Chapter 736 One Slash
GOR
Bai Qi slowly walked towards Omega Angel’s corpse.
As he did, the four remaining Angel Corps’ members slowly retreated.
It was not due to the lack of courage on their part. Rather, Omega Angel’s death was too… … sudden for them.
When faced with something it could not comprehend, the human brain would require a certain amount of time to accept what had happened before it could make a rational response.
When Bai Qi finally reached the split corpse of Omega Angel, the four remaining angels had retreated tens of metres away.
As for the other Awakened ones, they had forgotten about Omega Angel’s command to leave quietly and orderly as they ran towards the commercial street. Some had even retrieved flight gears out from their storage equipment.
Bai Qi, on the other hand, merely lowered his head to look at Omega Angel’s corpse. Next, he crouched down.
When he finally stood up, his hand was holding a spherical metal object.
Carefully gripping the metal sphere with two fingers, he inspected it before nodding secretly. After that, he kept the metal sphere away.
“Administrator.”
“I am here, what are your commands?” Zero City’s voice rang out from beside Bai Qi’s ear.
“Close off all exits. No one is allowed to leave.”
“When Chen Xiaolian entered earlier, the system had already automatically stopped regular operation mode, cutting off all power supply and sealing off all entrance and exit passageways. They can only be opened with the command of an authority holder.”
“Very good.” Bai Qi revealed a pleased expression as he looked at the four angels before him. Once again, he raised up his sword before gently slashing it down upon empty air.
There was nothing fancy about his move. It was not even a fast slash. He was like a trainee who had just begun sword training and was practicing a sword move according to the drillmaster’s instruction.
Without any warning, another angel was suddenly hacked into two, just like with Omega Angel.
The remaining three took a step backwards. One amongst them did not hesitate to activate his thrusters, pushing it to the maximum to propel him towards Bai Qi. Flicking his right arm, he activated a beam blade and shouted, “Kia! Clipper! Retreat! Report to Angel Wu! The enemy is…”
He shot forward like a meteor towards Bai Qi. However, he was only halfway through when his body was split into two. The lower portion of his body fell to the ground while the upper portion, propelled by the thrusters, continued to charge forward.
“[S] class!”
Bai Qi plucked out a metal sphere with his hand and the angel’s upper body burst open like a blooming flower of blood.
The two remaining angels exchanged glances. Next, they hastily activated their thrusters and they flew back.
Bai Qi did not pay too much attention to the two angels, neither did he pursue them. He simply continued to walk forward at the same, unchanging pace.
There was a higher number of Awakened ones before him. They were the members of the peripheral guilds who were in the process of fleeing away.
…
Within the monitoring hall, everyone of the monitoring personnel was nervously staring at the screen placed before them. None of them made any overt moves.
Everyone there, regardless of their station, had attempted countless times. However, no matter what they did, they could not get any response from the system.
At present, the only thing they could do was to stay in their stations and stare at the screen, hoping for a miracle.
“Sir Angel Wu, Sir Juncker, Sir Ronan, Sir Ironstream. If it is not inconvenient, may we step aside and have a talk?”
After the emergency situation arose, the Guild Leader of the Miracle Blades Guild, Ironstream, Guild Leader of the Rodriar Guild, Juncker, Guild Leader of the Prestige Guild, Ronan, all rushed over to the monitoring room.
Since finding out what had happened from Angel Wu and Bluesea, they had maintained a sullen expression.
“Talk about what?” Juncker cast an arrogant glance at Bluesea.
During Blood Verdict, Chen Xiaolian, who represented Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild, had killed off one of his guild members. However, that was not all.
Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild, which should have lost their spot as a resident guild of Zero City, managed to maintain their position. That truly displeased him.
That was especially true when Bluesea’s strength was put into consideration. He was only at [A+] class.
“Let’s go.” Angel Wu nodded his head. Without waiting for Ronan’s reply, he turned around to walk towards the hall. Pushing open a small door, he then turned to face the two Angel Corps’ personnel and said, “I will be discussing some matters with the Patriarchs. Do not disturb us no matter what happens.”
Bluesea followed Angel Wu in. Ronan and Juncker exchanged glances before following suit.
After making his way past the corridor, Angel Wu pushed open a door leading into a small room. He made his way in and sat down before waiting for the others do the same. “Out with it, Bluesea. What is in your mind?”
“I want all the guilds to go to its highest combat-ready state. Every member at [A] class and above must be ready to do battle at any moment.” After sitting down, Bluesea did not beat around the bush and simply said his mind. “Currently, the Knights of Darkness Guild Leader, Aderick, and the Light of Magic Guild Leader, Claire, are stuck in their resource pocket dimensions. As for the Indestructible Diamond Guild Leader, that fellow is currently not within Zero City. We have no right to give their guilds any orders. However, the remaining four resident guilds must be prepared for anything.”
“Why?” Ronan stared at him. “At present, the issue is with Zero City’s system and not an enemy invasion. How could putting our guilds in a combat-ready state help the system recover?”
“Tsk! Sir Angel Wu, it seems someone is looking down on your Angel Corps!” Juncker gave a chuckle as he shook his head at Angel Wu. “Hasn’t the Angel Corps initiated an emergency mobilization of all their members? It seems this fellow believes that the Angel Corps is insufficient to maintain order in Zero City.”
“I believe that is not what Bluesea is talking about.” Angel Wu shook his head calmly, ignoring the provocation within Juncker’s words. However, he turned to look at Bluesea. “There needs to be a suitable reason for the mobilization of every member from the four resident guilds. If you have a reliable evidence, I hope it will be able to convince them and me.”
“I have no evidence. This is just a personal concern of mine.” Bluesea shook his head. “The reason I wanted us to step away from the monitoring room is because I fear this topic might cause the other guild members to panic.”
“Panic?” Ronan laughed out. “The main system has shut down. Even the ecological system has stopped working. At present, the amount of oxygen within the city could only sustain us for 24 hours. I cannot think of a worse predicament.”
Bluesea looked at him. There was a grim look on his face as he whispered out, “What if... the homeowners have returned?”
“Say what?” Ironstream, a gaunt and tall middle-aged man sporting a pair of glasses, was known for not showing his emotions. However, when he heard Bluesea’s words, his whole body trembled.
The other three, too, revealed looks of shock.
“Bluesea, to utter out such an alarming thing at such an abnormal situation, just what are you up to?” Juncker slammed the table. “You said it yourself, you have no evidence!”
“It is true that I have no evidence.” Bluesea slowly nodded his head. Next, he turned to look at all four of them. “However, just think about it. All of Zero City’s systems are down. This has never happened before. In the past, whenever something is going on, even the smallest error can be detected by making a query through Zero City’s system interface.
“However, things are different this time.
“We can no longer make contact with Zero City’s main control system!”
“That simply means there is a malfunction!” Juncker responded gloomily.
“Malfunction?” Bluesea sneered. “What kind of malfunction would cause all its functions to stop without any warning? At present, only the external defensive system is left operational. Additionally, the security level had been pushed to its highest level.”
Silence.
No one could explain what was going on.
Bluesea continued. This time, however, his words came out much slower and every word he spoke struck the hearts of all present. “If the defensive system had failed alongside the others, I may be able to accept what is happening as a malfunction.
“However, given that the defensive system is still working properly while the other systems have failed, I can only conclude that Zero City had not actually ‘shut down’. Rather, it is simply ‘refusing to communicate with us’.
“Now, why would Zero City to refuse to talk to us? Fellow Patriarchs, think about it.
“It is true that the defensive system is still working and we are not suffering from an enemy invasion. However, the way I see it, the current situation may be worse than a failure in the defensive system.
“Electronic Guardians are terrifying, true. However, we all know what to do should we have to face them. This time, though… … we do not even know what we will be facing.
“Everyone of us understands. We may be the resident guilds of Zero City, but we have never truly been Zero City’s master. We had simply occupied this building without permission. Now, if the real homeowners have returned… … how will they view us, how will they treat us?
“I had already issued out the order just now. Every member of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild has entered a combat-ready state.”
After saying all that, Bluesea’s gaze swept past the faces of the other three leaders. “If you trust me, then follow suit.”
The three of them exchanged glances.
There was no evidence to prove Bluesea’s view. However, if they were to consider it from a logical perspective, it made sense.
Furthermore, given their present situation, there was simply no need for him to be uttering out such alarming words.
“Sir Angel Wu, what is the Angel Corps’ opinion on this?” Ironstream turned his attention towards Angel Wu. “According to the rules, having all members of a guild enter a combat-ready state while within Zero City will require the approval from the Angel Corps.”
“The leaders from four of the seven resident guilds are here. Even if we are to follow the voting rules of the Board of Patriarchs, we have enough votes to pass this move. How could I object to this?” Angel Wu replied calmly. “Sir Bluesea’s speculation does hold some water. It would be wise to be prepared. However, I do hope that is not the case.”
“No one would hope for that.” Juncker’s face was gloomy.
Suddenly, Angel Wu’s communication device rang.
After Angel Wu pressed the on button on the communication device, a panicky voice screamed out, “Reinforcements! Sea of Love needs reinforcements! A hostile force has appeared!”
“Kia?” Angel Wu’s face turned grim. “Give me details!”
A sense of foreboding began creeping up from Angel Wu’s heart.
“A hostile force has appeared in the Sea of Love. Everyone is under attack! Our squad was been defeated and we are now retreating!” Kia’s voice was shaky.
“Enemies?” Angel Wu frowned. “Is it the Electronic Guardians?”
“No… … just one! A human!”
Boom!
A loud explosion rang out from the outside.
Angel Wu and the other four leaders got to their feet at the same time. Exchanging glances, they quickly made their way out of the room.
Pushing open the door to the monitoring room, Kia and Clipper crashed into the room and fell to the ground. They were struggling to get up when they saw Angel Wu approaching the room. Panting, one of them said, “Omega Angel was killed in action! Of the five of us, only Clipper and I managed to escape! The enemy is in the process of slaughtering people and there is nothing we can do to stop him!”
“Describe the battle to me!” Angel Wu knitted his brows and quickly made his way forward to stand before them. “What abilities does the enemy possess?”
“One slash… just one slash!” Kia was gripping his fist tightly as he turned to face Angel Wu, his eyes filled with dread. “I couldn’t see any of his abilities. Despite a distance of over ten metres, some a distance of tens of metres away, all he did was swing his sword once before our men were hacked into two! Omega Angel, Cthuna, Air Cleaver, he only used one slash for each of them! Our… … even the attacks from all the other guild members within the Sea of Love were ineffective against him!”
The furrow on Angel Wu’s brows gradually grew tighter.
To be able to gain a unique Angel name meant that those figures were high-ranking members of the Angel Corps. Each of them was at least at [A] class.
The one known as Omega Angel was an elite soldier at [A+] class.
The enemy could kill off Omega Angel with just one slash?
“I will go check it out.” Angel Wu strode out of the monitoring room, his Floater having transformed into his mech armour while attaching itself upon his body. Next, it transformed into a large mech.
The moment he stepped out of the door, the thrusters on his back turned on to rapidly send him up into the sky.
The four leaders exchanged glances and saw traces of vigilance within each other’s expressions.