s radio stations, TV stations, and even those large outdoor advertising screens! Find the signal hijacking source!”

“Yes, sir!”

Command after command issued from Chen Mo’s mouth.

Clear, precise, and orderly.

The entire Command Center, this war machine that was nearly paralyzed, miraculously began operating again under his command!

Gao Fan froze in place, watching the figure who was strategizing effortlessly, feeling his worldview shatter at that very moment.

His proud command capabilities seemed like a joke compared to this young man.

Just then!

Buzz—! Buzz—! Buzz—!

Every cell phone in the Command Center, regardless of brand or model, began vibrating wildly at the same instant!

A black push notification with a blood-red border appeared forcefully and aggressively on every screen!

At the top of the notification was the eerie Ouroboros emblem.

Below the emblem was a large headline, inflammatory and bloodthirsty!

[Jiang City Judgment Day · Sacrifice No. 1]

Beneath the title.

Was a face familiar to every Jiang City resident.

It was the largest real estate developer in Jiang City, notorious for his ruthless tactics, tax evasion, and driving several displaced residents to their deaths... Zhou Bapi, Zhou Guofu!

Below the photo was a constantly flashing, red GPS location address.

[Target Current Location: Jiangcheng International Financial Center, Top Floor, Office.]

Chen Mo’s heart plummeted!

It was here!

He abruptly looked up, toward the massive floor-to-ceiling window of the Command Center.

Outside the window.

The entire city seemed to have the switch of madness flipped by this single notification.

On the streets.

Countless citizens stopped walking and looked down at their phones.

Their faces first showed astonishment, then shock, and finally... a frenzy mixed with greed, envy, and brutality!

Excited roars began to rise and fall from all corners of the city!

Countless people, like sharks smelling blood, began surging from all directions toward the same location—

The Jiangcheng International Financial Center!

“They’re crazy...”

Zhao Dahai muttered to himself, watching the apocalyptic scene outside the window.

“They’ve all gone mad...”

“The Emperor’s” game had begun.

And the entire Jiang City, with its millions of citizens, had become, in his insane game.

The most fanatical... players!

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