Change began tonight

"Silence!"

The New Year's Watchers' firm, unified command swept across every inch of Tongren Road.

Beneath the soft, bright moonlight, Yan Duoduo stood suspended in the air, his expression still calm. He showed neither anxiety over the situation spiraling out of control nor the hysteria of someone about to fight for his life.

Behind him, a Star Gate appeared, its radiance swirling like a galaxy, profound and unknown.

Like a firefly in the darkness, it lit up its companions in an instant. Around him, the other New Year's Watchers with ordered inheritances summoned their own Star Gates, answering Yan Duoduo from afar.

Although such New Year's Watchers were relatively rare, when they opened their Star Gates together, the dazzling radiance joined into one, washing away every inch of darkness on Tongren Road.

One Star Gate after another opened. Silence fell over the area.

Outside the bar, the Chaos Faction players who had been converging on the scene stopped in their tracks, obeying orders from above and no longer daring to act rashly.

Before this, almost none of the various powers on Tongren Road had believed Yan Duoduo would actually do it. What would happen if nearly a thousand players went to war?!

Would one Shanghai be enough? Not even close!

It was like great powers directing smaller countries to fight. When wronged, they would shout about launching nukes, but when the moment truly came, who would dare launch the first one?

Outside the bar.

Ren Ye stared blankly at the sky, at Yan Duoduo and his Star Gate, his eyes filled with a shock beyond words.

It was his first time seeing a player unveil his Star Gate in public. The man truly looked like a god descending into the world. He had truly taken showing off to its absolute peak.

For no particular reason, Ren Ye remembered something Huang Wei had told him long ago: a life so brilliant... it defied imagination.

This was how life should be!

In that instant, one thought rose within him: I must clear the Qingliang Prefecture Star Gate.

A cold wind swept past. Ignoring the Chaos Faction players on the street, Yan Duoduo fixed his eyes on Lame Boss outside the bar and asked curtly, "Got a problem with that?"

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Limp's forehead. He glanced at his fellow players out of the corner of his eye, only to find that they had stopped approaching him.

Silence. No response.

Yan Duoduo remained where he was, his tone utterly even. "All right, then let me offer a suggestion. You can choose to resist arrest right now. On my honor as a New Year's Watcher, I guarantee that no one will interfere until one of us is dead."

"...!"

At those words, veins bulged on Limp's forehead.

An uproar swept through the surrounding crowd. Everyone understood: Yan Duoduo was inviting Limp to a one-on-one fight to the death.

He was Shanghai's Star Officer, the regional leader of the New Year's Watchers. Naturally, he could not openly demand a duel. That would be acting on personal feelings, a blatant violation of the rules... so instead, he suggested that Lame Boss resist arrest.

Atop the Signal Tower, Shadow sprang up in excitement, waving a small fist and shouting, "Don't chicken out, Limpy! Fight him!"

Beside Shadow, Dandan hugged a load-bearing pillar and curled his lip. "Yan Duoduo clearly isn't trying to arrest him. He wants him dead. Now it all depends on how much Limp can swallow..."

Outside the bar, Limp's expression twisted with conflict. Two or three times, he raised his cane, while the star source fluctuations around him grew wildly unstable.

After waiting a while, Yan Duoduo sneered and asked again, "All right. If you choose to resist arrest, I'll only use my second-tier mystical ability. That makes it fair. How about it?"

As his voice drifted through the air, every Chaos Faction player turned to Limp, their faces filled with anger and humiliation.

This pressure was clearly aimed not at Limp alone, but at every Chaos Faction player present...

"Lame Boss, you're both second-tier! What the hell are you afraid of? Get him!"

"Resist arrest!"

"Resist arrest!"

"...!"

One person struck the spark, and countless others fed the fire.

Within moments, unified chants rang out along the street. Most of the Chaos Faction players were hoping Limp would draw his cane and rise to fight for their dignity.

As the chants poured into his ears, Limp stared at his fellow players, dumbfounded, a humiliating anger rising inside him.

What happened to sticking together?

What happened to doing this together?

Why am I the only one going up now?!

The New Year's Watchers plant a stele, and you don't even dare take another step?

Limp clenched his fists and looked up into the air again.

He understood better than anyone that every move Yan Duoduo made conveyed one message: he hadn't fucking come here to arrest anyone today. He had come to kill Limp in public-and, more importantly, find an excuse to open fire on the Roadside Dogs Organization...

If I really resist arrest, he'll absolutely dare to wash Tongren Road in blood tonight, and those spectators around me most likely won't help.

They had misjudged the New Year's Watchers' resolve. The other side wanted a fight, but the people here were not prepared for one.

Torn and struggling, Limp suddenly lost his nerve. Looking up at Yan Duoduo, he called, "...You win. I'll accept whatever happens."

Whoosh!

As his words fell, the dark aura erupting from his body vanished without a trace.

"You accept it?" Yan Duoduo's face showed no joy at his victory. He merely asked quietly, "What did my colleague tell you to do just now?"

On the steps, Ren Ye heard this and immediately shouted like an eager lackey, "Hands on your head! Squat down!"

"Hands on your head! Squat down!"

The New Year's Watchers from Qingfu District barked the order together, almost instantly prompting their colleagues to join in.

As the oppressive shouts bore down on him, Limp trembled and glanced around. Slowly, he bent his knees and hunched over, squatting on the ground with his hands on his head.

At that sight, the surrounding Chaos Faction players all deflated. It was as though they had been slapped across the face, yet had no way to fight back.

Inside the fifth-floor hotel room, the Predator Alliance's leader turned to leave and said flatly, "This new Star Officer is a lunatic. He wants to divide the various powers on Tongren Road."

"We could help Limp," the young man beside him said with a frown. "The New Year's Watchers doing this..."

"We could." The leader turned to him and asked quietly, "But can you guarantee that the others watching from the shadows would help him too? Can you guarantee that those Chaos players who don't belong to any organization would also help?"

Silence settled over the room.

"I can tell you this much: Yan Duoduo wants to take over Tongren Road tonight. He came fully prepared, and he alone can decide what the New Year's Watchers do. Meanwhile, we... haven't even had a single thorough discussion." The leader shrugged. "...I don't know why, but I keep feeling that the New Year's Watchers' attitude toward us... changed dramatically tonight."

Elsewhere, several powerful figures watching from the shadows quietly departed the moment Limp squatted down.

On the street, the Chaos Faction players dispersed en masse.

Squatting on the ground with his hands on his head, Limp looked as pathetic as could be.

In midair, the Star Gates shone brilliantly. Watching the departing spectators, Yan Duoduo suddenly shouted, "I don't know when I'll violate discipline, or when I'll lose my position for making a mistake. But while I'm in Shanghai, Tongren Road will stay quiet!"

Amplified by star source, his shout swept along the entire length of Tongren Road, reaching every person's ears with perfect clarity.

The Chaos Faction players on the street collectively froze. They glanced at Yan Duoduo with resentment, malice, or hatred, but in the end, they still dispersed without a word.

Whoosh!

Yan Duoduo withdrew the Star Gate behind him. After drifting down to the ground, he headed straight for the exit of Tongren Road and instructed Chen Hannian through his earpiece, "Take every member of the Roadside Dogs back for questioning."

"Yes!" Chen Hannian replied excitedly. "That felt good. So damn good! Tongren Road hasn't been this quiet in years."

Yan Duoduo did not respond. He simply walked out of the space isolated by the Wordless Stele and stood with his hands behind his back on the bustling street.

In the past, Chaos Faction players had been like deranged, obsessive ticking time bombs. Push one too hard, and there was no telling where it might explode.

The people killed could be New Year's Watchers, or they could be ordinary civilians...

But today, the role of that ticking time bomb had been reversed. Yan Duoduo had become the bomb.

He followed no established playbook and did not even show much respect for the Mystical Tribunal's regulations. He was like a madman with a gentleman's exterior and an intensely radical core.

He had forcibly shifted the risk of "unrest" onto Tongren Road.

If you dare cause trouble outside, kill civilians, or kill New Year's Watchers, I'll pursue the investigation to the bitter end. If you band together to fight back, I'll dare to raze this entire street.

Banding together for protection and resistance was a struggle for room to survive. Until their means of survival were completely cut off, and while they lacked the power to utterly destroy the rules, no one was willing to actually die.

Screech!

A car stopped beside Yan Duoduo. Inside, Old Zhou lowered the window and stared at him with a complicated expression, utterly baffled. "I don't understand. Shanghai is such an important region. Why would the New Year's Watchers' headquarters send you here as its Star Officer?"

With his hands behind his back, Yan Duoduo looked at him. "Perhaps... you don't understand the New Year's Watchers at all."

At that, both men fell silent.

Yan Duoduo looked at him. "Want a drink?"

"I don't want to befriend a lunatic." Old Zhou shook his head helplessly. "But my heart really has been under a lot of strain tonight. I should have a drink and relax."

"My treat." Yan Duoduo pulled open the car door, bent down, and got in.

Outside the bar.

A group of Roadside Dogs players were brought out in humiliation and made to squat in rows along both sides of the road.

Xu Peng was getting into his stride. He walked up and slapped one of the Roadside Dogs across the face. "Those two criminals from the Bell Society said... if we pay your organization two extra pieces of star source, you offer some seriously exciting services?"

"...!" The Roadside Dogs member gritted his teeth and said furiously, "Then pay up! Pay up, why don't you?!"

"Hey, seriously." Xu Peng squatted beside him with a solemn expression and asked softly, "I'll give you two pieces of star source. How about helping me test a new drug?"

The not-so-bright Roadside Dogs member's eyes lit up at that. "You'll really give me two pieces of star source?"

Before long, nearly fifty Roadside Dogs players had been brought out and escorted into vehicles one by one.

In truth, most of them had taken no part in sheltering the Bell Society members, but Yan Duoduo still ordered them all taken away.

That, too, was a statement-the kind one ought to make after winning a contest of wills.

Not far away.

Huang Wei took a sip of water, turned, and nudged Ren Ye with his shoulder. "...Well? Any thoughts on tonight?"

Ren Ye tilted his face toward the starry sky. "Director Yan was so fucking cool! I've got less than two days before I enter the Star Gate again. I'm going to win... One day, I'll shine that brightly too, right?"

Atop the Signal Tower.

Shadow stretched and said listlessly, "...This pet-keeping Star Officer is cooler than those timid types. Going by the timing, my Stage Star Gate... should be coming soon too...!"