At that moment, a streak of light suddenly flashed across the sky.
A figure in black appeared, hovering directly above the center of the disaster zone.
Sensing danger, the Purple-Haired Rat let out a series of sonic attacks toward the figure.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak..."
The figure in black remained entirely unfazed. A brilliant glow enveloped his entire body like a sphere of light, instantly dispersing the surrounding darkness, smoke, toxic gas, and sonic waves.
Nothing could come within a fraction of an inch of his body.
Extremely cunning, the Purple-Haired Rat possessed a razor-sharp perception of danger. Seeing that its sonic attacks had no effect on the intruder and that it could not get close enough to fight hand-to-hand, the rat decisively abandoned the offensive. It raised its forelegs high, intending to tunnel into the ground and escape.
"Hmph! Trying to escape? Too late!"
The man in black let out a cold snort. With a fierce swing of his arm, he unleashed a fiercely tyrannical, silvery-white blade aura. Cascading from the sky like a silver waterfall, it instantly slashed down upon the head and neck of the Purple-Haired Rat.
"Thud!"
In an instant, blood spewed from the rat's neck. Its ferocious, giant head detached and went flying, landing on the distant ground and kicking up clouds of dust as it rolled.
"Hmph!"
With another cold snort, the figure in black turned around and flew away through the air without even looking back.
The battle happened so fast that most people had no idea what had just occurred.
Yet Li Hao, who had been closely monitoring the battle from afar, witnessed the entire process clearly.
"A Rank-7 Grandmaster, with a unique school of blade techniques of his own. Rather interesting!"
The violent explosions continued, and flames kept spreading. Among the survivors, the vast majority were martial artists, while ordinary people had been almost entirely wiped out.
This was the tragedy of the New Martial Era: ordinary people unable to awaken their talents possessed no means of self-preservation in the face of disaster; they could only wait for death.
"Li Hao, is it over?"
Gu Qianxue stared blankly at the sea of ruins, still seemingly unable to recover from the shock.
"Yes, it's all over!"
Li Hao tightly gripped Gu Qianxue's left hand, clearly feeling how cold her palm had become from excessive terror.
Centered on the carcass of the Purple-Haired Rat, several surrounding streets, residential areas, shopping malls, and parks had all been reduced to ruins.
Had one been standing on the ground, they certainly would have caught the foul stench of corpses burning in the fire.
Facing this scene of an earthly purgatory, the survivors repeatedly retched.
"In the news reports of my past life, they only described the cause of the incident, the death toll, and the economic losses..."
Li Hao fell silent.
Without experiencing the terrifying devastation of an exotic beast disaster firsthand, relying solely on reports could never convey the soul-shaking agony that chilled one to the bone.
Right at that moment.
The car radio, the huge display screens mounted on the walls of shopping malls, and every audiovisual device simultaneously broadcast an urgent notice:
"All residents! All residents! Our city has been struck by an exotic beast attack! The entire city is now under Level 1 combat alert status. All residents are instructed not to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary. Residents in disaster-stricken areas such as Zilai Street, Xinhua Community, and Wanda Plaza, please follow the guards in an orderly manner to the nearest air-raid shelters..."
Simultaneously,
"Buzz, buzz, buzz..."
Various rescue vehicles continuously poured into the disaster zone to help extinguish fires and rescue survivors buried under the rubble.
Dozens of military attack helicopters slowly approached from the sky, joining the search and rescue operations.
"Li Hao, shall we go down and help save people too?"
Gu Qianxue looked at Li Hao with tear-filled eyes.
"All right!"
"However, the core disaster zone is riddled with large amounts of toxic substances and remains extremely dangerous. You must be careful to protect yourself."
"Yes, I understand."
Li Hao steered the flying car to a safe spot and brought it to a gentle halt. After getting out, the two quickened their pace and eagerly plunged into the disaster relief work.
Just as the two of them were busy and tense,
suddenly,
a middle-aged woman rushed out from the edge of the disaster zone, crying hysterically, "Help! Help! Won't someone save my son... Sob, sob, sob..."
"I beg you, won't someone save my son!"
Seeing anyone, the middle-aged woman would drop to her knees and kowtow, continuously pleading with the gathered crowd.
People looked at each other in dismay, their faces displaying expressions of sympathy. Yet, no one dared to step forward and help.
The zone affected by the exotic beast disaster was extremely dangerous. Even though the beast was dead, terrifying energy and Evil Spirit Energy still lingered. Entering it posed a lethal threat even to a Rank-3 Martial Artist, let alone ordinary citizens like themselves.
Unfortunately, there were no powerful martial artists in this particular area.
Ordinary rescue workers could only repeatedly comfort her, "Please don't panic, please don't panic. The martial artists of the Yuncheng Security Bureau are already on their way... Hold on..."
"Darling, where are you going?"
A woman grabbed the arm of her husband standing beside her, "Are you ignoring the life and death of our mother and son?"
"I... I am a martial artist. I cannot stand by and watch someone die!" the man said with a stifled voice.
"So what if you're a martial artist? With that little strength of yours, isn't going in there just marching to your death?"
"That's right! Brother, it's way too dangerous in there. That child is probably already..."
"Didn't the staff member say the Security Bureau's martial artists are about to arrive..."
"Did you hear me? Be a good boy and stay right here!"
"Sigh..."
Martial artists were often full of hot blood!
Yet the disaster zone of a Rank-B Exotic Beast was simply too perilous! For martial artists below the third rank, entering wasn't even a matter of a nine-in-ten chance of death; it was practically certain death.
Faced with death, no one was without fear!
Flocking to advantage and avoiding harm was human instinct, which could hardly be faulted.
Hearing someone say the child was beyond saving, the woman anxiously shouted, "My child isn't dead! My child isn't dead, stop talking nonsense..."
At this moment, Gu Qianxue's palms were slick with cold sweat. The street where the woman had appeared was her exact route home.
If she had been walking home alone, would she have...
Suddenly,
just as Gu Qianxue stood in a daze, a figure beside her walked up to the woman and said calmly, "Take me to see."
"Ah... Okay! Okay! Okay!"
Overjoyed, the woman grabbed Li Hao's leg, tears streaming down her face.
At this moment, she clung to him like a drowning person clutching a straw, completely failing to consider whether someone of Li Hao's age possessed the capability to save anyone.
"Li... Hao... What are you doing?"
Gu Qianxue stepped forward and grabbed Li Hao's clothes. "Li Hao, don't go! Let's just wait for the rescue workers!"
"Qianxue, it's fine. I know what I'm doing."
"Li Hao, stop fooling around! With your strength, going in there is throwing your life away!" Gu Qianxue was genuinely panicked.
"Qianxue, do you remember that night in the second year of high school?"
Gu Qianxue froze slightly, recalling the events of that night.
"Could it be you..."
"Qianxue, you were able to save me back then. Why can't I save them now?"
"Qianxue, as a martial artist, if we refuse to stand before ordinary people in the face of danger and only look out for our own safety, then what is the purpose of our martial arts cultivation..."
"This... But the situation is different!"
With a calm and poised expression, Li Hao smiled slightly at Gu Qianxue and said, "Take care of yourself, I'll be right back."
"You... Don't do anything reckless!"
Gu Qianxue shouted anxiously.
However, Li Hao's figure grew more and more distant, gradually vanishing around the street corner.
"Such a fool!"
A myriad of complex emotions churned in Gu Qianxue's heart. Aren't you a good-for-nothing rich second-generation heir? Aren't you a spoiled young master? How could you possibly...