Liora had originally planned to take the opportunity to eliminate several more Special Assault Squad captains, but she had never expected Tenmon Soji to do something like that.
Even more unexpectedly, the poison that killed on contact had no effect on Tenmon Soji whatsoever.
Liora's back was already drenched in cold sweat.
Her slender fingers unconsciously brushed across her collarbone.
"He's practically a humanoid Honkai Beast. And several times, he nearly saw through me."
Queen of Hearts had honed all her skills on battlefields filled with smoke and gunfire. Sometimes, even zombies could not see through her disguises.
Yet Tenmon Soji repeatedly managed to detect them, leaving Queen of Hearts utterly baffled.
Perhaps he was so confident in his own strength that he simply did not care about Liora's little tricks.
What baffled Liora even more was that this man, who in her eyes should have been tall, handsome, and reassuring, failed to arouse even the slightest interest in her.
Forget interest.
Whenever she looked at this man, the only things she could sense were surging chaos, suppressed terror, and unfathomable darkness.
Although Liora had lost the ability to discern talent through a person's appearance,
she still retained the so-called "sixth sense" that allowed her to perceive someone's talent indirectly.
Unlike the breathtaking, intoxicating beauty of Mr. Mad Hatter's talent, all Liora sensed from this man was profound terror.
To Liora, a person's talent had always fallen into one of only two categories: mediocre or beautiful. Even bizarre talent had never given her such a terrifying feeling.
This was the first time she had ever sensed something indescribably horrifying within another person's gifts.
Had it not been so terrifying, Liora would never have exposed a flaw while impersonating Baolan.
From beginning to end, Liora's fear had not come from Tenmon Soji's suicidal act. It had come from glimpsing the essence of the man himself.
What level had Mr. Mad Hatter's talent reached?
He was a prophet who had built a secret force capable of opposing the World Government from nothing, with technology three centuries ahead of the age.
Then what was this man?
A living King of Hell who had crawled out of the underworld to destroy the mortal realm?
Liora did not dare imagine it.
Liora did not know what Tenmon Soji truly was, but her mission objective was now close at hand.
This time, with the Ghostfire Syndicate commander-in-chief's legitimate orders, Liora could openly infiltrate the Ghostfire Syndicate's base—Onoya—and search for the whereabouts of the key.
As for Tenmon Soji and the Ghostfire Syndicate, the Taixu Gang could deal with them.
Assuming they were capable of doing so.
...
The situation on the battlefield outside Taixu Hospital changed by the second.
Bronya had disabled the Ghostfire Syndicate's vanguard motorcycles and mechanical hounds, buying the Taixu Gang a brief chance to catch its breath, but the Ghostfire Syndicate's follow-up forces soon began pouring onto the battlefield without end.
Moreover, as the largest gang in Dusk City beneath the Mobile Response Force, their foundations consisted of far more than the technology they had obtained from the "companies."
Now even genuine ability users had begun appearing, making it increasingly difficult for the Taixu Gang to maintain control of the battlefield.
However, with the advantage of fighting on their home ground, it was still difficult to break through the Taixu Gang's layered defenses and enter Taixu Hospital.
Under Su's command, the Taixu Gang erected barricades and fought a desperate defensive battle.
Under Bronya's control, the disabled mechanical hounds and motorcycles restarted and formed a defensive barrier.
Even by the time the squads led by the Ghostfire Syndicate's commander-in-chief arrived from the Kowloon Stronghold, the Ghostfire Syndicate had still failed to breach Taixu Hospital.
This left Shonan, captain of the Second Special Assault Squad and known as the Strategist, deeply humiliated. In the past, a hospital this small could have been handled by a single minor squad.
Now, despite commanding two Special Assault Squads, he had still failed to capture it. Worse, the captain of the Fifth Special Assault Squad had been taken prisoner. This was a resounding slap in the face of the man known as the "genius strategist."
Shonan flicked his long, slender mustache and barked around the mechanical cigar clenched between his teeth.
"Is the electromagnetic cannon still not assembled?"
"Deputy Commander Shonan, there was an inexplicable short-circuit malfunction earlier. If we use the electromagnetic cannon..."
"An EMP? To think the Taixu Gang possesses that sort of prohibited weapon. Good grief, even Tairiguruan dares to sell weapons like that now."
A deep male voice came from above Shonan's head. Shonan jumped in fright, and even the mechanical cigar between his teeth fell to the ground.
He turned around blankly and saw the towering figure of a man built like a wall of iron.
He hurriedly stood at attention and performed a Ghostfire-style salute.
"Commander Tenmon!"
Tenmon Soji casually waved a hand and continued, "An EMP is an area-wide destructive pulse. In a city that primarily relies on technological weapons, it is undoubtedly the ultimate weapon. Nearly every gang possesses a technological trump card. If an organization obtains EMP technology, it effectively erases all of those trump cards."
"EMP technology holds the same position in this city that nuclear weapons hold in the world. It is the ultimate technology the 'companies' use to suppress the gangs, so naturally, they would never allow it to circulate among them. Every 'company' has signed the agreement."
"It is also one of the 'companies'' trump cards for controlling the city. With EMP weapons, the Mobile Response Force can quickly suppress any gang."
One biker asked in confusion, "Then does that mean this is a trap set by the Mobile Response Force?"
The Mobile Response Force was the Ghostfire Syndicate's natural enemy, so whenever ordinary bikers encountered trouble, their first reaction was always to assume it was a trap set by the Mobile Response Force.
Shonan seemed about to say something, but after glancing at Tenmon Soji, he ultimately swallowed his words.
Tenmon Soji shook his head. "There are still black-market channels that sell prohibited weapons. The 'Tairiguruan' I just mentioned is a 'company' specializing in black-market arms."
Hearing the commander-in-chief say this, Shonan hurriedly followed up, "Exactly. I heard that the Taixu Gang recently seized a considerable share of the black market. It seems I underestimated them."
"Commander, that idiot Jocheng was captured by the Taixu Gang. What should we..."
"Get off."
"Huh?!"
With one hand, Tenmon Soji lifted Shonan off his motorcycle and threw him onto the ground.
"Ouch!" Shonan landed flat on his back, limbs splayed.
"Boys, off your bikes! Since the enemy has EMP weapons, we simply won't ride. Grab your weapons, roll up your sleeves, and let's get to work!"
"OOOOOOOH!"
"Commander, you're so cool!"
"Use those sons of bitches as sacrifices for our banner!"
"I thirst for blood!"
For a moment, their stomping sounded like thunder, making the ground tremble beneath them.
The bikers dismounted one after another, picked up cybernetic iron rods, clubs, and electronically controlled pistols, raised electronic display banners bearing the words "Number One Under Heaven," and followed their commander-in-chief in a charge against the Taixu Gang.
"Huh?! Wait, Commander Tenmon! Half the members of our elite Special Assault Squads have undergone mechanical augmentation surgery!"
Shonan lay on the ground and shouted, but the bikers' roars and blaring background music drowned out his insignificant voice.