The moment he sensed the riot spreading nearby, Jing Yuan's expression changed at once.
"This is bad—"
Before he could finish, the nearest cell exploded open.
A gigantic Abundance monstrosity burst through the door. Twisted branches coiled around its body, and a dozen eyes were packed across its warped face, all of them fixed in the same direction.
Cecilia's position.
More precisely, the fading source of Abundance blessing hovering before her.
It let out a savage roar.
The monsters all began shrieking greedily, throwing themselves forward without hesitation.
Then a flash of sword light cut through the air.
The creature froze mid-leap and split neatly in half. Black blood sprayed across the floor.
Jingliu sheathed her blade and stepped to Cecilia's side, her face as cold as ever.
"Jing Yuan, what is the meaning of this?" she demanded.
But this mess had been caused by a god personally intervening. How could Jing Yuan possibly explain it?
"…Master, I don't know either."
Before their exchange could go any further, another explosion thundered through the prison.
This time, three cells blew apart at once.
Three different Abundance abominations charged out, each shaped differently, yet all with the same target.
Cecilia.
Jing Yuan moved at once.
His figure flashed like lightning. A battle saber had somehow appeared in his hand, and with a sweep of golden light, he hacked the first two creatures to pieces.
But the third slipped past him and lunged straight for Cecilia.
Only to slam headfirst into a white barrier that had appeared out of nowhere.
Bang.
Its skull smashed against the shield, and the entire beast was thrown backward.
Cecilia lowered her raised hand and said with a smile, "Why panic? That thing isn't going anywhere."
As soon as she spoke, the fragment of Abundance essence dispersed completely into the air.
The monster stopped dead.
It stared blankly at the place where the essence had vanished, then slowly turned its head toward Cecilia.
Cecilia spread her hands. "Don't look at me. I'm not the one who ate it."
But that creature had no mind left to reason with. It could not understand her words—but it could feel it clearly.
The white-haired woman before it carried a denser, richer, far more tempting aura of Abundance than that little fragment ever had.
Its breathing grew ragged in an instant.
And it was not the only one.
Throughout the deepest level of Shackling Prison, every imprisoned Abundance-tainted criminal suddenly stirred, as if something had awakened them all at once.
They all turned in unison. Countless eyes pierced through cell doors, darkness, and every other obstacle, converging on the same person.
Cecilia.
She felt those stares land on her, and the smile on her face stiffened for a moment.
She was not afraid of these Abundance mutants, but being looked at like that was still deeply unpleasant.
"Um… General Jing Yuan?"
"Shouldn't your prison security be upgraded a bit?"
Jing Yuan, in the middle of cutting down a fourth beast, nearly laughed in exasperation.
"Miss Cecilia, isn't this your doing?"
He had no idea what exactly had happened—but he knew perfectly well who had been standing there when it did.
"How can you say that?" Cecilia asked innocently.
"I was only here to help. How was I supposed to know you kept so many starving ghosts locked up down here?"
And the so-called starving ghosts were proving her point with their actions.
That single trace of Abundance blessing had clearly stirred more than a few of the inmates to life.
Jing Yuan's expression turned grim.
As General of the Luofu, no one knew better than he did what kinds of monsters were imprisoned on this lowest level.
If all of them broke loose...
"All personnel, hear my command!"
His voice exploded through Shackling Prison.
"Activate the highest-level lockdown at once! Mobilize all Cloud Knights and suppress the riot!"
But before the order could even be carried out, a third wave of explosions began.
This time, five cells.
Then ten.
Then twenty.
The entire lowest level of the prison had become a volcano on the verge of eruption.
The prisoners that had been confined for centuries, even millennia, surged against their seals like sharks scenting blood.
And all of them wanted only one thing—
Cecilia.
Seeing this, Cecilia blurred and immediately found herself a nice safe spot to hide.
Honestly, were all these Abundance people just ungrateful rabble?
Didn't they always boast about their absolute loyalty to Abundance? Couldn't they tell that she was the true heir of Abundance?
And yet they still dared attack her. Clearly, they all deserved to die.
But then again, the General of the Luofu was right here.
Handling a few mobs like this was exactly what he was for.
No matter what, Jing Yuan was still an Emanator of the Hunt. Cleaning up a bunch of half-dead trash mobs like these should be easy enough for him.
And if he really couldn't handle it, she could always step in later.
Though by then, the Luofu would owe her two favors.
Boom.
Another thunderous blast shook the prison.
This one, however, had not come from the rioting inmates.
Jing Yuan had made his move.
A towering golden figure materialized behind him—his divine manifestation, the Lightning-Lord, symbol of the General's authority.
Jingliu, naturally, had no intention of standing idle either. Sword in hand once more, she moved alongside Jing Yuan, and the two of them began carving through the prison in a storm of slaughter.
Watching the scene, Cecilia quickly came to an assessment.
Looks like the ones that got loose were mostly just fodder.
The truly dangerous inmates were generally sealed away with layer upon layer of suppression. Most likely, those ones hadn't even felt the disturbance outside.
In that case, with only Jing Yuan and Jingliu handling things, the cleanup should be manageable.
At least judging from Jing Yuan's expression, he still looked fairly at ease. Not nearly as tense as his words suggested.
Suddenly, his gaze shifted toward Blade, who was still sprawled on the ground in silence.
"Yingxing."
The call reached Blade's ears.
His eyes moved slightly, turning toward Jing Yuan.
"What, our great Master Smith of the Luofu plans to sit by and watch while the Xianzhou is attacked by Abundance abominations?"
Blade's pupils contracted faintly.
Jing Yuan continued, "I know you hate. You hate yourself. You hate Dan Feng. But you also know that every one of us once carried responsibilities of our own."
"Now, you finally have a chance to die for real. But before that—"
With a flick of his wrist, Jing Yuan tossed a sword in front of Blade.
"Help me hold this level."
"Don't let those monsters disturb your rest."
Blade stared at the weapon for a long time without moving.
It was a fine blade. Even by the standards of his old self, it was high quality. The crest of the Artisanship Commission was engraved on it—a pattern he knew better than anyone.
Then, at last, he spoke.
"Just this once."
Jing Yuan smiled.
"Once is enough."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter116)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 118
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 111
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 80
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 112
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 80
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 74
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 48
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 50
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 47
Uma Musume: From Beginner 42
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