The setting sun dyed the abandoned square crimson. Vanessa's mechanical greatsword sliced through the air with a high-pitched whine as she faced two charging split-tailed horrors. She immediately lowered her stance, her boots scraping sparks from the asphalt as she propelled herself three meters into the air. The mechanical blade extended its second-stage telescoping mechanism, transforming into a two-meter-long vibrating energy blade that came crashing down toward the lead monster with mountain-splitting force.

The creature sensed the danger and didn't attempt to block directly. Instead, it crossed its three spiked tails in a defensive posture. The collision between its biological force field and the vibrating blade erupted with blue-purple arcs of electricity, the shockwave flipping nearby abandoned vehicles.

Meanwhile, from behind, Geddy's mechanical eye locked onto a large red abnormal entity. Her explosive rounds forced the target back with precise bursts. The monster moved with unnatural, stuttering motions—its joints twisting bizarrely to evade the shots. Then, with only the metallic screech of several cars as warning, it suddenly appeared right before her, its elongated arm exuding crimson dust as it swung horizontally toward Geddy.

In that instant, Geddy's mechanical joints reacted instantly, her body arching backward as the grappling hook launcher at her waist fired, wrapping around a lamppost. The propulsion engine activated, yanking her into a 180-degree swing through the air where she reloaded mid-motion. Two more powerful explosive rounds blasted the red entity backward upon landing. With a single-handed gesture, her motorcycle nearby shot out two plasma-propelled hooks that pierced through the ribcage of another split-tailed horror attacking from her flank. The bike's frame instantly deployed into an electrified net, dragging the monster backward.

The third split-tailed horror seized the chance to pounce on Vanessa, but the girl anticipated it—leaning back with her greatsword planted as a pivot point, she executed a spinning aerial kick. Her alloy combat boot slammed into the monster's jaw with tremendous force, using the recoil to withdraw her sword in an upward slash. The high-frequency vibrating blade tore through the force field, cleaving the creature from abdomen to collarbone in a massive gash that sprayed crimson blood. Upon landing, Vanessa's eyes flashed with ability energy, and the spurting blood was instantly repelled by an invisible force before being hurled toward another monster with concussive power.

BOOM!

A dust cloud erupted as a fan-shaped shockwave spanning dozens of meters appeared, lifting both abnormal entities along with countless abandoned cars and debris.

While the two were battling these daylight-active monsters, they failed to notice several spectators who had inexplicably appeared atop a distant high-rise overlooking the square.

"It's broad daylight, yet these abnormal entities are appearing. They don't seem like human ghosts or zombies. Have the entities evolved to this extent already?" Ning Jing said gravely, observing the battle through an electronic telescope. "And those entities look particularly troublesome."

"These definitely aren't ordinary abnormal entities. Those two women must have combat capabilities exceeding Annihilator-level 5000," Xiao Qing remarked, gripping her gun-blade as she stood at the building's edge, her gaze fixed on the distant fight. "Their combat movements contain those special vibrations the Phoenix Society mentioned—the kind gene evolvers can master after enhancement."

"Special vibrations?" Lu Xingchen crossed his arms, his expression serious. "Some new ability?"

Xiao Qing gave him a cool glance but remained silent.

Ning Jing responded, "After reaching Annihilator-level spiritual oscillation values, many gene evolvers gradually discover their bodies can harness a unique biological force field resonance. Nightwalker Organization research suggests this might share similarities with abnormal entities' biological fields. Mastering this power allows gene evolvers to dramatically enhance defensive capabilities while exceeding normal human limits in destructive potential—hence the Annihilator classification."

Lu Xingchen looked enlightened—this was completely new information to him. He then glanced at A Bai. "Ability users don't have this?"

A Bai looked back innocently. "I... I don't know."

"You're already Angel-level. Shouldn't you know your own changes?" Xiao Qing retorted coldly.

"Enough discussion," Ning Jing interjected, watching the square below. "Intel's already synced with Captain Lin and other teams. This island doesn't just have other survivors—it has abnormal entities that can appear in daylight. We need to be extremely cautious."

"Ahem." Lu Xingchen cleared his throat, observing the distant battle before asking Ning Jing, "Should we intervene?"

"They seem capable for now. Nightfall's approaching, and we don't know if they're friend or foe. Best not to complicate things," Ning Jing said calmly. "Captain Lin will arrive soon. Let's hold until then."

Lu Xingchen nodded. "Fair enough."

He then crossed his arms solemnly while watching the intense battle below. "Though as one who upholds the duty to vanquish demons, seeing these evil creatures active in daylight should compel me to reduce them to ashes with flame, Sister Ning's caution is indeed prudent. We shall wait a while longer."

Xiao Qing at the front couldn't help but purse her lips at his words.

Just then, the silent A Bai suddenly looked up toward another side of the square. "There are people over there!"

The group immediately turned to see several shadowy figures atop a distant mall rooftop. Raising her electronic telescope, Ning Jing spotted three individuals clad in black power armor bearing identical insignia. One had a sniper rifle, another held binoculars, while the third operated some terminal device.

"Allies?" Lu Xingchen asked immediately.

"Unlikely." Xiao Qing frowned, her expression tense. "That sniper isn't aiming at the abnormal entities."

No sooner had she spoken than the mall sniper fired. Below on the square, the white woman warrior was suddenly struck by tremendous kinetic force. Though she seemed to sense it at the last moment—twisting midair as the armor-piercing round exploded against her shoulder in a shower of sparks—the red abnormal entity's attack arrived simultaneously, smashing her into a pile of rubble.

"That settles it!" Ning Jing clenched her electrified hammer and prepared to engage.

But before she could move, a roaring wall of flame erupted with annihilating force, engulfing both red entities. A grappling hook swung through the smoke as Ning Jing—augmented by her new power armor—streaked forward like black lightning. Her vibrating gun-blade cleanly decapitated the red entity behind Vanessa, the head pierced midair by a follow-up laser beam.

Simultaneously, as the final split-tailed horror charged with a roar, Ning Jing descended from above in her Executor X1 armor. Eschewing weapons, she simply drove her fist through the creature's biological force field into its skull with a sonic boom—the impact not only obliterating its head but cratering the ground in a funnel-shaped collapse that took half its torso with it.

BOOM!

Dust exploded outward.

The sudden intervention left both Vanessa and Geddy momentarily stunned.

"Who are you?!"

"Not enemies," declared a fiery youth descending slowly from the sky, arms crossed with an imposing air.

"Figured."

Geddy, seeing the abnormal entities dispatched so swiftly, quickly responded, "You're from the mainland?"

"Correct," Ning Jing said as her group approached. "Night's falling. We were passing through and lent a hand. Where's your shelter? Or we can exchange comm frequencies to reconnect at dawn."

Vanessa shook her head. "Once night falls here, the entire city becomes a hunting ground for abnormal entities. Even without dark markers, they'll find you. We need bait agents to balance the zone."

"Bait agents?"

"Skip explanations, Sister Ning. Bring them back." Lin Xian's voice came through their earpieces. "Queen Mo and Qian Dele have returned. Nightfall's in under five minutes—hurry back."

"Understood!" Ning Jing immediately turned to the two women. "You're welcome to come to our shelter."

After exchanging glances, Geddy nodded. "Agreed. One moment."

She suddenly leapt onto the mall rooftop where the sniper had been, extracting a deep red reagent from her elbow's mechanical compartment. Deploying a small device on the unconscious sniper's body, she then turned back.

"How far? We'll need to fly."

"Manageable!"

The team immediately activated their power armor thrusters, streaking toward the coastal rail junction west of the city. Without sustained flight capability, Vanessa and Geddy were carried by Xiao Qing and A Bai. Their expressions shifted upon seeing the approaching rail station—a heavily armored heavy rail car waited silently atop the tracks, the area swarming with drones. This content belongs to novel-fire.ɴet

"Board now! Seal windows! Deploy odor neutralizers!"

Lin Xian stood at the entrance, having already processed Vanessa's warning alongside Qian Dele's team's findings about the city's abnormal activity patterns. The severity was clear. He instructed Viola to prepare full countermeasures against the impending darkness.

As everyone boarded and drones were recalled, Lin Xian sealed the armored door just as a strange luminous tide flashed across the darkening sky. The temperature plummeted instantaneously as a tsunami of pure darkness surged from the horizon, engulfing Haiyan Island and the surrounding sea in seconds.

18:35.

Night had fallen.

In that moment, countless shadowy figures materialized along the deserted coastline—abyssal horrors emerging from the sea itself, their forms dripping with seawater as they began prowling toward the city.