User Not in Service Area

Xia Chujian and Ping Qiong exchanged uneasy glances, both shaken by the discussions around them.

That location was exactly where they had been standing moments before.

Ping Qiong stared at the burning Duty Vehicle and said, "...That's the Duty Vehicle that just took away the orphans from outside the restaurants!"

Xia Chujian's heart clenched. She quickly asked, "Should we go help? Can the children inside still be saved?"

"We'll only know if we go look." Ping Qiong hoisted her up again, intending to run back.

They had assumed that the Duty Vehicle had simply crashed and there would be no further problems.

But just as they started to move, countless black Crows suddenly flew out of the burning Duty Vehicle! These Crows were as large as hawks, and instead of feathers, they had black Scales! They cawed, flapping their Fleshy Membrane-like wings, their forms shifting between the real and the unreal, sending chills down their spines.

Black Crows continued to pour out of the two burning Duty Vehicles, as if a door had been opened.

The flock of Crows blotted out the sky, instantly covering the entire Plaza Garden.

Everything before them was quickly enveloped in black mist, and the branches of the Street Trees began to grow at a visible rate, enveloping the entire Plaza Garden in the blink of an eye.

A pungent odor spread from the crashed Duty Vehicle, the acrid stench threatening to tear away their souls.

An indescribable sense of oppression filled the air, as if the entire earth was groaning in pain.

Fear raged across the plaza as people screamed and fled in all directions, as if the slightest misstep would cause them to be swallowed by the boundless darkness.

Ping Qiong shuddered in fear, changed direction with Xia Chujian on her back, and frantically ran towards the edge of the plaza, trying to escape the rapidly closing black mist.

But her speed was no match for the suddenly crazed growth of the Street Trees.

Their branches were as nimble as tentacles, instantly weaving a huge cage that trapped everyone in the Plaza Garden.

"What on earth is going on!" Seeing that the exit was also blocked, they couldn't escape.

Xia Chujian got off Ping Qiong's back, cautiously surveying her surroundings.

Ping Qiong clutched her head, letting out a terrified scream.

But she could barely hear her own voice, because the plaza was filled with screams even louder than hers!

Xia Chujian gripped Ping Qiong's hand tightly and said calmly, "Don't be afraid, I have a gun."

As she spoke, she pulled out her Killer 018 Smart Pistol, shielding Ping Qiong behind her.

Ping Qiong was so surprised that she forgot to be scared: "You you you... you carry a gun when you go shopping?!"

Xia Chujian raised an eyebrow: "...It's basic Bounty Hunter protocol, safety first. Didn't you bring one?"

Ping Qiong: "..."

Although the situation in front of them hadn't changed in the slightest, miraculously, from the moment Xia Chujian took out her gun, Ping Qiong immediately calmed down and wasn't as afraid.

At this moment, the black mist in the plaza was getting thicker and thicker, no longer an ethereal mist, but almost tangible.

It not only affected everyone's vision, but also their movements.

Ping Qiong said distressedly, "What's going on? This mist feels so viscous, I feel like my legs are stuck in glue, I can barely move..."

Xia Chujian: "..."

She took a few steps forward, moving freely, without any sensation at all.

She mused, "Could it be that you're too scared, so your legs won't move?"

Ping Qiong: "..."

It seemed possible.

Xia Chujian put on her goggles and activated the far-infrared night vision system.

In this moment when day suddenly turned to night, single-soldier goggles equipped with a far-infrared night vision system were a life-saving tool.

Xia Chujian usually carried them around as sunglasses.

"We have to call for help quickly..." Xia Chujian held up the Quantum Optical Brain watch carrier on her wrist.

But the Quantum Optical Brain displayed: Star Network connection interrupted, user not in service area.

What the hell "user not in service area"! There's a Star Network signal tower not far away!

But at this moment, Xia Chujian also knew that she was just experiencing "incompetent rage."

She understood that there must be a powerful interfering magnetic field here, just like when they went to the Land of the Far North in the Exotic Beast Forest, where there was no network connection at all.

Ping Qiong could barely see anything, clutching Xia Chujian's arm tightly, afraid of getting separated from her.

Xia Chujian sighed and said, "Cai Jie, come on, I'll carry you. Let's try our luck heading southwest; there's an Inner City Maglev Train station there."

Ping Qiong had been carrying her just now, but now it was Xia Chujian's turn to carry Ping Qiong, continuing towards the southwest edge of the Plaza Garden.

The branches were like a grid, encircling the entire area.

They had become very thick and uneven, making them particularly suitable as cover.

So, Xia Chujian took a step and, realizing she couldn't get out, unhesitatingly carried Ping Qiong and hid in a groove behind a large tree branch.

Then, she pulled out her Tactical Dagger, intending to see if she could cut through the branches and carve a hole to escape through.

Just then, with a crisp *bang*, a white flare soared into the sky, illuminating the Plaza Garden that had suddenly been encircled by the Street Tree branches.

Using the light from the white flare, Xia Chujian saw countless panicked people being driven like ducks onto a shelf by the Crow flock above their heads, towards the center of the Plaza Garden.

And in the sky above the Plaza Garden, several Gray-Robed People slowly emerged like ghosts, floating there silently.

Their Gray Robes were very long, in an antique style, covering them completely from head to toe.

The hoods on their heads hid their faces deeply, and from a distance, the inside of the hoods looked pitch black, making it impossible to see what their faces looked like.

Xia Chujian counted quickly and found that twenty-five Gray-Robed People were floating in mid-air.

Then, these Gray-Robed People slowly raised their arms, and the Crow flock, which could switch between the virtual and the real, seemed to be drawn by them, suddenly swooping down into the crowd in the Plaza Garden.

They plunged through the chests of some people, disappearing like a puff of black smoke, and then the black smoke reappeared from behind those people, reforming into a Crow.

And those who had been pierced through the chest by them tilted their heads and died on the spot.

Xia Chujian's pupils shrank sharply.

What were these Gray-Robed People doing?

Why were they commanding these Scale-covered Crow, which could switch between the virtual and the real, to kill people? Even more shrill and helpless cries rang out in the Plaza Garden.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!* Gunshots rang out! Xia Chujian's spirits lifted.

Among the encircled crowd were people from the Punishment Department, as well as people from the Special Security Bureau's Mulan City branch.

When they discovered that even external communications had been cut off, they took up their weapons and fired at the Gray-Robed People in mid-air.

*Bang bang bang bang! Da da da da!* But everyone was quickly disappointed, because the bullets were completely ineffective.

The Gray-Robed People floating in mid-air could easily deflect the bullets flying around with a casual wave of their hands.

Some could even slap the bullets back with one palm!

The force looked like the firing tube of a gun, and could even directly kill the person firing the gun! Xia Chujian and Ping Qiong were both dumbfounded.

Ping Qiong murmured, "These Gray-Robed People are at least Rank A peak Gene Evolvers..."

Xia Chujian gripped her Killer 018 Smart Pistol tightly, gritting her teeth as she said, "...I don't care what rank they are... as long as they dare to command those stinky Crow to deal with us, I'll make them regret it!"

Immediately afterwards, more and more people started shooting.

In the middle of the crowd in the Plaza Garden, a well-trained security team seemed to have appeared.

They suddenly stood up, holding Assault Rifles in their hands, and began to form teams of three, firing at the Gray-Robed People in mid-air.

While firing, they moved quickly, running towards the Street Tree on the edge of the Plaza Garden.

Xia Chujian, lying behind the tree branch cover, nodded in relief and said, "... Fortunately, Mulan City has some strength..."

As soon as she finished speaking, the Gray-Robed People in mid-air seemed to be enraged by the security team's counterattack.

They let out hoarse roars, their figures swaying in mid-air, switching between the virtual and the real like those Scale-covered black Crow! When they changed from real to virtual, any physical damage seemed to have no effect on them.

The security team in the Plaza Garden, from who-knows-which family, could only watch helplessly as their bullets flew through the phantoms, unable to cause any damage at all.

And the Crow flock, guided by the Gray-Robed People, swooped down on the running security team.

The quality of the security team was unexpectedly good.

They formed teams of three, back to back, surrounding an important figure in the middle.

Their bullets were fired into the air like they were free, and they did have some effect.

At least some crows didn't have time to switch between illusion and reality before being hit, turning into a wisp of black smoke and disappearing, never to be reorganized.

The Gray-Robed People floating in mid-air had been watching everyone in the plaza, seemingly looking for someone, but without a clear target, just probing and correcting their direction time and time again.

When they discovered a security team with unexpectedly strong combat power on the ground of the plaza, they investigated it, but then didn't pay much attention.

They just increased the intensity and strength of the crow swarm's pursuit.

As a result, more black crow swarms emerged from the thick black fog as if from nowhere.

For a moment, it was impossible to tell whether the black fog had turned into crows, or the crows had turned into black fog.

As the black crow swarms grew larger and larger, the sky above the plaza was almost completely filled.

Quan Yuxun was the person being protected in the middle by his security team.

He had come to Mulan City during the New Year holiday for an important matter, but he didn't expect that others weren't idle either...

His gaze coldly swept over the Gray-Robed People in mid-air, then turned to the entire plaza, searching for a possible breakout direction.

At this moment, he discovered an opening.

In the southwest direction of the plaza, there were relatively few crow swarms.

This wasn't obvious when there weren't as many crow swarms before.

But when those Gray-Robed People increased the number of crow swarms, covering the sky above the plaza, the opening in the southwest immediately became prominent.

Quan Yuxun immediately said, "Southwest, follow me!"

He directed his security team, firing their guns while running towards the southwest.

Xia Chujian and Ping Qiong were hiding in the hollow of a tree branch on the southwest edge of the plaza.

They had been watching the rather powerful security team fight against the crow swarms and Gray-Robed People in mid-air with great interest.

But the next second, that group of security guards actually ran towards them!

Not only did they come over, but they also brought the overwhelming crow swarms with them!

Xia Chujian immediately became nervous. The long-barreled pistol in her hand was already loaded, waiting for those crows to dare fly over and kill them, then she would fire! She didn't bring many bullets, so it was impossible to just shoot randomly.

It had to be used at a critical moment! Xia Chujian watched with regret as the group of security guards ran over quickly, one by one hiding behind the thick tree branches like them.

But those crow swarms didn't follow, only circling in mid-air not far from them.

It was as if someone had drawn an invisible line here.

No matter how the Gray-Robed People over there drove them, they didn't dare to fly over.

It seemed that there was a great terror here that they feared even more, preferring to be killed by their drivers rather than cross the line! Xia Chujian had been complaining a little just now, blaming the security team for bringing the danger over, but now that she saw the crow swarms didn't dare to come over, she breathed a sigh of relief.

She gave the Tactical Dagger to Ping Qiong and said, "Cai Jie, quickly cut some tree branches for me! This is a Tactical Dagger, it cuts through iron like mud!"

Ping Qiong also felt half-relieved when she saw that the crow swarms didn't dare to come over.

After all, she had been a Bounty Hunter for seven or eight years, and was a Rank C peak Gene Evolver.

"I'll cut them!" She took the Tactical Dagger in one hand and moved back.

This is the second update. There will be a new update at 0:05 tonight.

PS: I saw some readers saying that Mou Han is giving the female lead too much of a cheat, why does the female lead only have to pay 30,000 or 70,000 for a house, while Cai Jie has to pay 600,000... Why is that? This isn't a cheat, it's the different locations! The three elements of buying a house are location, location, and location! For example, in Shanghai, the most expensive apartments in the most expensive neighborhoods cost hundreds of millions, while the cheapest apartments in the cheapest neighborhoods can be bought for 300,000. Can they be the same? Mou Han has always emphasized that the neighborhood where the female lead lives is a dirty and chaotic neighborhood in the North District, while the East District is a newly built, finely decorated luxury neighborhood!

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