Liu, Ruan, and Pang all had first-rate reactions, but flesh-and-blood humans were ultimately no match for Cybernetics systems.
The "Quick Fire" at the distant street corner, under the interception defense system, reacted several milliseconds faster than everyone on site. The distributed high-energy laser beams installed around the area had already fired two volleys while the grenade was still high in the night sky, striking it into another muffled explosion and detonating it midair. Though fragments still scattered outward, the blast's power was clearly limited.
In perfect synchronization, driven by the "Quick Fire" system and guided by tracer rounds, another barrage of ammunition poured toward a sharp-cornered white building only twenty or thirty meters from the scene.
The tracer rounds illuminated the surrounding complex, shadowed environment. Most of the Security Team and Joint Defense Team members who had been blocking the road reacted quickly, dropping to the ground at once or taking cover nearby. Naturally, some were slower, but after one or two unlucky men were hit by falling fragments, even idiots knew what to do.
Liu Xuezhi had already gotten into the armored sedan, making him the safest one there, but he did not relax. "What the hell are the 'Quick Fire' and 'Eight Claws' systems doing, letting someone get this close?"
Before the thought had fully formed, he heard another muffled boom even from inside the car. Another grenade.
This time, Liu Xuezhi did not see the grenade's trajectory, nor did he see "Quick Fire" intercept it. Yet barely half a second later, the blast's flames rolled up outside the window. The heavy armored sedan was abruptly lifted into the air, then settled back down.
Liu Xuezhi felt as though he were sitting in a rocking boat, his ears ringing. As he instinctively tried to steady himself, another wave