Chapter 43: The Disruptive Flute Melody

Following several gang members, Hirschia boarded the return vehicle and once again stepped into the vertical elevator she had taken earlier.

Shortly after, the elevator reached the top and returned to the remote bar. It was now 1 o'clock in the morning.

Facing the chilly night wind, the young girl walked down the street, her mind still lingering on the scenes she had witnessed in the underground. Although life for the residents in the lower residential districts of the city of Paean was somewhat difficult, it had not reached the point of utter desperation.

It was merely the clamor of information and various comparisons for status that gradually caused people to overlook these details of everyday life.

Even if residents within the Federation lost all their jobs, they would not be left to starve on the streets. Walking through the streets and residential areas, one would regularly encounter simple security booths equipped with riot suppression robots to maintain public order. With dense surveillance networks in place, very few criminals could escape police pursuit.

One could say there was plenty of corruption within the Federation, but it had not yet reached the point where things were handled so brazenly as to drive people to absolute destitution.

With the progress of the times and the unprecedented enhancement of productivity, the basic food and supplies required to sustain a person had become extremely cheap. It only required skimming a tiny grain from that vast industrial system to provide for them.

Yet human desires also grew. When everyone could breathe the air, no one considered the ability to breathe freely to be anything remarkable.

*Isn't that just a matter of course?* Everyone thought this way, and then set off to chase things that surpassed those around them and made them different from others.

Hirschia walked through the dim, deserted street, came to a vertical elevator, and waited quietly.

She did not mean to say this attitude was wrong; everyone had the freedom to pursue their own ideals and wishes, and should not be criticized or blamed. It was simply that the ease present at the starting point had gradually made people forget how hard-won the peace before them was.

The elevator doors opened, and she hopped inside lightly, then pressed the button for the floor where her residence was located. The elevator started, and layers of light and shadow swept past her coat through the glass.

Time flowed quietly, and the era moved slowly forward. Past suffering had vanished, but new anxieties had taken its place.

Never being satisfied, never stopping the comparison—this was the source of human suffering and also the ladder of progressive ascent.

The young girl sighed softly and stepped out when the elevator arrived, returning to the familiar streets and scenery.

*Oh well, oh well. Better not spend every day pondering these distant philosophical truths. Getting back so late tonight, I wonder if I'll even get a good night's sleep; I still have to go to work tomorrow.*

*If only there were a day when I wouldn't have to go to work,* the young girl silently prayed in her heart.

————

In the underworld, the stronghold of the "Mountain Shaker Firm" team.

"Luther, are you ready?" Yang Che stood right in the middle of the passageway, continuously firing and sweeping away the monsters rushing toward them, some of which were humanoid while others were beast-shaped.

"Ready, Boss!"

Following an explosion and a collapse, a large hole appeared in the ceiling of the cave not far away.

"Good, keep blasting. There should be an exit above."

Earlier, the two of them had used the Eight-Mountain Compass to scan and discover that the upper part of this area contained a huge void, which should connect to many places. They could use this to relocate and evade the pursuit of these flesh-and-blood monsters instead of being trapped in a dead end with no way out.

Just as the two men continued their demolition, on the other side of the underworld, Qiaolong was also chasing that invisible figure. Although he could not see him, he could judge his general position and direction by the sound of footsteps.

That certainly wouldn't work in a noisy place on the surface, but here, apart from Qiaolong, there was only the other party.

"You bastard, since you've killed so many of our people, you must pay with your life." Qiaolong stared fixedly at a certain direction within the cavern, walking forward step by step, continually using words to provoke and disturb the other party. He was usually a man of few words, but at this moment, he resorted to tactics commonly used in underworld combat.

"Hiding here—are you scared, or are you planning to surrender?" Slowing his footsteps, his voice grew increasingly variable in tone.

The opponent still did not respond. Qiaolong no longer hesitated, decisively crushing the blue crystal in his hand. The blue crystal mist instantly dissipated, spreading in all directions.

Amidst this flickering crystal mist, a humanoid silhouette finally materialized, appearing to be male.

"Found you." With a push of his foot, Qiaolong lunged forward directly, kicking up a whistling rush of air-piercing force.

He then threw a punch, shattering the rock wall behind the man, but unfortunately, the target still managed to escape.

"Damn it," the opponent muttered lowly, then turned and ran. The two resumed their chase.

However, this pursuit did not last long. Soon, a massive tremor came from beneath their feet, followed by the cracking sound of the ground splitting open. A pit appeared, and the faint sounds of gunfire echoed from below.

"It's blasted through, Boss!"

Luther shouted excitedly as he looked at the ruptured opening above his head. At that moment, Yang Che also began to reposition, signaling the remaining teammates to support each other and slowly fall back.

"This is..." Qiaolong looked down, his brow deeply furrowed as he pondered how these people had appeared. Meanwhile, the figure tainted with crystal mist on the opposite side leaped directly into the pit.

"Catch him! He's the mastermind behind this chaos!" Qiaolong did not know the intruder's specific identity, but he knew that since they were fighting those flesh-and-blood monsters, they were the enemy of his enemy.

"Who's there?!" The people below were startled, then looked toward the dark shadow that had dropped down.

Swish, swish, swish!

Several blue tracer rounds cut through the gloom, striking the fleeing figure directly. One shot missed, one struck the opponent's chest, and another hit his shoulder.

A flash of light crossed the dark figure's body, finally revealing his form. He was dressed in a specialized grayish-black bodysuit, seemingly made of a special material that possessed stealth properties, though it was currently partially damaged and could no longer function fully.

After dodging a few times, the dark figure ducked behind a massive rock pillar to temporarily evade the gunfire.

"Bang!" Moments later, Qiaolong also jumped down from the pit, stepping closer and closer to the figure hiding behind the rock pillar.

However, just as everyone was anxiously observing the situation and standing in a standoff, the sound of a flute drifted from behind the rock pillar, making people's heads spin and causing some of the lower-tier members to feel dizzy.

"Not good." Luther clutched his head, unsteady on his feet, and continuously beat against his skull in an attempt to clear his mind.

Aside from him, only Qiaolong and Yang Che were able to remain lucid. The others collapsed onto the ground, writhing and screaming in apparent agony, as if someone were sawing into their skulls.

This mental attack not only disrupted everyone present but also attracted distant flesh-and-blood monsters, which once again began charging and launching assaults.

To protect his teammates, Yang Che had no choice but to turn his gun around and return to shooting the approaching monsters, while Qiaolong accelerated his advance toward the back of the rock pillar.

Amidst the sounds of gunfire and roars, he violently rushed around the side of the rock pillar, only to have a bottle of milky-white liquid smashed right into his face.

The glass shattered, and a strange, milky aroma filled the air. The liquid obscured Qiaolong's vision, causing him to miss his strike once again. At the same time, the milk-like fluid on his face produced a bizarre sensation, as if countless mosquitoes were buzzing right before his eyes.

This was no ordinary potion; it was a concentrated magic potion with transcendent effects capable of driving a person deranged.

Potion that, when diluted, could fill dozens of bottles was now entirely spilled over Qiaolong, leaving him in a daze, swaying like a drunken man. Various voices echoed in his head, and his vision turned into a chaotic kaleidoscope of colors.

He seemed to see many familiar people: his master, primary school companions, teachers, people he used to know, and others who held deep, engraving hatreds—people who had bullied him back then and made his life a living hell...

With a heavy thud, Qiaolong finally dropped to his knees on the ground. Heat began to vent from his body, while his bones and muscles slowly expanded, faint dragon scales beginning to manifest.

"Good, very good. Just like that—come and serve my purposes too." The dark figure chuckled evilly, then resumed playing the mind-distorting flute, plunging the scene into even greater chaos.