The door of the armored car trailing behind gaped open, and two Bitian Dou Shi roared with fury as they sprang out, lunging for the black briefcase.

Hundreds of high-energy laser beams struck silently. The bodies of the two Xiantian Dou Shi contorted and shifted amidst the dense barrage, navigating the kill zone with near-miraculous agility. One of them clutched the black briefcase tightly; both men then spun around and charged toward the armored car where Du Lang was situated.

"Whoosh, whoosh"—dozens of sharp, tearing sounds ripped through the air. At least sixty high-velocity armor-piercing rockets shot down from the Pont Alexandre III bridge, targeting the convoy.

Du Lang was about to order the convoy to retreat rapidly when the earth in the roadside greenery suddenly split open. Eighteen heavy combat vehicles roared out from underground. The massive energy cannon barrels flashed with dazzling blue electrical light, clearly indicating their main guns were fully charged. Before Du Lang could react, over a dozen high-energy beams, each about a meter thick, slammed into the three vehicles bringing up the rear.

At the exact moment the landmines exploded, Banruo, Mohe, and several subordinates burst from their vehicles. They had already sprinted nearly a hundred meters by the time those battle tanks opened fire.

The three rear cars instantly vaporized in a blinding flash of light. Gu Xiechen’s subordinates were left completely untouched, not even a hair singed, though the escorts inside Du Lang’s last armored vehicle were reduced to ashes.

Du Lang roared, "Damn it, the Tianzai Type Four Main Battle Tank!"

Gu Xiechen shrieked in feigned panic, "Get out of the vehicles! Your armored car will be finished with just one shot from them!"

Before Du Lang could process what was happening, Gu Xiechen kicked open the door and shot out like a puff of green smoke. He drew a small, silver revolver—no bigger than half a palm—from his belt, waved the gun wildly, and bellowed, "Protect His Excellency the Chairman! Protect the Chairman!"

"Bang bang bang bang bang bang"—Gu Xiechen fired all six rounds in the revolver in quick succession. The six bullets struck one of the main battle tanks charging furiously toward them. This small silver revolver was a novelty weapon favored by high-society ladies for symbolic "self-defense." The bullets, each engraved with a delicate rose pattern, pinged harmlessly off the heavily armored front plate of the Tianzai Type Four Main Battle Tank. The only result was a slight scratch on the paintwork.

Staring in astonishment at the rapidly approaching tanks, Gu Xiechen flung the useless pistol aside and shrieked, "The enemy's firepower is overwhelming! Cover His Excellency's retreat!"

Adopting an air of fearless devotion, Gu Xiechen placed himself behind Du Lang's command vehicle, gritting his teeth. He ripped six pineapple-shaped grenades, each the size of a fist, from his belt. Tearing off the safety pins with a violent yank, he shook his hand and tossed the six grenades out.

Du Lang's nose practically twisted in anger. As the Chairman of the Federal Military Department and a career soldier forged in battle, he instantly recognized what Gu Xiechen had thrown. They were antique grenades, replicas of models used before the '93 Counterattack War, procured from the Federal Military Museum. In this era, the destructive power of such grenades was negligible; even a soldier wearing standard combat gear could ignore their blast.

Six muffled thuds sounded in sequence. Six puffs of fire erupted against the front armor of the leading Tianzai Type Four tank. A large patch of paint was blown away, but the armor plate beneath remained unscratched.

Du Lang roared in exasperation, "What are you doing with those things? Are you trying to kill chickens?"

"Of course not! The high-power stuff is coming!" Gu Xiechen shrieked, bouncing erratically in front of Du Lang. He then swung his arm and pulled a 150mm straight-barrel cannon from his Qiankun (Cosmic Pouch).

With his absurd strength, the powerful Gu Xiechen held the heavy cannon as if it were a small handgun. He flicked the activation switch, firing a 150mm armor-piercing round.

Du Lang's facial skin trembled with rage. The cannon mount bore the insignia of the Federal Military Museum—clearly, Gu Xiechen had used his authority to pilfer an antique from the museum stores. This old-style artillery, predating the '93 Counterattack War, used archaic gunpowder propellant. Though the shell caliber was enormous, its destructive power was less than that of a modern large-caliber rifle!

With a deafening clang, the armor-piercing shell struck the front armor plate of the Tianzai Type Four tank and ricocheted outward, leaving only a fist-sized dent.

One of Du Lang's escorts had just emerged from an armored car. Before he could fully gather his Xiantian Gang Qi, the deflected shell whistled past and struck him squarely in the chest. With a pained cry, the Xiantian Dou Shi, who possessed at least initial Qiu (Planet) level strength, was flung back by the projectile. His ribs cracked and shattered audibly.

"Bastard! Are you deliberately trying to anger me to death?" Du Lang exploded out of the car door, roaring as he spat a torrent of saliva at Gu Xiechen.

The high-velocity armor-piercing rockets launched from the Pont Alexandre III bridge arrived. Over a dozen armored cars simultaneously burst into flames. Vehicle fragments and rocket shrapnel whistled through the air, striking Gu Xiechen and Du Lang. However, both men acted as if they felt nothing. Gu Xiechen simply relied on the sheer toughness of his skin to deflect the debris, while Du Lang was enveloped in a rolling sphere of cyan energy that disintegrated any fragment before it could touch him.

"Of course not! The high-power stuff is coming!" Gu Xiechen called out cheerfully. "I just grabbed the wrong weapon! Look!"

Wearing a strange grin, Gu Xiechen pulled a six-meter-long aerial bomb from his Qiankun. Smugly, he shouted at the main battle tank, which had just finished recharging, and hurled the aerial bomb forward.

"No!!!" Du Lang let out a piercing scream and leaped several bounds into the air, snatching the aerial bomb Gu Xiechen had thrown out of the air.

He recognized the weapon: a specialized American Federal aerial fuel-air explosive from before the '93 Counterattack War. In that era, such a bomb was rumored to be a 'mini-nuke.' A single high-altitude thermobaric bomb like this could flatten everything within a kilometer radius! But they were in the center of Paris. Du Lang couldn't fathom the consequences of such an explosion here. Gu Xiechen could simply dust off his hands and run, but Du Lang had no escape route!

Du Lang also possessed a storage pouch. He wretchedly stuffed the cloud-vaporizing bomb inside, and just as he was about to unleash a torrent of curses upon Gu Xiechen, two high-energy beams struck his body with a deafening roar.

The main guns of two Tianzai Type Fours simultaneously targeted Du Lang. The high-energy beams blasted his small frame nearly a thousand meters away. He roared as he flew high into the sky, tumbling down through the air amidst billowing black smoke.

With his true energy cultivation reaching the peak Shuixing (Mercury Star) stage, and having pushed his personal Jie (Domain) to its absolute limit as a Jieshi (Domain Master), Du Lang possessed terrifying physical defense. The main cannons of the Tianzai Type Four tanks, capable of piercing small mountains, only managed to char his outer skin black. With the strong smell of roasting meat and covered in black soot, Du Lang scrambled back like a demon crawling out of hell, clawing and screeching. His clothes were completely incinerated. "No matter who your backers are! You are finished! I swear upon my mother's head, you are finished!"

A sharp wolf howl tore from Du Lang's throat. A dazzling cyan light surged from him—a cold light, like the pure glow of the moon. A dozen silver giant wolves, each several meters tall, roared out of the cyan light. Each wolf had a cyan horn nearly a meter long jutting from its forehead, and its claws, tipped with cyan blades half a meter long, radiated an energy aura surpassing that of an ordinary Shuixing-level fighter!

Du Lang’s subordinates were elites of the Federal Army. Though caught completely off guard by the sudden attack, they quickly recovered.

Bursting from the burning and exploding armored cars, these highly skilled Xiantian Dou Shi roared in anger, coordinating with the giant wolves summoned by Du Lang to charge the eighteen main battle tanks.

Meanwhile, over twenty Xiantian Dou Shi bellowed curses against the assassins' ancestors, swooping down like a gale across the riverbanks, striding across the surface of the Seine toward the attackers perched on the Pont Alexandre III bridge.

The assassins on the bridge had deployed over twenty heavy-caliber high-speed energy cannons, firing frantically at the Xiantian Dou Shi leaping across the river. However, the assassins' speed was incredible; the dense rain of light swept past them, failing to touch even a single hair.

More intense and dense high-energy beams erupted from the buildings on the opposite bank of the Seine. Working in concert with the bridge assassins, they formed a solid curtain of light. Du Lang's subordinates deployed their Gang Qi shields, bracing against the continuous barrage of high-energy beams as they rapidly closed the distance to the bridge.

Gu Xiechen spat on the ground. He glanced at the frenzied Du Lang and called out weakly, "Protect His Excellency the Chairman, protect His Excellency the Chairman... Damn it... protect His Excellency the Chairman." As he shouted, he casually slid his hands into his trouser pockets and began walking at a leisurely pace, stepping over the large craters left by the landmines, heading toward the few subordinates dressed in gray trench coats.

"I bet ten thousand. His Excellency is going to win!" Gu Xiechen leaned against a large tree, grinning as he made a wager with his subordinates.

"Five thousand, I'm also betting on the Chairman to win," one subordinate said, pulling out a cigarette and eagerly lighting it for Gu Xiechen.

"Ten thousand! We aren't fools. How could those stupid birds possibly be the Chairman's match? He is, after all, the Federation's only Marshal." Another subordinate spat dismissively.

Banruo and Mohe, accompanied by a few men, approached. Banruo asked cautiously, "Boss, shouldn't we lend a hand?"

Mohe pounded his chest excitedly. He laughed loudly, "Boss, let me go in and cause some havoc! These fools—I can take them all on by myself!" (End of Intermission)

Hm, Pig Head is diligently typing away; everyone keep showing support.

Don't forget your monthly tickets, recommendations, and clicks! (To be continued)