An Old Acquaintance

Lin Yi's gaze fell on the phone screen.

A video was playing silently on it, clearly filmed by a passerby with a phone. The footage shook violently.

The filming location seemed to be a central square in Lanjing City, the capital of Su Province, where Helu City was located. In the background stood the famous landmark, Zifeng Tower, soaring into the clouds.

But at that moment, coiled around the top of the landmark was an enormous dark-purple serpent, so colossal that words could hardly describe it.

Only half its body emerged from the clouds, yet it was enough to bring to mind the world-serpent of mythology.

The giant serpent raised its hideous head high. As its barbed tongue flicked in and out, a thick stream of crimson flames, like a lava waterfall, erupted from its mouth!

The camera zoomed in frantically, shaking all the while. Several armed helicopters circled near the serpent like moths flying into a flame, desperately attacking it with autocannons and rockets.

Yet when autocannon rounds capable of tearing through tanks struck the serpent's body, covered in dark scales, they only sent a few sparks flying.

Just then, a rocket screamed into the serpent's body, and the flames from the explosion instantly engulfed it.

The next second, the smoke cleared. The spot where the serpent had been hit was only slightly charred, and its scales weren't even cracked!

The serpent seemed enraged. Its jaws snapped open, and a far more terrifying column of fire swept out. A helicopter that couldn't dodge in time was instantly swallowed by the flames. Like a toy made of paper, it broke apart in midair, exploded, and became a burning mass of wreckage.

Chen Yu looked up at Lin Yi. Seeing his brows tightly furrowed, then noticing the claw marks on his armor that had nearly torn it apart, Chen Yu pressed his lips together. In the end, he said nothing, only swiping the screen with trembling fingers.

The footage changed.

This time, it showed the sky from a ground-level perspective.

Two fighter jets were engaged in a low-altitude dogfight with a giant eagle whose wings blotted out the sky and whose body was covered in feathers with a metallic blue-black sheen. The eagle moved with lightning speed, and razor-sharp glints flashed along the edges of its wings.

Just then, a missile streaked in from the distance, trailing flames. It seemed to be a long-range strike launched by another aircraft or ground forces, and it was about to hit the giant eagle!

But the eagle suddenly opened its beak and fired a dazzling blue-white bolt of lightning that warped the air, intercepting the missile with pinpoint accuracy.

Boom!

The missile exploded in midair.

Almost simultaneously, the giant eagle plunged into an incredible sharp turn and slashed one of the fighter jets' wings with its razor-sharp wing.

The fighter's wing was severed instantly, as if sliced by a hot knife through butter. The jet lost control, tumbling as it trailed smoke and flames toward the distance.

Chen Yu silently tapped the screen, and the footage changed again.

This time, it showed the vast ocean.

The person filming seemed to be aboard a destroyer or frigate belonging to the Amerikan Nation, since the video showed an aircraft carrier flying the Amerikan flag.

Yet this ultimate symbol of humanity's dominance at sea was now like a leaf caught in a raging storm.

An unfathomably huge squid-like Abyss Beast, covered in suckers and hideous mouths, had wrapped its thick, skyscraper-sized tentacles tightly around the carrier's hull. The ship's cannons and missiles struck the tentacles like a tickle.

As the Steel Giant Ship let out a shuddering groan, its massive hull was actually overturned by those terrifying tentacles. Countless carrier-based aircraft and personnel fell into the sea like ants.

"This still isn't the craziest one. Brother Yi, look at this. Do you think... Heaven's punishing us?"

As Chen Yu spoke, he swiped his finger, and a breathtaking video appeared on the phone screen.

The background seemed to be a range of snow-capped mountains, likely filmed by a mountaineer.

A long, powerful Eastern dragon wound and coiled through the clouds. Its body wasn't covered in scales, but in a flowing blue shield of lightning energy. Countless tiny arcs of electricity danced and crackled across its surface.

More than a dozen fighter jets, apparently out of missiles, circled the dragon and attacked it with their autocannons.

Chains of autocannon fire and long-range missiles trailing flames pounded the blue shield in a dense barrage, like fireworks on a holiday.

Yet every attack vanished into the shield like a stone sinking into the sea, stirring only faint ripples of energy before being extinguished completely. Not one could even reach a single scale on the dragon.

Just then, the person filming seemed to notice something. The camera snapped toward the distant horizon.

A massive missile with a long flaming trail was hurtling through the sky at incredible speed, bearing down on the dragon with overwhelming force. Its distinctive trajectory and speed marked it as a ballistic missile!

Boom!

The missile hit the dragon dead on. A vast fireball, millions of times brighter than the sun, erupted high in the sky!

The terrifying shock wave spread instantly, ripping apart and dispersing the surrounding clouds. The intense flash even overexposed the phone camera, turning the screen a glaring white.

A few seconds later, the light faded, and the image returned.

High in the sky, the enormous fireball and smoke from the explosion were slowly spreading and dissipating.

And at the center of the smoke—

The dragon, covered in its blue lightning shield, was completely unharmed!

It even stretched its body elegantly, as if the blast had been no more than a gentle breeze.

Blue light still flowed across the shield's surface, and arcs of electricity still crackled. It seemed not even the faintest ripple had appeared.

The dragon lowered its head slightly. Perhaps it had grown bored. It simply swiped a claw through the air, and a blue ripple burst outward, sweeping over the fighter jets circling nearby. They all exploded in midair at once!

The video ended there.

"Quite a few old acquaintances..."

Lin Yi's expression was grave as he silently sighed to himself.

"Even tactical nukes didn't do much. Brother Yi, look—there's more. We're all going to die soon, aren't we?"

Without looking up, Chen Yu muttered under his breath as he kept swiping through the videos.

On the streets, packs of Corrosive Abyssal Wolves tore into fleeing crowds, while acid sprayed from their tails and corroded cars and walls.

In the subway station, humanoid Abyss Beasts with rock-like skin and joints venting scorching steam smashed the turnstiles with their massive stone fists and charged into the terrified crowd.

In a city park, a grotesque giant hound with multiple heads spat poison mist and ice shards as it battled a small squad of police officers. Their light weapons barely affected it.

Lin Yi stopped paying attention to the videos. He had seen too many things like this in his previous life. Instead, he keenly noticed that something was wrong with Chen Yu.

"That's enough!"

"A-Yu! That's enough!"

Lin Yi grabbed Chen Yu's hand to stop him from scrolling through the videos. He looked around and saw that most people wore ashen expressions and seemed dazed. Raising his voice a little, he said gravely:

"Everyone, listen to me! It's not time to despair yet! The authorities still have high-yield nuclear weapons they haven't used."

"Besides, I just killed two monsters outside. They... left behind something very special!"