At this moment, Sol stood boldly before the numerous officers of the New Eridu Public Security, without the cover of a single support pillar.

In his hand, he held a silver-white metallic staff engraved with intricate patterns, his expression exuding a wild arrogance beyond measure.

"He came out?"

Chekkat was dumbfounded.

Was this guy an idiot? Not hiding behind the perfectly good cover, and instead stepping out to take bullets head-on?

The words nearly slipped out of his mouth, but Sol's calm, confident bearing made him swallow them down—he'd at least wait until after Sol got riddled with bullets before cursing him.

"He's out!"

The officers' pupils contracted as they saw Sol's movement, and they immediately opened fire.

They had no idea what gave him such confidence, but a living target right before them—only a fool wouldn't shoot.

Zhu Yuan swiftly disassembled and reassembled the components of her firearm in an instant. What had appeared to be an ordinary pistol suddenly transformed into a large-caliber hand cannon. Forget killing a man—one shot from that could probably blow a small building apart.

Aim. Fire.

Dozens of officers squeezed their triggers in rapid succession. Their professional training showed; in the blink of an eye, their magazines were emptied. The oppressive aura emanating from that man was unlike anything they had ever experienced.

The bullets fired by the members of the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team were no mere toys like the small-caliber rounds of the regular Public Security division—each shot could punch a hole the size of a fist.

Hundreds, thousands of rounds tore through the air toward Sol, forming in an instant a horrifying metal storm.

Zhu Yuan and Qingyi both felt their hearts tighten. Even though they had once witnessed Sol stop bullets midair back in Dead End Hollow, facing this kind of crisis still filled them with unease.

A faint smile curved Sol's lips, as if mocking the ants before him for their arrogance. "Too naive. Did you really think this could kill me? Its power—you couldn't even begin to imagine it."

Without hesitation, Sol raised the silver staff in his hand, pointing it directly toward the officers.

Szzzt! Szzzt!

Blue-white lightning crawled across the engraved runes of the staff. Arcs of energy burst outward, growing into branching tendrils of electricity from the staff's tip.

The lightning's branches spread like a massive net. The storm of bullets was caught and stopped in an instant.

By the magnetic might of the silver staff, the bullets clumped together, forming a metal sphere the size of a soccer ball.

Before everyone's eyes, a stream of electricity traced a glowing path through the air. Electromagnetic force bound within it pulsed back and forth in constant motion.

A tremendous power surged within the hovering sphere—it hung suspended midair, trembling with pent-up force.

"How is that possible? The bullets... got pulled in?!"

The officers swallowed hard, the scene before them making their scalps go numb.

"Is that some secret weapon developed by Vision Corporation? If they've got that kind of tech, why are they in real estate? Why not just make weapons instead?" Seth Lowell stared intently at the lightning-wreathed silver staff in Sol's hand, utterly stunned.

He didn't know the truth—he genuinely thought Sol was some escaped operative from Vision Corporation.

"Vision Corporation," Seth cursed through gritted teeth, "you ambitious bastards—what are you planning, hoarding tech like this!?"

Zhu Yuan and Qingyi both felt their mouths go dry. Last time, Sol had turned a coin into a missile. Now he had a metal sphere the size of a football—wouldn't that thing blow straight into the Outer Ring Hollow?

Sol had promised beforehand that he wouldn't let anyone here get hurt, but right now... it was hard not to panic. One slip, and they'd be splattered across the walls.

"What a treasure... what a treasure!"

Chekkat's eyes gleamed as he stared at the silver staff in Sol's hand.

With his experience, he had never seen nor even heard of a weapon like that.

To restrain such a powerful electric field, neutralizing bullets entirely—it was astonishing. From what he could tell, even armor-piercing rounds or rockets would be useless against it.

Thinking further, if that thing could manipulate metal through electromagnetism, even his large mechs would be rendered helpless.

"Boss, our mechs are down! Systems are scrambled—they're fried!"

The elite pilots of the Modified Guardian MK IIs and the Modified Enraged Sweepers stumbled out in panic, reporting to Chekkat.

Those were their proudest machines, and now they'd barely rolled out before getting wrecked. This wasn't funny.

"What!?" Chekkat's face twisted in shock as he stared at the silver staff. "Just a magnetic field—strong enough to crash the Guardian's systems?!"

Shock, pain, numbness—

A rush of emotions burst within him, all merging into awe.

All thoughts of surrounding or fighting were gone. He could only accept his losses as bad luck.

"Incredible... who the hell is this man?"

Jane Doe sucked in a sharp breath, perfectly expressing her astonishment.

Even she, hardened as she was, couldn't help but feel genuine awe. His power was otherworldly—like something from another dimension.

"With strength like that, no wonder he dares claim no one can kill him."

A glimmer of greed flickered in Chekkat's eyes alongside his admiration.

If only he had that staff, he could climb into New Eridu's upper echelons. The Black Panther Syndicate would soar.

But alas... what a pity.

"Boss, should we... back off a little?" Jane pointed toward the glowing metal sphere floating midair, a hint of doubt in her voice. "That thing looks about ready to fire."

Chekkat's heart skipped, his face twitching. "His enemies are the Public Security officers. We're in the shadows. We shouldn't get caught in the blast, right?"

Mid-sentence, he glanced again at the blazing orb—it was glowing brighter, like a miniature sun—and he lost his nerve. "Forget it, we're pulling out!"

"Too late," Jane said softly, eyes narrowing.

"It's... not aimed at us, right?"

Chekkat's pulse pounded, a bead of sweat trickling down his hardened face.

"Shit!"

That miniature sun flared, unleashing blinding light toward the officers—and toward...

The very group preparing to encircle them behind the officers.

...

"Calculations complete. Bombardment commencing."

Sol expanded his electromagnetic field, mentally mapping every person's coordinates.

Whether it was Zhu Yuan, Qingyi, Seth, the Public Security squad, or Jane and Chekkat hiding in the dark—all were laid bare under the field's vision.

Electromagnetic force adjusted: trajectory shifted 3.327 degrees to the left, output reduced by 78.3%...

After a series of intricate calculations, a perfect trajectory formed.

Charging the railgun took only a moment—but calculating how to crush without killing was the true difficulty.

BOOM!

A flash of light—and then the roar of thunder.

The massive metal sphere, forged from fused bullets, shot forth at supersonic speed, striking twenty meters to Chekkat's left.

The electromagnetic energy coursing through it exploded into light and heat, flooding the vision of every officer and Black Panther member.

"I'm dead," someone whispered.

Whether it was Zhu Yuan, Qingyi, or Jane—those who knew the truth—or the others who didn't, all shared the same thought.

In the face of such overwhelming power, there was only one instinct—accept death.

"Mom... I'm sorry."

The officers stared into the blinding radiance, regret flooding their hearts.

Seth murmured, "Brother... I rented that movie, and we never even got to watch it."

In a daze, Zhu Yuan remembered Sol asking before the mission, "Do you trust me?"

"I do."

Zhu Yuan, Qingyi, and Jane silently echoed the words as they stared into the blinding light and heat.

To trust your friend. Your comrade. To give him your back without hesitation.

Some of them had known each other longer, some barely at all—but in battle, such trust was everything.

Suddenly, a violent gust swept through. Zhu Yuan, Qingyi, Seth, and the rest of the officers were blown away, hurled toward the building's exit.

Moments later, the massive metal sphere was gone.

Chekkat looked ahead—ten meters away, his men were gone without a trace; eight meters away, a pile of ash; five meters, charred flesh; two meters, a wave of scorching air thick with the scent of death...

It was like staring into the pits of hell. He stood frozen.

Hands trembling, Chekkat fumbled for a cigarette, placing it between his lips. His fingers shook so badly he couldn't even hold the lighter.

Clink!

The metal lighter fell to the ground, its sound crisp and sharp.

Click—whoosh.

Jane bent down, picked it up, flicked the wheel, and lit his cigarette for him.

"Haa..." Chekkat exhaled a long stream of smoke. "Jane... you're not afraid?"

"My legs are shaking."

Jane smiled weakly.

It was true—even for those used to staring death in the face, their legs had to shake after witnessing that.

"Good... you've got guts."

All of a sudden, Chekkat found newfound respect for her.

He decided then—if there was a future—she'd be his number two.