A Pawn's Passage

“Wow, that’s powerful!” Sean remarked with admiration. “Leopold, Pier, and Charles joined forces and are still being suppressed by that mysterious visitor. He is truly a godlike figure.”

Despite the intensity of this level of battle, the Baron’s residence remained largely intact. Most of the destruction had been caused by Pier, the crude werewolf, rather than anyone else.

A member of the elite unit reported, “Councilor, it’s ready.”

Sean had a reason for not entering the fight. He was directing the Elite Steam Unit to assemble a steam cannon, which was roughly the size of a normal carriage, aimed directly at the Baron’s residence.

Strauni was also present. He said anxiously, “The three councilmen are still inside. If that mysterious enemy is stronger than them, then there’s a problem. If this cannon can hurt the enemy, the three councilmen won’t survive it either. But if it can’t hurt the councilmen, then it won’t hurt the enemy.”

“No, no, no.” Sean raised his right hand and wagged his index finger. “My dear Josiah, it’s not that simple. This Gustav Cannon V3 is the most precise. It’s produced by the Krupp Company for public security sieges.

Strauni froze for a moment. He found it hard to connect the words “public security” and “siege,” as it sounded like an oxymoron.

An elite Enforcer asked, “Councilor, shall we fire?”

“Wait for my signal.” Sean lifted his cane, which was entirely metal and shaped very much like a mage’s staff.

Sean touched a switch, and the top of the cane rotated open like a blooming flower, revealing a red gemstone within.

When he held the cane high, a thin red beam emitted from the gemstone, passing through walls and other obstacles to lock directly onto Qi Xuansu.

Almost simultaneously, the Elite Steam Unit fired the cannon.

Just as Sean had said, the Gustav Cannon V3 was the most precise.

Instead of a conventional shell, it fired a single beam of light, which flashed past in an instant.

Steam vents across the cannon immediately erupted with scorching white vapor as the machine strained under the recoil.

Already prepared, the Elite Steam Unit had averted their gaze in advance to avoid being blinded.

Guided by the staff in Sean’s hand, the beam pierced through every obstacle. Wherever it passed, it did not shatter things but disintegrated them into fine dust, finally striking Qi Xuansu with perfect accuracy.

Though Qi Xuansu had sensed it in advance with his Demonic Blade Technique’s instincts, the attack was simply too fast for him to dodge.

If Qi Xuansu’s true body had been standing here, this shot could have severely injured him. However, this Liberation Incarnation was fundamentally the Seven Feather Five Fires Fan, an immortal object that could not be easily destroyed.

At that moment, the three senior councilors inside the house stared fixedly at the wound piercing Qi Xuansu’s body.

The wound did not bleed. Through it, one could see that the inside was red, liquefied flames circulating endlessly and sustaining this incarnation.

In truth, Qi Xuansu, having only just entered the Corpse Liberation Realm, could not have achieved this level. Madam Wu was the one who had perfected the incarnation.

Although the attack had struck Qi Xuansu directly in the heart, this body was not his true body, so it had no real vital points. Hitting his head or his foot made no difference. The wound instantly healed, returning to perfect condition once more.

Such a sight was even more shocking than a Martial Arts Practitioner’s body regenerative abilities. Instead, it resembled the Golden Body of a Godly Immortal.

Of course, this was not without cost. Qi Xuansu’s divine power had been significantly depleted.

Due to various restrictions, deities often could not descend to the mortal world. Without a suitable vessel, they at most create a divine projection with an overwhelming aura but little real influence on reality. They could only exert about 30% of the true body’s strength while summoning 90% of the true body’s aura, making it extremely intimidating.

A Liberation Incarnation resembled a deity descending through a divine artifact, using an external object as a vessel. The difference was that a deity’s true body remained in its divine kingdom, while the incarnation’s true body still remained in the mortal world. Moreover, the incarnation could not rely on mere intimidation like a divine projection.

Pier misidentified it. “An incarnation of an ancient god? The Sun God Kukulkan?”

Leopold, who was far more experienced, replied, “Not Kukulkan. This looks more like an Eastern technique.”

“The Western Daoist Order,” Charles said in shock. “So they really are from the Southern Continent.”

These Westerners, who had long lived in the New Continent, might have little knowledge of the distant East and the all-powerful Daoist Order. But they certainly had a deep impression of the Western Daoist Order, which had been entangled with them for more than a century.

The Western Holy Court had five major dioceses. Likewise, the Daoist Order had five branches—Eastern, Southern, Western, Northern, and Central. Among them, the Northern Daoist Order became the Great Xuan Dynasty, while the Eastern, Southern, and Central branches joined forces to rebuild the Daoist Order. Only the Western Daoist Order ventured overseas and took root in a foreign land.

The Steam Evangelical Sect despised this branch intensely. Without them, the natives would never have grown into a significant force, nor would they have been able to establish the present Tawantin Empire.

These damned heretics were like lingering ghosts who even dared to extend their hands into St. York.

Meanwhile, Sean fell silent.

Shangguan Ya from the Eight Tribes had only one prosthetic eye, but Sean had two, each a different color. One emitted a red glow, while the other shone blue. Due to this abnormality, he usually wore glasses to conceal them.

At this moment, Sean’s prosthetic eyes flickered violently, penetrating every obstacle and capturing the scene inside the house in full detail.

“So it isn’t his true body that descended. In that case, killing him doesn’t seem particularly meaningful. The price required to do so would be far too great.”

Should he perhaps consider the art of negotiation and compromise?

But Qi Xuansu had no intention of compromising. He raised his left hand, and flames rapidly gathered.

Back when the Daoist Order besieged Izanagi above Donghai, Izanagi had once used a method similar to self-detonation, turning himself into the center of a cataclysmic explosion.

Qi Xuansu now imitated that technique. Flames rapidly spread across his entire body, enveloping him. Upon closer inspection, it looked as if a giant flaming hand was loosely grasping him, flickering in and out of existence.

Then Qi Xuansu suddenly clenched his left fist.

The flaming hand grasping him tightened into a fist as well.

At this time, fire qi spread everywhere, like spilled oil. With a single spark, it detonated violently.

Centered on Qi Xuansu, a dazzling sphere of light rapidly expanded from a tiny white point into a massive fireball. Its temperature exceeded all limits, like a blazing sun. The Baron’s residence vanished instantly, and even the steel structures reinforcing the underground city’s ceiling began to melt.

The next moment, a gigantic mushroom-shaped cloud rose into the sky, lifting waves of flame dozens of meters high that surged in every direction.

Within the range of the shockwave, the terrifying heat alone was enough to ignite everything. Many of the Baron’s subordinates were reduced to nothing but charred human-shaped shadows. All flesh, bone, and clothing were incinerated.

Anyone within 300 meters of the center would have their skin completely carbonized. Survival there was nearly impossible.

For a brief moment, the blinding light illuminated the entire underground city, bringing fleeting brightness to a place that had never seen daylight. Then it suddenly receded, leaving behind only the red glow of lingering flames.

The next day, a news report was published in The St. York Times.

“In the early hours of the morning, a fire broke out in the Lower District. It was subsequently followed by a violent steam engine explosion, which further spread the flames. The incident resulted in approximately 29 deaths and 18 missing persons, including 23 Enforcers. The exact economic losses are still being calculated. As of the time of publication, the City Council has brought the fire under preliminary control and provided medical treatment for the injured. Officials stated that they were investigating the precise cause of the accident and had called on citizens to observe a moment of silence for the victims and pray for the injured.”

Qi Xuansu was sitting in an upscale restaurant in the Richmond District, enjoying his morning tea while reading the newspaper like any other gentleman.

A steam engine explosion? Qi Xuansu cocked an eyebrow. If anything, I’m said steam engine.

In truth, there were no factories near the Baron’s residence, so there were no steam engines nearby. This was merely the official statement issued by the City Council. After all, those willing to spend money on newspapers did not live in the Lower District, and those who lived there would not waste money buying newspapers.

The commotion the night before had been far too great. Even the Upper District had clearly felt the tremors. Thus, the authorities had to provide some sort of explanation.

As for the identities of the dead, the City Council’s statement remained deliberately vague. In fact, the explosion the night before had not killed any innocent civilians. The dead were all the Baron’s subordinates, City Council Enforcers, and a few unfortunate individuals whom Qi Xuansu had locked in the basement.

The Baron’s residence had been completely razed to the ground. All of the Baron’s subordinates—including those turned into puppets by Leopold—were wiped out. The Enforcers stationed outside, including an Elite Steam Unit and a Gustav Steam Cannon, were also annihilated.

The four senior councilmen managed to escape. Sean, who had been farthest from the epicenter, successfully rescued Strauni, so the two were unharmed. Meanwhile, Leopold carried away the Baron, whose fate remained uncertain.

Naturally, Qi Xuansu used the chaos as cover and departed calmly, not forgetting to erase all traces of his presence in the Lower District.