89: Chapter 89 Acquaintances' Amazement

They had been in despair just a moment ago.

The attacks from the Silver-rank Ravens were too dense; they couldn't stop them.

In at most another minute, this crystal core tower would be completely silenced.

Once the crystal core tower stopped firing, the suppressed ferocious beasts below would swarm in, and not a single member of their squad would survive.

But at the very last moment—that cyan figure descended from the sky.

After a few Wind Blades, those Silver-rank Ravens were… all dead?

"This… Bronze? No… who is this?" a young defender muttered incoherently.

Everyone was stunned.

Just then, a voice exclaimed,

"Qin… Qin Ce?!"

The voice was filled with shock and disbelief.

Qin Ce looked down and paused slightly.

Gale Squad.

Zhao Rui.

His old acquaintance, or rather, his old rival.

Back when they were competing for wild monsters, Qin Ce had dealt with him the most, and he was the last captain to give up on competing for missions against Qin Ce. Honestly, Qin Ce quite admired his resilience, though he sometimes felt the guy was a bit stubborn.

Qin Ce really hadn't expected to run into him here by such a coincidence.

But the battlefield was still active, so Qin Ce didn't say much. After nodding, he hurried toward the next crystal core tower.

Zhao Rui stared blankly at the departing cyan figure above, feeling as if he had been struck by lightning.

Qin Ce?

Didn't he go to Yuntai Town?

Wasn't he going to protect his family?

How could he be on the city battlefield?!

And wasn't he at Black Iron Peak?

How is he now…

Zhao Rui's pupils constricted sharply.

He could feel it.

The aura radiating from Qin Ce was clearly…

Bronze Rank!

He had broken through!

And it wasn't just a breakthrough—

Zhao Rui's gaze fell behind Qin Ce, where nine new phoenix tails were re-condensing, emitting a heart-palpitating energy fluctuation.

Those Wind Blades that had instantly killed the Silver-rank Ravens earlier—were they unleashed by this thing?

The power was at least Silver Rank!

A Bronze Rank Beast Tamer unleashing a Silver Rank attack?!

Zhao Rui's brain completely shut down.

But he was still unwilling to give up, subconsciously lifting his wrist to open his squad badge and find the leaderboard.

After a quick search, at the 34th position, he saw that familiar name:

[34th Place · First Battle Institute Special Ops Squad · No. 02 · Qin Ce · Military Merit: 35247]

34th place?

In the top one hundred!!!

And thirty-five thousand points!!!

Zhao Rui's mouth opened wide enough to fit an egg.

How long had it been?

If he had really come back from Yuntai Town, it would have taken him over three hours on the road, right?

So, over thirty-five thousand military merit in just over an hour on the battlefield?!

Their Gale Squad had been fighting for their lives on the main city defense line for four hours, and their military merit still hadn't reached five thousand!

Yet Qin Ce, all by himself, had climbed to 34th?!

This wasn't the Battle Academy ranking; this was the overall ranking for all Bronze squads and below in the entire Fengling City!!!

"Cap… Captain…" a team member asked with a trembling voice, "Was that really Qin Ce?"

Zhao Rui didn't answer.

He just stared blankly at the departing figure.

That figure didn't look at them again.

After confirming the crystal core tower was safe, he nodded to them, then flapped his wings and lunged toward the next group of Silver-rank Ravens.

Behind him, nine phoenix tails fluttered in the wind.

Like a god.

Zhao Rui suddenly remembered the scene from over three months ago on the Elite Class training ground when Qin Ce had first arrived.

Back then, they thought Qin Ce was a clown, a burden.

But looking at it now… they were the clowns.

He looked down at the glaring "34th Place" on his squad badge, then at his own squad's pathetic "937th Place," and suddenly let out a bitter laugh.

"What… kind of monster is this guy…"

The team member next to him asked cautiously, "Captain, should we… thank him?"

Zhao Rui glared at him, "Wait until the battle is over! He's very busy right now; he doesn't have time to pay attention to us!"

He paused, then muttered quietly,

"Besides… are we even worthy of thanking him now…"

In the distance, the cyan figure had already caught up with another group of Silver-rank Ravens.

A few more silver Wind Blades fell, and the Silver-rank Ravens plummeted like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

Zhao Rui watched this scene silently, suddenly feeling that all his previous resentment and unwillingness had become so laughable.

Some people were born to be looked up to.

And for him, just being able to look up to them was already very lucky.

Qin Ce shuttled crazily across the battlefield.

A cyan shadow, nine phoenix tails, like a flowing bolt of lightning, carving strange trajectories across the sky above the city.

His movements were fluid and smooth, with every strike claiming the life of at least one Silver-rank Raven.

Under the triple speed boost of the Azure Bird, those Silver-rank Ravens in the chaotic battlefield couldn't even react before being cut down by the silver Wind Blades.

Military merit was jumping crazily.

Forty-eight thousand…

Fifty thousand…

Fifty-four thousand…

But Qin Ce's heart was sinking lower and lower.

Because he could see the big picture.

He could see that many of the city defense facilities he couldn't reach in time were being silenced one after another under the attacks of the Silver-rank Ravens.

Not far away, an orange-grade turret was attacked by five Silver-rank Ravens simultaneously. The black mist of the Ink Feather shrouded the turret body, and the next moment, its energy light flickered a few times and went out.

Elsewhere, a red-grade turret was firing desperately, shooting down three Silver-rank Ravens, but the Ink Feather shot by the fourth Silver-rank Raven before it died landed exactly on the turret's energy core. The black mist spread, and the roar of the turret came to an abrupt halt.

Even more terrifying were the places that couldn't be seen—the power lines, transformers, and power distribution hubs hidden inside the buildings.

The black mist turned into by the Ink Feather was completely uncontrollable.

It drifted with the wind, permeating every corner of the city.

Once it came into contact with electrical facilities, it would cause short circuits, leakage, or even explosions.

Qin Ce saw with his own eyes that inside a seemingly intact building, a burst of blinding electric light suddenly erupted, and then the lights of the entire building went out simultaneously.

Inside, there were transformers.

Inside, there was a power hub supplying electricity to several nearby turrets.

With that explosion, three nearby crystal core towers that were firing wildly were silenced simultaneously.

The ferocious beasts that had lost their suppression swarmed out from that area like a tide!

"ROAR—!!!"

A heaven-shaking roar rang out.

Those ferocious beasts that had been suppressed for an entire day finally waited for their chance.

They rushed wildly toward the deeper parts of the city, toward the residential areas that hadn't had time to evacuate, and toward the fortresses and arrow towers that were still holding out.

The defensive lines within the city began to collapse.

The ferocious beasts that had been strictly confined within the triangular area began to spread in all directions.

That triangular area was expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye.

It originally occupied only one-twentieth of the city area.

It began to expand to one-tenth.

Out of control.

Completely out of control.