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The logic behind the Federation’s mass showing of edited surveillance footage was to reduce the psychological impact of the tragedy. They had to let everyone know that, amidst the darkness, there was still a brave girl fighting in that city. Even if this was but one tiny ray of light in a sea of darkness, it was enough to pull them all back from the brink.

Only in the darkness did the light shine the brightest! And Mo Ke was now that unwavering candle flame lighting the way ahead.

Naturally, one single person’s heroics wasn’t enough to wipe away the entire loss of so many lives. But at this point, the Federation did not have much less to lose by releasing the footage. At the very least, it showed that there was still that one person alive in a city of dead.

Fortunately for them, Mo Ke’s fighting style was just the sort of distraction they needed; it was flashy and heroic, all at the same time. Adding on his natural air of mystery and beauty, he became a perfect idol for the Federation around which the masses could rally around, rather than take to the streets and riot…

At the end of the day, the Federation’s army was in a rather precarious situation. Thanks to the ghosts blockading the entrances, the soldiers could not enter the city to clear out the undead. It wouldn’t take long before they would be labelled ‘useless’, unless there was a mysterious superhuman heroine from which the undead could be contrasted against.

After all, it’s not our fault for being useless if the enemies are fighting on a different plane.

———Change of Scene——–

The command room of the Federation’s armed forces was a veritable fish market of shouting right now.

The man known as the Raging Bear of the Federation, General Rodenas was currently staring coldly at a holographic screen, eyes bloodshot as if he hadn’t slept a wink since trying to find a way into Southern Plains.

Unfortunately for him, the perpetrator’s seal on the city was airtight, foiling whatever plan he had tried to enact with the soldiers.

Initially, he had sent in a detachment of mobile armors and exosuits to try and break into the city, but that attempt was summarily taken care of by the ghosts. Losses numbering in the thousands of mobile armors, the general had to give up on that plan quickly.

Following that, one of the HQ’s strategists suggested bombarding the ghosts from afar -perhaps that would prove effective against these new enemies.

That attempt was met with failure as well. While the ghosts might be dead, that did not mean they were brainless and couldn’t dodge. Their lack of weight, or an actual physical body for that matter, gave the ghosts an extreme advantage in speed, and allowed them to twist and turn in ways they couldn’t even imagine.

Just like that, their risk-free plan of artillery bombardment had failed.

Aerial bombings had been suggested at some point, but the ghosts quickly took care of the soldier who piloted that doomed flight…

At this point, even talks of bringing in ‘external experts’ began to surface. All the while, the HQ officers continued flipping through whatever materials they could find on this matter.

As for who these ‘experts’ were, they were experts on the occult, of course. Meaning… they were fiction writers…

When that was first suggested, Rodena almost grabbed the strategist who suggested that by his collar.

In actuality, those ‘experts’ were never brought in. Instead, they got several researchers to try and develop a prototype energy defense system. This system was originally meant for use on mobile armors, so just modifying it for the exosuits required hours.

The first prototype was quickly delivered by night to those stationed outside of Southern Plains. Soon after, an elite soldier was outfitted with the device and piloting his custom exosuit into Southern Plains.

The energy defense system was a simple device shaped like tiles. These small tiles would then be stuck onto the limbs of the exosuit, the back and the head. With how patched together this solution seemed, it would be understatement to say that the soldier wasn’t feeling very safe right now. But he was a soldier, and soldiers followed orders. Since he was the chosen one, he had to comply.

Gingerly, he stepped across the dreaded border, as if any sudden movement would trigger off a trap. By the time he came into sight of the ghosts, they had noticed him as well. They immediately swarmed towards him. He instinctively reached for his button to fire, causing the black exosuit to trigger its weapons system and fire off a salvo of lasers at the incoming ghosts.

Faced with what should have been an attack with perfect accuracy, the ghosts somehow managed to distort their bodies in impossible angles, finally twisting up into a braid… The lasers basically missed…

But just when it looked like his exosuit was going to be invaded, the armor of his exosuit miraculously discharged a powerful electrical wave outwards! Noticing that energy signature, the ghosts halted their attacks and started retreating.

From the looks of things, the ghosts were afraid of electricity.

The soldier was saved, and humanity discovered a weakness of their mysterious new foe.

At this rate, the Federation would only have to reproduce this defense system en masse and march their troops in. However, were things ever so simple?

Having just survived a brush with death, the soldier was fully ready to return to his squad now that he had completed his mission. But the moment he turned around, the earth suddenly split apart…

A gigantic bony white hand, formed out of countless bones, grabbed the soldier’s exosuit. Then like a cat who had a tiny mouse in its paws, easily dragged the soldier down into the abyss…

The moment the hand disappeared into the ground, the earth closed back up, as if nothing had ever happened… At least it would have been, had it not been for the jagged cracks in the road…

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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