But that was all she said. Whatever had happened to her probably would not have much impact—rather, it had prevented something. "The battle is about to begin..."
"Got it." Jiu Ming nodded, then looked at Mai Kashiwagi. What about her...? Take her along?
"As for her, you can have her go somewhere to pick someone up." Seeing Jiu Ming's hesitation, Amber gave a soft laugh and named a location. "It should be very safe."
"Should?"
Jiu Ming twitched his lips. He pulled out the Card Collection Book and flipped through it for a while. Under Mai Kashiwagi's puzzled gaze, he gently patted her head. "You can remove the word 'should.'"
A triggered defensive shield. Its duration was only around ten-odd minutes, but during that time, it could provide the protected person with an exceptionally high level of defense. At the very least, ordinary firearms and rockets were nowhere near enough to break through it.
When Amber left, she stuffed a map into Jiu Ming's hand. Quite a few places on it had been marked with crosses. Those symbols seemed meant to keep people away, but in Jiu Ming's hands, it was the exact opposite—he intended to head straight for them.
Jiu Ming was the only one left in the entire building. By the time he went downstairs, the shop owner had already begun reporting to the police, but apparently received no response.
"This is the closest one. I'll go here!"
After quickly memorizing the map, Jiu Ming chose a location and rushed over. Gunfire and artillery were already sounding from the other areas, along with other noises. Those were probably the Contractors' special abilities.
"Open fire!"
When the garrison troops saw Jiu Ming openly appear by himself, they gave the order to fire without hesitation. They had received instructions beforehand: