CHAPTER 45: CHAPTER 45: DOOMSDAY IS OUR COMMON ENEMY!

In this situation, not many people dared to take such news, such a display, as a joke.

The live broadcast that swept across the entire internet a few days ago was no movie promotion, but the real deal, the cold hard truth.

All around the world, millions of people have already perished in the crisis brought by the meteorite!

Yet even so, this number is still minuscule compared to the entire world.

Jerald City is thousands of kilometers away from the first town to see the appearance of the gray-white worms!

No one expected that this kind of disaster would suddenly erupt here, would happen to them personally.

It was all too sudden.

So much so that many people didn’t even know what they ought to do, but instinctively felt they had to do something.

This only triggered even more chaos.

At this moment, Shen Yu already stood atop the roof of a tall building in Jerald City.

Staying at the military base wasn’t of much use anymore; remote contact would suffice.

Of course, standing here like this didn’t actually help much either.

If anything, standing at the front lines, facing the disaster, watching the countless people struggling in panic, gave him an even deeper sense of what "apocalypse" meant.

"Chaos, it’s still just chaos." Martial Artist Shen Yu also stood at his side, seeming a little dazed as well. "The apocalypse means chaos. When survival is threatened, morality, order, wealth, emotion—all the things we once valued and cared about seem to become meaningless in an instant, leaving only fear and chaos."

He thought of those refugees he’d seen not long ago.

The disaster might be different, the civilization might be different, but at this moment, there was a shocking similarity.

Among the refugees, there were those who didn’t care about anything, hysterically venting their desires; it was the same here—people were storming into stores, looting goods and cash, some dragging off women in the chaos, some even setting fires with abandon.

Among the refugees, there were those who refused to give up on life, willing to do anything to survive; it was the same here—some people jumped out of their cars and ran madly on the crippled roads, some, with their whole families, fought desperately to squeeze into underground facilities amid the crowds.

Among the refugees, there were those who struggled to maintain order, trying to lead the people around them; it was the same here—some police officers still clung to their duties, doing everything they could to organize evacuation and ease traffic, and quite a few others were pitching in.

How eerily similar!

"So, regardless of the world, regardless of the civilization, the apocalypse is our common enemy." Shen Yu burned the scene before him into his memory.

With his Gray Mist Space, he was naturally already unlike the masses, yet, with his human empathy, he could still share their feelings.

Two completely different emotions, intertwined within him.

However, at that instant, Martial Artist Shen Yu suddenly leaped straight down from the tall building, dropping into a nearby alley, where a few thugs were holding guns on a young couple who had only just managed to reunite—with their five-year-old daughter.

Simply because the young wife had fair skin and a good-looking face.

Situations like this were happening all over the city—there were always some who, in the chaos, unleashed the evil within, suppressed by order; there was nothing Shen Yu and Martial Artist Shen Yu could do.

But when it happened right before their eyes, it still felt like provocation directed at them.

Martial Artist Shen Yu didn’t say an unnecessary word, landed right in the middle, then looked up.

"Kill them." Shen Yu’s voice sounded from above; not only did Martial Artist Shen Yu hear him, so did the Northern Alliance command center. "The Association may prohibit us from interfering in other worlds, especially from taking lives, but that premise is unless a member of this world gives permission—now I’m giving you explicit authorization."

The next moment, before Martial Artist Shen Yu even moved,

all the thugs’ eyes rolled back, and they collapsed limply to the ground.

Their brains were dead.

If the child weren’t there, Martial Artist Shen Yu might have used more brutal methods.

The command center side was silent as well, no one said a word.

Compared to the current situation, a few thugs amounted to nothing.

But there were some who now understood, on a deeper level, what "a member of this world" truly meant.

It meant not just the ultimate restriction on members from other worlds, but also, a sort of higher-level "legal authority"!

In this context, saying it represented, on some level, the "supreme power" of an entire planet, all of Human Civilization, was hardly an exaggeration.

At that moment, finished with what he needed to do, Martial Artist Shen Yu pointed in the direction of the main road: "Take the main road, get as far from the city center as you can. The rest is up to your luck."

He spoke in Chinese, not caring if the family could understand, turning away to leave.

He had simply acted on the spur of the moment.

However, as he turned, the young husband suddenly called out in halting, trembling Chinese: "Hello, thank you, can you tell us what has happened to our city?"

"You speak Chinese?" Martial Artist Shen Yu paused, a little surprised, and turned back.

"A little, college elective." The young man was gripping his wife tightly, holding his daughter, instinctively shielding them behind him—his tension clear as day.

When those thugs stopped them just before, his regret and terror was beyond words.

But this man, with an Eastern face and garb, descending from the sky, had performed a miracle.

So now, he was desperate to grasp at anything at all.

Martial Artist Shen Yu nodded slightly, and said, "A worm over fifty meters wide is a few kilometers underground, right beneath the city. So run—fast. Good luck to you."

With that, he shot straight up into the sky, returning to Shen Yu’s side.

The actions just now—it was simply because it happened in front of him, that’s all.

He had no intention to do more.

In the city, families just like this one were simply everywhere—too many to count.

And the man named Kari, after receiving his answer, was only further filled with confusion.

Worms—he understood, he knew exactly what was about to happen in this city.

But what good did it do?

A monster fifty meters wide! Where could they run?

"Papa." His daughter’s trembling voice came from his arms, Kari’s body shivered, and his helpless gaze was instantly replaced by determination.

"Let’s go!" He grabbed his wife, quickening his pace, comforting his family, "Let’s get further away, don’t be afraid. Did you see that superhuman just now? Someone’s helping us. As long as we get far away, we’ll be all right!"

Before leaving, he also grabbed two guns off the ground.

One thought filled his mind: take wife and child, flee the city center—the farther the better!

This family was undeniably lucky, but neither Shen Yu nor Martial Artist Shen Yu spared them another glance.

Maybe for this family, Martial Artist Shen Yu’s moment of mercy changed their fate, gave them a chance at a new life—but for Shen Yu and Martial Artist Shen Yu, it was nothing more than a trivial interlude.

The two of them were now focusing intently on the change in quantity of Gray Mist in the Gray Mist Space.

"It really is accelerating," said Shen Yu.

Clearly, however chaotic things looked in the city, people had begun streaming out en masse.

Especially those on the city’s edge, who responded fastest.

Roads to the rear were jammed, but those who left first up ahead were flooring the gas pedal.

They wished only to get as far away as possible.

If this pace keeps up, it just might be possible to gather enough Gray Mist for a Martial Arts Master before the worm arrives!

Shen Yu and Martial Artist Shen Yu fell silent, patiently waiting.

In parts of the city, infernos had already broken out, and elsewhere, continuous gunfire echoed, but no one cared—compared to what was coming, this destruction was nothing.

Finally, half an hour before the prophesied time, the voice of interstellar world Shen Yu came through the command channel.

"I’ve arrived—with the warship."