50: Chapter 50 Citywide Hunt! The Empress's Protection!
Ghost Hand's declaration, like a nuclear bomb detonating in Jiangcheng's entire underworld, instantly stirred up monstrous waves.
Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately put his insane plan into action.
The first to suffer was a small mercenary group located in the south of the city, spontaneously formed by rogue Awakened Ones and named "Falcon."
Through the compound eyes of a "little brother" that happened to be passing by, I "saw" that scene straight out of Hell.
Ghost Hand, like a demon god descending from Hell, appeared silently above their stronghold.
Then, he simply reached out his withered, pale palm towards the ground below and gently clenched it.
"Dark Veil Withering."
As his emotionless voice fell, a visible, viscous, ink-like darkness, like a tide with a life of its own, instantly enveloped the entire stronghold.
There were no screams, no explosions, and not even the slightest ripple of energy.
When the darkness receded like an ebbing tide a few seconds later, the entire stronghold, along with the dozen or so Awakened Ones inside who were still drinking, bragging, and dreaming of the future, had all disappeared.
No, not disappeared.
Rather, along with the buildings, tables, chairs, and even the air, everything had been completely "eroded" by that darkness filled with the aura of death and decay, leaving behind only a patch of eerie, grey-desolate wasteland where not a blade of grass could grow.
After doing all this, Ghost Hand, as if he had merely crushed a nest of ants, floated away expressionlessly towards his next target.
And his cold, provocative declaration quickly spread through the entire city's underworld via the channels the Xuantian Alliance had planted in Jiangcheng.
"Hand over the 'Ice Maiden' and 'Shadow Mosquito,' or Jiangcheng will be turned into a wasteland!"
For a time, all of Jiangcheng was in a state of panic, with everyone fearing for their own safety.
Inside the secret base of the Dragon Soul Bureau.
Eagle watched the footage of that eerie wasteland transmitted back on the screen and slammed his fist hard onto the table made of a special alloy, producing a dull, heavy thud.
"Bastard! That madman!"
His stern face was filled with unprecedented anger and gravity.
"Captain, what should we do now? We can't lock onto his location at all! His anti-reconnaissance capabilities are too strong!" a team member reported anxiously.
"Furthermore, the entire Jiangcheng underworld is starting to stir. Quite a few people are already actively providing us with clues about those two, wanting to use them to trade for their own safety!"
"The pressure... is too great!"
Eagle closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
He knew that this move by Ghost Hand was an overt scheme.
He was using the lives of the city's innocent people to force them, and also to force those two, to make a choice.
Either watch helplessly as Jiangcheng flows with blood.
Or, actively show themselves and walk into the inescapable net he had set.
...
In an abandoned parking lot.
Lin Qingzhi listened quietly to my recounting, her pale, paper-white face devoid of any expression.
But, through the Symbiotic Bond, I could clearly perceive that beneath her calm exterior was a living volcano, frantically accumulating power and about to erupt with earth-shattering might!
"He is forcing me."
After a long while, she slowly spat out these words.
"He is forcing me to use... a trump card that shouldn't be used at this stage."
My heart stirred; I didn't understand what she was referring to.
"Mo Wen." She suddenly raised her head, her cold phoenix eyes looking at me with unparalleled seriousness.
"The coming battle will be ten thousand times more dangerous than you imagine."
"If you leave now, there is still time."
"With your abilities, as long as you hide carefully, even a Demon Rank Expert might not necessarily be able to do anything to you."
She was... advising me to leave?
She was actually thinking of me?
I was stunned.
Immediately, an indescribable emotion, a mixture of being touched and anger, welled up in my heart.
I did not answer with the vibration of my wings.
I simply flew slowly in front of her, and then, with my forelegs, gently yet incredibly firmly, touched her cheek.
That cold, yet incredibly soft touch was transmitted through my limbs to the depths of my Soul.
My answer was self-evident.
Lin Qingzhi's body trembled slightly.
She looked at me, and for the first time, a trace of extremely complex, indescribable warmth emerged in those eyes that had always been as cold as frost.
After a long while, she slowly nodded.
A trace of a poignant yet resolute curve appeared at the corner of her mouth.
"Alright."
"Since you are not leaving, then today, I, for you, and for all the innocent lives in this city..."
"...will go crazy once more!"
As her voice fell, a terrifying chill, unprecedented and almost freezing my very Soul, erupted from her delicate body!
Behind her, faintly, appeared the phantom of a huge, holy, and noble Ice Crystal Phoenix!
That phantom looked up to the sky and let out a silent cry that seemed to shake the Nine Heavens!
I knew what she was going to do.
She was going to... risk everything!