Fireworks

Several chat windows popped up at once, nearly freezing Zhou Zhengde's communicator.

There was no helping it. Precision instruments were prioritized for the United Defense Force; communicators like this should not even have appeared in Middle City.

[My Mom is Forever Young: Wen Ying is in trouble. Her pulse has disappeared. Her life-detection chip sent its last location from Level 49 of Lower City, but the exact area cannot be determined.]

[An Unimportant Enforcement Team Member from Upper City: The Psionicists at the 13th Institute are rioting! More than thirty Psionicists have rushed out of the 13th Institute building! They're heading for the elevators! Captain! Fuck! All the Psionicists stationed at Fortress 76 have come out! There are thirty-eight of them!]

[Former Goddess Wei Na: The Cleansing Force on Level 45 suddenly started moving! It looks like they received orders and are heading down! I'll ask right away!]

Zhou Zhengde's head buzzed as if it were about to explode.

What was happening down there?

Just because An Qian had died, all the Psionicists stationed at Fortress 76 had been mobilized? There were even several C-Class Psionicists among them?

Of course, Zhou Zhengde could not see the Biological Affairs Minister, who had watched her mother's pulse signal suddenly vanish and was now roaring madly in her office.

After a brief moment of thought, Zhou Zhengde immediately began replying.

To his ex-girlfriend Wei Na: [Notify Mu Liang to leave Level 49 immediately! The Psionicists stationed in our fortress have all been deployed!]

To his former team member: [Hide yourself. Delete the communication records on the server. Thanks.]

To the minister: [Why did Sister Ban go to Level 49?]

After waiting more than ten seconds.

[An Unimportant Enforcement Team Member from Upper City: Don't worry about me! Boss! Everyone's waiting for you to come back! Going dark.]

[My Mom is Forever Young: She only told me she was going to Level 45 to supervise things, so it would be easier to take over the Black Fire Gang's facilities afterward. We can't let your Psionicists destroy those expensive facilities again.]

[Former Goddess Wei Na: The captain here said the order came from the Upper City Command Center. The Black Fire Gang began an intense firefight half an hour ago, with widespread explosions. The Psionicists from the 13th Institute have been killed.]

[Former Goddess Wei Na: I'm heading down with the Silver Party's people. I've already tried contacting him. Are you sure the receiver on his helmet won't be damaged in combat? There's been no response.]

Zhou Zhengde immediately replied to Wei Na: [The receiver is at the center of his forehead. If that gets damaged, he's probably dead.]

After thinking for a while, Zhou Zhengde replied to his minister mother:

[Mother, I know you have to make plans for your faction and political position, but I still think this has gone too far.]

After a while, two more messages popped up.

[My Mom is Forever Young: I know what disgusts you, child, but you must consider this: if we can keep the Black Fire Gang's functional modules under our control, wouldn't we be able to effectively monitor what these gangs do?]

[My Mom is Forever Young: Justice that disregards the greater whole is not true justice. Remember what your maternal grandfather said: the fortress fights the Blade Beasts, and hundreds of thousands of humans are one whole. For the survival of that whole, we may sacrifice some individuals.]

Zhou Zhengde replied darkly:

[Me: But Maternal Grandfather also said that the whole is made up of every individual. If we do not value every individual, that whole will soon fall apart.]

[My Mom is Forever Young: That is why balance is needed. The fortress's ecosystem is currently the best balance. Upper City, Middle City, and Lower City each perform their own duties.]

[Zhou Zhengde: But we have not given the people of Middle City and Lower City enough freedom of choice! Even the Lower City's people cannot have their basic human rights guaranteed!]

[My Mom is Forever Young: I am the Head of Internal Affairs. I have access to all data within the fortress, and I can answer that question... We simply cannot afford to support them.]

[Zhou Zhengde: Then why let Lower City produce so many people?!]

[My Mom is Forever Young: Because human individuals are resources in themselves. That includes you and me. When necessary, we must both sacrifice ourselves for the species. I have a Self-Destruct Chip installed in my neck as well, to prevent Mimic Blade Beasts from stealing fortress data.]

Zhou Zhengde tossed the communicator onto the desk, raised a hand to cover his brow, and leaned back in his chair.

Helplessness.

Every conversation he had with his mother was filled with that same helplessness.

Yet he had no way to persuade her. He could only force himself to uphold the principles written in political textbooks.

Although Zhou Zhengde was currently sitting in an office at the Security Office on Level 13.

It was as though he could already hear it;

Hear the radio chatter of the Fortress Cleanup Unit advancing.

"Bzz... All squadrons, combat plans have been distributed to each unit's Command System. Objective: eliminate the Black Fire Gang. Kill all armed personnel who witness anything, as well as any living or mechanical entities that attack us. Squadron leaders, report in."

"Received."

"Received."

"Received, Commander! The rapid descent passage has been opened!"

"All squadrons, prepare for rapid descent by number... Tell those soldier cubs not to look at the scenery in Lower City! This is another world within the fortress. It's like how we would feel sick if we saw a human body's internal organs exposed. This place is the fortress's internal organs."

"Received. Drone swarm activated. Mechanical vanguard activated."

"Received. My unit will descend first."

"Received."

"My unit is ready. Beginning descent."

"Aerial support units, seize air superiority. Do not let our soldiers die in an internal operation."

"Air superiority operation has begun."

Suddenly.

"Bzz... Mu Liang? Mu Liang, can you hear me? Retreat now! The Purification Force is here! They will kill all armed personnel in the designated area. If you have to, throw away your weapons first! I'm leading the mercenary force I hired to support you! Mu Liang! Answer if you hear me! You've already taken down a D-Class Psionicist and killed two or three hundred armed men! You can stop fighting now! Leave the rest to these brutal regular troops! Mu Liang! Mu Liang!"

"Bzz... Doctor Wei Na, this is the all-frequency Command System. You connected to the wrong channel. The communications unit in your helmet appears to be part of our equipment."

"Uh, sorry! Huh? Is that my ex-ex-ex-ex-ex-boyfriend?"

Wei Na, speeding along the spiraling downward highway on her motorcycle, immediately tried to cover for herself:

"I was actually reminding everyone that one of our people is down there. Because he couldn't stand what the gangsters were doing, he was... upholding justice and exterminating evil."

Commander: "Continue descending. Do not chat in the Command Channel! All captains, switch to 99230! Wei Na! Tell your new boyfriend to get out of that area fast if he doesn't want to suffer my jealous rage!"

"Okay, okay. Good luck, everyone."

On the motorcycle, behind her helmet, Wei Na's face visibly reddened.

It was not because she was shy. She had not felt that girlish emotion in many years.

She was simply embarrassed by her own amateurish mistake.

She continued calling for Mu Liang over the channel. When she reached a stretch where she had to slow down, she instinctively looked toward the center of Level 47, where she was currently located.

An enormous racket had erupted there.

The gang members around her started shouting:

"Look!"

"Fuck! It's splitting open!"

"The fortress regulars! It's been over twenty years! We're seeing them again! The Cleansing Force... It's the Cleansing Force! Woohoo!"

"That patch of ground in the middle can open? No wonder they never let us touch it!"

At the centers of Levels 46, 47, and 48, corresponding to the central elevator shaft above Level 45, cracks appeared at the same time. Massive fan blades shifted up and down, slowly rotated, and finally retracted into a circular frame twenty meters in diameter.

A vertical "skywell" connecting the upper and lower levels had appeared.

At the edge of the skywell, more than a dozen high-strength ropes rapidly dropped down.

Amid intense buzzing, a swarm of drones resembling bees appeared in the center. Each drone was spherical and equipped with firepower units such as short-barreled machine guns and Micro-Missiles.

Close behind them came sixteen all-terrain combat robots over three meters tall. Their bodies bristled with gun barrels and cannon tubes as they descended vertically along the ropes.

Soldiers in camouflage Combat Suits, tactical helmets, and tactical backpacks descended at a steady pace with the aid of the rope assistance systems.

Drone swarm, combat robots, fully armed soldiers...

The gang enforcers' eyes instantly became crystal clear.

Wei Na could not help swearing as she hurriedly shouted, "Mu Liang! Mu Liang! Mu Liang, can you hear me? Is this communication system not working?!"

Perhaps because a passage connecting the upper and lower levels had opened in the middle.

"Bzz... Doctor Wei Na? Is that you?"

"This is the communication system built into the helmet! Mu Liang, run! Leave the Black Fire Gang's territory! Get as far from the Black Fire Gang as possible!"

Wei Na shouted rapidly:

"The Cleansing Force has suddenly mobilized! They won't distinguish whether you're a gang member or not. If you're armed and dare resist, they'll shoot you dead! Go!"

"I've already seen them. A lot of drones are swooping in," Wang Jixuan's voice carried a faint rush of wind. "Help me contact Wanlijin's people. Have Captain Zhou handle it. I owe Captain Zhou another favor. I need to take more than a dozen children away from there."

"More than a dozen?" Wei Na cursed. "So you have that many illegitimate children! And you still acted all innocent around me!"

"They're orphans. I think Middle City should be able to offer them some help."

Wang Jixuan instructed:

"Remember, contact Wanlijin first. Don't put yourself in danger just to save people."

"I can withdraw from here. Later, I'll blow up the escape route used by the Black Fire Gang's upper ranks... I'm in their escape route right now, setting up some booby traps for them..."

"Fine, fine. You still don't like listening to anyone, do you? I'll contact them right away! Who told you you're the big shot?"

Wei Na grumbled.

In the tunnel, Wang Jixuan let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Did Wei Na mean he was stubborn and self-righteous?

He moved quickly, dropping Micro-Missiles wrapped in thin wire one after another.

No more sounds came from the helmet.

Reluctantly, he looked at the Sniper Rifle in his hands, which he would have to return later. He disassembled it, slung it over his shoulder, and ran at full speed.

A few minutes later.

Fire?

Wang Jixuan's Spiritual Sense suddenly detected surging waves of flame ahead.

He casually formed a hand seal, pressed his Sword Finger to his forehead, and chanted:

"Heaven is round, earth is square, nine chapters of law command. Golden light, appear swiftly and protect my true body!"

A faint golden film appeared around him.

As Wang Jixuan sprinted, he raised a hand and slapped the edge of the corridor. His body seemed to fly as he shot up the sloping stairs ahead and plunged into a sea of fire.

Wang Jixuan froze.

The entire wooden house was burning fiercely.

He immediately tried to rush to the second floor, but his steps suddenly stopped.

He could not sense the presence of any living being.

The beam at the center of the wooden house was about to collapse.

Wang Jixuan flashed through the window, made several rapid leaps, and landed steadily atop a greenhouse roof, looking around in every direction.

Thomas's car was burning too, and the air was filled with the smell of scorched meat.

A flash of white appeared in Wang Jixuan's sight.

Beside that pitted concrete road, the girl sat obediently beside a small suitcase. Her snow-white dress was like a lotus blooming in the night.

"Ye Zi... Ye Zi!"

Wang Jixuan jumped straight over, taking off his helmet and holding it at his side in his right hand.

Ye Zi, who had been staring blankly, looked up. A little light appeared in those vacant pupils as she cried excitedly, "Brother Tian!"

Wang Jixuan landed and rushed forward two steps before instinctively stopping again. His pupils suddenly contracted.

Ye Zi smiled and opened her arms to him. When she drew closer and saw that Wang Jixuan's face was somewhat pale in the firelight, she slowed down uneasily.

There was a trace of almost imperceptible blood on her clean little face.

"Welcome home, Brother Tian! I cleaned everything up. You really came back for me. Ye Zi will work hard at the housework from now on too!"

"Y-Your younger brother and sister?"

Wang Jixuan's voice trembled.

"They left," Ye Zi answered brightly.

"Where are your younger brother and sister?!"

"They left!"

"What do you mean, they left?! Answer me! What do you mean, they left?!"

Wang Jixuan gripped his pistol in his right hand and pointed it at Ye Zi's forehead.

"Speak! Where did the baleful aura on you come from?! What did you do? What did you do?!"

"Brother Tian..."

Bang!

A bullet crater appeared by Ye Zi's feet.

Wang Jixuan's breathing became uneven. His right hand and arm holding the pistol would not stop trembling as he suddenly turned and ran into the darkness.

The light in his eyes fractured slightly, and his Dao heart shook without end.

"Brother Tian..."

Ye Zi's lips trembled. Tears filled her eyes as she covered her face and slowly crouched down.

"Wouldn't it be better if it were just the two of us? We couldn't take care of them after leaving here... Ye Zi cleaned everything up for you. Isn't Ye Zi good enough... Brother Tian... Don't you want Ye Zi anymore... Brother Tian... Come back..."

The burning handmade car in the distance let out an explosion.

With a series of crackling sounds, the wooden house collapsed.

The girl's sobs gradually turned into soft laughter.

The flames burned even fiercer.