The regular guards who charged out from Xu Ren Nei were utterly wiped out. Seven of the twelve were riddled with holes by the rapid-fire cannons. Thirty-odd espers surrounded the remaining five Innate Fighters and slaughtered them ruthlessly, while the other espers and the twelve mounted police charged toward the Copper Oak Club.

Dozens of powerfully built men in tight clothing rushed out of the Copper Oak Club upon hearing the commotion. Behind the first few charging figures, various phantom images of ferocious beasts materialized, clearly indicating they had reached the level of projecting and solidifying their Qi—at least Jupiter-level Fighters. They charged toward the street intersection in a fury, clashing fiercely with the sniping espers. The deep roar of heavy engines carried from a distance; three heavy combat vehicles, clearly contraband, burst out from the Copper Oak Club's main gate.

"Whoa!" Gu Xiechen, who watched the entire scene through binoculars, exclaimed in surprise. "We should file a complaint with the Federal Contraband Administration! If a single gang has heavy combat vehicles garrisoned at their headquarters within the city, I wonder if they have space battleships at their outer strongholds?"

After cursing the bureaucracy of certain indolent officials in the Federation, Gu Xiechen shouted into the miniature microphone clipped to his collar: "Brothers, time to work! Uh, try to leave some alive! Little..."

The three hundred snipers near St. Mark's Cathedral opened fire simultaneously. The muffled crack of large-caliber rifles sent a tremor through the entire district.

Xin Jia also pulled the trigger; the clock tower itself shuddered as a depleted uranium armor-piercing round of fifty-millimeter caliber whistled out. Two of the four high-energy rapid-fire cannons that had been wildly spraying the street suddenly exploded. The immense kinetic energy attached to the armor-piercing round directly tore apart the casings of the two cannons. Shards of fragmented metal ripped through the gunners on the trucks, and blood pooled across the pavement.

The twelve mounted police officers charging forward let out simultaneous screams as their lower legs and arms were blown into pulp.

In that instant, over fifty large-caliber sniper rifles had simultaneously targeted their knees and elbows. The powerful bullets pierced their bodies, vaporizing parts of their limbs into dust.

The other espers also came under concentrated suppressive fire. Their limbs burst into crimson mist, their charging bodies tumbling violently to the ground, blood splashing across the entire street, punctuated by ceaseless, piercing screams.

...Zhi%, Wan

Xin Jia excitedly pulled the trigger again. The remaining two rapid-fire cannons disintegrated with the report of his rifle. Xin Jia immediately shifted his focus to the armed robots. He called them out one by one; every robot struck exploded into countless metallic fragments, their supporting metal crates clattering to the ground.

Several maglev sedans, rapidly descending upon them, violently yanked up their noses in alarm. A man roared madly, "Ambush! Retreat, everyone retreat!"

Before the words fully left his mouth, Holm shouldered his sniper rifle and struck the man’s lower leg. That leg instantly disintegrated into a spray of shredded meat. The sedan’s cabin was punched through with a transparent hole the size of a washbasin, and it plummeted to the ground trailing black smoke.

Tartarus led the group of young men and women who had been gathered out of the café. They approached the severely wounded espers with impassive faces, treated their injuries with medkits, and immediately clamped mental suppressors onto them, binding them tightly with specially crafted nano-metal ropes.

Wu Ai Literature Net Li Xin,

The Earth-attribute espers who sensed the tide turning on the street shrieked in terror and tried to phase into the ground. However, after blasting all the armed robots, Xin Jia’s attention was already fixed on this individual. "Hmm, what Earth-attribute esper? Your Earth Evasion technique is far too poor!" He muttered vaguely, before aiming and firing at a lean man whose body was already knee-deep in the earth.

The shot rang out. The man’s body above ground instantly vanished, leaving behind a deep crater about half a meter in diameter on the street, filled with blood plasma.

The fleeing Earth-attribute espers halted, staring in horror at the only remnant left by their comrade on the surface. They slowly raised their right hands high.

Centering on St. Mark's Cathedral, espers hurried out of nearly a hundred buildings, some in small numbers, others in droves. But packs of grim-faced, hardened youths and maidens converged from all directions to surround and corner them. The moment these espers resisted, they were immediately targeted by the snipers. Gunshots erupted everywhere; hundreds of espers were wounded and quickly surrendered, then escorted into waiting prisoner transport vans.

The Fighters who had rushed out of the Copper Oak Club, along with the three heavy combat vehicles, also realized the situation had turned sour. They spun around and fled back toward the club’s main gate.

But Gu Xiechen had no intention of letting them escape. With a single command, all snipers fired in unison.

The Copper Oak Club’s Fighters collapsed one after another; their lower legs were shattered and broken. Xin Jia focused on the three heavy combat vehicles fleeing at high speed, unleashing depleted uranium armor-piercing rounds again and again. The vehicle armor plating became pitted and dented under the impacts, each shell (or round?) causing the chassis to shake violently.

Gu Xiechen whistled lightly. He leaped from the clock tower, covering hundreds of meters in several mid-air bounds before landing on the street below. Behind a roadside flowerbed, the bald priest was huddled, softly trying to soothe the terrified seminary students behind him. Gu Xiechen smiled and nodded to him, 27 Wen. The priest raised his right hand blankly, chuckled dryly, and made the sign of the cross over his chest.

Tartarus and a squad of subordinates strode forward toward him. Gu Xiechen reached the dropped alloy crates before them and pried one open. A dazzling radiance leaked out. Inside the crate lay an incomparably magnificent crown, set with a blood-red gem the size of a child’s fist at its center. The ruby’s crimson light stained Gu Xiechen’s hand a bloody shade. Beside the crown lay a pure gold seal. Embedded atop the seal was a lion carved from crystal, a pure white lily held delicately in its mouth.

"A magnificent treasure! Those orthodox traditional nobles would bankrupt themselves to purchase this crown and seal!" Tartarus stared dumbly at the treasure in the box, then suddenly frowned. "However, I seem to recall that the original owner of this crown reported it stolen three years ago."

Gu Xiechen closed the alloy crate and straightened up leisurely. "So, the Copper Oak Club is not only hoarding illegal military ordnance but also fencing stolen goods—this is quite a merit!"

Wu Ai Literature Net Chou Se'er

A smile crept onto Tartarus’s face, and he nodded seriously. "It is indeed a great service." He paused, then sneered with pursed lips, "The confessions have been obtained. Those espers are all agents from the Special Operations Bureau. I truly cannot imagine that agents meant to maintain federal security have turned into shameless bandits robbing people in the streets!"

Gu Xiechen immediately chimed in, "Colonel Uria, as the direct superior of the Special Operations Bureau, bears inescapable responsibility!"

Tartarus nodded. "He should offer an explanation to the Federal Council. The Special Operations Bureau... is not a tool for personal gain!"

The two exchanged a look, both revealing knowing smiles.

In space, a Roman warship emitted a powerful signal. Amplified by over two thousand communications satellites, the signal transformed into an unprecedentedly strong wave that washed over the Earth.

In the core server room of the Earth Telecommunication Company, a senior engineer suddenly erupted. He disabled the automatic door to the core room, shot and killed all his colleagues nearby with his handgun, and then opened all signal interfaces leading out of the room. The powerful signal from the Romans flooded into the Earth Telecommunication Company’s core room, penetrating the company’s global network and connecting to billions of screens across the planet.

Regular programming was abruptly interrupted. Vast amounts of data, photographs, and videos surged across the display screens. The screen television Gu Xiechen had placed in the clock tower also began displaying a flood of data.

Colonel Uria, Director of the Federal Special Operations Bureau, was exposed for abusing his power, turning the entire Bureau into a tool for his personal enrichment. Data detailing his corruption and lawlessness was made public to every citizen of the Federation.

Among this data were explicit videos of Colonel Uria and the Federation's current hottest idol, Miss Belle, their intimate moments broadcast widely, causing shock among countless citizens and instantly shattering the fragile hearts of Miss Belle's many fans.

On the private screens of Federal citizens, on the screens in supermarkets, on the illuminated advertising panels lining the main avenues, within the illuminated advertising windows of moving buses, and even on the illuminated advertising mirrors in hotel and bar restrooms—every screen connected to the Earth Telecommunication Company displayed this damning evidence, these fatal videos and images.

In the blink of an eye, the few antique-style cathode-ray televisions in the café from which Tartarus had just emerged were also showing Colonel Uria’s passionate encounter with Miss Belle. Gasps, moans, and suggestive sounds caused the café owner to freeze dumbstruck.

Tartarus turned in shock toward the television inside the café, his mouth twitching uncontrollably, until finally, a wild, exhilarated smile spread across his face.

Gu Xiechen sipped his drink demurely, watching the frantic writhing forms on the screen. He chuckled internally, "Well done, Lord Porphyris. Even if Colonel Uria is the biological father of Joann and Poison Wolf, he’s finished this time!"

Inside the Federal Headquarters building in Paris, Uria, who had been walking with imposing dignity alongside a few agents down the corridor toward Gu Xiechen’s office, suddenly sensed something amiss. Alarmed shouts erupted from several lounge areas reserved for Federal employees. A few employees rushing out of the lounges collided with Uria, retreating in horror.

Sensing trouble, Uria stormed into a lounge. On the two screens within, one continuously flashed evidence of Special Operations Bureau agents framing Federal citizens and coercing their promising children into the Bureau; the other screen showed explicit footage of Uria’s vigorous intimacy with Miss Belle from just two days prior!

Uria stared blankly at the two screens, then suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood before whirling around and fleeing.

...Zhi%, Wan Reminder: Intermission

To have one's explicit videos enjoyed by hundreds of millions of citizens—fame! If a few hundred thousand monthly tickets could be hurled at the pig head, that would be truly wonderful! (To be continued)