Chapter 359: Turns out he was really holding back last time

When Qi Junyi arrived with the Judgment Court's reinforcement detachment, what he saw was exactly such a scene.

At the cliff edge, the deep‑blue cannon's light was glaring; the gathered light dyed the whole area an eerie blue, and bathed in that light, six machine guns were firing wildly.

Bullets poured down like a metal storm, each bullet locking onto anyone who dared to show their head, beating down so that nobody on the field could lift their head.

On the ground, dozens of corpses lay scattered in disarray.

Some wore the Supervision Bureau's uniforms, some wore the Church's battle robes, and the blood pools, under the deep‑blue light, showed a strange purple‑black hue, slowly seeping through the rubble.

This scene...... is damn familiar.

Qi Junyi instinctively raised a hand to press his shoulder; at the auction site earlier, that kid had really hit him with a blast.

That time, he alone faced a sky‑covering barrage of bullets; the so‑called Flame City Cannon didn't even bother lining up guns, just using a shoulder‑mounted cannon and a pile of haphazard explosives to leave him in a sorry state.

And now......

He watched the six machine guns firing wildly, and watched the Church and Supervision Bureau people pinned down so they dared not raise their heads......

"Turns out last time he was really holding back."

Now Qi Junyi knows.

Back then they really weren't using their full strength.

Qi Junyi raised a hand to rub his temples.

Headache.

Really a headache.

Is this the person his brother asked him to help look after?

Qi Junyi glanced at the distant fluorescent‑green figure firing wildly, then at the corpses of the Supervision Bureau and Church littering the ground, and his mouth twitched.

"Look after?"

What he's now considering is how, in the process of "looking after," to avoid being turned into a sieve by those bullets.

Who says that kid's got a brain problem? Aside from his fluorescent‑green hair, he knows how to disguise on missions, doesn't need heavy firepower for underground fights—that kid's sharp!

He was still hoping that kid could use some special means to steer Qi Hengyu onto the right path, but the fact that the kid didn't lead him astray is already a good outcome.

The Supervision Bureau officers standing behind him exchanged glances, unsure what to say.

Beside him, a commander in Church uniform watched his comrades fall one after another, gritting his teeth as he spoke.

"Captain Qi! When are we charging?"

Qi Junyi gave him a look.

"Charge?"

"Charge with what?"

"Use our faces to rush up and catch bullets?"

He didn't speak, just raised his head to look at the sky‑filling barrage again, then silently stepped back half a step.

"Wait a bit, let the firepower weaken before we go up."

The commander grew anxious: "But that cannon——"

"I know that cannon," Qi Junyi interrupted him, "but if you charge now, you'll just add another corpse."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the figures lying in the pools of blood.

"There's already enough of that."

The commander opened his mouth but couldn't utter a word.

Qi Junyi's gaze continued to sweep the battlefield, and then he saw several familiar figures rushing to the scene, only to be pinned down by the fire net so they couldn't raise their heads.

At the cliff's edge, Teacher Li Ya was crouched behind a rock, her pretty brown hair speckled with dust kicked up by bullets.

Before her was a Church member who had just tried to rush out, then been dragged back for emergency rescue.

Su Jingchuan didn't see that, but his forte is long‑range sniping; he's probably set up a gun far away.

In his peripheral vision he again caught sight of Hong Ling huddled behind a stone; the little girl's mutation traits were too obvious—though she was close to those guys, she looked pitiful and disheveled.

Qi Junyi's mouth twitched.

"Even shooting our own people?"

"That really is the kid's usual style."

"You came too?"

Teacher Li Ya scrambled out from behind cover in a sorry state and met up with Qi Junyi.

Her gaze swept past the corpses littering the ground, past the six wildly firing machine guns, past the Church members pinned down by the firepower, and finally came to rest beside the cannon that was charging up.

Ying Duo's hair was blown wild by the wind, his fluorescent‑green glow especially conspicuous against the deep‑blue cannon light.

His face remained expressionless, just as when she first saw him.

"We have to kill him."

She muttered involuntarily, "Even if that kid's got a brain problem, even if he was led astray by bad people, what does it matter?"

Ying Duo had already taken his stand against them.

Qi Junyi didn't speak, just sighed.

"Once Chi Jin An wakes up, he's probably going to get mocked one by one."

"Because Ying Duo is right there."

He had set up his cannon facing the entire Tianmian City.

Qi Junyi took a deep breath.

Three high‑rankers of Co‑Absorption came at once, plus that Flame City Cannon.

"Can we win on our side?"

————————————————

Gunfire began to thin out.

The barrels of the six machine guns had heated up after prolonged uninterrupted firing, their firing rate noticeably dropping; the church members who had been suppressed for three full minutes finally dared to raise their heads.

Someone tentatively rushed forward a few steps, saw no bullets coming, and more people rose from behind cover, beginning to regroup.

More silhouettes were approaching in the distance; these were reinforcements that had been unable to get close during the fire suppression, and now they finally found an opportunity.

Bai Mu Yun glanced at the distant enemies regrouping, then at Ying Duo's direction.

"How much longer?"

Ying Duo didn't lift his head.

【Power Charge Countdown: 02:13】

"Two minutes."

Bai Mu Yun nodded silently, without speaking, merely quietly mobilizing the remaining energy in his body, preparing for the next wave of attack.

A deep purple bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, landing precisely beside Hong Ling.

Lei Zhao's figure emerged from the lightning, his clothes torn in multiple places and his face streaked with blood.

Hong Ling staggered for a moment, then lunged forward and grabbed his sleeve.

"Lei Zhao!"

Lei Zhao lowered his head to look at her, giving a slight nod.

"It's fine."

Hong Ling's eye sockets instantly reddened; she wanted to say something but couldn't utter a word.

Lei Zhao said no more, merely pulling her wrist and bringing her to crouch behind a large rock nearby.

It was relatively safe there, at least outside the machine guns' sweeping range.

The scene had become increasingly chaotic, and they were forced to stand on the same front as the Co-Absorption lunatics.

At the edge of the battlefield, Qi Junyi finally moved.

He raised his hand and swung it forward.

"Ready—attack!"

The people behind him shouted their assent in unison, the sound of weapons being drawn especially clear in the night sky.

Meanwhile, on the cliff above, the azure light had blazed to its utmost.

The final countdown was ticking down second by second.

【Power Charge Remaining Time: 00:47】

【00:46】

【00:45】

Ying Duo's fingers stopped on the keyboard.