Netherworld Retrograde

Chapter 203: Chapter 96: Jing Family’s Outreach

As Giant City entered first-level war readiness, the atmosphere within the city became grave.

All active City Defense Army members assembled, retired soldiers were recalled for duty, and a large number of Scavengers were drafted into the militia.

The seldom-seen Border Iron Guards, now fully in formation, appeared atop the high walls of the Giant City.

Within the Lava Mine City, all major factories were directly converted into military producers, fully engaged in ammunition production and continuously sending supplies to No.3 Border City.

Officially, various preparations were also made for the potential arrival of the Disaster Fog.

Among them, dangerous Taboo Items were even brought out.

The one most likely to stop the Disaster Fog was the Class B Forbidden Item Mixed Element Banner.

Composed of three independent Banners, it had the ability to divide space. Should the Disaster Fog be trapped within it, it might be possible to prevent its spread.

Of course, as a Taboo Item, the cost of using it was equally terrifying.

Once activated, it would cause earthquakes, typhoons, sandstorms, and other Catastrophes around the Mixed Element Banner!

This was also why it was rated as Class B.

However, compared to an invasion by the Disaster Fog, these Catastrophes were considered more bearable.

The official plan was that as long as they could detect the Disaster Fog in advance, they would use the Mixed Element Banner to lock it in place!

After that, things would be simple.

Wait for the strong from the major Giant Cities to arrive, then go in and beat the crap out of it!

Defeat the Catastrophe Fog Master and conquer Disaster Fog No.71!

A fine plan indeed.

However, three days after receiving the message, the officials had still not detected any trace of Disaster Fog No.71.

Instead, the investigative results from the Doomsday Forest appeared first.

Ye Boshou, who ventured to break through the beast tide and enter deeply into the Forbidden Zone, shockingly discovered that a massive area within the Doomsday Forest had vanished.

Yes, vanished!

The Disaster Forbidden Zone was actually much larger than it appeared to physical observation. The outside world saw only a mysterious forest, but the internal space was dozens of times larger.

Each area housed many Extraordinary Creatures with their own ecosystem in their respective territories.

However, this time, two of the areas along with their various Extraordinary Creatures, and even the trees and plants, all disappeared. The entire area seemed as if it had been plowed through, leaving nothing but desolation!

This made the Giant City uneasy, as Disaster Fog No.71’s devouring targets seemed a bit too broad.

In the past, Disaster Fogs only devoured humans or other intelligent species, sometimes including Extraordinary Creatures, but never flowers, plants, or trees.

Now, Disaster Fog No.71 was like a famished ghost that devoured all living things indiscriminately.

This anomaly put the officials on high alert.

But across the vast wilderness, Iron Guards from the three Giant Cities patrolled back and forth without cease, yet they found no trace of the Disaster Fog.

However, this did grant more time to evacuate more citizens.

Over these three days, No.3 Border City commandeered various merchant caravans, dispatching a large number of troops to escort civilians to Lava Mine City.

But only about one million people were evacuated, while No.3 Border City had to move an upwards of eight million, and many were reluctant to cooperate.

It was foreseeable that a complete relocation would take quite some time.

The later the Disaster Fog appeared, the better.

On the rooftop of a certain house sat Li Yelai, clad in a combat uniform, gazing down at the flow of people and the convoy moving towards the entrance of the Giant City, praying in his heart that the Disaster Fog would come later rather than sooner.

All Processors received their orders, either to escort citizens or to patrol the streets.

Li Yelai was the latter.

Beside him, Cheese, also dressed in a combat uniform, handed him a cup of coffee and said, ”The milk tea shop closed down. Make do with this to warm up a bit.”

”Alright, thank you,” Li Yelai took the cup, took a sip, and his face twisted.

Although Cheese was cursed with sugar addiction, she personally didn’t have a sweet tooth. Instead, she liked to drink black coffee.

Just a moment ago, she snagged Starfire, who was also patrolling the streets, and made him use his ability to brew a pot of coffee.

But Li Yelai really couldn’t stand the taste, he just didn’t get it.

Seeing Li Yelai’s bitter face, Cheese smiled with her charming peach blossom eyes.

Then, she took several sugar cubes from her pocket and tossed them into Li Yelai’s cup.

This made the bitter taste of the coffee somewhat more palatable.

Li Yelai sipped his coffee and asked, ”Have uncle and the others evacuated yet?”

”We need to prioritize the evacuation of children and students, so uncle and the rest will have to leave tomorrow,” Cheese replied, taking sips from her own cup of coffee, then asked, ”What about your sister? How will she be evacuated? Should I have my uncle arrange a vehicle for her that doesn’t reveal the outside view?”

”No need, I’ve already arranged it,” Li Yelai responded, keeping the existence of the Spirit Extinguisher a secret due to its high level of confidentiality.

”That’s good,” Cheese nodded and quietly watched the crowd below with Li Yelai.

At that moment, an unexpected visitor arrived.

A figure appeared on the rooftop of the building beside Li Yelai, it was Jing Lin.

Upon seeing Li Yelai and Cheese, he smiled.

Then, using Aerial Stepping, he approached them.

”It’s been a while, you two,” Jing Lin greeted cheerfully: ”I finally found you.”

”I thought the scions of a big family like yours would have evacuated from Giant City by now,” Cheese said with a glance at Jing Lin.

Though the officials were evacuating civilians, those wealthy enough had long since left Giant City.

They didn’t need official protection and could hire sufficient strength to reach Lava Mine City safely.

As the Spiritual Ability Family known as the Jing Family ought to have done, it was said that the Jing Family’s expeditionary army, which was originally to approach No.1 Border City, had also left for the wilderness and set up camp there.