Survivor?

This kind of information cannot be gathered from the common people. Su Luo walked out of the greenery, preparing to leave the soon-to-be-closed Church, and would come back to probe again tomorrow.

The Church's defenses were far less stringent than he had anticipated, because the enemy of this world was not "human beings," but rather [calamity]. Human beings here were merely assets of the Church, not a threat.

Night had fallen, and gaslights illuminated both sides of the street, casting long shadows.

As Su Luo straightened her clothes and took a step, she suddenly noticed something, stopped what she was doing, and began to observe.

A man with a steady gait and an unassuming demeanor swaggered over, only to be stopped by the border guards. After a lengthy exchange, he continued walking towards the Church.

Su Luo looked at the guy, who had very high Attributes in this world. He found that his Attributes were at least 10 or higher, and his footwork was obviously practiced.

Su Luo hesitated for a moment.

This guy is like Survivor started out around the same time as Su Luo. His initial background wasn't great, but he rebuilt his character quite quickly, even faster than Su Luo himself.

It might make more sense if he were a powerful Survivor from the Martial Dao side. But Su Luo didn't think so.

Because this guy didn't disguise himself at all, and with an aura and demeanor completely out of step with this era, he headed towards the gates of the [Church].

"Stop."

The guard extended his short spear and held it across the man's chest, looking from his face to his lower body, but found nothing that could be a mark of high-ranking Church or aristocratic bearing.

"This is a sacred site of the Church; unauthorized personnel are not permitted to enter." A cold voice rang out.

"I'd like to learn more about the Awakening Ritual."

The man stated his purpose quite frankly.

The two guards were stunned for a moment, clearly having never seen such a jerk before. They exchanged a glance and smiled with a mixture of pity and impatience.

"Awakened? You're Awakened?!" the guard's voice rose.

"I just wanted to know--"

"You think you're so great! Go back and fuck your mother, look in the Mirror with your mother's cunt, and see if you're even worthy!"

One of the guards raised Steam sword that was half a person's height, looking at the somewhat silent man with hostility.

Qi Yuan clenched his Fists and took a deep breath.

"Go back to where you came from. Awakened are chosen by the Holy Light, not lowly scum like you."

Another guard kindly offered a reminder.

Ordinary people without any status are not qualified to come near the [Church]. I don't know how they were let in. The volunteers are not enlightened enough and have no sense of how to judge people.

It's normal for civilians who come in to be beaten or killed; nobody cares. The fact that the two guards didn't lay a hand on them, even though they were insulting, is already a great act of mercy.

Qi Yuan took another deep breath, then turned and left without saying anything.

"Don't get excited, don't get excited. I've only just arrived in this world and haven't even received any benefits yet. Awakened are so powerful; they are absolutely necessary for me. I'll proceed slowly..."

Su Luo silently followed behind him, waiting to see where he would go.

It's impossible for a commoner with no social resources, no noble background, and no connections with the Church to become Awakened. Anyone who asks around in the city knows this. How could this guy be so reckless?

Slowly leaving the area controlled by the [Church], the two walked one after the other into the civilian district.

This place is a bit better than the slums where Su Luo started. The passersby are visibly in good spirits, and the surrounding urban buildings are not as crowded and dark. The Steam pipes are a bit more reasonable, instead of running through the walls, they are mounted on iron frames and run along both sides of the street.

Su Luo didn't think Qi Yuan was Survivor.

Survivor can enter Large Dungeons without having Shark Arm are at best crazy. In Su Luo's eyes, Qi Yuan's behavior just now was quite reckless and inappropriate, without any pretense.

Moreover, after observing him for a while, it seems that his strength has not improved, and he doesn't seem to have started over at all.

Su Luo draped her long, dark black coat over her shoulders, turned up the collar, and adjusted her facial muscles, preparing to find a child on the street and try to find out what they might be up to by giving them a small note.

Just then, a muffled rumble came from afar, accompanied by a slight tremor in the street. It didn't sound like Steam boiler pressure explosion or a factory accident; it sounded more like a series of loud farts.

Qi Yuan and Su Luo stopped at the same time and listened intently.

At this point, there was only half an hour left before the city's curfew. The streets were sparsely populated, and those who did were hurrying along. Upon hearing the explosion, they began to run like dogs, scrambling and stumbling. It wasn't until two minutes after the explosion that someone started running and shouting:

"[Disaster]! It's disaster!"

While Qi Yuan was still in a daze, Su Luo had already run a kilometer. After making sure she was farther than the pedestrians and had tracked Qi Yuan's movements, she ran at the same speed as the pedestrians.

"What is [disaster]?"

Qi Yuan, whose mind went blank, paused for a moment before starting to run. His powerful Attributes allowed him to quickly overtake the stumbling pedestrians and find a high point on a building to observe from the shadows.

Su Luo, meanwhile, was observing him from a distance.

Soon, civilians began to pour out of the building and run in the opposite direction of the explosion. Because they were all dressed in dark colors, from a high vantage point in the building, they looked like cockroaches scurrying about.

The boiler in the distance was trembling, the doors and windows were creaking, the cheap glass was buzzing and vibrating, and something was approaching.

The calamity appeared in the east of the city, the Church sent people from the west, and there seemed to be Awakened in the city's central area.

After a short wait, when [Calamity] had swept through the streets and reached the point where Su Luo could see, the [Church]'s reinforcements arrived.

In the stench of the night sky, on streets thick with smoke and Steam... rows of two-and-a-half-meter-tall Steam armors slowly appeared.

Knight Order!

More than a hundred blue Steam vehicles emerged quietly and orderly from the shadows, stopping a street away from [Calamity]. Ignoring the wailing civilians, they waited Jingjing for [Calamity] to arrive.

Su Luo glanced at the Apprentice Knight were being used as cannon fodder, then turned her gaze to the so-called [calamity].

A four-meter-tall, scarlet figure slowly rose from the ruins of the building.

Its skin isn't red, it's just dyed red. Blood, flesh, and mud are mixed together, and after drying, they form a dark red hard shell. Its mouth contains scarlet blood and dark green internal organ fluid, with a hint of yellow liquid.

Different organisms exhibit different behaviors in different environments.

The humanoid crimson creature before them had a Constitution Attribute of only 14, which wouldn't even qualify it to withstand the gravity environment in the Land of Darkness. But in this world where ordinary people made up the majority, it swept through everything in its path, destroying the buildings made of Steam boilers and inferior building materials like bubbles.