This discovery is indeed quite astonishing.
So much so that Tang Xiaoyu and the others couldn’t react in time.
Because their perspectives were vastly different from Baiyu’s; what Baiyu could see, they couldn’t discover at all.
"Baiyu, are you sure about this?"
Yuwen Ba furrowed his brow deeply, "First, retreat, keep everyone away from this area, and don’t approach under any circumstances until we confirm it’s safe around it."
Cats and dogs would be swallowed by the street.
That person would surely be as well.
Tang Xiaoyu ordered the surrounding Armed Department soldiers to retreat one after another, and she also stayed far away from the Tenth District, only recording the extent to which its borders expanded at each time point.
Several hours passed.
The time came to deep night.
The Tenth District remained enshrouded in dense fog, as if some unknown anomaly lurked within, making it impossible to discern its true form.
It had grown larger again.
Like an infant striving to absorb nutrients, ever-growing.
Except it was absorbing life.
Seventeen soldiers in total had disappeared; these were well-trained soldiers, obedient to orders, with absolutely no chance of running away.
They were patrolling outside the district and were silently swallowed due to the district’s expansion.
Linjiang’s situation has now entered a phase of severe distress and turmoil.
Under a tent a kilometer away from the Tenth District, Tang Xiaoyu reported to Yuwen Ba via video call, with a trace of desperation in her voice.
Qiong Jiu, Pang Fei, the Anomaly Bureau General Office, Dong Chunsheng, Meng Lei.
These were the current strongest in Linjiang, the most terrifying group in terms of power, yet after entering the Tenth District, they didn’t even make a splash before disappearing just like that.
She couldn’t think of a way to stop the expansion of the Tenth District.
"All you need is to hold on for five days, I assure you, five days later we can break through the Simulation Realm outside Linjiang City; the Empire has taken notice of this place.
The Silver Blade of the Three Holy Swords from the Eternal Sanctuary will arrive in five days!"
Yuwen Ba quickly said.
Sparks of hope reappeared in Tang Xiaoyu’s eyes.
The Eternal Sanctuary is the Grand Cathedral of the Church of the God of Steam and Mechanics, located to the north of Maple Leaf County in the Forest of Steel, and the Silver Blade is one of the three extremely powerful members of the church responsible for external crusades and handling heresies.
It takes five days to arrive.
It indicates that they are carrying Sealing Objects, so they can’t take planes or high-speed trains.
Can they really hold out for five days?
Tang Xiaoyu looked at the explosion’s flames in the distance, her face showing despair: "The information about the Tenth District has been leaked. Now all of Linjiang is in chaos, and I can only try my best to maintain social order."
Yuwen Ba had no solution either.
Even if he wanted to come in and solve the problem, he couldn’t break through the Simulation Realm constructed by the S Level Sealed Object Eye of True Wisdom combined with the power of the fifteen Black Moons.
Katz’s move was far more sophisticated than the methods used at the Shelter back then.
Linjiang City was indeed in chaos.
From the onset of night, people began organizing protests on the streets, accusing the Linjiang Government of incompetence and demanding the lifting of restrictions.
And as the first batch of people unafraid of mutations and death took to the streets.
More and more people surged onto the streets.
When despair and fear reached their peak, all that was left was chaos and madness.
These people believed it was the government that locked the exits, preventing them from leaving. There were also conspiracy theorists who thought all of this was connected to the authorities.
And behind these agitated individuals, there was clearly an invisible hand at play.
A group of mysterious figures gathered, wearing dark blue capes and gray long robes.
There were four of them.
Each wore a different mask covering their face, and their broad robes revealed nothing, even their gender discernible only by voice.
"The Eye of the Black Moon should be in the hands of the Grand High Priest of the Abyssal Ascetic Association, and over these days, I have confirmed that the current state of the Tenth District in the North District was influenced by him using the power of the Black Moon."
"He’s been imprisoned in Hades Prison for years, and we can’t clash with the authorities, so this is a rare opportunity that we cannot miss." A clear female voice sounded.
"Shao Siming, what level of deity do you think that Blood Lord belongs to? The Abyssal Ascetic Association has been active for about a hundred years, emerging after the First Celestial Essence War, and I suspect they’re not easy to deal with." Another man’s voice was deep.
The woman who spoke earlier spoke again: "We only need to take the Eye of the Black Moon and seal it away; there’s no need to clash with that Evil God, and in my view, that Evil God is likely trapped inside the Black Moon and trying to escape, wielding only a minuscule amount of power capable of infiltrating reality. Hebo, you haven’t undertaken any missions for months, and now you’re thinking of retreating?"
The man shook his head.
Behind the terrifying mask, his expression was unclear.
But he remained silent, evidently not opposing the woman.
"I’ll be commanding this operation. If anything goes wrong, I’ll be responsible. You just need to cooperate." Shao Siming instructed, casting her gaze into the distance towards the city teetering on the brink of collapse: "We don’t have much time. After the final frenzy of these ordinary people, what awaits them is only death. Even if the Evil God’s power wishes to descend, it requires ample sacrifices, and they will die first.
To stop all this, the only solution is to kill that Grand High Priest."
The other three nodded.
Among them, only Hebo had enough standing to converse with Shao Siming, while the other two were low-ranking members of the Divine Gate, just coincidentally in Linjiang and available for cooperation with these two key figures.
Outside the Tenth District.
Some soldiers had started losing heart; albeit professionally trained, none could remain calm in the face of this mysterious threat that caused unexplained disappearances.
Everyone cherishes life; they’re soldiers, not Death Warriors.
Tang Xiaoyu clenched her fists tightly, feeling hopeless before all this. Lin Shan actively communicated with Yuwen Ba outside the city, yet still found no solution.
Yuwen Ba was now alive as a mere "mouth warrior."
Not the slightest bit of use.
Linjiang’s basic facilities completely collapsed, and apart from a few areas controlled by the Armed Department and Anomaly Bureau, the rest had become lawless no-man’s-lands.
Order collapsed, and rules were trampled.
The base instincts of human nature became glaringly apparent during these times.
Food was running out.
The wealthy hoarded great amounts of food, and ordinary people couldn’t purchase anything edible even if they had money.
A vast number of supermarkets and stores were looted, inciting public panic, which rapidly spread.
More and more robbery cases arose.
Even upon seeing a corpse on the street, no one would be surprised anymore.
The entire city was already on the brink of collapse.
Tang Xiaoyu was clearly unable to manage such large-scale riots, especially in the North District, which was already an unwieldy area to govern, and now had become the center of chaos.
Someone must step forward, to turn the tide.
By any means necessary, as long as order can be stabilized until the reinforcements from outside arrive.