He used lies to maintain their “once the scar heals, the pain is forgotten” state, bearing double or even triple the burden of negative emotions alone.
Days passed like this in a painful cycle. He Denghong was like an ascetic monk, or perhaps a prisoner serving a sentence —
He struggled to earn meager resources for survival with his identity as a freelancer while simultaneously enduring both physical and mental torture under the identity of Eshu.
The way he worked with a furrowed brow and a pained expression became a common sight on the construction site. His coworkers teased him, saying, “Working every day is like being tortured.” They would never know —
That joke was a cruel reality for him.
—
The city center, a bustling commercial district.
The once crowded streets had now transformed into a living hell.
Deafening explosions rang out one after another. Massive fireballs, carrying shattered concrete and twisted metal, soared into the sky. Thick smoke acted as a curtain of death, quickly obscuring the sun.
Screams, cries, and the roar of collapsing buildings intertwined to compose a symphony of despair.
High-rise buildings were blasted in half, their wreckage falling like rain to bury the streets and vehicles below.
The air was thick with the acrid smell of gunpowder, blood, and dust.
The perpetrator of all this was an ordinary-looking youth.
He stood in the center of the devastated plaza with a crazed, ecstatic smile on his face, his eyes flickering with an inhuman blue light.
In his field of vision, a high-tech, blue translucent interface hovered that only he could see. Heart-stopping text scrolled across it:
**[Serial Bombing Mission (5/5) Complete! Reward: Energy Shield (Strength: MAX), Duration: 10 minutes. Mission Issued: Destroy the load-bearing structures of the Time Shopping Center to cause maximum casualties.]**
**[Reward: Unknown (Beyond Imagination)]**
**[Warning: Multiple high-energy reactions detected approaching. Threat Level: Extremely High. Suggestion: Host should prioritize threat removal or evacuation.]**
“Evacuate? Hahaha! I’m invincible now!” the youth laughed wildly as a solid layer of dark red energy shield manifested around him. “Kill as many as come! I’ll kill them all!”
Just then, the sharp sound of whistling air approached.
Several Red Arrow-12 man-portable anti-tank missiles, trailing tongues of flame, were fired from behind the ruins of various covers. They slammed into the youth with precision at speeds exceeding 300 meters per second.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!* Intense explosions completely swallowed the youth’s position, and flames reached for the sky.
However, as the dust cleared slightly, that dark red shield only flickered violently. The youth was unscathed; if anything, he looked even more excited.
“That’s it? Is that just a tickle?” He raised his hand toward the general direction of the missiles, and energy began to condense in his palm.
But before he could fire, a strange, soul-piercing hiss suddenly rang out.
This sound did not travel through the air; it acted directly upon the consciousness. The youth’s movements stalled, and the condensation of energy was interrupted.
A translucent, cicada-like Anomaly, magnified dozens of times, hovered atop a nearby ruined building.
Its wings, thin as cicada silk, vibrated at a high frequency to emit that mentally disruptive hiss —
This was one of the Anomalies modified and tamed by Gongjishi. Its specific trait was the ability to emit sonic waves that directly impacted the mind.
Almost simultaneously, the ground beneath the youth’s feet suddenly became soft and muddy like quicksand. A powerful suction force pulled at him, attempting to swallow him whole.
This was another modified Anomaly. It looked like a puddle of writhing, expanding black sludge capable of altering the geological structure of a localized area.
The youth let out a furious roar. His MAX-level energy shield erupted with a brilliant light, forcibly breaking free from the mire’s suction as his feet left the ground to levitate.
“Sniper! Armor-piercing incendiary rounds! Target the same node on the shield, three consecutive shots!” a calm voice commanded through a tactical earpiece.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Three specialized 12.7mm tungsten-core armor-piercing incendiary rounds were fired in a near-perfect line from the top of an office building over 1,500 meters away that had not yet fully collapsed —
They accurately struck the exact spot on the youth’s shield that had just been hit by the anti-tank missiles.
The shield emitted an overwhelmed hum, and the dark red light flickered sharply.
“Damn it!” the youth raged. Following the trajectory of the bullets, he condensed a highly compressed energy ball in his palm and prepared to throw it.
“Dui-3, Li-4! Distraction fire! Zhen-5, lead ‘Bonecrusher’ to pin him down from the front! Kun-7 and Kun-8, maintain the ‘Silence Field’!”
The calm voice gave orders again with rapid-fire speed.
Immediately, a dense barrage of 5.8mm rifle fire poured in from the flanks. Although they couldn’t penetrate the shield, they successfully interfered with the youth’s aim.
At the same time, a burly member of the Containment Personnel wearing a specialized reinforced combat suit charged out from behind cover like a wild bull.
Behind him followed a massive, modified Anomaly that looked like a giant dog pieced together from countless pale bones — “Bonecrusher.”
The man and the beast charged fearlessly toward the youth. The giant dog opened its mouth, which was filled with bone spikes, and bit savagely at the shield —
Meanwhile, the Zhen-level officer swung a specialized warhammer equipped with a high-frequency vibrating chainsaw, slamming it frantically against the barrier.
Under the continuous, precise strikes and the fearless melee suppression, the shield’s light dimmed visibly to the naked eye.
Even more frustrating for him was an invisible “Silence Field” generated by the “Silent Jellyfish” modified Anomalies maintained by the two Kun-level operators in the rear. The field blanketed the battlefield, constantly trying to suppress his energy flow.
“Dammit! This is so annoying!” the youth snapped, completely enraged. “System! Exchange for ‘Energy Storm’!”
**[Instruction confirmed. Consuming 80% points. Activating: ENERGY STORM!]**
In an instant, a violent, peerless energy shockwave exploded outward in a ring with the youth as the center!
*Boom — !!!*
The Zhen-level officer and Bonecrusher bore the brunt of it, being sent flying into the distant ruins. Their status was unknown.
The Dui and Li-level personnel on the flanks were also overturned by the shockwave, their equipment heavily damaged.
Even the “Silence Field” in the rear shattered instantly. The two supporting modified Anomalies let out a wail as their light faded. The entire Containment Personnel team’s offensive ground to a halt.
The youth panted heavily. His shield had become thin, but a cruel smile appeared on his face.
“Haha… Hahaha! Do you see? This is the power of the System! You ants!” He strolled casually toward the nearest Dui-level team member, who was struggling to crawl back up.
Just then, the leader in the rear who had been directing the operation, whose armband bore the “Qian” trigram, spoke calmly into the communicator:
“All units, report status… What about Eshu’s side? When can He Jiulu, Sui Luowen, and Luba provide support?”
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