Curtain Call (Part 1)

A man held his phone up, the muscle lines on his arm flowing smoothly - clearly someone who worked out regularly. He was interacting with his viewers while keeping watch of his surroundings.

Recently, various nations had been cooperating with the Reincarnation Organization to clear out monsters. These monsters possessed intelligence and, having heard the news, had gone into hiding.

Whether it was due to the complete awakening of the Stolen Operators or not, the frequency of Fusion Zone appearances had decreased, making monsters rarer than pandas. This severely affected streamers like Shao Dazhuang who specialized in monster content. While they could previously end streams at will, now they had to stream longer hours to maintain their viewership.

The new designation had replaced that person's name, as no one wanted to be tracked down through the internet.

Currently on the road from Jidu's suburbs back to the city center, there was still a chance of encountering monsters, so Shao Dazhuang kept his stream running.

Upon returning to the city, Shao Dazhuang muttered, "...I don't know if it's just my imagination, but it feels like the Patrol Team has been patrolling much more frequently lately."

Actually, Shao Dazhuang wanted to complain about giving people a chance to make a living, but considering his audience was mostly ordinary people who could easily be misled, he held his tongue.

Otherwise, he'd probably find himself in the headlines.

The chat started rolling with comments discussing Shao Dazhuang's observation.

[I feel the same way!]

[Let me explain, sister - the Stolen Operators are still watching...]

[I have a feeling the monster era is about to end, and a new age is coming!]

[Don't know about it ending, but monsters have definitely become scarcer recently]

[Wait, the sky suddenly got dark...]

As an outdoor streamer, Shao Dazhuang noticed it before the comments did. He looked up at the sky and almost dropped his phone.

"Holy shit, masked people!"

Having been so broke lately that he could barely afford to eat, Shao Dazhuang's first thought was "Money's coming!" followed by "I'm gonna die!"

His reaction was actually quite composed - nearby, a man in a suit reeked of urine, though no one in the panicking crowd seemed to notice.

People screamed and trampled over each other; there were injuries even before the masked figures made their move.

The patrolling Patrol Team arrived at the scene immediately, trying to evacuate the crowd, but they provided barely a fraction of the sense of security that Qi Yuan's residence did. People continued pushing toward Qi Yuan's residence.

Finally, the Patrol Team had to resort to their last option, using their abilities to control the crowd.

Shao Dazhuang stared blankly at the sky, noticing something odd about the masked figures' behavior.

Only viewers from outside Jidu remained in the stream. They were flooding the chat with messages, some even cursing Shao Dazhuang for delaying others' escape, until the camera focused on the masked figures and viewers noticed their strange behavior.

The masked figures seemed to be forming an array, surrounding the High Priest in the red cloak. A faint light emanated from their bodies, converging on the High Priest.

Though viewers didn't understand what the masked figures were doing, even through their screens they could feel the High Priest's aura rising steadily, the red cloak billowing in the wind.

In that moment, everyone who witnessed this scene felt their hearts being squeezed.

The entire city seemed to have been muted, with people unable to make any sound.

Finally, someone came to their senses and shouted hoarsely, "Damn it, they're launching a sneak attack! Where's the Reincarnation Organization? Where's the old man?"

No one could answer this. They watched helplessly as an immense power suddenly erupted from the High Priest, sweeping across the city's sky.

The masked figures were caught in this power and vanished into the sky.

Wailing that had momentarily stopped resumed across the city, including from adults who had realized what was about to happen.

A sense of helplessness overwhelmed everyone, including the ability users and... Yu Anhe.

Yu Anhe knew clearly that the city had no S-rank or above ability users - they had all been sent away under the pretense of clearing monsters.

They were Dragon Country's hope and pillars; Jidu could be destroyed, but they couldn't be lost.

"Crack—"

Though the air was filled with howling chaos, people mentally added the sound effect as they watched the sky shatter. Cracks spread outward from the High Priest like a spider web, revealing pitch blackness through the fissures.

Endless malice seeped through the cracks...

As the fissures continued to spread, even the most curious onlookers couldn't remain calm. They felt a chill rising from their hearts.

These people cracked their stiff necks and struggled to look up, only to find small cracks above their heads as well.

Tiny and subtle, but enough to make their hearts sink to the bottom.

Why were they so powerful?

While people knew what Stolen Operators were capable of, they had lacked true reverence - the kind reserved for deities.

The word "god" seemed encoded in their DNA, representing unlimited power.

Now, the Stolen Operators were demonstrating through sheer force that they demanded reverence even without divine status, just as nature demands respect.

The people of Jidu understood this better than anyone.

They became machines of fear, minds blank, operating on pure physiological responses, every cell radiating terror.

A pair of eyes watched these developments, accompanied by an unusual white mist.

Their reactions oddly reminded Qi Yuan of hamsters - if he remembered correctly, extreme fear could actually kill hamsters.

Qi Yuan wondered to himself if they might have overdone it.

Previously it had been special effects, which Qi Yuan had thought insufficient, but the real thing proved remarkably effective.

The white mist, though horrified by the scene, still attempted to provoke the man before it.

"Hehehe, looks like you'll end up just like us."

With no one else around, Qi Yuan laughed uncontrollably, holding his stomach and doubling over as if hearing an excellent joke.

In that moment, the Elder felt the person before him was even more terrifying than the Stolen Operators, and an ominous premonition spread through his heart.

"Our leader's power is no weaker than the Stolen Operators. You massacred our people, and our leader will surely avenge them!"

Seeing Qi Yuan remain unmoved, the Elder grew more agitated. He knew better than anyone - while their leader was stronger than him, they were far from matching the Stolen Operators.

Intense malice seemed to transmit through his consciousness.

"How interesting that the world you protect will be destroyed because of you."

But Qi Yuan ignored him, stopping his laughter to look up at the sky.

A huge hole had opened in Jidu's sky. Even though he had split himself and strengthened everyone, some people still couldn't withstand the intense malice and fainted.

Soon, color appeared in the black hole, and misty figures emerged, with the largest being a kilometer long.

Before the Elder could rejoice, he saw the person beside him smile, and the demon whispered:

"Are you satisfied? My gift."