Aside from these Evil God fanatics and a few unscrupulous streamers, most people had their palms slick with sweat—because they knew the situation was dire.
By now, the Enforcers had run out of bullets. But they could retreat no further.
Because behind them was another Containment Base—the one holding tens of thousands of normal stray animals.
If that base fell and tens of thousands of animals were absorbed by the flesh mountain, no one could predict how terrifyingly powerful it might become.
"This is bad. Even the Enforcers—machines built for city management, for catching criminals—are helpless against a monster like this," a female streamer narrated.
"The Enforcement Department never should've gathered so many animals in one place. Now look—might the whole city end up paying the price?" a worried young man sighed.
"Stop being an armchair general. Right now, aren't the Enforcers the ones protecting us?"
Someone in the crowd retorted.
Indeed—anyone could retreat, but the Enforcers, as machines, could not. They had been created precisely to protect citizens' lives and property.
Clink. Clink.
Suddenly—
Every Enforcer's hand extended a bayonet. Their chests glowed red in unison. Reversing their previous hit-and-run pattern, they charged the flesh mountain all at once—like a swarm of red shooting stars.
"That's..."
The Enforcers had become the ones charging against the tide.
Gasps erupted from the crowd.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
The long whip-like tentacles lashed through the air. Many Enforcers were smashed to pieces.
But still more Enforcers, leaping and bounding, hurled themselves at the flesh mountain without fear. They drove their bayonets into its flesh with all their strength, then tore downward fiercely—blood and gore flying.
In an instant, hundreds of gashes littered the flesh mountain's surface, of varying depths, but clearly doing limited damage.
A massive arm swept across, like an elephant's trunk brushing away ants—dozens of Enforcers were hurled to the ground at once.
At the same time, the red glow on the Enforcers' chests grew brighter and brighter. The alarm tone grew louder, more urgent.
A dangerous energy was building.
"Get farther back!"
Someone in the crowd seemed to realize what was about to happen and shouted.
The onlookers didn't hesitate and scrambled backward. But they hadn't retreated far when an enormous white light consumed their entire field of vision.
BOOM!
A deafening blast followed—like a great bell being struck—echoing across the world.
A rolling shockwave surged toward the crowd hundreds of meters away, throwing them head over heels. The worst hit cracked their heads and bled.
Covered in dust and dirt, they strained to open their eyes and peer toward the explosion's origin.
Countless shattered machine parts rained down like a downpour. And within that rain... was a mountain of flesh, half of it blown away.
The flesh mountain had shrunk by half, yet still stood four stories tall.
Its body was roughly split into two faces—one side was charred black fur still burning with embers, the other was crimson flesh laid bare to the open air.
"Is it dead?"
"It has to be!"
"Probably... they sacrificed hundreds of Enforcers in a self-detonation. If that didn't solve it..."
"Look—look over there!"
The chaotic chatter went dead silent. The entire scene fell still.
Because they saw—that half-destroyed flesh mountain slowly squirmed forward, steadily approaching the other Containment Base.
That Containment Base, from the earlier shockwave, already had its outer walls shattered, with some cats and dogs that had escaped their cages now running loose.
"It's over."
All was lost.
An unstoppable despair welled up within the crowd.
"Evacuate immediately! Disperse the civilians!"
The remaining Enforcers on the field did not opt for another self-detonation charge against the flesh mountain. Instead they began covering the crowd's retreat.
Because they had no confidence a second self-detonation would finish it. And if the last Enforcers were gone, the city would descend into chaos.
No reminders were needed—the onlookers scrambled for their cars, scattered in all directions. They no longer gathered or lingered, having recognized just how dangerous this place really was.
Except for one beautiful outdoor streamer.
She strode directly up to the squadron leader helping with the evacuation, aiming her phone camera at him: "Mr. Enforcer, does your department still have a way to eliminate this monster and protect the safety of our city?"
The live chat in her stream was a sea of lament:
[Yongan City is doomed]
[Unless the military district sends reinforcements, but they're nowhere near Yongan. By the time they get here, the monster will have absorbed everything]
The Enforcer squadron leader's body remained still, but his head rotated 120 degrees horizontally to face her, speaking without emotion: "Yongan City does have military garrison forces stationed here. We've been notified—reinforcements will arrive shortly."
"Also, ma'am, this area is extremely dangerous right now."
The female streamer froze for a second, then broke into a delighted smile. "Is that true!?"
"Is it long-range missile saturation? But wouldn't there be a risk of civilian casualties? Sir, you needn't worry about me—I've purchased battlefield live-streaming insurance."
The chat was reinvigorated too:
[What? A third-tier city like Yongan has military garrison forces? I've lived here my whole life and never heard of it]
[Could this be a hidden trump card the federal government prepared for crises?]
The squadron leader replied evenly: "Long-range missiles will only be deployed after civilians have evacuated to a safe distance. Before then, we have other options."
The machine's words had barely faded when a roaring engine sound boomed from the distant horizon.
The female streamer looked toward the sound. Her jet-black, pearl-like eyes went wide, taking in a sight she would never forget in her lifetime.
It was a colossal mecha standing a full twenty meters tall—descending like a deity from the heavens, breaking through cloud and mist, landing with the force of wind, stirring up clouds of dust and cracking the ground into spiderweb fissures.
The enormous mecha was silver-white all over, its lines flowing with the beauty of muscle and machine combined.
It had no head. Its left hand held a shield, its right hand gripped a battle-axe. Thus it stood towering before the flesh mountain monster—like a heavenly moat cutting off the latter's path to the other Containment Base.
Hovering above the mecha were two fighter jets, ready to provide fire support at any moment.
The stream's chat exploded:
[HOLY SHIT! A war machine! Why is it here!?]
[My heart just burst—isn't this the latest weapons R&D result showcased at last year's Federation military parade, codename "Axe-Wielder"!?]
[If this is the military's hidden trump card for Yongan City, it's way too exaggerated. Where would you even hide something that huge without citizens noticing?]
This awe-inspiring scene was also reflected in the eyes of Bai Jie, who had just arrived.
Since the back mountain of Xingchuan University was on the eastern side of Yongan City, Bai Jie—using Invisibility Camouflage and running at full speed—hadn't taken long to reach this battlefield on the eastern outskirts.
"The Axe-Wielder Xingtian!? Why is it in Yongan City? This is just a third-tier city... its military-strategic importance isn't even particularly high."
"Could it be... the federal government stationed one of these mechas in every city that's third-tier or above? That's an insane amount of money..."
Bai Jie's thoughts spun rapidly, soon arriving at a certain possibility.