148. The Most Beautiful Scenery in the City of the Night Pivot

On the streets of the Barren Smelting District, police cars and iron barricades formed a formidable road-block, completely sealing off the passage leading to the Abyss Bar.

The expelled adventurers and onlookers were held back beyond the barriers, holding weapons and banners while protesting noisily. From time to time, individuals would step forward to engage in physical altercations with the police.

However, whenever the soldiers of "Doomsday Horn" patrolled past, these protesters would instantly quiet down, only resuming their commotion once the soldiers had departed.

It was uncertain how long such chaos would continue, but from the disdainful smiles of the police officers, it was clear they believed these commoners could never stir up any real trouble.

"Creak—"

A soldier of "Doomsday Horn" encased in silver mechanical armor walked slowly down the avenue. Upon seeing this, the protesters on the street hurriedly stepped aside, terrified of provoking a conflict.

The soldier's footsteps halted in front of a cake shop. The doors and windows of this establishment had been smashed open just minutes prior; several thugs had charged inside, killed the shop owner, and then begun looting valuables everywhere.

Surrounding passersby whispered among themselves, casting wary glances at the soldier's abnormal behavior.

The next moment, that soldier abruptly raised a heavy machine gun and opened fire directly into the shop.

"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!"

Amidst the harsh, explosive gunfire lasting for a full minute, the shop was riddled with heavy machine gun bullets, and the thugs inside were shredded beyond recognition.

The surrounding protesters froze for a full three seconds before someone let out a scream rivaling the operatic vocals of Venus:

"The megacorps are murdering people!"

Hearing the panicked shrieks of the protesters, the soldier pivoted, turning the muzzle of the gun to sweep across the street, terrifying the civilians into scattering in all directions.

Meanwhile, a young female reporter lurking in a corner seized the opportunity to directly record the footage of the "Doomsday Horn" soldier opening fire on the street and upload it. Paired with sensationalized headlines and reports, it quickly whipped up a massive storm across the internet.

"Terrifying, I'm out of here first."

"Holy crap! The police and citizens are blending together!"

"The megacorp's soldiers dare to gun down protesters today; I daren't imagine who they'll gun down tomorrow."

Strolling down the avenues of the Barren Smelting District, Chen Shang distinctly felt that the surrounding atmosphere had grown somewhat strange. Opening Chirper, the very first thing he noticed was that the video of " 'Doomsday Horn' soldiers gunning down civilians" had surged to the trending list.

Chen Shang dialed Black Alice's number and couldn't help praising her, "Your efficiency is incredible. You managed to record and upload the video just like that?"

"That wasn't me," Black Alice replied, faint sounds of intense gunfire bleeding through in the background:

"The one filming is little Wenwen, who happens to be an old friend of mine."

"Little Wenwen?" Chen Shang's brow furrowed slightly.

"She's a reporter for the Fake News Agency. Although she's a decent person, her mind is completely obsessed with chasing massive scoops—she's basically reached a psychotic level," Black Alice explained.

"You were the one who said you wanted to create a big commotion, so I called her over. By the way, several of our previous public opinion offensives were handled by her."

Hearing this description, Chen Shang suddenly remembered something and asked, "Are you talking about that 'Black Crow Reporter' Wenwen?"

"Huh? You know her too?" Black Alice sounded somewhat surprised.

"Don't know her, just heard her name," Chen Shang laughed casually. "Though I wouldn't mind if you brought her over for me to get acquainted with."

"Forget about it. Don't you think you already have enough romantic entanglements?" Black Alice emitted a light huff and retorted.

"My heart and actions are as clear as a mirror; where on earth would I have any romantic entanglements?" Chen Shang asked righteously in return.

"I simply want to make a journalist friend and have an in-depth exchange about major news scoops with her~"

"I'll believe your ghost stories, you damned playboy!" Black Alice suddenly made a tongue-sticking sound.

"Wait, why am I suddenly a playboy?" Chen Shang uttered a brief complaint before swiftly pulling the conversation back on track.

"Speaking of which, how many 'Doomsday Horn' soldiers can you hack at most right now?"

"Managing three is a breeze, but exceeding that number gets a bit troublesome," Black Alice replied. "After all, the firewall level of 'Doomsday Horn' is quite high."

"Fair enough, I'll go find two more then," Chen Shang nodded.

"We need to help your friend put on a properly spectacular show~"

After hanging up the phone, Chen Shang hunted down two more isolated soldiers on the main street and had Black Alice hack into them.

Under Black Alice's manipulation, the hacked soldiers began firing wildly at the surrounding protesters, stirring up wave after wave of chaos.

Although Black Alice disliked large-scale slaughter and thus deliberately steered the muzzles away from densely populated crowds, to ordinary observers, the scene looked precisely like a picturesque demonstration of "megacorp soldiers indiscriminately mowing down civilians."

At that exact moment, the young girl clad in reporter attire zipped through various streets at breakneck speed, capturing the consecutive moments of three soldiers sweeping civilians with gunfire, and then swiftly fabricating all sorts of sensational news reports. The entire workflow was as smooth as flowing water, as if a single person constituted an entire news crew.

Soon enough, major social platforms were flooded with headlines and rhetoric such as "Megacorp military guns down civilians on the street" and "Megacorp coalition begins armed purge of protesters."

Upon learning that the "Doomsday Horn" soldiers had begun indiscriminately opening fire on civilians, the protesters on the main street quickly plunged into collective panic. Massive numbers of protesters attempted to flee the Barren Smelting District, directly choking the stations and major transit routes to absolute gridlock. Meanwhile, those who failed to escape in time glared with hostile eyes at the police officers and soldiers lining the streets, looking as though they were prepared to fight them to the death.

Within less than ten minutes, the situation in the Barren Smelting District completely deteriorated into an utter mess. The air was thick with the heavy scent of gunpowder, as if a single spark could trigger nuclear-grade destruction.

Black Alice manipulated the three soldiers to march all the way toward a densely populated avenue, continuously firing upon the buildings along the route and utilizing the shattering sounds of glass and rubble to forge the atmosphere of a massive firefight.

On the street, a dozen protesters heard the sounds of gunfire and shattering glass drawing closer behind them, and immediately rushed forward to shove the police officers blocking the middle of the road, shouting:

"Damned cops, let us pass! Your soldiers have gone insane!"

Yet the police officers refused to budge an inch, maintaining their human wall right down the center of the road and responding righteously: "This area is sealed off, all of you fall back!"

"Damn it! These cops are just the megacorps' dogs!" Hearing the gunfire drawing ever closer behind them, a protester felt his scalp tingle with anxiety, and he pulled out a handgun to fire directly at the police officers:

"They want us all to die here! Fight them to the death!"

Accompanied by a piercing gunshot, a police officer was struck in the thigh and collapsed to the ground, howling in agony.

"Go to hell, you megacorp lackeys!" With nothing left to lose, the protester fired continuously at the officers, signaling a desperate, do-or-die struggle.

"You maniacs! How dare you attack the police?!" Seeing this, the police officers panicked as well:

"Retaliate, all of you!"

Thus, on a certain avenue in the Barren Smelting District, a dozen protesters and a dozen police officers engaged in a street firefight. Meanwhile, the reporter lady hidden in the shadows seized the moment to capture these scenes and upload them to the internet.

The protesters desperately attempting to flee the Barren Smelting District were soon fed this video, causing their eyes to instantly flush red with panic and rage.

"The megacorps really do want us all to die here!"

"Damn the megacorps to hell!"

"Damn it all, let's fight them!"

Overwhelmed by fury, a fraction of the protesters simply abandoned their attempts to flee, drawing their firearms and launching a direct assault against the police officers lining the streets.

Madness spread like a plague, quickly engulfing the entire Barren Smelting District. Within half an hour, the district had transformed into a battlefield where police and citizens clashed in chaotic harmony.