The game base was shattered and in ruins.

The massive hole leading to outer space continuously sucked people outward.

Screams, struggles, cries of despair.

The sounds of agony echoed endlessly.

The air was being compressed.

Those ordinary people without power began to swell and freeze the moment they touched the vacuum of space.

Zhao Xi, who was following behind Ye Qiyan, furrowed her brows.

Without a moment's hesitation, she leaped into the air, a ball of light coalescing in her palm before she hurled it toward the gap.

The orb of light instantly surpassed those ordinary people about to be sucked out. The moment it reached the breach, it began to expand, sealing the blasted-open hole shut.

"It's that person! Huh? Th-This... isn't this the Grand Judge of Suoluo City?!"

"Oh my god, it really is the Grand Judge!"

"Thank you!"

The surviving crowd cheered Zhao Xi's name.

Her identity was exposed outright.

Without a moment's hesitation, she leaped into the air, a ball of light condensing in her palm before she hurled it toward the gap.

Zhao Xi sighed inwardly, but a deliberately imposing expression settled onto her delicate, pretty face.

She tapped the air a few times, sending a message to Ye Qiyan.

["I'm going to save people. Once things are settled, I'll contact you. I... still have something to give you."]

After sending the message, she transformed into a streak of light and flew toward the ruins of the mecha base, electricity crackling around her. Below, the rubble slowly rose into the air, freeing those trapped beneath.

"What a hassle."

Ye Qiyan raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

The two mechanical girls still outside the starship in the asteroid belt immediately abandoned their mechs, which sank autonomously into the Armament Space.

Then, they reappeared before Ye Qiyan from within the Armament Space.

"Say it again. What happened outside?"

Lisette nodded and began describing what she had seen, while Eve continuously reshaped her rabbit ears. Soon, Ye Qiyan understood the scene they had witnessed.

After finishing their battle in the game, they had planned to return to the mecha game's hangar to come back to him. But outside the hangar, they had discovered over a dozen small spacecraft.

Those tiny ships, each only large enough to hold one person, had ordinary humans bound inside them.

Once they entered the hangar, shouting slogans like "Long live freedom," high-energy reactions began erupting from within their bodies.

Over a dozen humans meant over a dozen high-energy bombs.

Because the mecha game zone itself was connected to outer space—even designed to make it easier for people to enter the asteroid belt—this area's starship defensive force field was relatively the weakest.

And the location of these suicide bombers had clearly been carefully chosen. With just the right yield, they had blown open the largest gap.

There was no doubt about it.

This was a premeditated attack.

Who was behind it remained to be seen.

But the first thing that came to Ye Qiyan's mind was the group of protesters beneath the hotel—the ones who had already been dealt with.

They had all been afflicted with a status called [Envy and Hatred].

This kind of emotional state, if slightly guided by a Train Conductor with mental manipulation abilities, could be amplified countless times.

Buzz!!!

Just as Ye Qiyan was still thinking.

Eve, who was beside him, suddenly switched to combat mode.

A red locking reticle appeared on a tall building several hundred meters away!

The lock-on was instant!

Eve didn't hesitate to deploy her weapon slots and opened fire in that direction.

Bang!!!

Twelve accelerating explosive tungsten nails shot out in an instant.

The moment they were about to hit their target, they were blocked by a gleaming golden shield.

Boom!

The tungsten nails exploded!

A blond-haired man, his hands covered in gem-studded rings, holding a scepter, wearing a top hat, and sporting a single-frame monocle over his left eye, emerged from the dust.

He brushed the dirt off his clothes, stood behind that golden shield, and looked down on Ye Qiyan from a position of superiority.

"Interesting little brat. Just one look from you, and that robot of yours immediately spotted me. Heh, let me see... Hmm? I can only see the train level? The rest of the info is hidden?

This boring system's constant contradictions between modules and permissions is truly tiresome. A little brat with only an eighteen-level train—do you even know who you've messed with?"

"Don't think that just because you've traveled through the Wasteland for three or five years and got lucky with a decent robot, you're some kind of genius."

"Kid, frogs at the bottom of a well like you? I've seen countless."

Ye Qiyan raised an eyebrow at the man. His gaze was like he was looking at a lunatic.

Good grief.

He himself possessed [Arrogance], yet even he felt this guy was more arrogant than him.

Little brat? Frog at the bottom of a well? Three or five years?

The feeling this guy gave him—wasn't it a little too similar to that Mr. Order?

Was he some old man?

The kind that was old in spirit.

"Just one look at me wouldn't trigger an attack. Besides, 'frog at the bottom of a well,' huh?"

Ye Qiyan let out a soft laugh.

"That phrase—right back at you."

[Click]

A crisp snap of the fingers echoed through the space.

Azure flames ignited on Eve's rabbit ears. Her form transformed into a meteor, and weapon wings unfurled from her back.

[Mode · Overdrive Star]

Accelerating explosive tungsten nails rained down again.

That man still tried to block with his golden shield.

But the moment the tungsten nails approached, his pupils constricted. He intensified his power, yet it was too late. One of the nails pierced straight through the shield.

Ding!!!

A sharp, piercing screech rang out.

Immediately followed by a coordinated assault from the seventy-two other weapons in Eve's weapon slots, all targeting the man's vitals.

Every strike aimed with pinpoint accuracy at his weak points.

The man gritted his teeth. Having been too relaxed and arrogant, he hadn't gathered his power in time. The shield was forcibly knocked away, leaving him with no choice but to muster his strength, conjuring a hexagonal force field to withstand Eve's assault.

"Level twelve. No wonder you're so cocky. Little brat, I'll remember you!"

He glanced at the message someone had sent him through his monocle. He didn't counterattack.

He retreated, looking disheveled as Eve relentlessly chased him, until he returned to where he had first appeared. With one foot stepping through a spatial door, he glared furiously back at Ye Qiyan.

"You frog at the bottom of a well! Don't think you've won!"

Eve continued her assault, redirecting her attacks straight at the spatial door.

"Damn it, I hate robots! If it weren't for—"

He still launched no counterattack.

He simply beckoned toward the golden shield that had been knocked away. It flew up on its own.

But just as it was about to return to his hand, a crisp gunshot rang out, and the shield clattered to the ground.

Ye Qiyan, holding [White Night], blew away the wisp of smoke curling from its muzzle. He looked at the man—frustrated, humiliated, yet still refusing to launch any attack—and curled his lip.

In this situation, hadn't he already won?

Or was it that the one fleeing in disgrace was him, Ye Qiyan?

The Nano-Bee Swarm retrieved the shield for him. Looking at the identification results, Ye Qiyan let out a quiet laugh.

"An unexpected bonus, huh."

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