The city of Yuzhou was divided into an inner and outer city. These were urban areas slowly established in the aftermath of the apocalypse. The inner city was built first, and the outer city was constructed later. Initially, Yuzhou's population was very small, only a few hundred thousand, as most people had fled. However, with Yuzhou's stability and prosperity, citizens from surrounding areas returned, and the population continued to grow, necessitating the expansion of the city.
Thus, the situation of an inner and outer city eventually formed. The first group who followed Shen Feng generally lived in the inner city, while later arrivals, including mercenaries, resided in the outer city. There were also people living outside the outer city, but managing them became inconvenient. The soldiers of the outer city rarely patrolled outside the city.
But today, suddenly, intense gunfire erupted from a theater. The soldiers initially intended to wait a while before responding, but they suddenly received shocking news: the young master and young lady had gone in that direction.
If it were just ordinary children, it would have been fine. But these were the city lord's children, and if they were in danger, the soldiers could not bear the responsibility.
The soldiers of the outer city quickly gathered and rushed towards the theater. Upon arriving outside, they could only see flames erupting from within. The theater had caught fire, and no one knew what was happening inside.
As everyone panicked, a figure rapidly approached from a distance. Upon closer inspection, it was Qi Lingshan, the deputy leader of the intelligence team. As soon as he appeared, he immediately addressed the surrounding soldiers, "Charge in with me! I won't let you burn to death."
After saying this, Qi Lingshan charged forward, simultaneously gathering a large amount of nitrogen from the surroundings.
Nitrogen is an inert gas. Under normal circumstances, it does not burn and does not react with oxygen. Nitrogen constitutes about 70% of the air. Therefore, as long as there is enough nitrogen, it can isolate the combustible material from oxygen, preventing further combustion.
As Qi Lingshan charged in, the soldiers seemed to be inspired and followed him into the theater. This place was originally a废弃的工厂 (abandoned factory), but later someone bought it and converted it into a theater. The theater was filled with many flammable materials, and now fierce flames were raging.
"Anyone who is not one of us, kill them on sight! Everyone here is an assassin. Show no mercy!" Qi Lingshan urged.
The group then charged in, opening fire on anyone who was not one of their own. The soldiers had experienced many battles and knew that they could not be soft on enemies. Otherwise, these enemies might strike first at any moment and harm them.
This was also a rather coincidental event. Qi Lingshan was in the vicinity. Upon hearing the gunfire, he immediately contacted the nearest intelligence, which indicated that assassins had arrived near Yuzhou. He rushed over and happened to encounter the assassination attempt on the young master and young lady.
The soldiers continued to advance into the factory, searching for the whereabouts of the young master and young lady as they went. Their mission would only be considered complete once they were found safe.
If the young master or young lady were harmed, it would be troublesome. They would ultimately be punished for their negligence. It was important to remember that Shen Feng had been the city lord for over a decade, and he only had three children with him. These three children were incredibly precious, and any harm to them would inevitably enrage the city lord.
However, as the group charged into the factory, they were surprised to find numerous people lying on the ground, convulsing. Among them were even two ability users. Near them lay three corpses, a gruesome sight.
"These three youths seem to be the city lord's three disciples. They appear to have been killed!" a soldier recognized. These three youths were seemingly adopted disciples of the city lord. They were expected to have a bright future, but now they had been killed in the factory.
Upon seeing this, Qi Lingshan quickly said, "Hurry and search for the young master and young lady! Make sure they are not captured!"
The soldiers searched the surroundings, trying to find the young master and young lady. However, there were too many obstacles within the factory, and flames were present in many areas, making it difficult to bypass the fire and locate them.
As Qi Lingshan passed by two ability users, he noticed that they were powerfully built with well-developed muscles, appearing to be body-strengthening ability users. Their weapons were a long saber and an iron rod, respectively. Judging by their injuries, the city lord's three disciples had been killed by these two.
"Brother, brother, what's wrong with you?" At this moment, a crying sound came from inside the factory. Judging by the voice, it seemed to be Shen Yishi's cry.
The soldiers immediately followed the sound into the factory and finally found three children hiding in a corner. Externally, these children appeared unharmed. Although they were covered in dust, their bodies were intact.
"Young master, young lady, are you alright?" Upon seeing the young master and young lady, the soldiers immediately rushed over, protected them, and checked for injuries to ascertain their condition.
Shen Yishi and Shen Xingzhi were both crying. Shen Yishi tearfully said, "Just now, bad people tried to hurt us. Big brother suddenly changed and drove the bad people away, but then Big brother fell into a deep sleep!"
"What? There are still enemies? Where are the enemies?" Qi Lingshan immediately became vigilant upon hearing this. He had not yet detected any enemy presence. Even though he had found two body-strengthening ability users, he had frozen them. But now, hearing from the young lady that there was another ability user, he felt a sense of unease.
"Sister Wang Xiran went to chase them. We don't know how she is doing!" Shen Xingzhi also quickly added.
As they were speaking, a voice suddenly came from a distance, and then Wan Wuchou's voice appeared in the factory, accompanied by a dense mass of phantoms. These phantoms numbered forty to fifty, and in an instant, the entire factory was surrounded by them.
"She is already dead! Soon I will send you to accompany her. Don't worry!" Wan Wuchou said with a cold laugh.
The phantoms appearing in the factory were numerous, and it was impossible to distinguish the real body from the illusions just by looking at them. A frail figure was thrown over, landing heavily on the ground. Upon closer inspection, it was Wang Xiran. She was covered in blood, with four or five knife wounds on her torso.
Wang Xiran was thus thrown to the ground, no longer breathing, a truly tragic sight.
"You scoundrel, you're asking for death! Not only have you trespassed onto our territory, but you dare to injure our people! Now I will deal with you!" Qi Lingshan was furious upon seeing this. The city lord's disciples were mostly gone, likely dead, and the perpetrator was an adult. Bullying the young was shameless.
After saying this, Qi Lingshan immediately charged forward. Liquid nitrogen flowed around him. Liquid nitrogen could create extremely low temperatures, so if someone was immersed in it, they could be frozen into an ice stick in just a few minutes.
However, as the liquid nitrogen spread and struck the phantoms, they vanished. They were all illusions created by photons.
"If you want to kill me, find my real body first. I wonder if you have the ability to distinguish it. If not, then accept death!" Wan Wuchou said with a cold laugh.
As one phantom in the factory disappeared, another immediately appeared. These phantoms surrounded the crowd, making it impossible to find the real body.
The soldiers also began to attack at this point. They raised their rifles and fired at the surrounding phantoms. At this moment, they only wanted to kill the detestable enemy, but even with their constant firing, they couldn't inflict any damage because the bullets hit only phantoms. Even ability users might not be able to distinguish the real body from the illusions, let alone ordinary soldiers.
At this moment, Wang Xiran's condition began to change. The numerous wounds on her body were bleeding profusely, and the bleeding could not be stopped. However, as time passed, the wounds on her body began to heal, and her pale complexion became flushed.
Finally, Wang Xiran regained her breath. She had come back to life from being seemingly dead. As she opened her eyes, she immediately looked around and then sat up.
Upon seeing this, the soldiers thought Wang Xiran was not dead and quickly said, "Quickly retreat! Don't come forward. Go protect the young master and young lady."
Wan Wuchou was still entangled in the factory. He now realized that none of his opponents were a match for him. They could not find his real body, so as long as he continued to stall, he could find an opportunity to kill the three children once the soldiers' ammunition ran out.
Wan Wuchou's plan was simple: kill Shen Feng's children to retaliate against Shen Feng. He dared not appear before Shen Feng directly, as Shen Feng was an eighth-tier ability user and the universally acknowledged strongest. Wan Wuchou was no match for Shen Feng, so he could only target Shen Feng's family now.
However, at this moment, a voice came from behind Wan Wuchou: "Do you really think you are invincible? Unfortunately, you have encountered me now. Die!"
Wan Wuchou turned around and looked behind him. He did not notice anyone appearing behind him. Upon turning, he saw a young man at the factory entrance. His face showed a grim expression, indicating he was very angry. The person who arrived was Lin Yue.
Lin Yue was holding a corpse. As he appeared, he said, "This guy is your teammate, isn't he? His skills are quite impressive, actually being able to control ordinary people's actions. It took me quite some effort to track you down these past few days!"
After saying this, Lin Yue threw the killed person in front of Wan Wuchou. Wan Wuchou looked down and saw that the deceased was indeed his teammate. What surprised him most was that the other party knew his location.
"No one can see my location. They all think I am a phantom in the back. How did he find me?" Wan Wuchou's heart skipped a beat. The fact that the other person threw the corpse directly in front of him meant he recognized his real body.
With this thought, Wan Wuchou immediately used his ability, instantly creating several illusions around him that could confuse others. These illusions looked exactly like him and moved in all directions. Wan Wuchou also blended in with the illusions to change his position.
However, Lin Yue didn't care about this. He could hear the heartbeat of everyone present, and by listening to their heartbeats, he could determine the enemy's real body. Then, Lin Yue charged forward, continuously firing sonic bombs.
"Boom..." As the sonic bombs were fired, they struck Wan Wuchou in an instant, severely wounding him.
At this point, all the phantoms in the factory disappeared, leaving only the severely wounded Wan Wuchou. Many other desperate individuals were still unable to stand up.