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“Don’t worry, I’m here.” I did my best to comfort the little girl, even though I was basically shaking at this point. However, I had to stay strong. For Qiaoqiao’s sake!

Lixiang looked up in the direction of the fog, then in a solemn voice, said, “Your Highness, the skies bring ill tidings, I’m afraid this is an omen…”

“And it’s only getting worse as well…” Bitong muttered in disbelief. “Don’t tell me it’s going to reach us as well?”

Who knows… At this point, it’s anyone’s guess what will happen next. I can sure as heck guarantee that mere mortals cannot change the weather like that. At least, I haven’t heard of any technology that can drag souls!

The survivors were equally terrified by the sudden change. No one had the mood for resting anymore, and were already on their feet, raring to leave right this instant and distance themselves from the fog.

With how the sun was blotted in green, the entire city truly looked like a zombie hellscape at this point. The stifling pressure on us was almost unbearable. It would take a truly mad person to maintain his sanity in the face of such despair…

During that previous scuffle with the Scorpid skeletons, the Lans managed to flee from the scene, so we were well and truly the leader of the survivors now.

We had to lead them to the south, where we would either leave, or bump into a roving band of soldiers.

“We have to leave right now. We will head south, and if we’re lucky, we should be able to make it out.” I announced to the survivors before turning to 8931.

“Do you want to come with us? I don’t think there’s any reason for you to stay at this point.” I asked sincerely.”

“No. I intend to stay behind. Our last mission was to rescue the citizens. Seeing as this bridge is going to be a main focal point in that, I have to hold this position.”

“Uncle, are you sure? This place is scary, maybe you should come with us…” Qiaoqiao timidly whispered.

“I’m sorry, but I have to stay.” 8931 then sighed in resignation. “You all have exosuits, so I’m sure ordinary zombies won’t be able to harm you. As long as those Scorpids don’t pop up again, I’m sure the road ahead will only be easier… but the other citizens aren’t the same, they aren’t as fortunate… That’s why I have to stay…”

“3739. 5514. You guys as well?” Bitong suddenly asked the two officers.

“I intend to stay behind.” 3739 tried his best to say that casually. “Since I can’t even go back to the HQ, I want to at least catch a glimpse of our enemy.”

“I’m staying behind too. Even though I really want to go off gallivanting with a bunch of beauties… Truly, unfortunate.” While he might have said that, I couldn’t hear the least bit of regret in his voice.

Seems like they’ve all made up their minds. Even though their HQ and even their Chief is dead…

“I understand. Please be well.” Faced with their unrelenting resolve, I couldn’t help but be touched. For the briefest of moments, I even contemplated staying behind to help them. But I couldn’t do that… I had people I had to protect as well…

“Don’t worry, I’m sure we will see each other in the future too.” In contrast to my gloom, 5514 was just as boisterous as before, as if we weren’t saying our final farewells at all. “I hope the next time we meet, you’ll give me your autograph. And a photo too.”

Perhaps affected by his optimism as well, I happily agreed. “No problem. As many as you want, assuming you’re alive then.”

“Hahaha, there’s no need to assume there. Not while I have the Goddess’s autograph and photograph to look forward to!” 5514 grinned widely underneath his exosuit. “I’ll be sure to burn one copy for him as well…

Burn one copy… I see… So that’s how it is…

Exactly how many have died in this disaster already… Exactly who is so devious as to destroy an entire city like this… And how many more…

If I ever get the chance, I’m going to gouge his heart out and see if the blood running within is as black as its host!

Unfortunately, I didn’t even know who it was we were fighting against…

Having said our farewells to those brave policemen, I swiftly led the survivors southward across the bridge. Gone was the fatigue that had plagued us mere moments ago. In order to escape this hellscape, the survivors seemed to have found their second wind.

I took point this time, swinging away at any zombie I found with my hammer. Our flanks were covered by the two unmanned exosuits controlled by Bitong. Even though they had taken some damage in the last fight, any exposed surfaces did not matter much since there was no pilot inside to begin with. Following closely behind were Qiaoqiao and Lixiang. Like the head of a spear, we slew our way down south.

Whenever we bumped into any survivor, we would stop temporarily to allow them to join our pack. In order to prevent another tragedy, I had the best performing armed survivors handle the rearguard. At the very least, we shouldn’t have another repeat of the past where the survivors simply fled.

In the end, after a good number of delays in order to rescue survivors, we found ourselves at the outskirts around seven in the night. At which point, we stumbled onto what had to be the most shocking sight so far…

Thousands, perhaps even millions of black exosuits stood stock-still ahead. In the middle was a twenty-one meter tall, reddish mobile armor that was equally still..

There were no signs of battle anywhere. No blood, not even scratch marks. It was as if those suits were all empty…

High above, countless green apparitions swam about, their bodies elongating at times, before suddenly contracting into an almost biscuit-like shape. Their mouths were unnaturally wide open as they wailed in agony. However, no matter how hard they seemed to be screaming, we couldn’t hear a word. It was as if they were in an entirely different dimension from us…

“The survivors over there, please remain where you are. It is extremely dangerous here. I repeat, please do not come over… remain where you are…”

At the same time that we spotted the army, they spotted us as well.

Unfortunately, the soldier did not even get to finish his warning before some of the survivors started rushing towards the army.

“It’s the army, we’re saved!”

“Finally! We can get out of this place…”

The survivors rushed forward, completely ignoring those apparitions above. Then… disaster struck…

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

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Even with us helping to clean out the bridge, there were still a good number of zombies left. Northern Waters Bridge was a landmark in the city. Naturally, it was packed to the brim before the virus. It still was, but just with zombies. Zombies who weren’t cooperating with us in this clean up.

After that battle with the scorpion-tailed skeletons, the police officers were all worn out. 8931’s idea was to call for backup, but just as he tried to do so, he received shocking news instead. HQ had just been assaulted! His next thought was to rush to its aid, but barely a minute later, he received news of the Police Chief’s untimely demise…

“What!? The entire police headquarters is gone?!”

When I was told this news by him, I nearly jumped out of my skin. That was the main base of the police force we were talking about! Other than being guarded by exosuits, they also had mobile armors stationed there. In the confines of this city, there was basically no other area that was as well-defended. And for such a secure location to just be destroyed like that… Crap…

Who’s left now? The army? That’s right, it has to be the army…

“Leader, I want to return to HQ to have a look!” 3739 made the request, however he was quickly rejected.

“No, I forbid it. With his dying breath, the Chief gave the order to protect the civilians… We still have a mission to complete, and until it’s done…”

“But…”

“I know your feelings, but now’s not the time. Have you ever considered that if even our HQ can be destroyed so quickly, that means there’s a power strong enough to wipe out HQ before the Chief and the others could even react… Until we are sure that the enemy is gone, you returning would achieve nothing… In fact, you would have played right into their very hands.”

“As if those zombies are even worth fearing!” 3739 roared in defiance. “I can take care of them myself!”

“In other words, the ones who destroyed HQ weren’t even zombies…” 8931 answered in a calm voice that was almost spine-chilling. “Think about it, those scorpion-tailed Scorpid skeletons you just fought were resurrected by that mysterious foe. If they have the ability to reanimate a pile of bones… Do you honestly think that there are only Scorpid specimens kept in the city? If I’m not mistaken, our local museum even has a complete skeleton of a Mammuthus in its collection… that’s a Disaster-class right there. There are plenty of rich people who keep Primal beast skeletons in their collections as well. There’s a high chance those were reanimated as well.”

“Even so…”

“Idiot!” 8931 finally lost his cool at his stubborn subordinate. “Just use your brain for a second! Do you think I do not wish to go back as well? But we mustn’t forget our duty! Protecting the citizens is our mission right now! If you want to die, that’s your own business, but your death is not going to accomplish anything…”

3739 hung his head in silence for a good long while. Finally, a faint sobbing could be heard. “My younger brother was a comms officer in HQ…” Having said that, 3739 finally broke down.

“Sigh… I’m sorry… I was too harsh just now, but if you still insist on going back…”

“No… there’s no need for that… If he’s still alive, he would have contacted me already…”

From the looks of things, 3739 seemed to have come to terms with his younger brother’s death. However, I could still tell that he was extremely upset, even through that exosuit of his.

Finally, after a moment of silence, the cleanup resumed in earnest.

Even though Northern Waters Bridge wasn’t the only route connecting the north and south, this bridge was particularly famous amongst the tourists. Meaning, if any survivor were to have the same idea as us, they would most likely choose this bridge. That was why we had to clean up the bridge before leaving, else we would have already rammed our way through with our exosuits.

With everyone’s help, the cleanup took another half an hour, after which the zombies were completely wiped out, to the relief of a very exhausted crowd of survivors.

Those not used to such strenuous work were already down on their bums, resting and chatting.

8931 took this opportunity to move aside the zombie mountain so the survivors could pass through faster. Having done that, he turned to us and said, “After your break, you guys can leave… Even though I don’t think your odds are high, there’s still a chance…”

“Is it the army who is guarding the outskirts?”

When 8931 first hinted at a potential blockade, the first suspect I thought of was the army sealing off the city to prevent the virus from escaping. However, there shouldn’t be that many of them, else they would have already marched into the city.

So what was he trying to imply with that suggestion? Did he truly mean to just have us try our luck? After all, the soldiers of Gaia were no less professional than the police officers – I highly doubted they would just let us pass like that.

Illegally, then?

“Perhaps, but there’s no harm in trying. And even if you bump into soldiers, you guys could just stay under their protection.” 8931 laid out his reasoning, though that first bit was probably enough to get him fired.

I gave it some thought, then came to the same conclusion. Yet just when I was about to thank him for his advice, the skies suddenly darkened…

Rather, it turned green…

In what looked like the northeastern direction, an eerie fog started surfacing over the horizon, blotting out the sun in a green pall. Because of our distance to the source, all I could see were those clouds. Even so…

Trouble- something must have happened over there!

Soon after, the skies were filled with horrific wails. The dead were crying. Struggling, even. But no matter how much they tried, a mysterious force seemed to be dragging them towards the northeast.

As more souls started flying away, the green fog only grew thicker…

“Oh no! That’s the direction the army was supposed to enter the city… Don’t tell me…” I could hear 8931’s voice quivering at that point. The fear was palpable even from my standpoint.

“Are you saying the army is under attack?” I immediately asked, shocked just as much as he was. “That’s where the army is located?”

“Impossible… how could they even have the power to defeat the army… they have mobile armors with them…” 8931’s eyes were wide with disbelief, but all the clues led to one disturbing conclusion.

“Big brother… Qiaoqiao can hear some strange sounds…” Qiaoqiao shuffled up to me, clearly spooked by what was going on.

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

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“Let’s go help out at the bridge as well.” As I said that, I turned around wistfully to look at the mangled human corpses around me, a pang of guilt running through me once more…

I’m sorry…

The girls seemed to have noticed my silence as well, their eyes staring at the dozen or so dead survivors before us, a mix of armored and unarmored…

We should have been more careful… this wasn’t an unavoidable situation…

“Let’s not dwell on this too much, all we can do right now is look after ourselves, as for the others… we will do our best.” I said to the girls with a sigh, though in all likelihood, that comforting was meant for my upset self. But even if we cried ourselves to death now, they weren’t coming back.

“Ke, you want to get into an exosuit first? I still have some spare exosuits over here.” Said Bitong, voice gloomy, though one could see she was trying to cheer up. “I’m sure the air outside smells really bad right now.”

In the battle just now, I had abandoned my exosuit midway, and though I did not get hurt or even touch anything unclean, the smell of blood was still strong on me. With so much death hanging in the air, her offer honestly sounded tempting.

As she suggested, I hopped into one of the exosuits she had been remotely controlling – the air immediately felt cleaner thanks to the built-in purification systems. Yet just barely a second after stepping into the machine, I heard Bitong muttering to herself.

“If I had just given those three spare exosuits to the survivors…”

Hearing that, I felt my heart wrench once more. “It’s not your fault, even if you had given them the suits, it would have caused more trouble in the end.”

The girls fell silent again.

If Bitong had really given the survivors those exosuits then, how were we to even apportion them? Everyone was a little selfish at the end of the day, especially when it came to their lives. There would have been no way to fairly give out the suits, and it would have sparked a conflict amongst the contingent. Rather than sow the seeds of envy and hatred, it would be better just to use those exosuits to fight off any potential foes.

Besides, I would feel a lot safer if there were three more exosuits guarding the girls – that was my little bit of selfishness.

Just like that, we solemnly walked up to the bridge, a pall of silence hanging over us all the while. Together with the survivors, we started helping out with the clean up.

“You have my thanks.” Seeing us volunteer to help, 3739 did his best to liven up his voice as he greeted us, though we all knew he was feeling the loss too. “Had it not been for you guys… we might not have even survived long enough for Captain to help us…”

Captain? That mysterious sniper and his detachable bits?

“It’s okay, everyone here is just trying their best to survive.”

“No need to be modest, I saw your performance just now. It was awe-inspiring, like a goddess of war from the legends.” One of the police officers, whose number was 5514, suddenly chimed in. “To be honest, I was really sweating buckets just now when I saw you leap out of your exosuit… Truly heart-pounding! If there is truly a goddess in this world, I’m sure it would be you with your amazing skills and perfect looks.”

“Ahem. I think there’s been some misunderstanding here. I’m a guy.” I immediately rebutted, head pounding a little at this point from annoyance. “Please do not twist my gender around like that, thank you very much.”

“No way! I’ve seen you in the photos before!” 5514 clearly had no intention of giving up on that delusion, it seemed. “You’re a waitress in that maid cafe in Phoenix City, right? My friend has your photo, he was taking part in some War for the Goddess, or something… I think it was some kind of money spending competition…”

As he said that, he only got more excited by the second, and I only got more uneasy. “I think you’ve got the wrong person.”

“Impossible. There can’t be another girl in this world as dazzling as you!” As if to prove his point, he whipped out a photo. “See. That’s you, isn’t it?”

Within that photo was me sitting on a throne, prepared especially by Aunty Qiao during that scam of a competition. Sister Qingshui was our hostess then…

(TL: S̲H̲I̲T̲. I’ve been spelling Qiaoqiao as Jiaojiao all this while… Also, I’m sure all these names are supposed to be Japanese… too late to change now… They function as Chinese names as well so…)

Essentially, whoever threw the most money my way would have the opportunity to hang out with me… A battle of the wallets, so to speak… Honestly, it felt a little wrong to me, but Auntie Qiao had already spent so much money for my sake, so I had to pay her back somehow…

Seeing the look of surprise on my face, 5514 smiled and said, “Besides, I’ve already checked your details – your gender is listed as female.”

Listed as female… I silently turned around to look at Bitong. Even through her exosuit, and even though she was remotely controlling a couple of exosuits right now, I could tell that her eyes were burning with murder right now as they stared holes into me…

Fine, fine…

“Hey, 5514, stop dawdling over there and do your work.” Another police officer, 8931 chimed in then. He was the exosuit that was wielding that beam sword just now. From his mature voice, he was probably the oldest here, and most likely the squad leader.

“Alright, whatever you say, leader.” Since his squad leader had already given the word, even he did not dare to linger any longer.

“I’m sorry for that… 5514 is a little off in the head. He can’t really feel much emotion… one of the deceased just now was his best friend who often visited him in the hospital…” 8931 explained apologetically. “He was supposed to be recovering in the hospital, but this mission was too urgent, so he was recalled as well…”

So he’s emotionally deficient then, no wonder he seemed a little weird just now. Who else would rattle on about some silly competition while standing in a pile of his dead comrades… Makes sense now…

Ever the inquisitive little girl, Qiaoqiao couldn’t help but ask in an innocent voice, “But if he’s crazy, why is he on the battlefield then?”

“Because this crisis came too suddenly. There weren’t enough policemen around. So as long as they were in Southern Plains, they were all called back…” As 8931 said that, I could hear the tiredness in his voice. “Not only 5514, as long as that policeman was able to move, he came back to report for duty…”

“Oh right, there’s been a question I’ve been meaning to ask.” I suddenly quipped, having thought of something. “Those twenty or so policemen just now, why didn’t they have an exosuit? Does the police force not have enough suits?”

“No. The police force has always maintained sufficient exosuits for its official members. As for those policemen you saw just now… they were all backup service members, administrative officers, and retired officers… They all volunteered to help out… even though they knew that there wouldn’t be enough exosuits…”

“I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be. This is a premeditated terrorist attack, there is no one in the city who is spared. As police officers, we have the duty to protect the citizens, even if that officer is no longer in service, or isn’t a frontline officer…” He said through gritted teeth. I had no doubt that if the perpetrator were to ever appear before him, he would immediately slice that person up into pieces.

“In that case, I salute you. You are all brave warriors.” There really wasn’t much else I could think of to say at this moment. Those officers who paid the ultimate price were all heroes deserving of our respect!

“At this rate, it shouldn’t take long before Northern Waters Bridge is cleared. You guys can cross over at that point, but…” 8931 paused at that point…

“What?” A sense of foreboding crept into me.

After some deliberation, he finally asked, “Are you planning to leave Northern Plains?”

“That’s right, it should only be another ten kilometers or so to the outskirts after crossing this bridge. As long as we keep heading south, we should be able to leave the city.”

“I’m afraid that last part might be difficult. The civilian net has been shut off, so you guys don’t know yet… The military lines are still open, and all I can tell you is that the exits have all been sealed off…”

“Sealed off? By who? The monsters?”

If it was just zombies blocking the way, we could just steamroll right through them. Those scorpion-tailed skeletons might prove difficult…

“Not monsters, it’s…” 8931 deliberately stopped at that point.

Not the monsters? That only leaves the humans then.

“In order to prevent the virus from spreading outside?” Bitong was the first to pick up on the answer. “That serum was extremely popular, but most of its customers were all in Northern Plains. In other words, there are barely any zombies in the other cities. Seeing as they can’t cause too much of a problem, the enemy’s main target should be this city!”

“You are right… Based on the information I’ve been given, the only city to have suffered is Northern Plains…”

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

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With the combined efforts of the survivors, the chaotic scene was swiftly brought to order, and with that, justice delivered to those monsters as well.

However, now wasn’t the time for a post-mortem either; there were still those policemen that needed helping. Yet the moment that thought crossed my mind, reinforcements arrived.

Back on Northern Waters Bridge, a scorpion-tailed skeleton was just about to sneak up on a white police exosuit, who was too preoccupied with other enemies to notice it. At that distance, it would only take another second or so before its tail found its mark. Thankfully, that tragedy never happened.

A beam of blue light suddenly cut across the skies like divine judgement, piercing the skull of the monster, simultaneously burning away the monster’s tail with the same shot…

A sniper?!

I turned in the direction of the shot, but found no clues as to who this mysterious shooter was. Based on that alone, I could tell that he had to at least be a kilometer away!

Then, a second beam of laser struck, piercing another skeleton just as it was about to launch into an attack…

Following that, a dozen foot-long detachable bits swarmed in out of nowhere, evenly split into two orderly groups, as they began searching for targets.

Having locked onto one, each individual group formed up into a rotating circle above each target, at which point they all fired in unison…

Accurate and deadly, these lasers all hit the same spot on their target’s skull, blasting open a hole and destroying the Soul Flame inside at the same time! Then without giving the monsters any time to react, they immediately sped off to their next target.

Before long, the battle was over, in no small part due to that mysterious sniper’s help. The three police exosuits were thoroughly battered after such a gruelling fight, but at least they survived. 3739’s run-and-gun tactics proved effective as well. While he might not have accomplished much in the end, he at least walked out of the fight uninjured. As for those two exosuits on the bridge, they were in a terrible state. Each of their armors bore the grim marks of their prey everywhere, sometimes mixed in with blood splats from a zombie. Fortunately, that was the extent of their losses. The defenses of their exosuits, and their piloting skills, proved up to mark in the end.

“Ding! Emergency Mission: Battle the Scorpion-like Monsters, complete! Administering rewards now… complete. Please confirm the contents…” Seeing as the system had acknowledged the end of the mission, that meant the battle was well and truly over.

With no enemies left, the three police exosuits returned back to their posts on the bridge. As for the detachable bits who suddenly barged into the battlefield… They were all gone now. The other party did not seem keen on making contact with us. Perhaps he had another mission to attend to. Either way, a debt like this did not need saying – should the opportunity arise, I will definitely repay him.

3739 and his comrades’ mission was to clear the bridge of zombies, so before another squad came to take over their shift, they couldn’t stop. In extraordinary times like these, it was their sense of honor and duty that drove them tirelessly onwards. But after experiencing the deaths of most of their squads, their mental and physical limits had long been crossed. Rather than merely doing their jobs, slaying zombies was a way for them to vent their frustrations. Whenever a zombie was unfortunate enough to reach them, they would viciously stomp on its head like you would grapes while making wine.

Now that there were no monsters to fight, the survivors were all conspicuously gathered around a lone disabled exosuit that happened to have me standing atop it. Even though I couldn’t see their faces through the exosuits, I could tell they were all shocked at the prowess I displayed. They were probably all marvelling at how such a ladylike person could hide such ferocity… ahem… I would be happy if they retracted that unnecessary adjective…

Naturally, I didn’t have time to waste on such trivial matters. I turned around to face the bridge, then in a voice as stone cold as my face, I said, “Let’s go help them.”

That wasn’t an order I had given, but unexpectedly, every single of the survivors started marching off towards the bridge, and actually began helping out with the zombies as well. While I might have said every single one of them… there were actually only half of the initial survivors left at this point. The rest had either fled with their exosuits, or were dead.

This time, 3739 made no mention of having the survivors stand aside to watch. Without those scorpion-like skeletons to threaten them, the remaining zombies had no chance of even harming the survivors.

In short, it was all over. For now, at least…

“That was amazing, big brother!” Jiaojiao waved her hands as she raced up to me, yelling in a voice that couldn’t have been louder even if she tried.

“His Highness’s bravery is unmatched!” Ever my adoring fan, Lixiang wasn’t about to lose out in this losing match either.

“That’s my little Ke!” Bitong was next to say, seemingly just as excited as the other two. “Ke was so brave just now…”

Leaping off the exosuits as before, I quickly landed on Bitong’s suit. Because she hadn’t taken part directly in the battle, seeing as she was controlling those three other suits remotely, hers was relatively pristine.

“Big brother, that monster alone was worth 50 points each!” Jiaojiao happily waved her hammer up and down, mimicking the scene of her smashing that monster’s skull. “Jiaojiao was so fierce just now, smacking down on that monster like it was nothing!”

As she said, the rewards this time were bountiful to match the difficulty of those monsters. At this rate, we would only need 10 such kills in order to get a decent Skill Card.

I activated my new skill reward, the Flame Whip, then checked up on my points. 174… Why is it so little?! I paused in shock for a second, then quickly remembered how I was still in debt, which meant every point I gained was cut in half.

Seeing as I killed six of those monsters just now, splitting the points in half would net me 150… what a scam…

You know what… I’m not even going to get angry anymore… It won’t be System Lady if she doesn’t try to scam me every now and then…

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE