"Raven" climbed up the Treasure-Stealing Gang's watchtower and looked down at the bustling defensive fortifications below.
The gang's defenses had been carefully planned and arranged. On the surface, they were designed to counter the characteristics of Honkai Beasts and zombies with targeted measures, but in reality, everything was built for recovery.
The outermost layer was piled with all kinds of sharp metal, forming several crude barricades. Most of it came from recycled materials of destroyed fortifications—simply put, piles of useless junk. Even the city's daily garbage was often dumped here.
Next came a series of massive traps, including spike traps deep enough to reach vital parts of enemies, giant spring traps, and enormous pulley-driven capture nets.
The spike traps were cleverly hidden beneath the ground. Once a Honkai Beast stepped on them, it would be pierced by sharp spikes, suffering severe damage.
The giant spring traps could launch enemies into the air, causing them to lose control and giving the Treasure-Stealing Gang an opportunity to counterattack.
As for the giant pulley capture nets, they made use of the size of Honkai Beasts. Once triggered, a massive electrified net would tightly bind the enemy, rendering it unable to move.
What, you think these traps are inefficient?
Don't ask—it's just how the gameplay works...
To deal with the high mobility of zombies, the gang had also constructed a complex maze of trenches within the defenses. These trenches crisscrossed the area and were filled with various traps such as spike boards, rolling logs, and pitfall traps.
Of course, the gang didn't spend money on all these traps and trenches solely for defense—they were also meant to efficiently collect monster and human corpses. If both monsters and people ran around freely, it would be far too troublesome.
At the innermost layer stood a towering reinforced concrete wall. Dense interception nets were set up around it to slow the approach of Honkai Beasts. The wall's surface was coated with an impact-resistant material, effectively reducing the force of collisions.
This was the only part truly designed for defense. With large-scale construction machinery, building such walls was far easier now than it had been in the 21st century.
However, in reality, this thick wall hadn't been commissioned by any of Barcelona's gangs. It had been constructed by an organization known as National Boundary Guardian.
No one knew where this organization came from, but the high-ranking gang members who cooperated with them knew that this group was helping the gangs prevent information and people from leaking out of Barcelona.
On top of the wall were four massive floating turrets. These came from another organization—MOTH.
It was clear just how many hidden forces were involved in the Seven-Day Tide. Although their motives were unknown, that didn't dampen the gangs' enthusiasm for obtaining superpowers.
The floating turrets from MOTH were also Barcelona's key to resisting the Seven-Day Tide—and the primary objective the Treasure-Stealing Gang had to protect. The defensive structures could be breached, but these four massive turrets could not be lost.
After all, every gang's goal was to collect corpses, not self-destruction. There was still a bottom line to defense—if a gang suffered heavy losses, it would easily be swallowed by others.
Beneath the wall was an emergency evacuation passage leading to a hidden underground shelter that could accommodate all members. If the battle turned unfavorable, they could quickly withdraw the floating turrets into the shelter.
It was precisely this layered network of defenses that allowed humanity to withstand wave after wave of the Seven-Day Tide.
However, "Raven" did not think highly of these defenses—unless the Treasure-Stealing Gang revealed its true trump card.
And those gang officers had just been—invited into a room by her. Their fate was the same as Raven's: quietly executed. What remained of the gang was nothing more than a disorganized rabble.
In fact, in the past, other gangs had tried to build even more comprehensive defenses. One gang had even mobilized all of its ability users, hoping to completely eliminate the Seven-Day Tide...
And then that gang had been wiped out by the monsters of the tide.
The current defensive setup, on the other hand, was created with economic considerations in mind—yet it had endured.
No one knew why.
In reality, even without these defenses, Honkai Beasts and zombies wouldn't invade deep into the main city. Fighting them in urban alleys would actually reduce casualties.
As long as they held out until the second day, the number of Honkai Beasts and zombies would sharply decrease, giving the people of Barcelona a chance to recover lost ground and rebuild defenses.
Yet the four major gangs had all chosen, without exception, to fight in the areas where casualties were highest and where the tide was strongest.
And those ignorant, fearless gang members were nothing more than living sacrifices.
A cold glint flashed in "Raven's" eyes. "Today, the Treasure-Stealing Gang will be erased from the ranks of the four major gangs."
Looking around, traces of tension could be seen on the faces of the members.
But some were smiling. As "Raven" observed this, she noticed something. "Hm? Why is it so lively over there?"
A nearby member explained, "Oh, Boss Raven, that's a great magician recruited by the recruiter. Supposedly the greatest magician from Dusk Street—her performance is amazing!"
Another added, "Even on the battlefield, you need something to boost morale."
"You have to admit, I've never seen magic this interesting before."
"Is this an ability?"
The magician's performance was truly spectacular. Everything she performed was something they had never seen, not even online.
For example, she made a steamroller float in midair. Several members went up to inspect it, but none could find any wires.
Another trick was passing through walls. In full view of everyone, the magician walked straight through a thick wall without any cover like cloth or lighting.
As the performance neared its end, the magician even gave gifts to the audience. With a snap of her fingers, colorful balloons filled the air around everyone.
"Dear audience, please enjoy the final act: gun gun gun execution!"
Bang! The moment the magician spoke, gunshots rang out. Judging from the balloons bursting, bullets were coming from all directions, converging on her.
"Who fired?!"
"Don't panic, it's an illusion—an ability!"
"Ah! Magician!"
Yet the magician stood there unmoving. The bullets passed through her body, and she remained completely unharmed.
The audience erupted into applause and cheers.
"Whoa, now that's real magic. So thrilling."
"This must be an ability!"
"Why do you keep calling everything an ability? That's nonsense. Who would have that many abilities? That would be more magical than magic itself."