Chapter 21 Rescuing Forces_1

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In the vial held in Red Gloves' hand seemed to be a fragment of a limb.

It resembled metallic skin, attached to bones as clear as crystals. It was undoubtedly a fingertip, taken from some Holy Remains. Whether as the seed of a Stigma or a vessel for a descent, it was more than sufficient.

"With so much Source Substance, it should be enough for initial development, right?"

Red Gloves smiled and suddenly smashed the vial inside the box.

In an instant, countless shards of glass flew in all directions, then vanished into thin air, as they were not material to begin with. The entire vial was formed from the condensation of Omnifactor Dissolvent, created solely to meticulously separate the inside from the outside.

And in the moment of contact with the air,

the segment of fingertip bone trembled slightly, as if sensing the freedom of the air.

Almost instantly, the Source Substance that had accumulated in the box started bottoming out, drawn out completely by the bone. Then, screams erupted from inside the hall.

Soon, the screams died away.

Fading into silence.

Only droplets of crystal-clear Source Substance, like dew, emerged and slowly seeped into the fingertip bone. Following this, a breath of madness and malice rose from within the bone.

It surged like a tidal wave, sweeping in all directions.

That was a storm.

A storm of hunger and evil thought.

Howling towards the distance, greedily enveloping everything, and violently absorbing all hearts and minds, pulling at every trace of Source Substance within reach... Its range encompassed the entirety of Old Pond Town!

The gravitational center of attraction was so formidable that even the Sublimators could hardly maintain their composure within that terrifying storm.

Red Gloves staggered backward, hearing a snapping sound—the sound of his own hair breaking.

Strands of his hair, dry like wild grass, were snapped off by the wind and fell to the ground.

He raised his hand to touch his face, feeling the trace of wrinkles.

At the corner of his eyes, dense wrinkles and age spots, characteristic of an old person, seemed to have aged him by decades in a moment.

Then, flesh sprouted from the fractured ends of the bone, and the skeleton began to grow… In a flash, the residually awakened Stigma began spontaneously extracting the plundered Source Substance, rapidly developing towards a complete form.

The seed was growing.

No, more accurately… it was restoring.

First was the First Stage·Mercury, the legendary first metal, a Source Fertile Soil completed by the three essences of salt, sulfur, and mercury, the cornerstone of all things.

Bolstered by this, the will within the Holy Remains awoke from its dormancy, casting an indifferent glance at the world it once knew but now found utterly foreign.

Next was the Second Stage·Gold. With realized properties and perfect attributes, the pure refinement of Source Substance formed a radiance akin to the sun.

Only this radiance was of a greenish hue, carrying a cold chill, and wherever it passed, everything seemed to have weathered for thousands of years.

Turning to ashes.

Then came the Third Stage·Ether, the path to transcendence.

Decaying flesh could no longer bind that horrendous brilliance, a powerful force beyond understanding brewed within, like the seed of divine power planted, reclaiming its transcendent status, struggling with all its might to break free from the bonds of physical laws.

It was akin to a dragon's reverse scale, a phoenix's tail feather, Medusa's eye, an angel's wing, and a demon's horn.

No longer bound by common sense.

Finally, the Fourth Stage·Star Antimony.

The segment of finger bone by then had transformed into a slender and pale hand, stretching out from the void as if meticulously sculpted by a master craftsman. Every detail was flawlessly wrought.

It had fully sublimated, transcended the mundane, and was no longer something mortals could touch!

Just one step away from myth.

At that moment, a roar came from afar, shaking the earth and mountains. Iron enclosures grew from the ground, slowly sealing Old Pond Town within.

Isolated from the outside world.

The growth of the hand came to an abrupt halt.

There were no more Source Substances for it to continue restoring to its original state.

As if sensing the darkness that had replaced the sky outside the hall, a sigh of regret crossed the void.

Red Gloves' face suddenly changed, and he pulled out a depth-measuring device, looking like a pocket watch. Upon seeing the rapidly climbing numbers... in an instant, the border percentage had reached sixty percent...

This place was being stripped from the Current Circumstances by the Astronomical Society!

Just a little more.

Just a few more seconds, and the Holy Remains could have restored to the Fifth Stage·Philosopher's Stone, truly becoming a Miracle of this world! Even restoring to the Beyond Stage·Crown, and possibly taking control of divine power, was within reach...

However, the chasm between the Fourth and Fifth Stages was now insurmountable.

One step too slow!

"This is impossible... Was it a blind stumble, or did they notice?"

Red Gloves fell into astonishment, murmuring darkly, utterly unable to imagine where he might have revealed a flaw, or if there was some secret regarding King Ocean that he had not yet fully uncovered?

Soon, he heard a fleeting voice.

Like a whisper carried by the wind.

"No time to worry about that now, even if it's just one hand, it should be enough."

With that, the hand pointed backward, signaling him to move back.

The next instant, it raised two fingers and waved them in the direction above the hall. The sound of fabric being shredded by machinery filled the air.

A hurricane burst forth.

Wherever it passed, bricks and stones instantly crumbled to dust, wooden beams rotted and shattered, swept into the sky by the violent wind.

The hand rose slowly, suspended between heaven and earth, and began to close gently.

A sharp, ear-piercing sound rang out, and the turbulent world suddenly froze, as if its spinning axis had been tightly seized by the hand.

The process of stripping the Current Circumstances came to an abrupt halt.

It was as though the entire space had been solidified in the hurricane.

Suddenly, a roar came from the distance.

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"Illegal border crossing detected, soul mark comparison complete, threat level escalated—"

In the brief moment it appeared, an alert from the satellite above materialized on Ai Qing's phone, even confirming the origin of that one hand:

"Terrorist organization 'Green Day' affiliated mutant—'Ten Disasters' fourth member: Wind Disaster, threat level A, disaster alert sent."

Although everyone had just been shocked and resistant to Ai Qing's report, at this moment they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, genuinely wanting to thank her for her wilful actions.

Only Ai Qing's expression grew increasingly ugly as she silently flipped through her phone.

But she didn't receive any message about the successful evacuation of Huai Shi and the others.

"Tsk..."

She frowned in annoyance and soon, without any further hesitation, looked up and asked, "What are you waiting for then? For him to order food? Hasn't the Special Affairs Department made even the final preparations?"

With the middle-aged man and Ai Qing's simultaneous permission confirmed, in less than ten seconds, a rumble came from afar.

The thunderous noise was incessant, shaking the earth.

Three kilometers out from the blockade perimeter, on the towering hillside, dust kept rising, and the pungent smell of gunpowder spread with the continuous seismic shocks.

Steel behemoths sprawled upon the earth, reflecting a cold light in the glow of the lamps.

Following the command center's order, the massive base unfolded, as if wedging into the earth, and the heavy artillery barrel slowly raised, obliquely aiming at the sky.

Distance calculation complete.

Impact point computation done.

The next moment, flames burst forth!

Eleven eager howitzers roared, casting deadly iron light towards the sky dome, and the next instant, a terrible power capable of incinerating the entire church dozens of times descended from above.

That one hand, locked in a standoff with the blockade power, seemed to sense the sudden attack, its little finger slightly rising, flicking to the side.

The hurricane arose abruptly, and iron light shone within it; the intense sound of the wind colliding with itself actually emitted sharp noises, as countless sparks flickered amidst it.

The wind of steel swept through, boldly shattering half the howitzers, and then with a slight swipe of the little finger, the wind of steel collapsed inward, coiling the remaining howitzers into a point.

The next instant, scorching light burst from above the sky.

The abruptly appearing light illuminated that unharmed palm.

Then came the second round of bombardment, raining down from the heavens!

"—Good, continue, maintain fire suppression."

In the command room, the middle-aged man became excited, not the slightest bit discouraged.

The retaliation from the Hand of Wind Disaster only proved one thing, that it yet lacked the ability to directly endure the bombardment—otherwise, it wouldn't have been wasting time on such things.

Current Circumstances, as a sanctuary for ordinary people and the cornerstone of the world, had the strictest regulations and rules, unless one reached the Rank of 'Natural Enemy,' transforming into a walking human-shaped Hell; it otherwise would absolutely not be able to contend with physical laws directly.

As long as the firepower was sufficient, under the siege of the army, there were records of 'Coronated ones' having fallen.

"It's a pity there are no missiles..."

Ai Qing sighed regretfully when she heard someone in excitement shout, "Reinforcements from the upper echelons of Current Circumstances have already set out!"

She was stunned for a brief moment, first relieved, but then she vaguely felt something was amiss: the Current Circumstances Guardian on rotation for Dongxia, seemed... not quite reliable, right?

Thinking of the rumors circulating among her peers, her heart sank again.

Under the crazy shelling of sixteen howitzers, even with constant counterattacks, that one hand contending against the blockade force was still gradually pushed down inch by inch.

It was suppressed.

Even the entire church had collapsed by more than half, but unfortunately, no signs of any survivors were observed in the surveillance.

This was expected.

The mutant known as the Wind Disaster Beast was most adept at creating Source Substance vortices, extracting others' Source Substance as fuel. Now, inside the church, no, the entirety of Old Pond Town was probably already...

In the brief waiting period, the atmosphere in the command post had also gradually become more solemn.

Usually, reinforcements transitioning through the secret realm and 'airdropped' straight to Current Circumstances took less than three minutes, but the wait now felt endlessly long, only the Current Circumstances Guardian coming to aid kept texting, comforting those in the command post.

"They've already set out!"

"Coming, coming, on the way."

"Another minute and I'll be there!"

Messages were sent every few minutes; at first, everyone was hopeful, but as time went on, they got completely tired of saying anything.

Until at last, bad news came from the artillery positions.

Ammunition exhausted.

"A bit of a traffic jam, I'll be there soon!"

With the alert from the text message, that one hand, slightly charred, suddenly lifted, boldly shattering the force that peeled away Current Circumstances, and then, fingers clenched into a fist, the hurricane converged, remotely reflecting on the iron blockade that sealed off the entire town of Old Pond.

The next instant.

Crash!

The earth shook and the mountains trembled.

Amid the howling hurricane, it was as if countless cannon shots were roaring, as the invisible wall sealing the surroundings suddenly shook, the iron blockade thundering, the ground at its foundation quaking, with cracks appearing.

The blockade was loosening.

A crack had also burst open on that one palm, but it didn't care and lifted again, crash!

Boom!

A crack appeared on the iron blockade, metal wailing.

The people in the command post turned pale, but the reinforcements were still far away, with only one frivolous message:

"Hang in there, I'm just around the corner!"

Boom!

The fist smashed down once more.

This time, the crack on the iron blockade spread further, revealing a fatal breach.

The Wind Disaster Beast broke out of its cage!