Chapter 228

The gunner was on the verge of tears, but he still stared at Scorpius's head through the scope, silently counting down in his mind.

The entire gun emplacement was eerily quiet; only the breathing of a few people could be heard, and the gunner could clearly hear his own heartbeat.

He swallowed hard, mentally counted down for ten seconds, and then pressed the launch button fiercely.

The massive electrical system on the Sky Ladder activated, instantly accelerating the cannonball to near-light speed before launching it. From the outside, all that could be seen was a beam of light shooting out from the Sky Ladder's cannon muzzle and instantly reaching Scorpius's head.

However, the light suddenly disappeared when it reached Scorpius's head.

"So, has Scorpius been taken down?"

After the shelling, the Sky Ladder was destroyed on the spot due to overload, and the entire gun emplacement turned pitch black. After enduring the impact of the shelling, the captain immediately got up and asked the gunner.

The gunner, lying on the control panel, stared at the Scorpius still moving through the optical sight, and his face instantly filled with terror.

"No, Scorpius is still alive and well, and without a single injury!"

"What!?"

The captain immediately climbed to the scope and stared at the Scorpius that was still moving, completely dumbfounded.

"Quick! There's one more shell! Load it now!"

The captain gave the order, and the team members did indeed move the shells over, but unfortunately, they could no longer open the breechblock because the entire Sky Ladder had lost power. To be precise, it was the Miracle that the Sky Ladder, which had been abandoned in the wild for years, could still be powered!

Oh no, to be precise, it shouldn't be the Miracle. This was something Kikunojyo Tendo had prepared long ago. After all, if it hadn't been prepared in advance, how could a weapon abandoned outside the city for several years still be powered? Where did the enormous amount of electricity required by this weapon come from? What kind of battery can store such a huge amount of electricity for several years? It still comes directly from Tokyo.

Maintaining power to a superweapon that is not in a safe zone and has been abandoned outside the city for several years—isn't that something that was planned in advance?

However, it was clear that Kikunojyo Tendo's preparations were insufficient, and his understanding of the Heavenly Sky Ladder was also inadequate. This weapon was ultimately just an experimental product that had never been used in actual combat. After firing it once, many of its internal components were burned out, and the Sky Ladder instantly became a scrapped steel structure, unable to exert any further military deterrence.

Therefore, even if they brought a second shell, it would be useless!

Unable to open the breech, the team members were in despair, as were the soldiers defending outside the Sky Ladder. The two helicopters ultimately failed to stop the Gastrea army and were destroyed by the Gastrea. Without the helicopters, the team members on the gun emplacement had no chance of returning. They either hid inside the emplacement waiting for possible rescue or rushed out to be devoured by the Gastrea.

They chose the former, hoping to survive for as long as possible.

Meanwhile, atop a stone monument on the outskirts of Tokyo, Li Yue and Kageyasu Zaibatsu stood side by side. However, their attention was not on Scorpius or the Sky Ladder, but on the black cannonball beneath their feet.

"So this is the shell they're going to use to kill Scorpius? It's really heavy."

Li Yue kicked the solid cannonball and laughed as she remarked.

411. Shadow, go and chop it down!

"What a powerful force!"

Kageyasu Zaibatsu looked at the cannonball in front of him and couldn't help but sigh. How did they manage to retrieve it from such a distance and at such a high speed?

Distance wasn't the key point, because Li Yue's casual slash created Portal that allowed him to reach the top of the stone tablet, so the distance of the cannonballs wasn't an issue. But the cannonballs were almost turning into a streak of light; how was it possible to intercept them so easily?

The so-called sub-light speed is naturally impossible to achieve, but surpassing all previous weapons is still possible.

At such speed, no one in the world should be able to stop it. Prometheus Metal is inherently harder than ordinary metals, and with that terrifying speed, even the zodiac cannot stop the projectile's advance. This is why the Sky Ladder is called the ultimate weapon of war.

But now, the man in front of him has taken the cannonball back.

Indeed, in Kageyasu Zaibatsu's eyes, Li Yue had simply "picked" it back. He just stood still, then cut out a Portal, and the cannonball came from there and landed in front of Kageyasu Zaibatsu.

As for how Li Yue did it, it's actually quite simple. Li Yue opened the Portal early on and then used the Geo Element to create several layers of shields around Scorpius. These weren't the kind of shields that completely enveloped Scorpius, as that would be too troublesome. They were single-sided shields with many layers stacked on top of each other.

After the cannonball flew toward Scorpius, it immediately hit the shield. The multi-layered shield formed by Elemental Power neutralized the cannonball's power, slowing it down until its speed finally dropped to zero, and then it landed in front of Li Yue.

In Kageyasu Zaibatsu's view, it was as if a cannonball transformed into a beam of light and flew towards Scorpius, then suddenly became Yuyuko and landed in front of Li Yue and him.

"The Sky Ladder is no longer able to fire a second shell."

Li Yue stood on the cannonball, looking at the Sky Ladder in the distance. After the power was turned on, all the lights on the Sky Ladder were on, but now, because the previous cannonball had damaged the circuit, all the lights on the Sky Ladder were off.

"Venti, come here for a second."

As soon as Li Yue finished speaking, a breeze blew by, Venti appeared beside Li Yue, holding a wine bottle in her hand, and asked Li Yue a question.

"Li Yue, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Could you simulate Dvalin's Wind Barrier?"

Li Yue gestured with her chin towards the distant Sky Ladder.

"Cover that thing up to prevent Gastrea from destroying it."

"That thing? No problem!"

Venti hid the bottle behind her back, then replaced it with a Lyre and plucked it. Wind flew from Venti's hand, quickly heading towards the Sky Ladder, directly encircling the entire massive Sky Ladder, and then transforming into a pale blue barrier that looked like a giant bowl covering the entire Sky Ladder.

"Alright, as long as I'm here, this barrier will remain in place."

Venti put away her harp and then took out a bottle of liquor.

"Great, we can take this with us when we leave."

Although the Sky Ladder was destroyed in one shot, this weapon is still pretty awesome, at least according to its design. I can take it back and let that woman study it.

Kageyasu Zaibatsu didn't pay attention to what Li Yue said. He was looking at Venti with a puzzled expression. How did this person appear? If Li Yue had directly cut out a Portal with his sword before, he could at least sense how it appeared. But this green guy in front of him, he couldn't see how he appeared at all. A gust of wind blew by, and then this person appeared. It couldn't be that this person appeared with the wind, could it?

Although puzzled, Kageyasu Zaibatsu did not speak out, but observed silently.

But the more he observed, the stranger he felt. This person looked like just an ordinary drunkard.

Kageyasu Zaibatsu was observing, as was Kohina was also observing this suddenly appearing new person. Venti also noticed Kohina's gaze. Compared to Kageyasu Zaibatsu, Kohina's gaze was more innocent; she was simply curious about where this person came from.

Venti was drinking when she noticed Kohina's gaze. She glanced down at Kohina, her eyes darting around, then clenched her fist and handed the drink to Kohina.

Would you like some too?

Snap—

Li Yue slapped Venti's hat off.

"How did you figure out she wanted to drink your lousy liquor?"

"Oh, I just noticed she kept staring at the drinks in my hand, and I thought she'd never drunk alcohol before, so I wanted to try them."

Venti spread her hands, slowly and helplessly explaining.

"Alright, you can go back now. Stop making a fool of yourself here."

Li Yue waved impatiently at Venti shrugged at Kohina, smiled helplessly, then spun around and disappeared like a breeze.

I saw it!

Kageyasu Zaibatsu's eyes widened. This time he saw it clearly: Venti had vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Sir, he..."

"He's Wind Spirit, so it's normal for him to be able to transform into the wind."

Huh? Wind Spirit?

Do elves exist in this world?

Kageyasu Zaibatsu somewhat bewildered.

"Alright, forget about that drunken Wind Spirit. Let's see how chaotic Tokyo gets next."

The Sky Ladder was protected, while Scorpius remained intact and continued to approach Tokyo. The Tokyo command, witnessing all of this, was completely dumbfounded.

"Why didn't the Sky Ladder work?"

Kikunojyo Tendo roared and questioned him directly.

"Sir, we have checked. The speed and direction of the cannonball are perfectly fine. It was flying straight toward Scorpius's head, but it suddenly disappeared after getting close to Scorpius. The cannonball never hit Scorpius at all."

"So tell me why!"

The technicians' report did not satisfy Kikunojyo Tendo, and the old man glared and roared.

"If this shot fails, then Tokyo will have no way to stop Scorpius!"

Sky Ladder Kikunojyo Tendo's hope; he had confirmed that Sky Ladder could be launched, and indeed it was Sky Ladder. But then, the shell disappeared after launch! What a ridiculous joke!

You can't exactly tell me that after the shell is fired, it gets too hot from friction with the air due to its high speed and burns up completely, can't you?

You fired a specially made Prometheus Metal projectile, not a coin that melts and disappears after traveling a hundred meters at three times the speed of sound!

"Find out what happened quickly!"

Under Kikunojyo Tendo's orders, the technicians continuously analyzed the video of the shells flying, but the final result they obtained was still incomprehensible to them.

"Sir, the cannonball suddenly disappeared just as it was approaching Scorpius."

The technicians zoomed in on the analyzed video and showed it to Kikunojyo Tendo. He watched as the shell disappeared as it approached Scorpius.

Kikunojyo Tendo stared wide-eyed.

"What exactly is this...?"

Inside the Tokyo command post, Kikunojyo Tendo and the Holy Emperor were in a state of utter distress, while on the stone tablet, Li Yue had already raised his hand to summon Raiden Ei.

"Shadow, when this giant reaches the outskirts of Tokyo, use your full power to cleave it in two!"

Faced with Li Yue's order, Ying simply nodded slightly, muttering a single word with a dumpling in her mouth.

"Hold on!"

412. Raiden Shogun makes his appearance.

Tokyo descended into chaos. When Scorpius first made landfall, it was dozens of kilometers away from Tokyo, and since it was nighttime, most Tokyo residents couldn't see it. Only a few people could see it through the high-rise buildings in the city center.

However, as Scorpius gets closer and closer, the ground in Tokyo begins to shake as Scorpius moves. Citizens who were already asleep at night habitually thought it was an earthquake and rushed outside.

But after running outside, they finally discovered the source of the tremors. The giant Scorpius was now close enough that, under the moonlight, the residents of Tokyo could clearly see the enormous figure in the distance.

"That thing?"

"Is it Gastrea? Are there Gastrea that big?"

Most Tokyo have never seen the zodiac. They only know that the world was destroyed by Gastrea Virus and that humans were killed by Gastrea. Therefore, they only see Gastrea, Gastrea Virus, and the Cursed Children carry Gastrea Virus.

"It's heading towards Tokyo! It's heading towards Tokyo!"

"The stone tablet will stop it, won't it? The stone tablet will definitely stop it!"

"Yes, there are still those monsters on the outskirts of Tokyo! They can also stop those monsters!"

The people of Tokyo place their hopes for the safety of the Tokyo on the Black Stone Monument and on the Cursed Children who seek refuge in the city on the outskirts of Tokyo.

The Tokyo Command also placed these hopes on its staff.

"Is there really no way to stop Scorpius?"

"To be precise, the only thing that can stop Scorpius is the Sky Ladder, but now the Sky Ladder's attack has completely failed. In a short time, the Sky Ladder cannot launch a second attack. So we can only hope that the opponent will be affected by the Black Stone Tablet, which will make Scorpius leave, and that the Qixing's Legacy will attract it away."

Where is the Qixing's Legacy now?

The Holy Emperor looked at Kikunojyo Tendo, but the old man shook his head.

"I don't know either, but I'm certain that the Qixing's Legacy was opened by Kageyasu Zaibatsu. As for where Kageyasu Zaibatsu is, we don't know either. We can only hope that the other party didn't bring the Qixing's Legacy into Tokyo. In that case, there's a chance that Scorpius won't invade Tokyo."

But probability is ultimately just probability; it can almost be described as the Miracle.

Because it's no longer about the Qixing legacy, but rather the lights of Tokyo that have completely captivated Scorpius. Now, besides the Qixing's Legacy, Scorpius is even more concerned about Tokyo.

After the giant Scorpius made landfall, it made its way towards Tokyo, leaving one deep pit after another.

Tokyo did put up some resistance. Kikunojyo Tendo immediately ordered the Tokyo Self-Defense Forces to attack, but the result was the same as with the Maritime Self-Defense Force: it was completely ineffective. Scorpius, braving the Self-Defense Forces' artillery fire, continued to advance towards Tokyo. Its speed was even accelerated by the harassment of the artillery fire.

It may have originally been attracted by the lights of Tokyo, but now it is attracted by the artillery fire, because the attack from humans has angered it!

Fueled by Wrath, Scorpius accelerated its advance, arriving directly beside the megalith under the watchful eyes of the Tokyo citizens. The massive Prometheus Metal monument emitted a magnetic field that Gastrea found repulsive, but for Scorpius, while it was repulsive, it wasn't unbearable. It simply swept past the megalith and entered Tokyo's first-level stone monument circle.

The stone monuments in Tokyo have two concentric rings: an outer ring and an inner ring. The alternation of these two rings of stone monuments was used to drive away Gastrea.

Unfortunately, the Prometheus Metal monolith, which is usually effective against level 4 Gastrea, is completely useless against level 5 Gastrea.

Scorpius's massive body swept past the outer black stone monuments and headed straight inward. Under the watchful eyes of all of Tokyo, it crossed the outer stone monument circle and then the inner stone monument circle, completely entering the outer area of Tokyo.

"It's entered Tokyo! What about those Cursed Children in the outskirts of Tokyo? Why didn't they stop it?!"

"Where are the police? Police, go and stop it!"

The Cursed Children of the outer district went into hiding when Scorpius entered Tokyo. The police wanted to stop it, but how could they stop it when they saw its enormous Scorpius?

Tokyo went completely mad.