Tengu carried Jiang Zhihui through the high-rise buildings of Seoul, twisting and turning among the structures, evading the relentless gunfire trailing behind.
In the high-end office buildings, those unlucky white-collar workers required to work overtime, who still couldn’t go home late at night, first heard the flapping of wings outside the window,
and when they curiously went to peek, a series of bullets shattered the building’s windows, scaring them into screaming and scrambling under their desks.
Tengu couldn’t dodge in time and was hit in the back, wobbling as it fell, making an emergency landing in the middle of a commercial street.
Landing hastily, Jiang Zhihui suffered multiple abrasions. She looked back to see Li Cheng diving down towards her, bit her lip tightly, and commanded through gritted teeth, "Cover me."
Then she solemnly took out a purple cut-paper, put it in her mouth, and used her sharp fingernails to slash across both of her wrists.
The blood flowed profusely, defying gravity and rising upwards, soaking the purple cut-paper and giving rise to a thick fog.
The mid-low tier Shikigami lacked self-awareness; the Tengu expressionlessly spread its wings to their fullest, enveloping Jiang Zhihui and allowing the barrage of machine-gun bullets from above to hit its body.
The Ordinary people on the street, hearing the intense gunfire, mostly fled in panic, scrambling to take refuge in the shops along the street.
There were also a few excited youths, standing on the edge of the commercial street, holding up their phones to capture this spectacle only seen in movies, not the least bit worried about getting hit by a stray bullet.
This commercial street had also appeared in a prophecy within the "Suicide Notebook," indicating significant risks. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novel⁂fire.net
Li Cheng kept an eye out, constantly watching Jiang Zhihui’s movements.
Around them, the air twisted and distorted like ripples on the water, and in the next instant, the enormous head of a White Fox emerged from the air, its gaping maw snapping at Li Cheng.
Li Cheng had already prepared his Bat Hook Claw Gun. While controlling his Rocket Backpack to climb urgently, he fired the Hook Claw, nailing it into the exterior wall of a tall building,
His entire... or rather, half of his body traced an arc in the air, narrowly avoiding the White Fox’s bite.
Blood kept flowing from Jiang Zhihui’s wrists, her face turning pale at a visible speed, and the purple cut-paper in her mouth continued to emit smoke, further releasing the Shikigami.
After the head of the White Fox Shikigami descended, most of its large body also emerged from thin air,
Unlike the conventional soft and cute Fox Demon, this White Fox was massive, nearly three stories tall, with blood-red eyes, a fierce and tensed facial expression, and its bulging veins revealing its ferocity.
It slowly opened its mouth, brewing a basketball-sized black Energy Ball inside, and then shot it out fiercely.
The Energy Ball was not fast, and it missed Li Cheng, striking the wall of the building.
Then, an invisible wave spread outwards from the Energy Ball as its center.
The surrounding gravity changed abruptly, the peeling façade of the building, steel and concrete, as well as tiles, wiring, and potted plants inside, all fell towards the black sphere, colliding and grinding into powder.
Another Energy Ball came flying, hitting the lower floors. Li Cheng turned his Rocket Backpack’s power to the maximum, contending against the two gravitational forces.
The roar of the engine grew from distant to near, with Gray Rain speeding over on her Bat Wing Motorcycle, lifting two large legs and tossing them into the air, landing precisely in Li Cheng’s hands.
The "Assembly Puppet" Special Effect activated once more, Li Cheng attached the two legs, heaved a sigh of relief, turned off the Rocket Backpack, and relying only on the Hook Claw for traction, landed between two areas of gravitational anomaly.
Feet firmly planted on solid reinforced concrete, knees bent, leg muscles taut, with a full force push to break free from the grasp of gravity, landing on the ground, beside Gray Rain.
Gray Rain, who seemed to have picked up a pair of sunglasses somewhere along the way, was wearing them coolly on his face with an indifferent demeanor.
On both sides of the street, within the buildings, many fearless passersby held up their cell phones to film,
Eager for a rare opportunity to witness such a scene, Gray Rain pushed up his sunglasses with his middle finger in a rather show-off manner, lowered his voice, and solemnly recited a line from the movie "Terminator 3," "i am back."
Li Cheng whispered a critique: "They can’t hear you if you’re that quiet."
"Oh." Gray Rain, amenable to suggestion, cleared his throat and shouted loudly, "i am back!"
Li Cheng twitched the corner of his eye, saying nothing more, and after flexing his limbs a bit, he looked up at the Fox Demon and loudly asked Jiang Zhihui, "Is this your trump card?"
"No," Jiang Zhihui’s lips were pale, devoid of color, but the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, revealing a cold smirk, "They are my trump card."
Dozens of wheeled armored transport vehicles came from the roads on the left and right, encircling the area, and screeched to a halt at the intersection.
A group of finely equipped soldiers jumped out of the vehicles, using them and houses as cover, hastening to secure firing positions, and, while suppressing their fear of the giant beast, aimed their K2 assault rifles at Li Cheng and Gray Rain.
These soldiers belonged to the South Korean Capital Defense Command, which is the only force within South Korea that can be deployed by presidential order without U.S. military consent. Its headquarters is located in Seoul Nantai Ridge, less than five kilometers from the city center, with command authority vested in the President Protection Room.
When Jiang Zhihui evacuated from the private club earlier, she had called Madam Park at the Blue House and asked her to mobilize the capital defense forces.
"That Madam Park really trusts you, huh."
Li Cheng glanced at the soldier arrangement on both sides of the street, the 55th Guard Battalion, the 33rd Military Police Battalion, the 35th Special Mission Battalion, Artillery Support Battalion.
In addition to the President’s Guard, almost all the forces that the President Protection Room could mobilize within a short time were pulled over. This would undoubtedly result in a substantial political cost afterward.
Jiang Zhihui exhaled a heavy breath, and with the complete arrival of the White Fox Shikigami, the purple paper cuttings in her mouth dissipated into thin air, "She has no choice but to trust me."
Madam Park was already under political attack for mishandling the SEWOL ferry disaster, and her seat as president was unstable. With such chaos now in Seoul City, she had no option but to put all her chips on the table, aligning with Jiang Zhihui’s actions.
"Flesh and blood are exceedingly fragile in the face of modern weapons; even for Transcendents, facing machine gun fire, artillery roar, and precision-guided missile strikes, there are only two options: death or escape."
Jiang Zhihui, standing under the White Fox, calmly stated, "My terms are unchanged, leave this world, and we can live in peace."
Li Cheng was silent for a moment, then cracked a wry smile, "How should I put it, the external environment of a solipsistic doctrine has ultimately limited your perspective."
Jiang Zhihui felt a trace of unease, squinting her eyes, "...What do you mean."
Li Cheng replied indifferently, "You’ve been working in isolation in this world, not communicating with other players. The greatest advantage of a Transcendent is never about their destructive power."
Even a Transcendent of Level 20 or 30, at their full strength, probably couldn’t match the 2020 Beirut port explosion involving 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate. Let alone catching up to a nuclear bomb.
"The greatest advantage that Transcendents have against modern armies lies in diversified, undefendable means."
Li Cheng raised his right hand, and with a gentle snap of his fingers,
The Fog Concealment Skill was instantly activated; a vast white fog spread rapidly from him as the center, enveloping the entire intersection.