The deaths of the machine gunners triggered even greater panic within the Treasure-Stealing Gang. Blood had been shed—people were dying!
Under the frenzied assault of Honkai Beasts and zombies, the obstacles in the outskirts were completely destroyed.
As time passed, the attacks of the Honkai Beasts grew more frequent, and the gang members began to feel overwhelmed. Some were even injured and fell.
The members fought back with all their strength, but faced with such powerful enemies, despair inevitably crept into their hearts.
They were just petty thieves scraping by—when had they ever seen something like this?
"How come I've never heard that Honkai Beasts could be this strong?"
"Weren't they supposed to just be slow zombies and slightly bigger wild animals?"
"Aaaaahhhhh—"
The Treasure-Stealing Gang's formation began to collapse, and countless people fled in terror.
During the battle, one gang member, while dodging a Honkai Beast's attack, was struck by a zombie's blade. His entire arm was severed, and blood instantly soaked the ground.
"Why... where are the gang officers? Why are only we ordinary people left..."
He struggled and cried out in agony, but ultimately, he could not withstand the zombies' claws. He fell into a pool of blood.
The gang officers all possessed abilities—they were the main force against the Honkai Beasts. Yet when everyone looked around, none of them were anywhere to be seen.
"Where's Boss Raven and the vice leader? Why are all the commanders gone?!"
"I heard they were all called away by Boss Raven for a meeting."
"Damn it! Those bastards ran off with the weapons before the fight even started!"
This news dealt a heavier blow to morale than the zombies' claws.
The gang members no longer had the will to fight the Honkai Beasts. All they wanted was to escape this chaotic hell as quickly as possible.
However, with morale shattered and defenses collapsing, the tide of Honkai Beasts became unstoppable. Several unattended defensive lines were instantly breached, and the tide was already reaching the final line.
Some gang members struggled to climb onto the crumbling wall. But the moment they found their footing, a Honkai Beast suddenly leapt up and slammed into the top of the wall.
The wall stood eighteen meters high, yet those massive Honkai Beasts were Chariot-class—fifteen meters tall themselves, nearly matching the height of the wall. Their enormous, destructive bodies charged violently into the reinforced concrete structure.
At first, it was only a few Seraph-class Honkai Beasts. But soon, the giant beasts joined in.
At that moment, it was as if the gates of hell had been thrown open. The earth trembled, everything shaking violently.
The faces of the gang members on the wall turned deathly pale as they screamed in terror.
"We need to retreat immediately! This wall can't defend anything anymore!"
"Run! Otherwise we'll all be buried under it!"
A few who had already lost their sanity jumped straight off the wall, only to die from the fall.
Seeing this, the others grew even more terrified. They scrambled for the ladders, fighting each other to get down.
But before they could even decide who would go first, the entire wall collapsed with a deafening crash. Before the trampling of Chariot-class Honkai Beasts, the wall was no different from a sandcastle on a beach after the tide.
Fragile. Brittle.
And the tiny humans atop it were even more so.
Forget the charging beasts—even the collapsing wall alone was enough to easily take their lives.
"The wall's collapsing!"
"No... we're finished!"
Chaos and despair spread among the people both on and below the wall. All eyes were fixed on the hopeless scene, as if they could already see themselves being crushed or smashed to death.
In the Seven-Day Tide, there would naturally be no Herrscher or Emperor-class Honkai Beasts. The highest level in this tide was only Chariot-class.
Yet even Chariot-class alone was a nightmare for any city's defenses.
In this technologically advanced era, several cities had already been destroyed by small-scale Honkai incidents involving Chariot-class beasts.
And what this city was experiencing was even worse than a nightmare.
At the very least, no other city suffered repeated small-scale Honkai eruptions like Barcelona—again and again, without completely wiping out humanity in one go.
Just as the gang members were about to be buried under the collapsing wall, a steady figure appeared, blocking their view.
She stood amidst the swirling dust like a noble deity, calm and unmoving.
Her presence was like a beam of light piercing through their fear, giving them a sliver of hope.
Her gaze seemed to see through everything in the world. That unshakable aura caused the panicking crowd to quiet down involuntarily.
In her hand was a metallic sphere. Though it was only palm-sized, under the immortal's power, it slowly rotated in midair, releasing nearly invisible ripples that held up the collapsing wall.
Those who had fallen from the wall were also caught by the ripples, drifting down gently like leaves, completely unharmed.
Before the crowd could even process what had happened, Vill-V made a dazzling entrance from her magician's hat, standing beside the "aloof" Azure Empyrea. Holding a microphone, she announced:
"Ta-da~ Allow me to grandly introduce—this is the ancient legend of Shenzhou, the Immortal who has protected humanity for thousands upon thousands of years: the great Azure Empyrea..."
"When have I ever done something like that? Vill-V, you're lying again—"
Seeing Vill-V hold up a cue card and wink at her, Hua coughed lightly and read in a stiff tone, "Ahem... calmly alone in the nine heavens, watching the mortal world as a dream..."
"...pickled... a jar of spring that never grows old, perfect with porridge—crispy and rich."
As she read, Hua realized something was off. Already familiar with Vill-V's multiple personalities, she looked at Magician's triumphant grin and immediately understood—Magician had tampered with the lines written by Conductor.
Fortunately, the nearby gang members weren't paying attention to the deeper meaning of the Immortal's words:
"An Immortal! It's the legendary Immortal manifesting!"
"I'm saved! Oh God—"
"Why are you calling God? Call the Immortal!"
"Thank you, Immortal!"
Having read the wrong lines and still being worshipped, Hua covered her face, feeling utterly embarrassed.
Although she knew she needed to play the role of Azure Empyrea to establish the Taixu Gang's reputation, she really couldn't hold out much longer.
Not just emotionally—but also in terms of how long she could sustain the metallic sphere.
Vill-V naturally knew this. With a light tap of her wand, she opened the emergency evacuation passage. Only then did the gang members snap out of it, scrambling and tumbling into the passage.
The speech had only been a side task—the real delay had been cracking the passage, which could only be opened by the gang leader.
"But why does this encryption method feel so familiar? Logically, I should've cracked it quickly... Are the scientists in the Treasure-Stealing Gang really this capable?"
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