49 Apocalypse Rules

Chapter 317: Chapter 294: Aftermath of the Incomplete Assassination

「Late night in Banzhen City.」

After the martial law was declared, the streets fell completely silent.

Aside from the patrolling Sheriffs, ordinary citizens all stayed locked in their homes, afraid of getting into trouble.

At the entrance of the Sheriff’s Department headquarters, a few people preparing for the next patrol shift were chatting idly.

"Even the director was replaced? Is what happened that serious?"

"I heard from the intel division that something big went down. A lot of people died."

"Honestly, the new director is a real pain! He’s never done any law enforcement work before, has he? All he does is give out random orders."

"What can you do? He’s Lord Divine Son’s confidant... Hmm? Is that someone over there?"

As they were talking, they suddenly saw a hatted figure approaching the headquarters’ main gate with both hands in their pockets.

During a period of martial law, such an act was already illegal.

"Hey! You over there—what?!"

Before the shout was even finished, the Sheriffs saw the person pull their hands out of their pockets, clutching several objects that were clearly bombs.

"Explosives!"

"Get back inside!!"

The terrified Sheriffs scrambled back into the headquarters.

The next moment, the sound of "BOOM! BOOM!" echoed from the street, and the glass of the headquarters’ front door shattered from the shockwave.

Instantly, alarms blared. All the Sheriffs on duty inside the headquarters rushed to grab their weapons and gear. Someone else made a call to report the incident and request backup.

But when they rushed back outside, they found that the person who threw the explosives had vanished. Moreover, the explosions had all occurred on the street; the culprit hadn’t thrown any bombs into the headquarters.

"Search! The culprit must be nearby. Don’t let them get away!"

Daring to throw bombs at the main gate of the headquarters—this was no ordinary criminal. A thorough investigation was mandatory.

「Meanwhile, in the western district on the other side of the city.」

On a street just across from Luoying Mansion, Shangyuan Zi looked at the suddenly-appeared Shadow and asked, "What were you doing?"

The two had planned to raid the mansion tonight and make a move on the Divine Son. But after arriving, Shadow had briefly disappeared for a while.

"Went to cause a little chaos and create a diversion," Guan Tong said. "Saves us the trouble of a bunch of Sheriffs showing up and getting in the way later."

"..."

"Let’s go. Time to get down to business."

During the day, Guan Tong had already thoroughly scouted the area around Luoying Mansion.

Besides some hidden lookouts, various surveillance cameras were deployed in the vicinity. Any stranger appearing near the mansion would be discovered immediately.

However, if one intended a frontal assault, these cameras and lookouts were of little use.

And that was exactly what Guan Tong and Shangyuan Zi were doing now.

But to create confusion, Guan Tong had also brought a large number of helpers.

He had used the [Corpse Whistle] beforehand to summon hundreds of Living Dead, which he then stored in the Book Page Sanctuary. Now, he released them all at once and gave them the command to follow.

In an instant, a massive troop appeared on the mansion’s street. The hidden lookouts on surveillance duty spotted them immediately, but were so stunned they only sounded the alarm inside the mansion after a two-second delay.

Clearly, the sudden appearance of a group of several hundred people was a visually shocking sight.

Moreover, their objective was crystal clear, and they quickly charged toward the front of the mansion. Guan Tong took a sledgehammer from his Storage Ring and slammed it against the serpentine family crest on the main gate.

"CRACK!"

The Defense Barrier was effective against Psychic Power-type attacks, but useless against physical attacks from mundane weapons that had nothing to do with Psychic Power.

And how could a mere wooden door withstand the blows from Guan Tong’s sledgehammer? After just a few strikes, a large hole was smashed through it.

"Who’s there?!"

"How dare you attack this place!"

By now, the mansion’s guards had arrived. Shouting, they raised their firearms and opened fire directly.

Though the Living Dead were an imposing force, they weren’t durable. A large group of them quickly fell under the hail of bullets.

Guan Tong said to Shangyuan Zi, "You take care of these people. I’m going to find the Divine Son."

After speaking, he ordered twenty to thirty Living Dead to charge into the mansion, mixing in with them himself. He also released a large number of Shadow Lines to begin searching for his target.

Shangyuan Zi followed his order and charged toward the armed guards.

"CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!"

They fired at her, but the bullets simply produced a series of crisp clangs against her body before falling to the ground, completely unable to penetrate the defense of her scales.

Her speed was so great that those trying to aim for her head couldn’t even get a lock. She had previously taken third place in a "Marathon" event precisely by relying on this serpentine, rapid movement.

In just a few moments, she had taken down several guards.

One of them shouted as he pulled out a grenade to detonate it. Shangyuan Zi glared at him, and his movements froze. Immediately after, his body began to twist and contort.

"AHHH!!!"

A bloodcurdling scream accompanied the sound of tearing fabric as the guard rapidly transformed from a human into a grotesque monster with a human head and a snake’s body—a byproduct of her ability, a Snake Servant.

Seeing the Snake Servant groveling before her, awaiting orders, a trace of pity appeared on Shangyuan Zi’s face.

Unless it was absolutely necessary, she truly hated using this power. In her eyes, turning a human into a monster was even crueler than killing them.

Meanwhile, inside the mansion, since the three-story building wasn’t very large, Guan Tong’s Shadow Lines quickly completed their survey.

He discovered one room was protected by Barrier Items. It was obviously where the Divine Son slept.

’A large barrier outside the mansion isn’t enough; he even has to set up a small barrier for his own room... This Divine Son is really cautious,’ Guan Tong thought.

’I have to be quick. It’ll be a problem if he escapes using Teleportation Items. Once he’s on guard, another opportunity as good as this won’t be easy to find.’

He immediately moved above the room and, condensing a Small Space in his palm, smashed it downward.

Silently, a hole appeared in both the barrier and the roof.

A Shadow immediately slipped through the hole and found the Divine Son sitting in the middle of the room.

Guan Tong activated Body Shifting, swapping places with the Shadow while simultaneously pressing the Small Space in his palm toward the Divine Son.

In a flash, a figure suddenly and silently appeared behind Guan Tong, swinging a blade at his neck.

Both attacks occurred almost simultaneously. The newcomer’s strike was a classic case of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao," intending to force Guan Tong to abandon his attack on the Divine Son to save himself.

But Guan Tong didn’t pull back.

As the Small Space struck the Divine Son, the blade also slashed Guan Tong’s neck.

The blade seemed to possess a special property, as it cut through the Shadow Armor Guan Tong used for defense, but it failed to sever his head.

There was another layer of defense beneath the Shadow Armor.

A "shield" formed by the Psychic Power Flow firmly blocked the blade, preventing it from advancing even an inch.

As for the Divine Son attacked by Guan Tong, the back of his head was completely devoured by the Small Space.

’A person might have a heart on the left or right side, and there might even be items that could save someone whose heart was destroyed. But if the head is destroyed, there’s no coming back.’

His strike successful, Guan Tong swung his arm and turned, unleashing a barrage of Shadow Thorns at his attacker. The latter dodged with agile movements and, after a few leaps, vanished into thin air again.

’Invisibility...’

Guan Tong thought of the figure wrapped head-to-toe in bandages, wearing a mask, and dressed like a Ninja. ’This guy must have some kind of Invisibility-related ability, otherwise my Shadows wouldn’t have missed him.’

He glanced at the Divine Son, who had already collapsed to the floor.

’A large number of reinforcements will probably arrive soon. Since the mission’s objective is complete, there’s no need to get tangled up with someone who can turn invisible.’

’What’s strange is, this invisible person should be the Divine Son’s personal bodyguard. He attacked once and then just hid. Doesn’t he want to avenge his master?’

Although Guan Tong had his doubts, now wasn’t the time to overthink it. He first rushed out of the room, then used Body Shifting to leave.

A few moments later, amidst the chaotic din from outside, a bizarre scene unfolded.

The "corpse" of the Divine Son, whose head had been half-devoured by the Small Space, slowly twitched a few times on the floor before sitting up again.

"Xin." The Divine Son’s voice emanated from his chest.

The invisible Ninja from before appeared, kneeling on one knee.

"Remove the head."

"Yes, sir."

Xin swung his blade, severing the Divine Son’s ruined head at the base of the neck.

The next second, a new head actually pushed its way up from below.

After turning it a few times to adjust, the Divine Son spoke. "Did you see everything clearly?"

"I did," Xin said. "Shadow’s special attack has a very small range but is extremely powerful. It directly erased your brain and seems to be space-related. He also has a teleportation ability, but it appears to have a cooldown, as he can’t use it consecutively."

"Good... This is very valuable intelligence."

"I didn’t expect him to dare assassinate me directly. But what he doesn’t know is..."

A hideous smile gradually spread across his entire face.

He ripped open the tight robe on his upper body, revealing that where a normal person would have a chest and abdomen, he had nothing of the sort.

In their place was a series of closed-eyed heads, all linked together.

"The Great Serpent has eight heads... Shadow, as for the debt for destroying one of them, we’ll settle it slowly..."

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