Chapter 1743: Activation of the Eye Chambers

On the basement wall, the recording left by Mr. J was still playing. In the video, Mr. J wore a metal mask, and his voice was indistinguishable as male or female.

"Don't mind which world we fought in before. As the losing side, I have nothing to boast about. However, that painful lesson taught me that combat is something that requires talent, especially melee combat. Clearly, I lack talent in that regard, so I won't appear before you again. That would be a very foolish choice."

Mr. J sounded somewhat self-deprecating; he remained silent for a moment before continuing.

"By the way, I almost forgot to thank you. If you hadn't blown up the Ghost Ring's headquarters, I wouldn't have this opportunity now. My sincere thanks."

Mr. J bowed slightly, his gaze seemingly mocking everyone he saw.

"Is that it?"

Crack! Su Xiao crushed the energy emission device. He already knew why Mr. J had lured him here; it wasn't to set a trap nearby, but because the other party needed an audience.

People like Mr. J could not be judged by the behavioral standards of ordinary people. Clearly, Mr. J's plan was nearing success, so he had invited Su Xiao, his opponent, here to "share" a small part of the plan's completion, with no other special intent.

Su Xiao pushed open the basement door and returned to the surface via the stairs.

Zuer City was still as boisterous as ever, but the Eye Chambers were about to be successfully activated. As for where they would be deployed, the intelligence provided by Madam Nancy pointed to the Central Street area, which would at least affect the Parliament Palace.

Evacuating civilians from a large urban area was not difficult, but doing so was meaningless. Once attacked, the Eye Chambers would change positions and could quickly reassemble into a summoning array. In other words, unless the more than 6 million civilians in Zuer City were evacuated, massive civilian casualties could not be avoided.

This was impossible in just a few days. This was not the modern era; there were no real-time communication methods. Evacuating a population of 6 million in a world with such relatively closed communication was almost equivalent to actively inciting a riot.

Large-scale evacuation would absolutely cause panic. If trouble broke out in even a small area, the military would need to suppress it. The resulting chain reaction would likely lead to the emergence of various non-official organizations, commonly known as insurgent armies, within Zuer City before the evacuation was even complete.

Civilians were not livestock that could be driven wherever one pleased. Fear came from the unknown. The Empire could not possibly explain to the civilians that Eye Chambers had been deployed in Zuer City and that they needed to be evacuated; that would be an even stupider act.

Therefore, Harold chose to suppress this news and send away the main officials within the Parliament Palace. As long as these people remained, the Empire's system would not collapse.

As for Harold himself, he had stayed in the Parliament Palace for the past few days. Apart from the guards, there was no one else inside. Moreover, the residents of the blocks near the Parliament Palace had been evacuated under the pretext that the Empire needed to rent the nearby blocks for a week to host the Midsummer Festival.

Although the civilians were resentful, they had no other choice but to temporarily rent housing in other areas of Zuer City.

Harold's intent was clear: this was forcing Sin to make a choice—either come to kill him or find a place with more civilians to activate the Eye Chambers.

Su Xiao stood atop a domed high-rise, which was almost the tallest building in Zuer City, offering a panoramic view of the entire city.

Checking the start time for the final stage of the promotion mission, there were 31 minutes and 54 seconds remaining. Su Xiao began to wait; now, apart from waiting for the Eye Chambers to activate, there was indeed nothing else to do.

A breeze rustled on the rooftop. This scene caused Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang not only to tremble in his dog body but also to lift his tail and tilt his head.

"Awoo~"

After a wolf howl, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang was satisfied. He even kicked Amu with his paw, meaning: "Amu, you howl too, it's so refreshing."

"I can't."

The honest ox scratched his head, very straightforward.

Time passed slowly. When only 20 minutes remained until the final mission activated, a pitch-black pillar of light shot into the sky from near the Parliament Palace.

This pillar of light seemed to absorb the surrounding light, and the area within a hundred meters darkened, as if the apocalypse had arrived.

Pitch-black electric arcs flickered near the pillar, breaking through the clouds in the sky, seemingly linking heaven and earth together.

Thump, thump, thump...

It felt as if something had come alive beneath Zuer City, like a giant heart beating.

This pitch-black pillar of light shooting into the sky was completely different from the fake one Mr. J had created. The ominous, twisted, and filthy sensation emanating from that black pillar in the distance was something Su Xiao could perceive even from several kilometers away.

Boom, boom!

Two more pitch-black pillars of light shot into the sky, both in the area near the Parliament Palace.

The pitch-black pillars, over a dozen meters in diameter, were exceptionally spectacular. Countless civilians in the city witnessed this scene. Upon seeing these three pillars, their reactions were identical: their bodies trembled uncontrollably, and their legs went weak.

A total of three black pillars of light appeared within Zuer City. At the same time, in the courtyard of the Execution Agency headquarters.

The Awakened, who had been on standby for a long time, divided into several teams and quickly rushed toward the vicinity of the three black pillars. No matter how dangerous it was there, they could not retreat; this was their duty.

On the high-rise rooftop, Su Xiao watched the three black pillars reaching into the sky, his brows gradually furrowing. If he wasn't mistaken, each pillar should represent one Eye Chamber. And after the three Eye Chambers were activated, the entire "summoning array" seemed to have withered, with no follow-up.

Su Xiao had found a total of seven Eye Chambers, and there were sixteen in total, meaning there were nine more that could be activated.

Only three had been activated so far; where had the other six gone?

Su Xiao leaped down from the high-rise, taking Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang and Amu with him, and rushed toward the nearest black pillar.

By the time Su Xiao arrived near that black pillar, the Security Forces, the 7th Unit, the Execution Agency, and other departments had already strictly cordoned off the area.

Entering the restricted zone, Su Xiao stopped a dozen meters away from the black pillar. The energy drifting in the air was highly corrosive. If he hadn't wrapped his Qing Gang Ying energy around his body, Su Xiao wouldn't have been able to get so close to the black pillar.

The ground near the black pillar had long since shattered, with stones and soil floating in zero gravity. Below, there were eyeballs of various sizes, and these eyeballs continuously emitted finger-thick energy beams. All the beams were concentrated on a single point, thereby forming this black pillar shooting straight into the sky.

Su Xiao was not mistaken; one energy pillar represented one Eye Chamber. Once an Eye Chamber was activated, it was almost impossible to approach or destroy.

However, Su Xiao did not perceive the slightest spatial fluctuation from this black pillar; it just continuously spewed energy into the high sky.

The core of the Eye Chamber had not appeared either. The three black pillars in Zuer City... were just like decorations.

The Eye Chambers had not summoned the Immortal King, nor had they absorbed the surrounding life force. Moreover, Su Xiao could be certain that this thing had been thoroughly activated.

Su Xiao thought quickly. Based on the current situation, Madam Nancy had been deceived. Sin's plan was not to use the Eye Chambers to summon the Immortal King—or rather, it originally was, but now the other party had better means to achieve their goal.

Sin had been on the run the whole time, but Su Xiao knew that guy was definitely not a villainous boss without intelligence. His act of constantly fleeing now clearly seemed to be waiting for something.

The Immortal King was just a smokescreen, and the Eye Chambers were also a smokescreen. Why go to such great lengths to deploy these things in Zuer City? To show off the Ghost Ring's power? Absolutely impossible. Sin would not do such a stupid thing. The only possibility was that Sin wanted to attract the attention of certain people.

One might ask, when such terrifying black pillars appear in Zuer City, which departments would arrive on the scene first? The answer was the 7th Unit and the Execution Agency.

The 7th Unit was an intelligence unit, and their combat power was far inferior to the Execution Agency, so their role in attracting them was not significant.

Su Xiao quickly reached a conclusion: Sin did all this to attract the Execution Agency, and his destination was the Execution Agency headquarters!

"Hank!"

Su Xiao shouted, and Hank, who was leading people to cordon off the nearby area, ran over quickly.

"My lord, I'm here."

"Take everyone and return to the Execution Agency headquarters."

"?"

Hank was stunned for a moment, then roared.

"Everyone, follow me and retreat, return to headquarters."

Su Xiao took Hank and a group of Awakened who, although bewildered, still obeyed orders, leaving behind the Security Forces and the 7th Unit. The commanders of those two units were both stunned. At a time like this, the Execution Agency, which was the most capable of fighting, was actually retreating? ===== CHAPTER 1744 =====